European Classics
Last time out, we had Japan showing us the things they had made, the legends they had started, the greats they had formed in the history of the car. And now, it is the turn of the European countries, with the UK, France and Italy all showcasing cars from their older days.
So then, let's see the 60's and 70's greats of Europe then, starting with the Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2.
Alright, yes, I have reviewed this before, but just be quiet, alright? Anyway, even now, while the Giulia TZ2 has fallen from 1st to 3rd now in C-ZETAs Ranking of Cars in GT5 List (I make names up for it on the spot), it is still unquestionably a brilliant car in this game. Even some...who knows when months since I've tried it, the top class handling of the stock model still gets me and still makes for a great drive. The Giulia TZ2 for me still doesn't really have any proper flaws, although it isn't truly that fast for me any more now that the CT230R and FTO STC, which are faster, have hit my sweet spot harder with extra speed. Still, that hardly makes the Giulia a slowcoach, and besides which, the cornering is always there to begin with. I really still wouldn't pass up a Giulia TZ2 at this point, even if they can be
genuinely impossible to get now. Still a hit in my books.
Full review on this link.
Now we move to a different Giulia this time - same name but different model, firstly, the GTA 1600.
I can't resist the urge to call it the Grand Theft Auto, either.
In truth though, the GTA 1600 is not terribly slow for a classic. This is in fact almost the closest you can get to the original Giulia TZ - the car the TZ2 is based off, seeing as it has exactly the same horsepower as this GTA 1600 has stock, albeit just a 660kg weight as opposed to a 745kg weight. Still, the GTA version is at least rather nimble, and can actually get some tiny little slides going out of corners. It's a decently enjoyable, albeit slightly slow, drive when stock, and modifications can certainly make it better. Which is why the Giulia TZ2 is there for you. Oh wait...
However, there is a
third Giulia in this game, that goes by the name of the Speciale version.
I do have to say, you cannot go wrong with those looks. Truly great and old style looks, I'd say that choosing between this and the TZ2 for looks is a difficult one. The Speciale is indeed more of a GTA for cruising, the GTA looks like a car that would look perfect at your average road rally (and it does appear in a lot of road rallies in real life), where as the Speciale looks more like a car that would be good for wafting away in, sort of like an Italian Rolls Royce. The Speciale has the same engine as the GTA, but has a decent level more weight, which makes it slower obviously. It also weirdly seems to be a bit more slidey than the GTA despite the lower weight of the GTA giving it more power for the body. However, the Speciale seems to have much better gearing for straight lines and would seem to be a little bit faster down them. Don't be fooled by the supposedly wide PP difference between the two - the difference is not as great as it would suggest. In fairness though, all three Giulias in this game are great, the GTA is a good car to thrash about, the Speciale a car to cruise in, and the TZ2 for pure racing. I really would try all of them out, to be honest.
But now we move away from Alfa Romeo and Italy for now, as we now go to France and their Alpine A310 1600VE.
If I were being nice, I would make some anime references here, but not enough of this forums cares enough about it to really make such a reference.
Ed: driftking18594, take note for yourself. Please.
But enough of that. Let's actually concentrate on the Alpine itself, and it has to be said, it is an oddity of a car. It has 123hp and weighs 850kg, which sounds normal, and actually slots in between the two Giulias we just saw, but the Alpine is actually RR, along with its A110 cousin. This makes for some more slidey handling characteristics than should really be necessary but either way, you aren't going fast enough most of the time to make it killer, unlike, say if you were in an RUF. So the A310 is not as bad, although the A110 is definitely faster. Though a whole lot more ugly, so go for this really, please.
And for you guys, two tunes for you, from me -
Renault Alpine A310 Gr.4 and
Misato-san. Oh damn, I did say no anime references, right?
Now we move to a big hit here in this sector and something that really I should be reviewing given
what else I've done - it is the Ferrari 330P4!
Slick.
Now, I will say that this certainly a very good car to drive indeed. Compared to its fellow classic car peers, it has a huge power disadvantage - being stuck with 430 while everything else can hit 500 at least stock, but it makes up for it very well with a miniscule weight value of just shy of 800kg. This would normally mean simply better cornering and worse straight line ability, but really, it is not bad at all in a straight line. And in the corners, it is very fast, very slidey yet somewhat controllable in the slides, despite being MR. So, it is a very good car to drive certainly, has great looks virtually at every angle (even if its arse might look a bit big at times...
Now I'm just getting carried away ), and also has a very respectable onboard view. But it takes a HUGE hit when it comes to sound.
I hear people saying that every single one of GT5s cars was recorded with a vacuum cleaner. While I am very angered by such statements, since for a majority of cars in the game, they are far from true, when it comes to this, they have a very fair point. Because that is exactly what this car sounds like - a vacuum cleaner. What PD
really should have done is taken this sound, the Chaparral 2Js sound, swapped them around, and left it like that. Because then at least it would have been a little more fitting. Granted, it wouldn't be perfect on the 330P4, but any sound is better than the silly vacuum cleaner it gets to begin with (...or is it? Stay tuned on that note)...and it just really affects the 330P4 quite badly for me. Great drive, but PD, let us spec out the vacuum cleaner, please.
So, anyway, after that longer review, we now go back to basics with what is actually a tune review of the Real Replica Tunes constructed
Abarth 595 SS, which is a Fiat 500 F built up slightly.
If I am being honest, with this Abarth setup, you can see some noticeable speed increments. Hills are still a moderately hard task for this thing, especially around the Nordschleife no less, but they aren't as bad an effect now. Unfortunately, the lack of a new tranny means you still can't get more than 74mph, which is annoying on the Nordschleife since you tend to hit that limiter a lot around it. However, it is still a good replica I feel of one of the original Abarth cars, and also it corners very well, though since it has only 33hp still you could forgive it for being so simple to drive. Speaking of Abarth...
you putting this in yet, PD? (Also notice the close relation to the Giulia Speciale looks.)
And now it's time for the UK representative here, and another rival to the Ford Mark IV and Ferrari 330P4 - oh, I've just gone and given it away there.
XJ13. And no, this is not the original colour. It looks it, but it isn't. It's just a certain shade of
British Racing Green
Anyway, I can literally fail to see any real difference between this and the 330P4 to be honest. They both have very similar performance, albeit very different stats (XJ13 is in 500hp range but weighs just under 1000kg), they are both very wild (XJ13 is even wilder, with the extra HP and all), they both look very good (XJ13 is better though with a better looking rear end). However, the XJ13 does indeed have two crucial differences from the 330P4. Firstly is the fact that it is the only car of the three Premium classics that you can win for free without a 1967 ticket (and in fact, the XJ13 comes from a 66 ticket anyway). Twice, in fact - a normal one is obtainable through the Indy 500 in A-Spec, whilst the limited edition Chrome Line is available through the online Facebook game (find it yourself, this is not an instruction booklet). The second difference, if you can call it that, is the fact the XJ13s sound is even
worse than the one you get on the 330P4.
If the 330P4 sounds like a vacuum cleaner, then this sounds like nails against a chalkboard. You will want to have very strong ears before driving this thing - it is so grinding, the sound, that it can almost make me tear up, that is how suffocating it is. This largely only applies if you use chase cam, as it isn't as bad (albeit still ever so slightly hearable in the other three views), and in fact it doesn't sound half bad with the transmission sound over the top of it in bumper cam. That, combined with an also quite bad interior view, make the XJ13 my least favourite of the three Premium classics in the game. And now you know why I prefer the Mark IV so much!
And now we move onto another car, the Lamborghini Miura.
Now, of course, we all know the Miura as a legend in real life. To be fair though, it isn't that brilliant in this game. It's just a typical MR car, albeit with a lot less weight and power than would normally be the case at its PP level. It's simply a controllably slidey car that doesn't make much of a fuss. The Miura isn't exactly made better by the fact it was prize won into the game rather than simply put in normally (the Giulia TZ2 isn't quite legendary enough to make a similar factor occur), not to mention the vastly inflated price tag of
15,000,000 Cr. you have to pay for it (but guess what ticket you can get it in to counter that). However, on the face of it, when you look deeply enough, the Miura does have a point in this game. And that is...being funny? I'm sorry, Mr. C-ZETA, have you gone mad?
No, Mr. Reader, I have not. Because, let me explain.
Firstly, listen to the horn on the Miura. When you hear it, expect to lol decently well, really. When I tried it first time on the S-6 license test and tried it out, I know I did. It is miles better than the Tank Car horn for laughs, and it was in fact the first horn I ever got - I don't remember what number it was exactly, but check somewhere around the 230s I believe. It also shares a similar horn with the V16T - which is even more silly - and the Stratos Rally Car.
Then, when you look into the interior, it's also a bit silly. From the front, you have a huge steering wheel that you have in front of you, and like the Giulia TZ2, your driver will move his way through the steering wheel whilst changing gear (it has the silly 'flick switch' style you also see on the Giulia TZ2). Then, press the rear view button to find yourself looking through a genuinely
useless rear view made up of nothing but the grill vents - and that's it.
Then you also have stuff like the lights as well that slooooowly pop up when you flash them, and the actual slidey factor of the Miura and you realise that the Miura is not as bad as PD have put it in this game. The only true let down in this regard is the completely flat sound, but a sports exhaust fixes that well enough. Though I want the Murcielago LP670-4 sound on it...so bad!
And to finish up, we now have the Lancia Stratos Rally Car from 1977 to take us out of this feature review.
Quite frankly, how this literally does qualify for a rally car, I won't know, because it doesn't feel like one at all. It goes at the same speed as one, for sure, with 270hp+ and a very small 880kg weight, and it can be taken off road, but that's really where its relations as a rally car tend to end. It is MR, and therefore is a very slidey car, it costs 5.5 million Cr. (more than an FGT), and is genuinely almost impossible to use offroad properly. But as it is a Stratos, or more simply, a Lancia, these things don't matter. We know Lancias have flaws to begin with, and while this has some, it doesn't necessarily stop it from being a classic. Plus, in the end, it isn't half bad on tarmac to begin with if you can control it. It's just...the rally car name on the end is rather misleading, I find. But it is a classic, for sure. Plus you can win one for free in the Gallardo Trophy B-Spec event, much like its younger relative the Delta S4 in the A-Spec variant, so really, that high price doesn't matter so much more anyway to begin with.
And so thus concludes my European Classics review. Thank you very much for reading, and good night.
Pictures and writing by C-ZETA