I can't believe I'm actually doing this, reviewing cars in TXR3. This game never had what I would call a "good" physics engine, a prerequisite to even think about talking handling characteristics or driving pleasure. But this Saturday I had nothing else better to do (thanks, corona, you're not appreciated), so I did little something I came up with.
I purchased five VIP cars from the custom shop and tuned their power to maximum possible. Then I gave them proper beating at the Shinanobashi Kanjou Shortcut. All settings were on stock. Then I compared them to three lighter, but less powerful custom cars to see which one takes the Jack of all trades award.
Car: Grief Pluto (Lexus LS400)
Stats: 681 hp, 74.4 kgm, 1730 kg
Car price: 118000 Cr.
Max tuning price: 531000 Cr.
There is no reason why would you ever want to drive this gigantic monster except to brag about your wealth. Stats is not the area this car can dominate unless we are talking about repulsing people - in that case it does it perfectly. The weight is clearly the biggest issue here, and the factor mostly affected by it is the car's acceleration. It takes time to get anywhere even though top speed isn't really that different from the rest. The good news is that the Pluto handles corners like it normally shouldn't. It is stable and mostly neutral on weight shifts, I'm sure that wing does one hell of a decent job doing everything impossible possible. The engine packs so much torque you can use higher gears to get away from tighter corners.
Car: Fire Conductor (Toyota Mark II)
Stats: 666 hp, 65.4 kgm, 1430 kg
Car price: 92000 Cr.
Max tuning price: 414000 Cr.
It takes off notably faster than the Pluto so pushing hard on Wangan won't leave you unsatisfied. On corners there is a different story. Applying your brakes makes the rear end unstable, leading to possible spin outs. If you turn in "normally", like you would with a FWD car, it wants to straight out a bit too fast (TXR3's way of portraying understeer). In general it isn't that bad as it may sound, but you have to be in a good mood to get some quick laps from it. With such affordable price tag, it prays on amateur drivers seeking their first affordable VIP showroom. My advice is don't play with matches if you can't handle fire.
Car: Blood Hound (Toyota Aristo)
Stats: 686 hp, 78.1 kgm, 1580 kg
Car price: 145000 Cr.
Max tuning price: 652500 Cr.
In a lot of ways this car is similar to the Fire Conductor. One area in which it excels is keeping the driver safe. I was encouraged to get this thing going sideways since those wheels have plenty of traction to spare. On a downside, body roll is pronounced and gets in the way, most notably on long corners. Brakes also seem to be a bit milder so start applying them on time. For most people lack of good brakes will be an excuse to wall-ride. Don't be like the TXR3's AI. You're better than that.
Car: Wind Conductor (Toyota Chaser)
Stats: 668 hp, 65.4 kgm, 1380 kg
Car price: 94000 Cr.
Max tuning price: 423000 Cr.
Ah, the cherry on top of a fruit cake, right? The Chaser is affordable not only as a starter car, but also in form of this custom car the Wind fellow built for himself. This car comes from the same manufacturer as the Mark II and Aristo, so it's natural there will be some relations. I spotted the greatest differences in comparison with the Mark II. The Chaser's body lacks rigidity, it responds to your inputs with a certain lag and drowsiness. Some drivers will like that, some won't. For something called wind conductor I would expect much better aerodynamics, but I guess I'll have to build my own Chaser to get what I truly need. Anyways, it is a fast car and second-best purchase, but it is not as fun to drive as some other cars are.
Car: Woods Conductor (Subaru Legacy)
Stats: 655 hp, 58.9 kgm, 1360 kg
Car price: 166000 Cr.
Max tuning price: 747000 Cr.
This is undoubtedly the best choice from the bunch. Much like any all-wheel drive car, the Wood is plagued by small dose of general understeer. In return you get plenty of traction and stability for highest speeds possible. The might has its price though - over 900000 credits to get it on this level. You gotta work hard, dude, be a doctor or something.
In terms of top speed, all cars could stretch up to around 184 to 186 mph, with the exception of the Pluto. That poor thing could barely hit 180.
Now it's time to get behind the wheel of the other three cars I mentioned.
Car: Jack Knife (Nissan Silvia S13)
Stats: 490 hp, 47.5 kgm, 1100 kg
Car price: 82000 Cr.
Max tuning price: 369000 Cr.
I had several idioms on term "jack" I wanted to use against this car in case it turns out to be a piece of crap, but since then it proved its worth to such extent that I could only end up being a douche bag if I try to pick on it. This car will be a huge surprise to anyone suspicious of the 80's cars. I wasn't expecting that kind of excellence even from a Silvia. It posses unbelievably good cornering abilities and adaptability. On cars like this doing any additional tweaks is a black art if you don't know what you're doing. And we wouldn't want to disappoint Jack, right? He put so much effort into his ride, to get that type of balance. I hope he knows what he's got because I don't remember him to be that difficult to beat.
Car: Mt. Conductor (Nissan Maxima)
Stats: 484 hp, 45.8 kgm, 1260 kg
Car price: 65000 Cr.
Max tuning price: 292500 Cr.
I kinda doubted driving this thing around the track would be sensational considering it is based on a plain civilian car. The game says how much work was put into acceleration efficiency, but I guess that applies in some imaginary universe I am not aware of as I never experienced anything like that on the road. Handling is okay, though when you get it sideways, it can go wild and bring you to an angle beyond your wildest imagination. Whenever a car hides bombshells up its sleeves, that's a sign you can forget about quick and consistent laps until you spend several hours driving it. Overall, this is one bar below the Jack so don't expect any rivalry here. Perhaps you could persuade its owner to roll with the VIP squad and do some beating there. He is one of the conductors after all.
Car: Tail Gunner (Mazda RX-7 FC)
Stats: 503 hp, 47.5 kgm, 1130 kg
Car price: 82500 Cr.
Max tuning price: 371230 Cr.
I would do anything to get that flag. It is a perfect decoration for the FC's rear window. Would be a cool addition to any car actually. Why can't we make our own flag though? What the hell dude?! It's the flag that makes you want to drive this car. If you ever engage into a pursuit with it, don't forget to bring extra set of tires since the car loves to chew them. If only it had a bigger wing... but then the flag wouldn't be visible! Overall acceleration is acceptable, despite having lack of torque. Prevent it from going sideways if you can.
Words don't tell you jack? Here are some laps for ya:
Code:
Shinanobashi Kanjou Shortcut Lap Times
1:25:078 --- Jack Knife
1:25:729 --- Woods Conductor
1:25:981 --- Wind Conductor
1:26:329 --- Tail Gunner
1:26:559 --- Blood Hound
1:26:629 --- Fire Conductor
1:27:880 --- Mt. Conductor
1:28:549 --- Grief Pluto
The victory goes to Jack Knife. How amusing, Jack is jack of all trades. I knew I would end up using jack pun somehow.
Dunno about knifes though.
Everything else is just... meh. I would love to see the Wood dude in my garage too, if only it wasn't so expensive. The bloody Aristo was kinda enjoyable to drive, and so was the Pluto - these are the cars I would pick if I was
forced to drive an VIP can.
And finally... name one thing you like most about TXR3:
Car customization. The livery editor was ahead of its time.
... and something you despise:
The AI. It cheats. It keeps on using power-ups to catch up with you and wall-rides without giving damn about brakes. I really hate that.
it has it on youtube
EUGEOE 206
