[persian54]

I took my Z4 35i out to the track over the weekend.


I have to note that...although the Z4 is a better DD than the M...it's a POS at the track compared to the M.

Yes, in a straight line, the stock Z4 is faster than a stock e93 M3 (from the few drags I've done), and with a tune it's faster than a stock e90-93 M3, and even a slightly modded one.

But that's about it...no LSD, crappy runflats, crappy power curve, no high end power.

And although I love the N54, I reallllly hated it yesterday; really Unpredictable compared to the S65 (given that it's a FI car vs a NA car, that's completely understandable and expected, but nonetheless it didn't drive as smoothly as I'm used to).

I'm also not a fan of the gearing... 2nd is a crappy gear that made the car too unpredictable, if i hit the wrong rpm it would shoot up and I would need to make sure I didn't go off since I would end up going sideways (I turned the traction off at times), and not enough power in 3rd...

But what really bugged me the most is that the car kept cutting power (yes I know this is cause of the heat, but it's still an annoyance).

Mid session I would basically be flooring it (in 2nd or 3rd) and the car would have no power at all. Felt slower than a N52.
I would need to pull off the track and have the car cool down before I could go back again. I even did the "run your heater" method to help push the heat out of the engine bay, didn't really help at all.

I had a lot of fun though, which is the key :P

But I will never again say that a N54 equipped car (Z4 335i 135) is anything like a M. I don't care how fast it is in a drag or on the street.
It is not a track car at alllllll.
I do miss my 335i at times (though that one was heavily modded and most likely wouldn't get heat stroked like my stock Z4. But you do need to note the Z4 is like 500-600 lbs lighter..).
We recently got a new 2011 Z4 to replace this 09 that I'm returning in mid August....and I love the way it drives, but I don't think I'll track it.

At least not until it gets much cooler, and probably on a small track like Horse Thief Mile.


I just wanted to share my experiences and make a small rant and comparison :P