Car of the Week: Week 124 Alfa Romeo 4C Gr3

Maybe that was a ghosting glitch. I think Vic he hit a cone.

 

I didn't even know racer was there... and as far as I can tell, Vic always has thrusters.... lol

 

Now seems as good a time to ask as any: how have I been the past few months that I've been racing with you guys? Anything I can improve on? Racecraft? Pace? Personality? Writing? Am I annoying or cringe? Just fine the way I am? Is there anything you think I should try or can improve on?

 

There's just the FIA Nations race, at Sardegna road course, this Saturday.
A Supra type series would be fun traversing road and rally tracks.

 

You sir are a pleasure to race with.

 

I attempted to beat the 7:56 BTG lap time done in real life by a bone stock GR Yaris, though said lap was done on a damp surface.




Handling-wise, the car will cooperate just fine; just don't do any sudden movements.



This car is arguably the best new car of 2020.

 

This week we are going with the Prancing Horse. We are taking a look at the Ferrari Enzo name after the man himself. This weeks car is chosen by @MisterWaffles

 

Ooooh finally the Enzo! I just forgot how rediculously fast this thing is! Ferrari made there something truly special! And that in 2002! Yes, even in GTS it does still understeer quite some bit but other than that, it feels wonderful! In GT5 it was a constant change between massive understeer and oversteer, but here it's really planted. Driven stock on hard sport tyres without any driving aids, except ABS. First lap in third person view, second one in cockpit view and third one in cinematic replay view. All driven laps are the same lap.

With its driven time, it is the 8th fastest car of all road legal cars. Its closest rivals are the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 '11 with a 07:14.105 on the 9th place and the Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SV '15 with a 07.12.492 on the 7th place. So it's basically in a Lambo sandwich! It can reach a top speed of 353 km/h=219mp/h in the game, and is thus sharing the 18th-16th place top speed wise of all road legal cars with the Honda NSX '17 and the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 '11, while its closest top speed rivals are the Aston Martin DB11 '16 with 352km/h=219mp/h on the 19th place and the McLaren F1 '94 with 355km/h=221mp/h on the 15th place.

Hot lap:

GTS Nordschleife hot lap STOCK Ferrari Enzo Ferrari '02: 07.13.852


Fight with closest rivals:



Verdict: pretty much a sleeper, as it's just too good for a 2002 car!

Your Yaris was not stock...sooo...not a fair comparison with a stock Yaris, is it?

 

It's stock. SH tires, default setup, 100/100 power and weight. Look at the beginning of the video again.



I have maxed out its tuning meters, but I reverted them back to stock HP and Weight.

 

You've used a different lay-out, than me. I suppose the real life attemt was made on the same track lay-out as yours? As far as I know, most Nordschleife hot laps are done on another lay-out, on the one I use in my hot lap runs. Don't know which one was used for the GR Yaris though...

 

I used the BTG style, same as the what the real-life attempt did. Not totally official since it's on the Tourist layout.

 

I figured afterwards. Thx for the clarification!

 

Aerodynamics are for those who can't build engines
-Enzo Ferrari
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I find it quite ironic that the car which bears the name of the man himself-and the one who said that quote-was probably one of the most advanced in terms of aerodynamics when it first came out. And even today it can still give many modern supercars a run for their money. It was everyone's dream car during the early 2000's. And for a good reason. Michael Schumacher and Ferrari were on their peak, and the Enzo was a celebration of that success. It was the Italian equivalent to the McLaren F1: an attempt to bring the Formula One experience to the road. How well does the Enzo convey that experience in the world of GT Sport ?

How come that the MC12 gets a racing version while the Enzo doesn't ?!
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First, let's get to the engine. Bearing a naturaly aspirated 6-liter V12, putting down rouphly 650 horsepower, you can tell right away that this car isn't joking around. Even in second gear it really gives the rear tyres a workout, so caution when exiting slow corners is neccessary. It makes up for it however, at faster corners and straights. It won't put up any drama mid-turn and when it has the room,it can get you up to 350 km/h. Not bad at all for an almost 20 year-old supercar.

V12's aren't really uncommon among Italian supercars, but that doesn't mean they are going to get boring anytime soon...
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What stood out to me however was the feel of it. Despite weighting around 1200 kgms, which even by today's standards isn't that much, the car felt heavy. Not to the point that it refused to turn "cough" Ruf "cough", but it was less responsive than i expected it to be. That is more apparent on slow turns and combined with the wheelspin, going through any kind of corner that needs you to slow down to anything below 100 km/h was anything but fun.

I wonder if we will be looking back at Lago Maggiore the same way we look back at classics like Grand Valley and Deep Forest...probably one of PD's finest works...
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I guess stiff would be the right word. Bodyroll and weight transfer isn't really a thing you will notice when driving the Enzo and that makes it really planted and easy to handle around faster corners. When it gets out of control tho, it won't hold your hand in any way. It's almost impossible to properly put the back end into place. In general, sudden moves of the steering wheel aren't received very well by the car and it just feels unnatural.

The Spartan interior of the Enzo really gives it the feeling of "purpose-build" It's a barren land of bare carbon fiber.
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If i were to describe the Enzo in one word, that would be "focused". It isn't good in many things, but the things that it's good at, it does them exceptionally. When you go slow, it feels akward, out of its element. You have to get up to speed to experience the real Enzo. Fast, but also ruthless, it rewards bravery and mocks hesitation, put also punishes arrogance. It is a one-of-a-kind car and it demands by its driver to be treated as one. Respect that, and the Enzo will give you one of the most pleasant drives in Gran Turismo Sport.


Bonus mini review!

Basically, the modern equivalent of a 205 T16 road car (without the unending desire to kill you at every opportunity) the GR Yaris feels and drives like a rally car for the road. Being 4WD doesn't mean it won't let you slip the back end out and it's actually really fun drifting around with it! At the same time, it's a force to be reckoned with at shorter tracks like Tsukuba and it even challenges the established Subarus and Evos!

 

The Ferrari FXX?


I mean, it wasn't a race version per se, but it was a balls to the wall, hard-core no compromise track version, and that's sort of a similar thing.

 

The FXX was one of those cars that was the evil rabbit in GT6 seasonals.

Who knew that if you put an 800hp V12 into a 2,500lb MR chassis it would be the fastest thing on the planet?

In GT SPort the Enzo is surprisingly pleasant.

I run it as an N600 car with 640hp or so with the 1,200kg weight. Its not as knife edge as you think... the car seems pretty neutral, balanced. The steering is great, accurate vice free. Even tight hairpins are ok. The car does feel wide as the Nurburgring.

The car does play up if you apply the horsepower too liberally but it too has that cool trait that you can use the rear end to power steer the car in the direction you want the car to go.

So I have done stuff like added full power on the Karrusell to power oversteer the car in the direction you want to take and let off power when the car is pointed "northwards" in the direction you want to go. Very playful but not unruly car unlike the LaFerrari.

I would suspect that it puts up a very valiant fight against say an N600 Huayra which is like 15yrs younger?

 

Where are the replays boiiisss?

 

@Nismonath5 Has one video up from the night on Youtube but I bet he'll get up here when he has time.

 

Indeed I do, sorry for the delay in getting it here.

 

This week we are taking a look at the successor of the DBR9. We are going racing with the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3. This weeks car is chosen by @JackRyanWMU

 

I've only driven my one a handful of times, mostly in a 1hr endurance.

The only reason I tried it is because a few people in a discussion here said it wasnt really a good car.

So at max power and least weight with a tune I found it to be a very neutral, docile, balanced car.

The 6.0 liter V12 is a very gentle motor with a very gradual buildup of power... in fact people might say the low and mid range is a tad muted. The top end is there but you have to keep the revs up to get that 690hp. Because of the gentle power curve tyres and fuel econ isnt too bad.

I couldnt really get it out of shape unless I was brutal in corners, ie. 2nd gear redline and you need to scandi flick the car the get the tail out. As a 1hr endurance car its perfect.

I hear the sister car, the Jaguar F-type isnt as nice.

 

Ferrari It'stheFerrari
An entirely biased review gloat-fest of a Ferrari fanboy regarding the 2002 Enzo Ferrari by MisterWaffles.



Take in the sight of that beautiful form before you. Everyone here already knows what car this is from the iconic styling and unique engine note. There's no doubt in anyone's mind what car manufacturer made this one. It's a car that celebrates the storied history of one of the greatest automotive designers ever, it's a car that embodies everything that a Ferrari should be. No doubt that they made one of the greatest cars to ever roll on four wheels.

Every decade at Ferrari tells a story, and to unravel the tale of this car we must travel back to the 1980s where it all began for this lineage.



The story of this very special car began in the 80s. The Ferrari F40 was the final car ever personally approved by Enzo himself. The F40 was very successful, as it was the fastest road car of it's time and also became the most expensive car ever resold at 1 million euros in the 1990s. Of course after seeing the success of this, Ferrari produced yet another follow-up to the iconic F40 in the F50. The F50 was less warmly received than the F40 (and it was slightly slower), but the open-top styling and introduction of the V12 engine to Ferrari's "celebration" line of cars cemented the F50 as still a very desirable car.

So, two decades, two ultimate sports cars that defined the era of automobile design that they came from. This unique blend of celebration, F1-inspired technology and sheer performance was certainly going to be a tough act to follow. That, of course, didn't stop Ferrari from trying. The clock rolled on past Y2K and Ferrari went to work on their next greatest hit.



With Pininfarina at the helm of design and Ferrari introducing numerous new technologies developed through continued success in Formula 1, development began on what was dubbed at the time as the F60. The new car smashed the Fiorano lap record at 1:24.9. That record was almost three seconds quicker than the previous car, the F50 (and Fiorano is a pretty short track). It achieved this blistering speed through some pretty clever innovations in automotive design.

The F60 was bestowed with the latest suite of fancy high-tech gadgets in the automotive world. Many systems that Ferrari road cars have today were developed or refined on this car. A new F140B V12 engine was developed specifically for the Enzo, replacing the 333SP mill from the F50. The new engine produced 651 horsepower, which was considered hypercar territory for the time. Keeping this power glued to the surface was extensive use of active aerodynamics. Keeping the F60 planted were front and rear positionable flaps working in tandem with a large rear diffuser that produced 1,709 pounds of downforce at 300km/h. At top speed the rear flap would reposition to grant reduced drag. Also introduced on the F60 was their most refined version of the "F1-Matic" paddle-shifted transmission that was capable of upshifts in as little as 150 milliseconds (which was incredibly quick for the time). Stopping the sheer speed of this car was a four-set of carbon fiber/silicon carbide blended brakes custom-made by Brembo.



All of these high-tech innovations and radical styling made the F60 an instant classic when it was introduced to the world at the 2002 Paris Motor Show. Ferrari were so proud of the car in fact, they named it Enzo after the founder of the company himself. This car had all the engineering and heritage befitting of the name.

We all know how the Enzo got along in the long run. Ferrari followed it up in the 2010's with the controversial LaFerrari and the Enzo entered the history books as one of the all-time greats. Ever since the Enzo was revealed when I was really young, it has been one of my favourite cars of all time. In fact, before the exquisite 458 Italia it just straight-up was my favourite car of all time. Everything about the Enzo is perfect. The styling, the performance, the sound. I worked so hard to unlock this car when I first got my hands on Gran Turismo 5. But at the same time GT5 was also the game that made me love the 458 over the Enzo, so there is that interesting dynamic there.



In comes GT Sport. When the update that included the Enzo rolled around in December of 2017, I was very excited to finally get to drive an old favourite of mine in the game. I wasn't as excited to drive it as the 458 Italia and GT3, but it was still a very enjoyable car.

The Enzo in Sport is a funny beast. It drives very nicely and has a decently controllable rear end, but it feels a little more stiff than I'd like it to. Almost as if the wheelbase is a little too wide. The car also has characteristically weak downforce and brakes of any road car in GT Sport, so those aspects let it down somewhat. This car generates a small car's worth of downforce and it feels like it really should be more grippy or have higher cornering speeds on some fast kinks. Like before in GT's 5 and 6, the Enzo in Sport is also a top speed monster. This car is up there in terms of fastest cars around Route X, easily breaking 400km/h when tuned properly.

The Enzo Ferrari. It's red, it's loud, it's exciting. It's all the car you'll ever need when you're a young child. Some people grew up with the Miura, the Countach, the F40 or the F50 on their bedroom wall. I'm glad to have done so with the Enzo. While my tastes have (slightly) changed over the years towards the 458 Italia, which is now my favourite car, the feelings you have towards your first love will never be erased.

That's why I'm awarding the Ferrari Enzo the coveted award of "smoking hot ex-wife".

 

One of the most amazing facts to me about the Enzo is that...

I never really liked the design. Its clearly from the F117 Stealth fighter school... just like the R35.

The car never sat well with me as a progression from the F40 F50 F60.

And then decades later I found out it was designed by a Japanese engineer, Ken Okuyama... then it became clear.

It has more in common with Japanese supercar designs than the F40 F50.

Then once I understood the origins more I liked it more. Its like how the Datsun 240z was designed by a German... and the Porsche 996 by a Chinese engineer. Once you "get" the cultural influence of the head designer you understand what they were trying to acheive.

 

The new Vantage is now avallable as a GT3 GT4 and a DTM model.

I wonder if GT7 will have models of the new version? I cannot imagine them recycling the old model... or CAN I??? I wonder...






I think the new one has a version of the 4.0 twin turbo V8 while the DTM has the turbo 2.0 four.

 

Not Vantage GT3 related, but one of my favourite car reviewers on YouTube just uploaded this and I thought I'd share.

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I sense a *certain someone* coming.

 

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Beautiful style, excellent handling, and one of the best engine notes ever. What more could you ask for? Absolute winner.

 

Sex as a Sport?
A sensual photoshoot of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 by MisterWaffles.



The Aston Martin Vantage. Perhaps the most desirable car to come from the Gaydon-based firm since the start of the millennium. In my previous review of the V8 version of the car and it's Group 4 version we tested months ago, I spoke more on the driving characteristics and not of the other points about the car. I hope to cover a bit more of the Vantage itself this time around rather than just what it was like to drive the car in GT Sport. Without further ado, let's get right into it.

The Aston Martin Vantage itself was designed in 2003 by Henrik Fisker as the AMV8 concept car. The idea behind the AMV8 was essentially a shortened-down version of the new (at the time) DB9 with a smaller engine that could be marketed as a competitor for the Porsche 911. The car was marketed as a cheaper, sportier option to the DB9 by the time of its introduction as the V8 Vantage in 2005, reintroducing the nameplate of the discontinued, boxy Vantage/Le Mans from 2000. The new car, following in the design language of the DB9 was curvaceous, compact and cute.

...actually scratch cute. Despite being a shortened DB9, it was downright gorgeous to look at. Fisker hit a home run in making a compact version of his previous work (in collaboration with Ian Callum) look somehow better-proportioned and sexier. This car was incredibly successful, and remains a key fixture of Aston Martin's lineup to this day with the introduction of a new V8 Vantage in 2018.



It wasn't until 2007 that echoes of an even more capable version of this sports car would be made public. The V12 Vantage RS was a concept car intended to see how the DB9's V12 would fare if it were to be crammed into the Vantage's engine bay. Development lasted until 2009 when the production version, simply dubbed "V12 Vantage", was unveiled. The V12 Vantage brought with it a new tier of sportiness to the Vantage line. The new engine bestowed the car with 510 horsepower and one of the best exhaust notes to ever come out of a car period.

Up to this point, the Vantage was chasing the Porsche 911 on the road and trailing behind the whole time. The V8 Vantage was being used in FIA GT2 competition, but it didn't attract great success with this category. It wasn't until 2012 that AM decided to double-down on the motorsports aspect of the Vantage and introduce the V12 Vantage GT3. Designed to make the Porsche 911 GT3 R hurt, the car is the most radical Vantage ever put to production.

First, the V12 Vantage is sent to Prodrive, who work all sorts of crazy go-fast magic to make the squat and well-proportioned Vantage into a proper grip machine. Firstly, the deletion of all luxury items, sound-proofing and most of the interior. A roll cage is added to improve rigidity and safety, while proper racing electronics are introduced. On the exterior, the fenders of the Vantage are stretched to their limits to hide slick rubber, while the rear is adorned with a spoiler so large a Boeing could land on it.



All of these changes have accumulated to make the Vantage a real winner on the track. Over the years, the V12 Vantage GT3 has seen action in all parts of the globe from European Blancpain circuits, to the Pirelli World Challenge, to Super GT in the east. In total, 46 chassis were produced and sold to customer teams.

To this day, the V12 Vantage GT3 has received 35 class wins, 32 second-place finishes, 25 third place finishes and 565 total event entries (racingsportscars.com). The GT3 car has certainly brought to life Aston Martin's hopes of a world-trotting bruiser that can stick it to the Porsche 911 where it matters. Sure, Aston Martin may never beat Porsche in the world of total sales volume due to their small size, but showing up Porsche on the track is a much more humiliating defeat for them.

Eventually, the V12 Vantage was retired in 2018-19 and the more balanced, refined AMR Vantage took its place. While the V12 Vantage was certainly getting long in the tooth by the end of its run, the car still had teeth and was fighting hard till its last breath. The racing world will certainly miss the glorious shriek from its high-revving and unmuffled V12 engine.



So that brings us to Gran Turismo Sport. The car was announced for the game in 2017 and the 2012 launch version is the car that was represented to us. I was excited to try this one out, as I had a GT3-tuned Vantage in GT6 back when all these cars weren't available to us. I was excited to sample the real deal for myself.

Well, I'm glad to report that in Sport the Vantage is certainly a winner. It looks great, it sounds great and it goes like hell. The Vantage is surprisingly stable for its layout of a big, heavy V12 up front and rear-wheel drive. I remember once having a close-fought Gr.3 race at Interlagos with another Vantage GT3 on my tail in a pack of Beetles and I was surprised at just how well this car pivots. Even though this might be the "small" Aston, it's among the larger cars on offer in Group 3.

Not to mention the car is fast in a straight line, the V12 Vantage has legs when it comes to faster circuits. Combine that with the excellent handling and you have yourself a sort of jack of all trades here. It might be a master of none, but it does have the stuff in it to be successful pretty much anywhere. That's been reflected in the World Tours, where team Aston Martin is a regular sight despite not winning a whole lot.

Overall, the V12 Vantage GT3 is a sexy car made for sport. The conversion from a sportier cruiser to a V12-toting competition monster was surprisingly graceful. We may miss it in the world of GT racing, but we have games like GT Sport and AC to help carry on its legacy.

 

It's time to bring out another classic American muscle and so happens to be another hero car from Smokey and the Bandit. This week we are testing the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am 1978. This weeks car is chosen by Racer.

 

Wish it were that Year One.

 

Ahh, the Firebird. Well, it is nice to drive a Firebird I guess. I mean it's an old, weak muscle car. Considering that, it did ok. Looks cool though. Driven stock on hard sport tyres without any driving aids, except ABS. First lap in third person view, second one in cockpit view and third one in cinematic replay view. All driven laps are the same lap.

With its driven time, it is not even close to being in the top 100 of all road legal cars, with the 100th place being the Toyota Supra 3.0 GT '89 with an 08.19.729.

Hot lap:

GTS Nordschleife hot lap STOCK Pontiac Firebird Trans Am '78: 08.33.493




Fight with closest rival on the Nordschleife:




Fight with close rival on Tsukuba:




Verdict: Maybe a slight sleeper? Because considering the era and background it's coming from, it even surprised and dare I say, slightly impressed me (at least on Tsukuba). Oh and also maybe because it is faster than the Civic on the Nordschleife, and on Tsukuba by a whole second!

 

An iconic car but one that I find thoroughly unpleasant to drive.

I tried mine with the 440hp 1,350kg and a tune w/ 5 spd man.

The car isnt hopeless but you are clearly fighting the car too much in races.

I think PD are modelling the live axle leaf springs drum brakes and floppy recirculating ball steering too much... also LONG stick throws and very LONG braking distances. I didnt look that up, I just guessed that American muscle cars of that era had the same platform layout.

The power slides are controllable and you do get to a point where you can power slide the car in long sweeping corners and overtake the AI with a huge amount of steering lock.

Its not unpredicatably bad like a 2017 Honda NSX or a Berlinetta Boxer... just predictably bad?