Car of the Week 228: COTY GTS Finale

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That looks pretty good. I'd like to see Gr.3 on RM and Gr.1 and 2 on RS. IMO Gr. 2 breaks the tires loose more easily than any other class of racing cars unless you're using some intrusive levels of traction control.
 
Draggon
That looks pretty good. I'd like to see Gr.3 on RM and Gr.1 and 2 on RS. IMO Gr. 2 breaks the tires loose more easily than any other class of racing cars unless you're using some intrusive levels of traction control.
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Interestingly enough I haven't had that issue with Gr.2.
 
Draggon
Apologies to everyone, I didn't rage-quit last night at Alsace. The room had gotten unstable on my end and I was seeing GT6 type lag. About the time I ran off the track the PS4 shut itself off. After dealing with that, I decided to call it a night. Now, onto this weeks mule.

The good: It looks great, sounds great, handles decent for a 50+ year old chassis. This one has the coil spring suspension fitted on the A/Prod racing version. It makes you appreciate the talent of Ken Miles and Dan Gurney.

The bad: Once again PD has gifted us a stupid gearbox. Maybe topping out at 145-ish is appropriate for a street driven Cobra but it really dampens the fun when racing. The only thing I like less than the gearbox is SH tires. I got around that by practicing until I got used to it's slippery nature. I also figured out that this one typifies the mantra of going slow to go fast. When we switched to SS tires, I'd gotten so used to the SH that I promptly visited the fence.

And the weird: @Nismonath5 chose Willow Springs Horse Thief Mile for one of our races. The irony is that I'd done a N100 vs N1000 half hour enduro the day before on that track to make use of the refueling glitch to get a lot of credits, so I sorta knew my way around it. The Cobra isn't particularly fun there, but at least that experience paid off.

While you can't exactly call any Cobra a sleeper, it's a lot of fun. Verdict: Winner!

Yes I have two of these, one of the times the daily workout actually worked.

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I just couldn't resist tapping the button once, when it lit up the Cobra :(
 
Shelby Cobra 427 '66: 07:35.494 on the Nordschleife. The only bad thing about this car is its very low top speed (240 km/h). Aside from that it is absolutely awesome. Lovely design, great handling and incredible accelaration! With normal top speed it could go around the Nordschleife in under 07:30 easily.

To me it's a great sleeper!
 
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Cobra Livery by CybertronDaddy
Viper Livery by babaylonburner
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"A Mercedes AMG GT makes way too much sense!" some might exclaim. No, you want something that's far more dangerous, far more demanding on the driver, and far more likely put you into an early grave. You want a car that's like a Shelby Cobra.

There's still no reason to buy the Dodge Viper. Just buy a Shelby Cobra instead. Or more realistically, buy a kit for a Cobra and put it together over the course of a couple of years. Because while the Viper is a 60's car made in the 90's and the 00's, the Cobra is a 60's car made in the 60's. It's like the difference between a Johnny Cash song performed by Johnny Cash, and a Johnny Cash song performed by Taylor Swift. One is far more realistic and authentic than the other could ever hope to be.

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If you're familiar at all with the Cobra, then you already know everything you need to know about this car. Big V-8 combined with a lightweight body and chassis means that fast laps are available to have, but it takes a skilled hand to keep it on the asphalt and off the dirt and grass. It's not a Beater. It's not a Sleeper. It's definitely not for Beginners.

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Also, a bonus video: I race on an oval with a bunch of people who think Days of Thunder was a documentary.

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Different Snake, Same Problem...

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The go-faster flames didn't really do much..

I feel like this is one of those ones we should have called early on. It was always going to be a rough meeting, regardless of the amount of lag and connection issues we suffered. It's a classic case of "hype vs reality", giving in to all the praise and adoration and then being roundhouse kicked by the reality.

The expectation is that the Cobra's the perfect muscle car, it sounds great, it drives amazing, and you'll look like a total badass throwing yourself around corners as women swoon and men cheer.

The reality is, the Cobra comes from an era where quarter miles were king, and corners were an afterthought. So when we, in today's world of responsive, corner-loving sedans and agile superminis drive something from an age like the Cobra, perhaps we forget to bear in mind how we need to be driving it. It needs stopping distance. A LOT of stopping distance. It also requires very careful, very precise steering so as not to upset the car halfway round a corner. And that's just when you're on track alone!

With a grid of rivals, it seems even harder to keep your nose clean, as the Cobra lacks the agility to pull quick overtakes on people. It's possible, of course, but don't expect to be able to simply pull out, zoom by and pull back in again. Handling is good but not great, and on SH tyres, it's even more treacherous. If we end up following the tyre-to-class chart thingy I proposed, then the Cobra would be on SM tyres, which isn't a big change, but who knows?

The gears are also too short for most tracks, and you'll either be hitting the limiter or trying to stay just below it to avoid losing speed over and over again. That gets a bit annoying after a while.

And the last little criticism is the price. It's been $530,000-ish since GT3, so why did we need such a price hike? :crazy:

Now, on to the good stuff.
-It sounds great!
-Off the line it's a strong contender
-POOOOWWWEEEERRRRRR!!!!

I don't want to call it a beater, but it's sure not a sleeper. I agree with @JackRyanWMU though. Beginners stay away!
 
Lucky me, I was gifted one in the DWG.

All I can say is, I'm sure the real one is bonkers. In game, it's not thrilling like the F40. It's more refined.
No nostalgic feel like the classic Ferraris. In game, it feels stale like the Enzo. It's just a fast Ferrari.
...And I was willing to shell out the 1.21 jiga...err, 1.9mil when it was updated.. It's a "sleeper" *yawn* ;) for me.
 
MidFieldMaven
Best-looking Ferrari ever made IMO, at least of the ones with fixed headlights.
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I whole heartedly agree. LOVE its looks. Drives great too! Managed a 07:28.xxx on the Nordschleife with it. The car can go around it in even under the 7.20s though, which is INCREDIBLE!
To me it's a brutal beater! ;)
 
Spiritual Successor eh???

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Well well well, 3 holes dug... that's the saying, and it suits the F50 to a tee. Sure, she has the looks, but getting her around anywhere at speed is a task, no, make that a chore on Sport rated tyres. I thought the F40 was an expensive way to die in GT6, but the F50 provides you with the shovel too. As @Draggon found out at LeMans, even the Mulsanne's straight couldn't keep the older F40 at bay. In fact, I was well behind Ash and @Racer283 and not only caught up to the the newer F50 but passed it... easily.

Not saying that either the F40 or the F50 is an easy car to drive, as both will try to make you a smoking, smoldering memory that spent a little too much money to die. At least you'll look good at your last BBQ. ;) Do yourself a favour, and just get the F40. It sounds better. 'Nuff said!

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Neutral status, as it's way too nice to call it a beater.

Cheers
 
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Livery by Kelmac
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I must confess to having a certain soft spot for the Ferrari brand. Sure, Porsche can also claim a rich motorsports heritage, but they simply continue to plop out the same uninspired blobs of cars year after year. Sure, Lamborghini also makes cars full of passion and soul in their style and design, but they have little to show in terms of racing pedigree. Ferrari emphatically checks both of those boxes, and in some ways the F50 is an attempt to put both into a single car.

Being one of the first Ferraris to come without Enzo there to personally guide it from drawing board to asphalt, it must have been a daunting task for those who worked on it. There are a couple of things they got absolutely right. The styling feels like a natural evolution from the equally stunning F40 and the engine note is one of the best that will ever bless your eardrums.

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However, while they set out to make a Formula 1 car for the road, they didn't quite make a F1 car that could handle the road. I'm normally against running anything but a purely stock setup when I evaluate a car, but for the F50 adjusting the brake bias to the rear feels almost mandatory. Otherwise you'll find the car plowing with understeer even when you feel like you're braking far too early into a corner. The car's other biggest problem is its price tag, which stands at nearly 2 Million credits. It was high enough that I ended up doling out real money for it rather than take a huge setback in my 15-20 Million Credit Car fundraising efforts.

Yet, I can't call this car a Beater. In spite of its shortcomings, I can't deny that I would absolutely ecstatic if someone put this car in my driveway with a giant bow on top of it. For the price of getting some awful food at McDonalds, getting a virtual F50 feels like a much better investment of that money.

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Also, more FIA adventures. Not nearly as eventful or dramatic this time. Which is a good thing.

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As is often the case these days, newer is not better. I had gotten off to a very comfortable lead at La Sarthe after most everyone crashed in the second or third turn, and out of nowhere comes @Racer283 in the F40 and woosh he flies by. Not too much longer @Baron Blitz Red does the same thing. So much for the F50. :indiff:

I think it's a great car anyway. It does what it's supposed to do with no complaints other than being a bit weak in the braking department. The cockpit view is wonderful and it has that tremendous Ferrari sound. By virtue of the fact that I was able to win La Fiests Cavallino events with no changes to the car other than SS tires, and that it can be detuned to N300, this is quite the versatile machine.

Verdict: Sleeper even though the F40 is faster. And great liveries @JackRyanWMU and @Baron Blitz Red!

Mr. Avatar wonders why he chose the lesser of the pair.
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The Evolution Of An Icon​

The F50 is a car I've loved growing up, but never really taken too seriously. Partially due to the fact that it doesn't feature in many games, but I used to always use in in Need For Speed 2.

Visually, I think it's perfect, it looks exactly as a continuation of the F40 should. It's got smoother curves, while retaining the same basic shape of it's predecessor. It's a sexy car!! It also has an advantage over the F40 in the sense that there are actually some colour options when you go to buy it. The F40 gives you one choice. Red. The F50 has red, yellow, black, and silver. Not the widest variety around (Anyone counted the colours on the Dino???), but it's better than just the one!

The price is also rather off-putting. At a wallet-sucking $1.9M, you certainly have to want it pretty badly!! I'm not sure why the price is such, given that it's older brother is a mere $450,000, or the same as any Gr.3 car in the game. I could understand $500k, maybe $650k at a stretch, but nearly 2 million? If not for the fact that I made videos of the new cars in the 1.31 Update, I wouldn't have forked out the credits!!

Once you're done oogling at the looks, or crying at the cost (or both), you'll realize that actually, it's not that great. It has use as a credit farming car due to it's ability to be down-spec'd to N300, but other than that.. Well, it's not that it's useless, it's that no matter where you race it, there are better alternatives. Cheaper alternatives. And on Tuesday, we found out that the F40 is faster, both in a straight line and around corners. So really, that says it all. Maybe that's why we don't have an F60..

Heck, even Baron doesn't entirely like it, and anyone who's been in this group more than a little while knows he likes Ferraris a little bit.. Though I think his soft spot lies in the older, more mature models.

That said, if you happen to win one or get one in you're daily marathon, it's not a totally useless car. You can win races in it, but as I mentioned, there are other cars that'll do the same job, easier, for cheaper!

Neutral on this one, as it's really only the price and comparison to the F40 that takes it down a couple of pegs.
(P.s: I'm building two new racecars!!! Check the Hooncorp thread for details!)
 
Not sure where @Racer283's at with the new car, but while we wait I'd like some ideas from you guys on how to bring back another COTW staple: Playing With TT's.

The problem is that we have no clubs like we did in GT6, so we can't host private events for people to compete.

My thinking is we do it much like how @bjl23 and the GT6 challenge hub do their results, and use time trial mode, with users simply posting screenshots of their times and we do a leaderboard here.

The only thing about that is we'll have no way of keeping people from tuning their cars.. BoP only does so much!!

Keen to hear others' thoughts on it all!
 
Nismonath5
Not sure where @Racer283's at with the new car, but while we wait I'd like some ideas from you guys on how to bring back another COTW staple: Playing With TT's.

The problem is that we have no clubs like we did in GT6, so we can't host private events for people to compete.

My thinking is we do it much like how @bjl23 and the GT6 challenge hub do their results, and use time trial mode, with users simply posting screenshots of their times and we do a leaderboard here.

The only thing about that is we'll have no way of keeping people from tuning their cars.. BoP only does so much!!

Keen to hear others' thoughts on it all!
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How do you guys do it now?
 
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This past Tuesday we tested the Ferrari F50 the successor to the F40. The F50 is pretty decent car in the line up of Ferraris. When racing the F50 it struggles to slow down so you have to set the Brake Balance to -3 on the fronts and then it will slow down at a reasonable pace. In couple of the races I brought out the F40 to test it against the F50. The F40 is about 50 or so horse power down on the F50 but has a turbo engine compared to the F50 which is naturally aspirated. As we found out at Le Mans the F40 can pull away from the F50 and keep the lead unless the F40 steps out and find yourself in the Kitty Litter. Overall the F50 is decent a car and lives up to the Ferrari name. I give the Ferrari F50 a neutral standing.

This week we will slow down from the racing pedigree of Ferrari to a econo car from Japan. Please welcome the Suzuki Swift.

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