- 19,431
- HSV
Okay, my project car last week was the TRD Chaser X30. (Hence the dumb thread title.) If you win the Luxury Sedan Cup race at SSR5, then you are awarded this car.
First of all, the white wheels don't seem to match the car's paint (a pearly-white color). But it looks cool. I'ts rather overweight, but it produces 312hp, which makes for an even fight.
Well, the first race for the car was the very same race I won it in. I always buy a full-race tranny as my first upgrade. I beat a BMW 320i by about 2 seconds. My gripe was the brakes and suspension; braking too late into the hairpin made things tricky. But for a heavyweight, it's got some moves.
I tried the following event at High Speed Ring. Easy win again. I sold the prize cars, and used the winnings for some Super Softs. I thought a racing flywheel might help out too (I prefer to drive/brake on the throttle, this helps for me).
I took it to the two FR races, but they were too easy: two more wins, kept the 270R (needed one) and sold the GT-C. I rewarded my car with a full-mod LSD and a full-race suspension. The car needed some tightening up during braking, and a little more precision into the turns.
So I took on the Gran Touring Cup cars: Red Rock was easy, Grand Valley was a little trickier, but over by the time I crossed the blue bridge. Midfield was a cinch. Now I have enough to mod the car like mad.
My next task was to win the GT300 series; I decided to keep it down to ~430hp to be fair. I paid for weight reduction and race-modded (looks unique to me; you either love the race mod or hate it). So now I have a racing car. I also bought a muffler and a turbo kit, and a brake balancer.
The GT300 is fun to me: the racing's closer and you can't make a mistake. Well, Grand Valley East was easy, the car was quite stable over the bumps (which usually hamper me). Maybe tis big car thing isn't so bad for this type of circuit. Well, I was ahead in 2 laps, and the next 3 were just for reeling in.
Laguna Seca was next, and I was leading after one-and-a-half laps, I was doing great until I clipped the last turn wall on the last lap. I did a monster 180-degree near-spin-out; but held it (I think it took as loong to countersteer it out than to just brake or hit another wall)! But the darn Xanavi Silvia nipped by for a win. I placed 2nd, though...the rest of the races were easy. It was an easy 38 point title. (I also won the Momo MR2, by the way.)
Well, I rewarded my self by full-modding the rest of the car: Stage 4 turbo and other trimmings (no "for professionals" stuff, however) to bring it to an amazing 677hp at 2766lbs. Nice; time to see how it handles...
Well, a trip around the old haunt of SSR5 proved it's still tricky to slow this beast down at the hairpin! Except now, it's got problems out of the hairpin. You've got to be delicate with the power on this car. Well, a little of this, a little of that on the LSD...took care of that! I tell ya, add 300hp, and definately have to make some suspension changes!
Well, that race took all of 2-and-a-quarter laps: on the third lap, I make a perfect pass on the GT40 coming out of the tunnel. Into the sharp right, it had to yeild, and into braking for the lefty, it couldn't counter me. Easy win again.
Well, how about the JGTC boys? I took it to the GT500 series, It was an easy series to win; but a few races kept it close. The Laguna round was a cinch; I solftened the rear rebound to accept near-perfect braking into the Corkscrew. But it was over in the downhill left after the 'Screw...passing the Unisia Jecs was a piece of cake.
The next round at Super Speedway: trickier than I thought. Unusally this one's over by the back-straight or braking into turn two. Not the case, even though the car handled as smoothly and stable here than any other course. Hmmm...well, the lack of a 5th gear might have had somehting to do with it...but by the back-straight on lap 3, I took over the Raybrig and the Denso Sard...it was over.
Rome: easy until I braked for the tight right after the Colisseum. I took two places away but some other car (don't remember which one) nailed me and spun me around. Doh! Well, I'm now down by 11 seconds (I was pinned against the gaurdrail), and it's time to charge! There were three NSXs, the Denso Sard, and the Unisia. The NSXs were easy, I had them after lap 3, picked them off at the first turn, under braking for the same turn I got punched out, and then at the end of the straight. Lap 4 loomed, I was now reeling in the Denso Sard, but couldn't quite catch him (the Takata NSX was giving be a bump here and there). Then, into the braking for the second-to-last rightie, to took the Denso under braking...but wait, the Unisia also gave way to me (not sure why)! Another victory.
Trial Mountain was easier than I thought; you can lose a championship here if you're down or getting cocky: the key to this race is always consistency...don't let the other cars take you out with frustration and don't over-do it. Well, it went better than planned. I was too easy at the end of the first lap; 6th +2.7 seconds at the back straight: lap 2 was also 6th +2.8sec in the same sector time spot. Hmmm...not quit what I expected...so I took the Takata agressively at the final left-right ess before the finish line. I got crazy over-steer for that one, but I blocked him back.
The Denso was running behind for once, it was an easy pick into the 3rd-gear leftie into the first tunnel. I performed a great powerslide into that tight right afterwards and outgunned the Raybrig in the exit of that turn (whew!). Then I took that tunnel left near-perfect for the X30, and exited at ~120mph. That propelled me down the back straight for the braking zone. Easy take on the Unisia down the insde. That left the Mugen NSX (oddly out front!). We're side by side after the front straight; but the esses are too much for the AI to handle. That flat-out left before the tunnel turn is where it conceeds to me. Another win. I've clinched the title. Yay!
Well, Apricot Hill was tougher than I thought. I was running first a good deal of thime, but braking for the fisrty left cought me off-guard three times. Once, I lost a second or two, the next time I braked too hard, and spun out. Man, I had to do something. I'm in 6th, and it's the 4th lap. Well, playing catch-up was fun, but into the 5th lap, I blundered the turn again (can't quite understand this, never had much problems there before!). I was dropped to 4th, and cought the Mugen and SPura with ease. But that Unisia was tough to catch. I got the chicane perfectly, no cheating and no mistakes, it always feels wonderful to get that series right. I'm just a half-length from the Unisia, but into the final left turn, I'm chopped and can't get past the power of that GT-R. Oh well, gotta give props to the 2nd place car in the championship...I won the Takata, by the way.
I found this car was difficult to drift, powerslide, or get loose. It's an all-or-nothing machine in that respect. Very standard and composed; but I dialed in inital oversteer to counter the weight. It made things smoother, but you had to be careful where you pointed it; counter-steering didn't always work to my advantage; usually it slowed to car to much rather than spinning it, at least. I sure wsh it had a 6th gear. But if you can't get your hands on an Altezza LM, it's the next best 4-door from Toyota. I definatle think it deserves a place in your garage; quite versatile...those are my favorites.
Any other tales of sucess with this interesting piece of machinery?
First of all, the white wheels don't seem to match the car's paint (a pearly-white color). But it looks cool. I'ts rather overweight, but it produces 312hp, which makes for an even fight.
Well, the first race for the car was the very same race I won it in. I always buy a full-race tranny as my first upgrade. I beat a BMW 320i by about 2 seconds. My gripe was the brakes and suspension; braking too late into the hairpin made things tricky. But for a heavyweight, it's got some moves.
I tried the following event at High Speed Ring. Easy win again. I sold the prize cars, and used the winnings for some Super Softs. I thought a racing flywheel might help out too (I prefer to drive/brake on the throttle, this helps for me).
I took it to the two FR races, but they were too easy: two more wins, kept the 270R (needed one) and sold the GT-C. I rewarded my car with a full-mod LSD and a full-race suspension. The car needed some tightening up during braking, and a little more precision into the turns.
So I took on the Gran Touring Cup cars: Red Rock was easy, Grand Valley was a little trickier, but over by the time I crossed the blue bridge. Midfield was a cinch. Now I have enough to mod the car like mad.
My next task was to win the GT300 series; I decided to keep it down to ~430hp to be fair. I paid for weight reduction and race-modded (looks unique to me; you either love the race mod or hate it). So now I have a racing car. I also bought a muffler and a turbo kit, and a brake balancer.
The GT300 is fun to me: the racing's closer and you can't make a mistake. Well, Grand Valley East was easy, the car was quite stable over the bumps (which usually hamper me). Maybe tis big car thing isn't so bad for this type of circuit. Well, I was ahead in 2 laps, and the next 3 were just for reeling in.
Laguna Seca was next, and I was leading after one-and-a-half laps, I was doing great until I clipped the last turn wall on the last lap. I did a monster 180-degree near-spin-out; but held it (I think it took as loong to countersteer it out than to just brake or hit another wall)! But the darn Xanavi Silvia nipped by for a win. I placed 2nd, though...the rest of the races were easy. It was an easy 38 point title. (I also won the Momo MR2, by the way.)
Well, I rewarded my self by full-modding the rest of the car: Stage 4 turbo and other trimmings (no "for professionals" stuff, however) to bring it to an amazing 677hp at 2766lbs. Nice; time to see how it handles...
Well, a trip around the old haunt of SSR5 proved it's still tricky to slow this beast down at the hairpin! Except now, it's got problems out of the hairpin. You've got to be delicate with the power on this car. Well, a little of this, a little of that on the LSD...took care of that! I tell ya, add 300hp, and definately have to make some suspension changes!
Well, that race took all of 2-and-a-quarter laps: on the third lap, I make a perfect pass on the GT40 coming out of the tunnel. Into the sharp right, it had to yeild, and into braking for the lefty, it couldn't counter me. Easy win again.
Well, how about the JGTC boys? I took it to the GT500 series, It was an easy series to win; but a few races kept it close. The Laguna round was a cinch; I solftened the rear rebound to accept near-perfect braking into the Corkscrew. But it was over in the downhill left after the 'Screw...passing the Unisia Jecs was a piece of cake.
The next round at Super Speedway: trickier than I thought. Unusally this one's over by the back-straight or braking into turn two. Not the case, even though the car handled as smoothly and stable here than any other course. Hmmm...well, the lack of a 5th gear might have had somehting to do with it...but by the back-straight on lap 3, I took over the Raybrig and the Denso Sard...it was over.
Rome: easy until I braked for the tight right after the Colisseum. I took two places away but some other car (don't remember which one) nailed me and spun me around. Doh! Well, I'm now down by 11 seconds (I was pinned against the gaurdrail), and it's time to charge! There were three NSXs, the Denso Sard, and the Unisia. The NSXs were easy, I had them after lap 3, picked them off at the first turn, under braking for the same turn I got punched out, and then at the end of the straight. Lap 4 loomed, I was now reeling in the Denso Sard, but couldn't quite catch him (the Takata NSX was giving be a bump here and there). Then, into the braking for the second-to-last rightie, to took the Denso under braking...but wait, the Unisia also gave way to me (not sure why)! Another victory.
Trial Mountain was easier than I thought; you can lose a championship here if you're down or getting cocky: the key to this race is always consistency...don't let the other cars take you out with frustration and don't over-do it. Well, it went better than planned. I was too easy at the end of the first lap; 6th +2.7 seconds at the back straight: lap 2 was also 6th +2.8sec in the same sector time spot. Hmmm...not quit what I expected...so I took the Takata agressively at the final left-right ess before the finish line. I got crazy over-steer for that one, but I blocked him back.
The Denso was running behind for once, it was an easy pick into the 3rd-gear leftie into the first tunnel. I performed a great powerslide into that tight right afterwards and outgunned the Raybrig in the exit of that turn (whew!). Then I took that tunnel left near-perfect for the X30, and exited at ~120mph. That propelled me down the back straight for the braking zone. Easy take on the Unisia down the insde. That left the Mugen NSX (oddly out front!). We're side by side after the front straight; but the esses are too much for the AI to handle. That flat-out left before the tunnel turn is where it conceeds to me. Another win. I've clinched the title. Yay!
Well, Apricot Hill was tougher than I thought. I was running first a good deal of thime, but braking for the fisrty left cought me off-guard three times. Once, I lost a second or two, the next time I braked too hard, and spun out. Man, I had to do something. I'm in 6th, and it's the 4th lap. Well, playing catch-up was fun, but into the 5th lap, I blundered the turn again (can't quite understand this, never had much problems there before!). I was dropped to 4th, and cought the Mugen and SPura with ease. But that Unisia was tough to catch. I got the chicane perfectly, no cheating and no mistakes, it always feels wonderful to get that series right. I'm just a half-length from the Unisia, but into the final left turn, I'm chopped and can't get past the power of that GT-R. Oh well, gotta give props to the 2nd place car in the championship...I won the Takata, by the way.
I found this car was difficult to drift, powerslide, or get loose. It's an all-or-nothing machine in that respect. Very standard and composed; but I dialed in inital oversteer to counter the weight. It made things smoother, but you had to be careful where you pointed it; counter-steering didn't always work to my advantage; usually it slowed to car to much rather than spinning it, at least. I sure wsh it had a 6th gear. But if you can't get your hands on an Altezza LM, it's the next best 4-door from Toyota. I definatle think it deserves a place in your garage; quite versatile...those are my favorites.
Any other tales of sucess with this interesting piece of machinery?
Let's see...I'm not promising any drift settings, just a good place to start (and hopefully finish well).
