Beater or Sleeper? COTW! [Closed]

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SPD Writes Car Of The Week: Week 86 - Barbie Movie Cars


Car 1: Chevrolet 'Barbie Movie' Corvette EV



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And you thought I was original with pink Corvettes? Nah, though it's a complete coincidence that I even thought of a pink C8.


Week 86 sounds to me as the perfect time to nominate the Toyota 86. But looks to me we ain't doing that. I remember this time of year for something else, and you all know I'm very bad at hinting things that I've done, and things I don't want to happen (in this case it's nominating the SRT Viper GTS on GT7's COTW). But let's get to the car first before I erupt.

Umm.. releasing in the 21st of July, the Barbie movie stars prime white skinned blondes Barbie and Ken as they exit the comforts of their self named utopian Barbie world and into the real world, where, du-duhh, real world tropes and logic apply. With Mattel also responsible for a good chunk of this game's content (see COTW nominees in Bad To The Blade, the 2 Bone Shakers and Deora II), I find no shock to see more of their stuff around, only that it's a different franchise that's seen as the polar opposite to HotWheels. And I'm SPD with the D strongly leaning to Dude.

But I gotta delve deep on what's up with Barbie having a car like this. Well, from what I see, Barbie and cars are actually a combination that seems to have materialized for as long as she's existed in the late 50s. The first of this bunch would be an Austin Healey 3000. Now, the Barbie Corvette would soon follow that, and eventually across 4 generations of Corvettes. There are other cars like the 328 GTS that's in Gran Turismo 7 (should we DO need a Barbie week perhaps).

A whole list of cars Barbie has taken over come to mostly roadsters, like the Z8, the revived 2005 Mustang, the convertible Lexus SC430, and a few Ferraris of the mid 2000s. But let's not stray away too far. The Barbie Corvette I would like to say is based off the C1 Corvette that we've reviewed ages back, but it's a model that's entirely new to the game, being the one in between the 60's facelift and the 53 original. And the reason why it's electrical? Well, following movie logic, the car's entirely autonomous, meaning it's supposedly have no working parts.

Also the other thing.. muscle cars are known for its size. This one's a teeny tiny one. If I knew better, Margot Robbie isn't exactly a big frame lady (I googled and she's 5 foot 6). You can see her sticking out of the car she drives it in certain promotion shots. It's ridiculous. Also you can see this car has the audacity to stuff in rear seats that will never fit anyone but your mom on opposite day. This interior too I will get into more detail later on.

The last thing I want to mention is the engine. You think it's going to have its long running V8, but the Barbie Corvette is an EV, meaning 1 gear, instant power, and get this: the game suggests its rear engined, meaning the battery is placed at the rear. Having past an episode of me raging about this, I took the sensible route and had a look underneath, and look: there's a flat layer of batteries down there alright, should it even be modeled (it's blacked out). It's not one can say is at the back.

Forzavista's also a bust, with the car not letting you check its trunk or 'engine bay'. Perhaps it's welded shut like a HotWheels car. Interestingly, you can find its charging port on the left side by the front wheel.

With its 302 horsepower power source, the Barbie Corvette sits with 658 PI. Within Rods and Customs, you're not going to find any nearby rivals for the tiny Vette to deal with. As a Hard-To-Find, you're not going to get a second Barbie Corvette aside this free one.. unless you're me and checked the Auction House, where you're able to find them buying out for 144,000 credits for both common and cheapest.


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To bring out the pink Californian in us, we go to the furthest edge of Mexico from it that comes from..

..my first nominated Horizon Apex event that is Gran Pantano Sprint. That's fishy.


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I'm a MINI man!
In a MINI Mexico!
Gulps an old brew..
..fresh
HOW DARE YOU!!


"A steady downhill route that takes you on a tour of the jungle and past the ruins of Ek Balam and Tulum, before emerging by the swamp and finishing at the beautiful Playa Azul."

Well, we're not bringing the Lexus RC F around this time, but what Gran Pantano Sprint offers really is swooping turn after swooping turn after swooping turn. It's a speedy sprint that accentuates the need of turning just as good to get the best of it. I mentioned the Sesto Elemento FE as the car to bring, but 80+ weeks of me hanging around this miniature nation shows that one car isn't always the answer. Perhaps a run with a well tuned Bad To The Blade can satisfy the inner slot car racer in us.


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I've been a Corvette lover since I was a kid, so I'm really going to try my hardest to find the best out of this.. undisputed most fake, feminine variant of the thing.


- Like I said, kids are.. well, the Barbie Corvette is cartoonishly downscaled, to the fact the interior view makes you feel like you're trying to see the insides as someone in Mario Kart. If you need to use the speedometer: BAM, here it is, and if you think about it, you're essentially leaning forwards to have this view, like you're having a serious gamer moment or something.

- For a RWD car, launching it isn't an issue when you use the Launch Control. This is actually pretty nasty when you don't use it, so please use it. And since it's electric, there isn't a guide for shift points because this isn't the Taycan.

- We're obviously in the wrong place to test out braking for the car, because as it turns out the car not only tops out at 129, it handles big long turns quite nicely, though turning too much in is going to lose you some speed. Be wary of that. Out of the sprint and into messing about Playa Azul, the brakes are quite lacking, mimicking that of a classic muscle car, only that this car weight just above a ton.

- While it can turn really nicely over long curves, you're going to need to be a little more careful when in lower speeds. Going too far is losing you pace in high speeds, but it's losing the car's control for lower speeds. Then again, this is where I find out the car can make for an okay-ish drifter, just don't expect to outsmoke the Mustang Mach E 1400.

- Bleh, this is where I'm supposed to mention gearing. It's an electric, so I'll just mention that while it's capped at 129, you are welcome to extend this for the occasion as it's customizable from the get go.

- Now we head into traction, and this is notably poor when you are racing around places like Guanajuato, or even the Horizon Circuit. You probably see why if you're RWD and electric, these things have to be built to have grip there. It's why I like the Spark ODYSSEY. But general rule of thumb with racing this car is that if you manage to get the car's rear wheels not smoking, you're doing fine.

- On to the track, and the one tip I do have for those wanting to get around Gran Pantano with this car is that you don't go off the road, and be your inner slot car. Right inputs at the right places, really. Speaking of which: this car can make a fine off-road car for B, because you can't do conversion with it.

- I'm not sure what to say about the car to top this off. Sounds to me it's proof that once again, Forza's never really capable of balancing electric cars properly. Unless it's the new Ford Lightning. You're probably going to need to play to its strengths, and that's coming from its acceleration, traction in the right places, and surprising handling.

It's not a disaster I thought it'd be, but there's no way I'm doing this run more than twice. So it's still sort of a disaster.


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So when I become the SomePlayaBarbie I'm never sure I want to be, that guy can get around Gran Pantano with best efforts of 3:05.114.

There's a good chunk of electric cars in this game, and PG can never get these right for performance, unless you're again the Ford Lightning of the Spark ODYSSEY. There's another one? Maybe..

OHH MYY, after this it's laps around Goodwood to cheer me up.


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Car 2: GMC 'Barbie Movie' Hummer EV Pickup


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I'm actually quite a fan of these new gigantic EVs. The technology behind actually producing these behemoths really astounds me.


So, why the heck is there another variant of the Hummer EV we got last season? This new Hummer is actually a car I love to own like the Rivian or the Ford Lightning, but.. I didn't bother to get it in game because let's say this game does a terrible job at hooking me back in.

Right now, I'm not really bothered to do the quick historical factoids of this new Hummer named GMC electric titan. Mainly because what took me fancy was the fact it's named as Ken's car. Ken, the male romance figure I'm sure people nowadays understand when seeing Toy Story 3.

I suppose this is where the jokes would come in. Emm..

Considering Hummer's status as the SUV of Californian moms that would define its feminine nature, would Ken one can say be the ultimate form of a power fantasy considering Barbie is not exactly such the case for men? Perhaps Barbie needs a purpose fulfilling man figure?

Let's swap Kens around, eh?

Would Ken Masters drive one of these things to help Ryu get around the world with them street fighting? Should Kenshiro manage to save Yuria in record speed with one of these instead of him walking the walk? How would you interpret Kenny getting killed by this thing, and who's the bastard to blame?

Yup, you can tell I'm just in it for filler. TIME TO ANALYZE!

If you've missed out on the Hummer EV like I have, Ken's Hummer serves a similar purpose with similar numbers. Both cars settle in early A class with their rated 718 PI, also being the top of its Pick-up & 4X4's class when it comes down to the cars as is. Another Hard-To-Find like the Barbie Corvette, the Ken Hummer too isn't for sale, but widely available at the Auction house, with 138,000 as the cheapest, and 176,000 as the most common. For a comparison, the regular Hummer EV goes around here at 15 million credits.. which is dumb, really. I expect a massive devalue.


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This second rate giant gets to get around Ek' Balam Cross Country to see if it can just zing me or shock me altogether.

Ahh yes, HOW DARE YOU the track. That's even more fishy.


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I think what this movie's trying to tell me is that Hummers and Corvettes are girly cars. I can definitely say that for the Corvette and the older H2 onwards Hummers, but this one I don't trust anyone's girlfriend with.. the MINI, on the other hand..


"A compact Cross Country Circuit set among the ruins of Ek’ Balam, crossing over the boardwalks and splashing through passages beneath the ancient acropolis."

Aside from being a very interesting Cross Country venture, this is the place where I actually felt elated with the big blue MINI that stars every week from week 10 onwards, and declared it a top Sleeper. Strange, ain't it. Not to mention it having a considerable strong showing in any Throwback it got it's silly backside involved in.

So, this is a closed Cross Country circuit that I find myself enjoying because despite its cramped looks, it's more open than you think. But then again, the car we ran last time here is an excellent lightweight SUV. We have a thousand horsepower, but it might not be just as fun if it's possibly a thousand times more grueling.


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This is Ken's car, but let's be honest: Ken is plain ass plain. What kind of style does he have.. I have a bad feeling should I Google this..


- Familiar with the insides of this huge Hummer (because I'm sort of passionate about these huge EV off-roaders), it looks to me there's quite an oddity in Ken's preferences to having this kind of steering wheel cover. I think I've already exhausted my bovine related jokes with certain Lamborghinis. I wonder if Rambo Lambo has such a joke?

- Again with the Barbie Corvette, the Ken Hummer doesn't have a strategy for launch and shifting, especially since its AWD. Like really, I should omit this part for this car.

- Quick brake check says it's fine, but you might find it to be slightly lacking because it's trying to stop a 4.1 ton beast. They work, at least, and for the off-roader in me, I can't find any notable faults with it.

- Handling the car off the road is.. interesting. You definitely feel that 4 ton load going around, which you can't translate to the Unimog we had that one time because this Hummer has power. It feels like it belongs on the road, but I can't even confidently say that. At stock, the handling for off-road warrants you to prepare yourself for the shift in weight. And it does so at a snail's pace, meaning it wants to keep you on your toes on a road like this. Considering what Grandma Racing noted, this is a terrible competitive car. Playground, stop shafting your EVs. You're promoting them but can't make them semi decent?

- Gearing? Umm, this car has a lower top speed than the Barbie Corvette, at around the 109 mark. Accurate to the source material, sure, but if we head down the Volcano, this is a disaster waiting to happen. Lucky though at stock you can raise this, and with 82 PI to play with, it might not be an issue for your tuned Hummer.

- While Ek Balam isn't super bumpy, the Hummer is capable of taking these quite well in stock form. Should you need to go wild and wide, hopefully you're not faced with a primitive form of Barry R, else you and your 4.1 ton shield should be fine. That lone water puddle isn't going to slow you down terribly, because.. well it shouldn't.

- For something that carries so much power, it doesn't feel like it has even 400 horsepower. But I can't complain.. it's capable of great off-roading. Unless Ek Balam has a giant straight, there's nothing to complain about in terms of power. Lucky enough, traction is not going to be an issue unless you keep on the power during turning, which is like an elephant trying out its luck stopping as it stampedes.

- So, you probably noticed while the Barbie Corvette is TINY, the Ken Hummer is huge, meaning, yes, you can get cheeky with checkpoint registration with its huge size. That also means you can take great advantage of the venue's larger width.

- To master the Hummer, just don't bring it with a competitive mindset. This recipe to bring it around the track, wherever you go, isn't going to work out. Think of it as a mountain climber rather than a speed runner. It was introduced in an update where discovery is the name of the game. Come to think of it, this is why novelty cars do exist in these games to begin with anyways.

Do you want a certified HOW DARE YOU moment?

I know you do.

Because the Hummer EV Pickup earned itself the 22nd Mark of Zen. Perhaps it's that this big lug can still be enjoyed in a tight but consistent patch of raceable grass? Or that it's got more depth than you think? It's a big machine, but unlike some other bigger machines, it resonated well enough with Ek Balam for me to have a 35 minute stint. Though, you bring this to a speedier Cross Country adventure, and there ain't a chance this is getting awarded then.


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It's not a master of the fist, but the Hummer EV can fight through the temple's denizes with a quickest of 1:08.665.

This might be weird to say, but this is a gradual growth of how much I enjoy the car. You're not going to get it unless you somehow were chasing a flagged 1:08 and couldn't stop when you should've done so 10 minutes ago. That's what happened.


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Okay, I need to get back into making my own self named utopia. SPDplanet. I mean.. verdict. Forget the SPDplanet idea. It doesn't exist.. I mean, until recently.

So..

What is the Chevrolet 'Barbie Movie' Corvette EV? It is..

Pink.

If anything, I understand where they were going, but I am not a fan of taking out a soapbox with batteries. It's quirky, but considering how I didn't enjoy what it did best in, that's just a plain Beater for me.


What is the GMC 'Barbie Movie' Hummer EV Pickup? It is..

A generator with wheels.

I'm genuinely surprised by what it offers, but thanks to how the game treats it, it's delegated to Neutral as is. Could be more interesting if we can swap it with some big engines, even though it shouldn't even be possible.


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The Barbie Corvette is too small.
The Ken Hummer is too big.
Week 13's C1 Corvette? Just right.
 
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  • Grippy despite its Whitewall tyres.
  • Great acceleration, low top speed.
  • B Class builds are power limited.
  • A novelty car for the Rods & Customs class.
Overall, it’s a fun freebie, a stressless cruiser, but not 100% ideal for serious racers.

Verdict: Neutral 🙂

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  • Pretty much identical to the normal GMC Hummer(Great if you missed it last series.:D)
  • On Road performance unsurprisingly below average, Off Road performance is deceptively good.
  • Monstrous acceleration, poor top speed.
  • Handles much better than it’s over 9000(!!)lbs weight will make you think, assisted by four wheel steering. :P
  • Can have the Rimac Nevera’s near 1900hp Motor swapped in. :drool:
As mentioned, if you missed the normal GMC Hummer from last series, this is a welcome sight.

And if you didn’t miss the regular version, you can now have an EV Hummer for A Class and one for S1 Memes. :lol:

And speaking of the former..
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Paging @Obelisk to the rivals board. :sly:

Overall, its low top speed holds it back from a Sleeper verdict, but it’s a big truck with A LOT of potential. ;)

Verdict: Neutral 🙂
 
I'll get you someday.

Sorry for the higher than usual delay - i was driving to and from PA to sell a car IRL.

This week, we're looking at a true monster of a car, the 2012 Hennessey Venom GT.
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Essentially a stretched Lotus Elise with a massive 6.2 liter engine behind the driver, the Venom GT was one of the first modern road cars to be purpose built for straight line speed and nothing but.

To test this car's claim to fame, we're taking it to two different courses this week: the Aerodromo Drag Strip and the Carterra Chase Street Scene.
 
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So the Hennessy Venom GT, a heavily modified Lotus Exige(It’s even registered as a Lotus Exige for road use.) which took on the established speed kings back in 2012 with unofficial top speed runs clocking in at 270mph and setting records in acceleration with the Venom doing 0-300kph(186mph) in 13.6 seconds and also unofficially beating the Aegra R’s 0-200 mph record by over 3 seconds. :embarrassed:

Powering the Venom GT is a twin turbo V8 making 1200hp and sending it all to the rear tyres via a 6 speed manual gearbox.

Notice how I didn’t specify the engine displacement?

Because while the car in game is a 6.2 litre, some outlets including its Wiki page make no mention of it, but only of a 7.0 litre version. :confused:

My best guess is the 6.2 V8 is a very early version as the the 7.0 version would go on to make over 1450hp in later models. :drool:

In any case, how does it drive?

Well it’s less than 100lbs heavier than a Lotus Exige S of the same model year, but has over triple the power of it, so it ain’t gonna be docile. :lol:

As long as you keep the rear tyres from spinning up too much, you can actually use its immense power to great effect.

Of course, considering that I managed to lay down rubber grabbing 4th and 5th gear on some not completely smooth roads, it’s never too far away from trying to kill you. :scared:

Its handling is actually solid once you readjust to the speeds you’ll be doing, just don’t start thinking it’s a Sesto Elemento FE and you’ll be fine. :P

The price in the Autoshow is 1.2 million, but I’ve have seen cars with buyouts for under 850k at Auction.

Interestingly, even though its PI is S2 911, You can actually drop into S1 Class with Rally tyres and it can be quite a threat on high speed tracks with the right tune and driver combo. ;)

Overall, not a car for rookies or the faint hearted. 😉👍

Verdict: Neutral (Stock) Sleeper (Detuned to S1)
 
Ok folks, @Obelisk has given me the green light to announce this weeks pick.

A few days ago, we sadly lost Reeves Callaway, the man behind Callaway Cars and revered by many in the Corvette community. :guilty:

Today we pay tribute to him with the car that put him and Callaway Cars on the map, while the exact car we’ll be using is newer, it’s part of the same model generation.

It is…

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The 1995 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1!!

Based on the C4 generation, The C4 ZR-1 was nicknamed “The King Of The Hill” as its 5.7 LT5 V8 designed by Lotus made 375hp & later on 405hp, which combined with its durability allowed it to set numerous speed records in 1990, including covering over 4200 miles in 24hrs with an average speed of nearly 176mph.

But a few years prior to that, Revees Callaway had a more ambitious C4 project, going after the highest top speed for a street legal car, the end result was the 880hp Callaway Sledgehammer that set a top speed record of 255mph in 1988. :drool:

The track we’ll be using is the Midnight Battle route for the 2010 Lambo Murcielago.

Happy hunting folks. :cheers:
 
Ooh, another car that's featured in Jason Cammisa's "Revelations" series, one of the best things to happen to motoring journalism! Of course I'm going to share it!



In GT7, we have a prototype version of the ZR-1 from 1990 with a funky dash. The temptation is real for me to veto poor McD's choice for next week and feature that instead :lol:
 
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So the Corvette C4 ZR-1.

At first glance, you might think it’s just a regular top model Vette that GM hopped up a little.

But you’d be wrong.

The regular C4’s V8 was most commonly a OHV(Over Head Valve) 16 Valve V8, for the ZR-1 they approached Lotus to help build a more potent version of the 5.7 V8.

What they came up with was a DOHC (Double Over Head Cam), 32 Valve V8 with 375hp in its earliest form and over 400hp in its later models.

But such an specialist engine meant a bunch of extra work, work that was too much for their current production plants to practically manage, so once again they reached out.

Only this time it was Mercury Marine, a company that mostly works with outboard boat engines, but we’re also better suited to working with aluminium, which the newly christened LT5 had plenty of, GM contracted them to assemble the LT5 and ship them back to them.

But the ZR-1 wasn’t just a Vette with a hot motor in it, it had bigger brake, wider Goodyear tyres, revised suspension with input from Lotus and a custom 6 speed manual built by ZF all played the part in making the ZR-1 live up to its ‘King Of The Hill’ moniker.

Sub 5 second runs to 60mph, mid 13’s in the Quarter Mile and top speeds touching 180mph, not to mention the previously mentioned distance records it set in 1990.

But while it handled well, stopped decently and could give the imports absolute hell on the straights, it came at a price, it’s price.

ZR-1’s cost pretty much double what a standard Vette cost, as such only just under 7000 C4 ZR-1’s were made, for reference, COTW’s GT7 pick from last week in the Delorean DMC-12 had around 9000 cars made. :sly:

So for 45k in game, it’s reasonably priced and it does offer some interesting options on engine swaps to boot.

You can swap in a modern 6.2 Chevy V8 to keep things all Chevy, the 6.7 Ford Powerstroke Diesel is option 2, the Viper’s 8.4 V10 and the Speed 12’s 7.7 V12 are options 3 & 4. :)

Option 5? It’s actually poetic as it’s the 2.6 4 Rotor from the 787B, the perfect counter to LS swapped RX-7’s. :D

All in all, it’s a car that certainly earned its title back in its day.

Verdict: Sleeper 😉👍

Lastly, A PSA: 1 of the daily challenges this week involves the C4 ZR-1 going 200mph, so throw some power at it and get it there. :P
 
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So the Bentley 8 Litre, the most powerful non race car from the 1930’s at 220hp & 383ft-lbs of torque from its huge 8 litre Inline 6. :embarrassed:

That power was sent to the rear via a 4 speed manual gearbox, unsurprisingly, it’s got an open differential so that low down torque will easily spin the inside wheel when cornering, even in 3rd gear. :scared:

Given its a luxury car first and foremost, it’s suspension is quite soft so it’ll feel sluggish to respond in the turns.

Of course that’s ignoring the fact it’s tyres are tall & skinny, it’s brakes are weak and it weighs over 2.5 tons(5,600lbs to be exact) so it’s not one for serious racing in stock form. :P

Price is 1.5 million(they only made 100) and they can be also had at Auction for around 825k at the lowest buyout.

As for upgrades, you can add a supercharger to the factory 8 litre and take it up to 400hp maximum, but given its brick like aerodynamics, over 120mph is the best you’ll get out that engine. :guilty:

As for swaps, every engine available is smaller than the factory 8 Litre, there’s two V12 options, the Aventador 6.5, 700hp pick and the Speed 12 7.7, 800hp pick. :)

Only 1 V8 and V10, the AMG 6.2, 510hp V8 and the 5.2 V10 from the Huracan and also 2 I6 swaps in the form of the BMW M3 3.2, 321hp option and the Racing 3.0 I6T with 805hp.

So yeah, plenty of options. :lol:

Overall, you cruise in the 8 Litre if you’re keeping it stock, but don’t race it stock.

Verdict:Beater(As a racer, Sleeper as a Criuser.) 🤔
 
I take a long, hard look at the Hennessey Venom sat in front of me. A dust-free chunk of engineering parked in a garage that looks 10 years too old.

"Amigo, what's on your mind?"

Ramiro sets his hand on my shoulder.

"You've been staring at this car for a while. That's not like you, Superstar."

I just shrug at him then turn back to the car.

"I haven't been much of a superstar lately," I say, "with the missed announcements and lack of driving. I'm wondering if I can even keep it together long enough to close shop properly-"

"Hey, don't talk like that!" Ramiro suddenly shouts. "Listen, amigo...

"I think the drivers here are happy that you started the party in the first place. As much as I'd like for Horizon to be the party that ever ends... All good things do come to an end. What's important, Obelisk, is that everyone had a good time on the road while it lasted."

He sighs, pats me on the shoulder, then walks off to God knows where. Probably to run another cargo flight.

What's important is that everyone had a good time, huh...?

Why am I being so foolish about this, then?




Alright. I have no excuse not to hammer these out. Let's do this.

The Venom... or more specifically the Venom GT, was the fastest non-production car in a straight line. It's been bested by its successor, the Venom F5. Funnily enough, the F5 is an actual production car, with at least 78 units produced as of the writing of this review.

But right to the point on the review.

Being a stretched Elise chassis, it's a car that should have pretty good handling characteristics. And, it does! Just not good enough in the modern world of S2 class racing. It seems like it ought to make it up with the straight line speed, but even that is a bit hopeless as the AWD cars will fly off into the horizon on corner exit.

To keep it very brief - this car had a place all the way back in FH1, then fell off after.

Neutral.


The Corvette C4, my second favorite Corvette behind the C5 (which is just ever so slightly out of reach financially IRL, argh!!!).

Not much to say about it. It's a Corvette that drives especially well for a Corvette.

Neutral.



Bentley 8 Liter:

lol

Beater.



Usual announcement post tonight.
 
This week, we're finally covering a discipline that really should have been looked at sooner.

Our Car of the Week is the 2007 Formula Drift #117 599 GTB Fiorano.
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Given that we are running a drift car, our testbed for this week is going to be twofold:

Our standard time trial will be at the Coast Run Street Scene, and our Drift Zone for this week is the Reservoir Drift Zone.

Get those tires smoking and we'll see if the Formula Drift cars have what it takes to stand up in the Festival.
 
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One of the more exotic cars to enter the world of Formula Drift, this Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano has had extensive upgrades to make it competitive in competition events.
(Just gloss over the fact that it caught fire at its first event.):P

The 6.0 V12 stays in, but gets a Supercharger added to it, plus a few other tweaks to help it kick out 917hp. :embarrassed:

The 6 speed paddle shift however was removed for a 6 speed Sequential to better handle the power, the steering lock has been increased to help hold sharper drift angles, its got a front splitter with canards, widebody fenders for wider tyres and a slightly big rear wing to complete the visuals.

Retails for 500K, but you can find one at Auction at just over half that on buyouts.

As for how it drifts/drives?

Well the drift part is obvious, its almost like it was built to do such a thing. :lol:

As for actually trying to grip race it, it does put its huge power down well, but you do have to constantly do corrections on steering and throttle to keep it from stepping out too much.

As for upgrades, the engine can’t be swapped, but you CAN swap out the Supercharger for a pair of Turbos to help it push out 1549hp fully tuned. :drool:

Yeah, over the years Formula Drift slowly became an event with more powerful machines than F1 cars with some going past 1200hp. :D

Now as a drifter, it’s just as capable as other drifters, but probably not your first pick for grip racing.

Overall, it’s neutral, but don’t dismiss it as just another drift car, because when you’re in a game world where adding off-road tyres and awd swaps are common place, the only limit is one’s imagination. ;)

Sincerely, A Guy who runs an FD RTR Mustang in S1 Off-road events and it does very well. :odd:

Verdict: Neutral 🙂
 
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A drifter, I am not.

Does what it says on the tin as a formula drift car.

Author's note: The car has the dubious honor of being the one to reward me the Combo Breaker accolade. >:(

However, it gets kinda interesting once you do anything except drifting - being that the underlying car is still a Ferrari, it carries many of its favorable handling traits into the Street Scene event. It's pretty easy to control even with all of the immense power under the hood - and it will very readily stretch its legs out to an impressive 176 MPH on the street scene.

It's also still a downforce car, so it becomes easier to manage the faster you go.

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Good with Ferraris, I am not.

But, the kicker is that this car is at 857 PI. I can stretch it out.

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Car is now rounded out at 900 PI.

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[Missing footage: Competent driving, clean lap time.]

So yeah, it's neutral.
 
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The Ferrari has an overall rating of Neutral. And now it slides off into the sunset.

This week's car is selected by @SomePlayaDude, and here's what he had to say:
"Let's head back into Week 1, where I mentioned a man-killer Porsche. That car is the..."

Porsche Carrera GT!
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(pictured: Porsche Carrera GT Zagato, image provided by Carhuna)

That car is the Porsche Carrera GT: a car that would be my top Porsche, along with it being the runner up for my favorite cars for Horizon on the whole. And known mainly today for being an incredibly difficult car to drive with a godlike V10 bringing that name strong (though I seriously doubt that difficulty's THAT extreme).

And we're strong in the week 1 reminiscing, so let's take on Dunas Blancas Sprint once again. Perhaps this is going to be the last hurrah for me to boot the game up?

Let's not let the man down, eh? Have at it, and let him know exactly how you feel about this car.
 
The footer from 2 weeks ago says..

full

So what is the most pivotal choice in Gran Turismo 7? Believe it or not, it'd be the polar opposite of this first choice: the final choice of the game's progression. Which is after the final tourney, you DON'T choose the rewards including an Aventador SV and 2 invite locked machinery in the Huayra or the Carrera GT.. and I gladly got the Carrera GT: a car I plan to nominate on the Horizon 5 COTW.

Here? Umm.. wait till they abolish manufacturer invites.

Man I'm honored, but HO-
 
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Well it was only a matter of time before we got to this one wasn’t it?

The Porsche Carrera GT.

One part of the early 2000’s version of The Holy Trinity, the CGT was the most driver focused of the 3 contenders, the other 2 being the Ferrari Enzo and the Mercedes McLaren SLR.

It’s also a car that exists mostly down to the success of the then polarising Porsche Cayenne SUV, of which allowed Porsche to seriously consider putting the prototype CGT into production.

And it wouldn’t be a Flat 6 either, Porsche had something rather special in mind for the CGT.

Back in the late 80’s, Porsche was supplying the McLaren F1 team with turbo V6 engine’s, but after turbo’s were banned for the 1990 season, Porsche built a 3.5 V12 for the Footwork F1 Team starting in 1991.

To cut its story short, it sucked big time and Porsche cut their losses before the end of the season, but while that was going on, they were developing a V10 replacement for the V12.

Fast forward to 1998 and Porsche wanted to build a Le Mans Prototype for the ‘99 season and while they considered their tried and tested turbo Flat 6, they decided to take that 3.5 V10 they built and built it up to 2 different displacements, a 5 litre version and a 5.5 litre version.

But mid way through 1999, the project was scrapped, but once again that V10 would live to see the world again, in the CGT Prototype.

After the green light was given, the V10 was brought out and retuned for road use, with a bump in displacement up to 5.7 litres for good measure.

The end result? over 600hp and a redline well past 8000rpm and one of the best sounding V10’s out there.

The CGT in game weighs 3,258lbs, has a 6 speed manual with a Composite Ceramic twin plate clutch which while it’s lighter and smaller size allowed the engineers to mount the engine lower to lower its centre of gravity, it also made the early cars notorious for stalling from standing starts.

Porsche did have an Anti Stall system which did help fix the issue, you put it in 1st and slowly bring the clutch up to the bite point without any throttle input and the system will gently feed in power to get you going.

Then we get to it’s handling.

In game it’s actually decently behaved and it’s the same for the real thing..

Right up until the moment it isn’t.

Jay Leno had a serious near miss when he spun out at Talladega, Walter Rohrl said he was afraid of it after testing the CGT before it went on sale and considering the cars he drove before then, THAT is 🤬 saying something.

It had traction control, it had ABS, but it didn’t have ESC(Electronic Stability Control) so if/when you made a mistake, you were on your own to save it.

Sadly, not many did.

Especially if you don’t keep an eye on your very old tyres and then try to push it too much.

Porsche did team up with Michelin to build some more modern and grippy tyres for the CGT, the date of that Porsche Press Release?

16th of August, 2013

More than 3 months before the CGT would claim its biggest victims, Rodas and Walker.

The CGT is a car that’s both loved and feared by many of its fans, loved for what it can offer and feared for what it can do if you don’t respect its limits.

But the biggest life lesson it can teach you is this.

Never Trust Old Rubber.

Verdict: Sleeper 👍
 
In game it’s actually decently behaved and it’s the same for the real thing..

Right up until the moment it isn’t.
I was trying my best to not embed another Jason Cammisa video here, but you just HAD to say that line, didn't you?

"It's totally fine! ...until it's not. And by the way, if that's not the ultimate catchphrase for the ultimate Porsche, I don't know what is."

 
This week we are looking at another of the biggest cars in FH5:

The Mercedes Benz #25 Tankpool Racing Truck.

Additionally, we will also be reviewing its Forza Edition model.

The base truck can be tested on any tarmac track, while the FE can be tested on any Rally or Cross Country track.
 
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(Set on Ribera Rocosa CC)

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(Set on Descansar Dorado Sprint)

So, the Mercedes Racing Truck, sponsored by Tankpool 24, one of, if not the biggest fuel networks in Germany and parts of Europe for Trucks.

The Racing Truck packs a huge 12.8 litre Turbo Diesel Inline 6 which kicks out 1,080hp and 3,685ft-lbs of torque.:embarrassed:

That’s a lot of twist, but with over 12,125lbs to shift and its brick aerodynamics, it needs it. :P

Normally Racing Trucks like this have a speed limiter on them capping them at 100mph on safety grounds and considering how much hell these can raise when something goes wrong, that’s understandable. :scared:

Happily ours isn’t limited, so we can row through the 8 speed gearbox to speeds north of 140mph. :crazy:

Now for handling, obviously it’s quite sluggish, but considering it’s on huge slick tyres, it does handle much better than you expect.

It costs 500k credits, but auctions tend to see them go for 282k.

So what do you get for that much?

An A702 rating(Can be lowered into B Class), an optional huge rear wing and one engine swap option.

It’s another 12.8 litre I6(Technically it’s 18ccs smaller), but this isn’t no ordinary engine, it’s the same engine from the Volvo Iron Knight which showed up in FH4.

This engine kicks out a whopping 2400hp and 4,422ft-lbs of torque, making it the most powerful swap in the game, but NOT the most powerful overall. :odd:

But we’ll come back to that one. ;)

As for the stock engine, you can turbo it further and take the air restrictors off and take it up to 1609hp, But it kicks out nearly 5,500ft-lbs of torque and that makes it the current torque king of Forza. :bowdown:

Overall, not one for serious racers, but for casual bullying of your friends in free roam, it’s nicely suited. :D

Verdict: Neutral

As for the FE version however, it’s a completely different story.

The folks at Horizon Mexico took a normal Racing Truck, jacked up the suspension, put some huge Off-road tyres on it, converted it to 4wd, added a front bash bar, Rear cage with 2 spare tyres and fuel tank and removed nearly 2000lbs of weight out of it for a new weight of 10,472lbs. :drool:

They’ve also upgraded the gearbox to a 10 speed and found another 743hp from the engine whilst retaining the same stock torque figure as the standard version. :cool:

But remember I’d said that the Iron Knight swap wasn’t the most powerful engine in Horizon?

Well that honour goes to this FE Truck as you can upgrade it even further to near as makes no difference, 2600hp. :eek:

Now how does it drive?

It’s a off-road high speed Bulldozer, not much slows it down and while smaller cars can be quicker in off road races, it’s quick enough to be a threat to them and they certainly won’t be able to bully you around as much. :sly:

It’s more versatile than the standard truck, more fun and faster by a wide margin.

But with it being a FE version, you can’t just buy it from the showroom, either Wheelspins or the Auction house are your best bets, but happily there’s currently many on the Auction house with buyouts as low as 413k. ;)

So you could swipe one for less than the retail price of the regular Racing Truck.

It might be about as subtle as a tank painted pink, but its performance potential is there, plus it can bully your friends even harder than the standard one too. :lol:
(I take no responsibility if said advice is followed and your friendships get destroyed.:P)

Verdict: Sleeper 😉👍
 
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So the 1968 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale.

As Alfas go, this is up there with some of their best work and with an in game price of 15 million credits, it’s not a surprise. :embarrassed:

Basically a road version of the Tipo 33 race car, the 33 Stradale weighs in at 700kgs(1,543lbs) and packing a 2.0 V8 mounted midship, said V8 kicks out 245hp in game, but real ones had varying amounts due to all of them being hand built. :cool:

That engine was hooked up to the rear wheels via an in house built, 6 speed manual gearbox, the first ever 6 speed manual fitted to a production car in fact. ;)

As for how many were built, it’s alleged that 18 units were made, but 8 of those weren’t full production cars, 2 were prototypes and 6 of the chassis’s were used for concept cars so the actual number is closer to 10 units. 🧐

With 6 gears to play with and a redline not too far from 11,000rpm, how does it stack up? :drool:

Well compared to its fellows sixties machines, only the XJ13, Lola T70 and GT40 Mk II have higher PI numbers (Technically the Hoonicorn does too, but that wasn’t built in the 1960’s.), but they are all actual race cars. :P

Despite the old tyre compound, it handles incredibly well thanks to its low weight and certainly punches above its 245hp stock power.

It’s always been a car capable of breaking car classes in Forza Horizon, in FH2 it was a menace in A Class and at the drag strip and that same potential is still here after all this time.

And lastly, just look at it. :bowdown:

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That’s the only one that’s finished in blue too. ;)

Overall, yes it’s hugely pricey, but as cars go, this one does justify such a price. 👍

Verdict: Sleeper 😉👍
 
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So the Ford Ranger T2 Rally Raid, debuting in FH2’s Storm Island DLC, the T6 packs a 4.9 litre V8 making 349hp which goes to all 4 wheels via a 6 speed gearbox.

While weighing in at 4,354lbs, it feels agile, but it’ll remind you of that weight if you over do it. :embarrassed:

The short gearing means good news on twisty tracks and not so good news on tracks with many downhill sections(Like the Titan for example.) unless you clutch in and freewheel down them. ;)

As for upgrades, the stock engine can built up and also have its air restrictors removed for 524hp NA and 715-720hp with supercharging or turbo’ing added. :cool:

As for swaps, 6.2 Chevy V8, 6.7 Diesel V8, 8.4 V10, 6.5 V12, Racing 7.2 V8, 7.4 Funco V8 and lastly, the 5.8 Supercharged V8 from the 2013 Shelby GT500. 👍

The Ranger T6 is priced at 250K, but you can easily find one at Auction for 90k without too many issues. :D

Overall, not truly exceptional, but not terrible either, an alright safe pick. :)

Verdict: Neutral
 
This week, we're going flipping mad with the 1998 AMG CLK GTR!

Track this week is any Street Scene of the driver's choosing
 
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From the Highland Climb route.

Now, the MB CLK AMG GTR, not to be mistaken for the dominant CLK LM or the infamous CLR that decided to take up aerial acrobatics during the 1999 Le Mans 24hrs. :lol:

The CLK GTR was Mercedes’s answer to the Porsche 911 GT1, a car designed as a race car first and a road car second with just enough of a resemblance to the road car to get it homologated.

But Mercedes built it in 1997, ran it in the GT1 championship, built one road car that year to show off at motoring shows and it only went into production properly in 1998. :embarrassed:

The race car had a 6.0 litre V12 making just under 600hp, the road car had a 6.9(nice:sly:) litre V12 which made 604hp in Roadster form, 622hp in Coupe and 655hp in SuperSports form.

The gearbox was one of many things carried over from the race car, a 6 speed sequential gearbox with paddle shifters.

But this is not your usual paddle shift gearbox, because it still had a 3rd pedal for the clutch. :odd:

Why you may ask?

Because while paddle shifters were already on race cars and some road cars like the Ferrari F355 by 1998, it was still early days for the technology and it was a race gearbox being used for road use, with reliability and low speed usability being more of a priority.

So you can’t just pull the paddles at will to change gears, you have to time it with the clutch inputs.

As for in game usage, it’s everything you expect from a road legal GT1 car, it’s rapid. :P

In fact in typical Horizon fashion, it’s actually a meta car for S1 Dirt racing alongside its fellow GT1 Road Car in the 911 GT1. :boggled:

As for its price, it’s 2 million credits, but you can find auction buyouts for under 300k or if you get lucky on regular bidding, you can snag one for 10% of its value at 200k like I did. :cool:

As for upgrades, you can either twin turbo the standard V12 or swap in the Racing V12 from the F50 GT for a power boost AND chop nearly 200lbs of the 3175lbs stock weight. :D

And speaking of weight, the majority of the GT1 Road cars in game can lose a lot of weight compared to similar performing cars, the CLK being the best example.

The race weight reduction takes nearly 1150lbs out of it for a car weighing just over 2000lbs, combine it with the Racing V12 and you can take it under 1750lbs. :crazy:

Or to put it another way, 1440kgs all the way down to just under 800kgs. :eek:

Yeah, that’s pretty light. :lol:

In summary, it’s a solid car even if you bought it at full price, much tuning potential and it’s just a nice fun car.

Verdict: Sleeper 😉👍

Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the FE version of the CLK GTR.

The V12 now kicks out 1000hp without turbos and nearly 1400hp with turbos and sits at the top of S2 Class with a more aggressive front splitter, huge rear wing, A speed skill bonus and a division change from Retro Super Cars to Extreme Track Toys. ;)
 
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So this week we’ve got the Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Supercharged, the more powerful version of the same car that won at Le Mans in the 1928 running of the 24hr race.

Adding a Supercharger to the 4.4 litre (Not quite the 4 1/2 litres eh lads?:P) 4 cylinder engine meant the power went up to 175hp, 45hp more than the racing version of the non supercharged version.:cool:

The race version with the Blower reportedly kicked out 240hp, about 40hp more than the race version of the Bentley 6 1/2 litre with its huge Inline 6 engine. :embarrassed:

While the bigger Bentley would win the 1929 & 1930 Le Mans Races, the faster, but unreliable 4 1/2 Supercharged Bentley would go on to set speed records including a top speed of 138mph at Brooklands in 1932. 😳

That particular Bentley was re-bodied with a more streamlined body that was designed by one Reid Railton and if that surname sounds familiar to you, then it’s because you’ve driven one of his creations in FH5 already. ;)

The Napier Railton with its huge 24 litre W12 engine. :drool:

He also designed two different versions of the legendary Bluebird Land Speed Record racers and the Railton Special, a car which became the first car to go past both the 350mph officially in 1938 AND 400mph on one of its two-way runs in 1947, that attempt awarded him with a two-way average of 394.19mph. :eek:

So yeah, the man knew how to build some really fast machines in his day. :lol:

Back to the Bentley Blower, that 175hp & 310ft-lbs of torque is sent to the rear tyres via a 4 speed manual gearbox.

It is heavy at 4,395lbs, to put that into perspective, the aforementioned Napier Railton is only 123lbs heavier despite having an engine that’s 5 times as big. :crazy:

The Railton is also more powerful, faster and cheaper by 2.5 million. :odd:

Oh yeah the price, 4 million at the Autoshow, but you can find Auction buyouts for just over 1.4 million. :sly:

As for the handling, it’s a vintage grand tourer, not exactly a gripper in the turns, the low down torque easily overcomes the inside tyres on corner exits and as for it’s aerodynamics..

Well Ettore Bugatti did famously refer to some of the racing Bentleys as ‘The Worlds Fastest Lorries.’ for a reason, streamlined most are not. :P

As for upgrades, you can upgrade the stock engine up to 332hp & 526ft-lbs of torque, you can also add forza aero or some thick leather belts to keep the engine cover on at high speeds.

As for swaps if you’re planning on going full Forza with it, there’s the 3.2 I6 from the ‘97 M3, the 6.2 V8 from the C63 Black Series, the Lambo 5.2 V10, the Lambo 6.5 V12 and the Racing 3.0 I6T.

And despite being 4.4 litres and 4 cylinders, the stock engine is a heavy lump as the 3.2 I6 cuts off over 400lbs of weight just by itself. :odd:

Overall, While not a racer for those with short attention spans, it’s a car steeped in history from a company with plenty of it itself, a proper old school Grand Tourer. :cheers:

Verdict: Neutral(But Iconic 👍)
 
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