Well 🤬, so much for not falling a month behind on car reviews.
Ok to business.
The TVR Griffith, there are not many cars that AREN'T Japanese that have survived from the first game and are still with us now after being in all the major versions of GT (Spinoffs like Prolouges and Concept don't count.).
The Griffith follows standard TVR protocol, be made out of Fibreglass, have no drive assists and sport a manly engine.
The engine in question is the Iconic Rover V8 that saw duty in dozens of British cars
in different displacements from as low as 3.5 liters in the Rover SD1 and all the way up to 5 liters in the Griffith we have here.
Making 340hp and weighing just over a ton, It's definitely got the get up and go you expect.
What you don't expect is the Understeer, despite a respectable weight distribution it pushes wide in the turns.
Perhaps it's down to the 205/55 sized front tyres and 245/45 sized rear tyres or the suspension being quite soft on the front.
Either way, it's set up to be more forgiving for the beginner driver as it can bite if pushed far enough.
At just under 59K, it does make up for the understeer by being a cheap V8 soft top sports car, especially compared to other V8 soft tops like the AC Cars 427 S/C priced at nearly 425k.
So the classic British sports car this time is a Neutral verdict.
Now on to the Tuner Car of the 4 and it's pretty mild tuning in the grand scheme of things.
The TOM's X540 Toyota Chaser was a tribute to the company's involvement in JTCC ( The Japanese Touring Car Championship to you and I.) where it dominated it's class with a Toyota Chaser in 1998.
With some minor upgrades to the 2JZ GTE, it upped the power to around the 315hp mark which hauled almost 1500kgs of weight through a 5 speed gearbox.
The Chaser does however run into the same issue as the Griffith as in it'll understeer going into the turns because it's still a luxury car and it's still got to accommodate everyday driving.
Without a stock Chaser to compare it to,
I've decided to use the '91 Toyota Aristo instead.
Both have the fabled 2JZ engine, both are luxury cars and both are rear wheel drive.
Now the Aristo in game has CS tyres (IIRC) stock whereas the Chaser has SH tyres, Now imagine if the Stock Chaser was in the game as well, you can be sure it would've had CS tyres as standard like the Aristo.
Granted the tune up of the X540 Chaser is definitely mild, but it's also one of the cheapest Tuner cars in the game at just 50k so that can be rectified.
If you however, factor in the understeer and the fact that it doesn't feel as energetic as you expect in acceleration in stock form, it is unfortunately a Beater. 👎
Next up The ASL Garaiya GT300 Base Model.
The one that was being tested was the Nissan VQ V6 powered model, but seeing an opportunity to stand out and also make a point, I picked the older SR20 Turbo powered model.
2 things in favour of the older car, It's lighter by 50kgs and is HALF the price of the newer model at 250k.
Things against the older car, less powerful, isn't premium, has a lower performance ceiling if both cars are tuned and doesn't have the option to be painted.
Was the newer car worth double the price compared to the older car? It depends on what you do with it.
If left stock, then no as the older car can do the job just as good for half the price.
If you want your car to stand out and have more potential when tuned and you can stomach the extra 250k you pay for it, then yes go for it.
They both handle about the same, quick, but can get real tail happy if you push it past it's limits.
So if compared to its older brother, stock for stock it's a Beater. 👎
If judged on its own merits, Its a very capable Sleeper. 👍
And last but by no means least, The original "Hot Hatch.
The 1976 VW Golf GTI.
The car that showed that practicality didn't have to be boring.
Packing a 1600cc fuel injected 4 cylinder engine, it made around 110hp, hauling only 820kg by the front wheels through a 4 speed manual gearbox.
Even though some of the drivers were concerned about understeer, I found the Golf to be quite responsive and fun to drive even when racing around a very wet Nurburgring.
During our nights racing, our resident comparo driver
@JackRyanWMU brought out the early 2000's Golf GTI to compare.
I flat out said that it was going to lose at Laguna despite his car packing more power simply because of the weight difference, 820kg to 1280kg.
And no prizes for guessing what happened.
And looking at the other stats it's no surprise either, despite the dealership specs saying his car had just under 150hp and the old Golf had just under 110hp, there was only 2PP difference between them.
And the kicker? The old Golf is less than half the price at 15k to his Golfs 31.5k.
So the original Hot Hatch still has the moves to outrun its younger brother despite the 25 year gap.
Verdict: Sleeper
👍
