'Hire' A Test Driver

RVT Amuse S2000 GT1
749PP - Suzuka - Power: 541PS - Torque: 443ft-lbs - Weight: 952KG​



Enter the Dragon

I've been avoiding this car for two reasons - There's way too many of them online and they're way too easy to beat in a GTlm but when a new up and coming tuning outfit contacted me and asked me to try their setup I decided to put my prejudices aside and give it a try.

First off I don't like the look of this thing, with the gokart-on-steroids bodystyle and the comedy rear spoiler it looks more like the kind of thing you'd expect to see in the next starwars movie than an honest to god racecar. But I'm here to judge the setup, not the look so I let that one go.

First off I slap a set of stickys on, dial the weight down as far as it'll go and knock 7notches off the power. Time to see what this puppy can make of suzuka...

Three laps later and I'm enjoying this thing despite myself. It buzzes round the track like an angry hornet, The tiny little 2200cc engine more than enough to bring it's flyweight chassis up to speed, end keep it there! Other than a dodgy dropoff from first to second gears this thing seems to be always in the powerband. It's a little tail happy (even with a kitchen table bolted to the back) but it's a fun little drive and I've soon racked up a respectable 2:04 and change.

I head back to the pits, feeling a lot more positive about this car than I was when I left. What happened next can only be described using a new prototype word which I think you'll be hearing a lot of in the near future - the car became Dragonized

From the off it's much more balanced, RVT have bent the kitchen table up as far as it will go and that's exactly what was needed to give a leadfoot like myself the confidence to slam that accelerator pedal on the floor whenever I goddamn well feel like it. The gears are spectacular - floor it in first coming out of the hair pin and second gear arrives like the ride of the valkyries, catupulting me into 200R as if I'd been fired out a cannon. There's loads of torque in 3rd, there's loads of torque in 4th, and 5th, and 6th and there's even a 7th which, unsurprisingly, comes complete with loads of torque!

Keeping the revs up is the key to this machine. T1/2 of suzuka involves tapdancing on the brake and throttle in an MR-style rhythm , little bit of brake, drop a gear , rev! Wash, rinse repeat. By this point many an FR drivetrain would have exited the track but not the amuse - it wants to play! The suspension is perfect as it hugs the esses and stays planted up through dunlop. Carrying me smoothly round degner with no loss of control under braking and back on the throttle to carry me across the apex and slithering down the camber into the hairpin.

Once again the mindblowing cornering speed is evident as I hammer through spoon and out again with barely a touch of lift required to nail the exit and fly on down to 130R and through. Casio is an exercise in simplicity and I'm out and across the line in a staggering 2:03.1 - suddenly it doesn't look like this is going to lose much road to the Fords. Lets go find out...

There is only one conclusion I can draw from what happened next - this car totally dominates online. It can hunt down and bitchslap a GTlm - first time I've managed to do that in any other car. And, testament to how good this tune is, it treats even other S2000's with the same utter disdain. I lost a few races to punters but I won most of them. It charges through the pack, hanging behind anything and, at any corner exit you can pretty much safely assume you're going to have ten times more grunt, twenty times sooner than the guy in front. This isn't like shooting fish in a barrel - it's like shooting elephants in a shoebox!

Congratulations to RVT, I haven't had much experience in this car but, based on how competitive it was against a full grid of them in one of the many races I sailed to victory in, my guess is you're not going to find one that's much faster than this.

9/10
 
I don't mean to be an arse.........but I will.:P You have trouble beating GT LMs? I can beat them in my Elise, which is not the outright fastest 750 PP car out there by far. The only scary part is when you find a well-driven GT LM. Which is rare, because they suck. I think the only thing that makes the GT LM fast is straight lines. It sucks at corners, it takes longer to pull up, it just accelerates really fast.
 
nd 4 holden spd
I don't mean to be an arse.........but I will.:P You have trouble beating GT LMs? I can beat them in my Elise, which is not the outright fastest 750 PP car out there by far. The only scary part is when you find a well-driven GT LM. Which is rare, because they suck. I think the only thing that makes the GT LM fast is straight lines. It sucks at corners, it takes longer to pull up, it just accelerates really fast.
Click to expand...

I was talking about a well driven GTlm - I just ignore the poorly driven ones since they're usually nowhere near the track anyway.

The elise can have them through the long corners but it doesn't matter cos they'll trounce you everywhere else. Never been bested by an elise when driving a GTlm. I wouldn't say they suck on corners you just need to throw them in there and pray you can catch them before the gravel thing happens :sly:
 
nd 4 holden spd
I don't mean to be an arse.........but I will.:P You have trouble beating GT LMs? I can beat them in my Elise, which is not the outright fastest 750 PP car out there by far. The only scary part is when you find a well-driven GT LM. Which is rare, because they suck. I think the only thing that makes the GT LM fast is straight lines. It sucks at corners, it takes longer to pull up, it just accelerates really fast.
Click to expand...

Just look at the old 750 Suzuka time trial, its dominated by GT LMs, a well driven one, is the fastest car on track most likely.

Anyway, I'll open up shop in a little while once i fire up GT5 and get transferring set ups.

I'll add angel to the list, and Timp that F430 review is all yours :)
 
P3nT4gR4m
I was talking about a well driven GTlm - I just ignore the poorly driven ones since they're usually nowhere near the track anyway.

The elise can have them through the long corners but it doesn't matter cos they'll trounce you everywhere else. Never been bested by an elise when driving a GTlm. I wouldn't say they suck on corners you just need to throw them in there and pray you can catch them before the gravel thing happens :sly:
Click to expand...

Dragonistic
Just look at the old 750 Suzuka time trial, its dominated by GT LMs, a well driven one, is the fastest car on track most likely.
Click to expand...

Aye, but there consistency sucks, and lag has more negative effects on it than other cars making it a bad race day choice.

P3nT4gR4m, I can change that Elise thing for you.:mischievous: Wanna race? Me in Elise, you in GT LM.
 
My elise is running 2:03.4 at the moment, so be careful, i still got at least another 0.5-1.0 to get out of it :mischievous:
 
Heh I think I can handle that. I'm down to 2:02 on suzuka and I reckon a decent tune could take me under 2:00 no probs. And if you want to talk fuji I'll be lapping you by the end of the first straight :dopey:

Time and place fellas?
 
Lol, i wasn't planning on racing my Elise, it was just a project i had a go with last night. My main other project of current is my 750 'Vette, only running 2:02.5 last time out, still work to be done.
 
P3nT4gR4m
Heh I think I can handle that. I'm down to 2:02 on suzuka and I reckon a decent tune could take me under 2:00 no probs. And if you want to talk fuji I'll be lapping you by the end of the first straight :dopey:

Time and place fellas?
Click to expand...

Suzuka 750 PP at xx:50?


@ Dragonistic: You are too fast a driver, leave us mortals alone.
 
Just have to say that clio V6 set up is fantastic, the gearing is absolutely perfect. Would be very impressed if you could set up the F40 to perform similar.

Great work, thanks
 
Ok, I've planned out the Viper 4 comparison review, so i'll finish it when the competition is over on Saturday, probably same day :)
 
Hello, I'm looking for a skilled RWD driver to try the TLD Corvette C6 for 600 PP. No one likes it yet, but I now it's a good car, and I'd also love to see what lap times it can pull in truly capable hands.(At the moment my best is a high 2'20, with some minor screw-ups, I bet a fast driver could pull 2'19s.)
 
I'll give it a go, don't consider myself truly skilled but I think I can handle it, I'll post results later today.
 
I may be able to do some laps or driving when I get back home this weekend. I have a serious aching to play GT5P since I haven't been able to for two months. :(
 
So, gave the TLD Corvette a shot and I have some confused feelings about it, first of all as reading N4HS's description of the car my expectation were pretty high and sadly they were not satisfied though it's a pretty good car.

So the best thing about this car HAS to be the gearing, you're always on the right rev and liked the acceleration a lot because it feels smooth and you're always on the power band, really top notch. Also liked how it behaved in the slow and mid speed corners, going round the hairpin in this car just feels so natural and almost effortless.

Now on to the weak sides, the thing is that probably this has to be to my almost utter lack of skill or not the appropriate driving style, but this car was a bit unpredictable at some times, for example the right hander just before the spoon was a problem zone for myself, I was accelerating and everything is fine and then all of a sudden it's BOOM HEADSHOT! and off I go, now the obvious thing to say is that I was to eager with the throttle or too harsh in the steering, but the steering was ever so softly just to maintain myself on the track and the throttle was about 3/4 down, but thats not really my problem, the thing is that you get no warning to when that's gonna happen, it's like as you're accelerating your going 172(fine) . . . 173(fine) . . . 174(dead)(I didn't actually look at the speed it's just to set and example).Anyway, the steering itself feels a little twitchy but it's just while you get the hang of it.

Finally this car kinda reminds me to the NSX as it's tricky to handle and requires quite a lot of practice but once you have it it's great, but that made me think, if I would have to work basically as hard to control the Corvette than I would have to do to control the mother of all 600PP I'd personally would go for the NSX, because bottom line you're gonna be racing your heart out to get a competitive time when you could be doing the same thing to be the fastest, but yes this does comes down to driver preference.

NOTE: I'm not the most talented driver so it might aswell be my lack of skill rather than the car, but I feel I really pushed myself to do this car justice and was hotlaping a good 2 hours straight while testing it, sadly no I didn't get the desired 2.19' that holden says it can, I'm real sorry.
 
Thanks for your review. Unfortunately it suffers the same un-predictable high speed spins that all RWD cars without downforce suffer. After racing with it for long enough you do learn what it does though, and is possible to go entire races without having hairy moments. I said it was good in terms if where it was to where it is now, as in, it's much better than stock, but still hard to drive compared to MR cars and downforced and AWD cars. As long as you have fun in it, as that's all you can really do in it against skilled drivers using faster cars.
 
nd 4 holden spd
Thanks for your review. Unfortunately it suffers the same un-predictable high speed spins that all RWD cars without downforce suffer. After racing with it for long enough you do learn what it does though, and is possible to go entire races without having hairy moments. I said it was good in terms if where it was to where it is now, as in, it's much better than stock, but still hard to drive compared to MR cars and downforced and AWD cars. As long as you have fun in it, as that's all you can really do in it against skilled drivers using faster cars.
Click to expand...

Well yeah compared to the stock which I tested after some laps with your tune, the tune is a lot faster in cornering and not as twitchy as the stock and yes while testing it I kept thinking that this car is in desperate need for some downforce, the good thing is that with this car you could be able to put some Evos to shame. And well lately I've been driving RWD cars and aren't as unpredictable at high speeds, probably though that has to do with the fact that I've driven MR cars so the weight balance is better than this FR car.

On a little side-note I think this car will behave much better in Fuji than it does at Suzuka.
 
Apollo87
Well yeah compared to the stock which I tested after some laps with your tune, the tune is a lot faster in cornering and not as twitchy as the stock and yes while testing it I kept thinking that this car is in desperate need for some downforce, the good thing is that with this car you could be able to put some Evos to shame. And well lately I've been driving RWD cars and aren't as unpredictable at high speeds, probably though that has to do with the fact that I've driven MR cars so the weight balance is better than this FR car.

On a little side-note I think this car will behave much better in Fuji than it does at Suzuka.
Click to expand...

Not wanting to take N4HS thunder here, the Z06 is a real contender at Fuji and worth the trip. I have been punting my version around here the last few days and its quick and really suits the handling of the vette and is more than capable of winning races.
 
liked the s2k setup, it makes the car more driveable, though i think it could be faster(only tried 1 lap @ suzuka vs my own setup)
edit: just did a 1:58:xx @ suzuka in some online race, seems faster than any time I did before.
 
Apollo87
Well yeah compared to the stock which I tested after some laps with your tune, the tune is a lot faster in cornering and not as twitchy as the stock and yes while testing it I kept thinking that this car is in desperate need for some downforce, the good thing is that with this car you could be able to put some Evos to shame. And well lately I've been driving RWD cars and aren't as unpredictable at high speeds, probably though that has to do with the fact that I've driven MR cars so the weight balance is better than this FR car.

On a little side-note I think this car will behave much better in Fuji than it does at Suzuka.
Click to expand...

Turns 3 and 4 (the big long right hander at Fuji) this Corvette was almost a full 10km/hr faster than the Showdown Vipers. I might take a real crack at some lap times in it, and post them in the 600 PP S2 lap times thread.:)

888 Tuning
Not wanting to take N4HS thunder here, the Z06 is a real contender at Fuji and worth the trip. I have been punting my version around here the last few days and its quick and really suits the handling of the vette and is more than capable of winning races.
Click to expand...

Not at all, the gearing was your idea, and I was pretty stupid to not do it myself earlier.
 
S2kdrifter
liked the s2k setup, it makes the car more driveable, though i think it could be faster(only tried 1 lap @ suzuka vs my own setup)
edit: just did a 1:58:xx @ suzuka in some online race, seems faster than any time I did before.
Click to expand...

Glad you like it. But online races are not great for gauging lap times. Try free run in it to get a real feel for cars.

I'm struggling to get on the 'net lately, but I can get the set ups at college and write them down then test them. But please private message me if you want me specifically to save me time.
 
Is there any chance of employing these services for my Ford GT at Daytona Road 650 PP?
 
Paulie
Is there any chance of employing these services for my Ford GT at Daytona Road 650 PP?
Click to expand...

Still want that done?? I don't even know if that event exists anymore but I can give it a shot. Been a while since I$ played but I was on last night doing some solo stuff.

Just for you Paulie :lol:
 
Dragonistic
Still want that done?? I don't even know if that event exists anymore but I can give it a shot. Been a while since I$ played but I was on last night doing some solo stuff.

Just for you Paulie :lol:
Click to expand...

Nah should be OK now.:sly: But if you like the BMW Z4.............


That pic in your avatar, can I assume that's out of MC LA? Will talk by visitor messages......
 
Paulie
Nah should be OK now.:sly: But if you like the BMW Z4.............


That pic in your avatar, can I assume that's out of MC LA? Will talk by visitor messages......
Click to expand...

Sure I'll give the Z4 a whirl. Link me somewhere whenever it's ready for testing (or send if it's unreleased).

Also you are correct that is my own RX7 HD photo taken in MCLA :)
 
Dragonistic
Sure I'll give the Z4 a whirl. Link me somewhere whenever it's ready for testing (or send if it's unreleased).

Also you are correct that is my own RX7 HD photo taken in MCLA :)
Click to expand...

It's in TLD, all tunes are in the first page listed in alphabetical order.;)

What, no Viper?:sly:
 

Latest Posts

Back