Car of the Week | Week 53: Yellow Devil (Lamborghini Diablo GT '00)

Had a trip to the past and found something I did 5 years ago..
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This is a beautiful coincidence. And umm, Pete (designated named Signature Car pictured on the right) was a legend in its own right in the lobbies.
 
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The winner of last week's ~Special Challenge~, Team Ford Vs. Team Toyota, was... @RX8 Racer , who was the only one who submitted a time with his Tundra. A very impressive 1:28.478, at that! I guess that means the Toyota Tundra beat the Raptor in something after all!


With it being the start of April, we at GT7 COTW are celebrating our first anniversary! Of course, life happens, and regulars come and go. If you've been participating in our Saturday lobbies, or simply been checking out the race replays, you might have noticed a new face who has shown up consistently the last few weeks, and even won a race at High Speed Ring with the Atenza!

They may not have a GTP account yet, but participation is participation, and for being part of COTW, they get to pick this week's car! Chosen by "Molmaz", we're featuring the Honda Civic Type R Special Edition (FK8) '20 this week!

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It's FF, and it only comes in yellow. I can already hear @Baron Blitz Red disapprove of this one... :lol:

The fifth–generation Civic Type R shares very little with the tenth–generation Honda Civic, as, for the first time in Type R history, the Civic Type R was actually "built from the ground up" (:sly:) to be its own thing, as opposed to simply enhancing a regular Civic. This allows the FK8-R many bespoke components and to laser focus solely on performance, culminating in the Civic reclaiming the Nordschleife lap record for FWD cars, at 7:43.8, as well as the record for the sheer number of asterisks attached to a lap record...


Here in GT7, I think many of us are already familiar with a very specific component of the FK8 being used for nefarious purposes, but what's the car like as a complete package to drive? To help us find out, we will be running the FK8-R in our weekly lobbies, held on Tuesday, 2nd April, 10 P.M. CST (Host: Victory_Reign93) and Saturday, 6th April, 4 P.M. Singapore time (Host: XSquareStickIt). Click on the hyperlinks to convert to your own time zone, and feel free to add the hosts as friends on PSN to make searching for the lobbies easier!

@Alex p. please take note: Your clocks have moved one hour back to European Summer Time, and so please show up an hour LATER for the Saturday Lobby at 10 A.M. Germany Time!

BoP/Settings Disable: On
Car: No Limit
Tyres: No Limit
PP Limit: 537PP
Tracks: Randomly selected by lobby participants
Races: ~10 mins practice, ~10 mins sprint


This week's ~Special Challenge!~ is set by Molmaz themself! Tune a FK8 to 600PP on SS tyres, and set the fastest lap possible in Time Trial around Road Atlanta using the Night preset! Set both penalties to Strong, no fuel consumption, and Grip Loss to Real. Fastest time wins, and remember to save a replay!


As usual, we welcome anyone to share their opinions, stories, photos, videos, liveries, or anything else pertaining to the car here on this thread!
 
Managed a 07.46.377 with it on the Nords.



YT review: "I needed some time to get used to the FF layout, but after getting the hang out of it, it became a really pleasent and nice drive. Pretty impressive speed/lap time from this car as well. I also particularly like its looks. :)"

Nordschleife rivals:



Tsukuba rivals:




Drag race rivals:



youtu.be

GT 7 drag race: Honda Civic FL5 Type R '22 vs. Honda Civic FK8 Type R '20

The new version is barely quicker, but feels MUCH better to drive. Love it.
youtu.be youtu.be

Verdict: sleeper
 
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"Comparison?" I have to compare these two trucks to each other!? I've been in more fair head-to-heads in yakuza-rigged boxing matches. I mean, I've won them easily, how am I even typing this, but Japan is just asking for it if they think their little truck has even a quarter of the Raptor's fortitude.

I don't pity them. They deserve losing for choosing the inferior option.


I mean, look at this! You expect me to believe that anyone will choose the weaker and more expensive Tacoma over good old Uncle Sam? Sure, the Ford's got an extra couple hundred pounds, but that because they had to cram in the extra badass that comes with it. You know how much power this monster can have?

And if you know what you're doing, you can clear all the boards!

Higher than you can count!

And what kind of name is "Tacoma" anyway? Sounds like that guy from Bionicle. Yeah, it's definitely a Tacoma, 'cause that's what it puts me in every time I look at it. And if you're at the bar on a Friday night, and you've got the finest lady this side of Sonia Darrin staring you down and asking what you drive, the last thing you want coming out of your mouth is "Tacoma," because you have to explain to her what that means. But "Raptor" - rowr, give me your number and email address, please.

The last thing most Angolans see when they don't look both ways.


And don't think it can get away with driving either. The moment you press Start, the evil spirits of ninety-nine disgraced samurai hijack your soul and force you to slam this thing into every invisible wall in Colorado. That's why the lap time is so bad!

And the Ford had a full tank of gas!


That, and the fact that once I did wrestle enough control over it, it veers straight back into attempted slaughter.

I don't want a car that runs over people without my given consent!


...oh, it's the Tundra?
Well...
uhh...
Look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself what's the difference. The answer is there isn't. Big truck, small truck, the Raptor doesn't care - it destroys them all anyway.

Must-Buy for the Ford. As for the Toyota? Turn your Playstation off and throw it in the fire - it has been corrupted by the fact that at least one game on it has the Tundra.
 
Welcome to yet another episode of SPD taking yet another fruitless weekly challenge too seriously.
Week 50 Edition


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Ahh yes. It's another one of these. Now, while my efforts on thinking what'll come of this week in terms of story writing (something something The Mountain Blazers something something), I figure.. I tune cars to 600 PP often. Maybe I should take a crack at it.

First problem? Yes, it's a problem, but for what I often do, I mean 600 PP on Sports Hards. This week's rules wants you to run Sports Softs, which I think is the kind of compound you put on akin to having training wheels. It is, if you put them exclusively on the rear. I usually reserve this for 700 PP, but there's no way the Civic FK can reach that.

Anything else? The rules specify Road Atlanta at night. I know you mean it so that you can have less visibility to make it that little extra challenging, but honestly, I know your bul[BLEEP], darlings. It's for style points, because at this performance range and tires, you can have a Civic that can go..


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That's what I'm talking about! How about the same picture in close up?


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That's hot. Taking pictures of exhaust flames in this game.. exhaust me!

There's also some little tidbits like real grip loss and penalties being on.. for I guess those who don't know what clean racing is, I guess.

Enough chatter: I suppose I should share my time..


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1:27.676


..along with my warmups of certain future nominations I've been planning, mainly used for warmup of this track at this level of pace. The Alphard.. is a sign I shouldn't take this challenge with anything AWD. My best cars in this range (as tested in Clubman Cup Plus in the Glen) are all AWD.

Anyhow, I was thinking of doing a Showcase with this, but I'm at that point where I know that nobody even gives a darn hoot about my well tuned cars, the ideas behind them, the tier list that contributes to how much this week's nominee is a Sleeper, and of course: the beautiful table.

I'll just assume this silence means you guys don't like the table? But all it does is want to impress you with facts and numbers! Don't tell me you're allergic to words?

Analysis, Kowalski? Well.. I definitely had penalties on, so if you watch the shared replay, you might notice some real liberal use of curbs placed on turns 3 and 5. You need to cut them like I do if you want the best you can around, I'm afraid. And you gotta trust me penalties were on, since the method I wanted to use to prove that it is just hasn't arrived (said method involves taking a snapshot with a penalty while the best lap is visibly there, so I want some[Playa] credit, damnit!).

Not to mention I tuned my Civic to have low downforce, and still it really suffers on the back straight. You need to make it work on the first sector, and the medley of turns before the finish line.

Fortunately, since this is Sports Softs, the car handles exquisitely.. provided with the right tune, of course!

I've spent a couple hours fine tuning and getting the line right already, but I might take another gander at this, considering that.. should I take that original Ford GT around again, I wager I can break the 1:27 mark. It's ridiculous in this game, considering how terrible it was in Sport.

Speaking of ridiculous, anyone remember my first words in Gran Turismo COTW that's not The Purpinator?


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The MINI's current best is around 1:28.2 area. Made a whole new tune just for the occasion, yo. If I get some enthusiasm in, maybe it might get a middling 1:27 like the Civic, but alas: no dice so far. You can tell what a current, Ring tuned hot hatch is compared to this.. much lesser, older, not as sporty, domestic piece of British-German abomination that makes me angry the more I write about it, I need to stop, help help I can't control this all it's doing is making me mad, but I said that already and I'm sure I need to stop but can't but yes no yes no yes no yes no yes no..
 
The 2020 Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition. What the hell are we even doing anymore?

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Indulge me for a bit as I show my age a little by waving my DualShock 1 at the clouds yelling about how good things used to be: I remember the first Honda Type R—the 1992 NSX-R. The original NSX blended together supercar performance with plush ergonomics, and the NSX-R was simply a track focused version of that with stiffer springs, less creature comforts, and lighter mass. From the outside, the 1992 NSX-R would've been completely indistinguishable from a base NSX if not for its Enkei wheels, sporty interior, and red Honda badges. The engine didn't even get a power increase! It felt to me like taking away all the chores, responsibilities, bills, and the day job of a person, and telling them to just concentrate on doing their best at their hobby. It didn't seek to completely change the person; it just took away everything holding them back and let them focus on the one thing they loved to do to fully realise their potential in that field. Just these small and unapparent changes however, resulted in changes so prominent that, from the cockpit, it was almost difficult to feel the resemblance between a base NSX and an NSX-R, proving to the world just how much potential was slumbering in a base NSX. In short, a Type R doesn't transform the base car; a Type R simply awakens it. Aside from the slightly bonkers but completely brilliant 2nd NSX-R in 2002, Type R models followed that ethos pretty closely until the gloves got yanked clean off (weight savings, bro) with the FK2 Civic Type R in 2015.

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Suddenly, the sacred purity of a high–revving, naturally aspirated engine would be blown away by turbochargers. Suddenly, being a Type R meant needing to proclaim to everyone in the neighbourhood that they have a more expensive car via gaudy boy racer parts. Following up on the FK2, the FK8 CTR that debuted in 2017 was so radically different from a base Civic, boasting widened fenders, completely different suspension hardware, and a turbocharger that almost doubled the power output from a base Civic, all of which allowed it to reclaim the Nürburgring lap record, albeit with non–standard tyres, a floating cage, and deleted audio systems and rear seats. It just feels to me like modern Type Rs have completely lost the plot and spirit of the original Type Rs.

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Idealistic ramblings and subjective interpretations of intent aside, 20 years of technological advancements and accrued know–how are impossible to ignore when the FK8 is brought out onto a racetrack; despite the FK8 being much heavier, much larger, and much more powerful than the original EK9 Civic Type R, the older car is some two to three times more difficult to hustle; the suspension setup of the EK9 is soft and tends to tangle the car up if driven without a great deal of care and precision, and the engine is almost uselessly peaky. The FK8 in comparison, is so composed it boarders on being completely deadpan. The turbocharged engine has such a tabletop torque "curve" that most tight corner exits in Tsukuba are best taken in third gear, and understeer is so minimal on power that it genuinely creeps into AWD territory. I know I'm an old–fashioned prude when it comes to cars, but I'm also old enough to remember an old adage of, "you can't put more than 250HP into an FWD car". The FK8 wipes its fake grilles and triple exhaust tips with that adage, packing a whopping 315HP (235kW) straight from the factory, which goes through a 6–speed stick shift gearbox and a limited slip differential to the specially lightened 20–inch forged aluminium BBS wheels of the Limited Edition, coated with the black magic that is Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tyres, 245mm wide all four corners. All told, the serious hardware of the FK8 mean that the car routes its tidal wave of power so efficiently that tyre squeals only serve as affirmation that all the grip available is being used, instead of being a surrendering cry that is typical with powerful FFs. At this point, I'm almost convinced that the only reason the FK8 hasn't adopted All–Wheel–Drive in its radical Type R transformation is only so that its engineers can flex how well they can tame an FF car.

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That said, sometimes the car feels a bit too smart for me. With enough brake pedal input over laden and turned front tyres, the rear end will come around a bit to rotate the car into an apex to counter the understeer inherent to an FF car. That's great for tighter turns, but it just makes the car needlessly squirmy under trail braking for mid to high speed turns with deep apexes, such as the U–turn on the end of Trail Mountain's back straight. That is to say, the seemingly intentional tail happiness doesn't always marry up to the corner at hand, and it feels a bit artificial and very unintuitive to me, as I never feel like I know just how much the car wants to turn. Maybe I'm just not good at it.

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Overall, I can recognise what a feat of engineering the FK8 CTR is, and it is menacingly fast; it outgunned stuff like a FR Hyundai Genesis and an AWD WRX STi handily during race days, and will even harass a stripped out GR Corolla. It's an easy prize car for attaining all bronze in the "Beyond the Horizon" mission set, and additional copies of the car are readily available to buy at around a fifth of what an NA1 NSX-R would cost in GT7's terrible economy while offering comparable performance. If money is no object, though, I find the FK8 hard to recommend not only because I don't enjoy driving it, but also because the FL5 CTR that succeeds it is somehow, an even better car on–track. Plus, I don't care how old you are; you can't tell me that you'd prefer a Civic to an NSX on a track.
 
Well, guess i’m gonna have to break out the MG42 for this Quick Fire Review. :mischievous:

Hit the deck lads. :P

Alfa Romeo Gulia GTAm: Pricey, But incredibly capable 4 Door Super Saloon, nice sounding V6, bit softly sprung, but packs downforce to compensate.

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

Mazda RX-8 Spirit R: Cheapest way to Rotary power & owning a Mazda Spirit R, playful handling, does prefer manual gearing to get the most out of it, has a 4 Rotor option if money is no object for more power. ;)

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

Chaparral 2X VGT: Incredibly fast, but also requires an unconventional driving style to master it, not for beginners.

Verdict: Neutral

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 GSR: The AYC does tend to make it understeer on corner exit with the stock CS tyres, but a steady balance of trail-braking and throttle can offset that issue, Is IMO the weakest of the Evo’s (Evo 3 is 9hp down, but 90kgs lighter), but recently got its engine swap along with the rest of the Evo’s so it’s potential has greatly increased. :D

Verdict: Neutral

Mercedes AMG-GTS: The tamest of the AMG GT’s, while not as grip focused like the AMG GT-R or the powered crazed GT Black Series, it’s still a well behaved and capable machine with good low end torque, even has a Safety Car version to boot. :P

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

Ferrari F8 Tributo: Potent power, but drops at high rpms, decently light, but it’s the quoted dry weight which as you can imagine, makes it lighter than it should be.:grumpy:
Rapid, but you may need to brake earlier than you think.

Happily smokes its tyres when encouraged. :sly:

Verdict: Neutral

Suzuki Jimny XC: First 4wd Kei Car in GT7, not quick, the heaviest & least aerodynamic Kei Car, but it’s a riot to throw around, joint cheapest Kei Car and has a relatively cheap engine swap(The cheapest I believe at 109k.) so it’s a bargain hunters Sleeper.

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

Porsche 911 GT3 RS (992): High revving F6, Stable handling, DRS wing, well planted and just encourages you to keep pushing the limits of its performance.

Fully tuned engine is capable of nearly 11,500rpm and is an absolute screamer, granted you pay nearly 90k more compared to the previous model GT3 RS so bear that in mind.

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

Peugeot 208 GTi Sport: Just another fun and enjoyable Hot Hatch.

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

Suzuki Swift Gr4 KATANA Edition: Take what I said about the 208 GTi, Add slicks, subtract weight, Add an Itasha livery and serve. :lol:

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

BVLGARI VGT: Nice engine, low weight, stock tyres weren’t up to task, softly sprung for a downforce car and the differential was a little snappy between under & oversteer.

Verdict: Neutral(But I understand why others would say Beater.)

Mazda Atenza Sedan XD L: Not quick at first glance, but is deceptively capable at low PP levels, does understeer at the absolute limit, but is about as stressless and easy to drive as low power cars can get. :embarrassed:

Auto users will lose out due to the need for short shifting mind you.

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

Toyota Tundra TRD: Lighter than the Raptor, but less powerful too, Has the more expensive and less powerful swap(But much better fuel efficiency.) of the two big pickups, more expensive to buy too. :irked:

Verdict: Neutral(Barely) (Beater when compared to the Raptor.)

Ford Raptor Verdict: Sleeper 👍

Honda Civic Type R (FK8): Capable Super Hot Hatch, good low end torque, solid handling, just an all round pleasant car to drive.

On its own merits, A Sleeper, but Neutral when compared to the newer FL5 Civic Type R. 👍
 
The winner of last week's ~Special Challenge!~ is @SomePlayaDude , setting a blazing (:sly:) fast time of 1:27.676! They were the only one who set a time all week. Since RX8 likes smug faces so much, here, SPD, I'll throw one his way for you:

metal-gear-rising-desperado.gif


If you thought we couldn't get any more wasteful and showboaty by testing two pickup trucks, we now have the series' first super performance SUV to feature. Chosen by @Vic Reign93 , this week's car is the Lamborghini Urus '18!

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Vic Reign93​

So my pick for this week is the Lamborghini Urus, because its GT7's first Super SUV.
Click to expand...
Based on VAG's MLB platform, the Urus shares many parts with the Bentley Bentayga, Porsche Cayenne, and... a Volkswagen Touareg. Packing a twin–turbo 4 litre V8 under its bonnet however, the savage 641HP pumped out by the Audiwagen V8 propels the 2,197kg (4,844lbs) cattle straight into the distinction of being the fastest production SUV at the time of its debut, as well as being the fastest selling Lamborghini in... well, ever. This week, we find out if all that hype and numbers make the Urus a compelling drive on tarmac, dirt, and snow!


Weekly Lobbies​


Our weekly lobbies are ongoing as usual, and anyone (not a dick) is welcome to join us in racing bone stock Uruses (Urii?)!

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 (temporarily reverts cars to bone stock)
Tracks: Randomly selected by lobby participants (~10 mins practice, ~10 mins sprint)
PP Limit: 564PP
Car: No Limit
Tyres: No Limit


~Special Challenge!~​

If you can't join us for wheel–to–wheel racing, no worries! We also have a weekly ~Special Challenge!~ for involving the Urus, and it's a woozy set by Vic himself!

Vic Reign93​

The Special Challenge will test the Urus on all terrains, road, dirt & snow.

The Catch? Your fastest times for all 3 tracks will matter as the driver with the lowest combined overall time will be the winner.

The tracks are, Monza Full for Road, Sardegna Windmills Reverse for Dirt and Lake Louise Long Track for Snow.

Stock Urus of course. :)
Click to expand...

Just because the previous few Special Challenges have shown me that COTW is full of wise asses that live to find loopholes, I'm going to add: strong penalties for wall collisions and shortcuts! Save the replays!


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

Now, let's see if the modern day performance SUV has a place or not in Gran Turismo...
 
Managed a 07.24.908 on the Nords with it. YT review: "An excepionally stable SUV tbh. Drives surprisingly well! I really enjoyed my time with it. It does help, that it looks cool and is part of my favourite manufacturer's portfolio. Also, it must be said, that the time it managed, is frankly quite bonkers for a(n?) SUV"



Verdict: sleeper
 
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Is there something I can find of value rather than your average Japanese domestic sedan. This is the Mazda6, or known as the Atenza. It's a.. sedan.. but you know what's fascinating about it? Nothing!

Okay, I'm kidding. The Atenza started off with Ford. Since 1996, they had owned a good portion of Mazda, and got them some ideas to share some of their body platforms and engines around. Starting off as a sporty sedan that shared the platform with Ford's famed Mondeo, the Atenza was given the role to provide Mazda a chance to see if they have the hots for making sports saloons.

Coming with a whole bevy of engines from either Mazda or Ford, body types like wagon, sedan and hatchback and even diesel options for those who want it over petrol, it had the selection for anyone to choose what they like and cater to their tastes. A very bold marketing strategy.

After two generations, Mazda split from Ford, and thus had to decide what to do with this model that has never gone without their American buddies. Using the award winning second generation's base model, they refined it further and developed the third generation variant with their KODO soul design philosophy, along with their usual Jinbai Ittai they've used since the days of the NA MX-5, and something new in the form of Skyactiv: Mazda's signature eco friendly power boosting engineering. As a result, it had gained a more sporty fascia, from a much more notable profile, making it look big, but it's still your good old Mazda6 in its soul.

To the one we got in GT Sport and onwards: it's a facelifted third generation XD model. Anyone who's remembered Week 16 would know this means we got a diesel, and it's the 6 speed Auto with about 175 horses. The L in the end stands for Luxury, meaning it's got the best upholstery money can buy in your 6. And.. we're done!

It's definitely turned heads, and it's said that some people took advantage of that and made a racecar out of the thing. No, it's not the one we have in the car' fictional Grouped variants. A diesel powered Mazda 6 Grand-Am would make its way around in 2013, and while I don't want to elaborate more on this, it definitely was the main inspiration for the car being Mazda's early representation in Sport mode. And if not that, this car also has a Group 3 widebody road car variant that carries its petrol powerplant instead. That car's a Signature Car for a certain Malaysian Crazy Taxi driver, so.. wink wink.

Let's head to Austria and see how things look in this wild search for a certaom young woman. Again.
(PS: I've already finished writing this episode)

STORY: Tougher Spirits

Killing 2 birds with one stone this week is to tackle trucks. Now, while the selection of trucks here in GT world pales compared to Forza Horizon (yup, there are NO trucks in the new Motorsport, which is a REAL tootin shame), they're not exactly bad choices..

Now I don't want to write too much of these bad boys, because while one has a notable long running history, the other.. is just a slot in to the American pickup market. But what they do have in common is that these aren't slow characters, no siree. While you're not going to match the likes of.. umm.. the upcoming Son of Rambo Lambo as of writing, it's quick enough to contend with a good roster of the JDM batch and perhaps surprise us.

How about some visible sporting credentials? You got eyes, right? The Raptor comes with a fetching stylized sports paintjob and this wide profile that makes you think serious sideways jumps. The Tundra's more subtle, but having specially forged rims and tuned suspension isn't any ways not sporty. Both cars carry a V8, with the Tundra having a 5.7L V8 used mainly in American Toyota off-roaders. The Ford carries their well known Boss V8 found in other pickups of the same brand.

Anything else? I know story's mostly just an extra, but there's something to speak of. First, the Tundra is the tertiary ride of a certain tungsten clad assassin that has a hatred for brick walls. And more remarkably: the F-150 Raptor is a Signature Car. The original SPD writeup fat guy gets a nice gifted return, as Frederick McStevenson will show anyone the power of his iconic, yet battle ready Pete: beating the heart of its well tuned Boss V8. Cue the quick bio..

A literal definition of how fast can also come in large packages. One of The List's greatest threats because of his dirty, no holds barred racing style is way more than rubbing tactics. However, when racing clean became mandatory to be the best off his usual truck racing roots, this beloved gentle giant fortunately got no objections.

Theme Song: The Eagles of Death Metal - I'm Your Torpedo
Racing Duel Music: The Eagles of Death Metal - Complexity
Gender: Male
Nationality: American
Age: 38
Current occupation: Race car driver
Distinct features: Bald crown head surrounded by a thin orange fringe. Brown almond eyes, thin bridged thick button nose, and thick narrow mouth. Thin orange beard. Has a few marks under his eyes, along with a few missing teeth. Tall body brings a largely obese build.
Choice of clothing: It's always a buttoned up cotton shirt covered in a full body denim overalls and large sports shoes. Can sometimes be seen wearing a sports cap or jacket, depending on the environment. Never without his prized gold engraved 'Mcstevenson' chain necklace.
Cars: Ford F-150 SVT Raptor

Born the youngest of 3 brothers and a single mother, Fred starts off life as facing off hardship after hardship, taking care of his home turf Virginian farm growing corn. While the yield was good and the profits manageable for them to expand and grow over time, the work was taxing. Among the competitive brotherhood working all day each day to be apart of this endeavor, Fred definitely took it easy, having a leaning towards riding the lone family tractor. This combined with his meat heavy eating habits earned him the nickname 'Gator', a name he holds dear to this day.

The family went their seperate ways as the three brothers reached adulthood, with Fred going to perform civil service in Virginia Beach. Years then pass with him looking back at the farm life he left behind for the city. He would eventually meet a fellow country bumpkin who aspired to being an attorney, who would then become his best friend, and the first one he's gotten to develop his hearty self.

Returning with money and opportunities for his siblings, he would find his family farm being taken over by a larger corporation, which as a result has his family move over to the city due to their newfound wealth. Finding out the much darker, behind the scenes activities involved in this transaction, Fred utilized his connections with his attorney friend and fought over the claim, winning this suit, but at a cost: he wouldn't be safe in his home state no more, being pursued in the dark by these suits at most times. He would pack up a newly customized semi-truck and leave. Where that led him was to a band of thrillseekers that raced over all kinds of terrains.

What good that came was a connection to a race league, but not before he would meet a shadowy outlaw and his rich Arab friend, also leading to a connection into his role as one of the founders of infamous street racing crew The List, using the racing and money to fuel both his contact heavy race craft and boisterous personality. Though, recent List charter following international street racing rules has him be the butt of the joke of a new in List meme, calling him now the Clean Gator, which he laughs alongside naturally.

It explains why I dropped these names last week. Also: internally, this marks the end of Phase 3, and I figure I need a break from writing. What's the end of Phase 2?

Would you believe.. Week 34?

STORY: The Divide

To many, Civics and the Type R badging go together like beans and bacon: in the most part they're always together, but are fine even when apart. So, Honda has been taking their domestic Civic hatchbacks and souping them up to be their usual modus operandi with their super sports Type R badging. The 5th of the Type R lot: badged as the FK8, has been an exception to that, being a special limited edition that is built as a sports hatchback from the get go, rather than put extensive work on their base trim.

As a result, it broke the FWD lap record on the ring, which I feel is its biggest draw for the car world. But looking at the little details, you can find a lot of sports personality etched in, moreso than the 208 we got a few weeks back. From its overly Japanese styled aggresive tuner vibe, to the amounts of holes the car needs whatever that's hot to be cooled off, and the three exhaust holes.. of which the middle one isn't actually an exhaust, but an intake that gave the Type R a change in exhaust tone.

Carrying the K20C1 that sees use in mostly the FK and FL Type R Civics, the FK brings 315 twin turbocharged horses under a 1.4 ton body. This special limited edition is however stuck at Sunlight Yellow II. And all I can think of with the words Sunlight Yellow is a straight up JoJo reference, so I guess we stop there.

Story? Starting off Phase 4, I suppose FWD expert and resident JoJo reference has to come back with his trusty sumo wrestling sidekick. Along with this taser crazy DJ..

STORY: Incineration

SUV's have never found a place on the track, being made to be big and ugly is one thing. Having laughable performance in despite of impressive engineering and numbers is another. But the first proper SUV we get in this current GT era is the one and only Super SUV. But you know I don't call it that.

First off: being the successor of the well known failure that I occassionally refer to as Rambo Lambo, the Son of Rambo Lambo piqued my interest from back when I was doing COTW in Forza Horizon 5. It appeared twice in certain Showcases, and I don't think we took a chance to tackle it personally. Oddly enough, we didn't take a chance at the game's favorite car shaped fetish that is the Mustang, so there's that when it comes to unusual choices of cars we didn't nominate.

Taking inspiration from big daddy Rambo Lambo.. of which I don't quite see, the Urus has not so grand shoes to fill, but it's made a grand impression thanks to its supercar numbers. If there's one thing it doesn't get from Rambo Lambo, it's the fact that it uses an Audi based turbocharged V8 rather than its own self developed V10s or V12s. Whatever powerplant it can get, it means, unfortunately for diesel lovers, it runs on petrol. What it does get from current era Lamborghinis however is the hexagon styling, aggressive fascia, and of course the carbon fibre. Of course, right?

Being the potential first of the great status quo of big balling high performance SUVs, I say it's suitable it becomes the first HD modelled SUV in Gran Turismo proper.. if not for the presence of the Range Rover Evoque in 6, and the R60 MINI Countryman in 5. I'm getting the feeling that we might see some more of these giants terrorizing the tracks sometime in the future.

Has anyone seen the new U25 MINI Countryman? I don't know how to feel about it personally. But on to more important matters..

The Urus is strangely the next Signature Car, and as of writing, Week 50 hasn't been completed which hints this strongly.

I hope you're not attached to any brick walls in recent days. You can see that the essence of Rambo Lambo being a bombastic, aggressive giant. And there's no other person in my story writing that matches this description better than COTW exclusive addition in the Aussie tennis player slash assassin Quinlan Bradley.. a semi-serious semi-comical but all around powerhouse that stands by her own morals. Yes, like the use of HOW DARE YOU is in every episode, I made a Rambo Lambo but it's a whole character.

Hailed as the Sports Diva from Down Under, Quinlan's a bona fide master in the physical contest of contests. A recent graduate of the world racing league's B License, her great muscles isn't the only secret of hers she's keeping tabs on.

Theme Song: Judas Priest - Hard As Iron
Gender: Female
Nationality: Australian
Age: 33
Current occupation: Sports personality, prominently as a tennis player
Distinct features: Long bright orange hair, often tied in a pair of split braids. Wide almond shaped pale blue eyes, thin but thick skinned slab nose and small mouth. Her caucasian skin's always shiny. Semi-tall and has a defined muscular, built body.
Choice of clothing: 'A show of her greatly honed skin when she can' is her motto on this, usually wearing a sporty tank top with tight sports shorts, with a jacket either worn or wrapped around her waist. There are sporty shoes and sports sunglasses to complement.
Cars: Lamborghini Urus, Toyota Tundra TRD Pro


Gold Coast born Quinlan was the second of a whole horde of children. She never had an issue getting past the ropes of life with her siblings, who frequent the beaches there. Thanks to her father's role as a pro surfer, and her mother being a lifeguard of one of the many beaches there, Quinlan had no issue with meeting people and also getting to know the active lifestyle she gets frequent exposure from. Reaching puberty, she however gained one other interest due to her body somehow developing muscular. Compounded by how ridiculed she was in school of her size, she knew this was the calling she needed to stand out and shield her ego: through strength.

Without a remarkable education, Quinlan went straight into sports, getting scholarships for various sports academies and fields. However the result, her jolly character seems to be a perseverant one where she never has a notion to give up in any slight. Though, behind all this muscle was still this psychologically inept woman, who would be taken advantage of by certain criminal elements in Australia. It didn't take long for her to think enough is enough, leading to a mental snap and a new aggression began from there. To the public, it gave them a positive role model to follow, and for the underworld a new killer threat thanks to her behind the scenes actions towards.

In one clash, she was put in a bind, but was saved and proceeded to clean up a large sports corruption scandal thanks to the Assassin's Guild, specifically from a feminist cool cyborg, with another sadistic blood knight. Joining in as an athletic powerful giant, these women would end up being known as the Trinitia: a triple threat of women that would be deemed unstoppable should they come together, though in their heads and ideals that's not quite the case, enough to cause a hostile rift.

Jumping from sport to sport, she recently gotten her hands into racing cars. Though, her growth seemed to be drastically larger than your run of the mill racer. Rumors report that she seems to have contact with the infamous Outlaw, though no direct reasoning has been confirmed.

Yes, I had to retcon the fact she owned a Megane. I really had a reason to be excited that the Urus came to GT.

What do I feel like writing today? How about we explore the Urus' full potential in a location I've yet to write of: Trial Mountain?

STORY: First Blood
 
To my beloved mother and father.

It's been an incredible year! Or rather.. the wake up call I so needed all these years. I hate to admit it, but you're right. I was living in a clam, but a chance meeting with some Fuji based gearheads was the first step in something new.

To keep it simple.. I've been driving all kinds of cars, under all kinds of scenarios, and most importantly: met all kinds of characters.

From various street racers, TV show hosts, shady assassins, individuals of money outside of Japan, and my on track rivals. Don't take it that way: if I'm going to beat them, knowing is half the battle.

Not to mention I reunited with some old ones! I managed to reconnect with my old friends! Lulu and Cierra, I mean. From my time in that Toyota apprenticeship.

They've found themselves having their own thing just as I've found them, and I refuse to be left out again! With my new friends.. I'll find them, and I'll support them like the friend I should've been!

Speaking of support.. should you need a visit, for old times sakes, my doors are always open in Ginza. No, I haven't moved yet, dad; I know you're going to force me like always. I don't need a big house or apartment or anything! I hope you like coffee..

Oh, and.. I've been taking lessons in being more open and presentable! There's small hints of grump sometimes.. and that new catchphrase when I get a little rowdy.

Before I forget.. mom, you're right: that easy blue MINI project is bad news. I know I should've listened, but the car's mine now with some help..

Regardless, I hope to hear from you two soon. No matter how it went that time, I'll love you two, always!


From your daughter..
Candy Lam

Why does SHE get a nicer font? DON'T try to cheer me up, how DARE you think of that?!

So, exactly one year ago, I uploaded a picture on this thread of this tuned purple RX-7 FC, that eventually was followed by Pinky in a couple weeks. These cars served as THE cars that got me into this little shindig to begin with. And then came something else from myself..

Time for a self reflection:
Have I grown?
Have I been humbled?
Have I always been that awkward fellow who's always using the wrong words at certain moments?
Has that inner Sundowner in me been amplified in some form?
In a year, I can definitely say yes to all of these. But not a definite yes.

Now, my future is unclear with this place, but I guarantee you, all the times I try to be around: I've never had a bad time.

I can be bombastic, wacky, Goodwood hungry, and definitely go out of line often.. but I always want to look good. Never leaving a negative impression, leaving that all to me alone. The gist is that I don't think I fit in. That's always the root of all negativity when I'm here.

But let me assure you that when I think I don't fit in, I always say.. I don't fit in.. yet. Not even today. I'll keep getting better, and then future SPD will then further nurture this idea and say: you've already been a part of this circus, playing a major part within your own showcases, continuing your fictional GT based universe you never had the courage to move with, or just being the grand target of something less serious for everyone else.. that always include MINI or Sundowner specific reasons.

If there was something future SPD would appreciate from this quick writeup, it's that I hope that this place would flourish, be a safe place, and most importantly be the best kind of place where anyone who wants a good old smashing time around the track with similarly inclined individuals, no matter if I'm around or not. At least I'm going to be remembered as the guy that obsesses about a crossover that's quite likely not coming to the game.

Speaking of signature appearances, Pinky and the Purpinator/Purpertrator/Purrple/'whatever I'm going to get a proper name for that FC one day with the word Purple in it' might get involved again in the future, but in what form we'll eventually see.

And I'm done, good night and insert say the line Bart meme here.
 
The winner of last week's ~Special Challenge!~ is... the guy who set the challenge, @Vic Reign93 , conquering asphalt, dirt, and snow in the Urus all in under five minutes! Congratulations!

MolmazTricky Vic
Monza2:01.7262:00.558
Windmills1:23.3711:16.185
Louise1:46.6541:41.382
TOTAL TIME:5:11.7514:58.125


But wait! There's more!

This week, we're sticking to our horns with the raging bull brand, as @SomePlayaDude has chosen the Lamborghini Diablo GT '00 to feature this week on Car of the Week!

Gran Turismo® 7_20240413172713.png

SomePlayaDude​

Ahh, nice. It's time for the one car I've been clamoring for a long while now. Midship 2000's era supercar with a 500 horsepower V-shaped engine born on the track, that ends with a GT.

It's the most important car for me since the PS3 era of Gran Turismo and it's th-

transmission-interrupted-png.1345896


No..

The f[BLEEP]ing four-eyed, nicotine breathing, thumb chewing, charmless half-wit, self scheming. no good she-devil!!
I'm locked out! She's taken over!! You freaking.. freak!!

HOW DARE Y-

nirvana-takes-over-cotw-jpg.1345897
Click to expand...

The Lamborghini Diablo is the car that took the 200mph cherry for the raging bull brand, and is often considered the last of a lineage of "pure" Lamborghinis, as the brand would come under VAG ownership in 1998, resulting in cars that were more stable, comfortable, and reliable. Gran Turismo also has a very interesting history with the Diablo, with a JGTC Diablo being included only in the Japanese versions of Gran Turismo 3, skirting around licensing issues by listing the Diablo under "JLOC" (Japanese Lamborghini Owner's Club) rather than Lamborghini. Earlier versions of JGTC Diablos can even be found as leftover, unused data in Gran Turismo 2! Here in GT7, the Diablo has the distinction of being the most expensive car in the Used Car Dealer... and only comes in yellow, just to piss off @Baron Blitz Red :lol:

If you fancy piloting the last crazy Lambo in a bullfight, well...


Weekly Lobbies​


Our weekly lobbies are ongoing as usual, and anyone (not a dick) is welcome to join us in racing bone stock Diablos 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 (temporarily reverts cars to bone stock; WIDE BODIED AND ENGINE SWAPPED CARS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE!)
Tracks: Randomly selected by lobby participants (~10 mins practice, ~10 mins sprint)
PP Limit: 614PP
Car: No Limit
Tyres: No Limit


~Special Challenge!~​

If you can't join us for wheel–to–wheel racing, no worries! We also have a weekly ~Special Challenge!~ for the Diablo, and it's a familiar one set by SPD themself!

SomePlayaDude​

nirvana-takes-over-cotw-2-jpg.1345898


PS: that time with the Viper is 1:46.1XX, which means purist tuned Diablos need to get a time that looks like a 1:45.8

Is this the week to put a dent in my overly grown ego? It definitely sounds like it, and I'm doing it with the freak of all freaks behind it as a theme.
Click to expand...

So, to recap: Build a "purist" Diablo to a maximum of 600PP. Sports Hard tyres front and rear. No nitrous, wide bodies, or engine swaps. Then run your built Diablo on Kyoto: Yamagiwa Forward. Target time is 1:45.8, fastest time wins!

For anyone who's built a Viper to these specs back in Week 36, they are limited to using the same parts that they used on their Vipers, and their Diablo build has to beat the time set by their Viper by at least 0.2 seconds!

What is a "purist" build? Good question. It's up to your interpretation, I guess! (Or you could just ask SPD.)


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

Now, let's see just what's missing from modern Lamborghinis... :)
 
Holy! The Diablo it is, eh? My all time favourite car! Alright, in GT7 I managed a 07.16.339. Gotta say I'm pretty proud of the lap, although with the current physics it should be relatively easy to beat. YT review: "In GT Sport, both the Diablo GT and F50 (its direct rival) were pretty even, here in GT7, the F50 is quite a bit better actually. The Diablo improved its lap time compared to GT Sport quite significantly as well though. Still one of my favourite cars in the whole game, as basically all Diablo models are my favourite cars of all time. I especially love its looks, but the sound and speed are pretty good as well actually. The Diablo GT is probably the fastest road legal Diablo of them all. In GT7, it's a bit wilder compared to Sport, but still rather driveable at the limit I think. Very good car!"



Nords rivalry:


1000m drag race:


Tsukuba rivalry:


Verdict: raging bull 😉
 
While you can see I took my own PERSONAL liberties with the fictional presence associated with the car, how about a few extra notes:

1) Let's assume I got hijacked and had another car intended to be nominated. That's actually true: I had a last second change, with my eyes initially set on the Ford GT '06, but had different thoughts when I realized.. it's the flagship car of fan favorite Gran Turismo 4 and I'm sure it did have an inner reserved seat on when it's going to be nominated anyways like the AMG GT S did. I've got a mark set on the week of the 23rd December (20 year anniversary of Gran Turismo 4).

2) Due to Week 34, my nominees have been leaning more into a short list of personal loves I want everyone to give a go, which you can see in the Forza Horizon 5 COTW choices I made. The Diablo and VX Viper are both from that list. Other notable entrants that's on my short list include the Volvo 242 (RIP), Buick GNX (fingers crossed), Porsche Carrera GT (due for Halloween), both road going models of the Ford GT, and the Miura. Consider this a shortlist of cars at risk from the wrath of Week 34.

3) I was going to have a milk carton missing variant of my avatar and assume the role of the freak of freaks but that's both too much effort for something so minor.

4) Who wants to see me melt internally? Here's a small snippet of my writeup

We're two-in-a-row with Lamborghinis and also two-in-a-row with Signature Cars..

I'm supposed to be excited these double rainbow events are happening, but I'm certain something happened to past SPD as he chose this because..

Ugh..

It's personal (so understandably nobody would understand) that the car had to be associated with HER..

The self designated rival that I've been hyping with myself however long the overexaggerated self insert Sonny Meng character has existed in my head has finally gotten a place on the grand stage.

And unlike Week 36, she gets a full, original story entry.

Well, congratulations, darling.
Con-freaking-gratulations.
I am so UNHAPPY for these turn of events..

I know I voted for this car, but I too am enjoying this imaginary act of hatred by myself, for myself.
Click to expand...

5) Challenge related: my Viper's time is 1:46.128. It's one with no GT Auto changes, but you're free to use anything from the tuning shop. I'm actually struggling to get the Diablo to reach this time at the same restrictions with my current abilities, so I can definitely say it's a tough one. And this week's challenge is aimed to deflate my overly bloated ego, so any participants better put on a good show.
 
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Zero2Oblivion
That's a nice use of a double negative there...
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Thanks for pointing that out! Though, as you'll probably realise, I make a LOT of typos, and my brain isn't good at picking up on the mistakes it makes even when I try to proofread what I wrote...

If you go through the 24 pages and counting of this thread, I'm sure you'll go crazy pointing out typos :lol:

Also, here's an excellent video by Roflwaffle for anyone interested in the exploits of the JGTC Diablo:



Guess which livery I'm going to show up on Wednesday with... :)
 
XSquareStickIt
Look what I came across today!

​
Click to expand...

Can you imagine my excitement, when I at 12 years old, being an absolute Lamborghini fanboy (especially the Diablo models), having played all the NFSs for the supercars (especially the Diablos) and having played GT1 and GT2 religiously, found out through the first GT3 screens, that GT is FINALLY getting my all time favourite car manufacturer and a Diablo model at that (which was new to me as well) on the NEXT GEN GT in GLORIOUS LIFE LIKE graphics!

200.gif


And THEN imagine my disappointment AFTER the game ALREADY got released in Japan WITH the Diablo, only to find out super close to the release of the European version, that there is only ONE car removed, and that it is THIS VERY model I'm drooling over like a little kid (well I was one somewhat duh!).

200 (20).gif
 
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