Test results / reviews:
Track: Cape Ring Full
Practice Mode - A-spec Free Run
Sports Soft Tyres
Tyre wear: off
Grip: Real
All aids off
ABS 1
Damage: None
Controller: DFGT
FFB 7
Transmission: Manual
Diogo: 2:40.097 / DC: 6
An easy car to understand: over-steer on deceleration, less over-steer under throttle.
Breaking distance is OK. Trail braking is easy but should be avoided. Brake early, throttle early.
Gearing is good. Consistent power through the powerband. First through sixth are usable.
The car is very stable and hard to disturb. It takes the curbs like they aren't there, most of the time. The under-steer isn't too much but over-steer isn't possible. Accuracy is very good, predictability is good, rotation is OK.
(And I made sure my spell checker didn't automatically "correct" your name.
)
Praiano: 2:39.165 / DC: 7
This car is both fun and frustrating. The car has just the right amount of power to control rotation nicely but the body sway has a hard time keeping up.
Corner entry is good. Accuracy isn't a problem but the over-steer provided by braking is only temporary and will adjust back to under-steer if I don't continue the attitude with throttle.
Mid-corner is ok. The retaliation of the body sway can be a problem if I don't account for it. I've lost over half my laps due to spinouts, not because of bad throttle control, but because the body sway can't keep up in the chicanes.
Corner exit is very good, despite the rear ends tendency to rock back and forth after corner exit. As long as I setup correctly the corner exit should be a simple uncoil and feed the throttle.
Gearing is good. I don't really notice shifting because other parts of car control occupy my thinking.
Braking is very good. The distance is short and braking aids rotation, sometimes.
NewDriver2: 2:40.979 / DC: 8
This cars throttle is very alive. The cars weight shifts are easy to predict and keep up with.
Turn-in is sharp and accurate. Even under chicane conditions the car is predictable. Braking aids rotation but throttle should be used instead.
Mid-corner is very good. As long as I stay consistent/smooth on the throttle the car is easy to rotate. The mid-engine feel of the car isn't overbearing but easy to work with.
Corner exit is very good, weight shifts are subtle and work with the throttle.
Braking distance is good, trail braking is very good, especially for a mid-engine.
Gearing is good. The engine is unrestrained and can overpower the tyres at any point.
TrackRipper123: 2:44.536 / DC: 6
The slight but persistent under-steer and the bad brakes dominate this cars style.
Turn-in is responsive but my accuracy is low. Trail-braking does help rotation but the lack of the ability to get on the throttle early hurts this cars times.
Mid-corner is a weak point for this car. In a slalom or a corner with a small mid-corner the car is OK, but the under-steer makes the transition from brake-rotation to throttle-rotation burdensome.
Corner exit is fine. By this point the throttle has pushed through the under-steer into neutral or almost over-steer.
The braking distance is long. Braking from high speed produces excessive under-steer. Trail-braking is good and productive. Slip trail-braking is fun, fairly easy and productive.
The gearing is OK. Every gear is useful and closely spaced enough to let me play 'choose your torque,' to a small degree.
ugabugaz: 2:39.885 / DC: 8
Very fun, feels much faster than the times I was able to produce.
The braking distance is extremely short. Trail-braking is very easy and productive. Except from high speeds the braking distance is so short almost all braking is trail-braking. I never felt the need to slip trail-brake.
Turn-in is accurate, sharp and responsive. Pedal steering helps but doesn't dominate. The weight shifts are intuitive and fun to work with.
Mid-corner is very responsive. On a long corner the car is easy to rotate with the throttle while keeping up the speed. The transition between braking rotation and throttle rotation is flawless.
Corner exit is this cars Achilles heel. There is a very pronounced and persistent 'maintaining attitude' under throttle. It's not so much a Vader choke, more like a padawan choke. Familiarity helps eliminate this problem.
Gearing is good. Seven, count them, seven gears and they're all usable. 'Choose your torque' is easier to play than tag in a closet.
When I hit the entrance correctly this car slides around the tight corners like butter over a hot bun. Even under slip over-steer the cars predictability is very good.
The curbs are lap killers. I avoid them as if I were in a stock Caterham.
Cambered corners don't disturb the car overly much, but elevation changes are very disturbing to the cars stability.
OnBoy123: 2:41.039 / DC: 7
So good it's almost boring. Your basic overpowered FR, well tamed.
Turn-in is good, accuracy is very good. Pedal steering helps turn-in/rotation but I don't feel the cars speed is hindered by it.
Mid-corner is good. There is always enough power to assist rotation, but I never have enough power to burn the tyres.
Corner exit is very stable.
Gearing is good, well spaced and all are usable.
The brakes are very good, the distance is short and control under braking is equal to and harmonius with the throttle.
Krenkme: 2:38.422 / DC: 9 (9.9 really)
Amazing blend of stability, maneuverability and power.
Turn-in is very sharp, responsive and very accurate. Pedal steering is helpful but doesn't in anyway hinder maintaining speed. Transition from braking attitude to throttle attitude is very smooth.
Mid-corner is very stable. The throttle helps rotation, usually has power to spare but doesn't feel overly sensitive or twitchy. The front lacks any push under throttle and rotation is intuitive and instant.
Corner exit is very good. There is no excess body sway and the power doesn't bog.
The only problem I had was the chicane after the long right corner after the first tight U. I kept giving too much steering input on the counter swing and the back end would come 'round. Once I isolated the 'problem' my laps were exercises in 'line sculpting.'
Gearing is good and provides consistent power. 'Choose your torque' is easy. There was always enough power left over to go sideways in a blink, but I never felt fear of the edge.
Braking distance is short. Trail braking is easy and useful. But the throttle gives such useful and instant rotation trail-braking isn't needed and should be avoided.
Once I got used to where the limit of the car was and familiar with it's turning attitude under throttle playing 'ride the slip' became fairly easy and very productive. My lap times dropped consistently as I became more comfortable with bringing the car into a smooth slip and maintaining it, then exiting under almost full power before the car was fully straight.
The car also is notable for its almost perfect flight capabilities. I landed the jump every time at speed with no problem.
Nomis3613: 2:45.104 / DC: 3
Until the tyres get a persistent white heat the car is very difficult to drive. It took me about 30 retires to get one clean lap. I have done 10 laps with everyone else's cars but with this one two clean laps are enough. Even on the second clean lap when the tyres were at a good temperature I struggled to hold back and keep the car at a "Sunday driver" pace. Anything more and bad things happened.
Turn-in is very inaccurate. The cars heavy weight and slow body roll make turn-in slow and ill-harmonious with both front/back and braking and throttle.
Mid-corner is dominated by under-steer. If I enter the corner at speed and setup properly I can overcome the under-steer. Instead of pushing the back end rotates out. The margin for error is fairly small.
Corner exit is ok, the under-steer isn't as bad once the car is rotated in the mid corner. I usually play it safe with the throttle on exit, feeding it slowly as the body roll fully settles.
Gearing is so-so. The power delivery changes drastically through the powerband and makes controlling the cars attitude difficult. The gears are spaced to far apart to avoid this disparity. I'm not sure if it's possible to fix this.
Braking distance is long. Trail braking is risky, changing from heavy under-steer into slip over-steer with very little input control.
Even the smallest curb can send the car spinning. Combined with the heavy dependency on pedal steering and less than good accuracy the cars inability to handle curbs makes it very difficult to complete one lap anywhere close to a speed faster than what my grandmother (rest in peace) would have liked.
LineR32: 2:43.187 / DC: 6
MotorCityHamilton: 2:41.827 / DC: 8
Very smooth and powerful.
Turn in is sharp and precise but a little bit more dependant on pedal steering than I like. Like many mid-engine cars this car has both under-steer (due to a light front end) and over-steer (due to overpowering the rear tyres) under acceleration.
Mid-corner is ok. As long as I can keep applying more throttle the back end stays planted very well. If I need to lift off the throttle then slight under-steer is often the result. Body roll is slightly slow for the speeds this car drives, slaloms are this car's weak point.
Corner exit is very good, the rear accepts a full throttle if fed properly.
Gearing is good, I don't really pay attention to shifting.
Braking distance is good. Trail braking is possible but I try to use the throttle more.
Ridox: 2:49.262 / DC: 5
This car lives for slip. Most cars have under-steer or over-steer. This car has both. Overpowering the rear tyres doesn't reduce the under-steer slip, I just gain more rear slip. Braking doesn't help reduce under-steer slip, the front just slides more. Predictability and accuracy are traits that other cars have.
Turn-in is soft and not sharp. Accuracy is very low, I'm lucky if I hit anywhere near the apex, I usually miss it by several feet. Braking on entry just causes the front to slip more and doesn't help with rotation. It felt like the front tyres were locking up on entry, but that's impossible with ABS 1, right?
Mid-corner is ok. Once I get the front to stop sliding the car has enough power to rotate usefully, if not efficiently or accurately.
Corner exit is ok. By this point I have usually handled the under-steer and the body sway is fine. When I started shifting at 5.2 instead of at 6+ my times went down by more than a second.
The incredibly long tyre marks I left all over the track (some well over 60') are indicative of this car's problem.
Camber and elevation changing (c'e complexes) are disturbing to this wars attitude. Even the first slalom is difficult and it's one of my favorite sections in GT5.
CyKosis1973: 2:43.927 / DC: 5
Very stable but understeer dominates this car's personality.
Turn-in is very accurate (applesauce anyone?) and highly responsive. Every apex overtime, except when I overburden the front outside tyre on entry. The car gains slip under-steer whenever that tyre goes red. Once it does go red it takes awhile for it to cool off to a usable temperature, by then the corner is usually past.
Mid-corner is ok. Understeer dominates under throttle. There is enough power to burn the tyres in most low to mid speed corners but that doesn't help push past the push. In the longer corners (after the first mirrored U, the multifaceted before the other mirrored U, the loop) if I try to lift-off or brake to initiate over-steer all I get is more over-steer and off the track I go. I must enter the corner at the right speed and right angle, there is very little room for correcting any mistakes after corner entrance. There is also a little bit of slow body roll, but compared to the lack of corrective inputs it's not worth mentioning.
Corner exit is ok, the power available makes thrusting out of long corners exhilarating but only if I was able to obtain over-steer, or off track I go.
Braking distance is slightly better than average. Trail braking should be avoided at all costs, the back end will slip, but not as much as the front.
Gearing is ok. One and two are long but there is still enough power at those speeds to burn the rears.
Theo777: 2:42.550 / DC: 7
Heavy, with under-steer, but powerful.
Turn-in is very pedal dependent. That tied with the cars weight (it feels heavy even if it isn't, I try not to look at the stats before I test) makes turn-in fairly inaccurate and predictability is also sub-par. If I am over enthusiastic on entrance the result is heavy over-steer that kills my time.
Mid-corner rotation is good, very pedal dependent but as long as my entrance speed is ok I can rotate as much as I want (Cote d'azure anyone?). If I relax the over-steer that I obtained on entrance I don't usually have fine to require it, the 'push' is too much.
Corner exit is good if everything else went well up to this point. The power delivery is smooth and consistent.
Braking is ok as long as I keep calm. Trail-braking is good when done at the correct speed, too fast and the over-steer hits the front like a rugby player.
I don't really think about the gearing, its good enough I don't notice it. But with only five gears I know there could have been more control and speed to be had from a six speed.
I had a hard time with this car out of the gate. My first lap DC score would have been a 3. As I racked up more laps the car became much easier to predict, even accounting for tyre heat. But then it plateaued and the predictability was still lower than I like. If I took the fine to specialize in this car I'm sure I could rock it with a perfect lap. But I'm nowhere near a perfect lap out of my 10.
Dr_Slump: 2:43.366 / DC: 7
Desperado: 2:42:218 / DC: 9
ACSR421: 2:42.009 / DC: 8