C-ZETA's car reviews - C-ZETA Awards 2012 - 21/12/12

Tommy Kaira ZZII​

Now it's time for the perennial favourite supercar here on GTP, the Tommy Kaira ZZII, to take center stage.

The ZZII is undoubtedly one of the most favored supercars here on GTPlanet. Let's see what it can do in my hands.

And to start off, I'm gonna tell you something everyone on this forum knew already: the performance is epic. The acceleration is blindingly quick, and it will keep on working its way up the gears very quickly. Down Tokyo's main straight, I got it to hit 180+ mph.

This super-speed performance doesn't hurt the handling at all though. The car can get through corners rather well. Understeer isn't noticeable at all, although the problem is sometimes in that case you won't notice yourself understeering.


The car also looks very menacing. The front end looks angry, and the swooping shape including the double roof scoop and the touch-looking rear end of the car make it a properly good looker. I'd say it outclasses quite e decent number of other supercars - including Italian ones.

All of the views on the ZZII are very good. The overhead is only slightly blocked by the roof, and the hood view isn't all that wide. The bumper view tends to actually be best for this though, since it allows you to see the speed of the car and also because there's nothing blocking your way.

Usability on the ZZII is not short either. The ZZII would make a good car for the Super GT with just a few mods. The Supercar Festival is a clearly obvious choice as well. If you're pushing your luck, I don't see how the Dream Car Championship would be impossible either.


Sadly, the ZZII got the generic sound a number of other standards get, which is disappointing. In real life I would expect this thing to sound like a screaming beast, but here it just sounds like a vacuum. Marks down for the ZZII. 👎

However, we come to what is easily the biggest selling point of the ZZII - the price (is right). Get ready to LOL yourself to death when you hear these stats.

This 570bhp,
1000kg,
4WD,
580PP+ machine,
costs 60,000 CR.

...That...is just nothing more than a huge bargain. And to think that an equivalent Enzo costs 1,000,000...it is the ONLY car in the 580PP range with just a 5 figure price tag. Clearly, for such a cheap price, you could almost say the ZZII is cheating. Get it when you can, because it won't disappoint.

At the end of the day, the ZZII is easily one of the best road cars in the game. The speed of it is epic, the car handles well, it's very good for many of the events in this game, and in the world of supercars it is cheaper than a bag of marshmallows. If you can find this wonderful thing, get it. It's speed at the lowest price ever.

Final Score...17/20.

Pictures and text by C-ZETA

ZZII is epic, cheap, fast ect ect, but it looks like a weak old standard crap. Quality differs in standard models, some are great others.. not really. Unfortunately this car didn't get a decent shape, look at the pixelated fenders. In the end, one of those cars you want they convert to premium as soon as possible.

Audi quattro '82 ONLINE OK​

Here we have a tune from the ever consistent Praiano, who has famously brought peace and equality to all tuned cars with the ONLINE OK trademark, which allows tuned cars to perform both online and offline. He consistently releases tunes day after day after day, and he has now become the second most popular tuner on GTPlanet. This Audi quattro tune he has provided is our testing ground for him, so let's see what's what.

It was my birthday, May 22nd. My b-day ticket came, and it was a 1982. The one car you can get from this ticket, unfortunately, is the Audi quattro. So I duly took it, and it was in Alpine White. My favourite! Lovely.

After that, I checked on GTPlanet for a few new tunes to try out. Then I saw on Praiano's tunes...

'Praiano's tunes: AUDI QUATTRO '82'

...Clearly, it couldn't have come at a better time than this (and it was a request as well, ZOMG ). So, I went and saw his tune, and tuned up my present to the specs that he got. So, how did I get on with this new baby boy?

The performance has been upped a LOT. Clearly, that's what you'd expect from a car that was Tuned to the max, eh?

But anyway, the car now feels a lot quicker, and the acceleration is good. Granted, it won't win all that many drag races, but eh. The top speed seems rather limited by the tranny setup, but it's not enough for it to hit the limiter down the Road Course Indy home straight. Which is alright I guess...

The handling of the car is also still strong. Understeer has been kept to the bare minimum possible, and it can hold my line through corners nearly perfectly. The ride height seems comically noticeable, but it's not all that bad. Plus when you're online you have to change it anyway. Yes, unfortunately the ONLINE OK mark has had to give a small change to the quattro to make it work, but it's not much. Besides which, I've only tested this offline so far.



The good thing is the looks of the original quattro has been retained. Praiano chose to forgo a wing to keep the looks of the quattro. It's always looked a bit boxy to me, but actually rather aerodynamic. Pass for the quattro here.

The views on the quattro are all pretty decent. Hood view seems a bit tall but it's alright. Overhead is also a little bit blocked off but it's not that bad. Bumper cam again is my favourite. It gives a pretty wide berth as to where you are and it's not that low to the ground. It doesn't let you feel the speed as much, but it's still good.

The quattro has been upgraded to 505PP with this tune, and it makes the useability OK. With Racing Softs you should be able to win the Supercar Festival (I only tested on Sports Softs though). The Schwarzwald events should go down very easily to your new toy as well.



The sound from the new exhaust isn't too bad. It's like your traditional rally car sound, but rather highly pitched compared to the others. Also it sounds just a little bit different, perhaps more muted at certain points in the rev range as well, but I like it. Points up for the quattro.

The price is obviously gonna be pretty high if you are actually buying the quattro, unlike me. The quattro starts at 90,360 Cr, which is high, then you have to take in the account of the price of fully tuning. Happily, however, you can get the quattro for free in two ways. The first is the way I got mine - get a hold of an '82 birthday ticket. It will always be a quattro, no matter what you do. If you don't collect tickets and your birthday won't get you a 1982 ticket, you can win the German Touring Car Championship in B-Spec to get yourself one for free. It will be a bit hard without an R8 LMS, but it's doable in most of the eligible cars.

In the end, Praiano's tune for the quattro is a job very well done. Alas, I am unable to confirm is the car is indeed ONLINE OK or not, but it certainly is OFFLINE OK. Thanks for the birthday gift, Prai (can I call you that? ).

Final Score...15/20.

C-ZETA

Audi quattro '82 ONLINE OK​

Here we have a tune from the ever consistent Praiano, who has famously brought peace and equality to all tuned cars with the ONLINE OK trademark, which allows tuned cars to perform both online and offline. He consistently releases tunes day after day after day, and he has now become the second most popular tuner on GTPlanet. This Audi quattro tune he has provided is our testing ground for him, so let's see what's what.

It was my birthday, May 22nd. My b-day ticket came, and it was a 1982. The one car you can get from this ticket, unfortunately, is the Audi quattro. So I duly took it, and it was in Alpine White. My favourite! Lovely.

After that, I checked on GTPlanet for a few new tunes to try out. Then I saw on Praiano's tunes...

'Praiano's tunes: AUDI QUATTRO '82'

...Clearly, it couldn't have come at a better time than this (and it was a request as well, ZOMG ). So, I went and saw his tune, and tuned up my present to the specs that he got. So, how did I get on with this new baby boy?

The performance has been upped a LOT. Clearly, that's what you'd expect from a car that was Tuned to the max, eh?

But anyway, the car now feels a lot quicker, and the acceleration is good. Granted, it won't win all that many drag races, but eh. The top speed seems rather limited by the tranny setup, but it's not enough for it to hit the limiter down the Road Course Indy home straight. Which is alright I guess...

The handling of the car is also still strong. Understeer has been kept to the bare minimum possible, and it can hold my line through corners nearly perfectly. The ride height seems comically noticeable, but it's not all that bad. Plus when you're online you have to change it anyway. Yes, unfortunately the ONLINE OK mark has had to give a small change to the quattro to make it work, but it's not much. Besides which, I've only tested this offline so far.

The good thing is the looks of the original quattro has been retained. Praiano chose to forgo a wing to keep the looks of the quattro. It's always looked a bit boxy to me, but actually rather aerodynamic. Pass for the quattro here.

The views on the quattro are all pretty decent. Hood view seems a bit tall but it's alright. Overhead is also a little bit blocked off but it's not that bad. Bumper cam again is my favourite. It gives a pretty wide berth as to where you are and it's not that low to the ground. It doesn't let you feel the speed as much, but it's still good.

The quattro has been upgraded to 505PP with this tune, and it makes the useability OK. With Racing Softs you should be able to win the Supercar Festival (I only tested on Sports Softs though). The Schwarzwald events should go down very easily to your new toy as well.

The sound from the new exhaust isn't too bad. It's like your traditional rally car sound, but rather highly pitched compared to the others. Also it sounds just a little bit different, perhaps more muted at certain points in the rev range as well, but I like it. Points up for the quattro.

The price is obviously gonna be pretty high if you are actually buying the quattro, unlike me. The quattro starts at 90,360 Cr, which is high, then you have to take in the account of the price of fully tuning. Happily, however, you can get the quattro for free in two ways. The first is the way I got mine - get a hold of an '82 birthday ticket. It will always be a quattro, no matter what you do. If you don't collect tickets and your birthday won't get you a 1982 ticket, you can win the German Touring Car Championship in B-Spec to get yourself one for free. It will be a bit hard without an R8 LMS, but it's doable in most of the eligible cars.

In the end, Praiano's tune for the quattro is a job very well done. Alas, I am unable to confirm is the car is indeed ONLINE OK or not, but it certainly is OFFLINE OK. Thanks for the birthday gift, Prai (can I call you that? ).

Final Score...15/20.

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Thanks for the review my friend. This tune was before the 1.10 patch and i think i have to upgrade the gearbox. In the tune it's writen "adapt with final gear to each track" so, if you don't have enough speed for certain track ,just need to reduce final gear till you reach the speed you need.
This ride height was to let the car alive with a tail that put the nose in the right direction offline, if not it's very lazy. But online ,this setting was generating too much oversteer. I think it's still valid with new patch. I have to check it too.
Thanks again, have a good day.

I find the CT230R overkill, so if I were to judge, the winner, by disqualification... G37. Besides, the CT230R belongs to a higher class anyway.

The ZZII is really a bargain, but somehow I hated it for some reason. Even though I respected Tommy Kaira, even though I respected the RB26DETT... There's something I hated about it and I even dunno what is it. Aside from the obnoxious and erroneous RB26DETT exhaust note, or was that what I despised from this car?

uMadson?

I find the CT230R overkill, so if I were to judge, the winner, by disqualification... G37. Besides, the CT230R belongs to a higher class anyway.

The ZZII is really a bargain, but somehow I hated it for some reason. Even though I respected Tommy Kaira, even though I respected the RB26DETT... There's something I hated about it and I even dunno what is it. Aside from the obnoxious and erroneous RB26DETT exhaust note, or was that what I despised from this car?

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I know why, it's cuz it's every bit better than your beloved GTR, with every little bit of tech taken from that GTR. Your GTR fanboy side will never let you like a car that's even remotely better than the one and only R, and doubly so when the car in question owes most its parts that made it exist to the GTR. Or something.

Onboy123

I know why, it's cuz it's every bit better than your beloved GTR, with every little bit of tech taken from that GTR. Your GTR fanboy side will never let you like a car that's even remotely better than the one and only R, and doubly so when the car in question owes most its parts that made it exist to the GTR. Or something.

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600 hp RB26DETT + ATTESA-ETS came before 500 hp VR38DETT + ATTESA-ETS 2.0. See the versions, see what I did there.

Great one on the ZZ2 C-ZETA. 👍

Yep that car is a menance to the supercars in it's performance points range and mod it out it's a monster that came from heck! Shame it's not a premium.

And I never thought of taking it out on the Super GT A-Spec races, should give it a try soon. And are you going to compare the ZZ2 against a Enzo, Speed 12, Mclaren F1 and the Veryon? Cause if you do, you will be suprised with it even more.

And for the ReAmenya RX-7, you can buy it from the new car dealership and place in your favorites so you can play it in arcade mode.

Keep it up!

uMadson?

I find the CT230R overkill, so if I were to judge, the winner, by disqualification... G37. Besides, the CT230R belongs to a higher class anyway.

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I'm just trying to compare all different types of tuned car. But without it the G37 is the winner, mainly because of how it drives.

Also your avatar now keeps putting me off

VspecZR1GT2RS89

And are you going to compare the ZZ2 against a Enzo, Speed 12, Mclaren F1 and the Veryon? Cause if you do, you will be suprised with it even more.

And for the ReAmenya RX-7, you can buy it from the new car dealership and place in your favorites so you can play it in arcade mode.

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My Enzo is modified and I can't be bothered to pay for another one, as is the case with the F1 and Veyron. Speed 12 is hard to find now.

And the problem with using the Amemiya like that is the stats will never exactly match up to garage stats unless I fully break it in without an oil change. And that's tiring

Your review is better than mine, but different cars

The only fun I've ever had in B-Spec is when I entered my G37 in the Modern Muscle Car tournament. It's great fun guiding for a bare win at Daytona road course. 👍

The main competitors to the Alfa Romeo tz2 is the Ginetta g4 and caterham 7. These are quick, fun, lightweight cars

Aaronrray

The main competitors to the Alfa Romeo tz2 is the Ginetta g4 and caterham 7. These are quick, fun, lightweight cars

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Ginetta isn't powerful enough stock and Caterham is from 2002...I say no. The closest I've found to the Giulia are the Honda S800 Race Car and the Nissan Bluebird and they aren't powerful or light enough.

C-ZETA

Ginetta isn't powerful enough stock and Caterham is from 2002...I say no. The closest I've found to the Giulia are the Honda S800 Race Car and the Nissan Bluebird and they aren't powerful or light enough.

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I don't like to argue... But...

The caterham is a SLIGHTLY evolved lotus 7 (which was of that era and was relatively successful on the track). The Ginetta g4 is a track happy European car of that era and is a tad less powerful.

Aaronrray

I don't like to argue... But...

The caterham is a SLIGHTLY evolved lotus 7 (which was of that era and was relatively successful on the track). The Ginetta g4 is a track happy European car of that era and is a tad less powerful.

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I know but either way the Caterham just doesn't have the cornering feel of the Giulia. With full mods it's not even that fast but still pretty sick to drive. Ginetta isn't as good through the corners as the Giulia, maybe faster in a straight line and it's also apparently a huge mess when fully modded So they're close-ish but stock they're all leagues apart

There is nothing compareable the Alfa, it's kind of like an old Elise RM if anything.


I had meant to say nothing comparable but didn't for some reason.

akmuq

There is compareable the Alfa, it's kind of like an old Elise RM if anything.

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You could say that. Although the Elise RM in question would largely be barely modified from there.

The Ford Mark IV is one heck of a legend. It is part of the 4 time winning Le Mans legacy of Ford from the late 1960's, and it sure as hell has deserved its place in history. Alongside the Ferrari 330P4 and the late Jaguar XJ13 in this game the three make for a wonderful trio of storming, speedy and young-feeling cars that aren't giving up the ghost to any new time Super GT race car anytime soon. This is the Mark IV, and here's what I think of it.

Firstly, the performance of this thing. Obviously, as a car with 509bhp on tap it is going to be fast. But the mere 1000kg weight of this car is a very helpful part to ensuring the Mark IV can go faster than other cars around it. Despite being the heaviest of the trio of classics (by a mere 2kg should I say) and despite being less powerful than the Jag it is still a great machine that can't be left standing in any drag race easily.

The handling is also a top class affair. 1000kg really isn't very much for a car to move around corners, especially with 509bhp to get you around them. The Mark IV is very speedy through corners, and doesn't disappoint in this regard.


The gearbox is a little quirky though. The 330P4 and XJ13 have proper average racer 5-speed gearboxes, where as the Mark IV has...well, 4. This essentially makes it a partially classic NASCAR as it has the right ingredients for one - power, aerodynamic efficiency, lack of weight - oh wait no, that's not right. It does have one heck of a sound though...

The best sound in the game, in fact. It is actually a mildly realistic version of what a big fat American V8 engine would sound like with a huge exhaust coming out of it, and my lords is it good.

With just a 4 speed gearbox, you can really feel the engine flowing through your ears as you drive it. Especially in the lowest revs when you take off it makes a brilliant sound, and at idle as well the little sound it makes just sounds so brilliant. When you get to the revs though, the epic engine you hear just drills through your mind and gives you a superb feel, knowing that you're driving a car with such thrill to it and it just makes you feel awesome inside. Easily the best part of the Mark IV for me, and it deserves the best sound in the game award for me.


One good thing also about the Mark IV is the amount of events you can use it in. American Championship, Gran Turismo World Championship, Dream Car Championship, Suzuka 1000km and obviously the Historic Racing Car Cup will come to your mind as good events for this car, and it does well in all of these events in all of the races.

The price of buying one though...is as you surely know, a rather tall number. It is one of the 5 big bad 20,000,000 cars that can only be purchased through having the max number of Cr. you can have in this game. Of course, this along with the 330P4, 2D, Miura and such makes the 1967 birthday ticket the most valuable of them all, and it deserves such a title with such cars in it. It's how I got mine...

So the Mark IV is certainly a good car at the end of the day. Not only is it very fast, very good through corners and a great classic, but also a good car all-round and also the best ear porn I have ever found in this game. Even the 787B can't come close enough to this thing to dethrone it as the best sounding car in this game, and simply because it has everything in it. If you can get one of these wonderful beauties, I would certainly love and cherish it, because it's a worthy classic. Against the 330P4 and XJ13, its main rivals, it is the winner, through sheer driving feel. The 330P4 is certainly a very easy car to drive but feels...kinda weird to drive. The XJ13 is very very nimble but kinda has too hard of a feeling to drive. The Mark IV is very fast, and while it might be not as great through corners as an XJ13, the feel is perfect over the other two. Comparing this against the 5 classic Standards of this game, the GT40, 2D, 2J, Toyota 7 and Corvette, I'd say it wins as well.

The GT40 seems like the same thing, but it is more nimble and feels more lightweight. However it just feels a bit more...squeaky, if that's the word. Just a bit too much more hyper-energetic, where as the Mark IV feels big, bold and strong. The 2D feels really annoying with its 3-speed gearbox and is much harder to drive well. The 2J, on the other hand, is a lot faster through corners and down straights, and is better to drive. But it's a washing machine. A Standard washing machine at that. The Toyota 7 is very fast down straights but suffers a little in corners, and while it does look great it does get kinda boring to drive after a small while. The Corvette is a lot slower than anything else here but still feels much better than at least half the others. However, it can't match the Mark IV's sheer speed, strength and sound. So the choice is clear. If you want a car that's powerful, controllable, easy, good to drive, good-looking, fun, speedy classic, the Mark IV is here for you all.

Final Score: 17/20

Lexus LFA '10​

And now it's time for a supercar that has caused quite a stir among the GT community around here...the Lexus LFA.

So, the Lexus LFA. Some like it, some hate it. Some say it's a great car to drive with plenty of fun and potential inside. Others say it's a less than great handling car no matter what state it's in. I'm personally in the former camp myself. Here's why...

Performance is never going to be short in a car like this. 562bhp is a ton of it, and it gets the car from A to B in very little amounts of time. While sometimes the car is also a little bit off in the handling section, it's mostly OK there too. For the most part though, it's among the top supercars around here in terms of speed and it's all the better for it.

Tuning this car has always been a massive problem. Not only is there a rather unfortunate lack of parts on the car to fit, but downforce is not available - ever - and trying to fit other parts on it make for a really complicated journey in trying to fix up the car and make it as fast as possible through a corner again. However, this hasn't stopped many tuners from having a crack at taming this wild beast. RKM's LFA GT has a review actually upcoming from me to the GTLife magazine, so you can check a review of it out there. Other tuners, such as Praiano and RVR have had a shot at taking on the wild beast of the LFA, and even I've had a go and used one in my fanfic under Katie Hart's ownership. Trust me, she loves hers too.

However at the end of the day the LFA can get some very good speed if you give it the right tune. With a good setup, getting a very happy LFA that is speedy, yet easy to have fun with makes for a true masterpiece. Many LFAs have this potential, but finding it is a hard job sometimes. Even though there may be only 500 in the real world, there are infinite numbers around here, and I have 3. Including this one, the RKM LFA GT and Katie's LFA. I'm quite a big fan of these, you see.


But anyway, enough of tuning rubbish, this is a stock LFA we have here, so we're gonna talk about that. And we're now gonna move on to the sound. Or should I say...the music of this engine. A V10 that screams in an almost soothing way to you and makes you feel more satisfied than a seal with a bagful of fish to eat. Or should that be...a ?

Either way, the sound is awesome. And it gets better when you fit a new exhaust to the thing (like Katie who has a semi-racing exhaust on her LFA). You get the classic car scream from the LFA after fitting an exhaust to it and it makes one really pumped. Or me pumped up anyway. Apparently they actually changed the stock exhaust sound to make it lower in a patch, but either way the car still sounds great. The exhaust itself looks great though - it's a triangular triple exhaust that looks so good I've seen girls that look worse than it alone.

The car itself looks wonderful. Even as a supercar, though it's only Japanese rather than Italian and the badge says Lexus as opposed to Ferrari of Lamborghini the car still looks brilliant. It's swooping with cutting edges all around the car and they look brilliant. The moving spoiler gives this car a new look as well with it up, with a calmer look when it's down and a hugely aggressive look with it up. The car itself also looks rather angry, sort of as if though it could be an enemy Transformer. And knowing what sort of car it really is...it could be one! Yikes!


The price tag is not bad at all. Well, it isn't if you haven't done a seasonal event yet, but either way it's OK for what it is. 375,000 Cr. is hardly a bad price, and if you for some reason do decide to sell an LFA (curse you) then the price on that is pretty nice as well (not that it's the best way to get money anyway...). Plus, the number of colours you can get this thing in is...wow!

There's white, silver, gray, black, MATTE black (and you get the paint chip from it! ), red, pearl red, pink, light green, turquoise, blue, lavender, dark green, gold...it's a rainbow of colours! And it's not that hippie, it's just...variable! Really!

So in the end, the LFA is one very brilliant car. No one can actually tune it perfectly well, the handling by default isn't perfect and there is stuff out that is better in the long run. But really...this is a wonderful car. It's got a good feel, a pretty good straight line speed, an uncanny ability to blow your ears off, great looks and a great feel. These are all the reasons why actually...I think the LFA is the best supercar in the game. Not the R8, GT-R, SLS, 458, Corvette, Veyron, Murcielago, any of them. It's this. And I'm not ashamed of my opinion...

Final Score: 17/20

Speaking of the LFA, I have this love-hate thing. I loved its exhaust note but I hated its awkwardly designed rear.

The handling can be put aside though, it's snappy nature would let me classify it as a grand tourer, much like the 599.

Best*

Stopped reading at the 1967 ticket.
90% of the "aura" these cars (Jag, Ford and Ferrari) posses is in their price tag.
If they weren't insanely expensive they wouldn't be good.
You can't "feel" the car if you got it for free, thus making this review invalid.

Just my 2¢.

RVR Double Whammy!​

RVR are now one of the top tuners around here, with a wide variety of tunes and a good ability and goal of getting a car's handling absolutely perfect. Like Alfa Giulia TZ2s.

Dylans1o, who has notably used many more exclamation marks than anyone in the world, is the main tuner of the garage, with Nismo34 proving to be a good drift tuner of theirs as well. I will be testing tunes from both of these tuners, but not really the ones you'd expect.

From Dylan we have a Mazda Autozam AZ-1, fully modded to become the 'Super Speedy Mazda', whilst Nismo34 has provided us with a drift tune for none other than the epic Volkswagen SambaBus of 1962. But do these tunes actually work? Let's find out with some considerate testing.

So first up, it's the AZ-1.

Yes, I can't believe a car can look that weird either.

But anyway, let's get on with the small matter of performance improvements. The standard car has 64bhp, as do other kei cars. This one has 146bhp, which has improved the sheer speed of this car enormously. Also the car now weighs just 647kg, which puts it right at the 450PP mark. But would you really use it for one of the races there? Well...let's be considerate.

The handling on this AZ-1 is nothing to be laughing at. Even if it looks like an aerodynamic experiment gone stupidly wrong it gets around corners. It has removed the so called 'oversteer' from the car (though that should be impossible if the car has no more than 64bhp) and it handles very slickly. Around my custom Kracht Circuit, which is filled with many speedy turns, the AZ-1 could hold its own very well around them. So that's a good few marks gained there already.


The looks, as I've already said, are very weird. The bodykit on the AZ-1 actually makes it look like one of the best cars in the game...but not with the orange paint I've had to give the car to make it look like the one Dylan has.

If it was the default Cyberia Blue colour you could get with this car it would look great. This car with that colour goes very well together. It's also why my tune of the car has that colour. But with orange paint...it looks like a piece of Dutch cheese. It also as a result makes it look really very funny. Particularly when you consider what it actually is.

But enough of moaning about how odd this car looks. It's still very fast, and it caused me a very big surprise when racing down the straights on my circuit. It was hitting 130+, which is high for a car with barely that much power and also very fast for a car that I could carry. And I'm 5'5" and 45kg. Alright, enough personal information about me!


The AZ-1's sound is still a pretty good one. With the new exhaust it bears an uncanny resemblance to the sound you'd have in the bonkers Furai Concept. However on the inside you get either a nice or annoying, according to who you are, whine on the inside that seems to act as the sound for the transmission, but can't because then you'd be getting an actual transmission whine. It's weird.

The horn of the AZ-1 is also comically funny and the lights look simple but cute. It seems like the kind of car for a cute girl, but in this state, it's certainly too mean for one. It is however, my personal favourite over all of the kei cars in this game, despite the Copen's power, the Cappuccino's speed and everyone else's oddball loveliness.

So RVR has done a very good job on turning the AZ-1 from a cutesy little sweetie bag to a very fast, nippy and agressive looking orange piece of cheese. It's one of the funniest cars I've ever driven, and all the better for it. However the AZ-1 is nowhere near close enough to what's coming next...


So, with some Phantom Black paint, some wheels by Blitz, some front and rear bumper adjustments, a lot of new parts and a lot of adjusting later the SambaBus is ready to...uh, Rock the Kasbah.

Now clearly, if you're a sane person, there is no possible way you could expect a Bus to drift at all. Thankfully, people believe in this sort of thing, and Nismo34 is one of these people. He has a picture of 2 of his massively exciting SambaBuses drifting away Like a G6, so it clearly is possible...but how? Well thankfully he released a tune that would help us realise that it is possible to drift a Bus like this, so I applied it to my SambaBus (being the crazy Volkswagen classic freak I am) and saw what was what.

Now can I say at first: I am not a natural born drifter. I don't understand how to set a car up for drifting (apart from massive camber, I've noticed that ), I'm not very good at it and my main drift car in the game was a Nissan 240ZG. Notice a crucial word towards the end of that sentence? You should, because that Nissan 240ZG is no longer my top drift car. Well, it is my top drift car, but not my top drifter.

Y'see, this SambaBus is just so wonderful at drifting and so amazing that I can actually get it to work because it is so simple. I've never seen a car - err, I mean bus, that can get this much work done. I was as shocked as anyone to see my Bus drifting through the last corner on Eiger Nordwand Reverse, up the hills back to the start line and through the last turn again. You would be surprised too, wouldn't you? Well, I can tell you, I have some shots of me doing some actually successful drifting.


No, those aren't emissions, that is actual smoke from me drifting the tyres. On a SambaBus. I know. I know!

It should be impossible, but it isn't! And I love it because of that! Granted, you won't be getting many fast drifts (the 5-speed tranny limits this thing to 72mph at max) but it can get you around the corners in style still. The Mid Range Turbo Kit helps certainly by not only giving more power but easier control around the range of RPM. I'm an auto user, so I'm not used to saying such stuff, but I can here because the SambaBus is such a perfect drift bus because of it. Part choosing is never this crucial normally, but it is here.

To be fair, looking at the settings, it looks like a drift car, but it also doesn't. I don't know the way to set a car for drift, but I know the camber could be a bit wilder. However I do know now that you have to go absolutely crazy with the LSD, and that you obviously need to have a very low height (and the height is really adjustable on a SambaBus, believe me) and that the springs should obviously be quite hard. Thank you so much for all this information, Nismo, since not only am I now learning how to drift for real, but I'm also learning how to make cars do it too! It's brilliant!


So in the end, the SambaBus, tuned by Nismo for drifting, makes impossible things possible. I have never known that a Bus can really drift, and I didn't even know it had enough power, but it does, and it works like a charm. Well done to you RVR, your tune is brilliant. And since impossible is nothing with this car, I'm now sponsoring it with Adidas logos! Well, I wish I could anyway.


Meh, to be honest, that shot looks more like the SambaBus blowing up in a cloud of smoke. But it isn't, trust me. Trust me.

Final Scores!

AZ-1: 13/20
SambaBus: 16/20

uMadson?

Speaking of the LFA, I have this love-hate thing. I loved its exhaust note but I hated its awkwardly designed rear.

The handling can be put aside though, it's snappy nature would let me classify it as a grand tourer, much like the 599.

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I think the rear's OK. The headlights look really big though

It does have a snappy nature with the right driving style, yes. I don't really think it's 'quality' enough to be a grand tourer...if you know what I mean. Grand tourers are meant to be huge big powerful things, the LFA is not quite at the level. 600 is ideal for GTs, LFA only gets 560 stock.

599GT

Best*

Stopped reading at the 1967 ticket.
90% of the "aura" these cars (Jag, Ford and Ferrari) posses is in their price tag.
If they weren't insanely expensive they wouldn't be good.
You can't "feel" the car if you got it for free, thus making this review invalid.

Just my 2¢.

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I know cars that certainly aren't worth their price tag, these aren't there. And I can feel the car even if I got it for free because I can Besides which in that case many people's XJ13's would be unable to be 'felt' because as a prize car getting it like that would, according to you, make it unable to be felt. I myself got all of the 20,000,000's for free, XJ13 and GT40 I won from the aforementioned events, 330P4 I just got in a trade, Mark IV I explained and X2010 I obviously traded for (like most others). Besides which, reviews can also be taken on board by others, and therefore it isn't invalid to the people who follow this review and actually pay the full 20,000,000 price tag for this car. So it isn't really totally invalid.

C-ZETA

I think the rear's OK. The headlights look really big though

It does have a snappy nature with the right driving style, yes. I don't really think it's 'quality' enough to be a grand tourer...if you know what I mean. Grand tourers are meant to be huge big powerful things, the LFA is not quite at the level. 600 is ideal for GTs, LFA only gets 560 stock.

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ITS HEADLIGHTS ARE LARGE AND I LOVE IT!!!!.... I don't think they are that large. Because that's what she said.

I beg to differ, I'm damn sure the Maserati GranTurismo is on the same level with the LFA in terms of horsepower.

Also, for the next 3 reviews guys, I am TAKING YOUR REQUESTS IN!

Again though, I am sticking with the 1 race car, 1 road car, 1 tuning garage car. You are allowed to suggest a tuner car, but it will take up either the race or road car slot. There is only one slot for each, so the first one that's said gets reviewed. Afterwards, don't suggest another that would normally go into that slot. So guys, what do you want to see me reviewing?

Also if it's a tuning garage try to do one from a garage I haven't covered yet, the one's I've done tunes from are RKM, LDP, Praiano and RVR, so if possible try not to suggest their tunes. So then, again, what would you like to see in my reviews thread?

Race car - Gran Turismo Red Bull X2010
Road car - Subaru Impreza Sedan WRX STI spec C Type RA '05
Tuner car -

💡

Subaru IMPREZA Sedan WRX STI spec C Type RA '05 mate.

Hehehe Cheers for the good review on the Samba Bus. I was personally a little sketchy about how people would like it but looks like I did good. If you need any car tuned for drift, Lemme know. thanks again for the review 👍

P.S. Generally I would try and avoid having the ride height as low as possible but Com'on Have you ever seen a Samba bus look any better at any other ride height? lol

uMadson?

💡

Subaru IMPREZA Sedan WRX STI spec C Type RA '05 mate.

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I'd gladly trash one up.

Road car is taken then with the Impreza '05

Red Bull X1. To see what you think of it..

darren200cook

Red Bull X1. To see what you think of it..

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Sure then. I have 3 of them so I'm sure I can take care of it.

So that leaves just a tuning garage car. Also you can't request more than once before I release the reviews