When the topic of BMW racecars comes up in Gran Turismo Sport, the cars that first come to mind are usually the M4 Gr. 4 and the M6 GT3, both of which should be more than familiar sights on the sharp end of the race results screen when accompanied by an equally familiar name: FT_NicoR, overall winner of 2019's FIA-Certified Gran Turismo Championship. In a game that often has only one car per manufacturer for each class of Gr. 3 and Gr. 4, and with how synonymous the M4 and M6 has been with BMW thanks to Nicolas' expert driving, it's easy to forget that BMW has three cars eligible for Gr. 3, and so I found myself curious as to how one of these oft–neglected cars drive, hence my pick this week: the 2011 BMW Z4 GT3 takes the spotlight this week here in Car of the Week! (well not quite THIS "this week" due to health concerns, persistent procrastination, and nagging perfectionism but blah just go along with it I don't know how to edit that last sentence while keeping the same flow and flair but that's not to say that my writing has any flow and flair worth mentioning gah whatever just have a photo of the car.)
It may be a foregone conclusion that the M6 is the most competitive car in BMW's roster of Gr. 3 cars, and nothing I can write or however many laps I can turn will ever mean anything more than Nicolas' feat and judgment. But, on a personal, non–competitive level, I actually have quite the soft spot for the Z4. The second generation Z4, the E89, is one of the best looking cars BMW has ever produced in my millennial eyes—much more graceful and striking than the slightly awkward first gen and the squarish and bland third gen, and certainly better looking than any of the samey sedans and coupés BMW are otherwise shackled to. I remember taking the Z4 M Coupé out for a spin in GT6 and being really pleasantly surprised by it. And speaking of past games and past models, there are unused assets remaining in GT6 indicating that some sort of 2012 Z4 GT3 adorned with Good Smile Racing's Hatsune Miku livery was supposed to be in the game, but was ultimately cut for unknown reasons. Now armed with a livery editor I haven't the patience, skill, or time to really use, and a Discover feature to save me from having to do much with it, I think it'd be really fun to kill two obscure birds with one spotlight and apply the livery that I believe was planned to be included in GT6 and race everyone with it this week!
...if real life hadn't gotten in the way and made me miss this week's racing, that is. Ah well.
If looking great and having some "lore" behind the Z4 isn't enough to tantalise you into trying it out for yourself, then perhaps the fact that the Z4 GT3 falls into ThePotatoKing's latter category of BMW racecars, the "let's put a V8 into it and see if it works" category, will push you over the edge. While the production E89s never saw an engine that exceeded 3 litres in displacement, had cylinders daring enough to stand out of line, and were rarely allowed to breathe freely, the GT3 spec Z4 boasts a hulking, naturally aspirated V8 outputting a maximum of 508HP (379kW) and 515N⋅m (380lbf⋅ft) at rev ranges where the road car's engines would've long since tapped out. In fact, the E92 M3 derived V8 that sees duty in the Z4 GT3 redlines at an S2000 rivaling 9,000rpm! Despite the fact that a larger engine was crammed into the long bonnet of the Z4's silhouette however, the racecar's diet programme has been so thorough that it somehow resulted in the long hood, short deck car having a 48:52 F:R weight distribution—with a 4.4L V8 up front! And so what we end up with then, is an open top car powered by a free breathing, rev happy V8, sporting stylish looks and impeccable balance. Why couldn't BMW have offered the production Z4 like this? Ah well, looks like we have to settle for second best then, which is to drive a carbon shod, flare sporting, racing slick draped, race prepped, pedigree backed, even more stylish GT3 spec of the Z4, and use our imagination a little. Like I do with Hatsune Miku.
To drive, the Z4 GT3 is nothing short of excellent! I think we as drivers subconsciously compensate for the imperfections in how the steering wheels and pedals respond when we drive, and only notice and complain when how they respond becomes too imprecise. The Z4 GT3's feedback and responses however, are so crisp and direct, it made me feel as if that layer of uncertainty was omitted completely, and I was left with a shocking sense of clarity, almost as though attaining Nirvana, like I was afforded a whole other dimension of understanding and context. It felt like I was wearing earplugs or sunglasses my whole life, and the Z4 somehow removed those filters to my senses and I was made to realise how much I was missing out by allowing me newfound directness. It almost feels as if PD forgot to program in those "filters", those imperfections in the steering and throttle response for the Z4, and what I'm left with is... well, perfection, really.
The crisp and immediate throttle response works in perfect harmony with the peaky, frantic, yet progressive engine to create an experience that I'd go as far as to claim is an art form in itself. It's impossible to place a tyre wrong in the Z4 because of this linearity, clarity, and immediacy, both from the throttle response, torque curve, and steering wheel, which makes tracing racing lines through corners almost feel like writing calligraphy with my hands and feet. I begin to actively use even the smallest of parts of a racetrack to open up corners more, like the drainage covers of Spa, simply because I felt that confident and assured in the Z4. In other cars, hearing the rumbling of going over those parts of the track just means, "oh, I'm going off the track. Best back off I guess..." In the Z4, it's instead, "I am HERE because I WANT TO BE here and NOTHING and NO ONE can take this moment away from me!!!" Where I see limitation in other cars, I find opportunity and excitement in the Z4. It's a car that can make even the extraordinary feel special, and it's been so, so long since I've felt this way with a car before. So confidence inspiring is the Z4 GT3 that I, someone who grip drives as though trying to write down my horrible attachment issues on pavement, even began to slide and drift the Z4 GT3 in the rain!
Yet, for all its party capabilities, the Z4 is one of those cars where I just hop into and clear my mind as I drive if I wasn't in the mood for shenanigans, simply because it's so linear, predictable, easy, and therefore familiar and relaxing, the fact that it's a noisy, harsh GT3 racecar capable of insane gs notwithstanding through a TV speakers sputtering out onto a living room couch, of course.
I know my analogies sound corny as hell, and it's a stretch to even think that there was even an attempt by PD to replicate these intricacies in the steering and throttle in this simcade, but this is really how I felt and worded it in my head as I drove the Z4 GT3, and I'm just going to give you my thoughts as–is. If nothing else, that corniness is just representative of how much the Z4 GT3 blows my mind every time I drive it.
Despite the common consensus that the Z4 simply isn't competitive with the current BoP however, I find myself setting startlingly similar times with it around Interlagos in comparison to the similarly long hooded, short decked Viper GT3-R, and also the much more commonly seen RX-Vision GT3, none of which are hot lap contenders, granted, but both of them competitive still as shown in the latest Exhibition Round of FIA Gran Turismo Championships. In fact, I was actually a whole second faster round Spa in the rain with Z4 than I am with the RX-Vision!
The real surprise though, came when I decided to run the aforementioned 2016 M6 GT3 around Interlagos as well. Yes, its straight line speed over the Z4 is immediately felt, but the much larger car with a longer wheelbase simply doesn't crave to carve out corners like its older sibling, and dare I say it, the 4.4L V8 is blown straight into ground zero of a tornado by the turbos, kicking out the rear end on corner exits more often than not. The M6 GT3 feels almost like a car with a split personality because of the turbos, and neither of them are particularly pleasant to be around. Corner exits out of hairpins and other such tightly wound corners then, require a savant level of awareness with your right foot and ears, even with fresh tyres and a full tank of fuel. Even though I spent more time with the M6 trying to get things right, I simply couldn't beat the time I set in the Z4, which is the real surprise of my testing. Perhaps with an obsessive amount of time behind the wheel, the M6 has more potential to set better lap times than the Z4, especially around a track that favours outright speed more than Interlagos, but even without going down that path of insanity, I can safely tell you that I won't have a gram of fun with that experience, and I'd sooner attempt to swim across a wet track than to drive an M6 GT3 on it. It simply doesn't look as good, sound as great, or drive as amazing as the Z4. I doubt it's even really that much faster than a Z4 around most tracks in this game.
If there's anything that can be gleaned from this review that amounts to more than an unskilled, inexperienced kid playing around with big, expensive toys in a highly unrealistic scenario and then writing awful "reviews" based on that experience with cringe–worthy analogies, it's this: I think people put too much stock in what's "meta". I think people just see what cars the aliens set the fastest lap times with, and then try to get as close to those times themselves with the same car, thinking that that's them at their most competitive scenario. I think Gr. 3 is so finely balanced now after years of tweaking that most cars in the same hands can set lap times within a tenth of a second from each other. Me personally, if I had to choose between an extra tenth a lap the M6 might offer me versus the consistency and ease of use the Z4 assures me, I'd take the latter all day any day. Sure, Nicolas proves the M6 is the faster car, but here's the thing: I'm not Nicolas Rubilar. I'm me. I'd be lucky to have a tenth of his talent. I don't have the same chemistry as he does with the M6. I'm more competitive with the Z4 than I am with the M6. I think, if more people took the time to try out more options rather than simply following the "meta", I think the Z4 wouldn't be so criminally underappreciated as it currently is, and hence why I'm so eager to get everyone to try out this undervalued gem of a car. And I really hope everyone found it as pleasantly surprising as I did.
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