Ok so this’ll likely be the magnum opus for me in terms of number of reviews as my last write up reviews was back in early December and we’ve driven many cars since then.
Now here we in mid-March and only 10 days away from the final encore of GT6 Online, Better late than never I guess.
Let’s start where my previous write up left off, but also include the weeks pick after it, The 2007 Nissan Skyline Coupe 370GT and the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 race car.
In the early 2000’s, the R34 Skyline GT-R went out of production and the Skyline name and the GT-R emblem went their separate ways with the Skyline name now pretty much a Japan only deal with Infiniti rebadging them as G35’s(or whatever engine size you picked.) and the GT-R emblem was resigned to the GT-R Concept car.
Until 2007, When the Nissan R35 GT-R debuted with a 3.8 V6 Twin Turbo and 4wd, few years later the GT-R entered the world of GT1 and GT3 Racing.
While still japan only, the Skyline was now holding its own in the Sport Luxury class, Now with a 3.7 NA V6 making around 330hp it hasn’t forgotten where it’s famous name’s reputation came from and it’s still looking for a fight.
The 370GT handled brilliantly at Suzuka where I also won my first handicap race with everyone getting a 10 second head start on me.
Yes it was heavy at 1,660kg, but that’s still lighter than the SpecV and Nismo GT-R’s and the weight balance and suspension were set up beautifully so I could drive fast in confidence.
So as it stands, I’d liked this more grown up Skyline quite abit, It’s still got it.
Verdict: Sleeper 👍
The other side of the R34 split, the Nismo GT-R GT3 has 542hp from its GT3 spec twin turbo V6 and weighing 1,350kgs due to a complete weight reduction and the loss of 4wd, It also got slick tyres, front splitter and a huge rear wing in the deal.
Handling was on the understeery side as the huge rear wing produced more downforce than the the front, but could be managed with some finesse.
Producing a great battle at Le Mans against
@Nismonath5 which almost went the whole 3 lap distance until he ran wide and tagged the wall later on in the 3rd lap.
I’d consider the GT-R GT3 a Neutral, but more importantly, it’s a defining point for the Skyline and GT-R names.
For a long time, Skyline and GT-R were THE automotive double act you wanted and many Skyline GT-R’s of many vintages are still sought after today.
These days even though the names haven’t officially shown up on the same car again, they both have been busy in their respective markets.
In a way, The Skyline is the proud parent and the GT-R is his successful son carrying on the legacy he started. 👍
GT-R GT3 verdict: Neutral
After that, COTW moved on to some AutoX honed american muscle, The Pozzi Motorsport 1973 Chevy Camaro RS.
Another of the GT Award winners, Mary Pozzi’s Autocross Camaro is the quintessential Pro tourer with a 6.6 Chevy V8 making just under 500hp, updated brakes, suspension, tyres and weighing under 1500kgs.
Mine was dressed up like another well known Camaro of similar vintage, The F Bomb Camaro which cameoed in the finale of the 4th Fast & Furious movie, But was also known as one of the earlier cars to be a street driven car that could tear up a drag strip with a Twin Turbo V8 making around 1500hp.
The Pozzi ‘Maro isn’t cheap at 750k or 2 GT-R GT3’s plus a Lancer 1600 GSR rally car, But was it worth the entry fee?
Short answer, yes, but there’s a catch.
It’s not one you buy if you want a good bang for your buck ( or pyrotechnics for your pound
), but if you just want a well sorted classic muscle car that can handle then it’s up there with the Trans Cammer and Red Devil.
Verdict: Sleeper
👍
After this, We had our yearly award show where the banter was good and winners were humble, one of which was the Sleeper of the year, the plucky EG model Honda Civic.
It also gave Nismo a chance at redemption after our epic dead heat duel at Bathurst, first we recreated the circumstances with me on CM tyres and him on CS tyres, this time he won by around 5 seconds so I proposed an offer.
One more race, same tyres, both start at the front, the 3rd and final chapter in the Bathurst Civic Trilogy.
Like the 1st time, It was very close between us lap after lap while captalising on any small mistake anyone of us made, even running side by side going into the Chase at least 3 times.
In the end, 1.1 seconds was the difference in my favour, but a worthy finale to our trilogy(unlike The Godfather 3
)
We had plenty of other good races with the Civic that night, after which we went and enjoyed our own New Years celebrations.
New year and a new car to start with, the Concept version of what would later become the Suzuki Swift, the Concept S2.
The S2 was an absolute hoot to drive as it had a close ratio 6 speed and weighed just under a ton IIRC.
The Swift Sport was brought out during the night, but was beat down by the S2, So did the New Beetle Cup, but that put up a better fight.
Only complaint was the lack of a limited slip diff, but aside from that it handled brilliantly on and off road.
Verdict: Sleeper 👍
Next up was the Alfa Romeo Guilla Sprint Speciale from 1963.
COTW veteran
@JackRyanWMU always had this car on standby when we ran lower spec machines and after driving it ourselves, we saw why.
Bertone styled, 110hp from a 1.6 twin cam 4 cylinder and weighing 950kgs, it was just a good to drive work of art.
It handles great and the smooth body allowed it to be decently brisk on the straights, more than what it’s 110hp let’s on.
Jack was WAY ahead of us in driving this thing, but save to say his choice to pick it was vindicated after that night of racing.
Verdict: Sleeper 👍
From 4 passionate Italian cylinders to 12 smooth British cylinders with the 2010 Aston Martin V12 Vantage.
While it was heavy at just under 1.7 tons, it was packing 510hp from its 5.9 litre engine and sticker price of 217k.
And while you normally see this thing dead last in the supercar festival, We were really wringing it’s neck out this week and even ran a 25 lap mini endurance race at Brands Hatch Indy with faster fuel/tyre wear.
That battle was contested by me and Y and that came down to half a second at the end in his favour, I suspect an early off by me was what cost me as he just got out in front of me when he pitted first.
But the car was a trooper, didn’t try to kill me and was surprisingly ok on fuel too.
Another Sleeper Verdict. 👍
(Oh Vic you know your procrastination would cause this long write up didn’t you?
)
Next up was the one from the 20 million club courtesy of who else but
@Baron Blitz Red
It was the Ferrari 330 P4, you know the GOOD 20 million Ferrari.
With a 4 litre V12 making 450hp in a car weighing just under 800kgs, It’s definitely a lot quicker than the 250 GTO.
It was a well planted machine if treated with respect, but could easily turn on you if it wasn’t.
Of course as was shown by Nismo, there was some corner cutting with the visuals like the inside of the wheels.
But despite that, you can really enjoy the 330 P4 as both a collectors piece and as a racer, something you can’t properly do with the 250 GTO. (Ok I’ll stop ragging on the GTO.
)
Verdict: Neutral (because 20 million for crying out loud.
)
From Italy to the Land down under, Australia and an Aussie namesake.
The 2004 Holden Commodore SS.
Powered by a Corvette 5.7 V8, the Commodore was almost identical spec wise to the Nissan Skyline 370GT, 328hp and 1,658kgs, but the SS has 4 extra PP over the 370GT, plus 2 extra doors.
The standard SH tyres do give it the grip, but maybe a touch too much on the rear tyres so I tested CS tyres out back and it woke the car up even more, at least for me.
Around this time, we started using Discord to talk and that brings with it the taunts and such which added another layer to the friendly rivalry between me and Nismo.
Prime example? The Commodores at Laguna Seca.
Gearing was short for the first 4 gears, 5th was a bit longer and 6th was never needed, suspension was soft, but not jelly like which servered well when we went rallying at Toscana where I took down an Evo X in its element and the stock exhaust note was quite nice.
Shame Australia wasn’t better represented as it was in GT4 where you had FPV, granted 2 extra cars is hardly mind blowing, but the thought counts. 👍
So does this thought, The Commodore is a Sleeper.
👍
Next up was the car that finally made the cross over to premium spec in GT Sport, the 1997 Toyota Supra RZ. 👍
With the Legendary 2JZ 3.0 Inline 6 twin turbo up front making
“276hp
”(There’s no quotations big enough to emphasis my point.) and a 6 speed gearbox sending power to the back, there’s not much to say about the Supra that hasn’t already been said about it so i’ll say this.
Drives good, stops well(ish) and could do with a weight balance adjustment to reduce understeer.
The standout event was again at Brands Hatch, this time on the GP layout and the challange was our twist on the One Lap Magic events from GT4.
Me and Nismo had the GT500 Supras and everyone else drove the normal Supra with a 30 second headstart, plus we all had SH tyres and on top of that me and Nismo had to make one pit stop during the 5 lap race.
Sound impossible? almost was as I passed the front runners on the last turn on the final lap.
So Supra: Sleeper 👍
GT500 Supra: Sleeper (why not?
I’m saving the X2014 Jnr for the last double review so let’s jump to the Acura RSX Type S
A slightly tamer Integra Type R so Neutral verdict and moving on.
On to the BMW 330i, a step up from the normal 4 cylinder models with its 254hp 3.0 Straight 6 and was the flagship 3 Series model until the M3 debuted with the 4.0 V8. 
Stock sound was pretty dull, but handled quite nicely, enough for me to snipe another victory from Nismo at Eiger.
While it didn’t wow me, it also beat my expectations that it would be too subdued to be a sleeper.
So to that end, I’m gonna call it a Sleeper, but only just.
Verdict: Sleeper 👍
Back to Japan for the final 3 cars and we’ll start with the Honda Intergra Type R Touring Car.
A more hardcore version of the Integra Type R so Sleeper Verdict and moving on.
We now come to the Red Bull X racers and we have both the least powerful and the most powerful variants, the X2014 Jr and the X2011 Prototype respectively.
We’ll start with the Jr and it’s 258hp 2.0 litre engine, easily underpowered for its PP level of 728().
But the brilliance of the Jr is you spend most of the time on full throttle as like the other RBX cars it has incredible levels of grip, like you can go around Deep Forest and stay on the throttle for about 90% of it without issue.
Of course as Nismo almost found out to his cost, it’s best to avoid the kerbs at high speeds as it can unsettle the Jr quite easily.
But if you trust it, you can really overcome its power deficit to other similar PP machines or pass 2 people on one turn, one on the outside and the other on the inside in one move.
Overall, It’s arguable the best of the RBX series in some eyes because it’s both approachable and fun to drive for all skill levels.
Verdict: Sleeper 👍
And the X2011 is from a power standpoint, the king of the RBX castle at 1634hp, but the stock downforce levels means you can’t tackle the corners with the same level of confidence as the Jr, granted you’re going nearly twice as quick as what the Jr can do stock.
But that low downforce should mean a high top speed right? Yes over 300mph, but it’s the gearing that stops you, not aerodynamic drag.
While by itself it’s 6 million price puts it on par with the rest of the RBX Fan Cars(Personnaly the 2010 S. Vettel is the one I take as that has more suited gearing and downforce.), It’s 5 million more expensive than the newcomer which undermines the X2011, Its 4 letters and one word.
S R T Tomahawk X
Yep, it’s MUCH more powerful, MUCH cheaper and more spectacular to drive and see at work.
So in a VGT less world, The X2011 is Neutral, but in a VGT filled world, It’s a Beater by comparison.
Verdict: Beater 👎
So here we are again Vic, pulling a near all nighter to do this, but i’m now back up to date and I feel better for it or maybe that’s me needing to hit the hay and grab some Zzzzzzzz.
, I learned the hard way I wasn't as good as I thought I was. I had a fairly rough start with my awareness while racing... as 
So anyway, my rather extended search of emplyoment is kinda dragging, and the money at my current job isn't exactly much for life savings.. I'm paying my bills, but that's about it. 
