Feels like I haven’t done a review since last year so let’s get start-
*Checks notes*
🤬 It WAS last year since my last write up, certainly feels like it what with all that’s happened since that write up.
Yeah, that’ll probably date when I started writing this.
Nevertheless, It’s better to do something right once than something fast twice, which is also good advice for all other aspects of ones life.
Here’s some more good advice, if the opportunity to buy a Toyota Yaris GR comes up, do yourself a favour and get it.
Yes 2020 was the year which the phrase famously said by GT6 COTW’s host with Ted Thomas’s Ghost, McClarenDesign would sum it up perfectly.
“An utter Fustercluck”
The motoring press were taken aback by Toyota announcing a homologation special version of their Yaris which would have a turbo charged 3 cylinder engine.
“A homologation special with a 3 banger?!, have they taken complete leave of their senses?!”
As it turned out though, Toyota had all their senses and they were on fine form when they started building the Yaris GR.
That 1.6 3 cylinder turbo was chucking out nearly 270hp, in a car weighing under 1300kgs, with all 4 wheels helping put that power to the road via a 6 speed manual gearbox.
The automotive journo’s fell in love with the punchy Yaris, outshining its bigger brother the Toyota Supra quite convincingly throughout 2020.
It was easy at the limit, but still playful to throw around, a modern day Evo or WRX Impreza if you will.
I may like cars with a knife edge, but a fun and forgiving car like the Yaris GR can be just as fun, plus the 3 banger does give a nice soundtrack to boot.
Virtual reality imitates life in the case of the Yaris, It was well received by critics and well received by us to the extent it was given the nod for COTW’s Car Of The Year for 2020.
Verdict: Sleeper 👍
Up next is another homologation special, but this ones a little different.
It’s not real.
Yes we are looking at one of PD’s original creations based on the Gr3 Alfa 4C, The Alfa Romeo 4C Gr3 Road Car.
Imagine a normal 4C, now widen it, cover the rear window, fit some fatter tyres, up the power of the 1.75 litre turbo 4 banger to over 440hp and then add quite a bit of weight to it.(
)
Yep, despite being a homologation special, its
a lot heavier than the normal 4C with the Gr3 going from 950kgs to 1,320kgs.
Another thing that could count as a downgrade is the gearbox, both have a paddle shift 6 speed gearbox, but the normal 4C’s shifts like the dual clutch system it actually has.
Whereas the Gr3’s gearbox acts like a manual gearbox despite changing gears with the paddles.
But truthfully, they’re really the only real marks against the 4C Gr3, as it’s quite the pleasant racer thanks to the wonders of downforce which all Gr3 road cars get.
Hopefully the Gr3 cars aren’t just a one game special like other cars from GT’s past and cross over to GT7 where we could really fine tune them.
Verdict: Sleeper 👍
And on the subject of fine tuning, The Ferrari Enzo.
Now I’ve given the Prancing Horse’s hypercars plenty of backhanding in the past, some of it for my experience and the rest of it from experiences we all shared on race night, all of it justified... mostly.
The LaFerrari lifted the front up in medium speeds, didn’t stop anywhere near as quick as you think, especially considering it was a lot lighter in game than IRL.
The Enzo is guilty of this too, in fact they both weigh 1255kgs according to the dealership specs, but the quoted IRL number is 1480kgs for the Enzo.
But another area where the two have common ground is the tyre width offset as both have huge 345 section rear tyres, but the front tyres on the Enzo are 245 section to the LaFerrari’s 265’s.
Now such a tyre width difference means the rear is gonna be planted(tyre compound and power output notwithstanding.) but the front tyres will wash out and cause understeer and trying to overpower the rears to compensate will be tricky.
That’s not to say it’s all bad, the Enzo’s 650hp V12 means business and anywhere where it can build up a full head of steam and rarely slowdown is where it thrives.
Hopefully the SLR can follow the Enzo over to GT7 and join up with their 3rd Musketeer, the Porsche Carrera GT.
👍
Verdict: Neutral.
Up next is two cars from the hard knocks world of Gr3, One of which was/is my previous/current/retired? Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 and the other being the Porsche 911 RSR Gr3.
Old school front engined against rear engined, 12 cylinders vs 6 cylinders, 5.9 litres vs 4.0 litres, Britain vs Germany(again) and both are glorious noise makers.
Of course a lot of what i’ve said about Gr3 cars previously could apply to these 2 as well, But I’d say the 911 is good on fuel and tyres+ the RR layout helps with putting power down and the Aston is more user friendly in terms of stability, but can still put up a fight against established front runners.
In summary when it comes to Gr3, BOP will negate many differences so pick the Gr3 that’s right for you.
:tup:
Verdicts: Neutral
Referring back to my closing line in the Enzo review, I mentioned the only rival it has that’s in GTS and it’s quite the automotive paradox.
I am of course talking about the Mercedes McLaren SLR.
A collaboration between the duo who at the time were partners in F1 with Mercedes power in the back and with the announcement that McLaren will once again get Mercedes engines for this season, it’s only fitting to look back at their road car collab.
Now why do I call it an automotive paradox?
Because what both manufacturers wanted to do with it cancelled each other out.
McLaren wanted a lightweight drivers car, because SLR in english stands for Sport Light Racing and so to keep with that goal, they threw A LOT of Carbon Fibre at it.
Carbon body panels, Carbon fibre tub, Carbon monocoque and Carbon Ceramic Brakes, the latter two being quite new technology for road cars back then.
Now Mercedes gave them a nice powerplant to work with, a 617hp 5.4 Supercharged AMG V8 built by hand in their factory, a trend I believe they still continue today for their AMG’s.
A Powerful engine, Much Carbon fibre, surely it’s a winner in the making right?
Well that’s what SHOULD have happened.
Mercedes wanted a comfortable Super Grand Tourer and added luxury’s like electric seats, cruise control, a decent sized boot and the big one, the 5 Speed Automatic that was hooked up to that 617hp sledgehammer.
While reliable and durable enough to take the power, it was heavy which coupled with all the prior luxuries meant the SLR weighed in at around a hefty 1,750kgs.
Sport Light my 🤬.
Ironically, the next super cars these 2 company’s built were the SLS AMG and the MP4-12C, a hardcore cruiser and a civilised super car respectfully.
The Paradox also carries over to GTS because like Toyota was for awhile, not many modern games have the SLR McLaren in their roster most notably the Forza franchise with FM6 being the last official time it was in Forza.
How’s the handling?
Despite it being heavier than a GTR, it can hold it’s own through the curves and the brakes have quite the bite to them.
Long gearing can be a negative IF the power and torque isn’t there to match, but the sledgehammer of a V8 upfront more than compensates for it.
Best of all, with the side exiting exhausts and the supercharger(‘s) whining, it certainly sounds like a Supercar.
For some, the SLR is underrated, for some it was too heavy and unfocused to ever be a proper Supercar and for others, it gives them
34 different forms of PTSD.
For me, It’s a car that made the best of a argumentative collaboration and deals with being a paradox to be a solid all rounder of its time.
And one that shouldn’t be forgotten.
Verdict: Sleeper 👍
Next up is a classic Hollywood stalwart which like a few other classics, was better onscreen than offscreen.
Kinda gave the verdict right outta the gate didn’t I?
It’s the 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.
With a 6.6 litre V8 rated at 220hp, You’d be forgiven for thinking if it was a boat anchor upfront rather than an engine!
Yep this was during the time of America going through strict emissions testing and the change from Gross HP rating to Net HP rating meant that such big engines like the 6.6 or the 7.5 V8 being heavily nerfed in power output.
No wonder then when Burt Reynolds got his own Trans Am(1 of 4 he’d end up owning.), he’d had a 600hp 8.2 litre V8 dropped in it.
In stock form, you can’t spin the tyres from a start partly due to a longish 1st gear and the lack of overall power.
Once moving it is an ok experience, not great, but not terrible either.
Still has a higher top end stock than the Mach 1 Mustang so it’s not completely pointless, but that 6.6 V8 engine needs to breathe more as 220hp is just tragic.
Kinda like the Delorean DMC 12, Hollywood made it perform better than it actually could.
I mean the DMC 12 had its engine sound replaced in the movie with sound dubbed in from a Porsche 928 V8 and Bandits Firebird sound was replaced with the sound from a 1955 Chevy Custom (same car that was in Two Lane Blacktop.).
Why? Because they considered the 6.6 V8 to not sound intimidating enough.
Ouch.
So if you buy the ‘78 Trans Am, Be like Burt and give it MUCH more power.
Verdict: Beater 👎
Next up is the last car from 2020 and its one that’s close to a certain
@XSquareStickIt heart.
And now that you’re sat bolt up right and paying attention, let’s begin.
The Mazda RX-7 Sprint R Type A is the swan song model for the RX-7 which went out of production in 2002 alongside the Mk4 Toyota Supra and the Nissan Skyline GTR R34.
While the RX-8 would continue down the path of the Rotary, The RX-7 was the last production turbo Rotary engine to roll off the line.
Packing the all too familiar 13B 2 Rotor with twin sequential turbos, power was quoted at the Japanese Gentleman’s Agreement number of 276hp (Unofficially it was around 290hp.) and hauled around 1,270kgs which is balanced with a near 50-50 weight distribution.
Now of course when it comes to driving it, you’d expect it to be good, well behaved when you want it to and fun to throw around when you don’t want it to behave.
And that’s exactly what you get.
There’s a reason the RX-7 is still sought after even today, And no it’s not just because of all the movies it’s starred in.
Because unlike the MK4 Supra, it’s more than just a car with a good engine in it, it’s a legitimate sports car too.
And while when it comes to tuning, The Supra will very rarely have anything other than the 2JZ, the RX-7 is completely different.
Want to build an N/A 3 Rotor track toy? Sure.
Want to build the Rotary counterpart to the Hoonicorn with a Billet 4 Rotor turbo AND 4WD?! Go for it.
Want to anger Rotary fans? Drop an LS in it.
It’s a car that on its own stock merits, can actually back up the hype around it. 👍
Verdict: Sleeper
👍
Now on to the 2021 cars and starting with my pick which was always gonna be a debate starter.
The 2019 Porsche Taycan Turbo S.
Porsche’s first proper electric production car and it’s taking a swing at the established front runner in electric cars in the form of Tesla.
Certainly not starting in the shallow end are we?
Before we go further I do have to address the ONE thing I genuinely hate about the Taycan and you might already know what i’m referring to.
Yep, the ‘Turbo’ part of the name.
Just... Why?
You know full well that you can’t have an actual turbo on a fully electric car so why the hell do you call it a turbo?!
‘For branding only’
Branding?! What kinda 🤬 reasoning is that?
What was wrong with calling it the GTS-E? It tells people you have a high end model spec while telling everyone it is in fact Electric.
Yeah Porsche used the Turbo name to a large extent over the years, but at least the cars that have that badge, THEY ACTUALLY HAVE TURBOS.
Granted some GTS models are turbocharged, but they at least they don’t claim to be turbocharged when they are not.
🤬 me, It’s just disingenuous to call it a Turbo, so i’m gonna refer to it by that previously mentioned GTS-E badge.
Ok now that thorn in my side has been dealt with, back to the car.
The Taycan GTS-E has 2 electric motors(1 for each axle) which normally chuck out 617hp in normal mode and over 750hp in Overboost mode, happily for us we get the full 751hp all the time.
Normally in electric cars both motors and axles are connected to a single speed gearbox, with the Taycan that’s the case for the front axle, but the rear axle gets a 2 speed gearbox to assist with acceleration.
And despite weighing over 2 tons, the Taycan GTS-E can certainly get off the line in a hurry with sub 3 second sprints to 60mph and topping out at nearly 165mph, but getting there in a hurry.
But as you’re probably already thinking, ‘But Vic, that sorta thing is a high performance electric cars bread and butter, what about when it comes to turns?’ Surely all that weight has to affect handling somewhat?
Well Yes and No.
While you can’t ignore physics, The Taycan handles remarkably better than any over 2 ton car has the right to be, you will feel that weight under braking however.
As for tuning, you can turn up the power the power to nearly 800hp and get the weight down to 1.7-1.8 tons from just under 2.3 tons.
BTW, I hope that on GT7 we can turn up the power in electric cars for once, plus let us tweak the final drive so we aren’t capped at the stock cars top speed.
Of course there’s the other side to all this, the things that make a normal car fun compared to electric, sound, feedback etc.
Yeah I’ll concede that’s something that no amount of Stuttgart Space Magic can’t recreate( at least not right now) But as a racer at what point do you draw the line on that?
At what point does the whole ‘Soul, feeling and feedback’ enthusiasts arguments start being outweighed by genuinely better all round performance and capability?
Make no mistake, Electric car tech has over the years been coming on pretty rapid and at some point, electric cars will be not just be one trick drag race machines, they’ll possibly be legitimate sport cars which can hang with the best in all aspects.
Unless they suddenly figure out and implement the infrastructure for Hydrogen fuel and have electric cars play second fiddle to that.
Looking forward to what you guys think on that subject.
👍
Verdict: Neutral(Because 🤬 unnecessary Turbo badge. Yes I can be petty.)
Figured that after one I should go back to basics.
And what’s more basic than a Go-Kart?
Er Vic, this Kart has a 6 speed sequential gearbox.
‘Sigh’ Ok not COMPLETELY basic, but not far off.
Yes we have got the 125 Racing Shifter Go Kart out, no Junior, 100 or normal 125 here.
So that means 49hp from a tiny 125cc engine, pushing 80kgs of kart, 6 speed sequential gearbox and the other big difference, front disc brakes.
Handling is like... well a Go Kart.
It grips, but you have to be ready because everything happens much quicker here, including the back stepping out and it’s very easy to overcorrect and stack it into the gravel trap.
While you’ll rarely go over 120+mph, you’ll be having a blast doing so long as you avoid the kerbs.
So PD, Any chance of a 250cc Superkart in GT7’s future? 100hp, 150mph, just saying, it’ll bridge the gap perfectly to the RBX Junior.
👍
Verdict: Fun Times
:tup:
Next up on my list is another swan song model, the 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X Final Edition.
Packing 309hp from its tried and tested 2.0 turbo 4 banger, all that power goes to all 4 corners via a 5 speed manual gearbox.
Now the 5 speed with the long 5th gear tends to hold it back on longer tracks and makes you wish it was the 6 speed dual clutch gearbox instead.
Sadly the Final Edition could only be had with the 5 speed, but straight line performance was never the Evo’s true calling, carving up the turns with the ever present Active Yaw Control lending a hand was where the Evo was a threat.
Realistically, my gripe with the gearbox wouldn’t be as noticeable if the engine had more punch to help it, but in the majority of markets where it was sold 309hp was the most you were gonna get.
Unless you were in the UK.
We got some spicier exclusive models with the FQ330, FQ360 with 330hp and 360hp respectively and that would’ve been enough for most.
But not Mitsubishi UK.
They wanted more so they teamed up with HKS to build a more potent FQ400 with 403hp, surely that’s all the power a road going Evo could want right?
Nope.
A limited run of 40 FQ440-MR’s were made to celebrate 40 years of Mitsubishi in the UK.
Yep, that does work out at 220hp per litre.
THAT sounds like a proper Final Edition instead of being a slightly fancier GSR model. 👍
All in all, the Evo X Final Edition isn’t terrible by any stretch, but it could’ve been something much more deserving of the Final Edition badge.
Verdict: Neutral
Not much further to go now Vic.
With the Evo checked off, we now come to the Daihatsu Copen RJ VGT.
Easily the slowest of all the VGT’s with its modified 660cc turbo 4 banger making 146hp, pretty much identical as to what the normal Copen can make fully tuned.
But the VGT’s engine revs lower and makes peak power further in the power band than the normal Copen and weighs in at a very svelte 600kgs to boot.
Power is sent to the front through a 7 speed dual clutch gearbox which if the Copen VGT wasn’t a VGT and therefore stuck in GrX, would make it a very tough contender to beat in N100.
But sadly this a case of where the VGT name is a curse to the Copen, it gets thrown into the same group as the other VGT’s like the Tomahawk Trio, the Laser powered 2X amongst other picks and gets given the same price of a million credits.
1 million credits for a Daihatsu Copen.
Crying shame really, it’s actually a fun car to drive, perfect One make race series for Novices.
Verdict: Beater:tdown
I don’t take pleasure in this one.)
Gonna throw theses next 2 together as they both have common ground.
Both have turbos.
Both have 5 speed gearbox’s and rear wheel drive.
Both have mid mounted engines and rear wings.
Ones a Ferrari and the other is sometimes used to build kit cars that look like Ferrari’s.
Yeah it’s the Ferrari F40 and the Toyota MR2 GT-S.
The Toyota MR2 packs 243hp from the 3S-GTE 2.0 turbo 4 cylinder engine, which has its design based of the 503E engine which powered Toyotas Group C and GTP efforts and was capable of 800hp in the AAR Eagle MkIII.
The F40 has a 2.9 Twin Turbo V8 which was an evolution of the 288 GTO’s and the GTO Evoluzione’s engine, kicking out 480hp, but apparently according to journalists who drove it back then reckoned it was making over 500hp instead.
The MR2 weighs in at 1270kgs which isn’t half bad for the time, But the F40 with its use of carbon fibre and a sparse interior comes in at just 1100kgs, lighter than a McLaren F1.
Now the F40 in the past was not perfect, in GT5/6, the gearing was completely off and it was much heavier than what it was(US spec weight IIRC) and it was rather ill tempered under braking.
In GT Sport they corrected those issues and it now drives like an F40 should, phenomenally well.
The MR2 is kinda of a very diet version of the F40, with more snap oversteer and an engine which keels over at high Rpm.
This was the car that hammered home an issue I’ve had with how GTS does power upgrading, it’s fine for electric cars,(it allows us to actually add power to them for once.
) but with ICE engines, all it does is just add power and torque, it doesn’t change where it makes peak power or torque or how the curves change before peak power.
Your N200 MR2 will have the exact same power curve as your N400 MR2, both can rev to 8K but drop off after 6k, whereas on GT6 that wouldn’t be the case thanks to tuning and power limiting.
The MR2 has potential to be great, The F40 is just great outta the box.👍
See Ferrari? I can be nice to your Halo cars.
MR2 Verdict: Neutral
F40 Verdict: Sleeper
👍
And Finally..
The last and most recent car, The Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat.
We all thought Dodge was nuts when they dropped a supercharger on to the Challenger and called it the Hellcat, if only if we knew what was coming in the future.
Since then Dodge went mad with the Hellcat engine dropping it into the Charger to make it a 200+mph super saloon, a Jeep Cherokee called the Trackhawk and a drag focused Challenger called the Demon.
Suffice to say, Dodge went full ‘Merica’ with it.
707hp from a 6.2 Supercharged Hemi V8(Later 797hp in the Redeye models.) sent to the rear via a 8 speed Automatic gearbox in a car weighing nearly 2 tons.
1st was useless once on the move, only with TC on and no revving at the start was useful to get a quick launch.
Braking was a bit limp, but then again it’s a near 2 ton car, handling was not bad provided you didn’t tread on the land mine that is the throttle too much.
But if you decide to just send it sideways, it’s got more than enough punch to do, heck it allowed me to do what I used to do in GT6, just yeet it sideways through corners and not immediately get swamped by everyone.
Yeah the fuel mileage on it at full load might be in the low single digits, yeah it’s not a proper serous track toy and yes it’s about as subtle as a pink tank blasting YMCA over its PA system.
“Absolute power corrupts, absolutely.”
But god damn is it a laugh to drive.
Verdict(Not so subtle)Sleeper 👍
And just like that, i’m back up to date.
Welp, look forward to my next review in the next few months.
