PANORAMA. A GTPlanet magazine.

  • Thread starter BroncosXR8
  • 31 comments
  • 4,343 views
BroncosXR8

BroncosXR8

576
Australia
Sydney, Australia
GTP_BroncosXR8 or BroncosXR8

Gran Turismo 5 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

Welcome to PANORAMA a GTPlanet magazine.
This magazine will attempt to bring you the readers of GTPlanets race report forum testing and reviews on the cars in Gran Turismo 5.

While the magazine does not rival the budget of shows like Top Gear nor have a test driver the quality of a Stig, it does live in the world of GT and will therefor report on the characteristics and performance of the cars in this GT fantasy. I hope you enjoy the read.


I have been buying cars and testing them on two tracks creating my own personal leaderboard, so I thought I would share the results of my testing and the remarks on each car. Now I don't have assumptions of having Stig like driver qualities however being the only control driver gives a level playing field. I'm sure many of you can get much faster times.
The 'rules' I set myself are that I have a max of 10 laps in which to set my time (with an average of 4 laps used) and production cars must wear Sports Hard tyres, Race cars with Race Hards, again a control measure. Much like going to a track day and removing the OEM tyres for R rated ones. All cars are un-modified unless stated so, with only Oil changes allowed so far. Brake settings are open, most production cars set to 3 front 1 rear.
Aids are set as ABS-1 all others off, except for the driving line which gives me a rough indication of each cars line and braking points. (I was thinking of setting ABS off for older cars and race cars but since I'm using the DFP it doesn't give adequate brake control so I'm using ABS 1)

I have been using Autumn Ring for a tight complex course and Monza (no chicane) for high speed wide open throttle testing, and where Monza proved inadequate for length I also used SS7 for top speed testing.

Let me know what you think, and any improvement I can make.
Cheers
BroncosXR8 :)

P.S The link below is for a google doc setup by some other forum members, I have added all my times to it for easy reference.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc...5Z3Y3TU52c0lTRHc&hl=en&authkey=CLO93eQD#gid=3
 
Last edited:
BUGATTI Veyron 16.4 ‘09

Most already know the story of the Veyron, the concept car that took years to become reality upon the whim of the than VW CEO, owner of Bugatti.
Some say it was compromised from the very start, the direction given was that the car must remain as the concept in its design, it must have 1000 horsepower and it must do 400km/h.
Unheard of specifications in a production car or even a balls to the wall race car!
Yet the engineers were set to the task and after what felt like it was slipping into the murky depths of automotive myth and folklore, they did it.


Autodromo Nazionale Monza No Chicane_8 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

Today ours arrives.
After testing and driving many cars from the world of Gran Turismo, and listening to the opinions of many from the GTPlanet community, the Bug had eluded us so far. Those opinions were mostly unkind, was the biggest baddest Hypercar of them all really what they claim or was it as others say, an overweight high horsepower bully that intimidated with its spec sheet.
The Veyron rolls of the delivery truck with no more ceremony than any other to our garage, the starter kicks it over and that massive W16 quad turbo thrums to life. There are no histrionics here, no blatt of the throttle and burp of over ride on start up, it’s hard to believe 1000 horsepower can start so nonchalantly. Those quad turbos chop and shutter the exhaust so its no more thrilling than a bassy Golf GTI.
As with all our tests we had it first delivered to the Autumn Ring, that winding bowl set amongst the wilting trees in Italy’s Tuscan region where many a high horsepower car has come unstuck. Here it is the ability to change direction quickly at low speeds while maintaining a smooth rhythm that gains the best times. So the Bug should be out of its depth here right? I mean the thing weighs nearly 2 Tonne or just over 1800kg dry. Not the best recipe for tight hairpins and the flip flops that this track puts up.


Autumn Ring_3 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr


The Veyron comes alive and pulls onto the track coming up to the start line and begins its perilous ascent on the leaderboard.
Whoa this thing has shot forward all four wheels from the AWD system burning up into clouds of smoke flung towards the final corner onto the straight and we are already hard on the brakes trying to bring the front end under control to get it pointed in the right direction.
The big chrome horseshoe finally wafts its way around like the bow of a cruiseliner and once it’s lined up, again BAM! The spine gets sucked into the seat as if the W16 is trying to draw everything around it into the induction system. It shoots down the short main straight towards the relatively open hairpin, it requires braking nearly halfway along the straight, is it because this thing can’t turn or the brakes are rubbish and struggle to stop such a heavy beast, or is the phenomenal speed which it throws itself forwards.

Tipping into the hairpin the front suspension and AWD system try and contain the massive momentum and drag it into the hardest part of the track for the big cars, these small corners whilst not tight are in close succession and require you to be able to change direction quickly and under control for the next assault on the course, and here it is that the Veyron should struggle, and whilst it doesn’t scythe its way through like say a M3 CSL it does manage to do it quite effectively.


Autumn Ring by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

The next obstacle opens up slightly onto the short back straight allowing you to carry some speed downhill to the tightest corner on the track, again the Veyron must use all the friction those massive stoppers and wide 20 inch tyres can muster to wipe off enough speed so that it can once again navigate the corner only to thrust itself upon the next.

It does so without drama and rushes towards the flowing part of this short circuit, the corners that still require fairly large inputs of throttle yet also must see the car maintain a chassis that doesn’t squirm nor float and this brings you to the ring which overpasses itself on the drive upwards. The Veyron has no problems with hills having mountains of torque it barely notices the change in elevation.


Autumn Ring_1 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

Than onto the final section of corners that lead to the home straight, it is here that you can glimpse the glory that has either evaded you or waits for you closely, bustling through here can get you precious tenths or put you into the wall so close to home, the Veyron is a little nervous through here and than its as if it senses the line and once again opens its ginormus mouth hungry for oxygen and fuel to combust and scrabbles its way to the line.

The Bugatti Veyron has muscled, forced and scratched its way around the tight complex that is Autumn Ring, it doesn’t feel like it has set a good time, it’s no surgeon’s scalpel that instantly shows you your mistakes, rather it cover over them with its enormous power and drive, relying on its wide grip to tip toe its way around the corner before it thrusts itself upon the next.
So where did it manage to secure itself upon this tracks leaderboard, did it fail miserable due to its weight like so many do, or did it manage to use what little straights there are to reel in those lost seconds? You’ll be just as surprised as us to find has gone straight to the TOP! It seems that the understeer and required early braking was an illusion, an illusion bought about by the unimaginable speed that it can build in such a short space of time, along with the speeds it is actually carrying around a corner, it feels like its struggling to get through until you look at that speedo and it is higher than you thought.

AUTUMN RING time: 1.22.348

Next. Monza.
 
Last edited:
The chrome horseshoe is skimming the highway from Autumn Ring out from Tuscany and on its way to the Autodromo Nazionale Monza the home of the Tifosi. It is along this journey that we can admire the Veyron and its effortless cruising capabilities, although a full report on its interior will have to wait for another day (when PD upgrades it to premium, please).
As a long distance cruiser the Veyron has no equal, effortless performance in ultimate luxury... just make sure there is a fuel tanker somewhere close, or you’re the owner of BP.

As the sun rises over a new day, we have Monza all to ourselves, alas the banked circuit is no longer in use, however we have the current GP track minus the chicane on the front straight for use. This should allow us to test out the capabilities of high speed cornering and stability and maybe with enough room we can see a crack at 350km/h! For comparision purposes we ran the TVR Cerbera Speed 12 ghost at the same time (it being the current leaderboard champ).

Again the Veyron takes off like its attached to the space shuttle and hurtles down the main straight past the start/finish line, and no surprises here, with AWD and 1000bhp the Veyron smokes the TVR in acceleration... until the TVR catches it and they play cat and mouse down the front both cars being stronger in different areas of acceleration, no doubt due to the fact the TVR can’t go wide open till well into fourth gear and then doesn’t quite have the top end to challenge the Bugatti which sees over 340km/h.


Autodromo Nazionale Monza No Chicane_5 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

Approaching Curva Grande and where most cars only need a slight throttle lift or a dab of brakes the Veyron requires a massive stomp of brakes while trying to balance it just so that it drifts wide being careful not to touch the grass which would be fatal at around 300km/h. Once balanced into the corner you can once again get on the throttle hard relying on the driven front wheels to drag it around towards the Variante della Roggia where again a massive dose of braking retardation is in order. Everything with this marvel of automotive engineering is other worldly never is anything done subtly or in halves!

Guided skilfully through here and the Veyron surprises with its agility and powers away with a slight loss of traction from the rear wheels as it hammers out of the turn up towards this humble scribes favourite section of track, the Curve de Lesmo, almost unchanged since the track was laid. Curve de Lesmo at a glance are two relatively simple corners but get it wrong here and it will severly effect your lap time as it leads onto the back straights, the Veyron goes through here not without drama, the first corner in the section sees the front wheels spin up pouring off smoke while steering it around, much like an over powered FWD.


Autodromo Nazionale Monza No Chicane_4 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr


Autodromo Nazionale Monza No Chicane_3 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

A quick dab of brake to wash off some speed and accelerate through the corner for the best exit giving you heaps of pace down the back and slightly left at Curva del Serraglio at full throttle, listening to that giant engine swallowing lungfuls of air that would do a titan proud, the turbos low whistle just behind your ear, your eyes struggling to process the information that is being thrusted at you faster than ever before and so close.


Autodromo Nazionale Monza No Chicane_7 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

Coming out of the overhead trees and it opens up to one of the newer sections of track used to slow the progress of Formula one cars and ones such as these.
The Variante Ascari is a third or very high second gear corner, here you can slide up onto the far curbing without effecting your laptimes to much and than using the extra width to get a good exit down Rettifilo Centro or you can use the default line and not touch the curbing through and wash very wide at the exit going over the ripple strip and using the far side concrete for maximum attack, a warning though, whilst the track marshals may allow you to take this line be very careful not to get the rear wheels onto the sand as it has a very real possibility of cannoning you across the track into the far wall at a speed which will see you and the tail lights meet.


Autodromo Nazionale Monza No Chicane by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

Once you have cleared Ascari the final Rettifilo awaits you, here is an all out acceleration drag that often decides the winner of the race, this is where you can get a great exit from Ascari draft your adversary to the final corner and then home. As we have come to expect from the Veyron it accelerates like no other and arrives at Curva Parabolica with immense speed which requires getting rid of before smoothly getting around the Parabolica like a ball attached to string before firing away down the main straight. The Veyron only requires a little feather of the throttle before being able to pin it to the floor and once again feeling that surge of adrenaline as your body attempts to cope with being flung at the horizon faster than your senses can cope.

Fittingly with Monza’s reputation as a wide open throttle high speed track, the Bugatti Veyron has excelled here, some race cars are no match for the Veyrons sheer thrust and thus sees it barge its way to the top of the leaderboards pushing aside some of those light weight cars wearing all manner of slicks, wings and trick mechanicals. The Speed 12 has been overcome with such aplomb as to be a whole two seconds adrift.
The King is dead, all hail the King.

AUTODROMO NAZIONALE MONZA (No chicane) time: 1.41.369


Autodromo Nazionale Monza No Chicane_6 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr



The Veyron is wrapped in cotton wool and flown to Japan for a crack at the Top Speed that Bugatti has had recorded by the Guinness World Record mob. Officially the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 can do 407km/h at the Nardo Speed Bowl, but that needs a second key inserted which lowers the suspension and retracts the surfboard on the rear to give the Big Bug the most slippery shape it can manage.
We arrive at SS7 at night and the road has been cleared for us to do one trip up and back to see what number we can pull.
No second key shenanigans here, we take it out as it did Autumn Ring and Monza, 375km/h is the claim however we must have had some favourable conditions on the night as we see it inch its way right up to 390km/h...
390. In a production road car.
 
Last edited:
Rather than use Sports Hard Tires for all road cars why not just use the default ones as they will be the most realistic. Good Reviews but some pics would be nice! :)
 
Now with photos! :)
I too thought about going with the default tyre specified by PD.
However if you check out the awesome thread by calan_svc about tyres and there grip ratings in the main GT5 forum, I went with a control tyre rather than have various cars favoured or handicapped by the tyre choice outlined by PD.
 
Last edited:
HOLDEN Monaro CV8 ‘04

Holden is the Australian arm of GM’s global grip on the car market, and while GM has been thrashing itself to pieces stateside Holden has been relatively unscathed. While it is no secret that the Australian Auto industry relies on money from Detroit (and the Australian Government) it none the less has been a shining star in GM's arsenal.
Australians are a little different when it comes to their cars and what features they look for, like America, Australia is a wide open open landscape crisscrossed by long highways, single states in Australia can swallow much of Europe, these are mostly long flat roads often whose only inhabitant are the long haul truckers going form petrol station to petrol station and back packers from foreign lands finding themselves in such a desolate outback.

Which leads us to why cars like the Monaro are built they way they are. America long ago gave up the dream that is rear wheel drive for your average family saloon (or sedan as its known down under), here in Australia it is business suicide to attempt to sell anything otherwise. The large RWD family sedan is a staple of every family’s garage, the only two ‘home-grown’ manufactures top sellers are such. Holden makes the Commodore and Ford (another antipodean subsidiary of its namesake) sells the Falcon, both the four door RWD sedans. Not only are they RWD but have an engine range that starts in 3.0L V6 and goes right up to 6.2L V8’s in the sportiest variants. These are genes that carry over from when nearly all cars in Australia were imported or knock down kits from the USA.

The USA however is not the only influence on Aussie car culture, Europe has a big part to play as well. After both World Wars many Europeans immigrated to Australia and bought with them their sense of design and style and their knowledge of suspension designs, something which was very rudimentary in the Yankee cars and so evolved today’s modern European styled V8 RWD sedans of Australia.


CV8 shopped by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

Today we drive the Coupe version of the commodore, only made in small numbers over a short number of years. Reliving the glory days of past Holden Monaros of the 60’s and 70’s that graced the racetracks, dragstrips and every main street in Australia.

The Monaro was conceived in secret, even from its own manufacturers headquarters! Overtime in the design department when others had gone home bought about the new Halo Holden vehicle.
In 2004 the Monaro was top of the Holden table available in both V6 and V8 forms, ours comes in 5.7L Gen III LS1 form, more commonly used in the stateside Corvette bolted to a 6 speed manual. The 5.7L is an all alloy pushrod engine makes 260KW and 500nm with which to move 1648kg (be aware GT figures are different – 342 Hp with oil change) and it does so with gusto. Born to rev is the LS1 despite its lack of overhead cams this baby lives for the top end, though you may be tempted to hunt around the midrange to hear that glorious V8 burble though from inside the cabin you aren’t going to hear much beside induction roar, those trackside will know this isn’t just another WRX or GTR going round.


Autumn Ring_15 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

Being based of the Commodore it already has one of the best RWD chassis in the business and the Monaro is very similar in undertaking. Around Autumn Ring it can cut a fine line, whether you call for plough in understeer or gentle oversteer you can command the tiller to gove you both in spades if needed. The Monaro does like to fall on the front outside wheel through the hairpins here under braking as seen here.


Autumn Ring_12 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

Than on the exit of the corner it can be prodded into a nice easy slide, it’s easy to see why the Pontiac GTO (a reskinned Monaro) is such a favourite in the American drift series.
A 6 speed gearbox equipped in all manual Monaros, however here at Autumn Ring its barely out of third with only a slight touch of fourth, fifth and sixth gears are overdrives more suited to economy cruising or very high speed tracks, though sixth has moonshot gearing that may see you need to drop back a few cogs when going uphill even with the LS1's prodigious torque.
The Holden shames many other ‘sports’ cars and manufacturers around the tight Autumn Ring, coming only just short of the highly regarded FORD SVT Cobra R and even seeing off an E55 AMG! This is truly a sleeper or Q car in the GT world, and gives a very high bang for your buck.


Autumn Ring_11 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

Autumn Ring time: 1.29.946
 
Last edited:
Really good stuff mate.

Great to see you get a Aussie car in there, nice and early. :P
 
Thanks guys, it was getting a little lonely in here (that's why the plug:guilty:)
The next installment on the Monaro at Monza will be done soonish.
If you want to check out my lap times for the cars at Autumn Ring the link in the first post takes you to a google docs spreadsheet, these are just quick squirts in the cars though, dont take them for gospel as I can go back and better them rather easily.

Coming next Monaro at Monza.


CV8 Monza shopped by BroncosXR8, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
BroncosXR8
HOLDEN Monaro CV8 ‘04
Which leads us to why cars like the Monaro are built they way they are. America long ago gave up the dream that is rear wheel drive for your average family saloon (or sedan is its known down under), here in Australia it is business suicide to attempt to sell anything otherwise. The large RWD family sedan is a staple of every family’s garage, the only two ‘home-grown’ manufactures top sellers are such. Holden makes the Commodore and Ford (another antipodean subsidiary of its namesake) sells the Falcon, both the four door RWD sedans. Not only are they RWD but have an engine range that starts in 3.0L V6 and goes right up to 6.2L V8’s in the sportiest variants. These are genes that carry over from when nearly all cars in Australia were imported or knock down kits from the USA.
Click to expand...

Ok, nice to see an Aussie car being reviewed. Though a couple of errors I found (both highlighted). The first should be quite clear when you read it a few times over, just doesn't make sense.
The 2nd is where I am most concerned. I don't know where you got your information from, but neither the Holden Commodore or the Ford Falcon have a 3.0L V6 engine variant in any of their line ups. The smallest motor in a long time from any of the 2 companies is the current 3.6L used in the Commodore range. Prior to that, the commodore have always used a Buick/Pontiac 3.8L motor. Variants of THAT motor were supercharged or N/A. The V8 engines are te only engines to constantly evolve over time as the cars were evolving themselves.
 
FRR35H
The 2nd is where I am most concerned. I don't know where you got your information from, but neither the Holden Commodore or the Ford Falcon have a 3.0L V6 engine variant in any of their line ups. The smallest motor in a long time from any of the 2 companies is the current 3.6L used in the Commodore range. Prior to that, the commodore have always used a Buick/Pontiac 3.8L motor. Variants of THAT motor were supercharged or N/A. The V8 engines are te only engines to constantly evolve over time as the cars were evolving themselves.
Click to expand...

VE Series II.
 
Yep I too only knew of the 3.8 (N/A and supercharged) and the newer 3.6, but did a quick google to check and the 3.0L came up.

Grammar error is fixed thanks for the pickup, I keep going over it and finding heaps :(
I might have to employ an editor, spell check just doesn't cut it lol!
 
Monaro at Monza

Coming from Autumn Ring where we have discovered that the Holden Monaro CV8 is quite a competent performer around a tight track especially considering its size and weight, PANORAMA magazine is on its way across the country side to pit it against the high speed straights of Monza.
342Bhp is what the Monaro brings to the table, along with the expected stonk that comes with being a large V8, there are not too many other cars in GT that can match the power per dollar ratio that the two Holden’s do. This alone should see it do well here where power to weight ratios aren’t as highly regarded as outright power.


Autodromo Nazionale Monza No Chicane_34 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr


Pulling out onto the famed Italian Grand Prix track you can instantly see the rubber left on the racing line by those screaming Red Formula 1 cars, the Bridgestones that are fitted to the Monaro find their way into the groove tracking towards the first big sweeper that is Curva Grande.

Here our Black CV8 hits a top of 240km/h (to be confirmed) which is a little down on what we were expecting and doesn’t bode well for the Aussie here so early on. This essentially comes down to the fact that Holden’s well known Achilles heel is the gearbox, both in manual and automatic forms, Holden has really sold itself short here in the engineering department, even its main competitor in the Falcon who uses the same manual box (but has the greatly superior ZF 6 speed auto) has a vastly improved shift throw and feel through the gate, however the biggest downfall aside from all the arguably subjective feel, is that it really is a four speed with two over drives rather than having five or six usable gears. In this day and age of fuel economy it can be somewhat understood but none-the-less leaves it wanting where it should shine.

Hitting Curva Grande a little slower than expected leaves the chassis plenty in reserve and doesn’t stress the tyres here meaning you can balance it on the throttle much longer to carry what speed you do have on towards Variante della Roggia, the slowest part of Monza since we run the No Chicane version. Jumping on the anchors to scrub off speed as the big heavy coupe loads the front springs before turning into Variante working hard to accelerate without unloading the inside rear lest it spin up in a cloud of smoke costing precious tenths heading towards Curve de Lesmo's two corners.


Monza CV8 shopped by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

A quick departure from the Variante sees the Monaro quickly building speed which it holds through Curve de Lesmo, again being careful not to let the inside rear free spin leading onto the back straight needing to hold as much speed here.


Autodromo Nazionale Monza No Chicane_32 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

The back part of the circuit is broken into two parts separated by Variante Ascari, a third gear modification to the high speed corner that used to draw competitors into the wall, this often leads to the Monaro to understeer here before turning across over the ripple strip for the final back straight that leads to arguably the most exciting part of the circuit, the Parabolica, it is particularly heart racing in a car with such rear drive as the Monaro. Braking hard, shifting down through the gears, holding just the right amount of oversteer powering towards the finishline.

After such a good showing at Autumn Ring there was high hopes for the Monaro at Monza, alas it didn’t quite live up to those lofty expectations. Still there are very few cars in its price bracket that can challenge it, maybe only half a dozen that can best it, the Holden built car rises up to play with some of the more expensive full size sports sedan manufactures such as AMG or Jaguar but in its current specification lacks the horsepower afforded by a couple of hundred thousand dollars. Hopefully in the not too distant future HSV (Holden Special vehicles) may make an appearance in the GT world and close the gap a little more.


Autodromo Nazionale Monza No Chicane_33 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr

Autodromo Nazionale Monza (No Chicane) time: 2.01.329
 
Last edited:
suXin
Impact is hard to read.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. 👍
I thought it might be, but it seemed to fit with the font I used for the cover image.
Does anyone else agree, as I'll probably change it.💡
 
You just should have some headers with bigger font size and you have to bold a key words, such as car's or track's names.

(Its for default font)
 
A very good read mate. And the 300SL vs SLS photo looks sweet, can't wait to read the article 👍
 
Part 1 and 2 of 4


SLS Vs 300 SL

Gullwing, new and re-invented.
In 1954 the fastest car in the World was manufactured by Mercedes for the American market, nearly 80% of all Gullwings were sold to a post war America.
With a fuel injected three litre straight six, which lends itself to the 300 in the name and SL meaning "Sport Leicht", and a body that was based on the current Mercedes-Benz competition cars the Gullwing gave the German vehicles a new sense of sportiness, particularly to the Yanks.

Almost 55 years later they’ve done it again... or at least AMG, Mercedes tuning arm has.
The SLS is a spiritual successor to the 300SL, It has the long bonnet, the big open air doors which lend to its moniker, but gone are the days when cars are based off competition, these days it the reverse (ala SLS GT3). However the new bad boys in the parking lot at Stuttgart does give the company a sportscar that gives them the image they are after, something it predecessor the McMerc didn’t.
With its 420kW/650Nm 6.3-litre V8 race-bred dry-sump and seven-speed double declutch transmission in a transaxle configuration the SLS has even been called Germanys version of the Viper.


Gullwings shopped by BroncosXR8, on Flickr​

Another first for Panorama magazine, a comparison, and no fair one at that, but more of a look how far they’ve come. Both cars were a little hard to acquire, no one wants to lend out their precious nearly 60 year old rare classic car to a journalist to thrash around a track, same goes for the SLS that has waiting queues all over the world.
So we did what anyone in our position did we bought them straight off the dealership floor, the 300SL from the museum and the SLS was the dealership principles very own car! This explains the shadow like exterior and aftermarket wheels.


Red Bull Hangar-1 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr​

SLS

The SLS had to be flown to our test track by Red Bulls very own car ferrying service, and we took our time enjoying the old world feel driving the 300SL from Stuttgart across some of Europe’s best driving roads to Italy where Panorama does its testing (and will do so until Mount Panorama at Bathurst opens up for business down under).

After too many hours on the 300SL’s 55 year old seats we arrive at the Autumn Ring, again the track has been cleared of all the local guys in their Fiats and Ferraris and the occasional Lambo, and it’s straight into the SLS with its gorgeous red leather interior.

The 6.3 (or 6.2 if your being pedantic) in the SLS is the top dog amongst Mercedes current engines and we find its aurally more satisfying than the new turbo engines getting released. Hitting the ignition and you literally feel that big crank winding over against the high compression of the cylinder heads, this is naturally aspirated big bore V8 at its best, engaging first gear in the seven speed double clutcher and onto the track we go.


Autumn Ring_1 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr​

You can really feel that long bonnet and weight over the front immediately, while its definitely no slouch it can’t fight physics so has a natural tendency to understeer (especially if using the DS3 controller).


Autumn Ring_8 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr​

Using the Motec like rpm counter rather than the tacho as it can be hard to see, the SLS has its work cut out controlling all that torque in a straight line though when those fat hoops gain traction it uses all the Mercedes-Benz suspension know how to start carving those corners, it even manages to cock the inside front while spinning the rears... fun times indeed!


Autumn Ring_15 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr​

While it doesn’t have AWD or an MR layout it clearly can punch out the numbers when needed, even at such a track as Autumn Ring.

SLS Autumn Ring time: 1.25.282

Part 2

300SL

Opening the big heavy door to slide in over the sill over the 300SL is a joy in itself, it truly must have felt like a space ship in 1955. Being a classic car certainly has its charms and a mechanical fuel injected motor is one of them, get one on a bad day though....

Lucky this one has been pampered all its life and comes to us at PANORAMA as if it’s straight of the production line. Hitting the ignition and listen to the fuel pump prime, the point’s ignition clatter and the fuel pour into the cylinders and than fire in a glorious thrum that only come from a powerful straight six engine.


Autumn Ring_60 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr​

The 300SL surprises with its tactility from the first corner, there is less body roll than expected though against the SLS it might as well be the QE II. The long front end is all curves and chrome just how those classics live in your memories, but bury the right boot and the original Gullwing thrust forward, that glorious SOHC six revving out to near seven thousand rpm.


Autumn Ring_53 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr​

One nuance of the old girl is the loose diff she carries, it has the propensity to light up the inside wheel under hard acceleration, and it’s possible to point the nose in mid corner with some decent lift-off oversteer that comes in rather handy here at Autumn Ring.


Autumn Ring_57 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr​

The next component to get a thorough testing are the drum brakes, no fancy smancy disc here you young whipper snappers, these are from the days when brakes had to be nursed for the entirety of the race not jumped on corner after corner and expected to stop you from ploughing into the hay bales, and you bloody well looked after them too as the safety ‘features’ in these cars make the cheapest Kei cars look like Volvos latest crash test bed.


Autumn Ring_55 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr​

Lucky ours has the street sport tyres that all our cars wear, in the interest of parity, although in this case you could argue that it was to stop the test driver from making a mess of his pants and the seats! Surprisingly the drums hold up pretty well with the added grip afforded by the sports tyres and our braking points aren’t too far off those of the SLS although we are carrying much less speed.


Autumn Ring_48 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr​

The key to a fast time here is to float the old girl over the ripples strips holding as much mid corner speed as possible and keeping the accelerator open even if that inside starts to churn.


Autumn Ring_59 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr​

Of note the 300SL Chrome Line was only .058 faster here.

300SL Autumn Ring time: 1.36.184
 
Last edited:
Part 2 of the SLS Vs 300SL article has been added for your enjoyment.

Please feel free to add a comment, even if just in here for a glance, any constructive criticism is certainly encouraged. I'll be looking at improving the overall presentation in the next edition.
 
sure,the sls may have a long bonnet but the weight distribution is actually 49/51 rear bias i think...anyway,good work so far,especially on the veyron!
 
hmmm I didn't know that. It still seems to lack initial turn in, once its direction has changed though it turns really well.

I'm glad you liked the write up on the Veyron, a lot of people tend to dismiss it so I wasn't sure if many people would actually read the article.

Part 3 and 4 should be coming in the next couple of days.

P.S The link below is for a google doc setup by some other forum members, I have added all my times to it for easy reference.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc...5Z3Y3TU52c0lTRHc&hl=en&authkey=CLO93eQD#gid=3
 
Last edited:
Sorry for the delay.
There has been a little bit of weather here in Darwin lately ;)

Part 3 of 4

SLS Vs 300 SL


300SL

From the tight confines of the Autumn Ring to the open straights of Monza these two German bruisers have travelled like Bavarian Knights from another era, the townspeople stare as we cruise through the open plains of Italy more accustomed to the ferocity of Italia’s own automotive stables.


Mechanical Injection cries aloud, Silver bodywork doing its best to part the Italian air as the straight six 300 SL rushes down the main straight towards Curva Grande. Here requires just a slight lift of throttle to get the nose ducking in and balanced just enough to drift towards the outside, careful not to touch the grass at these speeds.


Bearing down on Variante Della Roggia the 300 SL uses all the grip afforded by the Sports Hard tyres, pulling up so that it can ride the inside of the chicane, the benefit of having so much suspension travel. Keeping the throttle pinned on exit, even when the inside releases traction, is a must to nail a good exit and time here.


Through the Curve di Lesmo section in typically German style, it dispatches these without concern, only focused on the next straight and the pursuit of speed. All six cylinders pumping in unison towards 7000 rpm, lifting the long bonnet all the way to Variante Ascari where it is the front suspension that must do the heavy lifting, controlling the weight on the outside front tyres here making sure that not too much understeer occurs putting us into the sandtrap.


Like all the corners here at Monza, a good exit is required to gain as much speed down the straight as possible, Ascari is no different, and arguably the most important as a good exit here and the requisite top speed at Parabola is the perfect place to overtake on the inside, forcing your competitor to take the outside line and risk going off into the grass if they don’t leave enough room gifting you the place.
The 300 SL has little drama with wheelspin here unlike the much more powerful cars it can stand on the accelerator not having to worry about oversteering into the wall.


Gran Turismo 5 by BroncosXR8, on Flickr​

Monza (No Chicane) time: 2.10.223

SLS at Monza coming soon.
 
SLS
At MONZA No Chicane



We have managed to establish that the 300SL is quite a handy sports car even after 50 years from conception, can the new Mercedes hero car live up to the expectations that its grand daddy has forged.

Only AMG can make large displacement engines so thrilling, especially given the ability of the 6.3’s redline. We know this is no ordinary Benz engine, but a standalone AMG designed and built powerhouse and its ultimate evolution is in the SLS, it’s almost tailor made to rip up the Monza tarmac!
Idling down Pit straight exhaust burbling and spitting the odd flame is enough to fulfil many nights dreams however we are here at the No Chicane version of Monza to see if that burble can push the SLS around Monza at a rate that will finally see the Silver Star brand earn its place amongst the sports car royalty.

Throttle pinned on exit of the pit lights the rears with a slight slew of the rear to the left, changing gears with the dual clutch gearbox with rifle bolt precision drops the V8 back into fat torque band thrusting that long bonnet towards the Italian skyline. After a recon lap to warm the tyres a little and get used to the SLS nuances around this high speed track, it comes off the Parabola with throttle nailed, V8 hitting redline after redline on it relentless push down the main straight towards Curva Grande.

With such great entry speed the SLS requires a slight lift and deft dab on the brake just to bring the nose into line with the chosen line, quickly getting back on the throttle to again begin its attack on the next corner. Rear tyres on this are quite wide and should afford tremendous grip if you’re sensible with the accelerator, but if you’re aggressive with it and have the balance loading the outside it will tear the rears to bits and throw you to the wall or if you’re lucky into the sand.


A quick blatt gets you into the slowest braking area here at the Variante della Roggia, and the SLS does a fine job of shedding speed, the disc brakes on this whilst not carbon ceramic items are well over a foot in diameter front and rear! Careful threading though here riding the ripple strips as much as possible without upsetting the rear gives the opportunity to really get on the throttle hard minimising wheelspin and a good exit speed.


Heading out of the Variante brings you towards the Curve de Lesmo sector, traditionally MR cars do really well here and it’s a little harder for the FR cars however AMG worked very hard at moving the engine right to the rear of the long bonnet so that its almost sitting in the centre of the car anyway, so the SLS gets through here with nothing more than a hip wiggle as it begins its ascent on the rear straights.


Variante Ascari cuts the back straight in two and therefore requires one to carry as much speed as possible through it. A little understeer into and a little oversteer on the way out seems to be the way with the SLS, with slight wheelspin on exit drifting towards the wall gives maximum revs for the drive towards Parabola and the final sprint across the line.


Again Parabola requires a deft touch on the throttle keeping the weight on the outside rear without gunning it too much and spinning out and firing into the wall.

Monza (No Chicane) time: 1.49.225

All in all, the SLS lives up to the FR sports car philosophy that Mercedes-Benz started with the 300SL but lost as the years went by, thank god they found it again!

There ends the 1st edition of PANORAMA a GTPlanet magazine.
It took a while to get all the articles done in their entirety, so from here on in each edition will be a single article.

Due to the amazing effort put into GTLife the magazine put together by all different members of GTPlanet I have decided that this one will be something much smaller, and I will rather than try and compete with something like GTLife I will submit my works to that.

Not to sau I wont update this thread with those or its own articles though.
For those that took the time to read and comment on my work thankyou and drop in from time to time to see if anything else has snuck in.

Cheers, BroncosXR8
 
Last edited:

Latest Posts

Back