CAR OF THE WEEK! Friday 14/09/12

McClarenDesign · Sep 14, 2012

Announcing the 32nd installment of the Car of the Week series.

A chance for everyone on GTPlanet to get behind the wheel of the same car and give it a thorough going over. The aim is to get people driving what they wouldn't usually drive, or cars that may have been overlooked. They may be great, they may be terrible, but as part of GT5 they deserve discussion right here.

People can show off their amazing photos, trade tuning tips, race one another and review that weeks nominated car. Lap times can be posted, top speeds and acceleration times compared and tips on handling discussed.

We are starting to develop a brilliant bunch of regular contributors but I very much encourage everyone to get involved and have their say. Every week (almost!) a poster will be picked for their contribution in that weeks thread to pick the star car for the following week. Ask anyone that has so far been chosen to pick and I am sure they will tell you what an honor it is! So get involved and it could be you!

Car of the Week - What do YOU think of the car?

So, without further ado, this weeks star car of the week...

A short time back, I mentioned a Top Secret prize for the winner of last week's Car of the Week. The prior winner couldn't be reached in time, so we pulled out the Karmann Ghia out of the reserves. Well folks, it's time for the big reveal... and the timing couldn't be worse.

Two weeks ago, albeit late, porthillking chose this:

Image Source

2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren (19inch Wheel Option)

Last week, krenkme chose this as his reward:

Image Source

1961 Jaguar E-TYPE Coupe

Given recent the recent passing of Prof. Sid Watkins, I think it's only fitting that we pay tribute to the man that helped bring driver safety into the 21st century.

Rather than pit these two mis-matched foes against one another, I'm evening up the odds. The second half of the Top Secret prize is:

Image Source

1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupe

VS

Image Source

1966 Jaguar XJ13 Race Car

It's Jaguar vs. Mercedes-Benz, and an extra treat, your gauntlet is Circuit de la Sarthe 2005 (No Chicane). Let's pay tribute to the man that tried desperately to save us from killing our selves... by trying to kill ourselves (on the track, emo kid, on the track).

rumblina · Sep 14, 2012

Great cars. I have run the xj13 around the Sarthe a few times but never the '54 Merc. Will still do both as a comparison

iainn · Sep 14, 2012

Eh? How many COTW are there then, 2 or 3?

So the SLR McLaren isn't a COTW, it's a prize? Am too confused, and I'm getting miles behind in posting on these, still have the Hyundai to do. Although I did paint a Karmann Ghia black yesterday in preparation.

MustangManiac · Sep 14, 2012

This is going to be almost too much fun 👍

Woodski_427 · Sep 14, 2012

iainn
Eh? How many COTW are there then, 2 or 3?

So the SLR McLaren isn't a COTW, it's a prize? Am too confused, and I'm getting miles behind in posting on these, still have the Hyundai to do. Although I did paint a Karmann Ghia black yesterday in preparation.

I am also befuddled :confused:

but it looks like XJ13 vs 300 SL on Sarthe as a kind of alternatve Jag/Merc head to head, or something.

Beware, the Hyundai is a bit addictive :dopey:

Baron Blitz Red · Sep 14, 2012

Nice! A pair of iconic beauties on an iconic track seems fitting enough... This should bring some interesting results I would think. 👍👍

Have a good one

iainn · Sep 14, 2012

The XJ13 is another car I have loads of, one chrome line one, one prize and two birthday ticket ones! Will get the white one out for this challenge I think.

I think I've only used the 300SL on the AMG driving test thingy, so that will be good too.

Should be some great photos from everyone this week.

krenkme · Sep 14, 2012

A months full of cars in one week

.... I like it :dopey:

McClarenDesign · Sep 14, 2012

iainn
Eh? How many COTW are there then, 2 or 3?

So the SLR McLaren isn't a COTW, it's a prize? Am too confused, and I'm getting miles behind in posting on these, still have the Hyundai to do. Although I did paint a Karmann Ghia black yesterday in preparation.

It's all 4. Welcome to my world (i.e being behind on reviews). Now suck it up, Buttercup, and get racing.

Woodski_427
I am also befuddled but it looks like XJ13 vs 300 SL on Sarthe as a kind of alternatve Jag/Merc head to head, or something.

This week is Merc vs Jag. The 4 cars are your options. Select a winner, and tell us why.

Woodski_427 · Sep 14, 2012

All four. OK.

I hate this, you start doing CotW because it seems like a good laugh, something a bit different. You dabble a bit and you like it. Before you know it you're doing it every week. Even when there's too much, *sniff* you know, there's...too many to deal with, you still do it cuz you want more, see. Now it's too late...you can't walk away..you're hooked.

McClarenDesign · Sep 14, 2012

Woodski_427
...You dabble a bit and you like it. Before you know it you're doing it every week. Even when there's too much, *sniff* you know, there's...too many to deal with, you still do it cuz you want more, see. Now it's too late...you can't walk away..you're hooked.

1st taste is always free.

krenkme · Sep 14, 2012

Woodski_427
All four. OK.

I hate this, you start doing CotW because it seems like a good laugh, something a bit different. You dabble a bit and you like it. Before you know it you're doing it every week. Even when there's too much, *sniff* you know, there's...too many to deal with, you still do it cuz you want more, see. Now it's too late...you can't walk away..you're hooked.

We need to set up a support group.

"Hi, my name is krenkme and I'm a CotWoholic"
*hi krenkme*
"Its been three days since I've driven this weeks car..." :dopey:

Baron Blitz Red · Sep 14, 2012

Where do I sign up???

Have a good one

McClarenDesign · Sep 14, 2012

3 days? That's a record!

krenkme · Sep 14, 2012

I know! I need to get home :dopey:

MustangManiac · Sep 15, 2012

With four cars to do this week my wife may just cut me off! Luckily for me, she has her clincals test this coming Friday so she will be busy studying 👍

Two down, the 300-SL and E-Type, two to go!

McClarenDesign · Sep 16, 2012

Round 1

VS

MustangManiac · Sep 16, 2012

Bringing a gun to a ~~Mac~~ Merc knife fight

The combatants:

1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupe

1961 Jaguar E-Type Coupe

1966 Jaguar XJ13 R/C (aka the gun)

2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

To any who got the "Mac The Knife" reference, you just might be as old as I am

Here are the numbers:
..................stock... / oil change / tune
M-B 300 SL..206/398....216/405....288/442
Jag E-Type...265/439....278/446....371/483
Jag XJ-13.....499/589....524/597....n/a
McLaren SLR..598/571.......n/a.......704/595

Numbers from the test track:
............MB-300 SL........Jag XKE.......XJ-13...McLaren SLR
............stock/tune......stock/tune.....stock....stock/tune
1/4.mi..15.716/14.182-15.135/13.173-10.819-12.183/10.949
1.0 mi..38.452/34.568-36.129/33.166-26.374-29.416/26.840
0 - 60..07.303/05.809-06.716/05.006-03.187-04.063/03.094
to 100..17.818/12.614-14.716/10.112-06.138-08.490/06.441
max g..00.580/00.650-00.550/00.730-01.110-00.900/01.170
maxspd.148.30/146.00-140.80/140.50-201.80-207.30/207.40

Best of five laps at Circuit de la sarthe '05 no chicane:

M-B 300 SL.....4:59.527 / 4:41.742
Jag XKE-Type..4:51.002 / 4:28.932
Jag XJ-13 r/c...3:40.641 / no tuning
McLaren SLR....3:58.661 / 3:41.436

Observations:
The 300 SL had great acceleration and handling for a car of it's vintage. The CS tires were a minus of course and it was all too easy to find their limits at the track. The SH tires and better handling on the tune more than made up for the loss of top end from the close ratio box.
The Jag E-Type, what can I say? One of my all time favorite cars! The model is not very well done in the game though, I used to own a series 1 E-Type and it is nowhere near as loose as depicted here. Still a ton of fun to drive, especially tuned. Not sure what the deal is with the top end, the older XK-150 had a top speed of 150mph, this car had the same, but newer 4.2 ltr straight six, she should have done better.
The Jag XJ13, I can only say wow...a true racers race car! It doesn't get much better than this!
I was just a bit dis-appointed in the McLaren SLR. Given how much newer she was with all that tech I had her pegged as the odds on favorite here. Oh she had plenty of power and speed to burn, maybe a bit too much. She was pushy in stock form and I hate a pushy car. She was much better behaved with the tune, the RH tires and suspension mods certainly helped her greatly. Still lots of fun to drive and a wonderful sound. All I can say is...close, but no cigar.

And the winner is...

The Jaguar XJ13 by a scant 0.795 seconds!

krenkme · Sep 17, 2012

okay, here is the wierd thing. Four cars this week, all amazingly beautiful, and three that Clueless Tunes have tunes for... the other is the one I got to choose :dunce:

So my plan is to share photos and tunes first, and then compare them at the end... but I'm lazy so that most likely will not happen :dopey:

first up:

"Attentäter"

Here is the tune

Woodski_427 · Sep 17, 2012

One of my friends does some test driving every now and then - way back when (11 or 12 years ago?) it was his main job, he did V-Max testing on the SLR. He said he didn't quite manage 200mph - the track is quite short. I sometimes met him in the pub after his shift - he was still sweating from the adrenalin :lol:

MustangManiac · Sep 17, 2012

2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

McLaren, the name conjures up power and speed...race cars!
Mercedes-Benz, the name is synonymous with beauty, power and luxury.
McLaren-Mercedes, combining the two means exactly what? If you are expecting a true race car you may be a bit disappointed. If you are
expecting a true grand touring ride you will likely be quite pleased.

My first surprise came while shifting through the gears at the test
track. With the racing heritage of McLaren I thought perhaps a seven
speed, at least a six...only a five speed gearbox! Given the power and
speed the gears were very long and drawn out as one would expect. What
at first seemed a minus quickly became a plus at the track. While I am
sure she gave up a bit of time through the corners with these tall gears
it was a very pleasent drive, something I can rarely attribute to any
car making fast laps around De La Sarthe! The top speed just a few ticks
shy of 208mph stock was quite impressive as well!

Then came the push, not surprising for a heavy, luxury ride one would
expect from a grand tourer, especially one with Mercedes reputation for
luxury.When I went to tune her I thought "there really is no need for
more power or speed, what I need is to shed some weight to tame that
push". The surprise came when I entered the tuning shop, the only weight
options were to either add weight or redistribute it, no putting this
car on a diet!

So it was back to my usual mild tune: intake/exhaust, drive train,
gearbox, suspension and tires. This is where the work of McLaren surely
came in, I got a rather massive increase in horse power (106) and a
fairly minimal increase in PP (24). What this tells me is that the
engineers had gotten nearly all one could out of the motor, and there is
certainly nothing wrong with that!

Another surprise came when taking to the track in the tuned car with all
that power increase, the suspension mods and better tires had tamed most
of the push. Normally, when I take a car that pushes and add power and
speed it just gets worse, the SLR actually got better. The tighter
gearing helped her through the corners, but detracted from the
pleasurable experience of the stock car. I did manage to cut over 17
seconds from my lap times so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Like I said before, if you are looking for an all out race car you will
be disappointed, but if you are looking for an exceptional grand touring
machine you would be hard pressed to find one better than this car.
While she didn't have quite enough to take it to the Jag XJ13 on the
track, she was awful close, that simply isn't what she was built for. My
guess is that she would be a great choice for an endurance race, just
swap the stock rubber for some racing hards and you are all set. Nobody
is going to run an enduro flat out every lap like we do for timed runs,
it would wear both driver and car out. You could drive this car all day
long, nearly effortlessly and with plenty of speed. I usually do not
equate fast laps and pleasurable driving, it is normally white knuckle,
on the edge driving. Not so with this car, she is a joy to drive.

MustangManiac · Sep 19, 2012

Hey, where is everybody? I noticed we have a poll included and that Mercedes is leading. What I don't notice is any times backing up those opinions

The history of Mercedes vs Jaguar at LaMans:
From it's inception in 1923 to 1939 no Mercs or Jags won this race. It was cancelled from 1940 to 1948 due to WWII and reconstruction. In the ten years following that the winners were:

1949 - Ferrari 166mm
1950 - Talbot-Lago T26-GS
1951 - Jaguar XK-120 C
1952 - Mercedes Benz 300 SL
1953 - Jaguar C-Type
1954 - Ferrari 375+
1955 - Jaguar D-Type
1956 - Jaguar D-Type
1957 - Jaguar D-Type
1958 Ferrari 250 TR58

No Jag or Merc would win the event again until...

1988 - Jaguar XJR-9 LM
1989 - Sauber/Mercedes C9
1990 - Jaguar XJR-12

A few other fun facts about this event:
DRIVERS
most wins - Tom Kristensen with 8
consecutive wins - Tom Kristensen with 6
winning drivers per nation
1 - UK with 29
2 - France with 28
wins per nation
UK and France tied with 40
CONSTRUCTORS
Porsche - 19
Audi - 11
Ferrari - 9
Jaguar - 7
(Mercedes is in a three way tie for tenth with Lorraine-Dietrich and Bugatti with 2 each)

So contrary to our poll all you Mercedes lovers (and voters) need to put up some numbers 👍
Nothing personal, just trying to whip up some friendly rivalry...and posts

Sorry for the double post, but nobody else is posting :guilty:

Highrev · Sep 19, 2012

Hi there, first time taking part on the car of the week topic, so be gentle.

For my first time posting in these threads i took the 300 SL around the circuit de la Sarthe. I'm not very good with pictures so bear with me. I did only 1 lap with the car completely stock and then 1 with a medium tuning (intake, exaust, transmission, suspension, drivetrain and sports tyres), posting times of 5:00.371 and 4:32.553 respectively.

The stock Car is a joy to drive, handling very nicely, even on confort tires. There's a moderate ammount of understeering if you go too fast into a corner, but letting off the gas just momentarily is enough for the car to pull back inside the corner. Aceleration wasn't blistering, but was faster than excpected. Top speed was a nice 238 Km/h (on the other side brakes were lackluster, making me go wide on the Mulsanne). The car sound is very pleasing, i could drive it all day and not get tired of it; the stylish red interior is also partially responsible for this. The stability was a good surprise, even with the somewhat soft suspension. You could easily be doing 120 Km/h and the car would behave as if you were going around the block at 40.

The tuned car however, proved to be a completely different animal. The sound coming from the new exhaust was much more aggressive, complementing the new behavior of the whole car. Acceleration drasticaly improved, as did the turning characteristics. The car was much sharper around the few low speed turns and the couple chicanes near the end, while allowing you to carry a higher speed on the sweeping bends.

Again i overestimated the brakes, despite increasing them to 7/7, and went wide on the Mulsanne, but this time not without letting some rubber on the track. I adjusted the suspension only slightly as to not change the car's characteristics too much, but the slightly lower ride and stiffer springs ensured that whenever i went over the curbing the car lost some traction, causing me to oversteer at the Indianapolis. My own fault for going on the throtle too hard.

The car was almost 30 seconds faster, reaching a top speed of 260 Km/h but not nearly as nice to drive as the stock configuration.

krenkme · Sep 20, 2012

@MustangM - nice numbers. I have been busy, so that is why no posts from me, but I'm hoping soon :nervous:

@Highrev- welcome to GTP :cheers:

. Beware once you start with the CotW you won't stop. (It's not a bad thing 👍 ) great read and hope to see some more from you in the future :dopey:

Now if only I would get off my butt and do something creative :lol:

MustangManiac · Sep 20, 2012

Welcome Highrev, good to see you posting. Nice review, I think I left plenty of rubber on the track from the 300 SL myself

Hope you continue to play along!

1966 Jaguar XJ13 r/c

Another surprising drive for me. Given the vintage of this car and the nature of similar beasts I found her fairly well behaved. I was expecting something more along the lines of the GT-40 or AC Cobra, cars that demanded you either finesse or fight them around the track. I think that the long racing heritage of Jaguar, even with this early model, clearly showed itself with this big cat.

She had plenty of power and speed with a top end of just over 200mph. The five speed gearbox was well mated to the car, even on the long Mulsanne straight she only cut out on the rev limiter at the very end. This probably would not be an issue with the chicanes in place. Her braking really stood out, I could brake late into the corners and still maintain steering control under fairly hard pressure. If she started to get squirrelly a quick release of them and a stab at the gas usually righted her quickly. The handling was superb, much more refined than I had expected.

So I was thinking about running her in the 24 hour of LaMans endurance race. I decided to see what I could get out of a full fuel/tire run. I was running 15 to 30 seconds slower than most of the newer cars that show for this race, but they generally pit in 5-7 laps. I was trying to make 10 laps, but came up just short, 9 was the best I could do. My fastest of those was on lap 8 though so she wasn't giving up much over the course of a tire run. I just might be able to stretch it to 10 if I adjust my driving, but I am not sure what that would do to my lap times. I may just have to start a race and see where I find myself after a stint or three. By the way, have you ever taken a leisurely cruise around Circuit De La Sarthe at about 40 to 50 mph with no back tires? There is a lot of scenery to take in that you usually do not see at 180+ :sly:

Woodski_427 · Sep 20, 2012

@highrev, nice work. Are you doing any of the others?

I've done some driving of all the cars this week, but it was was late and laps started to get ragged! I've driven them on Trial Mountain and Sarthe and and I was a bit surprised about where a couple of the cars felt more at home. Not sure when I'll get chance to do some writing though.

jedisteampunk · Sep 20, 2012

Hi guys I've been out of the loop with C.O.T.W. for a while now, (health problems, and trying to drive whilst on strong medication doesn't help lol). So for the moment, I will just post a few old pics that I made a while back, I hope you like them. Cheers.

P.S. And just in case your wondering how I managed to open the doors, well all I can say is that it did involve using a crowbar.

Highrev · Sep 20, 2012

thanks for the the warm welcome

I did take all of the cars around the track, but having only 1 gaming hour per day i had to choose one to take the pictures and make the review.

McClarenDesign · Sep 20, 2012

Highrev
thanks for the the warm welcome
I did take all of the cars around the track, but having only 1 gaming hour per day i had to choose one to take the pictures and make the review.

Check your PMs.

MustangManiac · Sep 20, 2012

1961 Jaguar E-Type Coupe

* disclaimer * The E-Type Jag is one of the few cars in all of gt land that I have owned, driven and club raced. PD really missed the mark with the physics model on this car. The cars handling is excellent and I have never had the rear end slip out on me the way it does in the game. Stick some RH tires on her and she will be much more true to real life...trust me.

She fell about ten mph short of real time top speed, but I was able to best the stated 0 to 60 by about .4 seconds. She was more than capable of taking it to the LaMans winning 300 SL on the track both stock and tuned by about 8.5 and over 12 seconds respectively.
The gearbox was well suited to the car although the gearing a bit short for that long straight at LeMans. The close ratio box certainly helped her through and out of the corners. Handling was capable, more so when tuned. I did notice however that the curbs tended to upset her on faster corners. Braking was strong, not surprising given that Jag was one of the first to install discs on all four corners of their road cars starting with the E Jags predecessor the XK-150.

A few racing facts:
In 1975 a series 3 E-Type with a V-12 took the SCCA Production Sportscar group 44 championship.
A few years later a privateer team running a series 1 E-Type, "Grand Turismo Jaguar" out of Cleveland Ohio took the SCCA C-Production class championship. They beat out a full factory funded Nissan Z-car team run by none other than Paul Newman himself.
Go Team JAG...who me, biased...why would you think such a thing

**CAR OF THE WEEK! Friday 14/09/12**

Insightful, but bollocks.

www.raceonoz.com

TeamJaguarUSA

Insightful, but bollocks.

Insightful, but bollocks.

Insightful, but bollocks.

TeamJaguarUSA

Insightful, but bollocks.

TeamJaguarUSA

TeamJaguarUSA

TeamJaguarUSA

TeamJaguarUSA

Insightful, but bollocks.

TeamJaguarUSA

Similar threads

CAR OF THE WEEK! Friday 14/09/12