Mad FinnTuners Co. - Finished 081213 - The Final Countdown, 4, 3, 2, 1, OUT!

  • Thread starter Greycap
  • 1,705 comments
  • 548,727 views
Status
Not open for further replies.
In many ways the 370Z shows the difference between an "everyday sports car" and an "everyday supercar" - it can even be described as boring to drive. I understand that nowadays cars are made safe to drive but it's always not a good thing as can be seen here, the car is so planted that most of the time it plays safe and understeers, and not much can be done to change it. It's in the basic DNA of the car. Boulevard sports are just that, made to look good and sporty while keeping the driver firmly put of the hospital.

It also has to be remembered that no matter what the PP figure is, if it comes from having a lot of power, it won't help in cornering. I was having a "trackday meeting" at Suzuka with Leo some time back and for several laps he didn't notice anything being wrong as we had a couple of corners between us. It was only when he blew past me on the back stretch with a speed difference of 30 km/h or so that he realized I had been fighting neck to neck with his 550PP RX-7 in a 500PP NSX and actually running away in the first sector. Such is the power of "handling performance points" that no amount of power can beat them without a long enough full throttle section and the PP of the 370Z mainly comes from its engine specs, not its handling.
 
Z4M indeed is very friendly for novices who want fast performance coupe without troubling amounts of torque. Also, it's weight balance lends itself for fast driving without causing surprises in the corners, unless you really TRY to upset it. Thanks for the feedback, and remember to request a personal tune after a review.
 
Also managed to try the '10 edition of the Attila of the Huns in the meantime. While I approached the car with some apprehension it turned out to be much less of an uncontrollable beast than feared.

Before I set off a question - namely the aero. In the description you only have a Wing type B, however the pic shows a Type A and I am not sure if the front aero was to be installed or not...

But back to the driving. Tried it at GVS first and was surprised by how easy it was both to brake into and accelerate out of the first corner. In spite of the gazzillion hp and Nm the car got back up th speed in a completely fuss free manner. Sure, there is wheelspin to spare in almost any situation but it does not tend to get the back unruly (which is a relief).

Front grip is good rather than stellar but then without front aero there is only so much that could be done there. The car is not understeery per se, one just needs to keep an eye on the speedo - the straightline acceleration may well have you arriving at corners faster than you planned. :)

Getting to the final feature - namely the way it acquires speed. It does not seem all that dramatic, only the speedo can hardly keep up. ;) I was at first surprised at the fairly long gearing but all 7 will be used on faster tracks, plus whatever it takes to tame that rear end must surely be a good thing for the less than expert helmsman :)

I did have a bit of trouble with a clean and fast top of the hill chicane, otherwise GVS was fairly easy.

So for a bit of a challenge I took it to the Nordschleiffe next. And it does alter its character there somewhat but not all that dramatically. Once you know its quirks it will be easy to keep on track reliably, even if it is certainly more 'playful' in its homelands ;) Given the rear bias in weight distribution and the downforce one needs to anticipate Flugplatz and generally take a line slightly more inside than feels natural, as the rear has the tendency of wandering towards the outside of the corner (not in a bad way - you just need space so it does not get onto grass).

I managed the usual 3 second delay a lap at GVS but the time difference at the Nordschleiffe would have been embarassing - the car is certainly driveable even there by someone of more modest talents but not in the 'by the scruff of the neck', 100% fashion (maybe with a bit more time).

In any case, a nice, playful and pretty fast car, and driveable for those without the Finnish racing genes, too 👍
 
Ah yes, Attila of The Huns.. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, but good enough to smash its way to the pole position, hmm? I might take another look at it and make something that resembles the black edition regarding the specs.
 
Delving into the older cars I am yet to review (with the current Lotus theme in GT5), I decided on the Europa. A slightly odd piece of kit from a design point of view, it's paper weight and the famed Lotus handling should at least serve to generate some blinding lap times.

At the same time I have some queasy memories of just such a car being a bit of a handful. ;) Still, decided to give it a try, and while I did not manage a trip to GVS yet, the first impressions from R246 and TM are probably not far off.

For a 500PP+ car the acceleration seems a bit tardy, and one has the feeling of a very narrow powerband - 500 rpm or so before the limiter is where the engine does best. Braking is solid and not a challenge in spite of the layout and the car's age.

Where it starts tasking the driver more is when cornering. Overall some good cornering speeds can be achieved but these demand precision and patience. Turn in too fast or apply a millimeter too much throttle and the rear will come around. Mostly it just means some lost time (the rear being reasonably easy to catch), unless you combine the two - then the inertia fee front is likely to meet whatever obstacle lurks inside the corner. :)

I found I got best times with a relatively steady and light throttle through corners, maintaining the high entry speeds possible. A smooth exit also worked best (what a surprise), one where you apply the throttle a bit later than feels intuitive.

I recon the car is easier to drive with a wheel and pedal setup - with a DS3 you need to show great precision to not upset the car into a drift.

In the end the bicycle sized tyres hold it back in terms of lap times (who am I kidding - my driving is to blame) but it is still a fairly interesting machine and definitely tamer than I remembered 👍
 
Last edited:
This weekend we shall unleash more machinery, continuing on the theme of light weight and high revs. And most of you will not be expecting these two cars.. ;)
 
Before the new pair arrive, another short review, this time of the California GTC '08. I used it in a slightly detuned version for the new Ferrari seasonals and it seems to do the job admirably well. :) Taking some 70bhp away will of course keep it nicely behind Enzos on the straights but the cornering generally makes up for any deficit in straight line speed (again in the reduced power setup).

Given the use, the track selection of course followed, so did TM, CRP, Madrid & German GP. TM and CRP were a doddle, as I frequent the tracks regularly, so I spent lots of time in front. Madrid took some more work, as the car somehow seems larger and clips the odd piece of road furniture in my hands - or at least it did in the first couple of attempts ;)

Overall a nicely balanced car, with dead sure braking, a fairly stress free acceleration (even out of corners) and pretty good speed through the twisties.

In terms of turning it possesses good turn in but needs some help from the back end - on part throttle the front shows an ever increasing interest in what is happening on the outside of the corner (or beyond) ;) I guess a typical Greycap design, which does not take gladly to cruising around :D

In slightly faster corners the car also seems to enable faster overall speeds if you slow it down a bit before the corner entry and then power into the corner - with lower entry speeds the overall times appear to improve (in my hands at least).

Lastly, if you do mash the throttle down fully on corner exit in slower corners, while the wheel is still turned, the back will certainly bite. It can usually be corrected relatively well, and I am sure that a slower, more gradual application of the throttle with a wheel and pedal setup (as opposed to a DS3) may make this aspect much easier to controll, still.

In any case, definitely fast enough to keep any other car from the stable honest and easy enough to drive to not give you nightmares before or after 👍
 
Copper coloured? No, not that I know of, unless one of them gets painted. And as you've probably noticed "this weekend" should be taken with a grain of salt. :P

The California then. Dating back to the v1.10 days, I (again) have very little idea how much the physics updates have changed it but it sounds very similar to what I remember it being like - a bit of a barge that needs some forcing to do what is asked from it. Not the best Ferrari I've made but not the worst either... and it gets the job done, which is probably the most that you can demand.
 
Well, its been a while since I've reviewed one of the MFT's rides. This one is a "Zero", because it's:

The light of the FWD's: Honda Civic Type R "Zero"

The FD2 Type R is as good as Type R's can get. It might have four doors, but it goes faster that many other FWD's on its class. It also has next to zero understeer. It's perfect? On Greycap's mind, no. So he set off to create the ultimate FD2 Civic. The weight has been reduced to around 1000 kg, so it weighs as much as a napkin. But then Grey went to the VTEC to give it a even bigger kick. How big? 360-plus hp kick, that's how big it is. As I've learned from other FF cars, 300 hp is walking on a tight rope with no safety net, because if the suspension isn't set up properly, it will understeer like a lorry and it will be rubbish. But since this is MFT, this car has 5-star worth of handling. It shouts really loud from the exahaust, but it can also carve through corners without a hint of understeer. It might be wild sometimes, but it never corners the wrong way. It's just a sea of FF perfection from one corner to another, while traveling at speeds I never thought a Type R could travel. It's a top end sports sedan, this one. And one that can rival many other sports sedan on its class.
 
Greycap
Copper coloured? No, not that I know of, unless one of them gets painted. And as you've probably noticed "this weekend" should be taken with a grain of salt. :P
Click to expand...

Thought of a little tuner outfit that produces those weird way drive cars, you let me trial an example recently... ;)

Greycap
The California then. Dating back to the v1.10 days, I (again) have very little idea how much the physics updates have changed it but it sounds very similar to what I remember it being like - a bit of a barge that needs some forcing to do what is asked from it. Not the best Ferrari I've made but not the worst either... and it gets the job done, which is probably the most that you can demand.
Click to expand...

That it does. It actually worked particularly well on the road course in the final seasonal race, something I easily won the first time aound, without getting it off the track a single time - now that is an achievement for me :)

The only track where I simply could not beat the - by default - leading Enzo was the German GP one - always ended up one lap short of bagging first. So I decided to get the more focused stable mate - the 458 - which did the trick pretty fast. Will write a proper review of that in the coming days. 👍
 
Greycap
And as you've probably noticed "this weekend" should be taken with a grain of salt. :P
Click to expand...

Well, coordinating things can get bit dicey when there's entire continent and ocean in between, and these nice things called time zones..:crazy: Not to mention that I have to study for finals.:ouch:
 
Just a quick reply to keep Greycap busy with responding (still awaiting one on the Lotus), and to give Leonidae a bit more time to study for finals. ;)

So, as announced, in order to get that 20 mil 330, the German GP needed to be mastered, and the 458 Challenge Stradale looked like the tool to do it. While I had to detune it a bit for that particular event, I tried it in its originally intended state at GVS subsequently (there is not that much difference in character, really).

I was immediately over a second a lap faster at the German GP track than with the California, with turn in (even at part throttle) being significantly sharper. After a learning curve first race I managed to bag an easy win on the second (and the 330 that came with it).

Getting back to the full fat version on GVS. The first impression (much stronger here) is of a lightning fast acceleration. Managing to outaccelerate a Veyron looked particularly sweet, for instance. The engine is far from malnourished and the 7 speed gearbox definitely helps.

On a full blown lap (i.e. all but the first) it also brakes fairly solidly into the first corner - some steering correction is necessary but it is slight and you should be able to keep well out of grass / gravel, irrespective of the line you took entering the curve.

It also manages to carry impressive speed through the faster sweepers, where the mechanical and aerodynamic grip combine (i.e. second corner and top of hill chicane). Where I still did not find an ideal line through is the U turn at the bottom of the hill - I feel I am losing quite a bit of time there (no or low throttle takes forever to negotiate, as the front is slow to turn in at those speeds, throttle use on the other hand leading to a fairly vicious snap from the back and a tankslapper after (at least with me at my DS3)).

I also found that the speed through the final turn onto the start finish straight left a tiny bit to be desired but the locomotive acceleration afterwards certainly made up for any deficit there.

In my hands the times at GVS are significantly slower than some of your other 600PP machinery, such as the GT-Rs, in fact I even managed a better time in the lower PPd Evora from Leonidae. It is celar I am far from getting the best out of the car and that the learning curve is far from flattening out ;) Might try dialling the power back a tad in the interim, to see if I get comfortable with it sooner in this way.

But certainly something to keep you entertained, and a sharper drive than the California 👍
 
My review for the MFT Ferrari 430 Scuderia Competizione... keeps getting delayed slightly :scared: (hopefully this coming weekend !)

I blame this video for keeping me at the 'Ring with inspiration, enjoying my Vette :guilty:

Still, expect my usual in-depth quality, sans a back-story :sly:, I really wanted to do a light-hearted TopGear style review, where I pick the car up from the 'docks' of SS7, hit the highway, then the country road of La Sarthe, and somehow end up at Monza... :rolleyes:

But time constraints kinda killed that, then the new seasonal event showed up, so I managed to get some track-days/races/cruises done with it instead and put it through its paces, so soon !, hopefully 👍
 
Ferrari 430 Scuderia​
MFT edition​
Under-developed review by Kurei :indiff:​

Well let me start off saying it was good and quite enjoyable to review yet another MFT creation, it’s been a few years if I’m honest (real-life car building ftw!), but it’s not just playing the game again giving that feeling. The MFT edition of the 430 Scuderia is worth giving a drive for those of us out there who favor ‘driving’ a car rather than chasing a laptime.

I had been contemplating buying my own Ferrari model, for fun, and was sneaking through the MFT lineup out of curiosity to see what I had missed over time, itching to find something of interest after my small escapades on the Wangan with my Supra, and for some reason, the word ‘Scuderia’ just stood out. Good thing too, because as the Scuderia took the 430 to another level, MFT took the Scuderia to another level as well on top, and boy does this thing put a smile on your face as you bury the pedal. (wheel setups ftw :sly:)
The first place I drove it, after breaking it in at RouteX prior to any test driving, was Laguna Seca, which has kinda become my ‘Top Gear Test Track’ of the game, and even before the timer started, back at the first left-hander leading onto the straight, the balanced turn-in caught me by surprise, not because of how quick or responsive, but the calmness of it, it wasn’t overly sharp, or too sensitive, didn’t let the rear over-rotate after, or anything. The response was swift and decisive, simply brake hard at your mark, gently decrease pressure, initiate turn, follow and hold as it slings through the corner, touching the apex, then accelerate, and let that V8 work it’s magic, from a nice – rumbly bellow @ 4-5k rpm to a somewhat… whiney & annoying shriek of exhaust and straight-cut gears at the top of the rev range.

(I’m playing with a nice Sub-and-tuner audio setup
so I can get all the little rumbles and shakes that others are probably missing from their standard speakers)​

But complaining about audio is going places out of MFT’s control, all I can do is hope PD eventually gets the sound right, while not screwing up the sound of my ‘Vette as-is (‘cause that thing is/sounds awesome, lol). Getting back to the MFT Scuderia, if I made 1 corner sound enticing to any readers, y’all need to do yourself a favor and go take it for a full lap around any fun track, (mostly because I can't find the time to give it a worthy review) - but because not only does it handle exceptionally well, it hauls around circuits faster than you might expect, it can roast tires rolling in 2nd gear :crazy:, its light enough to stick just about however you throw it into a corner without too much difficulty 💡, and it holds it’s own quite well against similarly PP’d cars while not needing to jump to Race compound tires 👍 (like everyone else online seems to lately 👎).

Outside of maybe a well tuned Enzo or 458 Italia, this may just be one of the fastest moddified Ferrari’s for track-use out there from a Tuner shop. With a competent driver at the wheel and a slight restriction in power, it also makes a great candidate for the recent Ferrari Seasonal Event, I’m no A.I. killer (Leo can attest to that, heh ;)), but even I got through the whole event without much difficulty first try, and landed me a 330 P4 racecar, one of the historic racecars I’ve wanted since way back when GT5 first came out, if that’s not a good reason to give this car a try, then I don’t know what is – so go give it testdrive now !, you won’t be disappointed by MFT.
 
Last edited:
Niku Driver HC
The light of the FWD's: Honda Civic Type R "Zero"
Click to expand...
Oh yes, the ugly duckling among all the two door Type Rs that still somehow manages to grow up into a swan. I still don't know how it can match the pace of a DC5 while weighing more and being a lot more reluctant to turn in but perhaps that's the key, it doesn't waste time on playing around but goes and does the job. If it could be persuaded to react to trail braking like its Integra cousins it might be an unstoppable monster among FWD cars, no matter how many doors there are.
kingmoshoeshoe2
Just a quick reply to keep Greycap busy with responding (still awaiting one on the Lotus)
Click to expand...
Bugger, I know that I had forgotten something. But one thing is for certain - the lackluster acceleration isn't just a feeling, the car just doesn't want to rush forward like such a featherweight should with all that power. Turbo lag correctly modelled perhaps? The main reason for the docile handling is the amount of ballast in the nose, with the original weight distribution it handles like it always did and creates quite a lot more hairy situations. The fact that my bike has grippier tyres than the Europa probably won't help at all...
Kurei
Ferrari 430 Scuderia​
Click to expand...
A fitting extension to the line of Ferrari reviews lately, the most track oriented of them all and my personal favourite too. It doesn't look like much, externally nor in the spec sheet, but when you point it into a corner there are few cars to follow it - in fact it's still our fastest road car on sports tyres below the 600PP class with its measly 585 bhp engine. Truly a driver's car indeed, while there are cars with better acceleration and better overall performance there aren't many that give the same feeling of dancing on the edge of grip at 150+ km/h.
 
And apparently my driving style was bit too violent for it as it didn't want to go straight at all. If memory serves, I didn't get my usual +1-2 sec lap behind Grey's time with that thing. :P
 
Page 3? This won't do. Anyway, we've agreed to change our way of operation. Due the time zone differences etc etc, we're going to start releasing whatever we can and when we can since releasing the cars in pairs is no longer reasonable option.
 
Leonidae@MFT
Page 3? This won't do. Anyway, we've agreed to change our way of operation. Due the time zone differences etc etc, we're going to start releasing whatever we can and when we can since releasing the cars in pairs is no longer reasonable option.
Click to expand...

Good, about time! :) More MFT tunes can only be good. :lol:

And my garage is on page 6 and counting... :P
 
Well I've been busy driving some of my favorite V8-powered cars lately, and I've racked up quite a bounty from on-line racing (cashing-out on other's mistakes ftw!), so I figured I could spend some of it on a few more cars, question is - which one ?

Or one's ? :sly:

-The 'Lexus LFA'10 "Shinden"', been wanting to try this beautiful car lately
-Or Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR GT '08, a legit 1000hp+ car, why not ?
-Maybe a Nismo 800R '02 ?, High HP once more, potential "JDM only"-room domination next to a certain blue GT-R I have been graciously lent :sly:
-Then the Nismo GT-R V-SpecII R-Tune '94 also comes to mind
-But a nice classic would be nice as well, Ferrari 512BBC '76 perhaps ?
-Though there's also Pro-function, Honda NSX GT2 '91 fits that role...

So as it stands I'm contemplative, they're all good-interesting choices, but I don't know if I'll get to try them all or even just one... holiday's are over for good, so free-time may be hard to come by, or maybe not, who knows?. Usually whatever I plan for brings-out the opposite, so imma' just say they're may be reviews coming, or a review, either of one of those above - or a certain F430 on Race Mediums I've been milking the Nordschleife 600PP Seasonal Race with...

Who knows ? :D
 
I'm going to assume that you guys are still in business, so I'd like to offer my services as a tester.

While I'd only consider myself an average driver and I'm still quite new to GT5 (and this forum) I've used many of your GT4 tunes and been very impressed by them.

So are there any of your cars that haven't been tested yet?
 
I'm still around, just easily distracted by my own little race-escapades and project cars :guilty:

I have built your LFA, haven't thoroughly tested it yet though
 
Retro Racer
I'm going to assume that you guys are still in business, so I'd like to offer my services as a tester.

While I'd only consider myself an average driver and I'm still quite new to GT5 (and this forum) I've used many of your GT4 tunes and been very impressed by them.

So are there any of your cars that haven't been tested yet?
Click to expand...

Not really, but feel free to test whatever seems interesting to you.

Kurei
I'm still around, just easily distracted by my own little race-escapades and project cars :guilty:

I have built your LFA, haven't thoroughly tested it yet though
Click to expand...

Well, I haven't been exactly the spitting image of motivated tuner myself recently.. :guilty: But, I will try my best to come up with something interesting soon.
 
Mitsubishi FTO Ralliart'99

301 bhp, 282 Nm, 979 kg, PP 474
Painted in Passion Red from Mitsubishi
Click to expand...

I saw this in the used car dealership, in Passion Red too, so my decision of which car to test first was settled for me. It's a very attractive car in that colour and I was pleased that it doesn't need a wing in Leonidae's tune.

I should point at this point that I'm not really sure what version of GT5 I'm running. It's the recent Academy version but I don't play online so I haven't received any upgrades.

Anyway I put on all the parts and settings and headed off to see how the car shapes up against the local opposition in the Japanese Championship. The short version is very well indeed as I won all of the races, against principally a '96 RX-7 RZ, an '04 NSX and an '07 Evo X GSR.

I'll should admit now that I'm not a big fan of FF cars, that's probably mostly due to playing GT4 too much, but that's all in the past as this car is a gem. The braking, acceleration and top speed are all more than adequate and the handling is very good indeed with just one proviso. Don't be tempted to coast around bends with no throttle as it has a tendency to run wide. I noticed this during my first race at Tsubuka, a track that I really don't like very much btw. The correct way to take corners with this car is on the power, so make sure that you drive in the correct manner. Brake, turn and accelerate, keeping the power on throughout the corner and the car will get you safely round with no trace of understeer. It was possible to get the outside front tyre smoking if you try to get round a corner too fast, but it will still stay on course.

My fastest laps were as follows:
Tsukuba 1'01
Fuji GT 1'54
GVS 2'07
Monza 2'06
Suzuka 2'22

As a follow up I thought that I'd see how my B spec driver would do in the same championship. I should add that he started at level 30 and was up to level 31 by the end. The results were as follows:-

Tsukuba 7th, FL 1'08
Fuji GT 3rd, FL 2'00
GVS 2nd, FL 2'16
Monza 1st, FL 2'10
Suzuka 1st, FL 2'29

Those results meant that he finished 2nd overall behind a '90 NSX. He seemed to struggle at Tsukuba, but I've noticed that happens there a lot with B spec drivers. Also he ran off twice at the exit of the chicane at Suzuka, I'm not sure why that was as I didn't have any problems there.

Well that was a lot of fun :) I'll give Greycap's Celica a go when one turns up in the UCD.
 
Last edited:
Retro Racer
I saw this in the used car dealership, in Passion Red too, so my decision of which car to test first was settled for me. It's a very attractive car in that colour and I was pleased that it doesn't need a wing in Leonidae's tune.

I should point at this point that I'm not really sure what version of GT5 I'm running. It's the recent Academy version but I don't play online so I haven't received any upgrades.

Anyway I put on all the parts and settings and headed off to see how the car shapes up against the local opposition in the Japanese Championship. The short version is very well indeed as I won all of the races, against principally a '96 RX-7 RZ, an '04 NSX and an '07 Evo X GSR.

I'll should admit now that I'm not a big fan of FF cars, that's probably mostly due to playing GT4 too much, but that's all in the past as this car is a gem. The braking, acceleration and top speed are all more than adequate and the handling is very good indeed with just one proviso. Don't be tempted to coast around bends with no throttle as it has a tendency to run wide. I noticed this during my first race at Tsubuka, a track that I really don't like very much btw. The correct way to take corners with this car is on the power, so make sure that you drive in the correct manner. Brake, turn and accelerate, keeping the power on throughout the corner and the car will get you safely round with no trace of understeer. It was possible to get the outside front tyre smoking if you try to get round a corner too fast, but it will still stay on course.

My fastest laps were as follows:
Tsukuba 1'01
Fuji GT 1'54
GVS 2'07
Monza 2'06
Suzuka 2'22

As a follow up I thought that I'd see how my B spec driver would do in the same championship. I should add that he started at level 30 and was up to level 31 by the end. The results were as follows:-

Tsukuba 7th, FL 1'08
Fuji GT 3rd, FL 2'00
GVS 2nd, FL 2'16
Monza 1st, FL 2'10
Suzuka 1st, FL 2'29

Those results meant that he finished 2nd overall behind a '90 NSX. He seemed to struggle at Tsukuba, but I've noticed that happens there a lot with B spec drivers. Also he ran off twice at the exit of the chicane at Suzuka, I'm not sure why that was as I didn't have any problems there.

Well that was a lot of fun :) I'll give Greycap's Celica a go when one turns up in the UCD.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the thorough review, and sorry that I didn't answer earlier. As our rules say, you can now request a custom tune from me if you wish via PM, and send the car to me, preferably with parts fitted.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest Posts

Back