Beater or Sleeper? GT6 Car of the Week Thread

Actually, @MidFieldMaven-san, the TZ3 is supposed to have the innards of a Viper ACR-X, according to several sources (both Road & Track and AutoWeek state that much in their respective articles), so it's not quite a brand new Viper under that elegant Italian skin. Although the fact that the Alfa can match the newer Viper's lap time without any of X's wild aerodynamic gizmos does make it look like the two are closer brothers...

I have driven this exquisite Italo-American before, and even once wrote an article on another forum about predicting what it could be in GT6 before the game's release. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to an Alfa that can be both an Alfa and a Viper in different strokes of the same song... It beats seeing a former Mafia member in a worn-out Seville, that's for sure.

And with only 9 examples in the entire world, it takes a special kind of chance to see one in person;
 
I also forgot to mention how we'll be handling GT Sport and the way forward...

Drumroll, please...

We'll continue with 6 until 7 is released, simply due to the cost to upgrade and lack of cars in GT Sport. However, a Car of the Month option will be available for those that still want to do something with GT Sport.

This should satisfy those in both camps.
 
^Yes.

As for the TZ3. It's popular in 300+ SSRX lobbies. I'll do a proper review later.

That's another reason why the TZ3 stands out from the Viper, the Alfa is more inclined for ultra high speed runs and if I'm not mistaken, is the best representative for V10 speed machines on GT6.

Just over 1200hp fully tuned and weighing just under 1250kg gives it a power to weight ratio of 1.03hp per kg, which in simple terms means it's utterly insane for a road car. :eek:

To put that into context for GT6, here's a few P/W ratios of other fully tuned cars.

Mercedes AMG VGT Concept - 1101hp 1139kg 1.03hp per kg
Bugatti Veryon - 1324hp 1406kg 1.06hp per kg
Pagani Huayra '11 - 1247hp 1105kg 0.89hp per kg
Aston Martin One 77 -1221hp 1305kg 1.07hp per kg

Of course race cars have much lower numbers than these like the Toyota 7 having a better P/W than the Formula GT. :drool:

Now having said all that, it'll be interesting to see how the TZ3 holds up from the factory come race night. ;)
 
It's a Chrysler derived car sporting an iconic Italian badge! What could possibly go wr....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_TC_by_Maserati

.......oh. :crazy:

Well to be fair, Chrysler and Maserati didn't have a competent middle man such as Zagato linking the loose strings together... And neither brand was at their finest in the '80s; Maserati was trying to get past their "Unreliable Squares" phase, while Chrysler... well, Chrysler was a Corinthian Leather-powered mess. When it comes to Italo-American clumsy partnerships, you'd be better off with the Cadillac Allante, because at least that was an attractive and (somewhat) well-put-together venture. The TZ3 is a good example of an Italian Chrysler-derived product, because neither Fiat or Chrysler had a full hand on the matter. They just offered the puzzle pieces and let Zagato spend a nice month building their own personal Mona Lisa of an 'Murican supercar.

The TC should die in a fire, however, as it was a bad idea from the get go. It's like letting Americans make a live-action Dragon Ball mov...

....oh. :crazy:
 
That's another reason why the TZ3 stands out from the Viper, the Alfa is more inclined for ultra high speed runs and if I'm not mistaken, is the best representative for V10 speed machines on GT6.

Just over 1200hp fully tuned and weighing just under 1250kg gives it a power to weight ratio of 1.03hp per kg, which in simple terms means it's utterly insane for a road car. :eek:

To put that into context for GT6, here's a few P/W ratios of other fully tuned cars.

Mercedes AMG VGT Concept - 1101hp 1139kg 1.03hp per kg
Bugatti Veryon - 1324hp 1406kg 1.06hp per kg
Pagani Huayra '11 - 1247hp 1105kg 0.89hp per kg
Aston Martin One 77 -1221hp 1305kg 1.07hp per kg

Of course race cars have much lower numbers than these like the Toyota 7 having a better P/W than the Formula GT. :drool:

Now having said all that, it'll be interesting to see how the TZ3 holds up from the factory come race night. ;)
Umm try dividing the opposite way
 
Umm try dividing the opposite way
I assume you mean the Power/Weight ratio figures right?

I grabbed those figures from a Fully tuned car list that was posted here on GTP that I'd saved awhile back. :)
 
gutless 4cyl to gut-wrenching 10cyl torque monster! that's quite the Intervention! :D

PHAT or FUGLY
I like it! 💡...could go PHAT or FFEO ("feo" spanish for ugly, or could stand for: For Friends Eyes Only)

A quick review of the '70 Celica:
What a great handling little car!! The Celica was surprisingly easy to drive fast. It is the type of car that is as forgiving as the Pope. You're going into a corner way too hot, and you brake slightly, turning into the apex - and the Celica responds "Surely you didn't mean to go so fast, let me scrub some speed and put you on the right path, my son. Go in peace." And off you go storming into the next element with confidence that there is a greater power that will save you from your youthful exuberance, risk taking, and lack of judgement. And the rear end is easy to control - there might be some clergy humor here... but I'm not gonna go there!

There is perhaps no better way of exposing the forgiving nature of the '70 Celica than to drive the 1PP fewer, normally aspirated 86 MR2 immediately after driving the Celica ... and this most poignant comparison coincided with no other than the Nurburgring GP course with its hair pin turn and tight chicanes. Now it took every bit of the time alloted for practice laps to transition from the "there's a higher power watching out for me" driving feel of the Celica to "you took it too far, and you're going to pay for it" driving feel of the MR2. But you know, we're all human, we all adapt to the sometimes fickle characteristics of GT6 cars. Well, during the ensuing race the lone MR2, surrounded by '70 Celicas of matching '70s colors, was promptly spun by one of the Celicas. How did it happen? My guess is the timid MR2 driver got on the brakes lightly and early, while a Celica driver depended on his guardian angel as he braked later into that same corner, lightly tapping the MR2, which was all it took to spin it 180*, at which point Vic came along and saw nothing but an MR2 front profile :eek: as he rounded the corner. So at this point the MR2 was last, but as the race wore on, the MR2 passed several Celicas without much drama, and indeed had more speed on the straights despite its 1PP deficit. I think the MR2 lapped about 2 seconds faster than the Celica, and finished the race in 2nd ...at least as I remember.

So we come to the question - Sleeper or Beater?

For the 70's, this car might be classified as a sleeper - sure it wont take on a Mustang or Camaro off the line, but it will kick some butt on twisty bits. Then again, any car that is reliably drive-able on a daily basis for hundreds of thousands of miles, as Toyota's of this vintage, could become a beater. My personal view is the '70 Celica was a great handling car - the type that eggs you on to drive harder - and as such gets a much deserved classification as : Sleeper - of the sweet handling kind! :sly:

Thanks to COTW for the opportunity to test out this great little car!

Good luck this week fellow COTWers!! 👍
 
Umm Huayra has 1247/1105 hp per kg or 1.2 hp per kg. That list is incorrect I guess.

image.jpeg


The list used the same P/W formula as seen in game, but admittedly it's quite old as quite a few VGTs aren't on it.

The Pagani I used has actually 0.01 better P/W than the list showed so your half right about the list. :lol:
 
Obelisk's Car Reviews
Alfa Romeo TZ3

So, here we are. It's a nice day out here in Indianapolis, and things have been going well. I've taken a well-deserved vacation from Brad and his crazy followers in the car review group. I was able to test drive a few cars that I might take up as personal transport - a Honda Fit and a Hyundai Elantra GT to name two. Yeah, I'm a hatchback person.

And then my phone rings.

"What is it, Brad?"

"Ah, cry me a river. I have a new car for you. You don't have to drive it, but I'm not changing your diapers either way."

"Oh, piss off. What's the car, Brad?"

"It's the..."

My eyes widened at the name. Alfa Romeo. TZ3. So we're getting into the super unicorns this week. I believe a dance is in order.

YVX0grR.gif


All dancing aside, it's time to take the TZ3 to the nearest track - Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Just...One little problem.

There are only nine TZ3s in existence! How am I supposed to review one?!

I am not sure if Brad played a hand in it, or if this is a stroke of cosmic-level luck, but a young fella at the track was driving his TZ3 around. I was able to flag him down and talk to him. He seemed pretty cool about letting me take his car around for ten minutes, the standard Car of the Week time trial format. So I took a warm-up lap and then went full beans. It's a rear-wheel drive putting out 630 HP with an oil change, and it uses the running gear of the Viper ACR-X if I recall right. The car is on the low end sport tires that seem to be prevalent around the tracks. It grips pretty well, but understeers a bit hard when someone tries to accelerate out of a turn. It will, if you push it hard, oversteer and become hard to correct.

That said, I ran a 1:43.1 around the Indy road course. Not bad, but I know a few of Brad's goons will be running some insane times. I feel bad for the kid. He's probably going to get swarmed.

Overall the Alfa was a solid drive. It's agile and responsive, but it can bite you in the rear if you're not careful.

But -- they're popular in one of those mainstream games as 300 MPH cars.

I will give it a Neutral because it's a cool car but the rarity means it holds no real value - it isn't defined as a production car.

End.

For picture of the week contest:

Indianapolis Road Course.jpg

Barely dodging the wall at 152 MPH.
 
When I purchase a supercar in any GT game, I tend to keep it stock except for the tyres. I enjoy them as is, the power is usually plentiful, the weight isn't ridiculous, I only give them racing soft tyres for grip and an oil change and that's enough for me.

Those two upgrades are all you need to have a ton of fun in a supercar. I have quite a few supercars in my garage from GT5 with only these mods. My favourites are..

Aston V12 Vantage
Lambo Aventador
Alfa Romeo 8C
Maserati GranTurismo
Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
Bugatti Veyron
Pagani Zonda R
Ferrari F40
Nissan GT-R SpecV GT Academy

And I feel like the Alfa Romeo TZ3 will be another of those cars. It has tons of torque, plenty of power, rapid acceleration, it just needs those RS tyres so it has the grip to deliver all that performance to the track!

Whether it's decided to be a beater or sleeper, it will definately be a sleeper for me once I have those RS tyres on it!
 
I drove the Alfa (even though I called it an Aston on my TT trial - I had just finished driving an Aston for duel of the week...) and my verdict is that it's a beater! I admit it looks and sounds beautiful - it's the best looking beater imo. But that understeer coupled with throttle oversteer makes you feel like a hooligan when driving it. It's not all that easy to tame with the stock tires,I wasnt able to be as consistent as I wanted to be. If I was able to nail consistent laptimes I would have called it a sleeper but it's a lot of fun driving it sideways and that's not fast = beater!
 
I drove the Alfa (even though I called it an Aston on my TT trial - I had just finished driving an Aston for duel of the week...) and my verdict is that it's a beater! I admit it looks and sounds beautiful - it's the best looking beater imo. But that understeer coupled with throttle oversteer makes you feel like a hooligan when driving it. It's not all that easy to tame with the stock tires,I wasnt able to be as consistent as I wanted to be. If I was able to nail consistent laptimes I would have called it a sleeper but it's a lot of fun driving it sideways and that's not fast = beater!

It took me the better part of an evening before I got used to that understeer. First turn at Indy saw me shoot off into the barrier. Still, I was pleased with my TT until @Baron Blitz Red had a second go at it. :ouch:

You shall be missed tonite nismo. Better show up Saturday.
 
Cars within a second at Goodwood:

Lexus IS F Racing Concept '08: 0:49.315
Acura/Honda NSX Concept '13: 0:49.445
GT by Citroën Road Car: 0:49.483
Volkswagen Scirocco GT24 15th Anniversary Edition '08: 0:49.526
Audi Nuvolari quattro '03: 0:49.637
Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro Chrome Line: 0:49.639
Gran Turismo Racing Kart 125 Shifter: 0:49.709
Amuse NISMO 380RS Super Leggera: 0:49.818
SRT Viper GTS 15th Anniversary Edition '13:0:49.935
Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (C6) '09: 0:49.953
Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro '09: 0:49.998
Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale '11: 0:50.278
Ford Shelby GT500 15th Anniversary Edition '13:0:50.380
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C6) '06: 0:50.492
Audi R8 4.2 FSI R tronic '07: 0:50.517
Volkswagon Scirocco GT24 '08: 0:50.641
Ford GT40 Mark 1 15th Anniversary Edition '66:0:50.936
Buick Special: 0:50.943
BMW M3 GTR '03: 0:51.167
BMW M4 Coupé: 0:51.206

I dunno, this is an OK car to drive. Like @MidFieldMaven said, the car has a tendency to understeer. I've only used this car in Route X lobbies where it's really competitive, but I wouldn't doubt it's that hard to drive on a regular track. I'll give it a sleeper rating.
 
How about some consensus regarding the names for the pic of the week?

💡 one more: Hella PSY (Hella Photo Shot Yo! ...pronnounced Hella p*ssy) ...that ought to be sophomoric enough!

This weeks "Hella PSY" is:

So here's my top 3 votes:

1) Hella PSY
2) PHAT or FFEO
3) Panties Dropper
 
All I can come up with is "Snap of the Week"... or "The most action-y action shot"... aargh I hate writer's block!!!
 
I got to drive the TZ3 after I got home, so I gave it a run to see what it's got.

The venue: Grand Valley Speedway

On SH tyres, with 1 TCS and no ASM, it's amazingly on point. Assuming you don't take too much speed into the corner, it will handle GV's greulling corners with ease.
Beware of the torque, I found that sometimes I'd need to go around a corner in 3rd instead of 2nd, to make sure the tyres stay tacked to the road. It's got plenty of power to throw around, and once you're on a straight, it feels like you own the road.
The Viper V10 sounds fantastic! It's a muscle car with Italian skin!
I'm tilting towards Sleeper rating!
 
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