BESTesters: A theme Gallery to top all theme galleries! *Update* 01.17.06 BMW 330i

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Driver: ekMatt

BESTesters Nissan 350z (Z33) '03 Repot:

Deep Forest Raceway Time: 1'26.522

Exterior:
What can I not say about this exterior. It's wonderful!! It's a bit high for a stock "Sports" car. But it's a beast...This 350z is the new model of the old Z's that Nissan had. The head lamps truly a partial design from the Infiniti G-Series head lamps. I mean, that's what I read and heard on TV. The stock wheels weren't cutting it for me, so I put some M3 rims on it :D And they are nice too. A bit dark though in the pics, but they are nice. The dual exhausts should have a glare or shine in them. They way they sound is almost like a $50, 000 Ferarri would :lol: Overall, 1-10, this exterior is a 9. If only it were at a lower stance, then I'd give it a 9.5 or even a 10.



Pro's on the track:
The stock suspension is actually very good. When I first drove the car in GT4, I went easy and kept a good speed through out the track. And by the second lap, I was pushing it. Since this car is about 1,400 kg's (Correct me if I'm wrong about the weight) It helps keep the wheels on the ground and to make sure there's no tirespin. When I went with no throttle in the turn, and then pushed it out, I didn't even feel or hear the wheels slipping. It was gradually just gaining speed. This 350z has 285 HP to the rear wheels. A pretty good power plant with 268 pound ft. of torque. This little Z is a beast. The stock S2 tires worked perfect with the Driving Aids off. I was surprised how how well this car was tuned. The spring rates could have been lower .5 or 1.0. It was a tad stiff. One to ten with this car's handling and speed, I say about a 9. The speed is very good. It has a close ratio gear box, and the car is heavy, but it makes up for it with the torque :)



Con's on the track:
The only major issue is the weight. I expected this car to weigh about 1,200 KG's, or even a little more than half of 1,300 KG's. The understeer was actually bad this time around. It helped the car in the turns because of the extra weight it had. The front of the car is heavy, so when you turn, it kind of "jukes" in like your almost drifting. The great part about this car is the torque, but I still wish it had more horse power. The burn outs were awesome, but once again, the weight was holding it down so it wasn't the best :indiff: The tires could have been upgraded to S3's in my opinion. I would like it to Grip a little bit more in the turns. It ran pretty good none the less...One being okay and 10 being the worst, I saw about a 2. Once again, this car just suffers minimal understeer, and the weight too. Oh, and the brakes could use a little upgrade :sly:



In conclusion:
Haha, the wheelies were awesome!! I hit a bump and it caused the car to kind of "jump" This car is a nice Nissan. I'm not the BIGGEST fan of Nissan's or Toyota's for that matter, but if I had to choose a Nissan, it would be this. The Skyline's are a bit too much for my taste, but this Z, it could be transformed into a "sleeper" :D I was shocked how this car handled at first. At first, I thought I was dreaming since stock cars don't handle like that, but this Fairlady Z was a beast ;) 1-10 Overall with this car, it's defineitly a 9. I love it.



Enjoy y0!!
 
:lol: Thanks Sej, I take pics at night...And then write the report as soon as I come home from school. Be prepared for Friday though, because tommorow, I'm not gonna post any thing :)
 


BESTester: PERFECT BALANCE

CAR: Toyota MRS Spyder '02

DEEP FOREST: 1'34.092

To start this off, I will tell you from the beginning, "THIS CAR NEEDS POWER!" As I was driving it, the first thing I noticed is it's lack of torque, I could go through every corner at full throttle or close to there. The car does handle very good, but the point is, I could not bring this car to it's full potential because I couldn't get enough speed to acually have to slow down for the turn. I think it could have have been a very fast car, being very light and having an MR engine layout, but then the engine handicapped the whole car with it's 144 puny horses. It really struggled on the hills, where at some occasions the acceleration acually stopped and the car just stayed at one speed.

The rest of the car, however, is a different story. The chassis has a fairly stiff suspension, perfect for those curvy roads, yet leaving a good amount of comfort. The brakes work strong, and the 980kg weight of the car only helps. Also, the ride height is at a very good level, low enough to be a sports car, but high enough to clear those occasional speed bumps. The headlights and tailights could have been a little bit smaller to decrease the "bug-eyed" look. The car is very small, yet the headlights look like they came from a medium-sized sedan.(The size.)




The handling of the car, as I said before, is very good. In fact, the car doesn't have enough power to acually use all of this turning ability. There is little body roll, and the car is very stable in corners, easy to control and doesn't seem to have any problem with weight transfer. The car will not drift, unless the car jumps a little while coming over a hill at full throttle, or by fienting the car on left-right slalom like corners. Although it is possible to induce a slide this way, it won't be an acual "drift." The car simply doesnt have enough power to keep the wheels spinning.

In conclusion, I would have to give this car a 7/10. This could have been all the way up in the 9s, but the weak engine really messed things up for this car. I think that with more power (about 200hp) this car could be competitive even with cars like the Lotus Elise. The car's exterior looks pretty good, exept for the huge lights. In the future, if Toyota decides to make a new MRS, I would like to see more power in this light, superb handling vehicle. It has huge potential, and in some cases, could be made into a miniature supercar. Check out Techno Pro Spirit's MRS, with a celica engine putting out 200hp, it can overcome 300hp+ turbo cars, just because of the great handling.




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: VR6GTI72


Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 '98 (J)

Deep Forest : 1.38.096


First Impression: Ive always had respect for these cars, and they really appeal to me visually. Its one of the few cars that wear a big wing well IMO. The only down side that I see is its a HUGE car. I ran this car with the oil light on, not even a wash. I had some high hopes for it. I mean....315hp, AWD, twin turbo...it has to be a track monster out of the box right?



First stop had to be Deep Forest. I wanted to see what time it would turn. I really thought it could make an impressive run. Right off the bat I notice very tall gears it climbs through 2nd promptly and 3rd climbs well but is a little too tall. I only hit 4th for a short period. It was mostly 2nd and 3rd the whole time. Downside to that is a not so rapid climb on the uphill in 3rd because you bounce of the rev limiter in 2nd. There is a ton of bodyroll with this car it will make you sea sick. This is its biggest downfall. You can't burn through a corner hard because the car will push you through the apex. So allot of time is lost properly approaching the turn. This visit to the track was a disappointment overall.



I thought maybe it just needs more room to get some speed and then it will perform. So a late night blast on the highway was chosen. Came across a Celica All-Trac so I tried to see if the 3000GT could keep up. The TALL gearing was a problem here again...not being able to downshift into a usable power band cripples the potential. It had no problem staying with the Toyota but the 3000GT's speed was also its own enemy. When battling for a lead position you have to back down on the approaching turn to get this big car pointed in the right direction. I was still able to get ahead of Toyota but it was keeping up more than I felt it should. I know with a proper suspension this car is far from disappointing. After this little test I wasn't too thrilled because I knew this car is better than the results Im getting.




I came up with the idea to put this car up against similar cars. I put it in a AWD race with 90 driving points, so its a good match up. This takes place on Autumn Ring mini. I wanted to put into a short track with some good turns. This car is perfect for this track...the gearing matches allot of the course, keeping you right in the "sweet spot". Finally this car was dancing nicely. The lack of an uphill kept the car sliding smooth, no need to tap the brakes much either. Body roll wasn't an issues this time around. It impressively carved its way through S4's, TT's,a Caldina,a VW R32. Im really happy I was able find its "element" because it confirmed that this really is a fun car in the right situations. Not bad for having the oil light on and bone stock. Overall on a scale 1-10 (10 being best) I give it a 7.

The 3000GT has a ton of potential but in stock form it is its own worse enemy.
 
G.Boss
Mercedes Benz E55 AMG
Deep Forest Time- 1.26.425


Mercedes, a company known for luxury and quality, has come out with a new vehicle, the E55. While pretty fast normally, tuner company AMG has decided that it wasn’t fast enough and decided to up the ante. Now, the E55 AMG is blasting through the field and we’re testing it.

Looks
This car looks nice. Not amazing, but nice, at least at first glance. It’s elegant with curves and such but it does have features that point out that it is in fact a real AMG car. For instance, the rear quad exhaust system that cannot be faked to look real. The angles in the front bumper that look like a pyramid also signify the AMG tuning. As I said before, it’s nice at first glance, and it is always nice, but when you begin taking pictures of it, you fall into a spiraling addiction. While not looking amazing, it lures you into a constant need to take more and more photos of it. In short, its looks are addicting.


Track
On the track, a normal E55 is quick but still feels dull. AMG has managed to relieve us of some of that boringness, but not completely. It still rolls a lot and is not very grippy. It seems to have too ferocious power but the handling can’t keep up with it. I find myself begging to floor it, but can’t because the car will under steer or slide or just do something stupid. The handling just doesn’t let me time a real lap with the engine, because I have to hold back to stay alive. It is very disappointing. You would think that AMG would make it handle amazingly, but no, it’s still such a bore. Tsk tsk. :\

Conclusion
The engine sounds amazing, reminiscent of an SLR, with its slow gattling gun feel, and that is what the engine is like. The engine is a gattling gun, with immense power, but it’s help back by poor handling so it ends up being slow. You would think that 100 extra horses would help it keep up with a Porsche RGT, but now, the Ruf is still king. AMG just can’t match 40 years of experience. In fact, this is one of the most disappointing cars I’ve ever driven. :(
 
Great one VR6! I Think what mainly messed up that car is the weight, that is one heavy car. Both of my cousins have those, they are fast, but could be WAY faster if they were lighter.

Also, good review G.Boss, I think this car is just too heavy too. Weight really screws up some cars.
 
PERFECT BALANCE
Great one VR6! I Think what mainly messed up that car is the weight, that is one heavy car. Both of my cousins have those, they are fast, but could be WAY faster if they were lighter.

Also, good review G.Boss, I think this car is just too heavy too. Weight really screws up some cars.
Click to expand...

Thanks PB....I was beginning to wonder if anyone was reading mine. Yes the car has the potential on paper but in action its not too impressive. Suspention work makes this car shine the way it should.

G.Boss...good write up with some suprising results :)
 
G.Boss
The rims on the E55 are the amg ones, meaning those are the ones it comes with from the factory/store/game. :)
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Thanks, they looked different to me for some reason.
 
identti
Oh, VR6GTiblahblah, your latest review is also good. I missed it last time i looked.
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Hey thanks identblahblah :crazy: I took like 3 hours to shoot, cleanup and write up....
 
BY: 440cuda

Test Vehicle: Ruf 3400s (Porsche Boxster S)

Deep Forest Time: 1:23.762

Report!

Test on Tarmac- Great feeling of speed you get driving this thing on a nice narrow course, I had to drive it on almost every original course I could. It accelerates nicely with grip keeping to a maximum. The mid-engine keeps the rear end from slipping, and, whilst turning, it keeps the rear end from going around on you. One thing the mid-engine does not help however, is the steering. Its not too heavy of a vehicle, so that keeps it nimble through the turns, but the weight distribution just kills the turning. A good bit of under steer, especially when you get on the gas and take the weight off of the front tires. Even with the under steer though, I noticed it was able to pull a very decent lap time, this happens because this car is equipped with a nice set of rotors and wide set of tires. That will allow the car to go really long without braking, enabling you to enter the turn later and making the most out of the turn. That sure helps because of the godforsaken turning that RUF didn’t improve on when they robbed it from Porsche.



Test in inclement weather conditions- You can count on a few things about the RUF 3400, one thing is that it will probably be owned by an older man trying to cure his illness brought about by being old and not having a woman to lay next to when the sun goes down. Another thing is that the same man who bought the car to feel younger and get chicks, will never drive this car in the rain. Well, I did just that, and boy was it a blast. You see, under steer doesn’t become a problem when the backend is sliding. If you can take this car out in the rain, give it a little flick, it will break loose from the chains of under steer and let the driver enjoy the vehicle to the fullest extent. It maintains traction quite well in some of the more slippery conditions, also because of the weight distribution, and like I said, the need for the front tires to grip, isn’t necessary. However, when I tackled the turn without going sideways, the under steer did not become any worse because of the rain, no better, but it still stayed consistent, and that’s something to be proud of.



Conclusion- A very nicely made car, and body roll stayed tamable. This really helped because of the atrocious weight distribution that RUF likes to call mid-engine. But a car that goes from 0-60 in 5.2 is not bad , oh, but a 54,000 dollar price tag! A very nice car for wide sweeping turns, of which it will take very gracefully. Also, go to a narrow fast track for some real enjoyment and to keep you looking out for some under steer. Not a difficult car to driving, just a pesky car for driving, I would expect some better weight balance in this car for the future. And as for the cosmetics, well, it’s a fast looking car with aggressive styling and headlights that won’t let you forget its made in the land of all good things, GERMANY. It’s great to have such a wonderful spider in the game, a very nice car overall, I say, 7/10.

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man, all of you guys are doing great, vr6 and g.boss, i really liked your last updates, great work, all of you, i just had to finish another one, so there it is^^^
 

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