Beater or Sleeper? GT6 Car of the Week Thread

Now that shows the progress that was made between the 430 and the 458. And the Scud was the ultimate road-going 430!

 

Unrelated, but important nonetheless.

http://techdissected.com/automotive/exclusive-interview-with-barrett-rolph-of-gt-academy-fame/

Also unrelated but important:
http://www.alexanderrossi.com/

 

A few things before we get started:

1. Interviews with GT Academy finalist Barrett Rolph (@LVracerGT )- Tech Dissected and MOARGeek. Enjoy! #ABuckForBarrett!!!

2. Keep tabs on Alexander Rossi here: http://www.alexanderrossi.com/. He'll be the next American in F1.

3. Please also see the special announcement that you should've seen last week.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...

There's an app for that. Congratulations BAP_Shockz! Who said procrastination never paid off?

... the '04 Chrysler Crossfire!

​

I hate you.

"It's a Mopar." No, it's not.
"It's a Mercedes." No, it's not!

No, it didn't.

Special Announcement:

There will be no winner chosen for week 52, our 1 year anniversary. Instead, please send me a message (titled Car of the Year) containing your picks of the Best and Worst car we've tested all year. Week 52 will be our Car of the Year ceremony, with various awards handed out. If there's a goofy award that you'd like to nominate (Worst Facial Feature- Fisker Karma's mustache, for instance) then include that in your PM and I'll try to work it it.

In the event of a tie, the winner will be chosen by myself as the tie-breaker. Submissions must be entered no later than 12/31/2014 (31/12/2014 for everyone across the pond) at 11:59p. The winners will be announced for week 52, and I'm sure we'll do something for that Tuesday. Please keep all votes to cars that have been reviewed by us over the year- a handy list is on the OP (so the Karma was a bad example, but you get my point).

Finally, please also select a Driver of the Year. Please base your decision on not just racing prowess, but also content of posts within this thread. Otherwise it'd be down to Vic and Lewis, and everyone deserves their shot!

If you have any questions, please message me directly.
(Please note that the '07 Mazda Roadster RS (NC) is not qualified for this award)

 

So we have gone to a car with fire in its name from a car which had a tendency to burst into flames.

Before I start with the 458 I'll give a brief backstory to the crossfire.

Based on the SLK of the time, it had a 3.2 V6, an automatic gearbox and a roofline which resembled a dog taking a dump ( Clarkson's line of thinking, not mine. )

Sadly we don't have the SRT6 which was Supercharged, but we'll see if it can handle well come race day.

Moving on ( or should I say back? ) to the 458,

The first time I saw the 458, I figured that it, the Mercedes SLS AMG and the Mclaren 12C were the next gen super car rivals.

Fast Forward to 2014 and the story is a bit different, Ferrari is bringing back the Turbo, McLaren has unveiled an "Entry Level" version of the 12C (650S, P1, same engine and Carbon Tub) and Mercedes brought out a junior SLS.

Even though the 458 fought and beat the less expensive SLS at COTW, it also ran into a few old school fighters like the Jaguar XJ220 and the Dodge Viper GTSR which had nothing to lose and all to gain.

At Silverstone, the viper did well against the 458 despite being down on power, although you could buy 3 458's for the cost of one Viper GTSR.

I would say though, our "Mascot" Ted Thomas decided to give us ( more specifically @JackRyanWMU ) a little bit of connection hell throughout the night.

All in all, if you play GT6, at some point you will pick up a 458 and you will find its a blast to drive despite some understeer.

Verdict? Sleeper

 

I'm sensing a pattern of girls w/ cars here... And I'm fine with that

On the prior Beater/Sleeper, The Ferrari 458 - That was quite a treat after the dull Mazda!.

Forgive my delay (real-life & all), but I bought a fresh model and brought it to Ascari, and then only modified the suspension to correct PD's over-compensation of the toe & camber values, setting the car up to be more 'fluid' to its real-counterpart and less 'mess'.
This prancing-horse is just as nimble up-front as I recall from my first experience back in GT5, and that rear is isn't afraid to swing-about and turn the tires into smoke, which while we know is possible thanks to Mr. Clarkson's TopGear feature, did feel slighty 'odd' to the cars overall behavior...
So I decided to switch TCS to 1 to see how that'd alter the behavior, fair seeing how the car does have that famous Manettino switch, and my word - did this car 'shape up'. Much more controllable slides, excellent power delivery (I couldn't even feel TCS working half the time, it was like it wasn't even there !). I'll be keeping this one as-is and may even adopt it's older brother the F430, if I can decided how to emulate it's F1 derived E-diff with GT's limited offerings.

Definitely A Performer, A Sleeper if I must call it that, though with Ferrari, can you ever be 'low-key' ?

 

........I hate it. I hate it with a burning passion. Review to come in a few hours.

I'm talking about the Crossfire, if that wasn't obvious enough.

 

The closest rival represented in GT6 would be the Audi TT Coupe 3.2 Quattro '03. Both cars carry exactly 14 lbs per 1 horsepower. The SLK 230 carries 1.2 lbs more. It's unfortunate that the SLK 320 was not included in the roster...

Both of these cars touch 106 mph at Laguna Seca on CH tires.

Chrysler Crossfire '04
3.2L
214 hp / 5,500 rpm
229 ft-lb / 3,000 rpm
1,361 kg (3,000 lbs)
417 pp

67 hp/L
14 lbs/hp

Audi TT 3.2 Coupe Quattro '03
3.2L
239 hp / 6,000 rpm
237 ft-lb / 3,000 rpm
1,520 kg (3,351 lbs)
421 pp

74.7 hp/L
14 lbs/hp




My verdict: sleeper for sure. It'll give the BMW Z4, Subaru BRZ, and Lotus Elise '11 a hard time. I'd rather own the Audi in real life, though.

 

The Crossfire being a Sleeper? That's an odd choice, unexpected from you @SuzukaStar. I though you would call it rubbish, guess I need to have a drive with it to check.

 

The Chrysler Crossfire huh.

Well in GT4 my ex used it religously. It is such a 'chicks' car. Personally I hate it. It looks terrible, drives like a drunk tank and hates low speed corner exit. On comfort softs at Autumn Ring it was horrible. Low speed oversteer, no high speed stability. Ughh. Did I mention its ugly?

I will happily admit I hate this car. It looks girly and doesn't excite me as much as say a Suzuki Cappuccino. Beater verdict from me.

This is a totally biased and unfair appraisal of this car. I have issues with it.

 

Yes. Good. Release the hate. Give in to the Darkside!

 

I am the Darkside!

 

After driving the Mazda 323F and the Atenza, it was a nice change to drive a car with more horse power. Before the car was chosen I was thinking it would be nice to drive a Ferrari for a COTW. So it was nice to drive the Italia 458 which is one of my favorite Ferrari's besides the 512BB which was the first Ferrari I owned in GT5 and GT6. Eventually I would buy the Italia which is a fun car to drive even though it understeers in most corners. Currently I have two Italia's in my garage which the red #63 is a GTLM Spec racecar from the Tudor United Sports Car Championship and the black #55 was used in the COTW. Driven right the Italia can be a competitive car in its class but it takes time to learn how the car handles and if not handled properly you will find yourself in the sand trap or in the wall with this car.

.

 

Alright, let's get this car ready...

BAP_Shockz's Car of the Week Experience

This week's car....

the '04 Chrysler Crossfire

I'm not sure this is cause for celebration.

Okay, I wasn't a big fan of any of the American automotive companies in the early 2000's. Except Ford, cause I was genuinely in love with the Focus RS. Majestic little European torque-steering bugger. General Motors were just turn-offs to me at that point. Dull as hell Chevrolets, dull as hell Cadillacs, and of course, dull as hell Chryslers.

Chrysler at that point had 3 cars which stood out more in my mind than the rest. The PT Cruiser, which looked like a van that had an arrangement with the pavement at some point in life, the 300C, which had a massive torquey 6.1-litre HEMI V8, yet felt lethargic, and was bought primarily by rappers who wanted to show they had class, yet can't afford a Rolls-Royce........


.....And of course, this thing.

Oh it looks fast now.

Let's begin with the story of how this car came to be in my possession and why I'm driving it. It's funny really, a friend I knew back in secondary school, rang me up all of a sudden and asked me to test his car to see whether it was worth keeping or whether he should trade it in for something else. He didn't tell me what car it was though, and this was a guy I had lost contact with as soon as we left high school. I guess he just heard about what I do for a living. Okay, sure, how bad could it be?

Somehow I ended up in Spain again. On the same road that I tested the 458 on. Only this time, the manufacturer isn't around to watch me drive this car like a maniac. I also had to pay for all my expenses now, which was easily covered from the prize money that that Ferrari experience rewarded me with.

Okay, before we go any deeper, let's check out the specs of this car.

It's got a 3.2-litre V6 pulled out of the SLK320, generating 214 horsepower in this incarnation. It weighs 1,300 kg (dry, I'm presuming). It has an automatic transmission (God, help me). It also generates 310Nm of torque at a low 3,000rpm. Sounds good on paper. It has an automatic spoiler that automatically rises at 80 mph to generate downforce. And the rear end is arched, like a dog taking a poo (I KNOW THAT JOKE HAS BEEN OVERUSED, DAMN IT). The looks of the car just doesn't sit well with me. I don't like it and I'm very sure it won't grow on me after a while.

I pull off, going hard on the throttle, and immediately notice what I feel to be one of the biggest problems of this car. Despite having 214 horsepower and 310N-m of torque, this thing is lethargic. The in-gear acceleration is just not there, and I found myself stamping hard on the throttle just to get a little more oomph. I have a feeling this is foreshadowing. This camera angle is the primary reason I don't like this body style. It looks like a convertible with a flattened rear end here, and it's driving me mad. Honestly, I'd rather be seen dead in a Mondeo than in one of these. Then we get to the corners.

This thing probably has the worst understeer I've seen in a REAR-WHEEL DRIVE car. The front end is far too heavy, and it hesitates to turn in a corner. I really, really don't like it. Not to mention the exit speed is just...bad. It also has a substantial amount of body roll through corners, AND WHAT'S WITH ALL THE TYRE SQUEALING MY EARS AHHHHHHH.

At this point, I already decided I didn't like the car very much, but I still wanted to see how it performs on the track, and since I was in Spain......

The understeer is even more prevalent here in Ascari, I really don't know how to actually say something nice about this car. If it's not understeer through a corner, then it's snap oversteer exiting the corner. I don't know if it's my driving that causes this, but a lot of other cars are more composed. My friend here should get a new ride if he wants a fun one. To me......it's a beater. I have to apologize to @McClarenDesign now for suggesting this car in the first place. I don't like it. Not one bit.

Overall score: 3/10

 

I warned you.

 

If you missed last week, you might be able to redeem yourself tonight. No promises, but the competition might be harder than usual.

 

A not so criptic way of saying that @LVracerGT might be there too ( just shooting in the dark on this one ).

 

Hopefully another opportunity to learn... every race I learn something different, whether it's small or a revelation it adds to my library of racing knowledge which makes me a better competitor (hopefully).

Cheers

 

Baron, I've been studying racing since I was 5, and I still learn something new every day. Keep at it!

 

Speaking of this, has anyone here driven the newest VGTs (Infiniti and the Chaparral)? If so, what did you think of them? Good visions or bad visions?

 

Love the Infinity, it's willingness to rotate reminds me of my Fiesta ST. Except with way more power.. and AWD.

I like the vision of the Chaparral but won't drive it again for the same reason I won't drive the X1. There's no way a human being could ever handle G-force loads that high that abruptly, especially laying belly down as you would in the Chaparral which makes it pointless to me. Just my opinion.

 

I get it that the Chaparral sounds maybe a little too far-fetched from a realistic standpoint, but what about the driving part of it? And yes, the Infiniti is surprising eager for its weight, and it doesn't look half bad either.

 

Room still available in the race with these nasty cars?

 

From a driving standpoint it's completly different, fast, but flawed.

It's an established fact the wheel users have a very noticeable advantage over DS3 users driving the 2X as they can scrub the front wheels more and in turn, hold higher speeds through turns.

Since technically the 2X is no wheel drive, adding power to try and bring the back around won't work much.
To compensate, you have to use Left Foot Braking to slow the car whilst still keeping some throttle on to help turn the car.

I personally think it's impressive, but I wouldn't drive it willingly.

The Infiniti is a decent car, but it has the same problem as the 2020 GTR in that at low speeds the electric motors make it tricky to drive smoothly without lighting up the rear tyres.

That said, both are two different ways of how to build a one-off virtual racer.

Now I wonder what Mazda will bring to the table.

 

Should be up around 9:30-9:45p CST. We'll do some 2-lap sprints while waiting for everyone to join.

 

Sweet. Worked out its 5 hours ahead of us.... the day before. Haha. 19 hours behind.

 

Does this mean you already know who wins???

Cheers

 

Haha. If only mate.... if only

 

I think it seems to be working. Especially these past few months, I've noticed an ever increasing level of pace and consistency from the both of you. In fact the same goes for many of the COTW regulars.

 

Just got home from work and I am too exhausted to race even if I could

I don't know why but I'm offended by all the hate for the Crossfire. It's as quick as S2000's and Z4's and Golf R's etc etc...