Car of the Week | Toyota S-FR '15
- Thread starter XSquareStickIt
- 1,132 comments
- 360,093 views
- 16,229
- Melbourne
- ScottPuss20
- CheetahsMeow
Driving the RX Vision last night was not a fun experience. If you weren't precise enough with your throttle control or steered a little too hard at the wrong time, you'd begin to slide almost immediately. Never mind the brakes which didn't always work in the way I expected. Sometimes I'd pull up too soon and sometimes I'd pull up too late. I was happy to leave it behind.
- 2,425
- The failed experiment entitled “California”.
The biggest issue I ran into with the Mazda RX Vision, wasn’t its inherent handling issues and causes (those were apparent right off the bat)…but how to drive around them
I think that front fender scrape should come stock on this car from the dealership
I was very pleasantly surprised when I stepped into the cockpit and discovered that this vehicle was a 6 speed H-pattern instead of the paddle shifted modern supercar I was expecting. Right from the start, it was apparent with what was the Achilles heel of this car…
THE SUSPENSION IS WAAAAAAAAAY TOO STIFF FOR THE SH TIRES IT COMES WITH.
Putting power down to the ground with anything less than TCS-2?
Nope. Not gonna happen.
Try braking at a reasonable distance - while taking into account its PP rating and relative speed? Nope. That’s not going to happen either. What you’re left with is an imaginary supercar that has a GT3-stiff chassis - with none of the aerodynamics and grippy tires that will aid in getting the power to the ground, or slowing its mass.
Or getting it around a corner at a good clip without the tires melting
Myself and my friends at YouTube.Com corner are still trying to figure out what these “camera sin screen” side mirrors still do…
The best way I found to drive this car, was to short shift it like a Demio, make all downshifts earlier than you expected - in a straight line - while maintaining a gear higher than you would think.
TCS-2.
Don’t try to drive above 7/10ths in stock form.
Fancy footwork from 1980’s Michael Jackson helps too
Sleeper.
Once I got the hang of this car, I really liked it
I think that front fender scrape should come stock on this car from the dealership
I was very pleasantly surprised when I stepped into the cockpit and discovered that this vehicle was a 6 speed H-pattern instead of the paddle shifted modern supercar I was expecting. Right from the start, it was apparent with what was the Achilles heel of this car…
THE SUSPENSION IS WAAAAAAAAAY TOO STIFF FOR THE SH TIRES IT COMES WITH.
Putting power down to the ground with anything less than TCS-2?
Nope. Not gonna happen.
Try braking at a reasonable distance - while taking into account its PP rating and relative speed? Nope. That’s not going to happen either. What you’re left with is an imaginary supercar that has a GT3-stiff chassis - with none of the aerodynamics and grippy tires that will aid in getting the power to the ground, or slowing its mass.
Or getting it around a corner at a good clip without the tires melting
Myself and my friends at YouTube.Com corner are still trying to figure out what these “camera sin screen” side mirrors still do…
The best way I found to drive this car, was to short shift it like a Demio, make all downshifts earlier than you expected - in a straight line - while maintaining a gear higher than you would think.
TCS-2.
Don’t try to drive above 7/10ths in stock form.
Fancy footwork from 1980’s Michael Jackson helps too
Sleeper.
Once I got the hang of this car, I really liked it
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- 2,425
- The failed experiment entitled “California”.
Damn. Coulda sworn it was an H pattern. I’ll have to go back in the headset and check. I know that in stock form, I was missing gears and getting false neutrals if my timing wasn’t great
Edit:
I stand corrected fine sir. Upon further inspection, the animation does show that of a sequential, but the transmission action is that of an H-pattern. And it does have 3 pedals…but so do all the other Super GT and 2010ish GT3 cars that utilized a clutch pedal to start and stop irl
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- 1,738
- Singapore
- XSquareStickIt
I freaking knew it...
The results for the Improvised Endurance Triple Crown Challenge are in!
| Obelisk | 26:45.801 |
| Aiko_Mac | 25:28.869 |
| K31thc0m | 25:14.195 |
Congratulations to K31th! I deliberately set the rules loosely so players of all skill levels can engage, perhaps that was a mistake?
(Probably won't be as big a mistake as this week's SPC...)
It's been a while since @Skyrocket44 last had their pick, and this week, they seem to have chosen yet another banger.
Why do I say this? Well, that's because this car won COTW's 2019 Car of the Year award! Let's welcome back into the spotlight, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE Package '18!
Ahh, the Camaro, the last of the Muscle Car trio to die. The ZL1 is the most powerful trim of the Camaro, with a supercharged 6.2L V8 out of the Corvette. Pair this with the aero and bespoke tyres of the 1LE Package, and you're looking at a car that lapped the Nordschleife in just under 7:15—supercar territory. And the best part about this car? It costs just under 80k Credits in GT7!
It looks good, sounds great, and has a stick shift (unlike the RX-Vision), and dirt cheap! What's not to love? Join us in our weekly lobbies, where we'll race stock examples of the ZL1 in quick sprint races!
Join Our Weekly Lobbies!
Our weekly lobbies are ongoing as usual, and anyone (not a dick) is welcome to join us in racing Camaro ZL1s under BoP conditions!
Click on the hyperlinks to convert the times to your time zone, and feel free to add the hosts as friends on PSN to make searching for the lobbies easier!
Tracks: Randomly selected by lobby participants (~5 mins practice, ~10 mins sprint)
PP Limit: 645PP
Car: No Limit
Tyres: Sports Medium
Click on the hyperlinks to convert the times to your time zone, and feel free to add the hosts as friends on PSN to make searching for the lobbies easier!
The Americas Lobby
- Tuesday. 10th December, 10 P.M. CST
- Host: Victory_Reign93
The Asia/Oceania also kinda European Lobby
- Saturday, 14th December, 4 P.M. Singapore Time
- Host: XSquareStickIt
Tracks: Randomly selected by lobby participants (~5 mins practice, ~10 mins sprint)
PP Limit: 645PP
Car: No Limit
Tyres: Sports Medium
~Single–Player Challenge!~
For this week's SPC, we'll be turning left... a lot.An ULTRA Cursed Custom Race @ Northern Isle Speedway
- Race Type: Lap/179
- Start Type: Rolling (Default Interval)
- Starting Position: 10/20
- Tyre Wear/Fuel Con: 1x/1x
- Boost: Weak
- Slipstream: Real
- Damage: Heavy
- Difficulty: Professional
- Pit Lane Cut Penalty: On
- Wall/Car Collision Penalty: Strong
- Flag Rules: On
- Opponents: Camaro ZL1 1LE (stock)
Fastest race time wins!
Why do I say it's "ULTRA Cursed"? Well, try it for yourself and you'll find out...
And speaking of Car of the Year, 2024 is drawing to a close, and it's time for yet another round of voting here on COTW!
The awards for this year are as follows:
- Best Looking Car
- Worst Looking Car
- The Most American Car Award
- Beater of the Year
- Car of the Year
Regulars who have chimed in here on the thread, or have been familiar faces in the lobbies can nominate one car for each category! If you need a reminder of what cars we've run this year, a complete archive can be found on the first post of this thread! Of course, 2024 isn't quite over yet; we still have 3 cars left, so you can change your votes before 1/1/2025!
Nominations can either be PMed to me or publicly made here on the thread!
- 685
- Golden
- racer2833
Ah! The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE Package '18 a great car and some great racing memories with this car. I think what amazed me with this car is that we were racing at Blue Moon Bay Tri-Oval and it was on the final lap and heading into the final turn. I managed to pull along side another member pull off a pass on the outside. Somehow I kept it there and crossed the line in first place.
It was quite the fun car to drive.
It was quite the fun car to drive.
- 3,931
- On the move
- SomePlayaDude
Dat main ass protagonist SPD: I'm sure there's going to be no cars I'm going to write for the rest of December
[Chevrolet Camaro ZL1]
Also an SPD sneak from my personal text file listing cars I will write..
okay, maybe it's not so bad.. finally some chicka chicka BOOOM wub wub wub wub.. I guess it's no surprise Past SPD has prepared something for me in the form of early 2010s racing game nostalgia
[Chevrolet Camaro ZL1]
Also an SPD sneak from my personal text file listing cars I will write..
okay, maybe it's not so bad.. finally some chicka chicka BOOOM wub wub wub wub.. I guess it's no surprise Past SPD has prepared something for me in the form of early 2010s racing game nostalgia
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- 1,738
- Singapore
- XSquareStickIt
Me after lag spiking SPD's Carrera GT at 250+ km/h in today's lobby:
- 3,931
- On the move
- SomePlayaDude
- 515
- Singapore
The Mazda RX-Vision, Mazda’s concept of a future rotary sports car. Unlike the RX-8’s RENESIS engine, notorious for questionable reliability and poor fuel economy that could be summed up as ‘Burn more, that’s what I was born for’, the RX-Vision’s SKYACTIV-R is touted by Mazda to be more efficient and reliable while also cutting back on emissions.
In game though, the RX-Vision is a difficult beast to wrangle. Its rear is highly prone to stepping out in corners when flooring the throttle (like the final kink of Deep Forest) and this is complicated by the 6-speed SKYACTIV-MT gearbox, which is geared a little too short for my liking. Wheelspin is a constant issue when accelerating in 2nd gear and the SKYACTIV-R gets uncomfortably close to redline while in 6th gear down Conrod Straight. While short-shifting helps to arrest the wheelspin and loose rear end, the RX-Vision’s Brembos aren’t great at stopping power, and the resultant long braking distances are a lot harder for me to adapt to.
While the RX-Vision’s handling is much better than its fellow cover car the Porsche VGT (not like that’s a very high bar to clear), the RX-Vision remains a challenging car to drive. It certainly isn’t a car that beginners can get in and just go, it demand attention and care from its driver like an old-school sports car.
Obelisk
Premium
- 9,740
- United States
- RMedia_Obelisk
I have a lot to say about this week's SPC, but first - my only successful run:
I don't have much to say about the Camaro - Northern Isle is an extremely compact track where the difference between the fastest and slowest speeds achieved on a flying lap is about 21 MPH. It's in an environment where the car is being supported by steep banking, so trying to assess the impact of the downforce and the car's natural handling are both moot points. About the only thing I can infer is that the Camaro isn't as stiffly sprung as it'd seem to be - it frequently hits end of travel/bump stops on the banked turns and that causes the steering to spaz out.
Now about the SPC:
I genuinely do not comprehend what the intention was behind setting this SPC on Northern Isle. I would have set this to Daytona Oval or Road with the same distance (90 miles) to achieve the same NASCAR effect without the endless frustration.
This challenge is pretty skewed against even skilled players due to pure RNG and AI induced stupidity.
A couple of examples of issues I'd spotted over 5-6 hours of trying the challenge:
I don't have much to say about the Camaro - Northern Isle is an extremely compact track where the difference between the fastest and slowest speeds achieved on a flying lap is about 21 MPH. It's in an environment where the car is being supported by steep banking, so trying to assess the impact of the downforce and the car's natural handling are both moot points. About the only thing I can infer is that the Camaro isn't as stiffly sprung as it'd seem to be - it frequently hits end of travel/bump stops on the banked turns and that causes the steering to spaz out.
Now about the SPC:
I genuinely do not comprehend what the intention was behind setting this SPC on Northern Isle. I would have set this to Daytona Oval or Road with the same distance (90 miles) to achieve the same NASCAR effect without the endless frustration.
This challenge is pretty skewed against even skilled players due to pure RNG and AI induced stupidity.
A couple of examples of issues I'd spotted over 5-6 hours of trying the challenge:
- The AI are not able to control the Camaro correctly. I frequently see them spinning out due to bottoming out. I also see them losing the rear over the slight crest out of 3-4. They like to draw out the recovery, so it leads to the out of control car flying across several lanes of traffic.
- The AI are very contact-happy. Count how many pit stops are made in the first 30 laps. Now imagine you're stuck in the pack.
- The AI do not know how to resafe joinly after a pit stop. Their immediate reaction/primary programming is to dive for the racing line, which means they drive straight across all four lanes at 40-50 kmh below the flow of traffic. It's not uncommon to see an AI car get stuck in an endless loop of exiting pits, immediately wrecking, then entering pits to repair the fresh damage.
- The rubberbanding (even on Boost: Weak) causes the AI to become incredibly suicidal when they're trying to unlap you. There is absolutely no logical way to race side by side with them. The only safe approach is to pull over and let them roar by on the inside line. Even then, it won't be guaranteed. Many of my runs were stopped on the spot by an AI botching the pass and killing me anyways, even though I am giving more than enough margin to let them go by.
- The AI are immune to penalties, so the only driver that will be forced to serve wall contact penalties is the player...
- The AI do not have any sense of corner rights and will forcibly shove themselves up the inside line where possible - makes it impossible for me to take my specific line of starting high and dropping low to maximize speed.
- 1,738
- Singapore
- XSquareStickIt
Hint for next week's car:
- 3,931
- On the move
- SomePlayaDude
Best Looking Car
There are a list of choices, but this one's, on the whole, easy. It's the Lamborghini Miura P400 Bertone Prototype from Week 63. I know I didn't get a choice on nominating this, but seeing you all just die in general behind the wheel of it makes up for more than all of my dismay with how that went. And of course: it's a classic. THE classic.
You can nominate a Ferrari, the 917 Kurzheck or even the E-Type, but don't expect a different answer here.
Worst Looking Car
This one's also easy. Following last year's nomination of this, nothing is more perfect than the Toyota Aqua S from Week 74.
The Most American Car Award
We're on a roll with these easy choices, and nothing speaks America like an overcompensating off-roader that started the trend of giant domestic 'my ego is also a big genitalia' truck like the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor from one half of Week 50. That 60s muscle car hole still exists by the way, and I do aim to fill that in.
Beater of the Year
We had bad, but nothing stinks as what's being offered from the Ferrari F8 Tributo from Week 43. Just too much of everything in general is what's running here, and that also includes too much salt and tears.
Car of the Year
So, I'm going to gather my Top Sleepers, and they are as follows:
Suzuki Jimny XC, for being hilarious good fun whether it's on or off the road, in addition to its affordable package.
Renault R5 Turbo, for surprising us on how well it drives like no other, despite getting close to its last breath... RULES OF NATURE.
and the Alfa Romeo 4C Gr.3, for being a car that cannot fail to impress me and keep me smiling, beating every other Group 3 nominee this year in terms of everything it offers.
I'm going with the Alfa Romeo 4C Gr.3 from Week 64, mainly because it has a metric of balance to measure from, is the prettiest of the choices, and it's capable enough in Group 3 that it's not a crutch for the brand's exceptional Group 4 offerings.
Not to mention: it's an Alfa Romeo! They exist purely to be pretty, and this one's more than just pretty.. even though I specially requested to get it on, it was worth it.
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- 66
- South Africa
- atom_bomb1953
The point was not to win this week's challenge (this is my only attempt), but to have fun. And turning left is fun.
That being said, the purpose of my pick is not to focus on the big flashy bewinged special with the VEE-AID MOWDURR, but to cast a light on the most neglected form of racing in this game.
Turnleftlol.
Think about it - when was the last time you've seen a proper oval daily race? The last one I can remember was the Corvette C8 at Daytona, an eight-lap romp that was more of a wreckfest than Wreckfewst and a case study of why the automatic car reset needs to be disabled. The last time trial off my tip was the Chaparral 2X, also at Daytona, and there it was clear that PD's ideas of track limits do not coincide with reality. "NEVER cross the double-yellow lines," quoth Daytona 101. "But muh gold time," quoth everyone else.
So, two and a half miles, thirty-one degree turns, eighteen-degree tri-oval. Foot to the floor and turn left, right? Wrong. The trick to these full-throttle speedways is to make the turn-in as wide as possible so you can enter the turns with as much speed as possible and to have steering lock applied once the physical turn starts. Daytona has a noteworthy bump on the top lane entering turn 1 and exiting 2, which can unsettle a loose car. 3 starts more suddenly than you think, and the exit of 4 tightens on you, so don't let off the wheel until you feel the car become fully settled. That is, if you're driving a settled car, because the only thing looser than the Camaro is a B/S driver in Race C. There's too little downforce over the rear axle, making each turn a precarious balancing feat between hitting 200mph laps and painting black graffiti over the apron. It's the same story as with the Corvette, only with more power. Note that I didn't say any of this is a bad thing, though - the precision and detail that goes into driving and racing at this place goes beyond normal road courses. Three curves? Every last millimetre counts. Flat-out? They don't call the crashes Big Ones for nothing. Just like drag racing, it's the process of stripping elements out of an activity that can highlight just how important the remaining ones are in the grand scheme of things. (unless it's Power Slap)
As-rated, and it's a good rating.
I need to get something out of the way right now - this is one of the best original tracks in the game. Lambda-VMOsidewaysMsidewaysMdS Northern Isle is as pure as it gets - no massive locations, no heavy braking zones to stick it up the inside in. It is 9/16 miles of four-piece tarmac inside an American coliseum. There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and nowhere to apologize. You hit the wall, you hit the wall. You hit the apron, you make a donkey's flank out of yourself, and then you hit the wall. You might think that turns 1 and 2 offer you a nice slingshot onto the backstretch, and you'd be right. But heaven forbid you assume the same about 3 and 4, because the way the final turn is banked less than the others is what gives the arena its character. It will catch you out on the first time, and every subsequent trip will make you realize just how much your tyres are being tortured. It is the most wear-unfriendly circuit in the entire game by a long shot, so races here depend on whether you want to maintain pace or minimize the amount of stops that you do. Not that it matters, because you WILL crash here. The AI does so as early as lap 2 and every time they change lanes with the same level of awareness as a Nissan Rouge driver. But as you sit there in your 3800-pound muscle car, which is a perfect fit for this track, getting banged and beaten and patched up more times than you'd care to admit, remember that you could have been driving a rented GR Supra at Spa for the 2187196097841896th time.
Sleeper, very much so.
You know Pocono? This is no Pocono. Sure, they share general look of a three-turn triangle, but the philosophies are much, much different. Let's focus on what we have available. Turn 1 approaches, and I raise my hand to question if Blue Moon Bay really is an oval. You have to downshift - twice - and use the full brake to tackle the east corner, a short bowl that you drop into and climb out of. A low line, straddling between the bottom and second lane, is what works best for the Camaro, because you need all the speed you can get down the highly-banked straights. Speaking of, they are one of the most annoying features in the track roster. They make the act of driving in a straight line a chore as your car is constantly pushed away from the SAFER barriers. I'm not sure why, because I'd rather hit those on as narrow an angle as possible. Turn 2 is more straightforward - a deep, flat-out banking that allows for multi-lane action, but will spit out anyone daring to take the top lane. The stretch before 3 holds some online significance, as it was a popular venue for quarter-mile lobbies in GTS before Special Stage Route X returned. On a full lap, it becomes your miniscule breathing room to prepare for the long and flat turn 3. I still cannot find an ideal line through here, but the general idea is to treat this as a road course turn by slowing in for the first half and hitting a late apex before exiting right next to the wall. Could this track work as a daily race? Maybe, maybe even as a Nations Cup location for the X2019, but the track was made for Group 3 machinery tuned to the now-discarded oval BOP. Maybe if someone were to slip something in Kaz's drink...
Beater? Sleeper? I hardly ever knew 'er.
Hello, Route X here, coming to steal all your drag lobbies. This oval has hit the GT playerbase like crack hit the 70's and we never recovered since. What more can I honestly add here? Everyone already knows about the elusive infield layout, the hacked 3000BHP Civics and 100,000BHP Red Bulls of yore. It's the only other track you can raw-start a lobby with and have it populated within minutes. It is filled with an airport, radio telescopes, wind turbines, reservoirs, and dockyards, with employees watching by as the S13 with the turbo LS touches 320mph again and again. It's that pursuit of a big number, the process to make your car as fast as it can possibly go - rolling a good wind, adjusting gear ratios and ride height, setting the suspension up for the gargantuan turns - that gave Route X its staying power. And no, using the downhill to gain extra speed is cheating unless you're still accelerating after the fact.
Essential. It could do with rain, though.
Okay, it's getting late and I have two more ovals to go. So, the snowval. Pictured here is the reverse version because this week was all about turning left. And it does, but I need at least 20 Jägermeisters before I can be convinced that this track is an oval. The front stretch bounces its way uphill into the alcove of the tight turn 1, where traction is at a premium but you'd rather keep your money. Turn 2 is deceptively difficult. You kick out the rear end both for the purposes of a cool picture and to swing the Camaro around as fast as possible. There's no special oval techniques you can apply here - this is a snow road course made to look like one. After that, it's downhill into the banked turn three lined with the most pointless bollards in the history of mankind. Why are they there, trying desperately to stave me away from the ideal driving line? All they do is make players curse at the screen for invalidating their laps in the few time trials they reared their ugly heads in. Still, it's a pretty... no, I'm not going to.
As-rated.
...what is this place? Is this even an oval? Why is turn 1 so square compared to the rest? Why does every turn have a decent banking but the dogleg is off-camber? Where do you exit the pitlane? Why is there a modelled mini-oval in the interior that I can't drive on? For what purpose would the Japan in the GT world build such a track? To confuse NASCAR fans? They went extinct in March 2018. Their Slapshoes's final video was on this track. Super GT doesn't race here either. Is this man the mastermind behind all this? He's not even a 3D model, but a sprite with no back, just like the SS in Doom II. Is he one of them?
So in conclusion... ovals. Good. More please.
That being said, the purpose of my pick is not to focus on the big flashy bewinged special with the VEE-AID MOWDURR, but to cast a light on the most neglected form of racing in this game.
Turnleftlol.
Think about it - when was the last time you've seen a proper oval daily race? The last one I can remember was the Corvette C8 at Daytona, an eight-lap romp that was more of a wreckfest than Wreckfewst and a case study of why the automatic car reset needs to be disabled. The last time trial off my tip was the Chaparral 2X, also at Daytona, and there it was clear that PD's ideas of track limits do not coincide with reality. "NEVER cross the double-yellow lines," quoth Daytona 101. "But muh gold time," quoth everyone else.
So, two and a half miles, thirty-one degree turns, eighteen-degree tri-oval. Foot to the floor and turn left, right? Wrong. The trick to these full-throttle speedways is to make the turn-in as wide as possible so you can enter the turns with as much speed as possible and to have steering lock applied once the physical turn starts. Daytona has a noteworthy bump on the top lane entering turn 1 and exiting 2, which can unsettle a loose car. 3 starts more suddenly than you think, and the exit of 4 tightens on you, so don't let off the wheel until you feel the car become fully settled. That is, if you're driving a settled car, because the only thing looser than the Camaro is a B/S driver in Race C. There's too little downforce over the rear axle, making each turn a precarious balancing feat between hitting 200mph laps and painting black graffiti over the apron. It's the same story as with the Corvette, only with more power. Note that I didn't say any of this is a bad thing, though - the precision and detail that goes into driving and racing at this place goes beyond normal road courses. Three curves? Every last millimetre counts. Flat-out? They don't call the crashes Big Ones for nothing. Just like drag racing, it's the process of stripping elements out of an activity that can highlight just how important the remaining ones are in the grand scheme of things. (unless it's Power Slap)
As-rated, and it's a good rating.
I need to get something out of the way right now - this is one of the best original tracks in the game. Lambda-VMOsidewaysMsidewaysMdS Northern Isle is as pure as it gets - no massive locations, no heavy braking zones to stick it up the inside in. It is 9/16 miles of four-piece tarmac inside an American coliseum. There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and nowhere to apologize. You hit the wall, you hit the wall. You hit the apron, you make a donkey's flank out of yourself, and then you hit the wall. You might think that turns 1 and 2 offer you a nice slingshot onto the backstretch, and you'd be right. But heaven forbid you assume the same about 3 and 4, because the way the final turn is banked less than the others is what gives the arena its character. It will catch you out on the first time, and every subsequent trip will make you realize just how much your tyres are being tortured. It is the most wear-unfriendly circuit in the entire game by a long shot, so races here depend on whether you want to maintain pace or minimize the amount of stops that you do. Not that it matters, because you WILL crash here. The AI does so as early as lap 2 and every time they change lanes with the same level of awareness as a Nissan Rouge driver. But as you sit there in your 3800-pound muscle car, which is a perfect fit for this track, getting banged and beaten and patched up more times than you'd care to admit, remember that you could have been driving a rented GR Supra at Spa for the 2187196097841896th time.
Sleeper, very much so.
You know Pocono? This is no Pocono. Sure, they share general look of a three-turn triangle, but the philosophies are much, much different. Let's focus on what we have available. Turn 1 approaches, and I raise my hand to question if Blue Moon Bay really is an oval. You have to downshift - twice - and use the full brake to tackle the east corner, a short bowl that you drop into and climb out of. A low line, straddling between the bottom and second lane, is what works best for the Camaro, because you need all the speed you can get down the highly-banked straights. Speaking of, they are one of the most annoying features in the track roster. They make the act of driving in a straight line a chore as your car is constantly pushed away from the SAFER barriers. I'm not sure why, because I'd rather hit those on as narrow an angle as possible. Turn 2 is more straightforward - a deep, flat-out banking that allows for multi-lane action, but will spit out anyone daring to take the top lane. The stretch before 3 holds some online significance, as it was a popular venue for quarter-mile lobbies in GTS before Special Stage Route X returned. On a full lap, it becomes your miniscule breathing room to prepare for the long and flat turn 3. I still cannot find an ideal line through here, but the general idea is to treat this as a road course turn by slowing in for the first half and hitting a late apex before exiting right next to the wall. Could this track work as a daily race? Maybe, maybe even as a Nations Cup location for the X2019, but the track was made for Group 3 machinery tuned to the now-discarded oval BOP. Maybe if someone were to slip something in Kaz's drink...
Beater? Sleeper? I hardly ever knew 'er.
Hello, Route X here, coming to steal all your drag lobbies. This oval has hit the GT playerbase like crack hit the 70's and we never recovered since. What more can I honestly add here? Everyone already knows about the elusive infield layout, the hacked 3000BHP Civics and 100,000BHP Red Bulls of yore. It's the only other track you can raw-start a lobby with and have it populated within minutes. It is filled with an airport, radio telescopes, wind turbines, reservoirs, and dockyards, with employees watching by as the S13 with the turbo LS touches 320mph again and again. It's that pursuit of a big number, the process to make your car as fast as it can possibly go - rolling a good wind, adjusting gear ratios and ride height, setting the suspension up for the gargantuan turns - that gave Route X its staying power. And no, using the downhill to gain extra speed is cheating unless you're still accelerating after the fact.
Essential. It could do with rain, though.
Okay, it's getting late and I have two more ovals to go. So, the snowval. Pictured here is the reverse version because this week was all about turning left. And it does, but I need at least 20 Jägermeisters before I can be convinced that this track is an oval. The front stretch bounces its way uphill into the alcove of the tight turn 1, where traction is at a premium but you'd rather keep your money. Turn 2 is deceptively difficult. You kick out the rear end both for the purposes of a cool picture and to swing the Camaro around as fast as possible. There's no special oval techniques you can apply here - this is a snow road course made to look like one. After that, it's downhill into the banked turn three lined with the most pointless bollards in the history of mankind. Why are they there, trying desperately to stave me away from the ideal driving line? All they do is make players curse at the screen for invalidating their laps in the few time trials they reared their ugly heads in. Still, it's a pretty... no, I'm not going to.
As-rated.
...what is this place? Is this even an oval? Why is turn 1 so square compared to the rest? Why does every turn have a decent banking but the dogleg is off-camber? Where do you exit the pitlane? Why is there a modelled mini-oval in the interior that I can't drive on? For what purpose would the Japan in the GT world build such a track? To confuse NASCAR fans? They went extinct in March 2018. Their Slapshoes's final video was on this track. Super GT doesn't race here either. Is this man the mastermind behind all this? He's not even a 3D model, but a sprite with no back, just like the SS in Doom II. Is he one of them?
So in conclusion... ovals. Good. More please.
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- 16,229
- Melbourne
- ScottPuss20
- CheetahsMeow
I have to say, the Camaro ZL1 1LE is a really good car with great handling that really makes it predictable. It feels a lot more balanced than the RX Vision, with the grip coming at just the right moment - given that you don't jump on the throttle too soon. I got caught out a few times but I can't blame the car for that. Nor can I blame @K31thc0m for my skill issue at The Chase. I guess I pussied out... Anyway, I think that the Camaro ZL1 1LE is a sleeper, performing in a way that not many similarly-sized cars can.
- 5,663
- Edison NJ
- jdmking13
- Lucid killer 58
PGTR Presents
AmeriCAM Bully
Quick Review
Have you ever notice someone and you knew right off the bat they were not to be messed with. This can be easily said about the 2018 Camaro ZL1 1LE Package. The 650 HP 650 ft-lb American muscle car is a track weapon for the street.
American cars have really never been my taste. I love all automobiles don’t get me wrong, but if you told me to hit a mountain pass, an America muscle car wouldn’t be my first choice. Getting in the Chevy Camaro ZL 1LE can change one’s thinking very quickly. In the past 10 years or so, I would say American cars have stepped it up from styling functionality and performance. The Camaro is a full testament of this, it can terrorize the streets and track, but at the same time take your grandmother to the store to get her favorite cakes. Yes.. the 640 hp monster can take your grandmother to get her favorite cakes with the switch of a button, you can switch the exhaust into quiet mode and it takes all of the bark and some of the bite out of the Camaro. Let’s be realistic though we’re not driving the Camaro to take grandma on cruises. This is absolutely for street supremacy!
The exterior styling from the gate gives this aggressive I am not to be played with look! The front part of the Camaro looks mean and non-approachable however it is all functional. The front splitter, side canards,19 inch forged wheels, and rear carbon fiber spoiler comes with the 1LE package. This is basically the track package. The front end of the Camaro generator downforce from the front splitter, helps direct air flow with the canards, and the front bumper with its wide open space helps with the cooling. This is a recipe for a track weapon and to take it further Chevy combined the Camaro with 19 inch forged wheels, which are surprisingly light. The rear is fitted with a carbon fiber wing to help with downforce to keep your rear stable. Driving the Camaro you can easily understand why it turns heads on the road.
Interior wise first thing you notice is the small window of visibility you have as a driver. While it’s not too much of a problem for me, I can see other people being affected by the small driving view. I do like the fact that AlCantera is wrapped around the steering wheel, dashboard, door panels, and seats giving the Camaro the supercar feel. Another important factor concerning a driver in their vehicle is the information you can get from it systems. Tire pressure, tire temperature, oil pressure, oil temperature, are just a few to name what the Camaro gives the driver on the center display.(Full hud display) With just a touch of a button You can get the full diagnose of your Camaro which is perfect for track driving. This indeed will help you go faster and also keep your car from blowing up. This is by far one of the better interiors from Chevy that I have gotten into.
Driving wise the Camaro is a lot for the streets thankfully Chevy have separate driving modes to help tame this beast. This car can scare even your seasoned driver, if not fully focus while behind the wheel. To fully get the capability of this car you would have to take this to the track. For example, the tires cannot even get up to temperatures while street driving.(Sport Hards/street events Sport Mediums/track events)To get the full capability of the tires, you would have to get enough heat in them, which can only be obtain on the track. The aero doesn’t get activated until you’re close to the triple digits on a speedometer. With four different driver modes, you can fine tune the Camaro for the driving application, on the streets I use sports mode(ASM Off) (CSA weak) (TC 2) which still gives the driver the ability to fill the edginess of the Camaro, but at the same time have the safety nannies keeping the car and you in one piece. There’s also touring, track,and snow mode. The speed this car can get to are insane and you have to be careful. I couldn’t see an immature person driving this car for the fact that it is too easy to get to illegal speeds. The exhaust note is addictive, and persuade the driver to constantly push the accelerator, it’s one of the best sounding cars I’ve driven. I know its motor is shared with the Corvette but combined with the Camaro, the sound gives the car more sinister aura. I truly wish I could’ve took this car on the track, but I’m thankful for Chevy for giving us an opportunity to drive this car. Here is a small video of me driving the Camaro around town.
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- 1,738
- Singapore
- XSquareStickIt
Three people attempted last week's Single–Player Challenge. The stated goal was, "fastest time wins", but honestly, you're all winners in my book for trying that ultra cursed challenge...
They joined COTW lobbies and made their first GTPlanet thread post as early as September this year, and for their consistent attendance in the Saturday lobbies, of course they've been given the chance to pick the car. They just chose to wait until about a week ago to finally decide on a car...
What car did K31th end up choosing after so much deliberation? Well, it's no mystery, as I might've made the hint a bit too obvious
It's the Toyota S-FR '15!
The Toyota S-FR was a lightweight, two seat open top sports car shown by Toyota at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2015, even appearing in a special version of GT6 at said event! Slated to be an entry level sports car, it looked to be the second step after the 86 in Toyota's radical transformation of its brand image to "No more boring cars". It would've been interesting to see if the corporate muscle of Toyota could've brought the fight to the one car dominant in this niche market of lightweight, open top, FR sports cars, but as we now know, the S-FR sadly never went into production. We GT7 players will at least get to sample another tantalising "what–if" here in GT7, though!
Set up the following custom race with a stock S-FR (on stock CS tyres!):
Same deal: fastest time wins! How lucky will you get with slipstream/tailwind?
Of course, we always welcome opinions, tunes, liveries, photos, videos, or stories about the car here on the the thread, and don't forget to cast your nominations for the 2024 Car of the Year Awards if you haven't already!
| Skyrocket44 | 53:28.484 |
| Obelisk | 52:11.406 |
| Vic_Reign93 | 50:57.120 |
They joined COTW lobbies and made their first GTPlanet thread post as early as September this year, and for their consistent attendance in the Saturday lobbies, of course they've been given the chance to pick the car. They just chose to wait until about a week ago to finally decide on a car...
What car did K31th end up choosing after so much deliberation? Well, it's no mystery, as I might've made the hint a bit too obvious
It's the Toyota S-FR '15!The Toyota S-FR was a lightweight, two seat open top sports car shown by Toyota at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2015, even appearing in a special version of GT6 at said event! Slated to be an entry level sports car, it looked to be the second step after the 86 in Toyota's radical transformation of its brand image to "No more boring cars". It would've been interesting to see if the corporate muscle of Toyota could've brought the fight to the one car dominant in this niche market of lightweight, open top, FR sports cars, but as we now know, the S-FR sadly never went into production. We GT7 players will at least get to sample another tantalising "what–if" here in GT7, though!
Join Our Weekly Lobbies!
Our weekly lobbies are ongoing as usual, and anyone (not a dick) is welcome to join us in racing S-FRs under BoP conditions!
Click on the hyperlinks to convert the times to your time zone, and feel free to add the hosts as friends on PSN to make searching for the lobbies easier!
Tracks: Randomly selected by lobby participants (~5 mins practice, ~10 mins sprint)
PP Limit: 430PP
Car: No Limit
Tyres: Comfort Soft
Click on the hyperlinks to convert the times to your time zone, and feel free to add the hosts as friends on PSN to make searching for the lobbies easier!
The Americas Lobby
- Tuesday. 10th December, 10 P.M. CST
- Host: Victory_Reign93
The Asia/Oceania also kinda European Lobby
- Saturday, 14th December, 4 P.M. Singapore Time
- Host: XSquareStickIt
Tracks: Randomly selected by lobby participants (~5 mins practice, ~10 mins sprint)
PP Limit: 430PP
Car: No Limit
Tyres: Comfort Soft
~Single–Player Challenge!~
Keep your roofs on your S-FRs for this week's SPC, because K31th is making us play in the rain.Set up the following custom race with a stock S-FR (on stock CS tyres!):
- Track: Fuji International Speedway (Full)
- Race type/length: Laps/3
- Start type/interval: Rolling, default
- Starting Position: 20/20
- Tyre Wear/Fuel Con: 1x/1x
- Weather: R08 (Torrential Downpour)
- Slipstream Strength: Real
- Opponents: Random
- Difficulty: Professional
Same deal: fastest time wins! How lucky will you get with slipstream/tailwind?
Of course, we always welcome opinions, tunes, liveries, photos, videos, or stories about the car here on the the thread, and don't forget to cast your nominations for the 2024 Car of the Year Awards if you haven't already!
- 3,931
- On the move
- SomePlayaDude
- 1,738
- Singapore
- XSquareStickIt
As of late, I've been feeling extremely discouraged from writing. A big part of it is due to how often GT7 physics and PP seems to change so often without warning, meaning that none of my testing and writing have much of a shelf life to them. As someone who writes as a hobby, I'd like my creative works to remain and stay relevant for as long as possible, but I guess PD don't see things the same way as I do.
The Alpine A220 Race Car '68 however, is a standout car in GT7's roster, simply for its evergreen relevance in a game constantly undergoing panic hot fixes and changes, and it achieves that thriving longevity despite not being a categorised racecar in the rather e–sports centric title. Early in the game's life, it was a hot favourite for grinding the WTC600 Tokyo money making race, because it was an extremely lightweight and fuel efficient car that was decently powerful, meaning that not only was it capable of nearly 300km/h in clean air, but it could also slot in very easily under 600PP with minimal modifications. The reason why that previous sentence is written in past tense isn't because the A220 doesn't serve that role anymore; it's because it got better at it. After all the tomfoolery with physics and PP updates, the A220 is one of the excruciatingly few cars that have their PP dropped instead of raised, going from some 601.75PP to 578.79PP. It's performance relative to the other cars in GT7 didn't change; the way it was rated against other cars in GT7 changed, meaning that, given the same 600PP cap, the A220 can actually be upgraded instead of having to be nerfed!
Money–making antics against the brain dead AI is one thing, but how is the A220 to drive? After all, said Tokyo race is at a half–wet city track with high average speeds and almost no runoff, and antique race cars have a bit of an image for being utterly unhinged and unsafe at any speed. The A220 displays a bewitching blend of responsive agility and stability, even by modern standards. It simply doesn't feel like a 56–year old car at all in that regard, but that's almost just a feint, a false sense of security to lull a modern driver into trusting it, because the rest of the car is proper horror. Its peaky engine and low drag means that it can hit some frankly harrowing speeds considering the age of this car and how little downforce it generates. Lift at speed does become a bit of an issue; despite the settings sheet showing that this car makes some minuscule downforce, the steering wheel does lighten up slightly at speed, and drivers will not only have to brake deceptively early from high speeds, but also pitch the car into high speed kinks earlier and earlier the faster the car goes. The race–tuned NA engine, like most in its era, is rather peaky, with a disconcerting torque spike near the top end, though this thankfully does happen very near the rev limit, so the car is most likely straightened out completely by the time that torque spike happens, meaning it's a quirk that's mostly unnoticable until the car is driven in the wet. And, while the dash is mostly lit, the tachometer of all things isn't, so if you're a PSVR2 user or simply drive in cockpit view without HUD for immersion, you'll really have to get well accustomed to the sound of a peaky 3L V8 picking up revs quicker and quicker as it nears its 8,300rpm limit.
All of that however, pales in comparison to the biggest (un)sticking point of the A220: the tyres. They are Comfort Soft by default in GT7, and for the speeds the Alpine can hit and feels otherwise capable of, the stingy grip on offer lets down the entire experience massively. I also find it incredibly difficult to get a read on bias ply tyres in GT games, making the driving experience a bit of a crapshoot. As a racecar from the 60s, the A220 of course doesn't come with ABS, and it very much wants to be treated as such in trail braking zones, and appreciates the game's retrofit ABS being on Weak rather than Default. The last point of caution is to just be smooth when driving the A220; chassis rigidity is always going to be an issue the older the cars are, and as such the A220 doesn't like sudden, snappy movements. It's a fast car, but it definitely demands a very skilled driver to keep it going fast.
Despite having its PP rating massively lowered in relation to other cars, the A220 is still rather hopeless in a sprint scenario against cars close to its current PP rating. In our Saturday lobby "featuring" the A220, cars like the F40, XJ220, Taycan, and much more effortlessly destroyed the A220, despite all the aforementioned cars downgrading their rubber to match compounds with the Alpine. For that reason, it's only real niche is in endurance races with high fuel usage. It's less a sprinter and more a marathon runner that can run a marathon at a pace almost matching the sprint pace of much younger athletes, and that I think is massively impressive.
The Alpine A220's constant relevance in new environments is a testament that, if something is made well, it will stand the test of time and be appreciated even by people younger than it, sometimes just as a window to see into the past, and sometimes, just as it is for what it is. It's a heartening reminder that it's worth putting in heart and effort into something that just might be be remembered for years to come.
The Alpine A220 Race Car '68 however, is a standout car in GT7's roster, simply for its evergreen relevance in a game constantly undergoing panic hot fixes and changes, and it achieves that thriving longevity despite not being a categorised racecar in the rather e–sports centric title. Early in the game's life, it was a hot favourite for grinding the WTC600 Tokyo money making race, because it was an extremely lightweight and fuel efficient car that was decently powerful, meaning that not only was it capable of nearly 300km/h in clean air, but it could also slot in very easily under 600PP with minimal modifications. The reason why that previous sentence is written in past tense isn't because the A220 doesn't serve that role anymore; it's because it got better at it. After all the tomfoolery with physics and PP updates, the A220 is one of the excruciatingly few cars that have their PP dropped instead of raised, going from some 601.75PP to 578.79PP. It's performance relative to the other cars in GT7 didn't change; the way it was rated against other cars in GT7 changed, meaning that, given the same 600PP cap, the A220 can actually be upgraded instead of having to be nerfed!
Money–making antics against the brain dead AI is one thing, but how is the A220 to drive? After all, said Tokyo race is at a half–wet city track with high average speeds and almost no runoff, and antique race cars have a bit of an image for being utterly unhinged and unsafe at any speed. The A220 displays a bewitching blend of responsive agility and stability, even by modern standards. It simply doesn't feel like a 56–year old car at all in that regard, but that's almost just a feint, a false sense of security to lull a modern driver into trusting it, because the rest of the car is proper horror. Its peaky engine and low drag means that it can hit some frankly harrowing speeds considering the age of this car and how little downforce it generates. Lift at speed does become a bit of an issue; despite the settings sheet showing that this car makes some minuscule downforce, the steering wheel does lighten up slightly at speed, and drivers will not only have to brake deceptively early from high speeds, but also pitch the car into high speed kinks earlier and earlier the faster the car goes. The race–tuned NA engine, like most in its era, is rather peaky, with a disconcerting torque spike near the top end, though this thankfully does happen very near the rev limit, so the car is most likely straightened out completely by the time that torque spike happens, meaning it's a quirk that's mostly unnoticable until the car is driven in the wet. And, while the dash is mostly lit, the tachometer of all things isn't, so if you're a PSVR2 user or simply drive in cockpit view without HUD for immersion, you'll really have to get well accustomed to the sound of a peaky 3L V8 picking up revs quicker and quicker as it nears its 8,300rpm limit.
All of that however, pales in comparison to the biggest (un)sticking point of the A220: the tyres. They are Comfort Soft by default in GT7, and for the speeds the Alpine can hit and feels otherwise capable of, the stingy grip on offer lets down the entire experience massively. I also find it incredibly difficult to get a read on bias ply tyres in GT games, making the driving experience a bit of a crapshoot. As a racecar from the 60s, the A220 of course doesn't come with ABS, and it very much wants to be treated as such in trail braking zones, and appreciates the game's retrofit ABS being on Weak rather than Default. The last point of caution is to just be smooth when driving the A220; chassis rigidity is always going to be an issue the older the cars are, and as such the A220 doesn't like sudden, snappy movements. It's a fast car, but it definitely demands a very skilled driver to keep it going fast.
Despite having its PP rating massively lowered in relation to other cars, the A220 is still rather hopeless in a sprint scenario against cars close to its current PP rating. In our Saturday lobby "featuring" the A220, cars like the F40, XJ220, Taycan, and much more effortlessly destroyed the A220, despite all the aforementioned cars downgrading their rubber to match compounds with the Alpine. For that reason, it's only real niche is in endurance races with high fuel usage. It's less a sprinter and more a marathon runner that can run a marathon at a pace almost matching the sprint pace of much younger athletes, and that I think is massively impressive.
The Alpine A220's constant relevance in new environments is a testament that, if something is made well, it will stand the test of time and be appreciated even by people younger than it, sometimes just as a window to see into the past, and sometimes, just as it is for what it is. It's a heartening reminder that it's worth putting in heart and effort into something that just might be be remembered for years to come.
The A220's mirror case is chrome, so it actually acts as a mirror from the front of the car, too. Interesting to see what lurks behind the Scapes scenes, and shocking that PD actually thought that far "ahead" and have shot photos behind the visible Scapes scenes, too!
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