Beater or Sleeper? GT6 Car of the Week Thread

[MustangManiac]

Love Pontiac, hey Vic, ya forgot the Grand Prix My very first car was a 70' gen 2 GP with a 455 👍

 

[Vic Reign93]

Love Pontiac, hey Vic, ya forgot the Grand Prix My very first car was a 70' gen 2 GP with a 455 👍

View attachment 159072

Trust me, the cars I listed barely scratched the surface of what Pontiac made.

The Tempest LeMans for example is where the GTO got its roots from as the engineers wanted to build a "Super Tempest", it was also a middle finger to GM's policy on the A body intermediate engine size limit of 5.4L because the GTO package was an option, not standard equipment so it fell in to a loophole.

Pontiac got around more than most would notice which is a shame because think about this,

Without the Firebird? It wouldn't be Smokey and the Bandit. 👍
Without the Aztec? It wouldn't be pre meth making Walter White.
Without the GTO? Lots of action and comedy movies without a hero or villain car.
Without the Grand Prix? You would have a completely different first car.

 

[JackRyanWMU]

Love the Pontiacs. Miss the Pontiacs. Going to enjoy a Pontiac tonight!

Dare I suggest it? A race tonight with tuned up '64 GTOs against its more modern iteration?

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

This really gets my GOAT...


I've always wondered why the GTO was called the "Goat". I thought for the most part it was due to dyslexia, cause there's no way to get goat from GTO without it... but that's just mean, if you listen to my mom. But hey, the nickname took and according to some, it was for a reason. Some people say, much like the animal, it "eats just about anything" on the road. Other people use it as an acronym... as in it eats Gas Oil And Tires! Well I guess this week, we're about to find out if any of this is true.

The differences between the two looks are like night and day! (little joke about the pics... Get it?)

As mentioned before, this newer version of the car was based off the Australian designed Holden Monaro. Well I'm glad we went with the American version due to the fact it's $34,490 and 350 hp compared to the $47,960 and 328 hp for the Aussie car of the same year. OUCH!!!

I guess I shouldn't complain about the price because according to some people on this thread, I'm supposed to be a maple baron (cause I'm Canadian eh! ). So, I went ahead and dropped another $52,600 on the older '64 version. I'll be bringing that along too just to see how it does... it is fairly close PP wise.

So older versus newer GTO's.... who will win? Well, you could use the big crystal ball behind the cars to predict the outcome, or even better, just pop by tonight and see for yourself! Muahahaha...

Cheers

 

[Zenmervolt]

OK... Time for me to catch up on my reviews.

 

[JackRyanWMU]

The biggest thing that I don't like about the newer GTO is that it doesn't look much different from more mundane Pontiacs of the time. Sure, it makes the car Sleeper material, but for a car meant to compete against the Mustang, it really needed more distinctive styling. Probably the main reason it was never a big sales hit was that while it has the GTO name, it doesn't really look the part.

 

[MustangManiac]

Pontiac GTO 5.7 coupe 04​

She's not terrible looking, but I never cared for the design change from the previous generation of GA/GP/Bonneville.

Hello old friend, out muscling the Mustang SVT up the hill at Laguna.
She came stock at 352hp/468pp and my tune had her at 443hp/500pp. Besides the usual bolt ons I put a race suspension (soft, since I was at Laguna) and race brakes to help with the lack of braking which I thought was a weak point for this car.

A Calloway C12 making himself really wide.
Laguna Seca TT, best of 5 laps.
stock: 1:46.283
tuned: 1:37.054
It was strange at the TT this week with this car while stock, I can almost always find more speed with each successive lap, but I just couldn't find any more time with this one. Four of my five laps (I had one red) were covered by less than .2 seconds. She is stable and consistent if nothing else.

Passing the Z06 Vette for P1.

IB Tour of America, 4 laps at Laguna Seca, 600pp/SS
stock: P3 / total time 7:10.042 / best 1:46.283
tuned: P1 / total time 6:41.228 / best 1:37.469

P1 at Laguna Seca
There is something about this car I just can't get into, might have something to do with she is a Pontiac and they call her GTO. I was in the camp that didn't care for this at first and I still don't...I just don't think she deserves it. Styling wise, I prefer the last gen Grand-Am/Grand Prix/Bonneville to this new GTO/G series of cars. Handling/performance wise, I prefer my wifes 04 Grand-Am GT, it is much tighter and more precise in handling and faster than you need to go on city streets. She gets off the line very quick, has great torque steer that you have to counter that seems a bit intimidating to those who were beside you when you left...but don't tell my wife I said that I found that she handled like a much bigger, heavier car and the brakes were a real sore spot. It may be PD's modeling or it may be accurate, I don't know, I have never driven one, I just didn't care for her. I didn't even get a real sense of speed until I tuned her up a bit. Sorry Pontiac fans, she gets a beater vote from me, maybe my bias is showing as I was alive and drove the original goats.
That's it from me this week, time to go watch Monaco 👍

 

[stash]

Took it to Brands Hatch at 608pp and compared it against a 611pp Ferrari 599 and a 602pp CUSCO DUNLOP IMPREZA '04.

In the GTO with no tuning (all upgrades but no further tweaking) I managed a 1:26.424. Before i got the 26 i did four 1:27's in a row. After the 26 i went off track twice trying to better the time.

The 599 all upgrades no tweaking managed a 1:24.542 but it took me upwards of 5 tries before i completed a lap without going off.

The IMPREZA managed a 1:23.278 on my first try.

I love this car and I think it can be a 600pp killer with a bit more tuning. It's very consistent once you learn its strengths.

 

[McClarenDesign]

Congratulations JackRyanWMU!

Sure, it makes the car Sleeper material, but for a car meant to compete against the Mustang, it really needed more distinctive styling. Probably the main reason it was never a big sales hit was that while it has the GTO name, it doesn't really look the part.

Well, that and GM is retarded... What's your poison, Jack?

2005 Chrysler 300C!

Looks like our credit scores have taken a hit this week. Sign the loan, make your payments, then get your butt to the track for #GranTurismoTuesday!

Best Lap: 8:17.032​

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

Having read this from the car description: "A respectably-sized vehicle at 4,999 in. long and 1,882 in. wide..." , I really think we are in desperate need of that course creator... NOW!!!

Cheers

 

[Vic Reign93]

From 5.7 Chevy power to 5.7 Hemi power.

In stock form it's not great, as described it's quite cheap but you'll notice it immediately with the low grip tyres, soft suspension and bulky curbweight.

Of course, you might be saying, well of course it's like that, it's a luxury car after all so performance isn't important. To which I would reply, 1: it's not even a good luxury car and 2: why give it a 5.7 Hemi if the car isn't running at least sports hard tyres?

In summary, stock for stock it's a whole lotta crock.

Tuned however......

With modifications, my own personal 300C runs well over 250 mph and is ironically painted like a "real luxury" car with black and Gold bling rims.

Put it simply, it was built for @Grayfox 's Troll Car Thread. 👍

So stock? Beater. Tuned? An 830+hp sleeper.

 

[Grayfox]

Put it simply, it was built for @Grayfox 's Troll Car Thread. 👍

So stock? Beater. Tuned? An 830+hp sleeper.

No, No it wasn't.

My troll cars are exploit lightweightedness and steer like they are on rails.

 

[Vic Reign93]

No, No it wasn't.

My troll cars are exploit lightweightedness and steer like they are on rails.

Ok it's not a troll car in the conventional sense that it's a featherweight sports car but, in terms of unassuming looks and nutty power, it's more than capable of getting me thrown out of lobbies on the basis that I was "hacking" and still getting laughs for how it looks and goes.

My troll car views are, heavy cars made light and driven quick and cleanly.

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

The 2005 Chrysler 300 C Ya Later...

"Am I racing this thing or driving Ms. Daisy?"

"The performance oriented 300C sported a potent 5.7 liter Hemi V8" was dubbed the "Demi Hemi"... http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2005-chrysler-300c-hemi-road-test

Speaking of Hemi Power

"Eight cylinders hump out the Hemi's 340 horses and 390 pound-feet of torque, the power slipped under the floor to the rear where, in full fury, it paints the road with 10-foot patches of rubber and shoves the mass to 60 mph in a torrid 5.3 seconds. When not needed for saving time, four of the Hemi's cylinders switch off seamlessly to save fuel (see sidebar, "Demi Hemi")." (from the Car and Driver article)

I've never taken one of these out before yesterday, neither in real life nor in a video game previous to GT6. I usually avoid big sedans like the plague. I'm not a gangster nor a pimp nor a family man, so 2 doors are what I go for unless it's a work vehicle, and those you'll never see in any video game. This thing though, has me questioning those reasons... but it's probably just the HEMI power talking.

So Beater or Sleeper??? It's big, it's way too heavy for my liking and it's a Chrysler. It may be the sporty model, but there's a reason it's not a Dodge. From what I've read in Vic's posts above, it can be a monster... and with my brief experience driving it so far, I'm surprised it's not on the D1 tour because it does nothing but drift and smoke tires. I guess I'll find out later tonight as to what I really think about it. Because either way, whether it's a Beater or a Sleeper... "300 C Ya Later" will suit the judgement just fine.

Cheers

 

[Lewis_Hamilton_]

Bah, just watched back the Nurburgring GP/F race to see why I was losing time. I see we didn't have to change to mediums in that race. D'oh.

Good racing tonight.

 

[MustangManiac]

Chrysler 300C 2005​

Yeah...she's got a HEMI
This car is crazy, I was expecting a big old boat and the performance was surprising. The stock numbers are 339hp/456pp and my mild tune brought those to 431hp/486. If this thing acts anything in real life like it does in this game I would hate to have to pay for the rear tires, just sayin'.

Who would have thought that a car this size would make a good drifter?
Willow Springs-Big Willow TT, best of 5 laps:
stock - 1:33.303
tuned - 1:28.273

Somebody has good taste in cars, he even has the same color.
IB Fighting Muscle, Spa Francorchamps 3 laps. <600pp - SH tires
stock: P3 / total 8:59.393 / best 2:57.972
tuned: P2 / total 8:45.660 / best 2:53.788

Just a little hip-check on the Caddy.
Like I said, I found the performance of this car surprising. She didn't have near the body roll I expected, the brakes were quite good for slowing a car down of this size given the speeds she hit and although the stock box certainly wasn't made for the track, it was far from the worst I have seen. She just didn't seem that fast while driving though, which tended to lull me into a false sense of security on numerous occasions...resulting in more than a few off track excursions as I got used to her. That long, lazy slide she would pull, right up to the point of snapping around on you made for a bit of excitement as well. Not to mention her ability to shred a set of rear tires down to the nubs without even thinking about it.

Last weeks cotw, the new goat, made a showing at the second race. A poor one, starting and finishing dead last.

A Viper huh...pffft...move over sonny boy

Did I mention that she could shred tires with the best of them?
This one is a sleeper for sure, I didn't expect anywhere near the performance she had 👍 If I have time this weekend I may go full out GT3 with her. Engine mods, weight reduction, wing, the works. If Bentley can do it with the Continental, why not do it with the 300? They look kind of alike anyway

 

[MustangManiac]

300C-GT
Imported from Detroit
​

I passed that McLaren...once.
I went all out on this one, full weight reduction, full engine mods, wing and a supercharger. What I ended up with was a monster with 796hp/601pp and 801 ft.lbs of tire smoking torque!

WHEEEEEEE, I can fly.
Big Willow TT:
stock: 1:33.303
tuned: 1:28.273
300GT: 1:15.966

I knew that McLaren was going to be trouble.
IB Fighting Muscle, 3 lap Spa Francorchamps.
stock: P3 / total 8:59.393 / best 2:57.972
tuned: P2 / total 8:45.660 / best 2:53.788
300GT: P1 / total 8:05.066 / best 2:38.715

Hiya Kaz
Since I have been having so much fun with the S-class Nurb 24 event with the Beemer VGT I decided to go give it a shot.

192 mph bouncing off the limiter down the back straight
I guess I could have stretched out the gears a bit and went faster, but was that really necessary? She was enough of a handful as it was.

I pit in at P11, out at P10 and this was the pass for P9.

The final pass for P8.

Working hard to keep that Audi behind me.
After three offs on my first lap I started over with level 20 rear down-force, added 50Kg 11% to the rear giving me a tidy 50/50 split and taking the pp down to 599.

It was a rough 24 hours.
Okay, maybe she isn't really a GT3 car. She is too big, too heavy, the race brakes didn't help much and she just didn't have the down-force for the handling, she was a handful and even worse in the rain!
S-class Nurburgring 24:
P8 / total 30:20.917 / best 9:22.342

 

[Vic Reign93]

On the subject of the 300C, I was walking past a jaguar dealership the other day and spotted an used SRT8 300C with the 6.1 Hemi going for £15.000. If one could keep up with fuel costs then it's a good bargain. 👍

 

[Lewis_Hamilton_]

If one could keep up with fuel costs then it's a good bargain. 👍

Heh, I know we don't pay the most in the world, but I do get a chuckle if I'm in an OZ/US room and they're discussing gas prices . I wish that's all it cost over here, instead, it's about £85 ($142) to fill up a Ford Focus, and the diesel version hitting the £100 mark.

Even just 11 years ago when I started driving, it was less than £40 to fill my up Nissan Almera I had at the time, but that thing could be thrashed in the redline all day and still be impressively fuel efficient.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Heh, I know we don't pay the most in the world, but I do get a chuckle if I'm in an OZ/US room and they're discussing gas prices . I wish that's all it cost over here, instead, it's about £85 ($142) to fill up a Ford Focus, and the diesel version hitting the £100 mark.

Even just 11 years ago when I started driving, it was less than £40 to fill my up Nissan Almera I had at the time, but that thing could be thrashed in the redline all day and still be impressively fuel efficient.

Heh...

I got my license back in '98. I remember gasoline for $0.79/gallon for a while during a price war between a couple of stations and filling up the tank in my old Accord (with pop-up headlights!) for around $10.

 

[Zenmervolt]

It's always sunny at the Willow Springs complex. Often painfully so. Squinting through the glare this morning reveals a large black shape idling in the pit lane. My walk slows as a few choice thoughts cycle through my brain. "I've paid all my bills, haven't I? Yeah... I'm sure I have... Maybe I shouldn't have left a bad review for that Italian restaurant on Yelp..."

Nice forum post you have here. It'd be a shame if anything happened to it... A real shame...​

I may not be a fan of Chrysler, but even I have to admit that there are few cars that carry the same level of menace as the mid- and late-2000s Chrysler 300. To my great relief, the example waiting for me at Streets of Willow contains not angry mobsters but only my editor - my angry editor yelling something about a failure to submit reviews for the last several cars I tested. Still, there's no tommy gun hidden in a violin case, so I'm calling this a win.

Handled very gently, it doesn't look too bad through the corners.​

Of course, looking menacing and actually having the stones to back it up are two very different things. While the base 300 with the little 2.7 liter V6 was something of a paper tiger, its bigger brother 300C with a full compliment of 340 hemispherical horses wasn't. At least, not in a straight line. Through the corners it's a bit more like having a tiger by the tail.

This is not a sport on the track where you're supposed to get loose.​

They say that loose is fast, and normally I agree, but the 300C goes just a bit too far. Last week's GTO laid down a frankly surprising 1:20.963 but the best I could coax from the overweight and twitchy 300C was a 1:24.697. The big, scary-looking Chrysler can't even keep up with an '06 Focus through the corners. I'm not entirely sure how Chrysler managed to take a Mercedes chassis and take all the German-ness out of it, but they did; the 300C may be related to the W211 E-Class, but the relationship seems most properly categorized as "estranged." At the Mercedes family reunions, the 300C would be the weird second-cousin with a mildly worrying interest in taxidermy.

No, see, spinning isn't fast. Fun, yes. But not fast.​

While the 300C may not be very good for driving, at least, in stock form, it's great for looking at and I suppose that counts for something. Still, if you want more, like driving pleasure or an interior that doesn't have bits falling off, it's best to look for something else. Like a W211 E-Class. The little interior bits will still fall off, but at least it'll be fun to drive in the meantime.

Obligatory doughnut.​

Placeholder For Specs

 

[RockMoo57]

@McClarenDesign Do I still have time to review the 300C or should I wait until next week?

 

[Lewis_Hamilton_]

Mc, are you ok, are you still alive? Is cotw still on for tonight?

 

[McClarenDesign]

@McClarenDesign Do I still have time to review the 300C or should I wait until next week?

Feel free to post a review at any time of any of the previous cars. I myself am months behind due to a hand injury, and should be back up within a week, if I can get the time to actually write a few out. No harm, no foul.

Mc, are you ok, are you still alive? Is cotw still on for tonight?

I've had some random power outages that have kept me from posting. I'm not sure what happened Sunday night, but the moment I got home yesterday, a squirrel decided the heat was too much, and took his own life via power transformer.

Moment of silence for the retarded squirrel....

Congratulations Lewis_Hamilton_!

As a consolation prize for needlessly changing tyres, I gave him a choice in this week's Car of the Week. He then returned the favor, offering up a car with a moustache, a battery fire, or...

the 2003 Ford SVT F-150 Lightning!

So, it's time to show everyone how tiny your penises really are, without the offensive and potentially ban-worthy pics.

Tonight is still on, at the usual time. Tonight's BONUS race will feature Senna's 97T Lotus at Monaco, and it's BYOB! Bring Your Own Balls! @Lewis_Hamilton_, Roscoe will have to stay in the truck.

 

[Vic Reign93]

You have impeccable timing @McClarenDesign, I was just about to call it a night.

(Moment of silence for the now very fried squirrel )

Seeing as this is quite late, I'll do a small review on the bonus race car, The Lotus 97T.

Recently I tried my hand at the Ayrton Senna tribute, at the Brands Hatch Time Attack I got to grips with the majestic, yet insane Jet black rocket and banged in a frankly blind luck run of 1:03.481 which according to the "Did you beat Senna's times?" Thread put me a nuts hair ahead of some very fast WSR racers.



(Apologies for the less than stellar quality )

When tamed, this car just flies.
This car safe to say, is the most fun I've had in Gran Turismo for a quite a while. 👍

 

[Zenmervolt]

 

[RockMoo57]

Ford SVT F-150 Lightning '03​

I heard a knock at the door, startled, I rushed to see what it was. Upon opening the door I was confronted by a 250 pound man, who immediately introduced himself as Ruckus. He was an aging man, about 45 years old, and spoke with a deep southern drawl. "I've got a vehicle for you to test.", he backed away to reveal... a Ford F-150. Noticing my look of disappointment, he continued:"That there's an SVT Lightning, it's got 796 horsepower". He said goodbye and hopped in a Mustang and sped off.

It was just me and the truck now, upon closer inspection I noticed the black wheels and racing suspension. This truck meant business. I fired it up and listened to the mighty V8 rumble. On the dashboard was a note "I've signed you up for a race over in England, you best win it." The next day I was on a plane to Kent, England, to visit the temple that is Brands Hatch. Once there I fully realized the caliber of competition in attendance. Mustangs,Camaros,Challengers, a Viper and even a Ford GT. There was no way I could win this event. It was hopeless, sure it had more power than a nuclear submarine, but it also had the weight of the Vatican City. The race started innocently enough with a surge past a few cars, but then I discovered how much an almost 800 HP truck understeers, it had biblical amounts of understeer coupled with power oversteer. Despite these traits I managed to take home first place. The tour's next stop was Spa-Francrochamps, after adjusting the setup a bit, understeer was reduced, but not eliminated. The truck still had enough understeer to cut the second half of the bus stop chicance in second gear. Nonetheless, I understeered away with another win. The grand finale was at the fabled Eiger Nordwand, those two words could only mean one thing... UNDERSTEER. Because, I was too stupid to say no and to worried of speaking with an unhappy Ruckus, I entered. Yes, there was enough understeer to last a lifetime, but the truck (Which I shall now call Truck Norris) claimed its third victory. As a reward for my exemplary performance, Ruckus let me keep the truck.

Now for the fun part, a Nurburgring hot lap, visions of a certain black Buick, endlessly rolling over, haunted my dreams. Alas, I set off, the car handled the lap surprisingly well recording a time of 8 minutes and 3 seconds, impressive, to say the least.

So, beater or sleeper? Sleeper, definitely, this car has so much power, it makes up for any amount of cornering deficiency. The biggest thing that makes it a sleeper is its PP, 576, which makes it a monster for career races. Plus with a lowered suspension and matte black wheels, it looks plain sinister. Truck Norris is a force to be reckoned with on any track. (Photos of Truck Norris can be found on my Flickr, Rmohr514)

 

[Lewis_Hamilton_]

I've had some random power outages that have kept me from posting. I'm not sure what happened Sunday night, but the moment I got home yesterday, a squirrel decided the heat was too much, and took his own life via power transformer.

Moment of silence for the retarded squirrel....


So, it's time to show everyone how tiny your penises really are, without the offensive and potentially ban-worthy pics.

Tonight is still on, at the usual time. Tonight's BONUS race will feature Senna's 97T Lotus at Monaco, and it's BYOB! Bring Your Own Balls!

Good to see you've got your problems sorted. How does fried squirrel taste by the way? After CoTW, I'm going to do a few laps of Bathurst in the 97T if anyone wants to stick around. It's an amazing combination.

 

[McClarenDesign]

Can someone take over hosting on Tuesday nights?

 

[MustangManiac]

Another one I have not driven since GT5, should be interesting. I wonder if she is faster than the old Camino SS?