Car of the Week 228: COTY GTS Finale

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Omg, omg, OMG!!!

I love the controversy! I propose a death match between you and Square. Loser buys each COTW member 2,000,000 GT7 credits!!!







….. a thumb wrestling match could suffice in place of a death match if the participants feel that is more appropriate 🤷🏼‍♂️

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Long story short, this is a huge disagree from me. In fact, I think it is THE best Gr.1 car in the game. It was the fastest Gr. 1 car around the Nords (05.31.657), and actually the fastest racing car of the entire game (non-fictional/non-open wheeler). I found it to be rather well behaved, sometimes slightly snappy sure, but still very good to drive. It means it was faster than ALL older and ALL newer real life Gr.1 entries and that says something...It was also my go to car to grind for credits in GT Sport on Monza, where it ALSO was very competitive all around! The only track, where it might actually be worse, than only the older Gr.1 monsters, is, of course LeMans.

In GT7 I loved shooting it around LeMans in the track experience challenge and managed to even beat the gold time by ~6 seconds. I love that thing!


The Nordschleife may be THE place to test a car's capabilities, but I don't think Nordschleife lap times are a good indication of a car's capabilities, if that makes any sense.

With several lengthy straights, Nordschleife lap times will always favour cars with more outright power way more than any other track (other than la Sarthe and Route X obviously). The Peugeot 908 is a Gr.1 car with a nice balance between handling and top end, hence why it's no surprise it'd be the quickest around the Nordschleife. The Hybrid cars sacrifice top speed in higher gears because they divide their ICE engine output to propel the car and charge their batteries, causing them to lose out to everything else in the category. If you have the videos of all the Gr.1 cars around Nordschleife, you can see the top speed difference between the hybrids and pure ICE cars. Around most tracks, the Hybrids would be comparable, if not faster, than the Peugeot, while offering WAY better controllability and fuel economy.

How does the Audi R18 compare? I found it much easier and pleasant to drive. Also, are you on a wheel or controller?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but if you did that Le Mans run post 1.13, then it doesn't mean much. The target times are set with launch day's HORRENDOUS slidey physics in mind. After 1.13, many RWD cars became several seconds faster, without any adjustment to the target times. I could've sworn I saw a clip of Super GT moaning when spinning out on the right kink into Indianapolis during Circuit Experience but I can't for the life of me find it.
 
The plot thickens!!

We (I) want more drama!!


View attachment 1161430

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You want some drama? Ok, here goes:
Gettin' in the mode... :P

W8ykmuc.gif


The Nordschleife may be THE place to test a car's capabilities, but I don't think Nordschleife lap times are a good indication of a car's capabilities, if that makes any sense.

With several lengthy straights, Nordschleife lap times will always favour cars with more outright power way more than any other track (other than la Sarthe and Route X obviously). The Peugeot 908 is a Gr.1 car with a nice balance between handling and top end, hence why it's no surprise it'd be the quickest around the Nordschleife. The Hybrid cars sacrifice top speed in higher gears because they divide their ICE engine output to propel the car and charge their batteries, causing them to lose out to everything else in the category. If you have the videos of all the Gr.1 cars around Nordschleife, you can see the top speed difference between the hybrids and pure ICE cars. Around most tracks, the Hybrids would be comparable, if not faster, than the Peugeot, while offering WAY better controllability and fuel economy.

How does the Audi R18 compare? I found it much easier and pleasant to drive. Also, are you on a wheel or controller?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but if you did that Le Mans run post 1.13, then it doesn't mean much. The target times are set with launch day's HORRENDOUS slidey physics in mind. After 1.13, many RWD cars became several seconds faster, without any adjustment to the target times. I could've sworn I saw a clip of Super GT moaning when spinning out on the right kink into Indianapolis during Circuit Experience but I can't for the life of me find it.

Can't really agree here either. While there are tighter tracks, where the newer Gr.1s are faster, and while the older monsters are quicker around LaSarthe and Monza, the FAP (lol) remains not only a solid, but great choice. It feels amazing to drive.

Having said that, I have to admit, that even with their PATHETIC top ends, the new Gr. 1 offerings faired pretty damned well on the Nords. The fastest of them was the Audi R18 '16 with an 05.35.567. They are great cars, and yes, easier to drive, than the FAP.

In GTSport I was on a T-GT. In GT7 I am on PS5 Fanatec DD Pro.

Regarding your polite way of saying my LaSarthe run was nothing special: I am aware of the physics changes and all that encompasses it. Being ~6 seconds faster, than the gold time, on a track, which consists of what feels like 80% straights, seems not an average feat to me. I got a suggestion: Try to beat it.

P.s. You're right: The Nordschleife is not a good place to test a car's capabilities, it is a GREAT place to do just that. Basically every single auto maker agrees, sorry. kiss

Sassy mode off/
 
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View attachment 1161475

You want some drama? Ok, here goes:
Gettin' in the mode... :P

View attachment 1161476



Can't really agree here either. While there are tighter tracks, where the newer Gr.1s are faster, and while the older monsters are quicker around LaSarthe and Monza, the FAP (lol) remains not only a solid, but great choice. It feels amazing to drive.

Having said that, I have to admit, that even with their PATHETIC top ends, the new Gr. 1 offerings faired pretty damned well on the Nords. The fastest of them was the Audi R18 '16 with an 05.35.567. They are great cars, and yes, easier to drive, than the FAP.

In GTSport I was on a T-GT. In GT7 I am on PS5 Fanatec DD Pro.

Regarding your polite way of saying my LaSarthe run was nothing special: I am aware of the physics changes and all that encompasses it. Being ~6 seconds faster, than the gold time, on a track, which consists of what feels like 80% straights, seems not an average feat to me. I got a suggestion: Try to beat it.

P.s. You're right: The Nordschleife is not a good place to test a car's capabilities, it is a GREAT place to do just that. Basically every single auto maker agrees, sorry. kiss

Sassy mode off/

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Alex > Scotty….. meh, you get the point
 
Did a 07.30.678 on the Nords with SH tyres stock with it (it can do much better). No driving aids except abs.
Oh boy what an insane car. My wrist is hurting. That thing has sooo much cornering speed. But is also extremely hard to move at the limit.

Nordschleife rivals:


Tsukuba rivals:


Verdict: a sleeper I guess. Definatly a very special car overall.

A current list of all not yet used cars for COTW:


ALFA ROMEO (3)
4C Launch Edition 2014 (N200)
Giulia TZ2 Carrozzata da Zagato CN.AR750106 1965 (Gr.X)
MiTo 1.4 T Sport 2009 (N200)

Alpine (3)
Vision Gran Turismo 2017 (Gr.1)
Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)
Vision Gran Turismo Race Mode (Gr.X)

ASTON MARTIN (5)
DB3S CN.1 1953 (Gr.X)
DB11 2016 (N600)
DP-100 Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)
Vantage Gr.4 (Gr.4)
Vulcan 2016 (N800)

AUDI (8)
R8 LMS Audi Team Sport WRT 2015 (Gr.3)
R18 TDI Audi Team Sport Joest 2011 (Gr.1)
R18 TDI Le Mans 2011 (Gr.1)
R18 e-tron 2016 (Gr.1)
Sport quattro S1 Pikes Peak 1987 (Gr.B)
TT Cup 2016 (Gr.4)
TTS Coupe 2014 (N300)
Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.1)

BMW (4)
M4 Coupe 2014 (N400)
M4 Safety Car (Gr.X)
M6 GT3 Walkenhorst Motorsport 2016 (Gr.3)
M6 GT3 M Power Livery 2016 (Gr.3)

BUGATTI (2)
Vision Gran Turismo Gr.1 (Gr.1)
Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)

CHEVROLET (1)
Corvette Stingray Race Concept (C2) 1959 (Gr.X)

DODGE (7)
Charger SRT Hellcat Safety Car (N700)
SRT Tomahawk VGT Racing (Gr.X)
SRT Tomahawk VGT Street (Gr.X)
SRT Tomahawk VGT Technology (Gr.X)
Viper Gr.4 (Gr.4)
Viper SRT10 Coupe 2006 (N500)
Viper SRT GT3-R 2015 (Gr.3)

FERRARI (4)
250 GT Berlinetta passo corto CN.2521 1961 (N300)
250 GTO CN.3729GT 1962 (Gr.X)
458 Italia 2009 (N600)
Dino 246GT 1971 (N200)

FORD (4)
GT LM Spec II Test Car (Gr.3)
Mustang Gr.B Rally Car (Gr.B)
Mustang GT Premium Fastback 2015 (N400)
Mustang Mach 1 1971 (N300)

GRAN TURISMO (4)
Amuse S2000 GT1 Turbo (N600)
Red Bull X2014 Standard 2014 (Gr.X)
Red Bull X2014 Junior 2014 (Gr.X)
Red Bull X2019 Competition (Gr.X)

HONDA (4)
NSX Gr.3 (Gr.3)
NSX Gr.4 (Gr.4)
S800 1966 (N100)
Sports Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)

HYUNDAI (4)
Genesis Gr.3 (Gr.3)
Genesis Gr.4 (Gr.4)
N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.1)
N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)

INFINITI (1)
Concept Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)

JAGUAR (6)
D-Type 1954 (Gr.X)
E-Type Coupe 1961 (N300)
F-Type Gr.4 (Gr.4)
XJ13 1966 (Gr.X)
XJR-9 1988 (Gr.1)
Vision Gran Turismo Coupe (Gr.X)

LAMBORGHINI (5)
Aventador LP700-4 2011 (N700)
Aventador LP750-4 Superveloce 2015 (N800)
Huracan Gr.4 (Gr.4)
Huracan LP610-4 2015 (N600)
Miura P400 Bertone Prototype CN.0706 1967 (N400)

LEXUS (4)
LC500 2017 (N500)
LF-LC GT Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)
RC F au Tom's 2016 (Gr.2)
RC F Gr.4 (Gr.4)

MAZDA (4)
Atenza Gr.3 Road Car (N500)
Atenza Gr.4 (Gr.4)
Atenza Sedan XD L Package 2015 (N200)
LM55 Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)

MCLAREN (4)
650S GT3 2015 (Gr.3)
MP4-12c 2010 (N600)
Ultimate Vision Gran Turismo Gr.1 (Gr.1)
Ultimate Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)

MERCEDES-BENZ (6)
A45 AMG 4MATIC 2013 (N400)
AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+ (Gr.X)
AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+ Color Variation (Gr.X)
AMG Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)
AMG Vision Gran Turismo LH Edition (Gr.X)
AMG Vision Gran Turismo Racing Series (Gr.X)

MINI (2)
Cooper S 2005 (N200)
Clubman Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)

MITSUBISHI (4)
Lancer Evolution IV GSR 1996 (N300)
Lancer Evolution Final Edition Gr.3 (Gr.3)
Lancer Evolution Final Edition Gr.B Rally Car (Gr.B)
Lancer Evolution Final Edition Gr.B Road Car (N500)

NISSAN (9)
Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)
Fairlady Z Version S 2007 (N300)
GT-R Gr.B Rally Car (Gr.B)
GT-R Motul Autech 2016 (Gr.2)
GT-R Premium Edition 2017 (N600)
GT-R Safety Car (Gr.X)
GT-R Xanavi Nismo (Gr.2)
R92CP 1992 (Gr.1)
Skyline GT-R V-spec (R33) 1997 (N300)

PEUGEOT (7)
208 GTI by Peugeot Sport 2014 (N200)
RCZ Gr.3 Road Car (N500)
RCZ Gr.4 (Gr.4)
RCZ Gr.B Rally Car (Gr.B)
L500R Hybrid Vision Gran Turismo 2017 (Gr.X)
L750R Hybrid Vision Gran Turismo 2017 (Gr.1)
Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)

PORSCHE (1)
911 GT3 (997) 2008 (N400)

RENAULT SPORT (2)
Megane RS Trophy 2011 Safety Car (N300)
R.S.01 GT3 2016 (Gr.3)

SHELBY (1)
Cobra Daytona Coupe 1964 (Gr.X)

SUBARU (5)
BRZ S 2015 (N200)
BRZ Falken Tire/Turn 14 Distribution 2017 (Gr.X)
WRX Gr.3 (Gr.3)
WRX Gr.B (Gr.B)
WRX STI Type S 2014 (N300)

TESLA (1)
Model S Signature Performance 2012 (Gr.X)

TOYOTA (12)
86 Gr.4 (Gr.4)
86 Gr.B Rally Car (Gr.B)
86 GRMN 2016 (N200)
86 GT 2015 (N200)
86 GT Limited 2016 (N200)
Crown Athlete G Safety Car (N300)
FT-1 (Gr.X)
FT-1 Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)
FT-1 Vision Gran Turismo Gr.3 (Gr.3)
GR Supra Racing Concept (Gr.3)
GR Supra RZ 2020 (N400)
TS030 Hybrid 2012 (Gr.1)

VOLKSWAGEN (4)
Scirocco Gr.4 (Gr.4)
Golf VII GTI 2014 (N200)
GTI Roadster Vision Gran Turismo (Gr.X)
GTI Vision Gran Turismo Gr.3 (Gr.3)
 
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Finally, some good news! As you may have heard by now, the lobbies of GT7 have finally been restored to have some functionality. While that means that we can finally migrate to GT7, I do want to have a test session to ascertain the stability, lagginess, and functionalities of the lobbies before making the jump.

And so, on Thursday at our usual 10 P.M. CST (Friday for anyone outside America, convert to your time zone here), I have asked a few of our regulars to show up for a test session on GT7. Those who usually can't make it on our Tuesday night races are all invited! We'll be running the current Car of the Week, the KTM X-Bow R. Be sure to grab a livery on for GT7 if you plan on joining!

See you in GT7!
 
Finally, some good news! As you may have heard by now, the lobbies of GT7 have finally been restored to have some functionality. While that means that we can finally migrate to GT7, I do want to have a test session to ascertain the stability, lagginess, and functionalities of the lobbies before making the jump.

And so, on Thursday at our usual 10 P.M. CST (Friday for anyone outside America, convert to your time zone here), I have asked a few of our regulars to show up for a test session on GT7. Those who usually can't make it on our Tuesday night races are all invited! We'll be running the current Car of the Week, the KTM X-Bow R. Be sure to grab a livery on for GT7 if you plan on joining!

See you in GT7!
The tyres should also be specified. I assume we’re running Sport Softs?
 
I uh... have no idea as of yet. Usually the host, Vic, just picks and we run with it, but you're right in that we now need to specify the tyres BEFORE going in because GT7 is a PITA.

I'm going to say Sport Hards as they're the default for the X-Bow, don't crucify me.

It's the way it is meant to be driven.
Square btw., did I just miss your LP400 review, or...?
 
Suzuki may be getting all the attention here lately as an esteemed sport bike brand taking their know–how on two wheels, squaring it, and then dominating a world of bespoke four wheelers. Lest we forget however, Austrian bike maker KTM has been doing exactly that for fourteen years now, and unlike Suzuki, they did that with a car that customers can actually buy and legally drive on public roads... well, okay, that last part rather depends on where you live with this particular trim we have under the spotlight this week; meet the KTM X-Bow R, a track focused toy that's so hardcore, it exists on the fringes of legality and road worthiness.


Also, yes, it's pronounced "crossbow". I'm sorry to all of my readers out there who use text to speech to consume my ramblings, whom must think some mad lad at KTM felt an unfathomable need to invent a bow that fires axes instead of arrows.

For 100,000 of your hard earned credits, you get awfully little with the X-Bow—no sat nav, no radio, no leather, no carpets, no air con, no roof, no doors, not even windshield wipers... because there is no windshield to wipe. Awful value for money when you consider the fact that a comparably priced GT-R or Viper, the echelons of luxury in the automotive industry, has all the aforementioned frivolous toys while also being able to get you to and from your local racetrack regardless of where you live (unless it's Singapore. We DO NOT talk about Singapore). What you do get in exchange however, is a rear mid engined, carbon tubbed, ultra maneuverable cruise missile that weighs in at just a scant 790kg (1,742lbs), giving the 298HP (222kW) X-Bow R a much better power to weight ratio than the aforementioned cars.

...in theory, anyway.


In practice, it feels completely underwhelming. When you make more sacrifices in civility than a Viper, going so far as to rendering the car illegal to drive on public roads in some countries, the car naturally brings with it sky high expectations not only to its performance, but also in the sensations that it brings the driver as well, simply because it laser focuses on the one job it has, leaving itself no room for excuses. Going into my first test drive, I had been expecting to be able to brake super late into corners and the front end to slice in immediately into the apex with no more than mere brainwaves. But the X-Bow R oddly doesn't make any attempt to differentiate or juxtapose the experience of driving a road car from the experience of driving a purebred, dedicated racing machine; I brake for corners at Red Bull Ring in roughly the same points in it as I do an FD RX-7 shod with the same Sport Hard tyres. I struggle to get weight over the front of the tyres and getting them to bite on corner entry, and the rear end can get quite feisty on corner exits. There's no other way to describe it: driving the X-Bow R feels... like driving a normal car, rife with many of the same limitations and flaws that you might experience driving anything else less focused and more compromised that you could have bought off a showroom floor and driven home in comfort.


"But how can that be with a car with those numbers?", I hear you ask. Most of that I think is due to the disproportionately staggered tyres on on the X-Bow R—205/40R17 front and 255/35R18 rear, Most MR cars have a width difference of 40mm at most, but the X-Bow has a staggering (get it?) 50mm difference between the front and rear. Because of the rather slim front tyres, the X-Bow not only has to brake early for corners like a plebian road car with roofs and air con, but it also has an extremely hard time biting into apexes when trail braking with a tiny friction circle, with the vast majority of the turning only taking place only when the brake pedal is almost fully let off. It also has a terrible time negotiating corners with deep, late apexes, and/ or corners with adverse camber. It would be such a shame if Turn 6 of Red Bull Ring has both the aforementioned characteristics, eh? The large difference in grip between the front and rear ends of the car also creates a dangerously snappy combination, wherein oftentimes, I'll be gradually feeding in steering angle and feathering the brakes, approaching the circumference of the front tyres' grip circle under hard cornering, fighting the understeer from the rear tyres and the prohibitive differential that binds them. When I cross that arbitrary threshold and "win", the thick rear tyres let go quickly and without warning mid corner, resulting in horrific snap oversteer you'd have to catch in an instant. This car forces drivers to quickly fight against and correct polar opposite problems in a minute amount of time, as though it has a split personality, neither of which are particularly pleasant to be around. It's rough.


Oh, and did I mention that the X-Bow doesn't come with ABS? Now, I'm no expert when it comes to driving without ABS, but I think I've driven my fair share of cars without ABS, from feeble, unassuming things like the AE86 to monstrosities like the Viper and Tuscan, but the X-Bow is easily the deadliest car of the bunch I've sampled under braking; once the wheels lock up, there simply isn't getting them back no matter how you pump, feather, or fellatiate the brake pedal. And of course, with any short wheelbase, turbocharged RMR car without traction control, caution has to be exercised out of corners as well. All things considered though, the X-Bow isn't even unruly or even unpleasant powering out of corners if you treat it with due respect and diligence... even if the engine sounds like audibly transmissible cancer.


Disproportionate tyres are one thing, but they're also attached to puzzlingly soft springs, especially for a track toy. It doesn't even take taking a corner to literally see what I mean; the exposed springs of the pushrod style double wishbone suspension up front visibly and prominently scrunch up on every upshift done with the 6 speed manual that is equipped on the car. If you can afford to keep an eye on the exposed springs, the car looks more like a Metal Slug boss rather than an actual, expensive toy when brought around a track at speed. The soft springs coupled with the not at all grippy Sport Hard tyres combine to make for an experience that is a far cry from that of a purpose built machines—it isn't face melting quick or mind bending sharp in the way that other racing toys like karts or prototypes overwhelm all but the most seasoned and trained drivers with, which I had been expecting coming into this week.


To be honest, I'm rather shocked myself at how underwhelming I found the X-Bow to be. I even tried it in Assetto Corsa to see if the simplistic simcade physics of Gran Turismo Sport is doing the X-Bow a disservice like it did the 991 GT3 RS, but nope! The AC version is strikingly similar to the GTS version of the car, just with more more proportionately powered brakes with relation to the tyres it has. Maybe this thing will be a total blast to drive in real life. Absent the pants fizzing, face shredding, kidney dislodging sensations of real life and being judged solely on its capabilities and behaviour on track, the X-Bow just feels... completely unexciting. A "normal" production car may lack its outright pace and lap times, but there are several of them that offer a more balanced, cohesive drive, such as the NSX-R or Audi R8 for example. After all, do you buy a track toy for the lap times, or do you buy a track toy for the fun? The X-Bow R feels to me like a toy that somehow forgot to be fun to drive.


It does have to be said though, that I think KTM had the right idea when setting up the X-Bow, because it can often be a foregone conclusion that something track focused must be the fastest thing ever, when in actuality, I find that many of the requisites in making a car fast also ruin how they drive. Giving the car downforce means lowering and stiffening the car to hell, making sure you aren't racing anyone in it while also making it a chore to drive on anything other than the smoothest of roads. Making a car stiff and grippy makes it snappy, meaning you need to be a racing car driver of experience with perfect conditions to really enjoy the car. Giving a car monstrous power also means giving it monstrous fuel tanks, radiators, drive lines, nannies, and so on, all of which just make the car heavy, cumbersome, and unintuitive to drive at any speed. And all of this, for what, exactly? Shaving an extra second or two off a lap time that skill could've easily compensated for? Sure, a second is a huge deal if you're Alex Albon racing Lewis Hamilton, but I'd be happy if I can get within five seconds of their lap times. Cars that chase outright performance numbers is just stupid and pointless in my eyes, especially now when technology allows us to have such ridiculous power that they'd be difficult to fully exploit even on a racetrack. Also, lest we forget, the most enjoyable cars to drive in automotive history, from AE86s, to RX-7s, and even the fabled McLaren F1, don't subscribe to many, if any, of the descriptors on that list. The fact that a barebones, track only car in the X-Bow doesn't fall into that slippery slope of what a track car "must be like" is surprising to me, and makes me very happy to see. Sure, there's a certain speed requirement to a track toy; no one, and I mean, NO ONE, wants to go to a racetrack and do Fiat 500 or Sambabus levels of speed (glare), but I think the X-Bow has that part covered.
 
Gran Turismo 7 Lobby Test Report

Baron, Obelisk, and I attended the aforementioned test of GT7's lobby hosted by the venerable Vic, held this past Thursday night/ Friday morning. Seeing as most of us weren't able to attend, I feel that it's important to lay out our findings and my opinion on the results of that afternoon.

First off, lobbies are still notoriously laggy. I know most of us aren't even on the same continent, but our races in GTS have been very smooth (when we actually manage to leave the pits or get off the line...). In GT7 however, everyone appeared jittery to everyone else, no exception nor exaggeration. For comparison, here's a video from a recent GTS race we did...



...and here's one race from our GT7 lobby in comparison.



Here are links to the 2 races we did on GT7 if you want more control over the perspectives:



I personally feel that the lag is small enough to a point where a casual club like ours can probably make do, but do we really want to deal with it? It seems like the sort of things arguments with randos get started over, and I personally don't want to have to put up with it.

Secondly, many of GTS' lobby functions that we very much depend on, such as the ability to hold track votes, have reverse grid starts, and saving the lobby's settings for loading later, are still absent. We can form manual workarounds for these issues, sure, but those would all come at the expense of making the host do all the heavy lifting, namely: screenshot the previous race's result, manually order the grid for the next race, and decide on whose track vote to honour via a manual vote in the chat, not to mention having to type in the lobby name and variables EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK.

As things stand right now, we absolutely can move onto GT7, but the question is, do we want to? Is the extra trouble worth it?

My personal opinion is that as things stand right now, GT7 isn't worth our time. Especially if the aim of moving onto GT7 is to find new participants, I really don't want to lay all this crap on them and leave a sour first impression. We've waited more than three months for the GT7 lobbies to be somewhat functional, I think we can afford to wait for a bit more. We still have plenty of cars to test in GTS. No, I've no guarantee that the lobbies of GT7 will ever improve to a satisfactory state.

But hey, they fixed the standing start on Horse Thief Mile, so there's that, I guess...

But of course, that's just my personal opinion, and so I want to ask the regulars here if they want to move onto laggy and broken GT7, or stay here in stale GTS and wait for an indefinite amount of time.

@Alex p. @Baron Blitz Red @Draggon @Obelisk @Pickle_Rick74 @Racer283 @RobboGTAddict @RX8 Racer @Vic Reign93 @Yard_Sale
 
We should keep it with GTS while simultaneously doing testing on GT7. My gut is telling me GT7 lobbies are going to be forked' for a bit. However, there's going to come a point where it'll make sense to jump over, regardless if the lobbies get better or not. Assuming worse case scenario... that they stay the same as they currently are... we're going to have to come up with work arounds for tracks and starting grids. IDK how big the starting grid issue with everyone else is, but for me personally, its a non-issue. In fact, I'd rather be in the back.

As far as the track list, that can either be voted on via our various outlets (kinda a pita), or decided up to the lobby host; with most (read: ALL) the input coming from the person choosing said car for that specific week; allowing more of the responsibility to fall on a different person that is chosen each week. One might argue it'll even give a certain flair and style that will be unique to each individual who is given the opportunity to choose a car. Speaking to that, if you guys choose to keep me around..; and I am so lucky to pick a car, I'll be posting up here which individual TT courses/SP events/daily races that I'll be testing said car at. Mainly to add depth to my own reviews, but also to provide some sort of prescribed events that people can participate in if they can't make our official meet**

I don't know about anyone one else, but for me.... the actual meet night is but a minor part in what I do for any car I test. Most of my testing is done independently on my own "BOP" tracks. But needless to say, I'm only speaking for myself on this one.

How much of a burden the lack of proper lobby functions will be to a potential new member? Hard to say. But my guess is only but the most discerning people will be put off by the lack of intricate lobby functions.

To those that were around in GT6, what were the lobbies like in GT6 ------> GTS -----> GT7? Is it an apples to apples comparison, or were we just spoiled by GTS? I honestly don't know because I wasn't around


Do I think we can wait 3 more months? Yes.

Do I think we should wait any longer than 3 months? No.



** This is mainly for me as we all know my specific work situation. But having reviewed over 100 unique cars***, I feel like my opinion should carry a feather's worth of weight








*** technically, 2 actual reviews containing 4 unique cars; but like I've always said.... "80% of the time, I mean 20% of what I say".

AND:

"never let the truth get in the way of a good story"



- Yard Sale
June 27, 2022
Holiday Inn - Tehachapi, Ca
 
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This week we are taking a look at the Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec R33. This weeks car is chosen by @Yard_Sale

NISSAN-Skyline-GT-R--R33--4038_11.jpg

This is SUCH a beautiful pic of the car.

giphy-3d11fb792bb924a84.gif


Anyways:
Did a 07.58.128 on the Nords with SH tyres stock with it. No driving aids except abs.

Handling wise it's very similar to the R32, but even more drifty, which I love. I took an entire long corner by drift, and didn't lose any time. Simply fun car this. :)

Nordschleife rivals:


Tsukuba rivals:


Verdict: a slight sleeper I guess. One of THE greatest Japanese sports cars. :)
 
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As someone who went out of their way to fit an R33 to loosely compete with Gr.4 cars in GT7, I can say that it's quite a charming car. The GT-Rs are great, but that's sort of a curse as well since they're not as exciting or lively as some of the less composed FRs or hyper-aggressive FFs. Best of both worlds, none of the excitement.

Basically, you drive an R33 because it's an R33. Or because you want the car to be doormat-docile so you can focus on better driving.

If I had to rate it, I'd say Neutral. It'd be a sleeper if it didn't have the GT-R badge on it.
 
When I was looking for photos of the R33, I found this one and thought it was a cool photo.
Is this a try at sarcasme? Or a dry way of saying the obvious?
In any case, I actually DO think the pic is pretty special. Looks better than a GT 7 scape shot.
 
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