SaberFire's review of the: FPV GT "SF Edition" '04
Before I start this review, I want you to do something for me. Yes, you reading this. Leave your house (with a digital camera/or equivalent if possible) and head straight for your nearest freeway/motorway/autobahn. Now, walk into one of the lanes and stop in the middle, facing the opposite carriage way. Now turn your head to the side, and notice a speeding car heading straight for you. Take a picture of your facial expression.
Assuming you survived, go and treat yourself to a rollercoaster ride. During your terror, you might notice that you are cornering as if "on rails". Because you are.
Now, to link this into my car review, there is one more thing you need to do. First, imagine it wasn't a car speeding towards you at 90. It's a corner. The reason your body is not facing the same way as your head is because the car is actually facing the wall. While you're still going at 90.
And the rollercoaster ride? The ride might be completely insane, but you know that some higher power (probably the ride operator) is keeping you glued to the tracks.
And the facial expression? Unless you're the kind of person that eats granite, drinks fire and wrestles mountains to which a speeding car is just an annoying fly, this is the face you will be wearing for the duration of your driving session in this car.
At least, it was for me.
It's not a well advertised fact that Australia actually makes cars. Up until the break out of the Monaro (subsequently toned down and released for the American market as the slightly lackluster GTO), unless you're
from Australia or one of those rare car enthusiasts that knows that there's more regions than Europe/USA/Japan, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Australia just imported them from nearby Japan and that'd be the end of it.
Not exactly. While a few JDM cars might make it over (mostly the micro's or a few of the more popular coupes and sedans), there are in fact cars built specifically for Australian needs. They're bigger and more powerful than what Europe or America has to offer, for a start.
It's been a while since I'd bought this car and when I finally returned from my cavernous garage with car in tow, I had forgotten how big this car actually is. For something that fulfils the same sort of purpose as a regular Ford Mondeo, this practically dwarfs it. It almost dwarfs me, come to mention it.
After I sent it off to be tuned to the AMMT specifications, I made my way to the Nurburgring, where AMMT had apparently developed the tune. When I finally laid eyes on it, I couldn't actually see a lot of difference. Apart from the new rims, the only thing setting it apart from my old one was a slightly lower stance. Funny, for the amount of torque and power written onto the car specifications I was expecting like, a massive wing and fangs and claws coming out of the bonnet and such. Instead, it looks relatively... tame.
Slightly nonplussed, I got in. Started it up, still nothing out of the ordinary. Just a bit more noise than I'm used too. Oh, and I'm missing all my interior and the frame looks a bit different, but I'm not complaining. The old one wasn't anything to write home about. So, without further ado, I put my foot down. And half a second later, I'm pulling into the pits. When I gave a puzzled look towards one of the pit crew, they pointed at one of the screens in the pit wall. In the replay, it shows the GT lurch, shoot off and instead of staying on the track decided to turn into the pits. All in about 3 seconds.
If the car was proving a point to me, point proven. I will
not take any liberties with you whatsoever. I'm not even going to assume for a second that instead of airbags you're equipped with springloaded boxing gloves. I will behave. It left a huge impression on me. The amount of power available just blows your mind in a huge way.
So, setting off on my second attempt to pass the first corner. Make it, in a rather neat fashion, too. Excellent grip, doing 60, no hint of oversteer or understeer. Strange, I was expecting something more flamboyant. Well, the car must have been reading my thoughts because as I brake and enter the corner, braking from 110mph, turning in and lifting the brake off, I suddenly get the urge to floor it. Fighting all the common sense I have, I do so, and then I experience what terror really is. The shrill whine of the engine, the squealing rubber, the shaking cockpit, the fact that I'm travelling
across the track onto the rumble strip and gut feeling that you're not totally in control.
But you
always are. I realise this as I approach Flugplatz. It wasn't the car threatening to kill me or make me require fresh underwear and a new seat. It's me. I'M the one who's making it slide like an iceskater and grip like nails in wood. The car? It does what YOU want, not what it wants. You're not fighting it. You're commanding it.
Admittedly as the case, pretty poorly so far. I'm not used to a car that handles such as this. I'm either driving a grip racer, or a drift racer. Not both at the same time. By the time I'm up to Wippermann, though, I start to get the idea behind what separates the two driving styles. It's the brakes. The balance biased towards the rear generates oversteer. But not all the time. Indeed, without sounding too silly, it's like the car "knows" when you want to slide around a corner at 70mph. And when you want to slow down without giving you a sudden panoramic view of The Green Hell. It takes a while, but when you find
the point, it suddenly all makes sense. With this in mind, I start my hotlap, with a time posted of 7'20.163.
What this car runs on isn't an engine. AMMT have somehow managed to harness the power of Fire and Lightning in place of an engine and use it in a conventional road car. There's endless amounts of power readily available. Run out revs? Switch to the next gear and just watch the engine munch hungrily into the redline all over again. Shift up, again. Shift up, again.
Not to say there's anything wrong with the drive train. In fact, AMMT deserve a big pat on the back. They've managed to make every gear usable (even first, which is usually neglected in cars with this much power), give it great acceleration yet manage to have a serviceable speed just shy of 200mph. At least, that's as fast as I managed to get it while at the 'Ring. It can probably put out a lot more in the right conditions, certainly.
And relating to the drive train, is the custom differential that has been fitted. Although the customisation is only slight, it's obvious it makes a huge difference. It makes the car possible. Without it, the wheelspin would probably be horrific, and the corners I daren't think about.
The suspension work also received an overhaul. Although at first a bit skeptic about softening the suspension, the carefully dialed camber, toe and ride height adjustments complement it perfectly. The anti-roll bar at the front ensures that there's enough freedom for the weight to transfer during cornering without risking stability. In short, it's close to a work of art.
Fitted with R3 tyres, it can easily take corners flat out. Flat out between Bergwerk and Klostertal is an experience with in itself, especially at 150mph+.
After about 20 laps or so, I finally posted a time of
6'53.756. Yet, as I pulled in, I felt as though I'd hardly scratched the surface of this machine. With another 20 laps, I reckon it would have yielded more secrets to me. But with that, create many more mysteries.
To put your foot to the floor and prepare for glory?
Or pull on the brakes and hope that tonight, you don't dine in automotive hell?
You decide.
It'd be frivolous to score this car with mere numbers. Even without the dedication to me, I'd still feel as if me and this car have some kind of bond. I can't even describe the feeling of entering a slide just to power out of Karussell and take the perfect line through Aremburg. To be honest, you should have stopped reading this review a long time ago, and started driving this car.
Trust me, you will not regret it.
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Sorry for the long winded review, but WOW, what a machine!
I really can't think of anything else to say,
S-Line. It's truly beyond words. The only thing that would make it more awesome if it was a "Chuck Norris" edition and instead of using the road like a mere "car" instead made the track move under it instead.
Seriously, great show man, great show!
ps lol at my pathetic attempt at a hotlap
I still have a lot to learn
Bet I can't get it around in 7
. Looks interesting...I'll try it and post it and the CL600R at the same time
.. Yes, well, I did 6'05.023 and that was after some 20 laps 
)
Same as for Lucas: Don't worry, it's alright. I mean, better take your time with tuning the cars than releasing a bunch of cars that weren't tuned properly 
), along with a pic for the 50th Drift Comp. (which has nothing to do with this garage, but I thought I would tell it to you here anyways to spare a post 
). 👍
.
