Car of the Week | Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG '10

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RX8 Racer
I take great amusement and pleasure in finding loopholes and exploiting the hell out of them, Smokey Yunick style.

Square had an SPC for the FD RX-7 a couple of years back where the goal was to ‘take an RX-7’, build it to 600PP on the lowest budget possible and set a lap at Fuji with it.

Now, the cost of the base car was excluded from the budget because the FD is a Brand Central car that could appear in the UCD at a discount.

But since Square did not actually specify which RX-7 to use in the challenge (‘take an RX-7’), I just brought an Amemiya on Sport Softs.



* I did win that challenge with a normal FD RX-7 build, with the added bonus of Square being salty at my chicanery. XD
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I’ve always applied the mindset of ‘Ol Smokey’ as well, I look at the rules once and see what they say, then I look at them again and see what they don’t say. :sly:

You’ll be surprised at what loopholes you can find when you really pay attention and Smokey was legendary for that.

One story(among many) I like went like this, Smokey qualified on pole, but his car had fender skirts over his rear tyres which helped with aerodynamics, but made fast tyre changes near impossible.

The other teams laughed at him after qualifying because of that fact, But Smokey didn’t say a word, he strolled back into his garage, picked up a angle grinder and proceeded to hack the fender skirts off in front of everyone.

The teams complained, but Smokey reportedly said, ‘The rules state the fender skirts can be removed, but they didn’t say WHEN they can be removed.’ :P

Even in the established rules I can see potential weak spots. :mischievous:
 
RX8 Racer
I take great amusement and pleasure in finding loopholes and exploiting the hell out of them, Smokey Yunick style.

Square had an SPC for the FD RX-7 a couple of years back where the goal was to ‘take an RX-7’, build it to 600PP on the lowest budget possible and set a lap at Fuji with it.

Now, the cost of the base car was excluded from the budget because the FD is a Brand Central car that could appear in the UCD at a discount.

But since Square did not actually specify which RX-7 to use in the challenge (‘take an RX-7’), I just brought an Amemiya on Sport Softs.



* I did win that challenge with a normal FD RX-7 build, with the added bonus of Square being salty at my chicanery. XD
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Bravo...
 
You ask me, nitrous seems to be perhaps the singular most ignored exploitation factor I see in some of these challenges.

I remembered a challenge years back where we had to race something thingy in Interlagos, and since as of writing this, my meme pictures folder was up, thus I noticed this gem:


its alphard time.webp
 
SomePlayaDude
You ask me, nitrous seems to be perhaps the singular most ignored exploitation factor I see in some of these challenges.

I remembered a challenge years back where we had to race something thingy in Interlagos, and since as of writing this, my meme pictures folder was up, thus I noticed this gem:


View attachment 1471802
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Good lord, it's Betty Boop on steroids!
 
I don't have much to say about how the Carry drives; it's too slow to get into any sort of trouble, and I don't think the sheer atrocity of driving these work vehicles quickly translates across into a video game at all.

But as might be expected, I've had a lot of fun with the Carry in Discover and Livery Editor; I think I was cycling through something like 7 Carries throughout the week, some insanely well–made creations by others, and some of my own mucking around. I was just going to make a simple troll design on the truck bed after RX8 destroyed the SPC this week with Nitrous due to Obe's oversight in setting the rules, but I have a really nasty tendency to keep going and going if no one tells me to stop...

Gran Turismo® 7_20250816010801.webp


While mucking around with the Carry, I've come to find that there's a role that the Carry almost literally outshines everything else currently in the game, including the Unimog, and that's being a mobile mirror. Both the Unimog and the Carry have somewhat squarish bed attachments in GT Auto, and when painted in the Italdesign VGT's "Pure" paint, both trucks can become mobile mirrors! The Carry is better for this as it sits much lower than the Unimog, allowing it to be more level with other cars.

With this mobile mirror, it's possible to peek behind the Scapes scenes, which I find fascinating. I've even managed to spot a PD staff in Salar de Uyuni with a tripod stand, and the truck they drove there with :)

​


When I drive in real life, I've always had this fantasy of having a flip–up mirror at the rear of my car to punish the idiots who drive around (unknowingly?) with their high beams on. If they're allowed to blind me and be a hazard, why shouldn't I be able to repay them in the same way, right? I decided to try living out this fantasy in GT7, only to find...

Gran Turismo® 7_20250814052607.webp


...that the car we're driving isn't even depicted in the reflections! At least, not on a base PS5. Urgh!

But, with a mobile mirror, I'm finally able to replicate the only Left–Hand Drive Spirit R RX-7 in the world here in GT7 (please ignore the fact that I overlooked the sunroof on the real car...).

Gran Turismo® 7_20250815113553.webp


I think cars are only depicted at medium and low LODs in reflections, so there's some jagged edges and even some obvious flaws up close, like how the FD3S' front bumper pokes through the licence plate, and sometimes the driver isn't even depicted. But hey, if you ever want to take a close–up look at cars and tracks in medium or low LODs, you can drive around a mobile mirror in a Split Screen or Lobby race!

Gran Turismo® 7_20250816040135.webp


Lastly, here's a photo of an American pickup truck lined up next to a Keitora...

Gran Turismo® 7_20250816012348.webp
 
The results for last week's SPC, the "Try Not To Laugh(ing Gas)" Challenge, are in!

Player​
NOS Used?​
Gantry Pos.
jrbabbitt​
No​
10th
RX8 Racer​
Yes​
1st
Vic Reign93​
No​
3rd
Vic Reign93​
Yes​
1st
Obelisk​
No​
5th

Congrats to RX8 and Vic for cinching the win while staying within Kei regulations, and special shoutout to RX8 for finding a loophole that's specifically being closed this week...


Long–time regular @lilcat89 has had the chance to choose the car to feature this week, and they've chosen something that's fittingly been with the series for a long time as well. Let's welcome under our spotlight (again), the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG '10!
(...or the AMG SLS AMG '10 if you want to be really pedantic with how the game classifies it, but that just sounds stupid. About as stupid as the fact that I can't even shoot the car at the Mercedes Brand Central Scapes... which we USED to be able to do!)

Gran Turismo® 7_20250818040505.webp


lilcat89​

My nomination for CoTW is going to be the Mercedes SLS AMG '10. The one and only cover car of GT5! The first fully engineered and developed car by AMG had a lot to live up to in order to play with the supercar big boys in 2010. The SLS AMG is a car that I have been fond of lately, especially in Black Series trim.
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Succeeding the collaborative effort between McLaren and Mercedes that is the SLR, the SLS is Mercedes' solo effort in fixing the few flaws of the SLR; it's much lighter, sports a 7–speed DCT, comes in colours that include hue, and of course, sports iconic gullwing doors. All that is to say nothing of the all–new 6.3L NA V8 that would power their motorsports division in the decade to come!

Take a trip down memory lane with us in the Single–Player Challenge listed below, or find new rivals in our Weekly Lobbies!


Join Our Weekly Lobbies!​

Our weekly lobbies are ongoing as usual, and anyone (not a dick) is welcome to join us in racing SLSes under BoP conditions!

Click on the hyperlinks to convert the times to your time zone, and feel free to add the hosts as friends on PSN to make searching for the lobbies easier!

The Americas Lobby​

The Asia/Oceania also kinda European Lobby​

BoP/Settings Disabled: On (Cars will temporarily be reverted to stock settings, WIDE BODIED AND/OR ENGINE SWAPPED CARS WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE!)
Tracks: Randomly selected by lobby participants (~5 mins practice, ~7 mins sprint)
PP Limit: 598PP
Car: No Limit
Tyres: Sports Hard



~Single–Player Challenge!~​

For the third week in a row, we're staying at the Nordschleife for the SPC!

lilcat89​

In GT5, there was a new special event called the AMG Driving Academy. It focused on learning the Nurburgring Nordschleife in a few different AMG variants. The final Expert level mission consisted on our chosen SLS AMG on a wet Nordschleife for a full lap. The Gold target time with the traffic for the event was 8:30.000. My challenge is to do a time trial on the wet Nordschleife and beat that time on the stock Sport Hard tires. Also, in the spirit of a proper mission event, Nitrous is NOT allowed.
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Set the fastest lap time possible under the following conditions:

  • Game Mode: Time Trial (No Nitrous!)
  • Car: SLS AMG '10 (Fully stock)
  • Track: Nordschleife (Daytime 15:00h, Rain)
  • Tyre Wear & Fuel Con: Off
  • Shortcut Penalty: Weak

Needless to say, fastest time wins, but everyone can try to beat the 8:30.000 Gold time for bonus internet cookies!


Of course, we always welcome opinions, tunes, liveries, photos, videos, or stories about the car here on the the thread!

What, you thought there's more doom and gloom here this week?

I'm still in a heck of a lot of discomfort, and I'm getting a health checkup done in the near future. Meanwhile, I'm extremely grateful to everyone who contributed to the Carry's week, especially to RX8 for covering my ill behind for the umpteenth time by hosting the Saturday lobby. He'll have a free car choice to use whenever because of his tremendous help.
 
XSquareStickIt
Set the fastest lap time possible under the following conditions:

  • Game Mode: Time Trial (No Nitrous!)
  • Car: SLS AMG '10 (Fully stock)
  • Track: Nordschleife (Daytime 15:00h, Rain)
  • Tyre Wear & Fuel Con: Off
  • Shortcut Penalty: Weak

Needless to say, fastest time wins, but everyone can try to beat the 8:30.000 Gold time for bonus internet cookies!


Of course, we always welcome opinions, tunes, liveries, photos, videos, or stories about the car here on the the thread!
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I am feeling a lot like Jay Leno these days because I have a full garage, no empty slots. So I went to see my SLS '10 in the AMG section of my European collection to find that it was not modified in any way, still has 0 miles on the odometer
198bece736d89-10177746eba4528e4c85207fe61d0c8b37c22f9e-999_message_449420232557369_1755547783...webp

I pulled it out to have it shipped to Germany to give it a run on the ring. When my car and I arrived it was pouring rain and since I had the Nurburgring closed for testing for the one day I had to make the best of it in rainy conditions.
I went out and completed three laps before I really had a serious incident and had to have it put on a flatbed and sent to get it repaired and the repair bills for the Armco guardrails is costly.
After repairs I got back you
out on track, still raining, and was only able to do one more lap before I was informed that test session being closed for weather is getting worse.
My best time
198bece4e9e58-10177746eba4528e4c85207fe61d0c8b37c22f9e-999_message_449420236024267_1755547796...webp

and this was with TC set to 5 to prevent my spinning out of control after each turn. I do recommend that gentle braking and throttle inputs are warranted for driving this in the rain. I will be staying a few more days here and I will give another Time Trial run in drier conditions and post the differences below.
198bece958b13-10177746eba4528e4c85207fe61d0c8b37c22f9e-999_message_449420229237319_1755547770...webp

K31thc0m
no one here is beating that time lmao
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@K31thc0m I agree with you on this, 😆 🤣

Here is a YT of my best lap..
 
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I did some test runs last night and like everyone else, I was nowhere near. I honestly forgot how torrential the rain was in the Time Trial. I have a new idea, to set up a custom race. 1 lap, rolling start, 5 cars, you start 5th. Preset weather to R04 and equal conditions on. No nitrous allowed, real track edge reduction, no boost, real slipstream. Opponent cars are 190E EvoII, 300SL, A45 AMG, and C63S Coupe; all stock preferably. Where they start is up to you. The starting distance between cars is the maximum 166 ft.

With this set up, I was consistently under 8 minutes, so its considerably easier now.
 
lilcat89
I did some test runs last night and like everyone else, I was nowhere near. I honestly forgot how torrential the rain was in the Time Trial. I have a new idea, to set up a custom race. 1 lap, rolling start, 5 cars, you start 5th. Preset weather to R04 and equal conditions on. No nitrous allowed, real track edge reduction, no boost, real slipstream. Opponent cars are 190E EvoII, 300SL, A45 AMG, and C63S Coupe; all stock preferably. Where they start is up to you. The starting distance between cars is the maximum 166 ft.

With this set up, I was consistently under 8 minutes, so its considerably easier now.
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What you posted gets you the 8 minutes BUT breaks the rules of this COTW challenge. You should go back and obey the rules of the challenge, I understand the rain is heavy but it's the challenge of it and makes everyone equal under the rules.
 
jrbabbitt
What you posted gets you the 8 minutes BUT breaks the rules of this COTW challenge. You should go back and obey the rules of the challenge, I understand the rain is heavy but it's the challenge of it and makes everyone equal under the rules.
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What I was going for originally when I thought of the SPC for the week was to attempt to replicate the last mission in the GT5 AMG Academy. I thought that the Time Trial might be doable, until I attempted it myself. All in all, I wanted the SPC to be fun, particularly since this is the 3rd week in a row that it's been at the Nordschleife, and frankly monsoon rain isn't fun to me. I was looking for a rain sweet spot while testing different conditions last night, which doesn't seem to exist. Ultimately, my custom race gets way closer to what I was trying to replicate anyhow. With the equal conditions setting on, the surface water should be the same challenge for everyone.
 
lilcat89
What I was going for originally when I thought of the SPC for the week was to attempt to replicate the last mission in the GT5 AMG Academy. I thought that the Time Trial might be doable, until I attempted it myself. All in all, I wanted the SPC to be fun, particularly since this is the 3rd week in a row that it's been at the Nordschleife, and frankly monsoon rain isn't fun to me. I was looking for a rain sweet spot while testing different conditions last night, which doesn't seem to exist. Ultimately, my custom race gets way closer to what I was trying to replicate anyhow. With the equal conditions setting on, the surface water should be the same challenge for everyone.
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Well now I understand the context of what you did and accomplish, far be it from me to criticize. I never was able to do the GT5 AMG Academy and didn't know / understand what you were trying to replicate. I'm sorry for my ignorance.
 
jrbabbitt
Well now I understand the context of what you did and accomplish, far be it from me to criticize. I never was able to do the GT5 AMG Academy and didn't know / understand what you were trying to replicate. I'm sorry for my ignorance.
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It's all good man. I probably should have explained my intent better in the original DM reply to Square. I understand where you were coming from as well.
 

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