* sorry for the double post, but this is going to be long with all these pictures.
1984 Ferrari 288 GTO
Nice looking car, but how will she stack up to my beloved 458 Italia?
She comes in at 393hp/520pp and where else would you go to test a Ferrari (other than Fiorano which is not in the game) but the home of the Italian GP itself...Monza! I swear this track has been in nearly every race game I have had in the past 20+ years and is one of my favorites for high speed, high powered cars.
Traffic jam heading into Roggia on lap 1.
Monza TT, best of 5 laps:
1:52.547
I thought the Nardo would put up a better fight, I took her rolling outside through Lesmo 2.
I had plenty of speed to dispatch with these two screaming up Serraglio and getting back outside for Vialone.
I got by the Boss 302 early in lap two at Rettifilo and caught up to the California at Lesmos.
Using the same outside maneuver as I did to take the Nardo at Lesmo 2 I get by the California through Lesmo 1.
So I finish the back half of lap 2 thinking: Is this all there is? So I'm just cruising down the front stretch on lap 3 when I notice a flash of orange in the rear view...it's the Nardo and it is coming hard!
So the sight of that orange beast about to drive up my tailpipe woke me up and I thought that I just might have a race on my hands. 🤬 that big W12 is fast on the straights! I was able to gap him some on the twisty bits though.
The Nardo closing in entering the Parabolica on lap 3...
...and looking to make the inside move entering Rettifilo early on lap 4.
Wash, rinse, repeat...I could get a little gap on the twisty's and the Nardo would close it back up on the straights. I had to block the inside move going into Rettifilo on lap 5. He is getting dangerously close now and I am thinking I am going to need a near perfect lap on this last one to pull this off.
I noticed that they added about a yard of tarmac to the outside of many of these corners, now I know why and I am using all of it trying to gap the Nardo.
Walikin' the line, I almost lose it coming out of Ascari, one more big corner to go!
The 288 GTO takes the checkers a scant .385 seconds ahead of the W12 Nardo
Well , that was fun, I don't usually get much of a race out of the AI, but that Nardo was on my tail for the final 3 laps of a 5 lap race. One little slip and I could have easily snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Monza 5 laps vs pro AI:
Finish: P1, total time - 9:49.957, best lap - 1:54.596
Beater or sleeper, c'mon, it's a Ferrari. She's certainly no beater and I couldn't imagine anyone being surprised that she's fast. How fast is hard to tell. I blew by the California at Monza with no problems and I believe it is about the closest other Ferrari in pp value. Of course, PD's AI isn't usually the best judge of a cars character if you know what I mean. I just may have to go get a California now and she how she stacks up. The Italia was one of my all time favorite cars in GT5 to race, but I haven't driven her in GT6 so I can't really judge against that either.
I guess if I had any nits to pick at all it may be these two: the brakes were strong, but could have been better. I didn't try the racing brake option so that may solve this issue. The curbs at Monza are quite small, but they did tend to unsettle the GTO more than I expected. Softening the suspension might help, but more often than not I tend to stiffen it at a track like Monza. It could have just been me also, who knows? This really is just nit picking though, I'm not sure if I ever drove a car at Monza that I didn't feel I NEED MORE BRAKES
just seems to be the nature of this track.
Final verdict: She's Ferrari, she's gorgeous, she's fast...what more could a man ask for? Maybe those four blondes, but you can't have everything...where would you put it all