Beater or Sleeper? GT6 Car of the Week Thread

Also, are spoilers and such allowed in the time trials and the saturday+tuesday events? I'm assuming they're not.

Here at COTW, it is stock cars... so oil changes, chassis re-enforcement and custom wheels are allowed. The only thing you can "tune" is the brake balance on most cars. Anything else beyond that (which includes body kits) wouldn't be accepted in the Time Trials (or TT's as we call them) or the races... unless we do Bonus races where tuning may be allowed if the host announces it.

Cheers
 
Oh boy. London really is NOT the track for the Griff 500 :). They don't seem to like each other at all... I think Matterhorn or another ondulated track with smooth flowing corners suits it alot better. And how on earth could someone set a x.56.0xx??
 
TVR Griffith 500 '94
5.0L
340 hp / 5,500 rpm
351 ft-lb / 4,000 rpm
1,060 kg (2,337 lbs)
495 pp

What could be bad about a car that weighs as much as the new fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 and has more than double the power? Check out the company this Gryffindo- I mean Griffith, keeps.

1:20.551 - 476 - Toyota FT-86 G Sports Concept '10
1:20.577 - 499 - Subaru Impreza WRC '08
1:20.617 - 484 - Opera Performance 350Z '04
1:20.707 - 496 - TVR Cerbera Speed 6 '97
1:20.801 - 482 - Toyota Celica GT-Four Rally Car (ST205) '98
1:20.861 - 502 - Amuse Nismo 380RS Super Leggera
1:20.865 - 481 - Ferrari 512 BB '76
1:20.876 - 488 - Lotus Elise Sport 190 '98
1:20.888 - 463 - Honda NSX Type R '92
1:20.895 - 482 - Lotus Esprit V8 GT '98
1:20.902 - 505 - Aston Martin DB9 Coupe '06
1:20.962 - 488 - TVR T350C '03
1:20.993 - 495 - TVR Griffith 500 '94
1:20.996 - 551 - Ayrton Senna WSR, 1983 Ayrton Senna
1:20.998 - 493 - RUF BTR '86
1:21.004 - 497 - Lotus Elise Race Car '96
1:21.109 - 501 - Ford Mustang Boss 302 '13
1:21.124 - 511 - Jaguar XKR Coupe '10
1:21.163 - 488 - BMW M3 Coupé '07
1:21.177 - 500 - Nismo Skyline GT-R R-Tune (R34) '99
1:21.191 - 546 - Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG (R230) '04
1:21.198 - 479 - Lotus Esprit V8 SE '98
1:21.226 - 491 - Gran Turismo 350Z RS
1:21.274 - 473 - Ford Escort Rally Car '98
1:21.315 - 469 - Lancia Delta HF Integrale Rally Car '92
1:21.407 - 499 - Callaway C12 '03
1:21.461 - 560 - Caterham Seven Fireblade '02
1:21.479 - 493 - Nismo Skyline GT-R S-Tune (R32) '00

Quicker than the Mustang Boss 302 '13 even! And to think this car will be legal to import in the US in just 3 years. Maybe I'll sell a body part for one. Other than the V8 rumble to give it away, this car is a total sleeper. It can be tricky to avoid oversteer, but that's where all the fun is.

My time of 1:20.993 was a unicorn. It's an easy 1:21 car all day with the DS3.

 
And it's only a smidge slower than the younger T350, no less! Proof that Peter Wheeler's TVRs are truly timeless machines in terms of performance and allure... Being faster than a single-seater racing car doesn't hurt its chances either.

Also, regarding racing for tonight, I will have to be absent one more time. Taking care of my family's dog isn't exactly an easy task, and he needs to be tired out in order for the family to sleep well. Ergo, by the time the racing starts I'm preparing the "tools" to start the journey. :lol: Sorry for my continued absence, but I haven't had the time to train and/or join the racing in a way where I won't be just a simple roadblock for the other drivers here...
 
Hello To Everyone, I personally tested the Griffith, and here's my results.



- Cornering : Oh boy, the cornering... it's basically what i thought of the Griffith : a huge amount of understeer until you get in the dirt, or grass where it pass to some oversteer, which put me a lot of problems on my 6 laps of tests around Grand Valley, i didn't made a single lap where i didn't get out of the track. but i did get a lap time around the 1'37.





-Performance : To my mind, the performance of the car is quite good, it's 348hp 5.0L V8 give good speed (i reached 301 KM/H Without any modifications to the power) and a descent acceleration combined with it's lightweight chassis (1060 kg to be exact) with a 0-100 Km/h in the arounds of 6 seconds, quite descent for a Lightweight Sportscar.



- Personal opinion : It's not a bad car in terms, but its steering just make this car a little bit Meh, and you can find better cars for the same amount (57730 cr.).

Final Rating : 6/10.
 
Well, this TVR is a car you have to spend some time with to get used to so you can truly appreciate it. It sounds good, looks even better, and I'm sure it has a lot of potential if you tune it right.
The racing tonight was great, thanks for hosting! It was a pleasure to meet those of you who were there. I saved the replay of two of the races, so I'll drop some photos from the races tomorrow or later.
Verdict - Sleeper.

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I've got a few more but I hate those jagged lines you'll see on a standard model like this so I can't be arsed to fix anymore of those.
 
I tried to like this car, really, I did!
Nismo reviews the TVR Griffith 500
Autumn Ring - Mini_1.jpg

Understeer, then oversteer.

TVR is a manufacturer I'm not all too acquainted with. All I know about them is they make some freaky awesome paints, and the bonkers Cerbera Speed 12. I first saw the Griffith in GT1, and I had to drive one as part of the licensing tests. It was super difficult to handle, but looking back on it I initially blamed the game's physics, since simulators 15 years ago were nothing like what we have now. However over the course of this week, I learned that, nope, it really was the car at fault. :crazy:

Grand Valley East.jpg

Sporty roadsters require sporty colours!

Ah, but "at fault" is such a harsh way of putting it... It's not that the Griffith is a bad car, it just takes some getting used to its unique characteristics. TVR make cars that demand to be driven, not simply used for the daily commute. And nowhere is this more obvious than the powerplant. It's a 5L V8. This in itself should let you know that it's going to be a monster, I mean last week we were surprised at the Clio's performance, and now we're hopping into a car with over double the engine. :eek:

Thing is, I reckon it's looks are the problem. It doesn't look bad, and I'm not saying it looks bad, but it looks rather unassuming. There's no aggressive looking aero kit, no low front splitter, thick rear wing, massive brakes, or anything else that might make you think "Oh cripes, I'm climbing into a monster!":nervous:. No, it just looks like a fun little roadster that you'd take for a cruise and maybe a fun drag race on the highway.

Autumn Ring - Mini.jpg

Ash holds his line despite traffic behind him

Grand Valley East_1.jpg

Chrome... must be McClaren!

Fuji Speedway GT_1.jpg

First lap, first corner!

But I'm getting sidetracked, all we at COTW care about is how it felt to drive. And after Tuesday, I was ready to say "not good.." But like I said, all you need is to get used to its characteristics. You can't get away with last minute late braking, the brakes aren't that good. It is quite dangerous without TCS, even more so on sport hards. The slightest whiff of a rumble strip or grass and it'll understeer if it was a front wheel, oversteer if it was a rear wheel. Weight isn't an issue either, as there's barely a ton of it to throw around. It could perhaps do with some camber, just to aid it when turning in or going for an apex, but other than that the handling shows no real flaws. :D

I had mixed results in the races. On some tracks, the Griffith was quite good to me, and on others, it said "🤬 you, I'm the boss!". The race at Fuji was quite awesome, with plenty of runoff and nice wide lines, I was able to battle through the pack and gain a sizeable lead. Until Baron got past everyone else and had clear air, but even then I was able to keep him at bay and deny him a win.
On one occasion, we even took our Griffiths off road, and it did pretty well as a rally car! Not exactly a WRC winning vehicle, but it wasn't hopeless on the dirt!

Toscana_1.jpg

Who said Kiwis can't fly!

Toscana_3.jpg

Grass-blasting.

So what do I think of the Griffith?
Well, as previously stated I'm not exactly a TVR fan. But the Griffith seems to be one of those cars where mastering it will make you a better driver. It's not the best car at the pp level (I slaughtered everyone in the lobby in a GT300 RX-7. Yes, even Vic and Baron!), and it's far from being my favourite car, but for what it is, logging some serious miles in this machine and throwing it around will really refine your racecraft. It's gutsy, temperamental, light and cheap, and for that reason I'm calling it a sleeper! 👍


The rest of my pics from this week:
Grand Valley East_2.jpg
Grand Valley East_3.jpg
Fuji Speedway GT.jpg
Toscana_2.jpg
Tsukuba Circuit_7.jpg
Special Stage Route 5 Clubman.jpg


P.S. As some of you may know, Brad's in Austin for the F1. So I'll once again host the goings on for this next week. The new car will be announced later tonight!
 
Okay, so for this week I was browsing, looking for someone to pick, then my little sister told me of a car she'd like to see us review. She doesn't play GT6 or anything, she just likes it... for some reason. :boggled: Normally this wouldn't be enough motive for me to go with her decision, but when I looked at it I agreed it's quite under represented in Gran Turismo, and therefore deserves our attention for this week.

Anyways, congratulations Hayley Howe!!!!

It's Japanese. It's RWD. It's a tuner car. And it's damn good value. :)
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It's the Tom's X540 Chaser!!!!
Man, is it difficult to find a decent image for it!

Chasers used to be quite well represented in GT games, I especially loved the LM Edition in GT1, but for some reason they didn't make it past GT2, and this tuned one is the only Chaser you'll find from GT3 onwards. It's remained pretty well hidden from the gamer's eye, especially in GT5 and GT6. Well now it's time to pull it out, brush off the cobwebs and see what it'll do!!!

This week's TT will be on my backup club, located at the amazingly fun and fast Watkins Glen circuit, courtesy of @nascarfan1400.

I'm guessing Brad'll be back by next week. But from what I've seen, he's nicking bits off the Sauber team's F1 car, so if his return is unexpectedly delayed, we can only assume he's in a Texas prison... Or under a new identity. On an unrelated matter, please welcome our new COTW host, Barry Mercedes! :lol:
 


You look at the track records of French cars, and it sometimes seems like the French Army has had a better history of successes. But this Renault Clio is far more like the Battle of Hastings than the Battle of Agincourt. In fact, it's biggest shortcoming may be that it handles tight corners with such aplomb that it surprises you like William The Conqueror crossing the channel. It's an absolute sleeper.



As for the Griffith 500, I missed this week's Tuesday races because I couldn't resist enjoying the launch of Battlefield 1, but I have driven the car in offline mode and have pretty much concluded that the Tamora does everythg the Griffith does except in a Premium package, therefore I have to call the Griffith a Beater.
 
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Having your sister picking cars, eh @Nismonath5? You're learning from Brad fast, giving other family members the trigger to the gun that might kill us... Was it an offer you couldn't refuse? :sly: :lol:

As for the Chaser, well, I know very little about it. I know I own one, but it's more or less collecting countless pixels of dust in my vast garage. I do not recall the Chaser being a bad car, but it lacks any major calling cars other than being the only surviving big Toyota sedan from the '90s after GT2 (god only knows why did the other Chasers and Mark Vs eliminated after that game)... Of course, the fact that it's a Standard model does not help the Chaser's chances.

It might be more powerful and sportier than a normal Chaser, but just how sportier it is? Will it feel like a speedboat, or just a plain old boat when we hit a corner? I fear that this might oversteer more than the TVR...
 
Well people, here's the officially unofficial results for the "Griffiths have claws, so be gentle when" Playing with TT's event...

Victory_Reign93: 0:56.064
BaronBlitzRed: 0:56.722
Braulioej2: 0:56.922
G_ASHER: 0:57.533
Rob_on_Drums: 0:57.951
mightylieven: 0:58.464
RacingOtaku86: 0:59.046
thematic604: 0:59.584
bigharpking: 1:00.170
gidelol: 1:00.724

Cheers
 
I said I would do a review for the Griffith, and here it is. The Griffith is one of those staple cars of Gran Turismo since the beginning. Being a faster car in its class, it was a force to be reckoned with. I have a personal love for this car, just the looks makes people turn their heads. It's been one of my go to cars since I first drove it in GT3, and since that game this car kinda has lost its fanbase. Sure, people probably still drive it, but there are cars that others prefer, like the Tamora or the Speed 12. Driving it it GT6 is sort of a letdown as well. I remember in GT3 that this car was so crisp in performance that really anyone could drive it. In GT6, it's plagued with understeer that takes careful driving to get around. Still though, it has a raspy V8 that churns out 335 hp, and really is still that force to be reckoned with a minor suspension setup.

It's a sleeper for me.
 
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Chunnel traffic...

Well the past 2 weeks have seen some surprises. Unexpected surprises at that. Let's start off with the Clio...

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I may have mentioned once or twice in the past that I'm not the biggest fan of FF cars. Actually, it's more like prejudice. So when I see that our COTW victim is of that drivetrain, it's pretty well an automatic write off. But cars are like women... you never know what you're getting till you jump in and take it for a ride. ;)

And with Clio, she was actually fun... I ignored this one, but after my workouts, I'd go back! With FF cars, understeer is usually a major factor, but it wasn't all that bad to be honest. It's pretty feisty too, even in its stock form. One of those don't judge it by it's cover type of cars. I liked it... so much so that I'll give it a sleeper and a keeper rating.

Speaking of understeer...

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This was the other surprise, especially with my beloved and sorely missed TVR's... one of my favourite English brands. As mentioned before, this model has been in every Gran Turismo, but GT6 is the only version that I didn't like it. It drove like it was one of those awful V6 FF cars... understeer city. It really felt Dolly Parton front end heavy. But it shouldn't have been, as it's rated as 54/46 F/R weight ratio.

Personally, I just think it's another victim of GT6... there's been other cars effed up here, as they were stars in earlier versions. But then again, other cars have went from dog's breakfasts to sleepers in some cases. It is this knowledge that saves the 500, and earns it a Neutral status... it should've, could've been better as it was in previous versions.

Cheers
 
No worries @Draggon! :cheers:

The term "tuner car" is a very broad term. In GT6, it ranges from insane purpose built rides like the Amuse S2000 GT1 and HKS CT230R, to humbly upgraded machines like this week's Chaser.

I thought it would be put on SS tyres, but we had to deal with SHs, which all in all wasn't a bad thing. It still displayed good all round stability, but is a little heavy, which is to be expected since it's a luxury saloon! :D

The Tuesday races were awesome, there was a good variety of results, tracks and battles. What I got from that night is the Chaser's quite a jack of all trades. It can go fast when you need it to go fast, sideways when you want it to go sideways, and is a neat package for 50k!

Full review and pics on Sunday!
 
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