Beater or Sleeper? GT6 Car of the Week Thread

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So, this happened. Got there just in time for FP1!
 
Review of the ZX4KMR Coupe!!!
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Well now that I have your attention... no, it's not a new car on the market but a double headed review of our 2 last COTW's. :lol:

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First up, the 2008 Z4 M Coupe...

Not your average 2 seater, the latest M Coupe housed a 338hp inline 6 used in the M3, mated to a 6 speed manual transmission to help putting use of 269 ft-lbs of torque on the asphalt. As we get it in GT6, it stands at 469pp before the oil change.

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Just like most of the M series, there's lots of power to be had, and since this car weighs 1,495kgs it can pick up and go. With the stock tranny I found 3rd and 4th gears to be a little too long, but all in all, not too bad. Lots of fun!

Secondly, the 1999 XKR Coupe...

Trying not to be biased with a review, but... I hate Jags, always have always will. Junk A**holes Get Usually After Retirement is probably the nicest thing I've said about them. :lol:

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At 477pp, you get a 4 litre 369hp/388 ft-lb supercharged V8 pushing a 1,640kg body. It too comes with a 6 speed, but this time it's an automatic tranny. It sounds ok but that's about it. This is not the car to change my mind about the brand, especially with the price of them.

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As always, racing around with the COTW crew is entertaining. We always get a good variety of track choices on race nights to put our latest picks though the paces. My choice out of the two would be the Bimmer which is almost half the price of the Jag. I will concede the fact that the XKR is not the worst GT6 COTW we have tested, but I won't be recommending the pricy beater either. ;)

Cheers
 
NinjaDesignz
This is one of the most interesting threads in the forums. Well done guys!
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Well, we certainly try. Join us on Tuesday nights for the real fun!

Congratulations NinjaDesignz!

Give unto us your desired Beater or Sleeper (I need to trademark that)...

NinjaDesignz
I choose the SRT challenger '10. I think it should be a good week. Thanks for picking me!

Cheers :cheers:
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I haven't gotten that update yet. Until then, we'll go with the 2008 Dodge SRT Challenger SRT8!

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Might also be a good idea to pick up the Touring Car, I hear this thread is littered with Targas all over the place.
 
This week's selection definitely helped reaffirm my opinion that the Challenger is easily the least desirable of the Big Three's current "modern retro" pony cars. Sure, it's big and heavy, and that should tell you pretty early that this isn't going to handle with the crispness of a Lotus. Yet, driving it, it actually felt even more ungainly behind the wheel than it did just looking at it. "Dump Truck handling' would be an accurate term for the way it corners, its steering both extremely heavy, and yet extremely vague. Even its styling misses the mark, I've seen refrigerators that had more dynamic lines than this beast.

Add to this that the far better Camaro SS or Boss Mustang can be had around the same price tag, and I have to crown this one my personal "King of the Beaters."
 
Camaro SS
6.2L
427 hp / 6,000 rpm
420 ft-lb / 4,500 rpm
1,755 kg
498 pp
Laguna Seca lap time (CH tires) - 1:45.307

Boss 302
5.0L
443 hp / 6,500 rpm
380 ft-lb / 4,500 rpm
1,647 kg
501 pp
Laguna Seca lap time (CH tires) - 1:47.595

Challenger
6.1L
425 hp / 6,000 rpm
420 ft-lb / 5,000 rpm
1,878 kg
490 pp
Laguna Seca lap time (CH tires) - 1:48.880

Even at Suzuka on SH tires, the Camaro was fastest by 7 tenths of a second, no small feat considering it weighs 238 lbs more than the Mustang. The Challenger weighs over 500 lbs more than the Mustang, but somehow it isn't that much slower. It's loud and flashy, so not a sleeper, and it's slower than its rivals, so I could definitely see it being labeled a beater.
 
Man, why do I feel that I will call the Challenger a "5-door XKR" after I'm done driving it? That's the problem with this car; it is not the sportiest Challenger (Don't forget the Hellcat for the next game, PD), it is not the finest muscle car (finest being used loosely here) and from what I can gather from @SuzukaStar's results, it is not even the fastest muscle car.

Just on those grounds alone, I'm pretty much inclined to call this a Beater...

Oh, right. It also runs on a version of an old Merc E-Class chassis. That counts too.
 
Double Trouble!!!
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This week, I'm not behind (for a change) and giving a 2 for 1 review, but having 2 cars to chat about... Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde AKA The Challenger SRT8 '08 and the Challenger SRT8 Touring car!

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Fate and apparently certain Ninja's would have us try a former GT6 COTW victim again, just in a newer body style. Yes, believe it or not, the 300 C Ya Later car shares the same platform as the Challenger! Cheating I tell ya!!!

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Underneath the striped bonnet is a HEMI 6.1 litre V8 engine producing 425hp and 420 ft-lbs of torque to get this 1,878 kilo bad boy up to speed. Measuring out at 490pp before the oil change, it makes that fat cat we tried just recently look like a lightweight but for a third of the cost. Even the famous Brembo brakes that come standard in the SRT8 needed both help and distance to slow her down!

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Racing at the Red Bull Ring, even our resident alien MT master only managed a 1:45.714 best lap time... you know it's a Beater!

Then, we took a shot at Sierra with the Touring Car...

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At 570pp, you get 634hp with 542 ft-lbs of torque pushing around a 1,285kg race car. Which gets this...

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WAY more fun!!! Until you get rain... then nothing but spinning tires, loss of control and more spinning tires! So after 2 weeks, 4 days and around 15 and a half hours, we managed to cross the finish line of a 3 lap race at Sierra after it dried up some. Sarcasm may be included.

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If the Challenger SRT8 was anything like it's Touring Car brother, we would have a Sleeper. But instead, we have yet another heavy Beater that anyone can enjoy... Sarcasm may be included.

Cheers
 
Time to play catch up. :P

The Jaguar XKR has got some friends to play with this week.

The Dodge Challeger SRT8 and its touring car counterpart, The Challenger SRT8 TC.

All have V8's, all have rear wheel drive, but two of them have some pretty big flaws.

Take a guess which two I'm talking about? :confused:





Nope, it's the Jaguar and the standard Challenger. :sly:

The Jaguar on its own merits is not a bad car to drive, but aside from it being slightly bulky ( although compared to the SRT8 its a featherweight :eek: ), it's biggest and in my opinion its fatal flaw is the price.

It's over 120.000cr and you don't have to look far to find which car makes the XKR seem pointless, in fact you don't even need to leave the Jaguar Dealership to find the answer.

For 10,000cr LESS you can buy the Supercharged performance version of the XKR and whilst it does give away almost 100kg to the normal jag, it's got more power, more torque and a faster shifting 6 speed auto which as @SuzukaStar showed is faster over the course of a lap.

So the Jagaur is a good car, priced badly. Result? A beater Verdict.

Moving on to the SRT8 and let's not beat around the bush, it's an absolute porker. :D

Weighing in at almost 1.9 tons and only having just over 410hp, it definitely was lacking performance all around.

Some will argue that the Challenger was never built for the track and that it's more of a long distance cruiser and I agree with them.

But if you wanted a Challenger to go criusing in, why not go with the 5.7 V8?

Compared to its rivals of the time, the SRT8 was too bulky and underpowered to battle them ( That has been sorted recently with the updated 6.4 Hemi and the Supercharged Hellcat :drool: ).


You're probably thinking why I haven't talked properly about the SRT8 TC and yet already called it a sleeper?

The answer is quite simple, after the official races, we had an unofficial race at Suzuka with a 550pp limit and I chose the normal SRT8 which I put on a crash diet along with uprated brakes, suspension, diff, transmission and engine upgrades.

The car felt much more focused and fun to drive and when you consider the TC version is even lighter and has downforce, it makes sense to call the SRT8 TC a decent sleeper.

Net profit from all this?

Two beaters and a sleeper, one of which is too bulky and underpowered and the other is a decent car but more expensive than its performance version.
 
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McClarenDesign
Correct. They were given to the teams at Monza by Mario Andretti. My hat has been touched by a World Champion!
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What about the cowbell? Who touched that? :)

As for my opinion on the SRT8 - a very nice truck, though they shouldn't have disguised it as a very pretty muscle car.
Hoping next week has something with cheek - something we can actually sink our teeth into.

Oh! Yes - before I forget: the Touring version is hell on wheels. In a good way, that is.
 
Niku Driver HC
Man, why do I feel that I will call the Challenger a "5-door XKR" after I'm done driving it? That's the problem with this car; it is not the sportiest Challenger.
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Congratulations Niku Driver HC!

The Challenger is a truck. Those brain cells still haven't grown back. What'll it be?

Niku Driver HC
I had another idea for next week, but I think we all need a change from all the heavy oversteering beaters. So, let's all get back to the funny world of hot hatches with...
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The Volkswagen Lupo GTI!

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Niku Driver HC
Some people know the Lupo for doing 3 Liters of fuel consumption. Paint it red and it might be 3 times more exciting... :sly:
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McClarenDesign
And if not, can we call it Luposuction?
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I'm Excited to join all of you again soon. I've missed the past few sessions and played single player a few times before signing off but my wife and I are moving cross country. Super excited for the new adventure and looking forward to re-connect. See you on the track soon.
 
Hungry Like The Lupo!
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In direct contrast to our past couple of cars comes the German featherweight called the Lupo. Introduced in 1998, she is the VW badged version of the SEAT Arosa. Of course not being happy with just a mini car, Volkswagen intoduced this GTI version in 2001, and succeeded the original "hot hatch" known as the Golf Mk 1. With an inline 4 DOHC 1.6 litre engine, it took about 8 seconds to get this 975 kg car up to 100 kph.

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Pitted as competition to the Mini Cooper, she had 15" wheels to compliment the upgraded suspension, which gave her the exceptional handling qualities that was expected with the GTI badge. In GT6, after the oil change she measured out to be 353pp with 120hp and almost the same for torque.

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Not being a fan of FF cars, I must admit I was pleasantly surprised about the performance of the car. Even with the GTI designation, I would have to put her in the Sleeper category because I just never would have given her a thought before actually trying one out. Colour me shocked and surprised, there is another FF car I actually like to drive!

Cheers
 
Baron Blitz Red
Fun fact: The Lupo which is Wolf in Italian was replaced by a model called The Fox... :odd:

Also from I've read it may have gotten its name from Wolfsburg, Germany which just happens to be where Volkswagen's headquarters is, and is Germany's richest city... Things that make you go hmmm! ;)

Cheers
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;)

And another fact, despite the Fox being a replacement for another Fox, they were both flops sales-wise. It took VW releasing the Up! to actually be somewhat sucessful on the city-car biz. I still like the Lupo more, even it has a bit of a steep price for a mini hot-hatch. :)👍 It's cheerful and snappy, what more could you want?

And if look to @SuzukaStar's laps, you can also see that it is a worthy sucessor to the OG GTI, the Golf Mark 1. :D
 
It's with a heavy heart that I must deliver bad news. Despite the "successful" crowd-sourcing effort to get the team to Abu Dhabi, beyond that, Caterham F1 will likely not make next year's F1 grid.

We gather to say thank you.

Thank you Caterham F1 Team!!!

As part of our farewell, this week we'll be driving the Caterham Seven Fireblade!

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Thankfully, Caterham will still be making Lotuses (Loti?), so they aren't gone for good. Perhaps they'll even find an investor to help them break out of receivership. Regardless, it's an excellent opportunity to hoon a car.

Like the F1 team, good luck telling the difference between it and a Lotus.

Please also spare some change to help one of our own, Barret Rolph. He's trying to get on next year's grid too, and donations can be made at: http://www.gofundme.com/barrettrolphracing.
 
That sure is a nice Lot-ass.

Edit: The Caterham specs are conflicted. You get 19 extra ponies just for buying the car!

Dealership spec:

0.9L
138 hp / 10,450 rpm
90 ft-lb / 9,250 rpm
369 kg
560 PP

Garage spec:

0.9L
157 hp / 10,500 rpm
90 ft-lb / 9,000 rpm
369 kg
560 pp

Laguna Seca lap - capable of 1:45 in the right hands. 1:44 with a wheel maybe.

The SLS AMG also has 560 PP, but runs 1:41's all day.

 
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Ack, drove home through a blizzard just to find 1.14 and community server undergoing maintenance standing between me and the funtimes. 'Twas looking forward to hopping in this car for the first time since GT4. :/
 

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