Car of the Week 228: COTY GTS Finale

[Cowboy]

I tested this car on Tsukuba, SH tires.

(N500) Shelby Cobra 427 '66: 1:02.560
(N500) Dodge Viper SRT10 Coupe '06: 1:02.578
(N600) Jaguar F-Type R '14: 1:02.702 (Gr.X) Honda Project 2&4 powered by RC213V: 1:02.752
(Gr.X) INFINITI CONCEPT VGT: 1:03.061
(N700) Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat '15: 1:03.137
(N400) BMW M4 '14: 1:03.431


I'm quite suprised as to how fun this car is to drive. It drives like a big boy Jag should.

 

[JackRyanWMU]

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[Vic Reign93]

I’ve got a lobby up and running right now unless Racer has one already set up.

 

[Nismonath5]

I’ve got a lobby up and running right now unless Racer has one already set up.

He usually doesn't start for another half hour-ish, but I'm keen!

 

[JackRyanWMU]

Hate to leave early tonight. I've been having an issue lately where I get kicked out of the lobby and then can't get the lobby to show up in the game browser. I've been able to fix it before by resetting my modem and restarting my PS4, but tonight it wouldn't rectify the problem.

This is really starting to p*ss me off.

 

[Nismonath5]

Hate to leave early tonight. I've been having an issue lately where I get kicked out of the lobby and then can't get the lobby to show up in the game browser. I've been able to fix it before by resetting my modem and restarting my PS4, but tonight it wouldn't rectify the problem.

This is really starting to p*ss me off.

I know the struggle, reminds me of when I was trying to get my PS3 set up for proper online racing for the first time!

Hope all sorts itself out soon!

 

[JackRyanWMU]

All the stranger is that I can usually do the FIA races without a hitch.

Speaking of which, I'm snowed in. So some racing on a day I'd normally be stuck at work and making a video of it to help pass the time...

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[Nismonath5]

All the stranger is that I can usually do the FIA races without a hitch.

Speaking of which, I'm snowed in. So some racing on a day I'd normally be stuck at work and making a video of it to help pass the time...

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Mind sending some of that cold over here?

Its 30c here, and being right under the ozone hole means it's only more intense.. As someone who works outside, I've lost count of the times I've slipped inside for 5 to grab a cold drink and some air con.

 

[Vic Reign93]

You can help yourself to the -4C temperature from over here, ain’t much compared to how bad it is stateside, but every little helps.

I’ll hopefully get a review out on the Jag before the weekend. 👍

 

[Nismonath5]

Some excellent racing last night guys!! I enjoyed it, and certainly missed Vic's borderline suicidal antics as he gracefully slid past most times!!!

Review on the way!

Also, my shot at round 1of the manufacturer cup. Pretty average performance but still sitting on 1st in the country, 7th in manufacturer, 130-ish in the region so yay!!

 

[Alex p.]

Did a 7.32.xxx on the Nordschleife with the Jag. It's definatly damned fast in a straight line and doesn't corner too bad. Because I wasn't really surprised by it, it's neutral to me.

 

[Vic Reign93]

Ok so this review took longer than expected to get around to, mostly due to a bug killing any motivation for me and most of my sleep for that matter.

But I digress.

So the F-Type, over 540hp from a supercharged 5.0 V8, an 8 speed Automatic sending that power to the rear wheels and weighing in at a lighter than expected 1,650kgs.

How’s it to drive? tail happy, even on racing hards.

Once you got used to it’s tail happy tendencies, it was a decent car to drive. 👍

If tamed and set up properly, Could be a decent performer on power tracks in N500 or 600.

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

 

[JackRyanWMU]

Spa 24 Winning Livery by KaThunder77
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On the surface, the Jaguar F-Type seems it would be better suited for grand touring duties rather than track days. It appears to have plenty of heft and weight to it, but like a big cat, it's remarkably nimble for its size. It has absolutely no reluctance to turn in that you might expect from a front-engine car, and while wheel-spin needs to be managed wisely it's very forgiving for a 500+ horsepower rear-drive vehicle. Add to the fact that Jaguar nailed the styling and the F-Type is an absolute winner at a reasonable price tag. Very much Sleeper material.

 

[Racer283]

We tested the Jaguar F-Type last Tuesday and it was quite the handful even on RH tires. I say it was a decent car but definitely has some down falls. There's not much else to say about this car just that its quite a handful to drive it. Overall I give it a beater status.

For this week we leave a British company and drive a car from Japan that took on the Isle of Mans. This week we will be running the Subaru WRX STI Isle of Man Time Attack Car. This was chosen by @Baron Blitz Red

 

[Draggon]

Not sure exactly what to say about the Jag. It's OK I guess, and does what is supposed to do. I found it difficult to drive with SH tires. I never got comfortable with it during our 2 hour session Tuesday. It seemed to me to respond somewhat independently from my inputs. It's much better on SS tires. I don't remember whose idea it was to swap to racing tires, but dang that turned into a nightmare for me. I found the suspension to be way to soft for the grip racing tires afforded.

I switched to the Aston DB11 for the last race. While it was no match for @RobboGTAddict 's Gr.3 Pug nor @JackRyanWMU 's Gr.4 Megane, it was a much better (and more comfortable) ride. And that's the rub. There are so many other N500-600 cars out there that are just plain better than the Jag.

Verdict: not quite bad enough to be a beater.

I festooned it with livery reprising the BRM P-154 Can Am car. I should have done my research, I think I jinxed it with that livery. To quote Tony Southgate on the BRM "After coming third at Riverside, he (Pedro Rodriguez) told me it was the worst car he’d ever driven". I swapped to Taka-Q livery for the races but by that time the bad juju was already working.

 

[Nismonath5]

Bit late but there's some big news on the way for Hooncorp, so stay tuned! Anyway...
One Speedy Kitty Cat!

The F-Type R, what a car! It's the car you choose when you need to set a very respectable lap round the Nurburgring at 3pm, and still make it to a red carpet event at 5pm. It looks good, it sounds good, and it has everything you'd need in a sports coupe!

Of course, like most sportscars, with a grunty V8 and rear wheel drive layout, it packs some pretty sideways antics if you're pushing for fast laps. Even on RH tyres, it felt like I was ice skating, desperately feeling for grip wherever I could. It's not too nasty, but you will lose precious seconds correcting the car if you're not EXTREMELY delicate with your inputs.

That said, guess who's still able to dance around like he's some car-whisperer?

I like the car, but it's not the best it could be. A bit of tuning sorts that out, but as it sits, it barely makes it in with a Sleeper rating for me!

 

[Vic Reign93]

Quite a solid choice for this week, Went under 7:00 mins at the Ring, rewrote Subaru’s record at the legendary 37.73 mile Isle Of Man TT with a 17:35.139.

Normally that would be enough for some, but back in October last year they went to Romania for an even longer route, The Transfagarasan Highway, all 52.2 miles and well over 600 corners of it.

Did I also mention the 6699ft of elevation at the top?

In the end, they set a time just under 41 mins with a 40:58.08, roughly 76 miles an hour average.

How did Subaru create such a machine?

To put simply, something like this.

First they went to their old buddy Prodrive and told them to go nuts with a 4 door WRX STI.

Second, take a WRC spec 2.0 turbo Flat 4 and pump it up to nearly 600hp, 578 to be exact.

Third, chop the weight down to 1,140kgs and add some race slicks.

Fourth, give it an trick active rear wing so DRS is an option for the straight sections.

Fifth, Add huge brakes and WRC suspension parts while smoothing out the underside of the car to reduce drag and improve downforce via ground effects.

And finally, should things go tits up, the usual safety requirements like a roll cage, HANS device etc, plus one last thing.

An old school Nokia 6310 phone just incase the onboard radio fails or is damaged in the event of a wreck.

And while it’s no power crazed monster, it’s a solidly put together machine that’ll serve you well in any time attack event. 👍

Gonna be a good nights racing with this I reckon.

 

[Nismonath5]

Guess it was only a matter of time before we got a racecar. Not saying that's a bad thing, I do enjoy using the racecars, they've made for some of the best racing in the group!!





And with 34 Gr.3 cars, 27 Gr.4 cars, and many more Gr.2, Gr.1 and Gr.X, there's certainly no shortage of racecars for us to review as well as the road models!

 

[Racer283]

Guess it was only a matter of time before we got a racecar. Not saying that's a bad thing, I do enjoy using the racecars, they've made for some of the best racing in the group!!





And with 34 Gr.3 cars, 27 Gr.4 cars, and many more Gr.2, Gr.1 and Gr.X, there's certainly no shortage of racecars for us to review as well as the road models!

We've already done a Gr.3 and Gr.4 cars and that was back in week 9 and 10 before you guys joined but it will be interesting to see when the first of the 8 high rollers will appear.

 

[Draggon]

Hey Nate, you pointed out three of the biggest flaws in GTSport with those videos.

1. No Autumn Ring.
2. No Spa.
3. No Deep Forest.

But heck, we've got SSRX.

 

[Nismonath5]

We've already done a Gr.3 and Gr.4 cars and that was back in week 9 and 10 before you guys joined but it will be interesting to see when the first of the 8 high rollers will appear.

Might be more than 8 by then, you never know...

Hey Nate, you pointed out three of the biggest flaws in GTSport with those videos.

1. No Autumn Ring.
2. No Spa.
3. No Deep Forest.

But heck, we've got SSRX.

Don't remind me... what are PD thinking?!?!?! I can guarantee if they did one big "retro" track update with Mid Field, Deep Forest, Trial Mountain, etc... how many people would start driving on almost exclusively those tracks? I know I would.

 

[VXR]

Top Gear Ice Hockey Livery by matt-squires
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As Vic mentioned, I feel calling this car "The Swift" should be grounds for False Advertising charges in a court of law. The Suzuki should be a Sleeper, having similar power and weight to a Mazda Miata. The difference is that driving the Miata is like going on a kiddie ride at an amusement park as a five year old; it's not fast or dangerous at all, but to your mind it feels like a thrilling experience. In comparison, the Swift is like going on that same kiddie ride as a full-grown adult. You'll spend the entire time feeling slow, bored, and generally embarrassed to be seen in that circumstance.

Suzuki stopped selling cars in North America a few years ago. With a Beater like the Swift, it's not hard to see why.

To be fair, the way it drives in GTS isn't particularly indicative of the real car. The gearing suffers from the slow change bug a lot of lower power cars do, so that's why the Mini can out accelerate it, I suspect. Plus, the ZC31S was known to be quite tail happy, whereas in Sport it feels a bit too doughy. It definitely could do with a spruce from PD.

 

[tbtstt]

For this week we leave a British company and drive a car from Japan that took on the Isle of Mans. This week we will be running the Subaru WRX STI Isle of Man Time Attack Car. This was chosen by @Baron Blitz Red

Trivial fact but, although the marque obviously hails from Japan, this car was developed and built in the UK!

The same car was also used for the Subaru record attempts at the Nurburgring and the Transfagarasan Highway.

 

[Racer283]

Might be more than 8 by then, you never know...


Don't remind me... what are PD thinking?!?!?! I can guarantee if they did one big "retro" track update with Mid Field, Deep Forest, Trial Mountain, etc... how many people would start driving on almost exclusively those tracks? I know I would.

You could be right but who knows what other high rollers will come next. As of right now I have 2 of the 8 and trying to work towards the TZ2 and DB3S.

 

[Vic Reign93]

Lobby is up now folks. 👍

 

[Nismonath5]

So explaining what happened at both the first race and the Willow Springs race..

That wasn't me driving. The first race I was off finding a power cord for my wheel, so this unnamed figure grabbed the controller and tried to have a skid, failing miserably because he doesn't do DS4 racing.

The one at Willow Springs, I invited him to drive, and he gave it a shot, and he wasn't too bad for an on-the-spot race.

Who was it, you ask?

All shall be revealed hopefully soon.

 

[JackRyanWMU]

Anyone for a good Western?

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[Nismonath5]

Unrelated but funny little happening from today I thought I'd share with the gang.

So one of my jobs is a yard hand at one of the country's top used car dealers, so I'm often running around in some pretty flash wheels.

Today I had to pick up a V8 Ford Explorer (in matte black, sitting nice on 24"s) from the mechanic's, and was cruising down the highway back to the yard, when...

I ran out of gas.

The gauge had looked pretty alright, but in true comical fashion as I passed the last gas station, the needle started dropping like a stone.

So I ended up stranded on the side of the highway for about a half hour waiting for one of the guys to come give me some gas.

To make matters even more comical the side of the road was lined with cones and an Explorer, as you can imagine isn't the most agile turner, especially when it dies (and so does the power steering) at 100kmh RIP cone.

Needless to say when I got home this evening I had a nice time with my mate Jim. Jim Beam

 

[JackRyanWMU]

When a good finish in an FIA race doesn't feel like a good finish. Should've done better.

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[Baron Blitz Red]

Well, in other news, I managed a podium finish in today's FIA Manufacturer's Cup with my trusty Suabaru WRX Gr3... I might have done better had I not given myself penalties!!!



Reviews on the way, because I know I'm behind in those too.

Cheers