Forza Motorsport 6: Know your Bond Car - BMW Z8

MI6 Tanner to Forza 6 players,

As you may know, some of the Bond Cars recorded from the MI6's Q-Branch have been featured in Forza Motorsport 6, the latest installment in the highly-successful Forza franchise available exclusively on the XBOX One. I'll be briefing you with some of the most iconic Bond Cars featured in FM6.



The BMW Z8 is an open-top grand tourer heavily inspired from the legendary BMW 507 of the 1950's.  As a production car, the Z8 features a combination of aluminum space frame and aluminum paneling. It's retro-inspired design was penned by Henrik Fisker who would later work for an Aston Martin DB9 before going on to create his own now-defunct car company behind the Fisker Karma PHEV.

Powering the Z8 is the similar 5.0L V8 from the BMW E39 M5, producing 394HP of power and 368.8ft-lb of torque, while mated with a 6-speed manual gearbox. 0-100kph takes about 4.7 seconds.

It was first revealed in the 1999 Bond film, The World is Not Enough, starring Pierce Brosnan, although its only shot to fame is when it went backwards for a few yards, fired a missile, and gets split into half. Later on, it was featured in Bond games such as 007 Racing, where a selection of Bond cars are featured in different missions, and 007: Agent Under Fire, a first-person shooter game.

In one episode of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson thinks that driving the Z8 feels like driving a Scania truck, so a tuned version, the Alpina Z8, was featured and when The Stig drove one, it set a lap time of 1:29.0.

We asked our Q-branch experts to send the Z8 round the Top Gear Test Track to see if this is as fast as the lap time set by The Stig several years ago.



After a lap round the Top Gear Track, our expert did it in 1:27.586, which is around two seconds faster than the lap time set by The Stig, which is quite an amazement for a Bond car that was underappreciated by some after watching it got split into half in a Bond movie.

MI6, end of transmission.

My favorite Bond cars during the Pierce Brosnan years

A battle between two Bond cars!

When Bond was in his Pierce Brosnan years (1995-2002), those Bond cars featured were mostly German while his last film is reverted back to British. Those were the BMW Z3 from GoldenEye, BMW 750Li from Tomorrow Never Dies, BMW Z8 from The World Is Not Enough, and the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. Two of my favorite Bond cars during the Pierce Brosnan years were actually the BMW Z8 and the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish because they were very unique, very cool, and surprisingly, a part of my childhood memories.

Luckily, both the Z8 and the V12 Vanquish were in Forza Motorsport 4 I have the choice which of these Pierce Brosnan-era Bond cars is my pick. First was the Z8, as a Bond car featured in the 1999 Bond film, The World Is Not Enough, this car is all about being too classy and drop dead gorgeous. If that didn't put you off, two Bond games featured this car such as 007 Racing, where a selection of Bond cars are showcased in numerous missions, and 007 Agent Under Fire, a first-person shooter game. Sadly, however, this Z8 hasn't found a mass audience and according to Jeremy Clarkson, it feels like driving a Scania truck. (Honest!)

It may have a wonderful looking body, it may have an engine from a BMW M5, it may have a tricked rear axle, and they have James Bond to drive one, it should have been spectacularly good but the result was very awful and that's why production of this Z8 model ended in 2003. Even the last hurrah which is a tuned version of the Z8, the ALPINA Z8, wasn't good either because this is just a tuned car that feels downgraded.

If you don't like the BMW Z8 because it feels more like a Scania truck like Jeremy Clarkson did, how about a Bond car that served as a last hurrah for Pierce Brosnan before he was replaced by Dainel Craig in 2006? The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. Yep, the V12 Vanquish, the one used by Pierce Brosnan on his last Bond film, DIE ANOTHER DAY, and what's surprising is when Q Branch fitted the car with body panels that render the Vanquish invisible. Sadly, we can't do that. In a Bond video game, 007 Nightfire, this car releases smoke, has Q wedge, EMP, and it can go underwater. Also, we can't do that. Even it doesn't have some of the cool Bond stuff, the Vanquish is much more good looking than the BMW Z8 and this Bond car comes serve with a 6.0L V12 that produces 460HP of power and 0-60mph in 5 seconds. The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish appeared in an episode of Top Gear where Jeremy Clarkson heads to the Isle of Wight to drive the Vanquish against the Ferrari 575 Maranello, driven by former F1 World Champion Damon Hill. The Vanquish set a lap time of 1.36.2. Later on, an improved version, the Vanquish S, set a lap time of 1.27.1 at the Top Gear Test Track.

Both of these Bond cars may seem to be different but if I compare both of these, it's hard to decide which of these Brosnan-era Bond cars is my pick but for me, I would probably go for the Vanquish because it's quintessentially good looking until it was taken over by a Bond car driven by Daniel Craig, which is the DBS, one of my favorites.

But, how's like to be in the Top Gear Test Track? Let's find out by pushing these two round the track by a tamed racing driver.

My BMW Z4 did it in 1:26.377 while the V12 Vanquish did it in 1:23.279, which means, I would prefer the Vanquish because it's faster than the BMW Z8 and more importantly, better looking, better to drive, and that's it

BMW Z8 tuning by Senner Tuning

Senner Tuning BMW Z8

A memorable BMW roadster, the BMW Z8, got a new lease of life thanks to the tuning done by Senner Tuning. This modified Z8 is packed with a sports filter, custom exhaust system, and ECU upgrades, it reaches 450hp of power and 535Nm of torque with a flat-out of over 300kph.

Also, Senner Tuning added a Variant 2 Inox-Line coilover kitwith an adjustable rebound and new front strut bar, Racing Gold varnished brake calipers, and 19-inch rims to complete this modification the Z8 deserves. Take that, BMW Alpina Z8! :-P