GT6 Duel of the Week #70: The Grand Finale (well, not really)

[Rotorist]

I made the event this week, so you can send me a request if you need to get there

Thanks a lot @Cowboy but ThrasherDBS was fast enough to invite me into the club already. I will send you a request sometime later this week though. Cheers!

 

[Cowboy]

Thanks a lot @Cowboy but ThrasherDBS was fast enough to invite me into the club already.

He's spedy quick. Just look at his times in the last few trials we've done.

 

[ThrasherDBS]

Don't say that too loud. Pretend Racer and Vic Reign dust me with ease.

 

[Vic Reign93]

Don't say that too loud. Pretend Racer and Vic Reign dust me with ease.

You called?


If I can pry myself away from the Forza Horizon 3 demo long enough I'll have a look at the challenge.

 

[MisterWaffles]

I just finished getting all the cars. Took long enough, but I bought cars with liveries on them.

 

[Ryk]

They don't let cars into the Olympics, but if they did...

Three stalwarts of the 2008 season and a mysterious Fighter who seems to be from the future...A GT500 Honda that isn't an NSX. And has the engine... in front of the driver? Next there will be a Front wheel drive only GT-R... And as I've already bought these cars before I read the full post... I'll let them all have a drive...

What theme? Well I didn't see any of the 2016 Olympics, but the next one will be in Tokyo in 2020 and 2008 was Beijing's Olympics and 2012 some place in the South of England held its third Olympiad. (Come on London, be a sport and let some other city have a go!)

But which event... Maybe the best event in the Olympics. The Ultimate test of athletic ability - Synchronised Swimming!
... Ha, Obviously I mean the Decathlon...

Americans will obviously remember their hero Bruce Jenner winning in Montreal - Brits will have a fondness for Daley Thompson, who won in Communist Soviet Moscow and Decadent Capitalist Los Angeles, not only "The Greatest Athlete in the World" but so cool he whistled the National Anthem when he was on the podium. And to flesh out the rest of the grid I picked a few other big names in the Decathlon world.

So the Events - two days of trials:- 3 throws, 3 races, 3 jumps and a single jumpy race (110m Hurdles). I took all of five minutes to convert things from Motorland into Olympics Decathlon scoring... Hopefully the first nine events will make for a close battle for the final track test...

Introducing your Athletes!
(You can You Tube the Japanese National Anthem... Or maybe Some more inspirational Athletics style tune...

""



In Lane 1

Wearing the "Adventure Toning" kit of the Celica XX 2800GT.
Toyota "Torsten" Thewplah

In Lane 2

In the 70's Classic Datsun 240Z colours "Grand Prix Maroon"
Nissan "Bruce" Zed

In Lane 3

In a throwback to the 93 NSX "Bay Leaf Green" colours
Honda "Roman" Ennessecks

In Lane 4

In the subtle Lexus LFA "Passionate Pink"
Lexus "Jürgen" Essceethorfreezero

In Lane 5

In the Classic "Midnight Purple" livery
Nissan "Ashton" Geeteearghh

in Lane 6

In "Sunset Orange Eleven" (From the Honda you get right at the start of the GT6!)
Honda "Daley" Aytchessveedashzerowunzero


This should be pretty even. Can the older GT500 Machines keep up with the 2008 paddock, or can the 2012 Honda with the silly name take the Gold for London?
The test will take two days. The five events on day one are the 100m, the Long Jump, Putting the Shot, the High Jump before the day rounds out with the 400m.
Day two is where the hard events rain in. The Technical 110m hurdles, the Discus Throw, the fiendishly hard Pole Vault, the easy to understand Javelin before rounding out with the 1500m race.



EVENT 1 - 100 Meter Dash (For Cash!)
Kazula Outlay - How many 100,000 Kazulas note to buy each car... Go!
9.00s - "Torsten" Thewplah 1357
9.50s - "Roman" Ennessecks 1223
9.50s - "Jürgen" Essceethorfreezero 1223
9.50s - "Ashton" Geeteearghh 1223
9.50s - "Bruce" Zed 1223
9.80s - "Daley" Aytchessveedashzerowunzero 1146

An amazing first event showing why Usain Bolt doesn't race against a Japanese race car. Thewplah smokes the world record with an amazing price, but everyone managed a sub 10 second sprint.

Lead after 1 event- "Torsten" 1357-- "Roman" 1223-- "Jürgen" 1223 -- "Ashton" 1223 -- "Bruce" 1223 -- "Daley" 1146​

EVENT 2 - Long Jump (Up the Rev Counter)
This is an event were you have to push it to the limit but never step beyond. Stray into the red zone and it is a foul jump; in Motorsport it could be any number of valve smashing, conrod bending, piston punching through the block, race ending events.

10.00m "Daley" Aytchessveedashzerowunzero 1606
7.80rpm "Torsten" Thewplah 1010
7.50rpm "Roman" Ennessecks 935
7.50rpm "Ashton" Geeteearghh 935
7.20rpm "Bruce" Zed 862
7.00rpm "Jürgen" Essceethorfreezero 814

Some pretty good numbers but the stand out performance was from the 2012 vintage Aytchessveedashzerowunzero who did a leap so deep Mike Powell, Carl Lewis and Bob Beeman would be applauding this V8 screamer!

Lead after 2 events "Daley" 2752 -- "Torsten" 2367-- "Roman" 2158-- "Jürgen" 2037 -- "Ashton" 2158 -- "Bruce" 2085 --​

EVENT 3 - Shot Putt
There is no replacement for displacement and no turbo is going to help you out here where engine capacity is all that matters.
17.98m "Ashton" Geeteearghh 974
17.92m "Jürgen" Essceethorfreezero 970
17.92m "Torsten" Thewplah 970
13.98m "Roman" Ennessecks 727
13.59m "Daley" Aytchessveedashzerowunzero 703
11.99m "Bruce" Zed 606

And what an event that split the athletes into three near equal powerhouses of Bore and Stroke and the more modest Hondas and the also ran Zed. Let's hope it can regain the points it lost here.

Lead after 3 events "Daley" 3455 -- "Torsten" 3337 -- "Ashton" 3132 -- "Jürgen" 3007 -- "Roman" 2885 -- "Bruce" 2691 --​

EVENT 4 - High Jump
Leap over the top of the car? Too easy, How far do you have to leap to clear the car on its side after our Guest Driver Pastor Maldonado parks it up!

2.00m - "Roman" Ennessecks 803
2.00m - "Daley" Aytchessveedashzerowunzero 803
2.00m - "Ashton" Geeteearghh 803
1.94m - "Bruce" Zed 749
1.82¾m - "Jürgen" Essceethorfreezero 644
1.81m - "Torsten" Thewplah 636


An amazing series of Jump with the Toyota and the Lexus unable to match the prowess of the others. T two Hondas sharing the round with the Geeteearghh all able to clear a height of 6 feet 6 inches - remarkable!

Lead after 4 events "Daley" 4258 -- "Torsten" 3973-- "Ashton" 3935 --"Roman" 3688-- "Jürgen" 3651 -- "Bruce" 3440​

EVENT 5- 400m
A Classic event A single lap of the track (I chose 5 laps of Deep Forest Raceway halved the time then took away the same amount to give these results.)

44.0s "Daley" Aytchessveedashzerowunzero 1112
44.6s "Bruce" Zed 1080
45.7s "Jürgen" Essceethorfreezero 1024
46.1s "Ashton" Geeteearghh 1003
48.4s "Roman" Ennessecks 890
49.2s "Torsten" Thewplah 852

Lead after 5 events "Daley" 5370 -- "Ashton" 4938 -- "Torsten" 4825 -- "Jürgen" 4675 -- "Roman" 4525 -- "Bruce" 4520​

Lead Table at the end of Day 1
5370 -- "Daley" Aytchessveedashzerowunzero
4938 -- "Ashton" Geeteearghh
4825 -- "Torsten" Thewplah
4675 -- "Jürgen" Essceethorfreezero
4525 -- "Roman" Ennessecks
4520 -- "Bruce" Zed


All to play for tomorrow. A Big lead by Aytchessveedashzerowunzero after an amazing leap in the Long Jump (Big Revs!)
--------------------

 

[MisterWaffles]

I just started doing things, but looking at my schedule I think the review will be tomorrow night.

 

[Ryk]

DAY 2
The second day is always the most demanding because it is the most technical day and the athlete is tired from the first days events. The decathlon does not really start until the second day because any old car can do well on the first day but only a JGTC winner can do well over two days. The second day separates the GT500s from the GT300s.



EVENT 6 - 110m Hurdles
This should be close as we also factor in the weight of a Big Driver and a fuel cell full of Energy Drink for the Internal Combustion Engine - Petroleum - "Ahh Glug Glug."
13.50s - "Torsten" Thewplah 1040
14.00s - "Bruce" Zed 975
14.00s - "Daley" Aytchessveedashzerowunzero 975
14.00s - "Ashton" Geeteearghh 975
14.00s - "Jürgen" Essceethorfreezero 975
15.50s - "Roman" Ennessecks 790

Very close stuff, but the clear winner was the Toyota, with a blanket finish for 2nd but The Mid Engined car was miles behind, almost as if it had been handicapped some how...

Leaders after 6 events "Daley" 6345 --"Ashton" 5913 -- "Torsten" 5865-- "Jürgen" 5650 -- "Bruce" 5495 -- "Roman" 5368--​

EVENT 7 - Discus
Alot of controlled spinning force required to launch the discus in a smooth parabola. Yes we are talking about Torque here. This should sort out the athletes, the Twin Turbo of Zed should give the car a huge boost in peak grunt, the Ennessecks has a well respected mid range but Aytchessveedashzerowonzero has been very subdued during its practice throws and many are pointing this event as a weakness.

75.5 m "Bruce" Zed 1414
55.8 m "Roman" Ennessecks 992
51.9 m "Ashton" Geeteearghh 910
51.9 m "Jürgen" Essceethorfreezero 910
51.9 m "Torsten" Thewplah 910
40.5 m "Daley" Aytchessveedashzerowunzero 675

A Massive win for the Zed, "You spin me right round baby, right round, like a record player round round..." Yes, thanks for that insight Bruce. But that one event took Bruce from 5th into second and only 111 points behind the leader, who had a stinker here.

Leaders after 7 events "Daley" 7020-- "Bruce" 6909 -- "Ashton" 6823 -- "Torsten" 6775 -- "Jürgen" 6610 -- "Roman" 6360---​

EVENT 8 - Pole Vault
Maybe the most techically demanding of the ten events for humans but for this we will turn the event on its head! Yes if you stand the cars up vertically how high would you need to vault to clear them!

4.800m - "Ashton" Geeteearghh 849
4.675m - "Daley" Aytchessveedashzerowunzero 810
4.625m - "Bruce" Zed 796
4.610m - "Roman" Ennessecks 793
4.535m - "Jürgen" Essceethorfreezero 769
4.520m - "Torsten" Thewplah 766

The two Nissans did well but the front engined Honda split them to maintain its solid lead.

Leaders after 8 events "Daley" 7830 -- "Bruce" 7705 -- "Ashton" 7672 -- "Torsten" 7541-- "Jürgen" 7379 -- "Roman" 7153--​

EVENT 9 - Javelin
How far can these cars fire that needle on the old dynamometer? We have heard the press say how close it this will be with four of these athletes with a seasons best of 493bhp (98.60 meters of distance) But we know how advertised stats often lie...

101.40m "Bruce" Zed 1377
99.00m "Daley" Aytchessveedashzerowunzero 1339
98.80m "Ashton" Geeteearghh 1336
95.80m "Jürgen" Essceethorfreezero 1289
94.80m "Torsten" Thewplah 1273
94.80m "Roman" Ennessecks 1273

Maybe having a 100bhp= 20meters conversion for this event was a bit short sighted but the result is the same, the twin Turbo Zed fires out more over 500bhp comfortably outgunning the rest.

Lead after 9 events "Daley" 9169-- "Bruce" 9082 -- "Ashton" 9008-- "Torsten" 8814--"Jürgen" 8652 -- "Roman" 8426--​

EVENT 10 - 1500m
The Final Event 3¾ laps of the track... Or maybe 4 laps of Cape Ring 17.51miles!
(Total race time, multiplied by two then 17 minutes taken off...

3m46.68 "Bruce" Zed 1052
4m00.10 "Daley" Aytchessveedashzerowunzero 953
4m00.88 "Ashton" Geeteearghh 947
4m06.19 "Roman" Ennessecks 908
4m06.52 "Jürgen" Essceethorfreezero 906
4m10.64 "Torsten" Thewplah877

Well I knew I had to open up the times to give everyone a chance to reel in the Honda. Make the numbers close but I may have gone too far... Then again the Z was night and day fastest of the cars - the more simple the track the more its turbo power can slash lap times. And I did drive the HSV first, so maybe I was a bit rusty on that stint? Still I had fun driving all six cars.

Final Results "Caitlyn" 10134 ------ "Daley" 10122-- "Ashton" 9955-- "Torsten" 9691--"Jürgen" 9558 -- "Roman" 9334--
Final Results "Nissan Z" 10134 -- "HSV-010" 10122---- "GT-R" 9955---- "Supra" 9691--"SC430" 9558 ----- "NSX" 9334--​

RESULTS for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic GT500 Decathlon Final

10134 -- "Caitlyn" Fairlady------------------------
10122 -- "Daley" Aytchessveedashzerowunzero
9955 -- "Ashton" Geeteearghh-------
9691 -- "Torsten" Thewplah-------------
9558 -- "Jürgen" Essceethorfreezero
9334 -- "Roman" Ennessecks------​

So out of the full six I'd have to pick The "Caitlyn Jenner" Nissan Fairlady GT500 car. I didn't spend 5 minutes working out the Decathlon scores, only to disregard it now! But from the four I should have chosen the HSV-010 is a ton of fun, the screaming engine and the car is just good fun. The NSX stands out as a much more active drive. You can go faster in every long corner but the oversteer and speedy rotation in the corners could grind, but it is the only car to have a weight penalty and its engine restricted above the rest of the cars.

 

[MisterWaffles]

Looks like my review shall come tomorrow, couldn't fit it in today. I'm sure you'd all like to read it after the final results anyways.

 

[Draggon]

I felt the most comfortable with ( of course ) the HSV. I found I could pretty much mash on the throttle anywhere I wanted and it would respond with only minimal wheelspin out of slow corners. If I was to find any faults, it has a slight bit of understeer in the first part of the corner. I liked the Lexus more than the GTR. I thought it felt more solid and I could point it wherever I wanted and it would respond. Its big fault is being down on power. I gave it an oil change and then used the power limiter to get to 495 hp and could follow my GTR ghost through a whole laps of Suzuka. Though the GTR does rotate better, its also looser and I found myself counter-steering more than I wanted to. Sadly the NSX is last. I tried to love it, I really did. It just needs a lot of tuning to make it competitive with the other cars profiled here as they come out of the box.

I'd like to vote for the Lexus as the winner, simply because the HSV is a such better car it rules itself out. I'm surprised @Ryk had good results with the Fairlady. When I tested it I liked the NSX better.

 

[Cowboy]

I'm sure you'd all like to read it after the final results anyways.

Of course 👍

Here we have four JDM racers that are within the GT500 catagory limits. Three of the four drive fairly close to the same, so I won't separate these all into their own reviews. I'll get the toughest one out righ away, the NSX. Before the great performing HSV, we had the mid engined car from Honda. The NSX had been in the Super GT for some time, as well as JGTC. Compared to the others in GT6 however, the car was a bit of a struggle to drive fast. Since it has a mid mounted engine, it has a bit more oversteer than the others.

Than we have the other three, the GT-R, the SC430, and the HSV-010. The Nissan and Lexus were pretty close, bit the Lexus had just a little bit more of a tendency to kick out. Not a bad car either, but the GT-R was a little better. The HSC has an ear piercing scream when you get on the throttle, and has the performance to say so. However, the car doesn't feel real fast when I drive it. Its not real slower than the others in a straight line, but its just a wierd thing. Anyways, this week I vote for.....

The GT-R

All four tested at Suzuka 2014, no aids except ABS 1, RH tires.

NSX: 1:59.920
GT-R: 1:58.629
SC430: 1:58.701
HSV-010: 1:58.635

And the votes:

NSX: 0
SC430: 1
GT-R: 1
HSV-010: 2

And the winner is.....

The HSV-010!!!

Congrats to @Vic Reign93 for getting the winning time in the NSX, and to @ThrasherDBS for getting winning times in the GT-R, SC430, and HSV-010!​

 

[Cowboy]

Congratulations @Rotorist! I'll assume one of your choice cars is a rotor-y?


I'll see myself out.

Thanks a lot for the chance buddy. If I am correct that you haven't done the next competition, my choice is:

The 2000 Mazda Roadster 1800 RS (NB)

vs

The 1999 Toyota MR2 Spyder

vs

The 2000 Fiat Barchetta Giovane Due!!!
​

These are 3 of the best and more accessible roadsters of our times, reknown for their good handling although they differ in the drivetrain setup as 1st is FR, 2nd is MR and 3rd is FF. Need to point out the difference in design?

I wish everyone will have fun with those little roadsters.

Cheers Cowboy!

Cheers to you too old sport 👍 This weeks trial will be at Eiger Short as recommended by Rotorist himself, though it won't be up until tomorrow due to my schedule. Let's have a good battle this week!​

 

[Draggon]

Now this is an excellent match up! 👍

 

[ThrasherDBS]

So when I go to the Mazda dealership, I see a Roadster 1800 RS (NB) '00 with 378pp and then I see an MX-5 and MX-5 Miata 1800 RS (NB, J) '00 each at 383pp. So, are these the same car? Cause I think they're supposed to be, but the performance difference makes me cock an eyebrow.

In other news, this seems like a duel we could possibly hold on Gran Turismo 2 as well. Very interesting!

 

[Neddo]

These should all be premium!

 

[MidFieldMaven]

Just got moved into my new place and got internet set up. This weeks' duel is gonna be great! Can't wait to re-test these roadsters! In the mean-time, here are my current fastest laps at Mid-Field and specs for each car:

Oh and keep in mind, this is for the "J" designated version of the 1800 RS '00 which has 5 PP more, as Thrasher pointed out already. I also noted it back in March of last year in my own thread lol: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...-lap-times-for-716-cars.325386/#post-10533817

1:29.973 - 376 - Toyota MR2 Spyder '99
1:30.913 - 383 - Mazda MX-5 1800 RS (NB, J) '00
1:34.937 - 354 - Fiat Barchetta Giovane Due '00

As expected, MR > FR > FF

Toyota MR2 Spyder '99

1.8L
138 hp / 6,500 rpm
126 ft-lb / 4,500 rpm
970 kg (2,138 lbs)
376 pp

Mazda MX-5 1800 RS (NB, J) '00

1.8L
160 hp / 8,000 rpm
125 ft-lb / 5,000 rpm
1,070 kg (2,359 lbs)
383 pp

Fiat Barchetta Giovane Due '00

1.8L
127 hp / 6,500 rpm
121 ft-lb / 4,500 rpm
1,090 kg (2,403 lbs)
354 pp

More later. Late for work

 

[Ryk]

Sun's out, Guns out! Time to top up your suntan with these topless cheap thrills.

Top Gear ran a silly race with 2 of these 3 cars going from Historic Iraq, through peaceful Turkey and Syria all the way to Israel.

Can the Toyota MRS stand in for James May's BMW Z3...

Should be good chassis flexing fun! -

 

[Rotorist]

Thanks again for the chance to choose a competition combo @Cowboy

And sorry for not selecting any rotary powered car but you guys here have compared already some of them previously. I am very satisfied with previous selections and not willing to suggest a repetitive one.

@ThrasherDBS: I propose that we keep the Roadster (NB) instead of the MX5 (NB,J) as the 1st is the worldwide model and the 2nd was sold only in Japan.

@Cowboy: I also suggest we test those cars on CM tires to have a bit of a challenge when close to the limits since they were sold with not sticky tires afterall. Closer to real life grip should help us to find their handling and chassis tendency easier me thinks.

 

[Ryk]

Soft Top trial
Rome - Seasonal 5 minute race event
1m29.7 / 6m20.0 -- Spyder
1m30.0 / 6m23.9 -- Roadster
1m35.5/ 1 lap down - Barchetta

Okay, I ran the 500pp 5 minute blast at Old Rome in the seasonal. (Ends in a day or so)

And after that I have to eliminate the Fiat from any kind of driving assignments.

The Fiat was pretty woeful in the corners I'll say one thing about the car
63% of its weight is over the front axel...
Comfort tyres need to be treated with velvet gloves, and this front wheel drive layout is terrible. - It did earn me 90,000 kazulas in the seasonal though so it did pay for all three cars... so a nice silver lining to a painful 5 minute drive.

You would think it was named after a boat the way it didn't want to change direction.

===========

The Actual Contest.

The Roadster vs. The Spyder...

I ran a few more seasonals, and made enough money to pay for all those JGTC cars I splurged out on! - But these two are well matched and great fun. Comfort tyres for the win!

 

[ThrasherDBS]

I think this is quite an interesting matchup we have here, but as Ryk touched on, one of these cars seem like they're just "tacked on" to this matchup. And it isn't Japanese.

The MX-5 and the MR2 look like they're definitely rival cars, yet I never really see them pitted against one another for some strange reason. It's awesome that we have three convertibles with similar performance (okay, two of them anyway), and they're each a different drivetrain. That's some great testing conditions. A good way to really test out which drivetrain is better than the rest. I bought one of the MX-5 cars, thinking that's what the duel was going to be for, but as per Rotorist's request, I got rid of the MX-5 and I bought the Roadster with the lower PP.

Won't be breaking out my tournament formula for this one, since the car in first always got first, and the one in last was consistently (and distantly) dead last.

Eiger Trial:
Roadster - 1:21.492
MR2 - 1:21.451
Barchetta - 1:26.197

Rotenboden Trial:
Roadster - 2:03.141
MR2 - 2:02.605
Barchetta - 2:13.579

SSR5 Trial:
Roadster - 1:46.471
MR2 - 1:46.200
Barchetta - 1:51.913

Honestly, the fight was over for the Fiat before it even started as indicated by the fact that it was no less than 5 seconds off the pace of the other two cars. It's FF, which is less than ideal for racing because of the consistent problems with understeer, it's the most underpowered, and it's the heaviest of the three. The Fiat Barchetta dispels the myth that all Italian roadsters are good looking and fast. A Ferrari F355 this certainly isn't.

Into the meat of this fight, both the MR2 and the Roadster represent drivetrains that I feel particularly well-versed with. MR cars tend to be a bit of a pain in the neck at high power, but when we're down to 140-150hp roadsters, that's not so much of an issue. The MR2 has lower power than the Roadster, but the Roadster felt a lot more sluggish due to being 100kgs heavier. Both cars were reasonably close in competition but the MR2 is definitely my favorite car of the three and also the faster one.

The MR2 wins, the Roadster gets a very close silver, and the Fiat is left choking on the dust of the other two.

 

[MidFieldMaven]

If you know what you're doing under the rear of the MR2, you can swap out the underpowered 1ZZ engine for the 2ZZ that saw duty in the USDM Celica GT-S. You can also choose to keep the 5MT or source a 6MT which I would definitely do as the 6-speed MR2 Spyder in GT6 is about a second faster than the 5-speed at Mid-Field.

There's a kit that includes everything besides intake/header for $2,400 US here: https://monkeywrenchracing.com/product/toyota-2zz-ge-engine-mr2-s-swap-package/

In JDM specs, it produced 189 hp IIRC while the 1ZZ only 138 or thereabouts. That 50 hp would be very welcome, making the car feel more Lotus Elise-like.

I need an MR2 in my life, either 1st or 3rd gen, maybe a non-turbo 2nd gen...

 

[Rotorist]

Time to post some laptimes from those 3 open roof cars. I tested them w/o oil change and on CM tires using the 6-axis controller.

Eiger Short

- Toyota MR2 '99: 1:22.680 (1st)

- Roadster 1800 RS '00: 1:23.075 (2nd)

- Fiat Barchetta '00: 1:27.222 (3rd)

Tsukuba

- Toyota MR2 '99: 1:11.107 (1st)

- Roadster 1800 RS '00: 1:11.672 (2nd)

- Fiat Barchetta '00: 1:14.919 (3rd)

Final verdict:
Almost a tie between MR2 and MX5 but for laptimes MR almost always has the upper hand even when the FR is 50/50 balanced. I guess with same weight and power they could be perfectly matched though. If time allows me I will update this post with times between them with same power and weight in order to compare only their chassis balance and limit. Fiat is last as normal since the FF causes understeep and without the Integra's differentials there is no way to chase the so well setup MR2 and MX5. Not bad for a cheap italian roadster but not even close in speed vs its 2 great rivals. So, MR2 wins, MX5 a close 2nd and Fiat clearly last.

 

[Ryk]

The Roadster vs the Spyder...

The Big Brusing Powerful Front engined Mini Muscle car with all that weight and Powah against the delicate light nimble Spyder with its mid engined concept and modest engine. The Roadster has the advantage in pure power terms, but in the turns the Spyder feels like it has eight legged footwork to side step and avoid cornering issues. The 220lb added bulk on the Roadster hurts it under brakes for the corners, but the Front/Rear layout means the load on the tyres is shared.


MAZDA Roadster - 5 laps Jack Rabbits Springs
1m34.1 - 8m25.0 (+13 s off 11th, +43 seconds off a win - 108,000 kazula prize for last place...)

Let's go old school - can we tune this Mazda to a level it can beat Lamborghini's, Corvettes and Aston Martins

40,000 Stage 3 Engine Tune (153-205bhp)(+52bhp)
1,500 Sporty Rom chip (205-219bhp)(+14bhp)
3,000 Exhaust Manifold (219-227bhp)(+8bhp)
1,000 Catalytic Converter (227-238bhp)(+11bhp)
4,300 Intake Manifold (238-255bhp)(+17bhp)
-------
49,800 Credits -
6500 Sports Hards

1m27.4 - 7m46.3 (5th - +3.9 off leader) 216,000 earned

Good fun, Maybe a bit more power, a bit of a combat sports style extreme weight cut and some beefy springs?

(You have to imagine a Training Montage here as the Roadster sheds that weight!)

7000 - Semi Racing Exhaust -(255-272bhp)(+17bhp)
32000 -Weight Reduction 3 - 1070kg - 909kg(161kg)
3000 - Polycarb Windows -909kg - 899kg (10kg)
3200 Hard Racing Suspension
45200 kazula - 468pp

1m25.2 - 7m36.3 (win!) 718,000 credits - woohoo - Boy can I tune a Car!

=================

MR2 Spyder 5 laps Jack Rabbits Springs

1m33.4 - 8m21.2 (17s off 10th, 34 off the win - 122,000 credits)

So off the bat the Spyder has the edge in terms of performance, What happens when we throw the same improvements at it as we did to the Mazda?

40,000 stage 3 engine (138bhp-175bhp)(+37bhp)
1500 Sporty Rom chip - 175-188bhp)(+13bhp)
3000 Exhaust Manifold 188-195bhp)(+7bhp)
1000 Catalytic Converter 195-205bhp(+10bhp)
4300 Intake Manifold - 205-219bhp (+14bhp)
49,800 kazula 437pp
6500 Sports Hards

As you can see the price is the same but you get slightly less gains in terms of numbers but I guess it is a scaled percentage improvement - but some things have a constant flat rate improvement such as Polycarb windows... To the Track!

1m26.5 - 7m43.8 (WIN!) 718,000 credits!
(GTPlanet Moderator warning - Elite level tuning skills detected.)

But just to finish the job let's add the things it took to make the Mazda a winner

7000 semi race exhaust 219-234bhp)(+15bhp)
32000 weight reduction level3 970-863kg(107kg)
3000 polycarb windows 863-853kg(10kg)
3200 hard suspension
45,200 kazula 463pp

1m26.5 - 7m40.0 WIN 718,000 credits again - Boy can I tune a car!

Slight gain, the lack of weight made the car a bit less planted and now I look at the numbers the Mazda was actually a faster car after you took all the seats and air conditioning and carpets out.

----

Well this test started badly but I had a hoot on the final bit. The Mazda with a couple of shovels worth of power added made it a seasonal supercar challenger. And if you keep throwing cash at the car it just gets faster. The Toyota is faster and more power is great but removing weight and stiffening the suspension does make the car a bit trixsy so I may have been pussy footing through some corners rather than smearing the rubber over the track.

SO my choice?

The Mazda may be alot more pactical and it does look better. The Toyota is even more fun to drive, light and nimble Sure it looks like a melted Lego toy in terms of looks, but it does come with GREEN paint and it is all the simple pleasures of a car on comfort tyres - great stuff. Both can power up and beat up seasonal events and earn so much cash. The Fiat was a very distant 3rd place. VERY distant.

My instant choice is the Toyota - Cheaper, faster more engaging to drive.
The Mazda is great, perfect balance that comforts a driver lets them relax and party hard. It has more powah so probably goes faster on simple tracks. But At Willow Springs (Which isn't exactly chicane and hairpin rich) the Toyota let me have more fun.

Win for the Chibi Porsche Boxster - Toyota MR2 Spyder
----------------------------------

 

[Draggon]

I spent a few minutes in the Mazda last night. I'm enjoying this weeks event quite a lot. I'm going to have to step it up ( again ) as it seems "someone" ( @ThrasherDBS ) has got me by a half second. Again.

 

[MidFieldMaven]

I just tested the non-"J" version of the Miata and came out 2 tenths of a second faster than the J version which has 5 PP more. The only difference between the two cars is the "J" has 7 more horsepower but peaks 1,000 rpm higher. Hmm! Still, the Toyota is nearly one second faster. I re-tested the MR2 before the Miata and couldn't beat my previous 1:29.9 after a few laps managing a best of 1:30.2 so in today's testing the Miata is only half a second slower than the MR2.

MR is superior to FR in the same way as FR is superior to FF. Toyota deserves an award for bringing an affordable MR to market, both in coupe and convertible forms. You'd have to pay two or three times as much for a Boxster or Elise or NSX...

 

[Nismonath5]

I know I haven't been the most active member of this particular thread as of late, but good news, I'll finally have the time this week to juggle both COTW and DOTW!

Now I gotta hope that we get a great match up, the MX-5 vs MR-2 vs Barchetta looked epic..

 

[MightyL]

Tsukuba (CM tires, no ABS):

Mazda Roadster 1800 RS '00: 1'11'020
Toyota MR2 Spyder '99: 1'11'091

Brands Hatch Indy (CM tires, no ABS):

Mazda Roadster 1800 RS '00: 0'58'486
Toyota MR2 Spyder '99: 0'58'999

They are so close on performance but to me the Mazda is a bit more predictable in it's behaviour and also just that tiny little bit faster... The Toyota is just more fun to drive though!

and there is another car that might be in this row. The MG TF160. A wonderful MR drive car that is maybe closer in performance to the Mazda and Toyota than the Fiat (which is of course also a marvellous little car...)

 

[Obelisk]

Please don't triple post. I don't think advertising is appreciated here...

 

[Arp 273]

and there is another car that might be in this row. The MG TF160. A wonderful MR drive car that is maybe closer in performance to the Mazda and Toyota than the Fiat (which is of course also a marvellous little car...)

The Fiat was so far behind that I went looking for another contender and also found the MG. Nice and about as fast as the MR2 and the Roadster.

Had fun in all the cars. The MR2 is great and very willing to turn, probably slightly faster than the more stable Roadster. However in the MR2 I was correcting for overrotation a lot, while the Roadster was happily sliding throug the corners. I think it also looks a bit better and its nice that its available with different coloured tops. So my vote goes to the Mazda Roadster 1800 RS.

 

[MightyL]

The Fiat was so far behind that I went looking for another contender and also found the MG. Nice and about as fast as the MR2 and the Roadster.

Had fun in all the cars. The MR2 is great and very willing to turn, probably slightly faster than the more stable Roadster. However in the MR2 I was correcting for overrotation a lot, while the Roadster was happily sliding throug the corners. I think it also looks a bit better and its nice that its available with different coloured tops. So my vote goes to the Mazda Roadster 1800 RS.

exactly my thoughts. The Toyota feels so light and the feedback from what's happening underneath is amazing but the Mazda is so well balanced, no car can beat that... The MG is less nimble and not so easy to unsettle. It doesnt like dancing around the corner like the Toyota does.