SPD Writes Forza Horizon 5's Car Of The Week: Week 106 - Chevrolet Camaro Super Sport Coupe
It's round 2 of SPD trying to tell everyone.. I'm at a loss of what pony car I prefer. Here's perhaps my favorite one if it were down to one model.
Past SPD one time complained that we haven't done a Mustang in Mini Mexico. Well, screw that clown, here's the most adjacent car to a Mustang that's not a Mustang, let alone a Ford!
Back in 1965, Ford released the Mustang, launching a new era of sports performance in the States known to many as the Pony Car. Said niche however boomed, and not just some tiny cherry bomb boom, but it's in a grand.. HE tank shell way. Chevrolet under GM, being one of said firm's main competitors who had quite a pride in not letting Ford beat them again, began to panic. And that's to put it lightly.
They need one of these 'pony car' thingamajigs, and their first step to get this sorted is to look up current offerings of the company. But to define a pony car, it's a sports car that's both powerful, compact and affordable, with a look that screams sports. The main difference with a pony car and muscle car is usually not too obvious, but it comes down to size, weight, wheelbase and the kind performance you'd expect from these.
Now back to the board room. They looked up their current roster of applicable cars. We have the.. strangely rear mounted Corvair, which is more akin to a Ford Thunderbird or Galaxie being gigantic saloons with big engines. Okay, how about the C2 Corvette? That's an expensive little beauty, ain't it? The Nova's not pretty enough, and the Chevelle's meant to be the big boy to beat down the Mopar tuned monsters.
Choosing to build from the Nova, they realized its super sized X-Body platform wasn't going to cut it. So Chevrolet decided to team up with Pontiac, sharing a load of these development parts and components with the Pontiac Firebird, including the engine choices, as well as their chassis known as the F-Body.
Then, in June 1966, GM announced the new pony car, named in a very unnatural fashion. This name 'Camaro' is derived from the old French word 'Camarade', meaning friend, or more directly: comrade. In addition, there's some tongue-in-cheek from officials that however define Camaros as wild animals that eat Mustangs. Later that year, the car did start to sell, though with about half the amount of Mustangs sold at that same time frame.
..not to say Camaros are straight up failures. They've been turned to racers in Trans-Am and Pro Stock, and wins are pretty common occurences for this first generation Camaro.
And so we head on to what a race worthy pony car should have: sportier trims. The one here in Mini Mexico is the 1969 SS, being the top trim that preceded the race spec Z28. Powered by its top engine choice: a big block 396 cubic inch V8, the car had 375 horsepower bringing 1.6 tons through a 4 speed manual.
In terms of PI, the Camaro sits at the late end of C-class with a PI of 585. Not much too in terms of its common rivals being the 302 Mustang Boss and the DLC Shelby GT500 just behind it. It's a rather common car to be sold on the Auction House, but a fresh one can come from the Autoshow with a reasonable 110,000 credit expenditure. Those who want much less of that can mosey over to the Auction House, with buy outs of 40,000 as the most common, and 32,000 for the best deal.
This Camaro too has a Forza Edition, more accurately a Horizon imported variant of the Motorsports (2023) special named the Jordan Luka 3 Motorsport Edition, placed at the top of A class with a wide kit that screams The Crew 2/Motorfest Touring Cars class. Perhaps a sneak on what's to come in a few paragraphs underneath?
If this was the Gran Turismo 7 COTW, there should be a link to Out of The Cradle (Remixed) around here. And the fact that it's a certain Signature Car from a certain Asian-American Badass who needs no introduction as explosions blurt out with Bohemian Like You going ham in the speakers overriding the whole situation.
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Firstly, why not take a friend out to the farm fields of Mexico, or more accurately a run through
Marigold Sprint.
And here we have Week 5's Z33 and one of the nominated cars of Week 33. The MINI represents the sad tragic heartbreaking tale of what came after.
"The distant view of the Gran Puente will draw you down to the water's edge, before you sweep back North to follow this snaking route through the vibrant fields of Cordillera."
It's a track that you can probably define as one with 90 degrees turn, squiggly slalom style roads, and we rinse and repeat. It's not remarkable, but I did ask for something that'll challenge handling: something pony cars are supposed to take into account when compared to the usual muscle car of the 60s.
For a place without much to stand out for, it's going to prove to me it's probably more than meets the eye.
Here in Horizon, I have about 3 Camaros, with this black one being the third. Now, head to Gran Turismo 7, and I have I think is 7. Why I'd collect that much of one car I really like? Well, I already answered my own question.
Heralded often as the car that bridges between pony and muscle, the Camaro has quite a show of these car categories ready to present, in a warm and presentable form that also doubles as a calm, cool dude who has an inner flame within. Kind of like Bobby Flay appearing on the Food Network.. you never know with a face like his what to expect.
While we're at it with the Food Network, let's get to some.. wood fired barbecue, eh? The classic Camaro sports a minimalist interior riddled with wood complimented with some chrome: a style from a past age. Though, I'm not a fan of the steering wheel that's in no ways sporty or luxurious. Aside that: there really is no issue. I can say a fine interior is not a messy one.
Situated in a low class but with high power, I had the idea to tackle the Camaro akin to other muscle cars in the past, like the GSX, GNX and the Charger Daytona. But that's not quite the case. After the green light, launching the Camaro is perfect if you just put the throttle down without launch control. It's a hint that if you're going to tune it, you want that first to be shorter, and perhaps put the parts that make use of its power more effectively.
You know what this is.. it's one thing about Chevy cars is that the brakes are at an odd situation. On the Corvettes they're subpar, but in a Camaro however: they are simply amazing. And it's no joke here. The first hard braking turn of this track is a downhill approach, and the Camaro didn't have much issue with it. Do note however that this only retains when you don't turn it: it'll lock up the rear if the car goes for a stop at a slightly.. umm homosexual take of travelling at 100 MPH and above.
And now it's time to use your eyes: what's a tall car with soft springs, ample weight and oodles of power going to do with the handling? Did you guess.. veering off to the side just like having explosive shields that has no shielding in how its held? Well that's what you're getting with muscle cars of this era: slipping and sliding. In the Camaro, it's a muted feeling: one that you'll get upon corner exit, and also when going about these winding turns at full power. And when I mean muted, I mean it's at that stage where it's not yet an issue. Experiencing this is a non-issue, but playing with this is indeed an issue, because like with the Bronco: it's the bouncy castle theorem: it's cumbersome, but yet: you don't want to get out of it. And we're on the road this time.
However: it's not all good thanks to the fact we're on the road: there are times you feel it's going to grip, but oops: all veering to the side into your hazard of choosing. Except you're not really choosing. This is mainly caused by accelerating mid turn: which is hazardous in an understeery kind. Letting the car do its thing on the wave is the way to do it: any sudden moves, and you're dead, no joke. However, instead of all in, how about bouncing the revs in place? That works out wonderfully on my end. Maybe it'll help you too.
I think what I like most about muscle cars in this era is the speed. Or rather.. the lack of. It'd make you think you're fast, but it's not quite the case when you have a second peek at the numbers. You're never going past 126 MPH unless you've messed with the gearbox. But I like it this way: it's the illusion provided by the car's powerplant and how amazing it sounds when done right. This Camaro's V8 is easily my favorite sound for all kinds of V8s. It's smooth, reeks of power, and is pure like vanilla ice cream.
Now to the track. And it's a track that tries to cater to those who want a balanced battle between power hogs and swift little mice. That's what I see, anyways. But power's still king once again after quite a few runs.
Let's look for some troubled turns.. one I have in mind is at the 45% range: a sharp right hander that's going to lead to a reset if taken with too much gusto. And alongside that, the final braking corner by the view of the stadium is also to be taken with care: one that would treat it just like turn 2 at St Croix C. The Camaro however puts on a show at these turns, when done right of course.
This first Camaro I can say is the muscle classic on easy mode. Easy mode, you say? This is it, gentlemen. It's what I say to be the most appropriate first classic American muscle/pony car, like the C8 being your first mid engined RWD sports car. You can see why I have this car on speed dial when you end up nominating something in its power range. You can tell, no matter the situation, this is a car I always ask: may I have this dance? And therefore it's my duty, and honor to dance with this, be it here or in the occassion it appears in the Gran Turismo 7 lobbies, because I am the dancing queen..
I'm a man, but yes: I am either f[BLEEP]ing invincible, or the dancing queen. Dancing king just doesn't have the same kick.
I didn't enjoy the few runs I did, so I'll just show my best of
2:49.467 and leave it at that.
Maybe the next track will cheer me up. Who knows?
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With an inevitable second round seemed to turn to be the norm, we head out to return to this.. personal nightmare in
Cathedral Circuit.
Yes, the urge to share my pain is indeed non-visible, but you know as they say.. insert cool face paper mask in front of a visibly raging crying face meme here. But in my pictures folder, instead I have this meme..
..that I feel have used once or twice at that other thread. Whatever the case, moving on..
Did you know that the whole 'meme the hell out of the Blue Countryman' didn't even exist when Cathedral Circuit came in to gospel in my brain on how terrible of an example this place is for a city circuit?
It's okay: the pain that followed months later overshadowed this. Perhaps that poor fellow in the Peel P50 is suffering worse than I am.
"A highly technical circuit that threads around and underneath the narrow city streets of Guanajuato, passing numerous landmarks along the way. Time your overtakes carefully."
Technical? No, I don't think so. It should be 'painted by a bull[BLEEP] artist' instead. Same with landmarks: what landmarks are there that's not the bright Cathedral?
I hate racing in Guanajuato. I hate tight places with no leeway for letting out your sides. This place is a combination of these situations in full play. It's not fun to time trial because the background signs can screw you, and it's not fun to race here, because technically everyone else racing with you is out to screw you, and you don't need to assume their sexuality to even know it's coming.
It's got 'screw' written all over it, from the inconsistent lighting, to even presuming you have places to make overtakes. I've credited one of my many memes to this track alone, known as 'Screw Cathedral Circuit': a term I seem to relate to the original Porsche Carrera RS whose nomination came with this track, and (somehow) the Lamborghini Miura.. cars I've also put the word 'favorite' behind their designation.
Namely: favorite 911, and favorite classic midships supercar. Now it's the turn of favorite classic pony car. And let's say just like Week 63: I'm prefacing by saying it's going to screw everyone but me.
If this was the Gran Turismo COTW, the story would include the egotistical car's owner being a complete butt monkey like I've always written him to be. All I have to do is put him in a room with a certain young German prodigy on a mood that's equals or is less than 'not bad'.
And Candy, her too. Yeah.
I'm imagining all the lost teeth and possible damage on the insides going along with bruises on the outside.. but I can somewhat say: THAT'S how it feels like.
Taking on Cathedral Circuit again means there's quite a few things I can address.. if the Camaro is more suited to handling, and plus how it handles curbs: something plenty found around here.
There's very little I can add here that's not hatred in general for the road here. The only thing I can think of is back all the way in Week 6. A hundred nominations ago where this track faced the 911 Carrera RS. In that car, it's an ice skater. And now with the role taken with a dancing queen, the troubles feel.. different.
I'm starting to think a car that doesn't grip perfectly, but instead dances about these tight roads would make up for more trouble than that Porsche. But it's the other way around. The drive of a pacing Camaro is much more pleasing, and gentle than that of the Carrera RS. It would make for a more satisfying lapping sensation, despite its issues with weight and weight shift.
And that's it? I just had a good time? No issues in traction, curbs.. nope. It's here I realize a dirt running Camaro will do wonders.. of course swap out the drivetrain if you're going to A.
My brief time here results with the Camaro getting a best of
1:12.910.
I was aiming for 1:10, but maybe that's too much. This time just under 73 seconds however felt good. That's it. That's all I got here. Screw this place.
I mean.. screw it, but I did have a better time here than with Marigold earlier. No joke. Maybe those quick track runs with the MINI helped? Nah, this is a pretty nice combo, regardless of the overwhelming hatred of the locale, and the overwhelming love of the car.
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Yes, as you can tell, the blue Camaro is very excited for a great return..
That felt like the opening sequence for the Elder Scrolls 4 kind of tight and dark. Now we're free! And that means I have to wonder..
Let's see if I have a feeling to come back to another recurrence in these Horizon 5 writeups. And since I hinted it last week, it's going to be obvious it's
Test time!
What makes up a Test is simple: find this week's car not being at the top of A class, put it there with a basic as nails track tune, and of course without any conversions. Excepting forced induction. Meta cars in this game are usually a combination of the ugly Forza aero, AWD drivetrain and an engine swap... either or both. I would prefer that stays away.. we want to see what the car offers on its most basic form amped up to the most common racing class.
Then it's laps around the Horizon Festival Circuit. In the past, I would use the Rivals, but I've made an EventLab here that's oddly being played by people that don't understand its existence. Oh well, more free Kudos and credits are welcomed.
Now what can we do to this pony car? The thing is about bringing it up to the top of A is to put everything you can shove in it and hope for the best. With semi-slick tyres and a full overhaul of what's old and rusted inside, the Camaro now carries a 665 horsepower pump out of its big block V8, with 1.4 tons of shiny new hotness to take about the track. This is one of the most extreme in terms of numbers, so.. with anticipation that's as deadly as [BLEEP]ing around with a senator that's dabbled in college ball, let's not waste too much time.
I don't think we've ever had 600 horsepower around here before. Maybe that time we nominated the Durango.. yes, I did Test that thing. Looking back at its middling 1:08 time, I need to remember the next time I Test, it's going for a rerun.
This new and upgraded Camaro pushed it to the limit with a best of
1:06.830.
I was having a grind with this session, because yes: the car is incredibly hard to drive that's not a powerbuild.
There's traction I had to deal with, car veering off I had to deal with, poor gearing I had to deal with.. there are a lot of obstacles I have to deal with. But it's nice seeing this car go up with the likes of some of the nicer, more race worthy cars.. it's quite a struggle, so drive it up here for sport, not rating.
A lot of adjustments and choices on bringing the tires to straight up full slicks was considered, but not finalized. Gladly, I can squeeze out a time that's mad respectable. Scroll back to my older Tests, and you can see 67 seconds is praise worthy, honest.
Let me get my goggles on, and..
Hey! Hey! Heyheyhey! Remeber this picture? Remember how I act completely surprised that it comes up?
No? Gee, the little quirky things I do, and nobody bats an eye. It's no wonder I haven't uploaded the Ford GT's writeup on the GT7 thread.
Anyways, what's the hubbub, bub?
CHEVROLET CAMARO JORDAN LUKA 3 MOTORSPORT EDITION
In no relation to the site owner, of course.. I should've painted it black with red hues of a most iconic Star Wars villain.
Firstly: a rather appropriate comparison.. one I perhaps foreshadowed earlier.
Turned into a Track Toy, this special generation 1 Camaro known as the Jordan Luka 3 (yes, the sports and shoes brand) serves as a crossover from the same car in Motorsport 2023. But if you knew what they did with the likes of the Huayra R there and here (their presentation, the former being the biggest insult, the latter being straight up orgasmic), you know they have to be treated like alternate universes.
Turning the car into a Track Toys would mean more handling and less power (around 525 here). But this is a track: it's natural habitat. It's bound to impress me at least, even if it is slow.
You don't need nice shoes to get this Motorsports special to lap well, with a
1:07.250 best.
The car followed a well known formula: the fact it can turn, and its out of nowhere excellent grip means it's a lot easier to nail this time. However, when you reach the top end that matters very slightly here, you can see that lack of it is observed when it has an utterly useless 6th, alongside with the fact it shifts like it belongs in 1969.. yeahh, it's a handling car that has no hope in this class to fix. Shame.
But like Liquid Snake, now dead thrice but still speeding past the limit on a Jeep would say: not yet, Snake! It's not over yet.
RETEST: VOLKSWAGEN CORRADO VR6
Red, green.. paint it Barbie Pink, and I'm still smiling.
Before I did dabble with the Camaro and its Motorsports special trim brother, I spent a couple hours with another car on the Festival Circuit..
I should bring back what made me extraordinarily happy the one time I got COVID, with what I think is my original Top Sleeper. Not to mention.. when I stepped back on this track, I needed a car to hop back into to get my gears unrusted. And what better than the Corrado: who nailed a
1:06.848 time the last time this green one came here.
All I did was optimize the tune a little more. Tighter gearing, more oversteer, and harder springs. The numbers now stand at a 438 horsepower over just above a ton. The result may not wow anyone, but being behind the wheel of the car always seem to wow me regardless.
I was expecting a moment of gradually growing wows, but the Corrado kept its best at a steady
1:06.771, which is still under a tenth ahead of its original time.
From this, I guess it means I'm not out of practice. Just that my cars aren't as quick as those who can land 1:03s. It's ridiculous I can't touch these, to be honest. But aside the dismal start, I'm fine with what I have here. The only regret is that.. should this car actually come to Gran Turismo 7, its designated theme song comes from THAT song played when it briefly appeared in the movie.
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Whoa, it's like Santa's list. I mean.. I'm not too keen with livery making around here since nothing can match Gran Turismo's one.
You got naughty and nice. And as any good list being lengthy, let's end it there.
So, what is the Chevrolet Camaro Super Sport Coupe? It is..
Son, always remember: be a good friend.
Very easy
Sleeper. I rather not elaborate more on the levels of satisfaction, the fun to dabble with handling, and that sound. If you want to know, the car on the Test has stock exhaust so I can have that muffled beast on ready when I need it go past 150 MPH. Not to mention this package comes with a solid off-roader underneath as well. Can't go wrong with a classic pony that's been.. overshadowed by the Mustang. The second place pony that's earned its first place in my heart.
Is that why Past SPD's been naming the Camaros 'Shadow'? Being honest: I'm feeling it's all a coincidence.
When writing fiction, I have a whole gathering of rules should the name Sonny Meng be present. From being the butt monkey, to having more musical scores than I usually promise to have one, another frequent rule I follow is like: "Whenever Sonny is being a total badass like he always is, Nirvana isn't far behind".
It's not related to the driver in the Gran Turismo fiction, but I always perceive generation 1 and 2 Camaros as badass.
And I'm not sure I have to remind that I have 2 Lamborghinis with names. Here's the second alongside Night Moves.
I mean: "Oh goody, it's Mad Bull." Expect me to put this car on the front page the next time I have agency.
