July Car of the Month - Cuda Craze!!

Plymouth AAR Cuda 340 Six Barrel '70

cuda-340-at-willow-jpg.404867
 
Bowtie-muscle
By @DaBomm4 :
AAR Cuda 340 Six Barrel '70 550pp SH-SS
Cuda 440 Six Pack '71 550pp SH-SS
Click to expand...

The next up on the drive list is @DaBomm4 and a fine pair of 'Cuda's. Both were driven in the National A Muscle car race, and both were easy winners. Tests were with DS3, ABS1, all other aids off. First up........

AAR Cuda 340
This was a fun car with lots of power. A little understeer, easily fixed with a little pressure on the gas. Able to spin the tires almost at will. A little care with the throttle is in order with this one. The Supercharger is amazing! Did I mention this car has LOTS of power. Holds the corners well and good grip and balance, and fast. Nice ride. Good job.

Cuda 440 six pack
Has a ton of power at low speed. Lots of throttle control needed. Back will step out in a heart beat. Good grip... till the rear lets go. Easy recovery though. Not as fast as the AAR, however still fun. Just in a little different package. Nice Job.
 
Bowtie-muscle
By Bowtie-muscle :
Cuda 440 Six Pack '71 500pp SH-SS
AAR Cuda 340 Six Barrel '70 525pp SM-SS
Click to expand...

Next pair up at the track were a good looking pair tuned by @Bowtie-muscle, liked the white. Looks good on these cars.

The AAR....Ran this car at Laguna Seca and Rome, and was not disappointed. Lots of power, good balance, brakes and turn in. No problem getting the car to rotate, would slide the back end with aggressive throttle off the slow corners. That was not a problem, just added to the character of the tune and helped set up the next pass. Cool car that looked good, sounded good, and won easily. Nice job.

The 440.....I know Bowtie-muscle said this car was tunes for the muscle car series, however, I took it to Silverstone any way. It did a great job. I would guess it was set to run with a manual trans., as it would not shift into 5th. I run an auto trans., and this was no problem. This big block car has massive torque, plenty to pull the tall gears, tall tires, and do it with just a 4spd. Very little tire spin, great cornering grip, easy win. Next, went to Big Willow, same deal with the gears, same no problem, same easy win! Great job on a fun, fast, well tuned pair my friend!
 
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Well it's my turn to begin some reviews, I am planning on getting to quite a few more so stay tuned.

Up first, the person responsible for this month's car, @DaBomm4 and his 2 entries.

Cuda 440 Six Pack '71 550pp SS Review:

Taken to National A Classic Muscle Car events.

Laguna Seca - best time of 1:33.184. And a lovely tune it is. However, you did need to be mindful of the power/torque and when it is delivered, for those using MT this means shifting early. For those using AT, well, this means you may not get all out of this (or many other muscle cars for that matter) compared to manual users. But I digress. Gently squeezing the throttle is the way to go here, as again, with most classic muscle cars, no stomping the gas. Exit really benefits from a bit of patience with how quickly you squeeze, too fast and the rear might jump on you, simply lift slightly and regain your line. Too slow however, and you will lose time. This tune had good turn in and mid corner rotation, and allowed me to grab the lead rather quickly and break down the rest of the tune. Brakes worked great and allowed me to drive at about 90% and never really push too hard. No need to, just let the power do the work for you.
Certainly a better time in the tune since it was never really pushed and the corkscrew may have never been manged properly.

Willow Springs - Again, not pushing too hard here either as there was no need to. Even with a rabbit, the GT, I had the lead before turn 2 of lap 2. This tune was impressive, just the way a like muscle cars, and they do need to be handled differently. The trans setup was perfect for this track in my opinion and allowed me to stay in 3rd gear thru turn 2, back to 3rd again for the slow uphill right hander and let the power carry me thru exit and the following left hander. Suspension was excellent, and never caused any unexpected issues. Yes you can miss an entry and find mild understeer, or getting a little aggresive on exit and find oversteer. But it's a Muscle car, and that is what makes them fun afterall, right?
Best lap was 1:22.423, and again could be better if I reallt tried. Plus I missed an entry on the last lap or it would have been better.

Great job, and nice choice.👍
 
@DaBomm4 AAR Cuda 340 Six Barrel Review:

First off, the numbers and power parts did not match, I was only able to achieve 514pp. So I added Racing exhaust, Intake and supercharger to get to 585hp. But when setting the trans, I could tell that it was going to be waaaaay to short so I went back to what was posted. Set power limiter to 100% and 515pp. (On Sport Soft Tires)

Taken to National A Classic Muscle Car Event.

Laguna Seca - Best lap of 1:33.907, and again I never felt as though I managed the corkscrew correctly so the time could be better. But it left me checking my TC, did I remember to set to "0"? (I am getting older you know :irked:) Yup, set to "0", wow was this easy to get on the throttle and made exiting corners easier and almost as fast as your Six Pack Cuda. Handling was similar also but maybe the brakes were just a tad weak here. Easy win and a fun ride with less excitement (in a good way) than the 440 Cuda. And I was now really looking forward to see what it would do at Big Willow. :eek:

Willow Springs - Best lap was,................. wait for it ................. 1:21.270! Faster than the 440 Cuda :drool:. Just an awesome ride and fantastic tune, better handling than your other Cuda and almost no need for throttle control. Just smooth inputs and high reward :dopey:, simply flowed around the track. Unlike the 440, it liked 4th gear thru turn 2, but again, 3rd for the uphill slow section. The brakes also never seemed to be an issue here so perhaps I was pushing too deep at Laguna :odd:? This could be a fun money making tune, not much to be made in the Classic Muscle Car event but you could get lost doing it over and over and not realize how much you are cashing in. Could also ( and should) be good enough to win Tour of America events.

Overall, I really liked this tune. In my garage, I would prefer my 440 500pp over my 340 525pp. I would likely use the AAR from yours over the 440. The extra power is not really needed in my opinion, and the ride in the AAR is just about flawless at Willow. Two great tunes full of muscle car pleasure. Great Job :D
 
Hey guys! I thought I might jump in on this one, if you don't mind. My dad used to tell about his glory days with all the cool muscle cars he and his friends had experienced driving as young men. The ones he always comes back to are his Roadrunner, and his friends Barracuda. I bought this one just for this tuning challenge, so any feedback would be fantastic. Thanks for holding this event!


AAR Cuda 340 Six Barrel '70

Paint: In-Violet Metallic
Rims: Standard

PP: 550
HP: 605
WEIGHT: 1380
WEIGHT DIST: 52:48
TIRE(S): Sport Soft

GT Auto:
Oil Change - No
Rigidity Improvement - No
Front Aero -
Wing -
Flat Floor -
Other -

SUSPENSION: Full Custom // Brakes: Racing
RIDE HEIGHT - 120/115
SPRINGS - 5.25/3.30
COMP - 5/2
EXT -3/5
ARB - 4/6
CAMBER - 0.0/0.0
TOE - -0.02/0.08
BRAKES - 5/5

TRANS: Full Custom (install all power upgrades first!)
FINAL TO - 5.500
TOP SPEED TO - 112
1ST - 2.740
2ND - 2.100
3RD - 1.660
4TH - 1.350
5TH - 1.100
6TH -
7TH - n/a
FINAL - 3.300
(^^^Adjust for top speed here)
Note: If numbers don't match, try initial final at 5.000

LSD: Full Custom
INITIAL - 10
ACCEL - 8
DECEL - 10

CLUTCH TYPE: Triple-Plate
CARBON SHAFT: Carbon
TORQUE CENTERING DIFF: n/a

POWER PARTS:
ENGINE TUNING - Stage 2
COMPUTER - Sports
EXHAUST - Racing
MANIFOLD - Isometric
CATALYTIC CONVERTER - Sports
INTAKE TUNING - Yes
SUPERCHARGER/TURBO - Supercharger
POWER LIMITER - 98.1%

WEIGHT REDUCTION -Stage 3
CARBON HOOD - Carbon (body color)
WINDOW WEIGHT - Yes

BALLAST - 104kg @ +50
DOWNFORCE - n/a

NOTE: Tuned to take on National A 600pp classic muscle races at Big Willow, Laguna Seca, and Matterhorn Dristolen. Tested again afterwards at Silverstone Grand Prix
 
Alright, review time. @shaunm80 had the first tunes submitted, so first tested. I decided to take this baby for a spin at Big Willow and Laguna Seca and lemme tell ya, 1,300kg of fun.

Driven with ds3, auto transmission abs 1

Up first...

Plymouth Cuda 440 Six Pack '71
SH tires

I drove the first 2 laps at Willow as stated, tc1 and abs1 all else off. I gotta say, I found myself trying really hard to push the car and make the wheels spin to no avail, so, tc off... same story :eek: I had much fun trying to find the breaking (not braking) point. The rotation was almost perfect for me at Willow. The braking power was near perfect with the suggested drive line. The cornering is also very good. I was able to find the entry through exit points easily without losing grip.
On to Laguna. This track was also very easy with this tune at tc1, almost too easy :odd:, so off it went. This proved to be much more of a challenge than expected, and was apparent through turns 1 and 2. I found throttle control fairly quickly though and had a blast trying to zip around the corkscrew. Brakes were still very good and turn in was almost perfect (most likely driver error, but I had a hard time getting around the hairpin :ouch:) and exit was great with throttle control.
Your drive style usually tends to lean toward understeer for me, but not this one :dopey:
Good car, great tune:cheers:

On to the SS tire version...

Back to Willow

The slight suspension and lsd mods to account for the tire upgrade left me thinking, how'd you do that!?? The car felt fantastic with tc off, so I just rolled with the punches. Grip and brakes were very good with this compound. I found this one to have more of the "on rails" feeling than the SH version. I felt like the car would lose traction at some points, but never actually did. The only real issue I had with this tune was the lsd decel. As long as I braked (broke...broked...brakeded, whatever :dunce:) in a straight line I was good to go. The moment I tried to brake hard through a turn, however, the lsd would straighten the car too much, causing unwanted understeer. Still a lot of fun to throw around at Big Willow.
On to Laguna..
This car track combo seems to be the bread and butter for your tunes. Willow is too easy of a drive, almost boring in comparison. The SS tires really had a chance to show me what they're made of here. Braking zone was very consistant in a straight line, cornering was great, grip was superb, and above all, this is an absolute hoot to drive when you get on the throttle!
Very good job with these, Shaun 👍

Edit: add review

Last, but certainly not least

Plymouth AAR Cuda 340 Six Barrel '70

This car/tune combo can be summed up in one word: beast. The way this tune lets the car roll around corners is pretty wicked. For me, the lsd is perfect on all accounts, allowing me total control of the cars turn in and exit capability. It has a very eager turn in, letting me follow a line easily, and a mildly aggressive exit, enough to let off throttle to regain control without much over/understeer. The brakes made the rear seem a little loose if braking in to a corner, but I found what made the car happy quite soon, so it wasn't a problem for me. Again, well done on the tune. It is a very enjoyable drive
 
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Burned_Rubber
Alright, review time. @shaunm80 had the first tunes submitted, so first tested. I decided to take this baby for a spin at Big Willow and Laguna Seca and lemme tell ya, 1,300kg of fun.

Driven with ds3, auto transmission abs 1

Up first...

Plymouth Cuda 440 Six Pack '71
SH tires

I drove the first 2 laps at Willow as stated, tc1 and abs1 all else off. I gotta say, I found myself trying really hard to push the car and make the wheels spin to no avail, so, tc off... same story :eek: I had much fun trying to find the breaking (not braking) point. The rotation was almost perfect for me at Willow. The braking power was near perfect with the suggested drive line. The cornering is also very good. I was able to find the entry through exit points easily without losing grip.
On to Laguna. This track was also very easy with this tune at tc1, almost too easy :odd:, so off it went. This proved to be much more of a challenge than expected, and was apparent through turns 1 and 2. I found throttle control fairly quickly though and had a blast trying to zip around the corkscrew. Brakes were still very good and turn in was almost perfect (most likely driver error, but I had a hard time getting around the hairpin :ouch:) and exit was great with throttle control.
Your drive style usually tends to lean toward understeer for me, but not this one :dopey:
Good car, great tune:cheers:

On to the SS tire version...

Back to Willow

The slight suspension and lsd mods to account for the tire upgrade left me thinking, how'd you do that!?? The car felt fantastic with tc off, so I just rolled with the punches. Grip and brakes were very good with this compound. I found this one to have more of the "on rails" feeling than the SH version. I felt like the car would lose traction at some points, but never actually did. The only real issue I had with this tune was the lsd decel. As long as I braked (broke...broked...brakeded, whatever :dunce:) in a straight line I was good to go. The moment I tried to brake hard through a turn, however, the lsd would straighten the car too much, causing unwanted understeer. Still a lot of fun to throw around at Big Willow.
On to Laguna..
This car track combo seems to be the bread and butter for your tunes. Willow is too easy of a drive, almost boring in comparison. The SS tires really had a chance to show me what they're made of here. Braking zone was very consistant in a straight line, cornering was great, grip was superb, and above all, this is an absolute hoot to drive when you get on the throttle!
Very good job with these, Shaun 👍

Edit: add review

Last, but certainly not least

Plymouth AAR Cuda 340 Six Barrel '70

This car/tune combo can be summed up in one word: beast. The way this tune lets the car roll around corners is pretty wicked. For me, the lsd is perfect on all accounts, allowing me total control of the cars turn in and exit capability. It has a very eager turn in, letting me follow a line easily, and a mildly aggressive exit, enough to let off throttle to regain control without much over/understeer. The brakes made the rear seem a little loose if braking in to a corner, but I found what made the car happy quite soon, so it wasn't a problem for me. Again, well done on the tune. It is a very enjoyable drive
Click to expand...
Thank you for the fantastic review. I am glad to see that you found the slight change in the SH to SS tyre variations worked well.

I am particularly pleased that you tried to push the SH version to the point of loosing traction and failing. :) Nice to know that my tunes are still working with the tuning style. I am trying to stay true to my roots and keep them fast, safe, fun and easy to drive. Seems that they are still doing that going on the few reviews I have received so far about these cars.
 
Now to review the big 'ol brain behind this operation, @DaBomm4... Well, maybe I won't review the brains, just the tune :D

Plymouth Cuda 340 Six Barrel '70

I found myself really liking this car at Laguna. It does great at Big Willow also, but Laguna seems to be the place to really put the American Muscles to the test.
First thing I noticed going through turn 1 was how the torque would twist the car in the direction it wanted to go. Hmmm, maybe it's my driving??:scared: The other thing I noticed right away was...you know that feeling you get when you try to pet a friends dog for the first time?:ill: You aren't really sure if it's going to lick you to death or try to rip your arm off :odd:? You just know that if you aren't careful you might die either way :crazy:? ... That's the feeling I got with this tune. I thought either we wouldn't mix at all, or, we might be pals. Guess what we're pals after all :dopey:. It's a demanding one, but it knows what it likes. Once I figured out the rhythm to the ride, it all made sense. Throttle control is a must with this one. Without it, it seems to have almost poor balance to a noob like me :dunce:. The brakes are good as long as I brake early and have great rotation coming in to a turn. The suspension feels firm yet forgiving as long as I got my line right and the lsd did a nice job holding it in place as long as I wasn't too demanding. Very nice job :bowdown:. Its a little above my pay grade :lol: but very rewarding when I got it right.

Edit: phone posted before I was ready. Next, the six pack aka "cold one" review coming in the next few days. Gotta take care of life atm :)

Edit 2: review @Bowtie-muscle I hope its ok to add the review here, rather than another post. Ill change ot if I need to.

On to the Cuda Six Pack
I went back to Laguna with this one only to find a striking similarity it terms of handling. The handling was great on SS tires and it took the corkscrew really well as long as I got my line right and didn't punch it out of the turns. The only thing I questioned about this tune was how the transmission is set? I terms of stability and balance the car is very good and even with automatic transmission the shift points are near perfect to keep all that power manageable. So, I took it to another track where speed plays a bigger part. Silverstone. This tune performs equally as well here in power and (might I say) grace, but I still never got the tranny to shift in to 5th gear. Being the tinkerer that I am I moved the final gear to 5.500 to see what this fire breathing monster could do with all gears applied. Then it hit me...yes, I could shift to all gears and yes, I could still manage wheelspin through the turns, but I was still chasing the ghost with 4 gears! Turns out to be the perfect balance of power/speed/balance with only 4 gears.
A very nice job on this tune as well @DaBomm4 , well done on another very fun car
 
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Now for @Bowtie-muscle and his
Cuda 440 Six Pack '71

So I went again to Laguna :rolleyes: to test and I really like how you were able to get the front and rear grip so even. The turn in on this is amazing and the rear always followed the same line as I told it to. This gem has similar handling to a modern sports coupe but retains the classic body roll that a classic muscle car should have. Well done 👍. The lsd in my opinion is damned near perfect for this track. The rear tires lit up at identical times when I forced them to slide, and more times than not, the front outside tire only turned orange when the rear tires did :dopey:. Much like Shauns tune, I had to really try hard to break the rear loose. The brakes balance paired with the lsd decel was good in a straight line and allowed the car to rotate appropriately if forced into a turn. I used the tranny as noted in the tune, but felt I could get a little more out of it with a shorter gearbox. So like DaBomms, I headed to Silverstone to test. I found the pick up marginally faster with the stated gearbox, but found a little better manouverability and engine response with final gear at 3.600. I felt like the
Overall I have no gripe whatsoever with this and look forward to the next one. Bravo, sir! I'll be checking out more of your garage for sure

Edit: added review

Now for the AAR Cuda Six Barrel '70

This one is a little more of a handful than the Six Pack, bit still a joy to drive. I went in to the start of the first lap thinking I knew what to expect :sly:. Nope :ouch:. Silly me, this car is a real brute in terms of, well, everything. It slightly out performs the six pack in almost all aspects. The one major difference I noticed in comparison is that the drive feeling holds a bit more understeer on entry, and while still manageable, wasn't quite as graceful on exit. I found an easy fix for this to suit my driving style. I simply inverted the lsd initial and accel. That's it. Now corner entry and exit was a lil more eager to keep its line, and the exit spin was easier for me to control.
The speed of the car felt (and sounded) very fast and responsive due to the racing exhaust. Ya gotta love that American Muscle roaring down the straights! Another very good tune for the books. I'll be using this one in the future, I'm sure
 
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Burned_Rubber
Now for @Bowtie-muscle and his
Cuda 440 Six Pack '71

So I went again to Laguna :rolleyes: to test and I really like how you were able to get the front and rear grip so even. The turn in on this is amazing and the rear always followed the same line as I told it to. This gem has similar handling to a modern sports coupe but retains the classic body roll that a classic muscle car should have. Well done 👍. The lsd in my opinion is damned near perfect for this track. The rear tires lit up at identical times when I forced them to slide, and more times than not, the front outside tire only turned orange when the rear tires did :dopey:. Much like Shauns tune, I had to really try hard to break the rear loose. The brakes balance paired with the lsd decel was good in a straight line and allowed the car to rotate appropriately if forced into a turn. I used the tranny as noted in the tune, but felt I could get a little more out of it with a shorter gearbox. So like DaBomms, I headed to Silverstone to test. I found the pick up marginally faster with the stated gearbox, but found a little better manouverability and engine response with final gear at 3.600. I felt like the
Overall I have no gripe whatsoever with this and look forward to the next one. Bravo, sir! I'll be checking out more of your garage for sure
Click to expand...
Thanks for a great review:tup:

Glad you liked it, gearing is always tricky when power drops off before red line, that's why I stretched it out.
 
Burned_Rubber
Good to know :) I just posted the 2nd part above in the same post. Thanks for creating such masterful melodies for everyone. Your work is appreciated
Click to expand...
Thanks for doing that one too. It is a different animal, think the extra power makes it different on exit. Could not quite get the front end how I wanted but close.
 
@sinof1337 550pp AAR Cuda 340 Six Barrel review:

So I decided to repeat the same test I gave @DaBomm4 , Classic Muscle Car Event at both Laguna and Willow. This will be repeated for the other reviews as well, and might tally up the lap times when done.

You gave us 2 cars this month, but this review is for the AAR Cuda.

Laguna - lap time 1:31.515
This car was fast, but needed throttle control and it let you know it really quick. Especially if you were too aggressive with the throttle, the rear would jump out on you but could be controlled rather easily. I liked the turn in this tune has along with mid-corner rotation. Lower rear ride height helps get this car through the corners but is likely the cause of care needed on exit. GENTLY squeeze the throttle and you will do just fine.

Willow - lap time 1:22.214
Better here, although my best lap was ruined coming off of turn 1, got a little too aggressive and payed the price on time. Found it to be much easier to be smooth and to hold the throttle thru the sweepers where I wanted it. Suspension worked really well, but maybe stretch the higher gears for this track. Could have been just a bit more in 5th to not hit the end of the powerband. Not sure how much better it could have been or if it even mattered, just my thought.

Cool tune, fast and fun, lap times are pretty quick and of course could be dropped quite a bit in Arcade Mode Time Trial. Winning the races was just too easy and not a challenge, but watch the throttle!
 

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