A Little debate: Cars in Enthusia

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MrGreen

MrGreen

73
Poland
Wielkopolska
Welcome!
In this thread I like to share with You with my opinions about cars in Enthusia. What I like and what I dislike with them. Which cars are great and which are rubbish (but with some spectrum between those two evaluations). I'll be pleased when some of You post his/her own opinion from Your exeprience. Enjoy!
(P.S. I also apologize for any grammar or spell mistakes. I'm Polish and had "4+" on English language exam in high school finals in 6 grade evaluation system, where 6 is the highest and that was almost 10 years ago)

But before I begin I'll write some thoughts about Enthusia itself as fundamentals to the later cars opinions.
Because those cars are artificial it is a littlebit strange to rate something that's not real, but firstly: I'm making ingame content comment and secondly there's something in Enthusia that makes those opinions more "real". This "thing" is computer algorytms for gravity and tires physics.
I'm daily driver (normal car user) and when I bought Enthusia I started to compare behave of real cars with Enthusia's cars and I'm still amazed by the way that Konami transfered "actual physics of a moving car" into virtual world and how ingame cars behave in sequence of corners or when they run over a bump. It's very similar to the real (while watching Enthusia's replay's I've noticed that cars behave very natural and there's nothing strange in their movements). It makes this game really special and supports my opinions which gonna pervade through both virtual and reality zones.

Ok. Now strict topic's content. I would like to introduce a first car, that I've played on this game:
It's Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR32. Many of You will recognize this car. It was the Godzilla of roads between '89 and '94 of XX century. It won all races in JGTC Group A and won '91-'92 Bathurst 1000 Australian Group A car races and it's predecessor of today's GT-R.

Ingame and overall look: It's well reproduced in Enthusia. It is a V-spec II '94 version (the latest). It has appropriate proportions of the real one. It's a compact with 1755mm width, 4545mm lenght and 1355mm hight. There's not very long front and rear overhang, agressive, big, front bumper inlets, no frame doors, rear window wiper and 4 oval rear lights, which looks very sporty. Also a big and wide tires.
It's lines are fluent and car with it's dimensions looks quite agile. It was designed in late '80s and brought on fresh air being the first one of a new line of the best ever Japenese Supercars including NSX, Supra and RX-7. 7/10

The engine: It was designed for Group A races and it can develop 500HP. Stock version has 276HP of power with 353Nm of torque. It is a high rev engine but torque is quite well spreaded from 4400 to almost 8000rpm. 8/10

How it drives: Well this is where the car shows what it really can. It doesn't know verb "to slide". It brings one grip at full throttle from start to stop. Not that it won't slide at all, but if You want to go fast without losing grip, it will give You all that. ATTESA-ETS AWD system which transfer torque from 0-100 to 50-50% due to wheels spin made this car unbeatable on roads on it's time and still makes it very fast (ingame: 1'05''979 stock v. on Tsukuba and 8'01''997 stock v. on Nurburgring). Despite of heavy six cylinder inline engine hanged lenghtwise over front axle it's well balanced and easy to drive even at sequence of highspeed corners and corners are it's environment where it belongs. 8/10



Overall: 7,67
Great car!


Write me back if You want to read more about cars and post some Yours Enthusia's car experience.
(Second P.S. I don't want to start vulgar opinions exchange)
 
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Nice read! Write some more! It's a shame that someone haven't started similar thread a few years back, when more people played Enthusia.
 
Thanks SPD. I still've got hope that more people will read this topic ehh.

Ok. Let's get straight to buisness. The second car that I want to rate is RuF CTR "Yellow bird".

There is no Porsche road cars in Enthusia, the same as in other racing games (no counting E.A. productions), becouse many years ago E.A. bought license from Porsche to reproduce their cars in virtual world and E.A. has exclusiveness for it. So untill this license is expired, there won't be any Porsche road car in other games. But many developers has bypassed this license and reproduced cars from RuF Company which is best known Porsche tunner.
Here we have RuF CTR "Yellow Bird" from 1987, which is tunned version of 1984-1989 Carrera 3,2 series. It is lighter and much stronger and has bored out engine to 3,4 litre.

Ingame and overall look: At first I've had an impression that car stance is littlebit to high but when I looked closer to it I've changed my mind. Overall proportions of a body are kept (CGI cars in Enthusia are well made). This is version without rear side air inlets. In front there's an oil intercooler intake and rear bumper is perforated. Shape of 911 is legendary. This is the only body in the motor world that has so little (visible) changes. From 1963 main lines sustain the same. Some can hate it but most of the world loves it. I think that 911 is one of the most beautifull cars in the world especially older versions. 8/10

The engine: As I wrote before, engine was bored out from stock 3,2 to 3,4 litre and it develops amazing 469HP and 553Nm that shows up after 5000rpm. Turbo lag isn't noticeable on racing track beacouse it is hard not to run over 5000rpm and under there's still enough power to accelerate. 8/10

How it drives: 911 is world's famous for it's both under and oversteer. Both appears in the corners. Understeer at corner entry - because of too light front and Oversteer at corner exit - because of too heavy rear and great torque. As everyone knows Porsche/RuF is a rear engine, rear wheel drive car, so it's tricky to handle, but really fast and joyable. It has great brakes, that can stop this light monster (only 1150kg!) from any speed in short range. Despite of it's weight distribution it can be mastered and when You do it, You can enjoy grate handling with a lot of steering wheel rotations. 7/10



Overall: 7,67
Great car!
 
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MrGreen, that's a nice write up you did , I agree with everything you posted

I wish I could say I am an "on duty Enthusia player", I never got to grips with the progression system, plus my PS2 will forever be hooked to power + TV .. it's just that the PC sucks me in much more than the huge semi-old bassy TV

All I ever used were keys mice and controllers .. I have not experienced simulation yet :(
 
Thanks! I've got this TV problem too (BIG old TV in a tiny room) and need to change it in near future (BIG new TV in a tiny room :))
Since PS1 I've been driving on pad's but about 7 years ago I bought first logitech wheel (it had 180 degree rotation). It worked for 2 years and it was a whole new world of driving game for me (GT3). Since than I've never got back to pad. Than I bought G25 and it blew me away. It has been working for 5 years with no major problem till last month, when right gear lever broke down (electric problem). I've learned handwork and footwork on G25 (simultaniously I've started practicing it in real cars). G25 is superb and I want to check it on rFactor (I've played demo) or LFS too, but first I need to buy a PC and monitor.
 
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Next car! Chevrolet Corvette C5

This is one of the most legendary car in car history. First generation went out in 1953 with 150HP engine and transmition with three gears. For next generations main concept of the car sustained. It has frame that carries fibreglass body, frontmiddle, lenghtwise engine and leaf spring suspension (since C4 made of reinforced fibreglass) and it's rear wheel drive of course. In last two generations there was added transaxle gearbox that provides better weight distribution.
Corvette is a great racing legend. It won many of 24h races, beating Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche and so on. The last C6 version was designed with Corvette racing team and it is really well handling car.

In game and overall look: In Enthusia there's a few versions of Corvette: C2, C3 and C5. Now I'm writing about ingame latest C5 version. It went out in 1997 and it has more fluid and gentle body lines compered with it predecessor. It has corvette's sign mark: four oval rear lights and for the last time retractable headlights. As I meantioned it before CGI Enthusia cars are well reproduced, there's no major differences between those and real ones. 9/10

The engine: C5 was powered by 5E, V8, 5,7litre engine, that provides 350HP. It's torque isn't well spreaded. It likes high rev (but relatively low- till 6000rpm), so it has to be kept in "red area" on tachometer. 7/10

How it drives: Well as I mentioned the car is transaxle and it's well balanced. It's wider, has greater wheelbase and much harder suspension than older ones so it's much more stable and predictible. I hasn't drive the real one so I can't tell if both has the same reaction on gas pedal but I think that 350HP, 1430kg car will do doughnuts on tarmac and ingame car can't (the sound of the engine is beautiful by the way). Ok, so car is quite fast on track. Because it's rear wheel drive it is oversteer but in game it's easy to controll. You have to feel how the weight shifts during corners and control both gas and brake pedals. Front isn't to heavy so it isn't understeer much. At corner exit it could have more traction with LSD (I drive standard cars in game).
So it looks great (I like C5), handle very nice oh and I forgot mention about brakes which are nice balanced with the car. It stops where it should be. They aren't great but will do the job. 8/10



Overall: 8
Great car
I know that all cars that I've reviewed has "great" opinions so I'll start making different evaluations (0-10 spectrum)
 
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Lotus Elise 111S

Lotus is best known for it's small, light, fast cars. They've made a lot of them like Lotus Seven, Europa, Elan, first generation of Esprit and they're all in Enthusia (Seven as Caterham R500). First Elise was shown in 1995 in Frankfurt. Production started one year later. It had an aluminium, glue connected panel frame with central, widthwise 4 cylinder engine, which powered rear wheels. Body was made of fibreglass and because of good frame stiffness, it didn't carrie any forces. First generation of 111S version was shown in 1999 in Genewa and it was stronger than the first Elise. Power increased from 120 to 143HP. Second generation went out in 2000 and it was more agressive in look. In 2005 power of 111S's engine reached 155HP (this version is in Enthusia). Elise is still in production.

Overall look: I like second gen. a lot. Much more than the first one. Body has sharp lines, there're two outlets of hot air in bonnet, small cabine with two seats and only needed equipment, great side inlets of cool air and very shapely rear with four round lights and agressive look diffuser. 10/10

The engine: As I wrote it has 155HP and it's the lightest four piston engine (Rover's 18K engine). It likes high rev and has to be kept there all the time. It's not a great, heavy V8 with bass sound but quite normal 1,8l engine, so it sounds like a normal 1,8l engine. Still combined with very light body (only 806kg) provides nice performance. 7/10

How it drives: Well this is what it's all about. This car is made for handling, for great performance, for fast corners. It's very neutral, not very oversteer and not under either. Very well balanced, with nice brakes. It performs superbly. This is next car, that doesn't talk (or scream), instead of this it do. If You want to go fast through corners, it will deliver it. 10/10




Overall: 9!
Great car!
 
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Toyota Vitz RS Turbo

Toyota Vitz for European is better known as Yaris. It was shown in 1998 in Paris. It's a subcompact, front wheel drive car with little space for laggage or shoping. Despite of it's lack of sportiveness it is quite popular car with over 3 million units sold (Vitz/Yaris is best known for it's practical daily usage and reliable mechanics). Most of it's versions was peaceful, just for small families or as a second or third car in home.
In Enhtusia there's RS Turbo version which was offered only in Japan, tunned by TRD (Toyota Racing Development). It had sporty suspension, turbocharger and sporty interior (better seats and leather steering wheel).

Overall look: Vitz/Yaris doesn't look special. It's a normal car which has nothing thrilling in it's apperance. It has big headlights and round shape of a body. RS version has diffrent bumpers and alloy wheels, also side skirts. But overall it looks proportional and nice. 5/10

The engine: It's a 1,5l four piston engine, hanged widthwise before front axle. It produces respectfull 147HP which combined with light body, provides good performance. As most of Japan engines it likes high rev and has to be kept there all the time. 7/10

How it drives: Dispate of it's normal apperance, Vitz performs quite well on track. It's little bit understeer at corner entry, but has great traction at corner exit. It can embarrass biger and louder cars. Suspension is quite stiff and reduces body roll. Also brakes are nice, but not great. 6/10

Overall: 6
Good car
 
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Shelby Cobra 427 S/C

This is second (but in line with corvette, not second place) of the most legendary car in car history! Undercarriage was design by John Tojiero and body was patterned from Ferrari 166 Barchetta. This car was bought by Charles Hurlock, AC Chief (British manufacturer) and that's how AC Cobra became to life. At first it had Bristol's 2 litre six piston, strait engine and it was good handling british sport car.
At the time Carroll Shelby wanted to compete on race tracks with Ferrari and was looking for a car. He was driving AC's in few races (under Aston Martin brand) and that's how he chose AC. With Ford's V8 engine he created Shelby Cobra, in which he won LeMans (GT class) in 1964. Simultaniously Shelby was selling road going Cobras. In 1965 body was redesign by Ford to carrie more power from 7,0 litre NASCAR engine. This version is in Enthusia. Real monster - Shelby Cobra 427.

Overall look: For me it is one of the most beautiful car in the world. It lines will never get old. When watching it You'll instantly notice from what era it comes, but still it's beauty stays. It has great front inlet for cool air between two round headlights, which starting curve of a body line till doors where it "bumps" over rear wheel and ends at small backlights. With frontmiddle engine layout car has beautiful proportions. 10/10

The engine: It is 7,0 litre (427 cubic inches that's why it's called Cobra 427) Ford's NASCAR, natural aspirated engine with amazing 479HP and 651Nm of torque. Power is really well spreaded from low to high rev. It delivers brutal power and great noise! 10/10

How it drives: Whell this is where this story collapse. This is road going version and it has a lot of issues: suspension is to soft and curb is to light for power of the engine. Everything ends with fully unpredictable, violent, uncontrollable car. OK little bit exaggerated, but still this car is really rough to drive. It should have lower sidewalls of tires, more stiff suspension and better grip. But instead of that we have fully oversteer car, with no balance of it's parts. It is really hard to drive fast with it. You have to watch out for every move of steering wheel or pedals (especially gas pedal). It can bite You even on the highest gears. Still I believe that in real this car brings on great emotions on road. In enthusia - for driving 2/10




Overall: 7,33
Beautiful but dangerous car!
 
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Fiat 500F '65

Fiat 500 is successor of Topolino's Legacy (popular car for families in '30s of XX century). Small subcompact with four seats, small engine and little space for laggage. It's engineer Dante Giacosa changed Topolino's classic layout from FR to RR and designed very nice looking body. It was the most popular car in Italy in late '50, '60 and '70 and it's predecessor of Polish Fiat 126p which is sentimental peace of car history for Poland being the car that popularized motored way of communication in Poland from '70s to late '90s.

Overall look: As I mentioned, car has RR layout and it's very well looking, two solid body. In my opinion cars from '50s to late '60 was the most beautifull from all other eras, when design was well balanced with functionality. From those times cames Mercedes Benz 300SL Gullwing, AC Cobra, Morris Mini, Jaguar E-Type, Toyota 2000 GT, Porsche 911, Corvette Stingray C3, Lamborghini Miura, Ford GT40 and many, many other legendary cars.
Back to Fiat. It has fluent lines with little bulges, round headlights and small verticall backlights. Back of the car is little bit elongate because of the engine. It's well proportioned car. 7/10

The engine: Well it's two cylinder, 499ccm, aircooled engine which producess only 18HP of power and 30Nm of torque and it's combined with four geared gearbox, which hasn't sinchronised first gear. It's only job is to run forward (occasionally reverse) but not to fast. It wasn't create for racing. 2/10

How it drives: Instead of weak engine, suspension was much better and it could carrie more power. All wheels was fully independent with transverse leaf spring in front and oblique wishbones at rear. Car is little understeer at corner entry but very neutral inside and at exit (much because of the engine, which with more power could change this car in to little Porsche). Despite of lack of power on racetrack it delivers much fun in corners. With more speed this car would be very fun to drive. 4/10




Overall: 4,33
Nice car
 
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Dodge Viper GTS

Concept of this car became with Caroll Shelby (again :) ) and Bob Lutz (Chrysler chief). They wanted to revive Cobra's spirit in new era, create a car as strait as only mechanics can deliver with no electronic companions. They decided to take engine from a truck and put into a sports car (this task was done by Lamborghini, they redesing engine from Dodge RAM). Main engineer was Fransois Castainga (french) who was vet at creating racing cars.
Viper was firstly shown in 1989 at Detroit Motor Show as a concept car but public responsiveness was so great that Lutz desided to manufacutre it. Production started in 1992 and in 1996 coupe version was added. Power of the engine increased from 400 to 450HP and maximum speed from 265 do 274km/h.
It has steel tubular frame with fully independent suspension and body made of fiber composite.

Overall look: This is next car from the list of the most beautiful. It's a legend. It has fluid lines with bulgy front and rear and great side outlets which are it's sign mark. RT/10 version has also side exhaust pipes that makes it's look even more thrilling. Front/middle layout creates agressive proportions with long hood and short back. 10/10

The engine: It has 8,0 litre V10 naturally aspirated engine which delivers over 600Nm of torque (The strongest naturally aspirated engine in production car) at 3700rpm. It sounds great, performs great and looks great. Great engine! 10/10

How it drives: This is where it's predecessor (Cobra) failed, but Viper stays still at high level. Like an american sports car it has soft suspension and it's heavy but it's well balanced and has good brakes (I've heard that real one aren't that good but ingame are quite well). Independent suspension and wide tires makes it predictable and very joyable on race track. It's worth mentioning that Viper is real sports car which racing versions have won a lot of races. 9/10

This is not "bumper" view because it looks better this way:


Overall: Great look, good but very joyable handling, Great car! 9,67!
 
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Audi A8 4.2 quattro

First generation of Audi's premium car was V8, which debiuted in 1988. It was the first production car with ASF (Audi Space Frame) made of alluminium (cooperation with Alcoa). It provides better stiffness with less weight, compared to the normal steel frame. It had V8 engine with automatic transmission and AWD drive system- famous "quattro". Though it was more equipped with luxuries than BMW and Mercedes, it didn't make a commercial success in Europe, but won two titles in Class A DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft) in 1990 and 1991.
Second generation was A8 (Audi unified names from "80", "100" "200", "V8" (different in EU and in US) to A4, A6 and A8- same everywhere). Production started in 1994. It was longer with greater wheelbase, more fluid lines and was more luxurious than it's predecessor. In 1996 S8 version was added, which had more sporty character (as others in Audi brand with an "S" letter before the number). Today's third generation (fourth if counting V8) is in production and it continues Audi's legacy of luxury cars with a little bit of sportivness.
In Enthusia, there's a second "A" generation, which debiuted in 2002 and it's a version before face lifting with 4.2 litre engine and AWD quattro drivetrain.

Overall look: Audi is famous for it's engine layout. Most of them has engine hanged lenghtwise before front axle, that creates two things: Long front overhang and a lot of understeer. V8 had huge front overhang. First generation of A8 had it similar but with greater wheelbase it wasn't that noticable. Third generation in my opinion has very proportional look. Front overhang isn't that big and with great wheelbase and bigger rear overhang it creates more "classic" apperance. For me very elegant and proportional car. 8/10

The engine: A8 is equipped with 4.2 litre V8 engine. It is naturally aspirated and sounds great, especially on real street. It producess 430 Nm of torque, which is quite well spreaded (but I was using only automatic version). 8/10

How it drives: Well it runs quite well! I wrote above about this strange Audi's (VW Group) engine layout, but in this version, the engine isn't hanged that far ahead and with quattro drivetrain it behaves very predictible. It could have better brakes because it's heavy - it is a fully loaded limousine with over 1700kg of weight which can swing on the track (I was driving it on Nurburgring), but it is easy to control. All in all it's a car for cruising not for cornering and suspension reminds about it. Still it runs very well. 7/10

Overall: Very nice car, little bit heavy but very nice 7,67!
 
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