Giygas's Car Comparos; 1-6-13; What's in a name? X1 vs X2010/11

I've been here for a good while and greatly enjoyed some of the other member's
car reviews, so I thought to myself "why not?" And here we are today!

Table of Contents:
1970 Chapparal 2J VS 1970 Toyota 7: Two Worlds Apart
Japanese Supercars
What's in a name?

1970 Chapparal 2J VS 1970 Toyota 7: Two Worlds Apart
Today we look at two very exciting, very odd super race cars from the 1970s.


When you think of two absolutely lunatic, frightening and eccentric race cars from the past, these two would almost certainly fit the bill. The Toyota 7, a turbocharged attempt to dominate the Can Am scene which killed two drivers in separate high speed accidents, effectively ending Toyota's sports prototype program until the 80's, and the Chaparral 2J, a rather boxy looking car with fans that sucked the car down to the ground, creating downforce well beyond the levels of its competitors. Unfortunately, while it didn't kill any of its drivers, it was banned after competitor Mclaren argued it was breaking the rules. Looks like times never change...

We first bring the 7 to Circuit de la Sarthe 2005(Without Chicanes), a track famous for its history and 4 mile straight. The V8 used to use the same sound byte as the Mazda Furai(A decision i still don't understand) but nowadays it's the same sound byte from the Nissan Group C cars, much much better. The interior is rather simple and easy to look out of, with only a steering wheel and various unmoving gauges.


Newer drivers be warned: This car accelerates so rapidly you'll often have little time to think out your next move. Traction control and friends are a big no-no, as it becomes bogged down and clumsy at lower speeds. In a matter of fact, it's rather dangerous at any gear below 4th to simply floor it, and stomping the accelerator out of corners is simply impossible. Beyond 4th, however, it's astoundingly precise and cool around corners. It's very nearly a different car altogether. I managed a 3:39:5, though i could've shaved off a few seconds if it weren't for this...


You REALLY can't floor this thing out of corners...But now on to the 2J.

It's a simple body design, almost too simple, a box with a sloping face, inlets for the front wheels and slots for cooling. Little slips of plastic adorn the sides and the tip of the rear end. The wacky protrusion at the back is a snowmobile engine, which powers fans hidden under the car that suck the car down. The 7.6 Liter V8 produces an astounding 680 horses, which is mated to a rather simple 3-speed transmission. In some ways, it was ahead of its time, but in others...eh.

All of this translates to a very weird car to drive. You actually have to try to make this car spin out in some cases, but its not exactly the easiest thing to drive ever. Because of the short-but-wide wheelbase, mid engine and low weight, it sometimes likes to take corners very wide. It's still very quick, mind you, but it feels unnatural, as if the only thing keeping you down are magnets. Another thing; The transmission is among the loudest in the game, which can drone out the V8 at times. Speaking of which, it sounds exactly as one would imagine a fan car with a giant V8 would. Throaty at lower RPM, but spin it into 6000 and it sounds like its breathing through a straw. Though a fairly boring lap, I finished with a 3:30:1, which is largely due to the higher top speed and how controllable it is.


Before you cry fowl, I took both cars around the 'Ring GP course and it was largely the same story: The 7 can't get its stuff together and the 2J stomped it, with a 1:54:3 for the 2J and a 2:01:7 for the 7.

Finally, we visit SSRX, by far the longest track in the game and perfect for drag racing, the first car to 190Mph being the winner. Both cars start at neutral and were off with a rather dramatic display from the 7 and an uninspired warming up from the 2J. After roughly 3/4 of a mile, we had a winner:


So, to round things up:

Toyota 7: 2nd place
Pros: Very quick
-takes fast bends like a champ
-great sound
-exciting

Cons: flawed design
-eats both tires and gas for breakfast
-an absolute nightmare around tight tracks

Notes: Has a horn
-Cannot be pushed beyong 200 Mph, no matter what
-One of the highest PP cars stock, loses PP upon adding turbos
-Fairly cheap compared to other older race cars

Chapparal 2J: 1st place
Pros: Fairly easy to drive
-good high end acceleration
-somehow has great fuel economy

Cons: Can become boring
-Interior isn't a great place to be
-Transmission whine is very loud

Notes: Renowned as king of the time trials
-Fastest American car in the game
-Still kinda cheap-ish
-Least gears of any race car
-Largest engine of any race car

There was once a time when the Japanese auto industry was famous for making small econoboxes, safe family sedans and nippy little 4 and 6 cylinder coupes, roadsters and hatchbacks. Fastforward to 2012, and it's largely the same story, except now there are cars that can hang with the likes of Ferrari and Porsche.

What we have here are five of GT5's best Japanese sports cars. They may have the power, the looks (in most cases) and speed, but which is the most rounded?
5. Nissan R390 GT1 Road Car'98

Built as the homologation car to the awesome R390 GT1, This Nissan does one thing very well; Go fast. Equipped with a detuned version of the 3.5 liter V8 powering the race car, expect power to top off around the 350-360 horsepower area. My car was pushing 361 horses after the engine rebuild. With a good, hearty amount of torque you can blast off to 60 MPH in 4.5 seconds and top the quarter mile at 12.6 seconds. While that does sound good, this car is hampered by a very tight transmission and terrible top end power, though the 2nd problem is easily fixed by shifting early, around 6000 RPM.

Designed by Tom Wilkinshaw Racing, the same people who styled the Jaguar XJR-15, the low slung long body allows downforce to be created without very much drag. Because of this, it's one of the few 'normal' cars in GT5 to have adjustable downforce, which can be further aided by installing a rear wing. As the car sits very low to the ground and is mid engined, this helps stability immensly around high speed corners.

Speaking of corners, this is the area where the R390 was able to cover the most ground by far. The rather low power compared to the rest of the competing cars here meant it didn't fuss around the bends as much as you would expect. You can nearly floor it out of most corners and it would comply with little fuss. The cornering prowess was so amazing it actually got through in a time of XXXXXXX, 4th fastest! Though it doesn't like drifting too much...

So why did it come last? Well, there's the jaw dropping price of 1 million credits, which is quite a bit to ask for a car which makes less than 400 horsepower. Second, higher RPMs are horrid, combine that with the shortstack transmission and automatic and you're making around 300 horses half the time instead of the full 360. It's also not much of a looker, being built with the function-over-form mindset. While you can make some major upgrades to this thing, you'll probably be happier with one of the other four cars.

4. Honda NSX-R LM Prototype Road Car

This is more or less an NSX R-LM without the livery, rear wing, and it comes on street tires so it's not going to be the best thing on the street. You get a nice hearty 490 Horses with a measly 280 ft/lb of torque, a 6 cylinder that revs to 10,000 RPM straight out of the box and bodywork radical enough to qualify it as a space vehicle. Like the R390 it come with full downforce standard, however you can't upgrade it with another rear wing. It's race tuned transmission permits you no more than 190 MPH, perfect for a car like this.

Being an NSX, you'd expect it to be swell around corners. Well, it is and it isn't. Nailing a corner in this car takes lots of attention and work, but when you do land it it's actually seriously fast. If you come in too early or too fast, expect a good fight to regain your racing line, as this is one of the least forgiving cars in the game. Pretty much because it's a racecar on street tires. Downforce really comes into play on faster sweeping corners where it really comes alive.

It's not bad in a straight line either. 0-60 comes in around 4 seconds with the quarter mile completed in a scant 12 seconds flat, though if you really push it an 11.9 is possible. Top speed is a cool 191 MPH, where you'll be hitting the redline at 10,300 RPM, though to be honest if the transmission was longer you probably wouldnt squeeze out much more speed. Launching comes easy but i do feel like it takes a bit too long to switch from one gear to another.

This car lands in 4th place because of a few things. For one, driveability is horrid in this car because of its racecar nature. Another factor is price; at around 440,000 credits it's very expensive for a Honda, though i do admit if you wanted to throw on a pair of Racing tires it's a huge bargain compared to the JGTC/SUPER GT Hondas and can probably even outperform them in certain areas, but since i have the standard sports hard car, it just feels watered down and terrible.

3. Nissan GTR Black Edition '12

Ah yes, automotive Godzilla has been in America for 5 years and it's a big hit. There's certainly not much holding it back either; you get a 3.8 liter twin turbocharged V6 producing a hefty 540 Horses and 463 lb-ft of torque to all 4 wheels. Sounds good? Well, it gets better. 60 MPH comes in at a neck breaking 3.2 seconds with the quarter mile destroyed in 11 seconds flat. Keep chugging and you'll hit 199.7 MPH(Curiously a few tenths slower than any other GTR)!

It's hard to believe how well this car can tackle corners. You can tell it how to go through a corner and it'll take it on with little to no drama. Push it real hard and you can get some understeer, but this won't hurt you too much. It oozes grip just about everywhere and you literally have to force the car to step out. Which is the start of our problems.

A common complaint the GTR gets is that it has little to no emotion. This is partly true; it was definetely eager to go fast, but the design, vacuum-like exhaust noise, and the way it drives can leave people feeling cold. There's also the colossal weight. At 1730KG it definetely weighs as much as godzilla, but at the same time the weight could attribute to why the car drives the way it does. Going back to the design, it just looks weird. The headlights look as of they don't have any business on the car. The price for the performance is great, but i can't help but feel that after a considerable amount of time driving this car, i was just bored.

Nevertheless, it's a fast car for the money, it's very user friendly, but it's not for someone who gets a thrill from the driving experience. In a matter of fact, this is quite literally the perfect car for someone who only cares for going fast. Unfortuantely, there are other cars that do that just as well here.

2. Lexus LFA '09

Now we move on to the 375,000 credit Lexus, which still feels weird to say. Known to most as Toyota/Lexus's first true supercar, a grand total of more than 10 years have been devoted to the LFA concept and it really shows. This was designed with the help of Toyota's F1 experience, and you can see how certain elements of this car was inspired by F1, like the 4.8 liter V10 and the rear wing that pops up for high speed stability. That V10 produces 552 horses and redlines at 9000 RPM. Torque comes in at 354 lb-ft.

Many hail this as one of Japan's finest creations, and they'd be right to say so. The sound is crisp and raw, easily the best sounding car here. The suspension is masterfully tuned to let you go as fast as you feel possible around corners. Want to get into a nice drift? Easy, just put the full power down and you can slide into an easily manageable drift. Having all of that power helps in a straight line, too. 0-60 comes in 3.9 seconds with the quarter mile finished in a little over 12. You can hear the F1 inspired engine sound singing all the way up to 208 MPH.

There aren't many apparent problems with this car al all. The design is great, with the many curves and openings designed with the goal to keep the car on the road. There's an odd space between the end of the hood and the start of the front bumper, which Lexus says helps keep the engine cool. This car has a whole lot of color options, ranging from Matte Black to Passionate Pink to Pearlescent Yellow. I have no idea if anyone has ever bought a pink LFA, but there's a first for everything.

I definetely reccommend you buying this car if you don't have it already. It's the epitome of awesome and fairly easy to work around. Actually, this would be 1st place easily if it weren't for this next car. It's that good.

1. Tommy Kaira ZZII

Say hello to the ultimate Japanese supercar. With a Midmounted RB26 ripped straight from a Nissan R34 GT-R, all wheel drive, a mind bendingly low 1000KG weight AND adjustable downforce, there's little you can say to knock this car. While this car technically isn't real as far as i know, that doesn't matter as the NSX-R LM Road Car is a GT only car too. there is an AUTOBAC ZZII concept that was a preposal for GT racing. That would definetely explain why this is so ****ing fast.

580 Horsepower comes from the twin turbo I6 which allows you to get from 0-60 in a neck snapping 2.9 seconds, while the quarter mile is left behind in around 10 seconds. This is easily one of the fastest accelerating cars in the game, and it'll go all the way to 210 MPH. But it doesn't stop there. Since this has all wheel drive like the GTR and it's mid engine like the R390, you can assault most tracks like there's no tomorrow.

Cornering comes second nature to this beast. Push it hard and you'll notice some understeer, however it isn't enough for it to affect how fast you're going. Because of the high power and low weight you can launch out of corners earlier than most cars. If you decide to push real hard, you can get some sweet power slide action going. Braking is also the best out of the group with the LFA coming in a close second.

The real reason why this car won is because it's a jack of all trades. There's nothing the other cars can do that this car can't. It's a racecar for the road like the R390 and the NSX-R. It's incredibly easy to drive fast like the GTR and the LFA. The only apparent problem the car has are the fast that it has a recycled exhaust note, and even then it's not the worst note in the world. The biggest selling point by far is the price of a whopping 65,000 credits! The closest comparable price and performance is the '07 GTR at a little under 80,000 credits, and that thing is paltry compared to this.

So if you want a Japanese supercar that goes fast, is easy to drive, looks decent, and is priced like plastic, the Tommy Kaira ZZII is the car for you.

The Red Bull cars have caused quite a stir in the GT community. You get some people saying it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, and others who might think otherwise. But there is one thing no one has been able to agree on; should we call it the X1, or should we refer to each model by their year?

And honestly, why should it matter?

I like to stick to the X1 moniker for the entirety of the series, for a few reasons:

1.What do any of them do different from each other?



To the regular GT player, there are NOT many noticeable differences between, lets say, the X2010 S.Vettel and the X2010 Prototype. They're both super speedy fantasy racers that push what's possible in an automobile to the very limit, and really, that's about it. One might have different gearing or a different suspension setup, or a different color, but it's not a large enough difference for me to warrant calling it something else. They're both X2010s, they both do the same job, why not call them both X1?

Then we get to the X2011 prototype. Yes, this one generates more horsepower and uses a slightly different bodyshape. But again, that's really the only difference to the average GT player. I suppose if someone were to say"i just got my X1 to 300mph by myself" you would already assume that person's talking about the X2011, and if they're not, what difference does it make? The only model that warrants a different moniker is the 5G, which at the time of writing isn't even out yet. Because it's so radically different, people will be forced to call it something different.

2. X1 refers to the whole series.



Let's use another car for an example, the Nissan Skyline GTR R34. There are over a dozen different variations of the car in GT, ranging from the '99 GTR to the '02 M Spec to the '02 V Spec II Nur. When you see people talking about the R34, you don't see them getting twisted over which specific model it is, because they're all the same thing with minor differences. This is also the case with the X1.

Just referring to the series as X1 is much more convenient because people can't be bothered to really care about any differences the models have. If it bothers you to the point where you have to point out to someone that their X1 is a X2010 S. Vettel and not an X1, i can't help you. Which brings me to my final point;



I'm not saying you are asinine, but it's such a little thing to get worked over that it's not necessary to call out other people on it. Call it what you want, most people either won't care what you call it or will just assume you have the 2011 model if not specified. If you want to inquire on which model someone's talking about, there's no harm in just asking.

This was just my take on the whole X1 vs X2010/X2011 argument. I doubt it will end anytime soon, but feel free to voice your opinion.

I liked the first one, Toyota 7 v chapparall 2j, but the Japanese supercar write up was terrible, Sry, but firstly there's no way those cars belong in that order, the lfa is so crap on gt5 its laughable, the rb26 is an I6 not a v6, ur missing a lot of cars that belong above most of those, the Mazda furai for example, may be a concept car, but at least its real unlike 2 cars on that list. With that said, I did enjoy reading your first article. But for me the Japanese car one barely had anything I could agree with, and the prototype article was baffling as I don't really care what they're called, and didn't know anyone else was arguing about it lol.

fangio85

I liked the first one, Toyota 7 v chapparall 2j, but the Japanese supercar write up was terrible, Sry, but firstly there's no way those cars belong in that order, the lfa is so crap on gt5 its laughable, the rb26 is an I6 not a v6, ur missing a lot of cars that belong above most of those, the Mazda furai for example, may be a concept car, but at least its real unlike 2 cars on that list. With that said, I did enjoy reading your first article. But for me the Japanese car one barely had anything I could agree with, and the prototype article was baffling as I don't really care what they're called, and didn't know anyone else was arguing about it lol.

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Fangio, while I may agree on the cars selected for the Japanese comparison being inadequate it is really down to the OP's preferences.
I think alot of people on the forum winge about nonsense, maybe try writing something original yourself before jumping into someone.
I thought it was an entertaining enough read, especially the 1970 racecar article.

fangio85

I liked the first one, Toyota 7 v chapparall 2j, but the Japanese supercar write up was terrible, Sry, but firstly there's no way those cars belong in that order, the lfa is so crap on gt5 its laughable, the rb26 is an I6 not a v6, ur missing a lot of cars that belong above most of those, the Mazda furai for example, may be a concept car, but at least its real unlike 2 cars on that list. With that said, I did enjoy reading your first article. But for me the Japanese car one barely had anything I could agree with, and the prototype article was baffling as I don't really care what they're called, and didn't know anyone else was arguing about it lol.

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You don't know how relieved i am that someone finally commented!

I admit that i'm by far not the best writer, but it's something i enjoy doing. The reason why i did the last article was because i wanted to know people's opinions and it was just something i wanted to do. I think of the first few articles as getting my feet wet.

I didn't include the Mazda Furai because it's classified as a racecar, and i only wanted to use cars that were classified as street cars. But i'll take all things into account next time around.

stevenk27

Fangio, while I may agree on the cars selected for the Japanese comparison being inadequate it is really down to the OP's preferences.
I think alot of people on the forum winge about nonsense, maybe try writing something original yourself before jumping into someone.
I thought it was an entertaining enough read, especially the 1970 racecar article.

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Thanks for the feedback, i'll try to stick to more reviews like the first one.

Not tryin to shoot u down mate, ur writing was good, just felt the japanese car comparo was bad that's all, just constructive critici, don't take it to heart. I did think ur style and presentation was really good tho, which is why I liked the first article so much. As far as me doing this? I've got bugger all time to myself mate, I've got a family and so much going on that I rarely get a chance to play games, when I do I play racing games cause I love racing irl and gt give me the opportunity to go nuts without being worried about breaking expensive machinery lol.

fangio85

Not tryin to shoot u down mate, ur writing was good, just felt the japanese car comparo was bad that's all, just constructive critici, don't take it to heart. I did think ur style and presentation was really good tho, which is why I liked the first article so much. As far as me doing this? I've got bugger all time to myself mate, I've got a family and so much going on that I rarely get a chance to play games, when I do I play racing games cause I love racing irl and gt give me the opportunity to go nuts without being worried about breaking expensive machinery lol.

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I appreciate the criticism because without it i wouldn't know what i was doing wrong, so really, it's okay.

And it is tough to find time to play games when you have other responsibilities, luckily i only have school and a job. I only have time to do this now because i'm on a 3 month leave from both due to back surgery.

That's rough man, good luck with the recovery!
Just wanted to add I think the structure and the photos are really good, credit where its due

I don't think you're a bad writer. Take a moment to check my stuff out, links in my signature. I'm not sure if you've seen it before, but is has seemingly done quite well by means of feedback 👍

I just finished reading all of these. They sound really great and interesting. I would love for you to continue doing these 👍 any future ideas? Maybe try classic American Muscle next? (Camaro, Chevelle, GTO, Cougar, Charger, Challenger, Superbird, etc)

These are great 👍 Definitely like the American muscle idea Shoe

Thanks for the feedback.

And i have a few muscle cars laying around, once i finish some other stuff i can get to it 👍

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