GT6 Car Reviews / Comparisons Week 45, Nissan Skyline GTS-R (R31) vs Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am
Bruce Lee vs Smokey the Bandito
It seems like too long since I've posted on this thread, but I'll return to my trusty old PS3 to start comparing some more cars.
Starting out like usual I took both cars down to a random track to get a feel for the cars. This week I went to a nice user created track called "Long Way Home" in the Eifel region. You could probably download it too if you searched around this website a little. Overall a nice track with some interesting turns/climbs.
Both cars actually felt quite similar, the Firebird and R31 both felt very long and heavy, not exactly on the level of driving a barge, but it could have been better. The R31 had more gears, so I felt a little more comfortable driving it.
Lap times:
GTS-R: 2:57.372
Trans: 2:58,207
Gap: 0.835
So I give the edge in speed on the track to the GTS-R. I don't know if I fell asleep driving the Trans Am, but it seems it's generally been the opposite around here.
The drag race was a strange result, I was expecting the Firebird's burger V8 to trump the sushi turbo of the GTS-R, but that wasn't the case, the Trans Am seems to have a very bad low gear ratio that hinders it's launch, it also has a lower top speed, with the GTS-R also having more gears
Trans top speed: 214 km/h
GTS-R top speed: 234+ km/h
Looks like the GTS-R has speed covered too.
This really is no contest, the GTS-R only comes in black and the Trans Am has many different metallic offerings, not to mention the hood birds.
No contest here either, the Trans Am has so many there are even the special options available, a perk of being modelled in 2012-ish as opposed to the early 00's
I'm giving the edge in tuning to the GTS-R, they both have pretty much the same options, but the choice of turbos means you can be ready for different track styles. The GTS-R takes the cake here.
For sound, the GTS-R also wins, it has a strange, almost older rally-style version of the R35's exhaust, it sounds interesting and has a lineage, as opposed to the Trans-Am having the stock muscle car soundtrack.
For design and styling, I'm on the fence. I find the proportions of the Pontiac somewhat strange for a classic American car. The curves give the car a swoopy feel that not a lot of cars in America had back then. The GTS-R looks almost like a rally car from that era, all boxy and whatnot, so I'm making this round a tie.
This should come as no surprise that the Trans Am is more popular online, the GTS-R is almost as obscure as you can get, and the Trans Am is in about every drifting montage video, so the Pontiac snags this one.
Counting up the scores, I find the GTS-R the overall much superior car to drive. It feels better to me, the gearing, it turns a little better, and so on. So it looks like the Firebird is unfortunately getting the shaft this week. Cool paints bruh, but not enough. So my vote goes to the GTS-R.
Overall pretty watered-down review, didn't get many high-octane thrills while driving either one, so I don't have much to say.
And the verdict is...
No more awful Trans Am remakes!
