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

Say hello to this old timer. The Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2. And it costs 10,000,000 Cr. Or a win in the Historic Racing Car Cup. In B-Spec. Not exactly easy. So, the Giulia is certainly a hard car to obtain. But what you get for this is Alfa Romeo's soul, passion and love in one super lightweight package. And a good looking one at that.

Zagato's design team really flexed their knuckles with their design style, because this thing looks great. Not entirely sure what their knuckles look like 45+ years on now, but even today this thing is a scorching stunner in terms of looks. The swooping shape of the car makes it look small but mighty. Brilliant.

The interior probably isn't the best, but it is a classic one after all. And the number of switches which your driver has to flick to get his car into 5th gear (and his hand through the steering wheel) is excellent. Not that it'll affect the cars performance in any way, but eh. In terms of view, it's not too bad, even despite the low shape.


On the subject of performance, this thing has a decent deal of it. It isn't powerful, yes, but it has very light weight, which contributes to by far and away the best thing about the TZ2 - its handling characteristics. This thing can hold any line I want to take with perfection. This car is so easy to drive that a cat could drive this thing successfully around the Nordschleife. And it has more than enough power to be probably the most player-friendly car in the whole game. Which I like very much. All it needs is just a little bit of extra torque and we're there. Of course, you could fit a turbo...but why are you doing that?!


This thing also has a lovely grunty sound. Granted, I can find tons of better sounds in the game, but it still replicates its classic style extremely well. Hopefully it doesn't scare away the cat you're trying to use to lap the Nordschleife with, because it's also pretty loud. Good.

In terms of direct competitors, the Giulia...doesn't have much. It's lightweight, but also underpowered and suffers on the straights compared to cars it can compete with. In fairness, it also isn't as fast through the corners - just a lot better handling than others. An Elise would be an option, but again, that just destroys the Giulia on the straights. In terms of PP, it's on par with WRC Rally Cars, but again, it just doesn't have enough power to match them. Essentially, the Giulia is mostly unique in a sense, which I find great, since it's great to drive on its own. Of course, there's not much it can really enter in to keep races fair, but eh. It's still great to drive, all the time.

In short, the Giulia is a brilliant car that ticks plenty of boxes. It has perfect handling, great sounding realistic engine, lovely looks, and all kinds of different things to suit everyone. The question is...can you get one?

Final Score...17/20.

Photos and writing by C-ZETA

Well done and Nice reading,thanks!

I ring up the Renault Sport dealer, and the phone is answered.

"Hello?"
"Hello there. I'd like a new Megane Renault Sport 250 if possible?"
I could see it in my mind already.


"250? But the one we have only has 225."
"Wait a minute...OK then, can I have it in yellow?"
"It isn't available in yellow..."
"What do you mean? The Megane Renault Sport 250 Coupe...it does come in yellow!"
"...Coupe? We only do a hatchback..."
"Wait...you mean the older Megane?"
"Well, I guess so."
"The one with the big arse?"
"Yeah, of course! That one!"
"Oh...OK then."

Well...that was...disappointing.

So instead of an amazing looking 250hp FF yellow with black alloys super coupe, we have a not that good looking 225hp FF blue with simple basic wheels hatchback. Oh dear me.

Still, it is at least a Megane, so let's go with it.


The car costs 41,000 Cr, which is too expensive for what it is. Still, at least it has a good enough price when you inevitably decide to sell it...and being what it is, it isn't exactly charming looking either. However, it has a big arse...and I like those. Oh god what did I just say?

In addition, it cannot be fitted with any aero parts at all, which means it suffers when you tune it for cornering purposes compared to other cars. Obviously, its cornering wasn't brilliant in the first place as it is FF, but eh.

The interior is decent, and easy to see out of with the Megane's tall shape. Of course though, the noise that comes out of the car when you're onboard isn't terribly pleasant for me.


However, it isn't a bad performing car at all. It isn't entirely the fastest thing known to man, but it has plenty of power - 225hp, which gives an excellent 227ft-lb of torque. With a weight of 1400kg, it isn't all that light, but it isn't that bad compared to some other cars in this game. It doesn't understeer that much either despite its FF characteristics, but it still isn't the fastest thing at cornering ever.


The sound of this thing isn't really special at all - just a generic whine really. However, it is decently annoying to listen to in bumper and onboard cams since it really whines loudly then as aforementioned.. The exhausts look good enough for a better sound than this one anyway...

The Megane has some very good competition it has to face against, but it can stand up to them well. It is a very good match for the Civic Type R - same power, but despite the Megane's heavier weight it has much higher torque, which helps hugely out of corners and down long straights. The C30 R-Design is almost an equal to it, with more power and torque but a slightly heavier weight and price tag. Of course, the Megane is eligible for a wide number of events and can keep racing fair in those events as well, which is my favourite part about this Megane - its useability. It is one of the best cars for the Beginner races and the Amateur races, which makes it a good beginners car.

Overall, the Megane is a car that doesn't hit the spot completely in a few areas, but it has a wide variety of uses and should provide you with some good close racing against AI cars. But please PD...put in the new Megane Renault Sport 250!!!

Final Score...13/20.

Pictures and writing by C-ZETA

So here's Juliet. Be nice to her...

Obviously as an Elise, she looks pretty good. I always preferred the Elise '96's looks, but the 111R's looks are aggressive and make you want to scream when you see one blitzing past your window despite having half the HP of your sports car...

The body kit however makes her look like a true downright fighter. If Chun-Li had a car, this would be it. Just painted blue generally.

Obviously tuning any car is costly - even though Juliet isn't an RM'd 111R. Even so, you pay for what you get...


...And what you get is a succubus of a car. Anywhere and anywhere Juliet can take on cars twice her power, twice her weight and give them the kiss of death goodbye as she screams past them, leaving that Veyron now behind her stranded in its own overzealous muscle power.

Juliet's handling though, is seriously crazy. She has responsive handling, but she's not a total oversteer sucker at all, even despite her MR characteristics. The Elise's general slipperiness is waved goodbye to by the new custom suspension. And despite having just 253hp, she only has 759kg of herself to haul around, making her acceleration frightening. And when you add in her sound...


She becomes a true devil. Juliet's racing exhaust sounds ridiculously grunty, and makes her feel like a true weapon. The normal buzzing revving sound of the 111R is the perfect starting point for the high revving terror that Juliet is, and I would never sell her...ever.

Of course, the Elise is a seriously popular tuning platform and of course Juliet never has it her own way sometimes. Plenty of other tunes have been released for the Elise, RM'd or not (RKM does another RM tune themselves!) and as much as I don't want to say it, I feel there could be better things to come from her in the form of other tunes...I haven't tested them, but surely Juliet's sheer superbness isn't the limit to the Elise's potential. I have my own tune for the Elise 111R I might release soon, but I know it doesn't top Juliet although to be fair mine is based around Sports Hards.

At the end of the day, Juliet isn't probably one of just the best Elise tunes in GTP, but one of the best tunes here at all. Everything just slots into place with her - power, acceleration, handling, looks, sound - it's all here. Go try her out. Now. I dare you.

Final Score...18/20.

Pictures and writing by C-ZETA

Good set of reviews:tup: Enjoyed reading them.

I loved these. Those extremely witty remarks that seem like they're out of top gear really makes these reviews pleasant to read.👍

Thanks much to all of you.

By the way, in regards to the Giulia TZ2 review, if anyone does have a cat that plays GT5, I'd like to see video proof and then I'd like to buy it. Please.

Nice reviews mate 👍

Quite good, I enjoyed reading them!

One bit of advice... Clarkson doesn't write like he speaks

TenEightyOne

One bit of advice... Clarkson doesn't write like he speaks

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I have LITERALLY noticed that in the ACTUAL Top Gear magazine as well. His columns in that are still SWEEEEET though

C-ZETA

I have LITERALLY noticed that in the ACTUAL Top Gear magazine as well. His columns in that are still SWEEEEET though

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Fair enough

You should look in petrol station book-baskets too, you can pick up the compilations of his right-wing newspaper rants pretty cheap. I hate his politics but he makes for very entertaining reading!

I do not usually read reviews but I find yours particularly interesting. Well done!

C-ZETA

By the way, in regards to the Giulia TZ2 review, if anyone does have a cat that plays GT5, I'd like to see video proof and then I'd like to buy it. Please.

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Good reviews - always entertaining.

I usually take the CATs off my cars, but this one's a little more difficult to get rid of! Not exactly video proof, but...

Very good reviews, C-ZETA. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. I look forward to future reviews and can't wait to see what cars you pick next.👍

Awesome reviews, they're such an easy read. Looking forward to your "bashing" reviews now.

Interesting read, certainly you've calmed down since your Amuse S2000 review.
You should create an article for the GTlife magazine

Inferno251

Interesting read, certainly you've calmed down since your Amuse S2000 review.
You should create an article for the GTlife magazine

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Well obviously I would have. I like all these cars.

And I already have submitted a GTLife article for another of RKM's tune ups. The Giulia review you see here was gonna be in the 2nd magazine but the e-mail never got through for some reason.

Nice review on the alfa! it really is a great car, however little underpowered, otherwise I would use it in the nurburgring 4 hours.

Great reviews C-ZETA. 👍

The R8 LMS is one of the faster race cars in the game, and it's good that it is. But how can it hold out overall?

The performance of the engine, for starters, is very epic. The 546hp V10 really gives you all the power you could need for a car of its caliber and it makes the car accelerate like stink. Even 1300kg of this car won't hold it up at all. This is probably easily capable of 6'40's on the Ring, I'm sure.

The handling isn't bad at all. Audi have had to ditch the 4WD in favour of the GT3 regulations, but the MR drivetrain gives it a new lease of life and gives it much more responsive steering. You never feel like losing control of the car in many situations, and I love that. It's very powerful but a very easy beast to tame.


The Audi, like half the other cars that actually debuted in GTPSP (fact!) has unfortunately been left in the Standard crown among those. This does affect the visuals a bit obviously, but even so, the new R8 bodykit looks imposing. It looks blocky and big, which almost makes you be scared (and you would be when you find out this thing has 540hp+). The massive wing also looks deadly, albeit a bit simple.

Also the R8 sadly doesn't get the benefit of an on board view (can you imagine that with the R8 LMS? ). However, all of the viewing angles you get with the R8 LMS are perfectly fine otherwise. I have no complaints on this front.

The R8's useability is an odd one. It has good power, enough to make it good for the Dream Car Championship (and against itself in the Nurburgring 4h!), but it is oddly enough eligible for the DTM race. And sure enough, it is the fastest eligible car for the event when stock. The R8 LMS is also a very good candidate for the Suzuka 1000km and the Gran Turismo World Championship. Of course, if you're feeling nooby, it can also destroy all the German races for you, but that's no fun.


The sound of the R8 LMS is a pretty good one considering the limited options you get with Standards. It's a nice low growl with enough revs to please most people. Think of what could be if you could get the revs higher, though!

The R8 LMS, however, has one huge setback to it. The price. If you can somehow find either this or the Team Playstation version of the car in the UCD, you'll have to fork over a sum greater than 5,000,000 Cr. In other words, more than an FGT. You could of course win the Nurburgring 4h, but that's the Nurburgring 4h, so...yeah. Getting a hold of one of these isn't exactly easy.

However, at the end of the day, the R8 LMS is a wonderful car that provides speed, good handling and enjoyment. But for 5,000,000 Cr.+, which means that you will have to work to enjoy this thing. But when you find it, you will love it.

Final Score...15/20.

Photos and writing by C-ZETA

Citroen and PD started the project 3 years ago, and this is the result. This is the road car version, so let's see what's what with this one.

Performance levels with this thing are as you would expect them to be for a supercar. 510bhp is nothing to be laughed about with this thing. It really helps it along very well. Even despite the 1450kg of weight, this thing still proves its worth very well in acceleration.

Handling is also another matter to be considered. You may think that the handling isn't going to be as good as it actually is. The GT is pretty heavy, and with enough power you might be thinking 'understeer'. Especially when you find out the drivetrain is '---'. Which is obviously a lie because there isn't anywhere in the car where three dashes are the wheels and the engine at the same time. The actual handling itself isn't that brilliant, but one key feature of the GT by Citroen helps it out enormously in this statistic - downforce as stock. This helps severely, and while looks of the car can't be improved through modification (thank gods for the Race Car! ), without the downforce the handling would probably be much worse. It's what helps the GT by Citroen compete with higher powered cars.


The GT has some very awkward, but good looks. The way the car seems to be boxed but swooping makes for an unusually decent look. The rear of the car doesn't seem to be that great, but the sides look beautiful. The front is OK. What this essentially makes the car is an 'OK looking French car'. Result!

But now it's time to move onto one very bad flaw which all three GT models suffer from...the onboard view. The space around it, the interior, looks great. The wheel looks cool and the area encloses you, which looks sweet. But actually driving in it is impossible, because there is a stupid speedometer in front of me, and a really slim window as well to add further. It gets worse with the Race Car, which really is nigh on undriveable in onboard. It kills a bit of realism with the GT (even if there's only one in the real world in the first place! ) and it's just such an annoyance. Screw you, obnoxious speedometer.

The GT by Citroen's useability rating is...alright. It will certainly work for the Supercar Festival, since it essentially is one. However, unless you modify it, there's not a whole lot the Citroen can fairly enter in. The Tuned Car Championship would be an option with better tyres, and it can certainly keep it fair in the Polyphony Digital Cup. If it was allowed in the MR Sports Cup it would definitely be good for a fair race there, but sadly the drivetrain is still, and always will be '---'. ???


Here's another annoyance with the GT by Citroen, and that is it's lack of a good sound. The Race Car's is a brilliant, high growl that screams like a baby. The Concept's is...awkward to say the least, but it sounds cool. The Road Car's just sounds...droning. It doesn't have enough life to it. You can give it the Race Car's growl with a Racing Exhaust, but this is a stock Road Car and I don't modify cars like that.

Then there's the price. Much like the R8 LMS before it, the price of this car is simply not worth it for its performance. The Road Car and the Concept both cost 2 million Cr., whilst the Race Car costs 5,600,000 (but you can win that from the B-Spec Dream Car Championship). This simply isn't worth it for me. The Concept's performance is actually probably too high for the price, but all three of the Citroen GT's are still too expensive. Yes, there's only 1 in the real world but still...come on.

At the end of the day, the Citroen GT is good at what it does, but a failure in areas that allow you to enjoy it more. Add to that its price tag, and you have a fast car for sure, but a bit of a useless one. Nice try, PD.

Final Score...13/20.

Photos and writing by C-ZETA

C-ZETA

Performance levels with this thing are as you would expect them to be for a supercar. 510bhp is nothing to be laughed about with this thing. It really helps it along very well. Even despite the 1450kg of weight, this thing still proves its worth very well in acceleration.

Click to expand...

C-ZETA

Handling is also another matter to be considered. You may think that the handling isn't going to be as good as it actually is. The GT is pretty heavy, and with enough power you might be thinking 'understeer'. Especially when you find out the drivetrain is '---'.

Click to expand...

One thing I found out was that the GT by Citroen road car had inaccurate specs:

• In real life the engine actually produces 646hp
• The car weighs 1400kg in real life
• The drivetrain is 4WD
• In GT5 this car has no date which means (in GT5 terms) that it never existed. This is wrong, because it was built in 2008 and 6 were made.

The NSX RM is not the one most people were expecting. Instead of the Type R, you have the normal Acura NSX '91 - the original NSX. Most people have probably raged on about it, especially considering the NSX can't match the Super GT versions of them. However, it is an RM, so it is very widely exploitable in tuning. LDP are one of the companies who have had an attempt at tuning it, so how well have they done?

As a fully modded car, the car's performance is obviously very high. The HP is above 420, and the low weight of a mere 1045kg helps enormously. The 5-speed gearbox makes for one very big annoyance, but at least manual users have an easier time. Except I don't use manual, because I can't multitask that well.

The handling is pretty decent. The MR drivetrain makes the car easier to corner, although a little bit of understeer is still present. The Sports Soft tyres might contribute a little bit to this, but even so it can corner quickly.


The looks are obviously still the same as any NSX RM, but the black paint and red wheels that the tuner of this NSX, Paulie, gave his NSX look pretty slick. As you can see, mine doesn't have the red wheels, but the black paint. I always think this NSX looks best in red though. Although my NSX Type R would be white.

The onboard view is actually pretty good for a race car, and it also looks pretty cool as well. Driving in it is easy, especially compared to other cars.

The useability of the NSX is pretty good with these new modifications. The Supercar Festival would probably be a good option along with the MR Sports Cup. The Polyphony Digital Cup and Tuned Car Championship would also be good options for a fair race. A good enough driver would certainly be able to have a good go in the Super GT (unless Acura is considered American in this game, I forget). If you're really pushing your luck, you could probably go for a win in the GT World Championship assuming your lineup is kind. Endurances that are good for the car include the Nurburgring 4h, Tsukuba 9h and the Suzuka 1000km.


The sound is a slight disappointment however. It's a very generic sound that many other Standards get. It just sounds a little bit different however.

The price is not cheap, but at least reasonable for what the car is. The RM stage is obviously an expensive deal, and the modifications required to get this car tuned up to this level cost more. However, compared to other cars in the class this car is, this thing is very cheap.

At the end of the day, the LDP tune for this NSX is a good one. The performance is good, the fun is right and it's a good car to drive. It's also widely useable in A-Spec events and at the end of the day is only let down by a slightly high price and a disappointing sound. Besides which, there's cars with less fuss to fun ratio around. Case in point...Super GT cars.

Final Score...16/20.

Photos and writing by C-ZETA

So then, it's time to compare these 4 vastly different and unique tunes. Who will come out on top? To compare, I'm comparing all 4 through different categories. I also tested them on the Top Gear Test Track, with laps with totally default settings on them, acceleration using the in game timer (and my rather inaccurate at times eyes) and top speed down the main runway. But first, the general comparisons.

Performance
Mustang: Massive stats, but it's not all that great. The Mustang will easily get to 600bhp, but to cancel all of that out, the Mustang had a huge 1721kg. Of course, this would just scream one single line from Jeff Gordon...

"REMEMBER!!! The car is heavy."

However, when you drive the Mustang, the acceleration on it is very nice. I'd like to see what could be done with less weight, but this'll have to do. However, the 5-speed gearbox you find in this is very odd. You get very quickly through the first 4 gears, with little difficulty. But then you shift up to 5th and it goes to lengths higher than even an NBA basketball center player could ever reach. It goes a LOOOONG way up the RPM gauge. However, this isn't all bad, since after getting through the first 4 gears quickly, you have the long 5th that boosts speed. Odd call, but good call, GTG.

G37: Not bad at all. 489bhp is plenty for this car. The 1450kg weight looks a little high, but in the end it doesn't matter because the acceleration is very nice in this as well. Also this does get a normally-ratioed 6-speed gearbox with the right amount of power throughout all of the ranges. The top speed of the G37 also tends to be rather good, as I found out when racing it as an AI on Daytona Speedway It takes a while to get going there, but once it does, its speed is really very fast. It's not quite at the Mustang's level but it is certainly good. G37 passes with merit.

S2000: Not as good as the first 2. It is lighter by a long way, but less powerful by quite a bit as well. However, AEM's objective was to make a drift machine, and make one of those too powerful and it'll spin out, but make it too heavy and it won't drift much. So in the end, AEM's way of it makes more sense. The transmission is pretty normal as well, although for a drift car you would expect it to be a bit shorter to allow for more unique and possibly at the end of the day faster drifts. But when you aren't drifting in it, you're usually OK with the tranny, so I'll give it a pass. But more power might be appreciated in the long run.

CT230R: Terrifying. Close to 600hp in a 1068kg car is almost overkill. Just consider this - it's almost 700kg lighter than the Mustang and has nearly as much power. Just consider that.

The tranny really makes the CT230R absolutely scream its way through everything. It is only 5-Speed, and it's only a Close-Ratio, which might make you go 'LOL WUT' at first. However, the gears are very short, and what this gives the CT230R is some of the fastest acceleration in the GAME. Never mind among tuners, in the GAME. It could probably even match some LMP's off the line, I kid you not. The drawback to this is a very limited top speed - you can't even hit 180 with these settings. In that case, you should buy a Fully Customisable Transmission and have a go with a few tunes for it (there was a whole shootout for the car, you can find one). But even so, the CT230R is a simply super-speed package that, I trust you, WILL beat an S2000 GT1 Turbo on twisty tracks. And remember, this thing is 4WD...

Handling

Mustang: Quite a surprise. Even though you must REMEMBER!!! The car is heavy., the handling is actually pretty smooth. Through low speed corners, it's not much of a problem at all. High speed corners are still easy as well, but it is outclassed by the G37 in this class.

G37: My pick. The G37 can hold anyone's line really well. This is partially because the G37 has less weight, and also because the ride height seems to be lower too. The catch is it seems to be better at high speed rather than low speed - it will get through the Follow-through perfectly, but sometimes goes a little wide at Hammerhead, for example. But that's not particularly common, and the G37 thus is my favourite for this category.

S2000: The S2000 is at an obvious disadvantage because unlike the other 3 cars it comes on Comfort Softs (to assist drifting) and therefore general handling gets compromised. However, even with these tyres, the S2000 doesn't handle badly at all. It does slide a bit at low speed whilst turning and can understeer a little at high speed, but it is certainly not bad at all.

CT230R: Not good. For some reason, the 4WD seems to encourage much understeer on this thing. In the slow corners, it's hopeless. In the fast corners, it still understeers. However, chances are the acceleration out of the corners is so brutal that it won't matter at all. Worst of the bunch here, but I don't actually care myself...


Looks

Mustang: ...Meh. It is the oldest of the bunch, but it hasn't aged all that well in this department. Granted, GTG have given this a good bodykit, including that huge hood scoop, but it really doesn't look a whole lot different from any other Mustang.

G37: Tied with the S2000. The general looks of the G37 are pretty good, and with a very agressive bodykit I wouldn't say no to this. However, the default adjustable paints are pretty awesome (I'd still go with the matte black regardless). However, there isn't much...on the car, if you know what I mean...

S2000: What your average sick modified S2000 should look like. The car has a very good bodykit, but I think the livery of the car is odd, but good. I'm not sure what the colour of it actually is...let's just say reddy-violet. But mixing it with all the decals makes it look pretty enhanced. The bodykit could be made a little wilder though.

CT230R: Alright, but not changed enough from the original Evo 7. The red paint job looks striking, and the decals look good too, but the bodykit is hardly there apart from the HUGE wing at the back.

Onboard view

Mustang: Pretty fascinating, if I say so myself. The number of gauges in the Mustang you see here would probably blow James May's head off (well, it wouldn't. It'd just give him a fizzing sensation). However, the hood scoop kinda blocks the last of your right hand side view. Slight flaw there, my friends...

G37: Very interesting. In the front there is a lot of tech that seems all pretty fancy, but when you look at the back and you find THIS...


...you think to yourself "I'm playing on that. Screw the car, I just want this." Of course, you can't. You already are playing on it. Playing it in this G37 would just be confusing... The G37 is the Inception fan's car, surely. Of course, you can't get out of that spot by using the G37's PS3 in real life, because you can still race in it and the PS3's still there...right, now WHERE WERE WE?

S2000: I didn't really check this out to be honest you fool.. To be honest, from what I recall, it wasn't too much special. It seemed to be the only one not to have more than about 3 devices in it...although you don't need any if you're driving a drift machine.

CT230R: Alright. It's certainly more than what you'd expect for a 1068kg car - especially considering it's got a computer. Which is also kinda weird because this car isn't road legal so I don't actually know what use that computer has. If only I owned one of these in real life... But anyway, in a 1068kg car like this, you'd expect the bare red paintwork to be just showing there. But instead, the interior looks rather normal. From the inside it seems more like 1200kg at least. Well done, HKS, for being able to remove invisible weight from a car!

Useability

Mustang: ...Not superb. The Mustang seems to have the right tools to make for a fair race in the Supercar Festival with enough tuning. Obviously the Tuning Car Championship and its endurance cousins would be a good idea, so long as you avoid The UnAmusing Speed Freak. Add the R8 LMS if you're doing the Nurburgring 4h, but don't if you visit the data thread for it. That way, you'll win in everything here easily.

G37: Also not exactly superb. See the Mustang for all info.

S2000: The S2000 is slightly weird. By default, its Comfort Softs don't make it as fast as the equivalent Mustang and G37, but with identical tyres, it can outspeed them both (not by much though...). As a result, the useability of it is virtually identical to the previous two. However, with the extra PP, it might be worth having a (very ambitious) crack at, say for instance, the GT World Championship. The fast cars will be hard to beat, but chances are you won't be left in last. The Suzuka 1000 is also worth a try as well.

CT230R: Vast improvement over the other 3. The GT World Championship is definitely a good call in this thing, and it can beat the S2000 GT1 Turbo in the 3 events it shows up in. Also since the HKS is Japanese, you will have a very easy time in the Super GT. The Dream Car Championship would be a hard battle, but I'm sure you could win it in this.


Sound

Mustang: Pretty neat, if I do say so myself. The engine noise is very, very low, but it sounds like a classic car. The Mustang is also pretty exploitable to further sound variation as well since 5th gear is so long and you drop so much RPM to it. Not the most epic sound, but I think it's realistic.

G37: Classic tuned car noise. This noise isn't realistic at all, but I myself don't mind it. Most other tuned Japanese sedans can get this noise. Most other cars should be able to get it actually...

S2000: Classic S2000 SCREAM. The revs also seem to be a little higher as well, just adding to the experience. However, these 3 are all outclassed by the CT230R...just trust me on that.

CT230R: OK, let me just emphasize on my opinion of how good the CT230R's sound is. This CT230R's sound is probably in the top 5 for all sounds in the WHOLE GAME. That's saying rather a lot. I don't know if it's realistic or not, but I hope it is. Because the only cars that beat it at all in the whole game are the Mark IV, the Murcielago LP670, the LFA and the 787B. All of the sounds they have are very realistic. So to say the CT230R's sound ranks among these is saying a lot. The sound of this thing is an UNBELIEVABLE, high pitched scream that sounds like the god of fire yelling before he hit puberty. Even though the short ratios don't let you hear it in a whole lot of detail, the sound is still just epic. This deserves one very good.

Price

Mustang: Absolutely laughable compared to the others here. The price tag for this is absolutely head-cracking. Granted it is a classic, but 725,000 Cr. of classic?! Rip-off. Get an offer going instead.

G37: Not horrible, but still a bit higher than what it could be. 200,000 isn't terribly big, but just trust me when I say you can find better things out there...

S2000: And hey, look what I found! The AEM is the cheapest of the 4, at 100,000 Cr., which is half that of the G37 exactly. With Sports Soft tyres at 8,000 Cr., the S2000 automatically gets to the G37's level. So you can get a car that's 92,000 Cr. cheaper than a car that's virtually on the same competitive level. The G37 was just rendered completely pointless...

CT230R: Compared to other cars with similar performance to it - that'll be Super GT cars, this thing is a total bargain. At 260,000 Cr., it is 10,000 Cr. more than the equivalent S2000 GT1 Turbo, but 10,000 Cr. is the approximate equivalent of 'nothing' in the land of Gran Turismo. You can also buy it before the Super GT even unlocks, so never mind the legit Super GT's - this can trounce them for not far off 1/4 of the price. Bravo!

Test results:

Lap time (bear in mind this is from a Top Gear classic standing start as opposed to a rolling start):

1. CT230R - 1:13.6. Understeery as hell, but the acceleration is so much on this car that it trounced everything else.
2. G37 - 1:18.1. Very smooth lap. Got through most corners pretty much to my line.
3. Mustang - 1:18.5. The point when I discovered that the Mustang wasn't actually that heavy-feeling. Got through the lap with most lines taken pretty darn well.
4. S2000 - 1:23.1. Tyre grip loss is the other's gain for the S2000 unfortunately. Even so, the car wasn't bad to drive at all.

Acceleration (probably inaccurate, I had to get my eyes and the speedo dead on... )

1. CT230R: 3.4 seconds. Short ratios + 4WD = almost arcade style boost off the line.
T-2. Mustang: 4.4 seconds. Dead on with the G37. Shorter first ratios and big power help, massive weight does not.
T-2. G37: 4.4 seconds. Well rounded ratios and lower weight help it match the Mustang. Would be improved with more power.
3. S2000: 5.1 seconds. Again, struggling with worse tyres. With matching tyres I would expect about 0.2 off of the Mustang and G37. Less power kind of drags it down a little.

Top speed (measured from the '07' marker at one end of the runway to the last 'X' marker at the other end.)

1. CT230R: 164mph. Acceleration gets you to 150 very quickly. Can't remember if it was at the red line, odds are it wasn't.
2. Mustang: 149mph. Extra power helps much in the long run, as does the first four short ratios followed by the long 5th to boost the top speed.
3. G37: 147mph. Power deficit hurts it against the Mustang. Lower torque is a result of it. Lower weight helps at first but the G37 doesn't seem to have good enough stock ratios.
4. S2000: 145mph. Last, but not by much for once. Since tyres only really affect your top speed at the start, the S2000 was able to use its low weight to not get hogged up by the tires much. Lack of power and torque hurt it a little but downforce setting and tranny setting probably helped it get closer more than anything.

FINAL VERDICT!!!

4. Mustang. Granted, despite the heavy weight it isn't that bad to drive and it has some relatively clever ratios, but the price gives it a huge punch to the face over the other cars.
3. S2000. Stock, the S2000 simply can't match any of the other 3. It is meant for drifting, but that's not what this game's ALL about. Still, it destroys the G37 in value, but to get that result you need to modify it, which removes the whole reviewing a car stock thing.
2. G37. Very good car to drive. The handling is the best of the bunch, and it's got good looks and a nice onboard view too. But in the end of the day, it can't compete with the sheer insanity of...
1. HKS CT230R Simply the best of the cars. I don't care if the handling is terrible when stock, you can just find a tune around the forums to cure that. The acceleration of the car is literally fatal to anything around it, the price is almost too low for the speed and the sound of the damn thing is just a bloody bulls-eye. So then, the moral of the story is...go insane with a tuner car. Well, just as long as you're not in an S2000 GT1 Turbo.

Final Scores

Mustang: 15/20
G37: 17/20
S2000: 15/20
CT230R: 19/20


Pictures and text by C-ZETA

Very nice review! Well done 👍

Uhm...wheres the RE-Amemiya RX-7? Pretty sure it would be faster than that S2000.

Other than that, cool test. I don't think the LP670 sounds realistic at all though. Sounds identical to a V10, which it isnt.

C-ZETA

Of course, this would just scream one single line from Jeff Gordon...

"REMEMBER!!! The car is heavy."

Click to expand...

Jeff Stfu Gordon. 👍

Excellent! Great review. 👍

Eunos_Cosmo

Uhm...wheres the RE-Amemiya RX-7? Pretty sure it would be faster than that S2000.

Other than that, cool test. I don't think the LP670 sounds realistic at all though. Sounds identical to a V10, which it isnt.

Click to expand...

I was mainly just using the in-game arcade cars, which the RE Amemiya isn't in (shame how it's one of only about 3 missing... ).

I've noticed the Murcielago sounds similar to the Gallardo, which has a V10. The Gallardo's sound is actually almost close to the real thing. However, the Murcielago's is higher pitched and just sounds much more epic. Plus it is realistic in a sort of sense considering how it's identical to another Lambo.