Friday, March 18, 2011

The Ultimate Heartthrobs' Machine

Edward Fuentabella's car in Green Rose


The first generation BMW Z4 can be sometimes a common show-off in some Asian dramas and movies. Lee Dong-gun (as Gerry) drove one in the Korean drama Stained Glass, Rico Blanco (as Lucas) drove one in Imortal, even Jake Cuenca (as Edward) drove one in the Philippine version of Green Rose. Also, this car appeared incidentally on the 2011 comedy drama movie "Who's That Girl?" and this was driven by Luis Manzano, who is the main character on that movie.

The first generation Z4 previously made its first Gran Turismo appearance at GT4 on PS2, then later on it was carried on Gran Turismo PSP and now Gran Turismo 5 on the Playstation3. With the required level of 2 and the cost of about 38,600 credits, GT5 players can add the BMW Z4 '03 model to their ever expanding garage full of race cars and yes its a Premium Tier car.

TOKYO R246 DRIFT!

My BMW Z4 on GT5 is fully tuned to about 383hp/6900rpm, weighs 1136kg because of the weight loss, and its Performance Points is a modest 506. Upon taking a spin on the heartthrobs' machine, it reminds me of the good old days of Stained Glass. Hah! I could often get used to this Autobahn roadster more than often but for those who think the regular BMW Z4 '03 model is not good enough, the high-revving BMW Z4 M Coupe '08 model is for them.

The Z4 M Coupe is fast and curious

The Z4 M Coupe is its first appearance in the Gran Turismo series but most video games featured this car. Players who reached A-Spec/B-Spec level 7 can buy this car at the cost of 69,500 credits. In standard tune, the BMW Z4 M Coupe has a power output of 338hp/7900rpm, weighs 1495kg, and the Performance Points is 469. Thanks to the credits spent in tuning, I accumulated my own Z4 M Coupe to a power output of 422hp/8500rpm, lost 250 kg of weight, and it has 513 Performance Points. How to tune its LSD and Suspension is up to you.

This car stands still at Red Bull Hangar-7

Just like the regular Premium Tier Z4, the Z4 M Coupe is a Premium Tier car. You can change its rims, add aero parts, install carbon fiber hood, or go Photo Travel with this car! Just like mine, I take a picture of this car at Red Bull Hangar-7, which is one of the photo travel locations only Premium Tier cars can take a picture at.

The duel between the two Z4 models

Who knows? Both the BMW Z4 '03 and the BMW Z4 M Coupe '08 can be the fiercest rivals and it's up to you to decide which Z4 is your pick. I personally think that the fully tuned Z4 M Coupe has a higher power output than a fully tuned BMW Z4 3.0i but the max tuned BMW Z4 3.0i is lighter than the max tuned Z4 M Coupe. This is going to be a neck-to-neck experience when I try them both and deciding which is which may probably take some time. Still, the first generation BMW Z4 is definitely the ultimate heartthrobs' machine and the Z4 M Coupe is the ultimate thrill-seekers' machine.

It's up to you to decide...

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