Night of the the Living Hatchbacks
There's just so many of them!
Twelve hatchbacks, ten tunes, one track. All twelve cars are modified, tuned, and ready to race, as yours truely doesn't have the willpower to run this many stock hatchbacks around a track.
The Kusabi is the hatchback of the future, and is tuned for pure evil. To make it fair, I'll run it on the race tires as intended, and sport softs as the Quasi-Evil C to match the field. The Swift twins are running the same tune, but at two years apart it's unclear if they'll be identical. The Civic VTi-R I've reviewed before, one of my first cars, and it's getting a fair second chance in this super-shootout.
RJ is a little outnumbered here by Roj's cars (11-1), but that R32 looks to be a mean competitor.
I apologize for this absoultely huge post
Let's meet the competitors, shall we? All the numbers below are immediately after tune, with no driving miles by me, except the VTi-R, and with an oil change whether specified by the tune or not.
Civic VTi-R
FF Drivetrain, 276 HP, 888 kg, 463 PP, Sports Soft Tires
Civic Type R
FF Drivetrain, 319 HP, 845 kg, 513 PP, Sports Soft Tires
Roj's Golf
FF Drivetrain, 314 HP, 980 kg, 502 PP, Sports Soft Tires
Kusabi Evil C
FF Drivetrain, 269 HP, 800 kg, 512 PP, Racing Soft Tires
R32 Golf-R
4WD Drivetrain, 398 HP, 1216 kg, 511 PP, Sports Soft Tires
March Super Turbo
FF Drivetrain, 232 HP, 849 kg, 467 PP, Sports Soft Tires
Swiftly Done (2005 version)
FF Drivetrain, 306 HP, 896 kg, 494 PP, Sports Soft Tires
Swiftly Done (2007 version)
FF Drivetrain, 313 HP, 896 kg, 492 PP, Sports Soft Tires
Yari Yari
FF Drivetrain, 224 HP, 910 kg, 442 PP, Sports Soft Tires
C4 VTS
FF Drivetrain, 404 HP, 1102 kg, 531 PP, Sports Soft Tires
147 RS
FF Drivetrain, 240 HP, 1060 kg, 438 PP, Sports Soft Tires
Day One: 60-100 Acceleration
*On a track, starting at 0 mph should only happen once, so 60-100 seems a better indicator to me of these car's racing acceleration
1: 4.6s ~ C4 VTS
2: 4.7s ~ Civic Type R
3: 5.0s ~ Roj's Golf
3: 5.0s ~ Kusabi Evil C (Race Soft)
3: 5.0s ~ R32 Golf-R
6: 5.1s ~ Kusabi Quasi-Evil C (Sport Soft)
7: 5.7s ~ Swiftly Done '07
8: 6.0s ~ Swiftly Done '05
9: 6.4s ~ Civic VTi-R
10: 6.9s ~ Yari Yari
11: 7.1s ~ 147 RS 31.2 38.3 42
12: 8.1s ~ March Super Turbo
Day Two: 100-0 Braking
1: 3.0s ~ Kusabi Evil C
2: 3.3s ~ C4 VTS
2: 3.3s ~ Kusabi Quasi-Evil C
4: 3.4s ~ Civic Type R
4: 3.4s ~ Roj's Golf
4: 3.4s ~ R32 Golf-R
4: 3.4s ~ March Super Turbo
4: 3.4s ~ Swiftly Done '05
9: 3.6s ~ Civic VTi-R
10: 3.7s ~ Swiftly Done '07
10: 3.7s ~ Yari Yari
10: 3.7s ~ 147 RS
Day Three: Practice - 5 laps around Trial Mountain, best lap
1: 1:34.889 ~ R32 Golf-R
2: 1:35.130 ~ Kusabi Quasi-Evil C
3: 1:35.532 ~ Civic Type R
4: 1:35.658 ~ C4 VTS
5: 1:36.025 ~ Roj's Golf
6: 1:36.466 ~ Swiftly Done '05
7: 1:36.882 ~ Swiftly Done '07
8: 1:38.989 ~ Civic VTi-R
9: 1:39.046 ~ March Super Turbo
10: 1:39.506 ~ 147 RS
11: 1:40.559 ~ Yari Yari
DQ: 1:29.772 ~ Kusabi Evil C
Day Four: Track day - 10 laps around Trial Mountain
Best Lap
1: 1:33.437 ~ R32 Golf-R
2: 1:33.973 ~ C4 VTS
3: 1:34.525 ~ Civic Type R
4: 1:34.564 ~ Kusabi Quasi-Evil C
5: 1:35.025 ~ Roj's Golf
6: 1:35.356 ~ Swiftly Done '05
7: 1:37.887 ~ Swiftly Done '07
8: 1:38.142 ~ March Super Turbo
9: 1:38.165 ~ Civic VTi-R
10: 1:38.748 ~ 147 RS
11: 1:39.605 ~ Yari Yari
DQ: 1:28.837 ~ Kusabi Evil C
Day Five: Evaluation (Final HP after testing)
Trap speeds as given are for the checkpoint on the back straight, followed by the Start/Finish line
Yari Yari (195 HP) The little Toyota was pretty much outclassed from top to bottom here. It posted the slowest trap times on the straights (118 at the back checkpoint, 111 at finish) and ran about average in the turns. A steady car, with fairly neutral steering and braking, it just didn't have the juice to feel like it belonged on a track.
147 RS (241 HP) The Alfa is probably the best looking of the hatchbacks, but that doesn't help it go fast. It posted average times in the slow and fast turns, and below average trap times (124, 118). It was a very comfortable drive, smooth and predictable.
Civic VTi-R (278 HP) On my second go 'round with the street Civic, I knocked about 2 tenths off of my previous time, which isn't much. This car posted the worst times in the high speed corner, as it felt like the car had a bit of under-steer powering through the long sweepers. It posted slightly below-average traps (126, 119), and average speed through the tight corners. The only worry was the traction on the front tires, as hard throttle seemed to light 'em up a bit and push the car wide.
March Super Turbo (233 HP) Nissan's entry didn't have the power to compete, so it made up for it with tremendous handling. The March posted the best speeds for me in both slow and fast corners, as the car was beautifully balanced from entrance to exit. The low trap times (119,115) were expected, but helped somewhat by very nice exit speed on the corners. A tremendous low-PP car and tune.
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Swiftly Done '07 (316 HP), Swiftly Done '05 (307 HP) The Swift twins gave me a bit of a surprise, with the lower HP Swift pulling better lap times on the Mountain. The '07 lost a lot of exit speed tearing up the tires on the throttle, and had some nasty under-steer on exits due to the extra HP, while the weaker Swift pulled out of any turn comfortably and surely. It looks to me like we found the break-point on this tune, that little lull where the performance dips from having too much HP for the tires until it has enough to make up for it on the straights. Trap times were close between the '07 (128, 118) and the '05 (127, 120), but the '05 clearly had the better car for cornering, but mid-turn and exit speeds were up.
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Roj's Golf (315 HP) The Golf was a very steady ride, compared to this top group of cars, was very close in terms of cornering speed, but it was down in the speed department, posting trap speeds of 131 and 123. With a little less track, the gap between the top group would have narrowed, but I'm not sure if the Golf has the cornering to catch the rest.
Kusabi Quasi-Evil C (271 HP) Without race tires, the Quasi-Evil C was still a very nice handling car; nimble in the corners, steady on brakes and throttle, and a lot of fun. The best of the top group in both low-speed and high-speed corners, it didn't have the HP to keep the lap time's up in the straights, posting traps of 131 and 123 (yep, same trap speeds as Roj's Golf)
Civic Type R (321 HP) The race Civic felt very similar to the Golf in handling, being very stable and comfortable, with opposite results within this top group. It was the slowest in the top group in cornering speed, both in the sweepers and 2nd gear turns, but made up for it with straight-line speed, posting the top trap speeds of 134 and 127.
C4 VTS (406 HP) The Citroen with the ugly fin has a lot of power, and it showed. The car loved to toast the front tires on exit, leading to some under-steer, but it had the accelleration to make up for it on the over-all lap time. Running average speeds (for this top group) in the corners and straights, it showed no major strength, but no weakness either, unless tire wear becomes a concern. Trap times of 132 and 126 were competitive and consistant, and were only hurt by poor exit speeds due to tire spin.
R32 Golf-R R32, king of hatchbacks. (398 HP) Maybe it's just me, but the pull of a 4WD car out of a corner is awesome, even on a hatchback. The car tended to slide while on the brakes going into corners, whch can lead to good speed and great fun, but horrible if tire wear is a concern. The poor braking control is my only complaint about the R32, as it posted some of my best speeds in the corners, and falling a blink shy of the Civic in the traps (134, 126) while being predicatable and fun. I'm not sure if I'd look at fixing the brakes, as the slide can greatly assist with pulling a very nice mid-corner speed while pointing the nose the right direction. Sorry, Roj, but Rotary Junkie built the king.
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Kusabi Evil C Disqualified from the shootout until a tire change, the Evil C still had a chance to show off, and it made the most of it. This car absolutely rails in corners, feeling more like a Lotus Elise than a hatchback, and still has the HP/Wt to get the speed up in the straights. This car, on this track, doesn't really show any weakness. It's very easy to control, and get consistant fast lap times. Seriously, this hatchback of the future ran a lap time competitive with my Gallardo, Scuderia, and F1 times... while being easier to control than any of them. Impressive! (yeah, I'm ignoring the race tire vs sport tire part... but, I mean, it's a hatchback that can run with supercars!)
Note: I know my review is a bit condensed, but my fingers hurt from pushing all these hatchback around the mountain
I'd be happy to expand on the write-up later.
But yeah, silly R8, you cant mess with a Golf. 
) It will probably be after the opening of my tuning garage, but I've decided to reshuffle some of my cars' tuning styles and with no access to the PS3 till Monday comes, I fear I might not be able to open it on Tuesday like I would have planned.
:tup: 
Perhaps another track would bring different results, but anyway thanks for the review and the shootout!
Steal the GT for me, please. 
). By the end of the run here I was beginning to get a handle on when and how the rear would break and how much I had to counter.
