TLD Z4 Tii Review
Ok, first review in a long time, first time on Suzuka in a long time and first time on GT5P in a long time to be honest. As you can imagine confidence in my driving and ability was low, but have no fear. TLD has came up with another great car, a car I'd never previously enjoyed, the BMW Z4.
So I jumped in not really knowing what to expect, on one hand I had the Z4 as a base car, something I really didn't enjoy, on the other I had TLD, a tuning company that has always served well for my driving style.
Fortunately, the latter came shining through, I dived into the first turn to hot overloading the tyres, but it was easy to catch the car and get it back going in the right direction without a grassy excursion. This always gives a driver confidence, when you know you can go to the limit and beyond without embarassing yourself, so I ploughed on towards the S section of the track. Flying through the esses with minimal effort, the steering felt good, a little twitchy perhaps (although this might just be because I'm not used to slicks) but that also means it's responsive and allows quick direction changes. I could also confidently slam the throttle through the floor with very little oversteer, meaning I had good exit speed each and every turn felt quick.
Coming into the hairpin I gave the car a little feint and it gave me just the right amount of oversteer to point the nose in the right direction, and let me go flat out all the way to spoon, a testing turn for many cars. I ran a little wide again (driver error I assure you) putting 2 wheels onto the grass, but the car remained straight a true and kept it's speed up no problem. I was also happy to know I could jam the throttle leaving spoon for maximum speed onto the straight, without the risk of oversteer.
Continuing on into 130R, I contemplated whether to go flat or not, I opted to release a little bit of throttle and took it with ease at 125mph, next time round I went completely flat at 130mph kerb to kerb on my line, perfect.
First lap (first time on the event first time on Suzuka in a month or so) was a rather average 2:23, however things picked up quickly as the car inspired me to push harder and harder, forgiving any mistakes I made so gracefully, next lap dropped into 2:22.5, then 2:21.7, 2:21. Now you're probably thinking this is rather slow, but keep in mind my situation, and keep in mind my next lap jumped straight to 2:19.3, followed by 2:18.7 (free run) as the car really allowed me to find my mojo again, I think there might be a little bit more to go in this set up, but I was more then pleased with what I had achieved in this would be my wall for this event at my current level. However to achieve this pace in just 6 or 7 laps is fantastic, either this car is ruthlessly efficient or I'm just not pushing it hard enough!
A great piece of work which really surprised me, I'm pleased that the Z4 has been turned into a competitive vehicle. Great handling machine through and through, straight line speed may lack but the gearing is set to maximise whats available as always. The shifting was quick and smooth (avoid the red-line though) and I always knew what gear I was supposed to be in, rather then hopping between 2 gears mid turn, which is always nice for smooth driving.
9/10
However I prefer the RX7, it's just in GT5P we can't get a tuned version and I'm more partial to tuned vehicles. To pick my favourite car would be a close call between the Mines, Amuse and Viper.
Once again you're fast as always, already beating me by 0.2sec.
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