In any case, no amount of controversy will stop me from taking a deep look at this pack. My Xbox dying just a week before its release tried, but it was hastily replaced with a brand-spanking-new Xbox One X; which means that I only got to enjoy it with a higher graphical standard (and, alas, a much lighter wallet)...
And speaking of controversies, let's start right off the bat with one vehicle that has been received by the community as well as a stripper at a funeral. With its 100 hp turbodiesel engine and consequently abysmal performance, the Nissan Safari is perhaps even more out-of-place in Forza Motorsport than last month's ruggedized Land Cruiser; and the fact that you can swap the venerable RB26 engine in doesn't seem to help its case much. This is such a shame, because had this Patrol found its way in any of the Horizon titles, it would've no doubt been welcomed warmly by many players - me included - eager to drive a proper offroader. Oh, well - your day will come, Safari.
Your day will come.
+ One of the best off-roader ever produced...
- In a game with no off-roading opportunities.
Nurburgring laptime: 11:01.884
On the other hand, the controversy surrounding the Trackhawk is much more unfounded. Sure, this may be a car with the body of a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the agility of a Swiss chalet, but the 707 hp "Hellcat" supercharged V8 engine will allow it to easily cover a quarter mile from a standstill in a blistering 11 seconds - fast enough to compete with Nissan GT-Rs and Porsche 911s. It's exactly the kind of vehicle you'd expect from Chrysler, which is seemingly more interested in building insane Franken-cars powered by an engine named after a carrier-based WW2 fighter plane than in actually selling vehicles everybody can find a use for, these days. It may not be good for the value of Chrysler shares, sure - but then, we're not Chrysler shareholders, so why should we care? You go, Chrysler! Show them you can actually build an SUV faster than a Camaro on the drag strip!
+ The be-all, end-all modern sleeper
- Like most "sleepers", it's going to perform above expectations only in a straight line...
Nurburgring laptime: 08:19.136
We close off our parade of controversial choices with the first of three Porsches added this month, the brand-new Cayenne Turbo. Apparently when other games decide to add the latest super-SUV from Zuffenhausen it's a good thing, but when Forza does it, it's a sign of the end-times or something; this despite a large number of big-boned "performance" vehicles already being present in the game. And honestly, I wish all of them drove like this third-gen Cayenne: sure, it's not a very agile car - we're talking about a vehicle with a curb weight in excess of two tonnes, after all - but it offers a firm, predictable ride which could even make you forget its bulk. Alas, even despite its many positive characteristics, most players (me included) will only drive this in anger once or twice and then leave it to collect virtual dust in their garage. But then, when you have a car list this large, it is inevitable to have certain vehicles that will be used a lot less than certain others...
+ Drives well for a SUV
- It's a SUV
Nurburgring laptime: 08:13.482
With the less
motorsport-y cars out of the way, we now start to cook with gas. It may look quaint nowadays, with its externally-mounted shifter and front-end positive camber, but when it was first introduced at the 1924 Gran Prix of Lyon, the Bugatti Type 35 was a thoroughly innovative car, drawing from the experience gained through the Type 13 Brescia Tourer - one of the first cars to use a multi-valve engine - and subsequent Type 30 and 32 cars; keeping in line with the tradition of the marque, it was powered by a 2-litre, 8-cylinder engine capable of reliably producing 90 hp at 6,000 rpm, thanks to a new bottom end design. The Type 35 became a favorite amongst drivers, and achieved enormous success - winning over
a thousand races in its heyday, and becoming a symbol of a more courageous era of motorsports, where the physics of performance driving were still being explored, new technologies were experimented with everyday, and courageous
bon vivants - many of them survivors of the First World War - gave it their all and put their life on the line at every corner; it's no coincidence that Bugatti models still use the "horseshoe" grill design that the 35 introduced. This Bug is not nearly as fast as its distant heirs with over ten times the engine power to rely on, but it's immensely more satisfying to drive - requiring your full attention even with performance that's eclipsed by any decent modern hot hatch. And it may not stand a chance even in its division - being outclassed by the marginally less archaic Alfa P3, leave alone the GP racers of the 1930s and 1950s - but why would you even
race this thing? Just enjoy the ride - the skinny tires struggling for grip, and the ancient engine puttering along with a satisfyingly mechanic sound.
+ As exquisitely intricate as mastercrafted clockwork
- Sadly, there is no animation for gearshifts...
Nurburgring laptime: 09:46.936
Of course, Turn 10 choose to add not one, but two pre-War racing legends in the same pack. In the ten years following the introduction of the Type 35, so much had changed: the tenuous optimism of the years following the end of the First World War had been washed away by the rise of totalitarian regimes, which used everything at their disposal as a propaganda tool: this included motorsports, in which Fascism and Nazism bankrolled ambitious programs that greatly increased the pace of technological development: as a result, smaller, more independent manufacturers were pushed away from motor racing entirely, or forced to compete in minor categories. BMW - which had produced airplane engines during WW1, and would resume that activity during WW2, but had turned to the automotive sector in the interbellum period - chose the latter, achieving moderate success with the 315 and 319 models; but it was only with the introduction of the 328 that it became a dominant force in the
voiturette category. With a straight-6 engine with aluminum hemispherical heads that produced a bit under 80 horsepower, and a beautiful aerodynamic body - which is hard to believe was penned just ten years after the Type 35's - the 328 immediately proved itself in its debut race, the 1936
Eifelrennen, where it achieved a class victory; the first of many in a career spanning four years and culminating in the domination of the 1940 Mille Miglia. After the war, the Iron Curtain fell between Munich and the Eisenach assembly plant, spelling doom for the car - but its legacy would live on, with its engine serving as the base for the Bristol six cylinder powerplant which would find its way in many AC products, before the introduction of the Shelby-tuned "Cobra" V8. It is definitely not a fast car by modern standards - but like the T35, it has an old-timey quaintness that makes it a very enjoyable ride despite, or perhaps because of, its lack of performance.
+ Timeless styling, which can be enhanced with a Mille Miglia-style windscreen
- You're not going fast anywhere in this Bimmer...
Nurburgring laptime: 10:22.737
In between open-wheel vintage racers and cars sitting too high from the ground to be at home on a racetrack, the Chevrolet 150 seems oddly out of place. In 1955, the bare-bones One-Fifty was the cheapest car equipped with the new "Turbo-Fire" small-block V8, rated at 162 or 180 horsepower; if its simplicity and cheap price made it popular with police forces and economy-minded travelling salesmen, its low curb weight and powerful engine attracted hot-rodders, for whom it represented the best possible Tri-Five choice. As it turns out, it's also a surprisingly competent track car, with a decently stable rear end and good acceleration out of corners. Aesthetically I find it to be a far more pleasing car than the overburdened 1957 Bel Air... But this is a matter of personal taste more than anything. In any case, it's a bit of a left-side choice that has something to offer to just about everyone.
+ Surprisingly nimble for a 50s American sedan
- I would've expected a police siren to be an option...
Nurburgring laptime: 09:59.070
Finally, we have the Porsche 804 - which is, perhaps surpisingly, the fastest car included in this pack. And I say "surprisingly" because with its 1.5 litre air-cooled flat-8 engine, it isn't going to top the leaderboards anytime soon. Porsche's only purpose-built open-wheel racer was a decently competitive car - winning one Grand Prix in its only year in the sport, with Dan Gurney behind the wheel - but it was eclipsed by the BRM P578 and Lotus 25, both powered by V8 engines. In early leaks, the 804 appeared as it was destined to find a place the 60s GP division; however, with 30 horsepower less than the 1964 Ferrari 158, and more than a hundred ponies handicap over the 1967-1968 3-litre cars, it was likely doomed to uncompetitiveness, and has thus been relegated to the "Forza Specials" division: however, it's still a fine piece of machinery, and the wail of the 8-cylinder boxer is enough to earn it its spot in Forza's car roster. Hopefully, it may soon receive enough friends to become part of a new Division of its own...
+ It only took Porsche one try to get the handling of a F1 car right
- Absolutely unequipped to deal with its competition
Nurburgring laptime: 07:39.275
But wait, it's not over! There is something else...
...and just in time to rob the 804 of the title of "fastest Porsche in the December Content Update". The latest in a long line of 911 GT racers marks a radical departure from the traditional rear-engined formula; after years of resisting the march of technology, Porsche had to give up and move the flat-6 engine of their most famous creation in front of the rear axle, in order to find room for a massive diffuser. The result is the most competitive Porsche the WEC GTE class has seen in years. It is baffling that T10 choose to add this car in such a sneaky way, and less important rides such as the Nissan Safari as paid DLC content; but then, I don't think this is grounds for complaining, only rejoicing. Sadly, despite wearing the 2017 Le Mans livery, the car depicted here seems to be an IMSA car: this means that it's fitted with the first, quieter revision of the exhaust system. And with the stock setup the car lacks the downforce necessary to make the rear end grip the tarmac properly... But it seems that ten seconds in the tuning menu are sufficient to fix this specific problem, and after that, the new RSR is a force to be reckoned with.
+ Finally, a contemporary GT racer!
- Rear end is slippery, and no Le Mans exhaust makes me sad
Nurburgring laptime: 07:06.336
His whole tirade about the Type 35 and how you'll use it once and put it away is exactly how I feel about stuff like the Chiron and etc... Guess how many times I've used the Centenario in both FH3 and FM7? Exactly twice, and it's because the game forced me to do so.
. I'll check the others tomorrow and let you know how they are.
