Car of the Week 228: COTY GTS Finale

[Vic Reign93]

Lobbies up people 👍

 

[RobboGTAddict]

It's not COTW related, but here is a race from my YouTube. I had no idea what it took to upload them, but I know it wouldn't be difficult. I'm going to attempt commentary soon.

 

[Alex p.]

Did a 07.04.352 with it on the Nordschleife. Can the Huayra go under the magic 7 minute mark? Possibly. It can certainly do it better, than the Veyron. The downforce and grip of this thing are unbelievable! The speed is also absolutely extreme, around as fast in a straight line as the Veyron, if not even faster. Concidering its HP and that it is rear wheel drive, its handling seems like magic really. The sound is aggressive and the design is pure art. This is a very good representation of the blend between engineering and art. Amazing, amazing car...

@Yassi_99 managed a 06.59.032 with it.

Verdict: pure sleeper!

 

[Nismonath5]

Remember how I was gonna do those reviews then I forgot I was preparing for a 24hr race and that kinda took priority? Well now it's finally time!

The Nissan GT-R NISMO!
For a car regarded as being god-like in nearly all areas of vehicular performance (even Clarkson hurt his neck due to the sheer grip the original had), this one was a big fat let down! And that's coming from a Nissan loyalist!!! True, it's more powerful and lighter than your regular GT-R Premium Edition, but what are the gains the NISMO has? About 30bhp more, and 30kg less! For the money (With the NISMO around double the cost of a regular GT-R), you'd be better off buying the regular GT-R. So yeah it's a performance model and on paper it's better than the regular GT-R, but what you're left with is a car that will go a little bit quicker but still weighs in at over 1700kgs!!! Seriously, bring out a road going GT-R that weighs the same as the Gr.4 variant, then I'll be impressed... What that all means is the GT-R NISMO had trouble staying on the road, and slowing down on the race day. It felt wallowy, like steering a cruise ship. I wasn't happy with this one. Tuning could help to some degree, but as it sits, this one is a reluctant beater.

The classic Mini Cooper!
Small, light and very maneuverable, the Cooper is quite fun once it gets up to speed, the problem is that it takes a while to do so. Conserving momentum around corners can mean the difference between pulling away and being pulled in, and depending on the complexity of the track, maintaining your speed through corners can be the only way to achieve an advantage over others. On the night we had to run them with almost 100bhp because of lobby restrictions, and even with the extra power it was a bit on the slow side. That said, I had a blast rallying it around the Fisherman's Ranch! It's neutral for me, on account as much as I enjoyed it, I don't see myself going out of my way to drive it too much.

The McLaren 650S!
Half MP4-12C, half P1, or so the visuals would have you believe. McLaren continues their lineage of naming their cars after fax machines and other office appliances, but look past the name and you've got a fun supercar! I adore the sound, while it's not the growliest or angriest sounding V8 in the world, it does have an appealing note to it, especially in car. Braking was a bit sub par, even with the pop up rear wing lending whatever aid it could. Being MR meant that it was a bit on the wild side, with other AWD rivals like the Huracan besting it in terms of stability and handling. It's still a decent base package, only let down by the brakes. Sleeper!

The GT40 I literally only drove on the night, so I can't really judge it.

The Huayra!
This is my favourite hyperfast car in GTSport. In N1000 trim it dominates anything in a straight line that's not a Tomahawk, and that's just after giving it the power and weight! The sounds are full on arousing, from the turbo whistling to the exhaust popping to the V12 itself. This is one gorgeous car, in looks, performance, sound and all round enjoyment! The steering is a bit slow, but who cares when you can just tip toe around a corner then blow everyone away in a straight line?! I love, LOVE this car. It wasn't exactly high on my list in GT6, but in GTSport I'm converted. Sleeper of the year candidate here, simply because even at N700 class it can go door to door with N1000 and still emerge triumphant.

Now that that's all done, it's time to go back to writing up articles, making videos, and all that for LeMons!!!

 

[Racer283]

We leave the Italian hypercar behind and move to the next hypercar which is produced by the French company Bugatti. This week before an intervention we will be testing the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. This weeks car was chosen by @Alex p.

 

[JackRyanWMU]

Livery by GTiRacer73
​

Pagani Huayra. It's name may be hard to pronounce, and it might look more like a Praying Mantis than anything else on first glance with its wide set rear view mirrors. But make no mistake, this is one bad fast car with some trick active aerodynamics to help manage the crazy speeds its capable of. Even so, it felt overwhelmed by its speed in GT Sport, as it required some early braking and careful steering through the corners in between manic bursts of power that flashed by quickly on the straights.

Now I could've driven the Pagani Huayra in Assetto Corsa. However, the Pagani Huarya BC model was also available to drive. And why drive just any Pagani Huayra when you can drive an enhanced Huayra like this one?

​

The BC edition does add more power, but more importantly you get greatly appreciated added downforce with a rear wing and dive planes up front. What the Nissan GT-R promised with mind-blowing levels of lateral grip, the Pagani Huayra BC actually delivered at the Mugello Circuit. And while the GT-R's electronic aids felt like an overbearing nanny when I was driving with them, the Pagani's aids felt like your cool Uncle that was having just a much fun as you were going fast with just a word or two of advice from the passenger seat here and there. There were indeed times on the next to last corner on the track where I got on the throttle too early and felt the rear slipping out, only for the car to shrug it off as it kept me from spinning out.

Literally the only downside I could find from this car was that it has so much grip and so much downforce that you don't get much warning when you go over the limit. When you do exceed what the Huayra can do, you have about enough time to paint the driver's seat an unflattering shade of yellow or brown before you end up in the sand trap.

The Pagani is one of those cars that breaks what I can call Beater or Sleeper. It's just a winner in my book, especially the BC Edition.

​

Bonus Video: I take one of Alonso's old F1 cars for a qualifying run at Indy. And I'm a little less successful than McLaren was this weekend.

​

 

[Nismonath5]

An absolutely stellar battle with Vic once more, amazing what a difference a few hundred kilos, some sticky tyres and the various race tuned bits can do to the Veyron, turning it from an obese straight-line thrillseeker to a capable racecar!!! Loved every minute of this one, and the added friction from Baron early on only added to the fun!

 

[Alex p.]

Did a 07.04.936 with it on the Nordschleife. I really hoped to bring it under the 7 minute mark. Can it do it? Hm, the worldwide best drivers could theoretically do it, maybe with a lot of trickery and corner cutting. But it can certainly get very close to it at least. Well, what can I say? The speed is insane but less impressive, than I remembered it to be. Probably thanks to modern hyper cars. You can feel its 2 tonnes in general very much, but especially under braking. Other than that, I truly think this is an absolutely amazing car and it drives extremely well concidering its weight, power, and by todays standards...also its age.

Verdict: sleeper because underrated!

 

[MisterWaffles]

If any of you lot are free for another time trial or are looking for something to do, we are currently approaching the end of week 2 on something that's only supposed to be one week long. For any regulars in both threads, if you want this stuff to keep going I kindly require material to work with.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...t-1-resurrection.376772/page-19#post-12737250

 

[TonyJZX]

The question would be "is the car worth spending $2 mil. on?"

I bought the GT40 at $2.8 and the Pagani at $1.35 and they were worth it. The do well in their classes.

So is the 4,400lb 1,000hp Veyron worth $2 mil.?

I dont think so.

 

[JackRyanWMU]

No review for this week, decided to take a break to coincide with the long weekend. So have some quick videos instead:

​

Enjoy and reflect this Memorial Day weekend, fellow Americans.

 

[Racer283]

For intervention week, we are slowing it down and going with a car under that is under $1mil. This week we will be testing the Ford Focus ST '15. This weeks car is chosen by @RobboGTAddict.

 

[Nismonath5]

The Veyron is one of those cars that is both groundbreaking but underwhelming. Sure, the numbers are impressive, and for it's time it was an earth shattering technological and mechanical achievement, but take it for a drive on any circuit with, you know, ACTUAL CORNERS, and you'll get tired of it pretty quick.

Sure, on Route X it's great. Blue Moon Bay, maybe, but anything other than an oval and you're gonna have problems, because no sooner will you unleash the 1000bhp it has to offer than you'll need to slam on the brakes. Weighing in at the better part of 1.9 tons, it's massive, it's bulky, and it takes about a quarter mile to slow down for any basic corner. Then there's the issue of actually sticking to your racing line around the corner. Even the AWD can't save this one.

At least the Gr.4 variant saves the Veyron name, at least for me. You can get it down to under 1000kgs, and with around 400-500bhp depending on how crazy you want to go, you get an amazingly capable package that, while it may never be allowed to race like that in Sport Mode, is still a ton of fun!

The road going Veyron though, is a big fat beater.

 

[05XR8]

Yeah, this is more in my price range. I'll bring out the Bathurst 6H Chaz Mostert/Nathan Morcom Focus RS

 

[Draggon]

I'm going against the grain here, but I like the Veyron. It doesn't turn well, it's too fat, it has lousy brakes. It's not even good at Blue Moon Bay. But it's fast. I can't think of anything it does well except top speed--but the Huayra is faster. It's very hard to push this one without losing a lot of time, or end up going up off course. Right out of the box it's a handful.

I liked the Veyron best with CSA off, abs weak, and a manual trans. It shows it's true abilities with some suspension tweaking and tuning the lsd. After tuning it up, I enjoyed the Veyron. It obliterates the completion in the career mode races. And it's a world better in GT Sport than it was in GT6. It's definitely not a sleeper, but I wouldn't call it a beater either.

Verdict: Neutral 👍

I forgot how much @Baron Blitz Red hates yellow cars when I did up the livery. Sorry buddy

 

[Nismonath5]

So that's not supposed to happen.

What I find funny here is that the game literally accounts for the added weight on racer's car. You can see he's struggling under the extra load

 

[Racer283]

View attachment 823971

So that's not supposed to happen.

What I find funny here is that the game literally accounts for the added weight on racer's car. You can see he's struggling under the extra load

Lol! I have that replay saved and I might send the beginning clip to Failrace and hopefully get that in one of his racing fail videos.

 

[RobboGTAddict]

That was the race of the night. I cant imagine why they don't host daily races there.

 

[RobboGTAddict]

From the bizarre opening to the battle for third. This was the race of the night. There should be a daily race here.

 

[JackRyanWMU]

Focus Livery by Frankvaillant347
Mach Forty Livery by BB_NASCAR_24_8
​

Telling a large segment of your loyal customer base that you no longer want their business doesn't seem like a good marketing strategy. Yet this is what Ford has effectively done by axing the cars from its lineup in favor of massive pickups and swampy crossovers. A recent ad touts the Ford Edge ST as a "performance vehicle", which makes about as much sense as tying antlers onto a dog and trying to pass it off as a reindeer. So this week saw us evaluating the Ford Focus, a casualty of Ford's apparent disdain for the youth market.

In Gran Turismo Sport, this took the form of the Ford Focus ST. It's no slouch, packing around 250 horsepower in a classic hot hatch package. Overall the car seems like it would be easy to live with; able to haul 90% or so of what a crossover would, but in a much more fun and driver engaging way. It perhaps falls a little short when you turn off the back country roads and onto the track. Having this kind of power going exclusively to the front wheels means that understeer will rear its ugly head. And while the Focus ST doesn't have terrible understeer, it's still very much there and will take away some of the fun of the driving experience.

So for those who want to take their Focus to the track, may I heavily recommend spending some more dough and getting the RS version, like this mod car I tested in Assetto Corsa.

​

What your extra dollars will get you is over 300 horses to play with, but more importantly you get All-Wheel Drive to allow all four tires to enjoy the fun. It should be noted that the All-Wheel Drive in the Focus RS will still allow plenty of sliding on corner exit, to the point it became habit for me to throw in some counter-steer after the bends at Brands Hatch. While it's a good party trick, I did find myself wishing the car would skip the theatrics and just get the power down for the straight bits after a short time. That said, the Focus RS was very easy to drive and lay down quick, consistent lap-times over a sustained period.

So what's my verdict? I'll call the Focus ST a Neutral. It's not a bad car, but it's not really exceptional. The Focus RS on the other hand, can and will surprise the unwary V-6 Mustang drivers out there. Absolute Sleeper. Either way, I predict Ford will be missing the customers that used to buy these cars in the near future.

For a Bonus Video, we switch from Ford to Ferrari to trace the route around Belle Isle that IMSA and Indycar took over this weekend.

​

 

[Racer283]

Time to get down in the dirt as this week we are testing one of the fictional Gr.B Rally Cars. This week when you think of Honda NSX, you think of the 90's sports car or the GT500 series but this week we are taking a look at the fictional Honda NSX Gr.B Rally Car. This weeks car was chosen by @Nismonath5

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

In Other COTW (kinda sorta) related news...

Thanks to a decent enough season in the FIA races, I've been promoted to an S/S driver, which means I'll be able to do the "Superstar" events!!! Wish me luck people!!! Hopefully, some of the other COTW regulars, (past or present) will be along on the journey as well, in their respective regions!

One of my better and most recent races, in (of course) a COTW victim we've had not all that long ago... and yes @Nismonath5 , the fuel difference got me! The GT-R had better fuel economy, but the Stang had better tyre wear. It was a close trade off in the end...



I hope to get some of my reviews done soon... thanks to all !!!

Cheers

 

[Nismonath5]

In Other COTW (kinda sorta) related news...

Thanks to a decent enough season in the FIA races, I've been promoted to an S/S driver, which means I'll be able to do the "Superstar" events!!! Wish me luck people!!! Hopefully, some of the other COTW regulars, (past or present) will be along on the journey as well, in their respective regions!

One of my better and most recent races, in (of course) a COTW victim we've had not all that long ago...



I hope to get some of my reviews done soon... thanks to all !!!

Cheers

That's awesome Baron!!!

Don't relax just yet though, I believe in order to participate in the Superstar races you have to also be in the top 2 in your manufacturer. (Might be different over there, but in Oceania it's top 2)

Still, very well deserved! Wear that S with pride!

 

[Nismonath5]

So, a little known fact about Bathurst.

It has a Canada mode.

Dunno about @Vic Reign93 but I'd still be keen for a duel!!!

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

That's awesome Baron!!!

Don't relax just yet though, I believe in order to participate in the Superstar races you have to also be in the top 2 in your manufacturer. (Might be different over there, but in Oceania it's top 2)

Still, very well deserved! Wear that S with pride!

That's the thing, I can't relax with it... in completing the registration form for the "Star" series, it states I have to keep whatever criteria I met in the first place. And if it actually brings me into those Top 16 races, the competition will be that much tougher. It will be a good learning experience no matter what... I just hope it's cleaner racing than some of the FIA races I've seen!

Thanks btw... It's a feather in the cap, and it took me right off guard, as I wasn't expecting it. But boom, I open GT Sport up to check the final standings, and the invite to complete the registration was there. Now just to improve somehow...

Cheers

 

[Nismonath5]

That's the thing, I can't relax with it... in completing the registration form for the "Star" series, it states I have to keep whatever criteria I met in the first place. And if it actually brings me into those Top 16 races, the competition will be that much tougher. It will be a good learning experience no matter what... I just hope it's cleaner racing than some of the FIA races I've seen!

That's just their way of saying that if you're not top 5 (or whatever you needed to get S rank) next season, you'll lose it. Some folks think once they get it, it's theirs for good.

Also, I'd recommend checking the Gran Turismo TV to get an idea of the competition! They not long ago uploaded the various Top 16 races from this season for all regions, and they make for some great viewing! Definitely no malicious driving there

Now, regarding the Focus. I must say I was impressed! It really embodies the philosophy behind COTW, taking cars that are pretty overlooked and giving them a go. And boy did I have a blast! It's cute, zippy, relatively harmless, and made for an entertaining night's racing! It had a very "Get in and go" feel to it, you don't need to run 20 laps to get a hang of it. It's probably even a candidate for Car Of The Year.... 👍 👍 👍 👍
And here's vids from last week!

 

[Draggon]

Just got notice there will be maintenance tomorrow night at the usual time.

 

[RobboGTAddict]

Excellent work Baron. Give em hell

In Other COTW (kinda sorta) related news...

Thanks to a decent enough season in the FIA races, I've been promoted to an S/S driver, which means I'll be able to do the "Superstar" events!!! Wish me luck people!!! Hopefully, some of the other COTW regulars, (past or present) will be along on the journey as well, in their respective regions!

One of my better and most recent races, in (of course) a COTW victim we've had not all that long ago... and yes @Nismonath5 , the fuel difference got me! The GT-R had better fuel economy, but the Stang had better tyre wear. It was a close trade off in the end...



I hope to get some of my reviews done soon... thanks to all !!!

Cheers

 

[Draggon]

I've been promoted to an S/S driver, which means I'll be able to do the "Superstar" events!!! Wish me luck people!!!

Congratulations BBR! Pretty awesome work there, I'm rootin' for ya. Take a screenshot of that "S" by your name, for posterity. 👍

Focus review coming soon. We had some incredibly close races as seen in @Nismonath5 's videos.

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

Excellent work Baron. Give em hell

Congratulations BBR! Pretty awesome work there, I'm rootin' for ya. 👍

Thanks guys!!! I'll do my best and sport our COTW logo as per usual.

Cheers