So the last 3 weeks worth of picks have a combined price of 6 million credits, had that happened in the early days of GT7, that would’ve been quite a painful grind.
That 6 million will get you a VGT of your choosing, The Daihatsu RJ Copen VGT in this case, the record setting EV in the form of the Volkswagen ID.R and the Le Mans winning LM Hypercar in the Toyota GR010 Hybrid.
We’ll start cheap and go up from there.
The Racing Jacket Copen still packs the common Kei Car engine, a 660cc turbo 3 cylinder engine, but turned up to 146hp which did make it one of, if not the most powerful Kei Cars in the game.
That was until the parts update and the Honda S660 took that title with 160hp from its Turbo Inline 3 engine.
And that doesn’t even consider the engine swapped Kei Cars.
That 146hp is sent to the front wheels via a 7 speed CVT gearbox with ratios so short you can launch it in 3rd gear from a standstill and still spin the tyres.
7th is pretty much a highway cruising gear and believe me I've tried finding a use for it, it requires strong slipstream and all downforce trimmed off to even somewhat use it.
Despite the ‘Racing Jacket’ tag, it comes with Sports Hard tyres stock, just like the Civic TC IIRC, so traction can be sometimes at a premium, but thanks to its low 600kg weight, it still proved to be a decent, fun car.
Just not 1 Million credits worth of fun.
But the biggest mark against it more than its price?
It’s got the Racing Car Tag, meaning its usage in Career is heavily limited and any events it can enter, it’s likely to be too far off the pace to be usable.
So yeah, if you’re buying cars for the collection, make this one of the last cars you get.
Verdict: Beater 🤨👎(but Fun)
Next is the 2 Million credits Volkswagen ID.R, VW’s All Electric Racer built with breaking records for EV’s in mind.
But why you may ask?
VW and all the manufactures under their banner were thriving in motorsports as a whole, WRC, Dakar, Le Mans, if it was under the VAG banner, it was likely winning so why the sudden switch to an EV Hillclimber?
The answer? Damage Control.
In May 2014, A group of 4 Emissions testers in the USA were testing a VW Passat TDi on a 2000 mile drive to get an idea of its real world driving emission levels and inadvertently, stumbled on to the one of the biggest cases of fraud in automotive history.
Plainly Difficult covered the Dieselgate scandal in his video on it.
Basically in layman’s terms, VW and it’s fellow manufactures we’re gonna get stripes torn of them for lying about their diesel emissions by using cheat devices to get past the stringent emissions standards.
And those stripes cost money, a LOT of money and effectively forced VAG to cease major motorsports efforts to save money to weather the incoming storm of buy backs, lawsuits and fines and try to clean up their act, pun slightly intended.
So VW went hard on EV’s and battery tech, but it needed something extreme to get peoples attention, it needed to make a statement that EV’s could be as fast or faster than ICE’s or Hybrids.
It needed, An Electric Racecar.
Enter, The VW ID.R.
With a chassis co-developed with Norma(No strangers to the odd Hillclimb racer), the ID.R had 2 electric motors to power both axles and give it 670hp in game and 4WD.
Weighing in at under 1100kgs(1030kgs in game), the ID.R was capable of low 2 second 0-60 runs and combined with the fact it doesn’t lose power at high altitudes unlike ICE power, it made history as not only beating the EV record, but the overall record set by Sebastian Loeb and the 208 T16 Pikes Peak at Pikes Peak with a 7:57.148, the first and so far only sub 8 minute time at the legendary hillclimb.
So.. Job done right?
Nope, Just one record wasn’t enough so next up was the EV record at the Nurburgring.
So VW revised the gearing and the aero package for more speed, added DRS and set it loose at the Ring, Clocking a 6:05.336, resetting the EV record and even beating the iconic 6:11 time set by Stefan Bellof in a Group C Porsche.
Another feather in its cap was being the unofficial king of the Goodwood Hillclimb by going under the 40 second barrier for the first time, but unlike the previous two records, this one was eventually beaten by the utterly insane, fan assisted McMurtry Speirling.
So this EV’s a monster on more technical tracks, but even in game, on faster tracks like Spa, it can still put up a fight against the likes of the GR010.
Oh, we’ll get to that car shortly.
Now the ID.R is somewhat limited in its usage in career mode like the Copen VGT is, but it’s due its high PP level, something you can actually address and make usable in the GT World Series 800PP championship.
It’s handling can be quite tricky in regards to braking and putting power down on low speed turns, but it does wake up as the speed picks up and you can begin to properly trust it.
Not quite lightweight Gr1 levels of trust, but not too far off either.
All in all, a solid silver lining to come out of the whole Dieselgate scandal.
Verdict: Sleeper 😉👍
And last, but not least, the 3 million credits Toyota GR010 Hybrid Le Mans Hypercar.
The Le Mans Hypercar class is what LMP1 used to be, but better regulated for new manufactures to join in and potentially be competitive out the gate.
Any petrol four stroke engine configuration is allowed, but max ICE power is capped at 670hp with the now single electric motor capped at 268hp and only allowed to drive the front wheels.
The minimum weight has also been raised to over 1000kgs compared to the sub 900kgs of the LMP1’s, all for balance and keeping the costs down.
The GR010 has upgraded from a 2.4 V6 to a 3.5 V6 to make the new limit of 670hp and driving the rear tyres via a 7 speed sequential gearbox.
Now on its own merits it’s a rapid car, if slightly twitchy when applying power in low speed turns as the hybrid kicks in at around 75mph and up until 155mph.
But this is where being the only Hypercar in the Gr1 class becomes a big problem.
First off, it’s in the same class as the cars it replaced IRL and those cars were capable of putting down faster times at Le Mans than what the Hypercar class were capable of.
Yes it’s got more power from the ICE than most Gr1’s, but it’s the second heaviest car in Gr1 with only the Audi VGT being heavier, but that makes 735hp from its ICE and a combined 1274hp with its hybrid system.
On twisty tracks like Kyoto it was slower than the Mazda VGT with its no hybrid, it’s full time 4wd and it being 160kgs lighter.
Even on faster tracks like Spa where you’d think it be alright, it can still be challenged by cars with lower top speeds, but higher acceleration and cornering speeds.
Something like for example, the VW ID.R.
And when you consider the 3 million price tag, the equally pricy 919 Hybrid starts looking like the better option for most tracks.
As I mentioned before, it’s not a terrible car on its own merits, it’s great in fact, but compared to its Gr1 counterparts, it’s only viable on very fast tracks like Le Mans, but then you have to deal with the Group C’s.
To drive, it’s a Sleeper, but a Beater if used against fellow Gr1’s in a competitive event.
Verdict: Beater 👎(but do pick one up at some point.)
Lastly,
@Pickle_Rick74 here’s a ping to guide you back here.