Playseat Car Pack - Available February 7
- Thread starter neddyie118
- 152 comments
- 14,026 views
- 2,023
- Australia
Not a big fan of the DB11's design, but man it does come in some beautiful colours.
- 13,143
- Seattle-ish
Downloaded it, using it, and loving it. I hope everyone here downloads this and gives it a like. It would be nice to see this come up as a recommended design.Even better! The whole car.
- 3,461
- Melbourne
Decided to give my opinions car by car. Won't be a thorough write up, not trying to steal anyone's thunder either. Just felt like doing this, hopefully my pictures if anything will be interesting.
I like the sound of the engine itself, it almost sounds (in my opinion) like a Porsche 6. However it has a really loud intake sound that sounds like someone dragging a bag of gravel. Very overwhelming mix into the audio.
I found, like a lot of MR/RR cars that it understeered too much for my liking in stock form, push it too hard though and you'll get snap oversteer. Not very impressed tbh, looks better than it drives.
5.5/10
An Aston, it should be a rather nice car yes? I wasn't a big fan of it in stock form either, to be honest.
Handling wise, it felt (as best as one can with a controller) to be too heavy for its chassis. It didn't like to change direction without a lot of notice, not very lively feeling. One word I found in my notes that I put down is bloated, and that's how it feels to me.
Engine sound is okay, generic V12 sound. As soon as you start accelerating in a gear there is an annoying chirping sound (sadly not tyres) like a canary, I didn't realise this was forced induction. It's a very irritating sound, even for a turbocharged car.
Even for a Grand Tourer it feels bloated and almost (gasp) understeery. I was disappointed. The less said about the looks the better, I much preferred the DB10 concept.
4/10
Now this surprised me. I was expecting it to be much like how I felt the Aston was. Bloated, not enjoying corners etc.
Instead, I was surprised and enjoyed this car. It has a nice throaty sounding V6, almost similar to a Nissan 'Z' car. Rather pleasing to listen to, for a V6.
I was expecting at the first (moderately) fast direction change for this car to give up and careen off into the corner or spin out. Instead I found a surprisingly planted yet lively chassis. Very easy to induce oversteer however easy to control and maintain fairly balanced cornering.
The looks are pretty average, most modern Cadillac's have been (in my opinion). Although everything taken into account it's like Cadillac made their own Z. I'm pleasantly surprised.
7.5/10
It's not just any Civic, it's a Type R!
Soundwise, I was not impressed. It sounded like a generic 'sporty' 4 cylinder. I was hoping for some VTEC intake noise, but no a fairly subdued bark instead.
Looks-wise it is rather sharp. You can tell it's based off an older Civic design but I feel it's fresh enough to not look as old as its origin design. It's rather sharp and 'futuristic' for a hatchback. Red accents are a bit corny and passe but they work to break the bodywork up a bit.
I felt this handled pretty decently, especially for a FWD. I didn't notice a massive amount of torque steer or understeer. It still lets you know it's FWD but it's not obnoxious about it unlike some other FWD cars.
Not a bad car, not a great car.
6.5/10
Oldschool, lightweight, rwd roadster. Recipe for success, or is it?
Immediately I noticed the exhaust note. It sounded like a car from the NES game Road Fighter or something from an Atari game. Very digitalised exhaust note, dare I say even worse IMO than a Gran Turismo PSX-era exhaust sound. Perhaps they sound like this in real life, I don't know but I don't think so.
Anyways, handling. I was expecting nimble and responsive (age taken into account).
What I got was more akin to a 70's Lincoln. Very weighty and unresponsive, barge-like handling. I was surprised and disappointed.
It looks much better from the front but given how disappointed I was I only bothered taking the one shot.
3/10
Yet another victim of Turn 10/PG/Microsoft (wish we knew who!) silly censoring of the SS nomenclature for cars. Not only are the names now wrong but also graphics and grills on the cars look stupid.
Thanks to @JorgePinto for his excellent proper decal design on the storefront. Highly recommended!
This car is obviously not too dissimilar to the VL SS Group A SV 'Walkinshaw' in the game already. More subdued aero, less powerful motor but same basic shell and chassis. So not much different to a Walkinshaw really.
Being an Aussie car nut, I've encountered many hot and stock Commodores in my times in person. I know how they should sound. Sadly yet again this does not sound like the real thing. Not a terrible exhaust note but not an accurate one either. Certainly the best in the pack though, but as you may have read in my post so far, that's not saying much, haha.
Handling is fairly standard muscle car fare, easy to induce oversteer, a bit floaty but not as bad as other cars in the pack (which is funny, this should be the worst based off real cars) but I digress. Much trickier to keep from spinning out than the Cadillac but still quite pleasant given the age of the car.
Looks-wise, well it's rather brick-like so I can see why people may not like it (especially stock without the correct decals) but a faithful reproduction.
7/10 overall.
Silly me forgot about the Vauxhall Corsa. But hey you've done well if you've read more than one of my above reviews lol, I'm no expert e-driver so I'm sure to get people disagreeing with me but I felt like disclosing my thoughts on here. I don't know anyone IRL who plays racing games.
Enjoy and have a good day
I like the sound of the engine itself, it almost sounds (in my opinion) like a Porsche 6. However it has a really loud intake sound that sounds like someone dragging a bag of gravel. Very overwhelming mix into the audio.
I found, like a lot of MR/RR cars that it understeered too much for my liking in stock form, push it too hard though and you'll get snap oversteer. Not very impressed tbh, looks better than it drives.
5.5/10
An Aston, it should be a rather nice car yes? I wasn't a big fan of it in stock form either, to be honest.
Handling wise, it felt (as best as one can with a controller) to be too heavy for its chassis. It didn't like to change direction without a lot of notice, not very lively feeling. One word I found in my notes that I put down is bloated, and that's how it feels to me.
Engine sound is okay, generic V12 sound. As soon as you start accelerating in a gear there is an annoying chirping sound (sadly not tyres) like a canary, I didn't realise this was forced induction. It's a very irritating sound, even for a turbocharged car.
Even for a Grand Tourer it feels bloated and almost (gasp) understeery. I was disappointed. The less said about the looks the better, I much preferred the DB10 concept.
4/10
Now this surprised me. I was expecting it to be much like how I felt the Aston was. Bloated, not enjoying corners etc.
Instead, I was surprised and enjoyed this car. It has a nice throaty sounding V6, almost similar to a Nissan 'Z' car. Rather pleasing to listen to, for a V6.
I was expecting at the first (moderately) fast direction change for this car to give up and careen off into the corner or spin out. Instead I found a surprisingly planted yet lively chassis. Very easy to induce oversteer however easy to control and maintain fairly balanced cornering.
The looks are pretty average, most modern Cadillac's have been (in my opinion). Although everything taken into account it's like Cadillac made their own Z. I'm pleasantly surprised.
7.5/10
It's not just any Civic, it's a Type R!
Soundwise, I was not impressed. It sounded like a generic 'sporty' 4 cylinder. I was hoping for some VTEC intake noise, but no a fairly subdued bark instead.
Looks-wise it is rather sharp. You can tell it's based off an older Civic design but I feel it's fresh enough to not look as old as its origin design. It's rather sharp and 'futuristic' for a hatchback. Red accents are a bit corny and passe but they work to break the bodywork up a bit.
I felt this handled pretty decently, especially for a FWD. I didn't notice a massive amount of torque steer or understeer. It still lets you know it's FWD but it's not obnoxious about it unlike some other FWD cars.
Not a bad car, not a great car.
6.5/10
Oldschool, lightweight, rwd roadster. Recipe for success, or is it?
Immediately I noticed the exhaust note. It sounded like a car from the NES game Road Fighter or something from an Atari game. Very digitalised exhaust note, dare I say even worse IMO than a Gran Turismo PSX-era exhaust sound. Perhaps they sound like this in real life, I don't know but I don't think so.
Anyways, handling. I was expecting nimble and responsive (age taken into account).
What I got was more akin to a 70's Lincoln. Very weighty and unresponsive, barge-like handling. I was surprised and disappointed.
It looks much better from the front but given how disappointed I was I only bothered taking the one shot.
3/10
Yet another victim of Turn 10/PG/Microsoft (wish we knew who!) silly censoring of the SS nomenclature for cars. Not only are the names now wrong but also graphics and grills on the cars look stupid.
Thanks to @JorgePinto for his excellent proper decal design on the storefront. Highly recommended!
This car is obviously not too dissimilar to the VL SS Group A SV 'Walkinshaw' in the game already. More subdued aero, less powerful motor but same basic shell and chassis. So not much different to a Walkinshaw really.
Being an Aussie car nut, I've encountered many hot and stock Commodores in my times in person. I know how they should sound. Sadly yet again this does not sound like the real thing. Not a terrible exhaust note but not an accurate one either. Certainly the best in the pack though, but as you may have read in my post so far, that's not saying much, haha.
Handling is fairly standard muscle car fare, easy to induce oversteer, a bit floaty but not as bad as other cars in the pack (which is funny, this should be the worst based off real cars) but I digress. Much trickier to keep from spinning out than the Cadillac but still quite pleasant given the age of the car.
Looks-wise, well it's rather brick-like so I can see why people may not like it (especially stock without the correct decals) but a faithful reproduction.
7/10 overall.
Silly me forgot about the Vauxhall Corsa. But hey you've done well if you've read more than one of my above reviews lol, I'm no expert e-driver so I'm sure to get people disagreeing with me but I felt like disclosing my thoughts on here. I don't know anyone IRL who plays racing games.
Enjoy and have a good day
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- 747
- Sheboygan, WI
- Zach_Attack_2011
- Z4chAtt4ck2011
Anyone else have a problem with there cars? After I downloaded the pack, I went to get my cars an noticed only 5 of the 7 were free. The corsa and the DB11 are the ones I have to buy from the showroom.
- 445
- The Metaverse
- Cloudsona64
- ApolloVulcan#323
Originally posted by Debleuchamp over @ fc.com
Great, now the Lola and 599XX are going to be driven around by the Drivatars and we have to wait another week for them :l
- 2,120
- Sunderland
Recorded a video of the 599XX and Lola for those who want to hear the sounds. The 599XX simply uses the LaFerrari FXXK sounds, but the Lola's are unique.
I crunched the video quality just to upload it quicker, but I've made sure the audio is pretty much fully untouched.
I crunched the video quality just to upload it quicker, but I've made sure the audio is pretty much fully untouched.
- 445
- The Metaverse
- Cloudsona64
- ApolloVulcan#323
So my question is this: were you able to get the 599XX into the debug build without updating? Probably an easy "yes". Just curious....
- 2,120
- Sunderland
- 445
- The Metaverse
- Cloudsona64
- ApolloVulcan#323
Ah, interesting.
- 2,740
- Italy
- Yellohead
- Clydeyellow
Hello there! I know I'm late, but unfortunately I couldn't get my paws on the monthly goodies readily this time around... And I wanted to make my ramblings and ravings a bit more informative.
Let's start with the Corsa, shall we? The category to which this petite peste proudly belongs, that of the hot hatches, has enjoyed alternating fortunes since its inception. Extremely popular in the 80s - when Peugeots and Renaults, Fords and Fiats, Toyotas and Nissans were essentially offering more powerful engines than their more pedestrian brethen and not much else - they fell out of grace in the 90s, an era of increased concern about safety and efficiency. Now they live a second golden age, being developed on much better platforms and making use of turbocharged engines and technology developed during the Superhatch Wars of the early 2010s to deliver uncompromising performance at an affordable rate.
The Corsa, with its captivating styling (which takes more than a clue from the Adam, GM's answer to the Fiat 500's sweeping success) and modest price, has an undeniable youthful appeal. So it is no surprise that GM decided to develop it into one of the meanest car in its category. The engine's lively, and with 200hp and 245Nm on tap, delivered smoothly and at all revs, it's easy to reach irresponsible speeds without even noticing it; a well-sorted brakes and suspensions setup will make sure, however, that from such irresponsibility won't come great dangers.
As a matter of fact, the only problem I can say I have with this car is, perhaps, its lack of attitude - the grip seems unlimited, and the widest powerband in history will rob you of the pleasure of feeling the RPM climb all the way to Hooligan Nirvana, which is perhaps what made hot hatches step out of the "car with stripes for younglings with no sense of survival" realm and gave them legitimacy in the eyes of true gearheads worldwide. It feels... A bit too safe. Which I'm sure is great for the people which will actually get one and daily drive it, not so much in the confines of an escapist virtual adventure.
Goliath laptime: 15:15.816
Verdict: grocery getter... For the guy whose groceries consist entirely of Monster Energy cans.
The Honda S800 without a doubt one of my favorite cars in history. The ultimate evolution of the S360 concept and S500 production car - which was effectively Honda's first foray in the automotive world, if one doesn't count the T360 kei truck - did away with many of its unique features; gone was the chain drive, in a bid to increase the car's reliability; and gone was the independent rear suspension, replaced with a cheaper, more conventional live axle rear with Panhard rod. But the main allure of the car, the bike-inspired 800cc high-performance engine, remained in all of its high-revving glory.
A full decade before the Civic, the S800 was already establishing Honda's reputation as a car manufacturer and champion of the rev-banging four-cylinders all around the world, competing not only in its crowded domestic market, but with now-legendary cars such as the Austin-Healey Sprite and Triumph Spitfire.
It is not, by any means, a performance car - the body lean's immense, and as ear-piercing as it may be, the engine's still an 800cc unit, producing just 70hp, so don't expect mind-blowing performance - but it is an amazingly fun ride, which fits all the criteria to be fully considered a sports car: it accelerates quickly, it will assault your auditory senses with its 9000 rpm scream, and it's a nimble car that will gladly follow along any twisty corner you may decide to tackle; the open-top nature of the car only makes its leisurely approach to performance all the more enjoyable.
Just like the S2000 was inspired by Honda's participation in the F1 World Championship as an engine supplier and manufacturer, the S800 was clearly built to provide the thrills of riding a motorcycle to two people at once, providing some much-needed comfort and practicality. And in that regard, it succeeds triumphantly.
Goliath laptime: 19:30.671
Verdict: if it sounds like a bike, and leans like a bike... Then it's a Honda.
In the 80s, the very local phenomenon of Australian supercars - one to which the international public had only been exposed through the first two Mad Max movies - truly went global. In 1985, the homegrown Group C rules - which had led to endless political squabbling between Holden and Ford - were replaced with the successful international Group A ruleset. While Ford could count on the Sierra and the Mustang, the VK Commodore was forced by the more stringent homologation rules to race with reduced engine power, a near-stock aero package and much narrower tires, and as a result went from being a top competitor to barely managing to keep up with the rest of the field.
Enter the Group A "Blue Meanie" - an homologation special built to allow many of the upgrades the Group C cars enjoyed to be used with the new formula, and sold under the brand of Peter Brock's Holden Dealer Team, which thus joins Horizon 3's roster. It was the closest a road-going supercar had been to its racing counterpart since the 70s, and in racing trim, it was an enormously successful vehicle which not only dominated the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship (with victories at Bathurst, Wellington and Pukehoe), but was also a serious contender in the world-leading European Touring Car Championship and at the Spa 24 hours, even setting a laptime record at Hockenheim which would go unbeaten.
Alas, the decades-long relationship between Brock's HDT outfit and Holden would come to a bitter end in the following year, as growing tensions culminated in an abrupt break off when the legendary Australian racer began installing "Energy Polarizer" devices on the cars he sold - a practise Holden didn't endorse. The successor to the "Blue Meanie" was developed internally, with the collaboration of Tom Walkinshaw's TWR, and signaled the end of the "normal sedan with a lump of V8 shoehorned in the front" era of supercar development.
The last of the HDT-developed V8s is true to its nickname: the 4.9L engine burbles pleasantly and delivers low-revs torque which'd make any mid-80s American muscle feel grossly inadequate; the suspensions are firm, but pliable, and follow the rough contours of the Australian roads nicely while allowing to drift the car precisely through narrow corners you wouldn't expect a car like this to handle so easily. Top speed may not be exciting for today's standards - I couldn't get the car past 245kph, which would put in the same realm as the Corsa VXR - but must've been mind-blowing in the mid-80s; especially in a car that is functionally the same as my uncle's old Opel Rekord.
The VK Commodore is yet another example of the success of the Australian formula of blending European chassis design with American power: the result is more than the sum of its parts.
Goliath laptime: 14:56.330
Verdict: mean to the road, but not to the driver.
I must admit: for me, the later, more angular Alpine cars are inevitably linked to Neon Genesis Evangelion. But the GTA Le Mans tells another compelling story which is worth mentioning: that of a French manufacturer which, despite the indisputable racing qualities of its products, never managed to break into the 2+2 GT market, which was dominated by Porsche - the same brand which they beat at the 1978 Le Mans 24h, the event for which this version of the Grand Tourisme Alpine is named.
True to the original vision of Jean Rédélé, the GTA was clad in an aerodynamic body built of the lightest materials, and powered by a Renault engine - in this case, a PRV 2.5L turbo unit - mounted as far back as possible, behind the rear axle. Its power output and general performance were excellent, enough to put it a span above its intended competitor, the Porsche 944; and it was offered at a compelling price, no doubt thanks to the lower cost of the mass-produced engine. But why did it sell so poorly, then?
The commercial failure of the GTA (and the latter A610) is, in all likelihood, largely to blame on the pure focus on performance, which led Alpine designers to neglect features such as cabin comfort and build quality which were a hallmark of Porsche design; this, coupled with the brand's close association with its parent company Renault, which essentially made them one and the same, vastly reduced the car's appeal to its target audience of yuppies looking for a sporty, but luxurious car which clearly communicated their status to the world. Thus the Alpine, gorgeous as it was, was relegated to the world of automotive enthusiasts and anime directors; a world of passionate, always-nostalgic daydreamers which refuse, for the most part, the diktats of a world in favor of performance and simple driving enjoyment (or apocalyptic robots and Jungian psychology). And thankfully, this let the brand not be forgotten - which is why it's set to return with a car making true to Alpine's mantra of "less weight for less money" in a market where there is again enough demand for it to be a viable proposition.
In the meanwhile we can enjoy this virtual rendition of the GTA: the much-maligned PRV purrs nicely and will easily push the lightweight grand tourer around; the handling is simply excellent - there is nothing that rotates like a well-balanced rear-engined car. The rear end will sometimes display an intention to overtake the front; but the very precise steering will allow drivers of any skill level to easily counter that. I eagerly await the day we will finally be able to show the 944s and 911s of this world who's boss!
Goliath laptime: 14:31.241
Verdict: get in the ****ing EVA, Warren.
And we finally start to dig our knife in the meat of this pack, with the brand-new Honda Civic Type R. Or should I say, old-gen Civic Type R? This generation of everybody's favorite Japanese superhatch came after four years of absence, and was incredibly short-lived: lasting only from its introduction in late 2015 to the arrival of the tenth-generation Civic this year.
However, it served to give the "Type R" denomination a new meaning. Gone is the high-revving, naturally aspired, punchy but almost stock-alike engine, replaced by a turbocharged evolution of the venerable K series producing 300hp and 400Nm of torque; the chassis's been significantly revamped, and the exterior design mixes clues taken from the WTCC Civics with aerodynamics that would be more at home in Gundam that they are on Earth, on the warmed-up version of a people mover. The gargantuan brake disks and mechanical limited slip differential complete the picture.
All is fair in love and war, and this car is designed for the latter: its targets are the Ford Focus RS, the Volkswagen Golf R, the Mercedes A45 AMG and... Whatever monstrosity Renaultsport will build on the base of the new Megane. For now it's a war that it's winning - having set a record for FWD cars on the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the famed Green Hell, and being received positively by the specialized press and by Honda enthusiasts all over the world. All of this is a solid base on which Honda will be able to build with the 5th-gen Type R, which will mark the return of the bright "R" letter to the Japanese market, and its long-awaited debut on the American one.
It's still a bit hard to see why is a replacement needed at all, however, other than for reasons of expediency: the current offering only has one mode, and it's "maximum attack". The engine, the brakes and the chassis all do a wonderful job of providing blistering acceleration, insane top speeds, and excellent corner performance. There's a bit of front-end pull to be felt when you're nearing the edge of its performance envelope, sure, but it is to be expected from a FWD car - and it isn't all that fastidious, serving more as a gentle reminder that even a car that looks like it leaped out of an 80s sci-fi anime has its limits.
Goliath laptime: 13:20.667
Verdict: exactly as insane as it looks.
I think I already said this when the new CTS-V was added to Forza Motorsport: Cadillac's new purpose as GM US's sports brand confuses me. The ATS-V doesn't do much to dispel this confusion and, if anything, exacerbates it even further.
The new ATS's been built on the Alpha platform - shared only with the Camaro so far - to compete globally with the offerings of Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Lexus, BMW and other newcomer to the entry-level luxury car category, Alfa Romeo. The ATS-V is, of course, supposed to go toe-to-toe with their high-performance versions; with the focus being on the German duet of C63 AMG and M4.
However, and despite the efforts of GM, there are two things it still lacks: a motorsport heritage to back the claims of uncompromising performance, and the refinement of competitors which are the result of years of experience in production-derived motorsports. And a racing programme centered around a racing version of the ATS, clearly designed to kill both birds with one stone, instead failed in its goal of giving Cadillac any credibility as a performance brand in Europe.
The car itself is decent enough to be bad, but is far from being on the level of BMW's incredibly sharp sport sedan: the brilliant twin-turbo V6 engine is burdened by a transmission with far too long gear ratios, which meant that on the fast section of the Goliath circuit I had trouble bringing it to speeds much higher than those of the Civic Type R; and on the corners it struggled with a relatively sluggish handling that the the technologically-advanced magneto-rheological dampers have no power to salvage.
Now, if they were to give us the Giulia Quadrifoglio, I'm sure that would be a different story altogether...
Goliath laptime: 13:14.795
Verdict: bland, unremarkable, and I'd rather have a '56 De Ville, thanks.
You know, one of the reasons I believe Spectre is widely considered to be a mediocre Bond movie is the lack of a decent Bond car. The DB10 that was designed and built specifically to be Daniel Craig's four-wheeled companion through the 150 minutes of the movie was supposed to prefigure the future of Aston Martin's styling; but like Mendes' direction of the movie, it ended up looking far too bland, lacking the muscle and handcrafted elegance that is expected from a car by the marque.
With the DB11, Marek Reichman had a strong return to form. The taut sidelines and wide front grille speak the universal language of speed, and are complimented by the roof strake which runs uninterrupted from the A to the C-pillar; the "Aeroblade" functional side intakes and the enormous clam-shell aluminum bonnet are clear nods to the exclusive Vulcan track-only car; the C-pillar and small, retractable rear spoiler are all part of an almost-byzantine plan to create massive amounts of downforce unseen. The all-LED front and rear projectors continue in the stylistic tradition established with the last generation of Aston Martins, taking it into the 2020s. The cabin is as driver-focused as a comfort-oriented grand tourer can afford, with a LCD display replacing many analog instruments and providing immediate access to all the information necessary to the driver.
Where the DB10 was bland and uninspired, the DB11 is simple, pure, elegant - probably the most beautiful Aston ever built, and it's facing a century of competition.
Mechanically-speaking, the DB11 is supposed to become the foundation on which AM will built a new generation of cars, as part of the "second century" plan: the chassis, designed by a team led by ex-Lotus handling wizard Matt Becker, is a marked advancement over that of the DB9, and the new 5.2L twin-turbo V12 engine is greener, sounds meaner and performs much better than the old, Ford-based unit; it will be soon joined by a V8 developed in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz, which will also likely power the next Vantage.
Of course, many of the things that make such a car worth its high price are lost in a virtual experience. However, what isn't lost is the brilliant behavior of the car at any speed: although it is not a nimble mid-engined supercar, and it feels much more stately than any McLaren or Lamborghini you can get your mitts on, the rigid chassis and nimble steering, coupled with the smooth power delivery of the engine, make the DB11 a fearsome competitors for the F12 TdF, AMG GT R and the like. Plus, it's the car with the most color options in Forza history, so you have no excuse to not get at least a dozen in your garage.
Goliath laptime: 12:39:260
Verdict: the best modern GT there is? You bet!
Let's start with the Corsa, shall we? The category to which this petite peste proudly belongs, that of the hot hatches, has enjoyed alternating fortunes since its inception. Extremely popular in the 80s - when Peugeots and Renaults, Fords and Fiats, Toyotas and Nissans were essentially offering more powerful engines than their more pedestrian brethen and not much else - they fell out of grace in the 90s, an era of increased concern about safety and efficiency. Now they live a second golden age, being developed on much better platforms and making use of turbocharged engines and technology developed during the Superhatch Wars of the early 2010s to deliver uncompromising performance at an affordable rate.
The Corsa, with its captivating styling (which takes more than a clue from the Adam, GM's answer to the Fiat 500's sweeping success) and modest price, has an undeniable youthful appeal. So it is no surprise that GM decided to develop it into one of the meanest car in its category. The engine's lively, and with 200hp and 245Nm on tap, delivered smoothly and at all revs, it's easy to reach irresponsible speeds without even noticing it; a well-sorted brakes and suspensions setup will make sure, however, that from such irresponsibility won't come great dangers.
As a matter of fact, the only problem I can say I have with this car is, perhaps, its lack of attitude - the grip seems unlimited, and the widest powerband in history will rob you of the pleasure of feeling the RPM climb all the way to Hooligan Nirvana, which is perhaps what made hot hatches step out of the "car with stripes for younglings with no sense of survival" realm and gave them legitimacy in the eyes of true gearheads worldwide. It feels... A bit too safe. Which I'm sure is great for the people which will actually get one and daily drive it, not so much in the confines of an escapist virtual adventure.
Goliath laptime: 15:15.816
Verdict: grocery getter... For the guy whose groceries consist entirely of Monster Energy cans.
The Honda S800 without a doubt one of my favorite cars in history. The ultimate evolution of the S360 concept and S500 production car - which was effectively Honda's first foray in the automotive world, if one doesn't count the T360 kei truck - did away with many of its unique features; gone was the chain drive, in a bid to increase the car's reliability; and gone was the independent rear suspension, replaced with a cheaper, more conventional live axle rear with Panhard rod. But the main allure of the car, the bike-inspired 800cc high-performance engine, remained in all of its high-revving glory.
A full decade before the Civic, the S800 was already establishing Honda's reputation as a car manufacturer and champion of the rev-banging four-cylinders all around the world, competing not only in its crowded domestic market, but with now-legendary cars such as the Austin-Healey Sprite and Triumph Spitfire.
It is not, by any means, a performance car - the body lean's immense, and as ear-piercing as it may be, the engine's still an 800cc unit, producing just 70hp, so don't expect mind-blowing performance - but it is an amazingly fun ride, which fits all the criteria to be fully considered a sports car: it accelerates quickly, it will assault your auditory senses with its 9000 rpm scream, and it's a nimble car that will gladly follow along any twisty corner you may decide to tackle; the open-top nature of the car only makes its leisurely approach to performance all the more enjoyable.
Just like the S2000 was inspired by Honda's participation in the F1 World Championship as an engine supplier and manufacturer, the S800 was clearly built to provide the thrills of riding a motorcycle to two people at once, providing some much-needed comfort and practicality. And in that regard, it succeeds triumphantly.
Goliath laptime: 19:30.671
Verdict: if it sounds like a bike, and leans like a bike... Then it's a Honda.
In the 80s, the very local phenomenon of Australian supercars - one to which the international public had only been exposed through the first two Mad Max movies - truly went global. In 1985, the homegrown Group C rules - which had led to endless political squabbling between Holden and Ford - were replaced with the successful international Group A ruleset. While Ford could count on the Sierra and the Mustang, the VK Commodore was forced by the more stringent homologation rules to race with reduced engine power, a near-stock aero package and much narrower tires, and as a result went from being a top competitor to barely managing to keep up with the rest of the field.
Enter the Group A "Blue Meanie" - an homologation special built to allow many of the upgrades the Group C cars enjoyed to be used with the new formula, and sold under the brand of Peter Brock's Holden Dealer Team, which thus joins Horizon 3's roster. It was the closest a road-going supercar had been to its racing counterpart since the 70s, and in racing trim, it was an enormously successful vehicle which not only dominated the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship (with victories at Bathurst, Wellington and Pukehoe), but was also a serious contender in the world-leading European Touring Car Championship and at the Spa 24 hours, even setting a laptime record at Hockenheim which would go unbeaten.
Alas, the decades-long relationship between Brock's HDT outfit and Holden would come to a bitter end in the following year, as growing tensions culminated in an abrupt break off when the legendary Australian racer began installing "Energy Polarizer" devices on the cars he sold - a practise Holden didn't endorse. The successor to the "Blue Meanie" was developed internally, with the collaboration of Tom Walkinshaw's TWR, and signaled the end of the "normal sedan with a lump of V8 shoehorned in the front" era of supercar development.
The last of the HDT-developed V8s is true to its nickname: the 4.9L engine burbles pleasantly and delivers low-revs torque which'd make any mid-80s American muscle feel grossly inadequate; the suspensions are firm, but pliable, and follow the rough contours of the Australian roads nicely while allowing to drift the car precisely through narrow corners you wouldn't expect a car like this to handle so easily. Top speed may not be exciting for today's standards - I couldn't get the car past 245kph, which would put in the same realm as the Corsa VXR - but must've been mind-blowing in the mid-80s; especially in a car that is functionally the same as my uncle's old Opel Rekord.
The VK Commodore is yet another example of the success of the Australian formula of blending European chassis design with American power: the result is more than the sum of its parts.
Goliath laptime: 14:56.330
Verdict: mean to the road, but not to the driver.
I must admit: for me, the later, more angular Alpine cars are inevitably linked to Neon Genesis Evangelion. But the GTA Le Mans tells another compelling story which is worth mentioning: that of a French manufacturer which, despite the indisputable racing qualities of its products, never managed to break into the 2+2 GT market, which was dominated by Porsche - the same brand which they beat at the 1978 Le Mans 24h, the event for which this version of the Grand Tourisme Alpine is named.
True to the original vision of Jean Rédélé, the GTA was clad in an aerodynamic body built of the lightest materials, and powered by a Renault engine - in this case, a PRV 2.5L turbo unit - mounted as far back as possible, behind the rear axle. Its power output and general performance were excellent, enough to put it a span above its intended competitor, the Porsche 944; and it was offered at a compelling price, no doubt thanks to the lower cost of the mass-produced engine. But why did it sell so poorly, then?
The commercial failure of the GTA (and the latter A610) is, in all likelihood, largely to blame on the pure focus on performance, which led Alpine designers to neglect features such as cabin comfort and build quality which were a hallmark of Porsche design; this, coupled with the brand's close association with its parent company Renault, which essentially made them one and the same, vastly reduced the car's appeal to its target audience of yuppies looking for a sporty, but luxurious car which clearly communicated their status to the world. Thus the Alpine, gorgeous as it was, was relegated to the world of automotive enthusiasts and anime directors; a world of passionate, always-nostalgic daydreamers which refuse, for the most part, the diktats of a world in favor of performance and simple driving enjoyment (or apocalyptic robots and Jungian psychology). And thankfully, this let the brand not be forgotten - which is why it's set to return with a car making true to Alpine's mantra of "less weight for less money" in a market where there is again enough demand for it to be a viable proposition.
In the meanwhile we can enjoy this virtual rendition of the GTA: the much-maligned PRV purrs nicely and will easily push the lightweight grand tourer around; the handling is simply excellent - there is nothing that rotates like a well-balanced rear-engined car. The rear end will sometimes display an intention to overtake the front; but the very precise steering will allow drivers of any skill level to easily counter that. I eagerly await the day we will finally be able to show the 944s and 911s of this world who's boss!
Goliath laptime: 14:31.241
Verdict: get in the ****ing EVA, Warren.
And we finally start to dig our knife in the meat of this pack, with the brand-new Honda Civic Type R. Or should I say, old-gen Civic Type R? This generation of everybody's favorite Japanese superhatch came after four years of absence, and was incredibly short-lived: lasting only from its introduction in late 2015 to the arrival of the tenth-generation Civic this year.
However, it served to give the "Type R" denomination a new meaning. Gone is the high-revving, naturally aspired, punchy but almost stock-alike engine, replaced by a turbocharged evolution of the venerable K series producing 300hp and 400Nm of torque; the chassis's been significantly revamped, and the exterior design mixes clues taken from the WTCC Civics with aerodynamics that would be more at home in Gundam that they are on Earth, on the warmed-up version of a people mover. The gargantuan brake disks and mechanical limited slip differential complete the picture.
All is fair in love and war, and this car is designed for the latter: its targets are the Ford Focus RS, the Volkswagen Golf R, the Mercedes A45 AMG and... Whatever monstrosity Renaultsport will build on the base of the new Megane. For now it's a war that it's winning - having set a record for FWD cars on the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the famed Green Hell, and being received positively by the specialized press and by Honda enthusiasts all over the world. All of this is a solid base on which Honda will be able to build with the 5th-gen Type R, which will mark the return of the bright "R" letter to the Japanese market, and its long-awaited debut on the American one.
It's still a bit hard to see why is a replacement needed at all, however, other than for reasons of expediency: the current offering only has one mode, and it's "maximum attack". The engine, the brakes and the chassis all do a wonderful job of providing blistering acceleration, insane top speeds, and excellent corner performance. There's a bit of front-end pull to be felt when you're nearing the edge of its performance envelope, sure, but it is to be expected from a FWD car - and it isn't all that fastidious, serving more as a gentle reminder that even a car that looks like it leaped out of an 80s sci-fi anime has its limits.
Goliath laptime: 13:20.667
Verdict: exactly as insane as it looks.
I think I already said this when the new CTS-V was added to Forza Motorsport: Cadillac's new purpose as GM US's sports brand confuses me. The ATS-V doesn't do much to dispel this confusion and, if anything, exacerbates it even further.
The new ATS's been built on the Alpha platform - shared only with the Camaro so far - to compete globally with the offerings of Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Lexus, BMW and other newcomer to the entry-level luxury car category, Alfa Romeo. The ATS-V is, of course, supposed to go toe-to-toe with their high-performance versions; with the focus being on the German duet of C63 AMG and M4.
However, and despite the efforts of GM, there are two things it still lacks: a motorsport heritage to back the claims of uncompromising performance, and the refinement of competitors which are the result of years of experience in production-derived motorsports. And a racing programme centered around a racing version of the ATS, clearly designed to kill both birds with one stone, instead failed in its goal of giving Cadillac any credibility as a performance brand in Europe.
The car itself is decent enough to be bad, but is far from being on the level of BMW's incredibly sharp sport sedan: the brilliant twin-turbo V6 engine is burdened by a transmission with far too long gear ratios, which meant that on the fast section of the Goliath circuit I had trouble bringing it to speeds much higher than those of the Civic Type R; and on the corners it struggled with a relatively sluggish handling that the the technologically-advanced magneto-rheological dampers have no power to salvage.
Now, if they were to give us the Giulia Quadrifoglio, I'm sure that would be a different story altogether...
Goliath laptime: 13:14.795
Verdict: bland, unremarkable, and I'd rather have a '56 De Ville, thanks.
You know, one of the reasons I believe Spectre is widely considered to be a mediocre Bond movie is the lack of a decent Bond car. The DB10 that was designed and built specifically to be Daniel Craig's four-wheeled companion through the 150 minutes of the movie was supposed to prefigure the future of Aston Martin's styling; but like Mendes' direction of the movie, it ended up looking far too bland, lacking the muscle and handcrafted elegance that is expected from a car by the marque.
With the DB11, Marek Reichman had a strong return to form. The taut sidelines and wide front grille speak the universal language of speed, and are complimented by the roof strake which runs uninterrupted from the A to the C-pillar; the "Aeroblade" functional side intakes and the enormous clam-shell aluminum bonnet are clear nods to the exclusive Vulcan track-only car; the C-pillar and small, retractable rear spoiler are all part of an almost-byzantine plan to create massive amounts of downforce unseen. The all-LED front and rear projectors continue in the stylistic tradition established with the last generation of Aston Martins, taking it into the 2020s. The cabin is as driver-focused as a comfort-oriented grand tourer can afford, with a LCD display replacing many analog instruments and providing immediate access to all the information necessary to the driver.
Where the DB10 was bland and uninspired, the DB11 is simple, pure, elegant - probably the most beautiful Aston ever built, and it's facing a century of competition.
Mechanically-speaking, the DB11 is supposed to become the foundation on which AM will built a new generation of cars, as part of the "second century" plan: the chassis, designed by a team led by ex-Lotus handling wizard Matt Becker, is a marked advancement over that of the DB9, and the new 5.2L twin-turbo V12 engine is greener, sounds meaner and performs much better than the old, Ford-based unit; it will be soon joined by a V8 developed in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz, which will also likely power the next Vantage.
Of course, many of the things that make such a car worth its high price are lost in a virtual experience. However, what isn't lost is the brilliant behavior of the car at any speed: although it is not a nimble mid-engined supercar, and it feels much more stately than any McLaren or Lamborghini you can get your mitts on, the rigid chassis and nimble steering, coupled with the smooth power delivery of the engine, make the DB11 a fearsome competitors for the F12 TdF, AMG GT R and the like. Plus, it's the car with the most color options in Forza history, so you have no excuse to not get at least a dozen in your garage.
Goliath laptime: 12:39:260
Verdict: the best modern GT there is? You bet!
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- 10,815
- Plymouth, UK
- motorforum
Fantastic write up again, @ClydeYellow
I thought the new Aston engine sounded a little bit Ferrari V12, which is remarkable for a turbocharged unit. Revs so freely.
I thought the new Aston engine sounded a little bit Ferrari V12, which is remarkable for a turbocharged unit. Revs so freely.
- 7,125
- Massachusetts
- llClaude_Speedll
- BlazingSol05
- 666
Even better! The whole car.
Nice job Jorge. Just a quick question. Whenever I apply your design, the other logos on the car turn into a pixelated mess. If you go into Forzavista and look at the other logos, walk to them, and look, they are not readable whereas without the design, all the logos are crystal clear. Am I the only one noticing this?
Shouldn't everything, even with a design, be crystal clear? Are designs by default a lower resolution compared to the original car design?
- 667
- UNITED KINGDOM
- ALAN ULTIMATE
- 737
- Canada
Going to watch this during the day, god Porsche must come back ASAP.
EDIT: Ok so i checked rapidly and it's only the H2 cars and the ones that Admiester showed in the debug version, lame.
- 667
- UNITED KINGDOM
- ALAN ULTIMATE
Yeah nothing new in the video after all sorry!
PG/ T10 seriously want us to pay again for the same nonsense!!!!
PG/ T10 seriously want us to pay again for the same nonsense!!!!
- 737
- Canada
Not what i was saying,, the FH2/FM6 cars are physically there but there's other cars like the 917, GT3 RS, 993 GT2 etc... that exist in the files, but are not physically present. The same could applies to RWB's if they come to the pack(which i hope.)
- 130
- Pinto (Madrid, Spain)
Yes, it's that way in all Forza games and is extremely annoying.
That's the problem I'm afraid...the other logos become a pixelated mess because they are not the same ones the stock car features, when you apply any decal, any previous one in the car, even stock ones...so first of all, you have to create from scratch all the car already had, which is a bit annoying, but yes, the biggest problem is the resolution, the quality drops like crazy. Nothing we can do about it I'm afraid (which is a shame, because as you can see, each logo was created with fine detailing you can't notice at all)
- 17,843
- Florida
- GranTurismo0517
- RandomCarGuy17
It's way to early to assume that the Porsches in that leak will be all that is featured in the final dlc pack. Turn 10 could easily implement new stuff in the next couple months.
- 2,740
- Italy
- Yellohead
- Clydeyellow
For all we know, we may not get a Porsche pack at all. They may skip FH3 and get Porsches in FM7 at launch instead, and it'd make perfect sense, if you keep in mind that now everybody can afford a Porsche license, and dropping a twenty bucks DLC may be bad for their image.
I'd also like to weigh in on the DB11 sound debacle. I believe that in this day and age it'd be downright stupid to get every car in a game on a dyno, sample its sounds and then put them in the game when it is perfectly possible to reproduce them convincingly with a clever work on a much more limited set of samples. I can also understand how packaging needs may be forcing developers to reuse as many assets as possible - usually car already present at launch have had much better sounds than post-release vehicle in the latest Forza games.
However, the similarity between the real DB11 sound and the sample used by T10/PG for this purpose (apparently the same used for the A70 Supra) begin a bit above idle and end not 200 RPM later. There are many other samples which, with minimal reworking, could've been much better fits: including, but not limited, those used for other Aston Martin cars like the Vanquish. Why they choose to go for that specific sample is a mystery to me.
Probably has to do with the fact that the cars have, in all likelihood, an extra alpha channel for dirt effects. Thus the channel on which the livery editor decals is applied has an even lower resolution.
It used to be much, much worse in the Xbox 360 days...
I'd also like to weigh in on the DB11 sound debacle. I believe that in this day and age it'd be downright stupid to get every car in a game on a dyno, sample its sounds and then put them in the game when it is perfectly possible to reproduce them convincingly with a clever work on a much more limited set of samples. I can also understand how packaging needs may be forcing developers to reuse as many assets as possible - usually car already present at launch have had much better sounds than post-release vehicle in the latest Forza games.
However, the similarity between the real DB11 sound and the sample used by T10/PG for this purpose (apparently the same used for the A70 Supra) begin a bit above idle and end not 200 RPM later. There are many other samples which, with minimal reworking, could've been much better fits: including, but not limited, those used for other Aston Martin cars like the Vanquish. Why they choose to go for that specific sample is a mystery to me.
Probably has to do with the fact that the cars have, in all likelihood, an extra alpha channel for dirt effects. Thus the channel on which the livery editor decals is applied has an even lower resolution.
It used to be much, much worse in the Xbox 360 days...
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- 24,612
- Anoka, MN
We'll get Porsche's at some point since they're already in the game. What we don't know however is when we'll get them and what kind of package they will come in so it's really too early to start sharpening pitchforks.
- 2,740
- Italy
- Yellohead
- Clydeyellow
We'll get Porsche's at some point since they're already in the game. What we don't know however is when we'll get them and what kind of package they will come in so it's really too early to start sharpening pitchforks.
Not really sure of that; after all, Gran Turismo 3 (IIRC, may have been an earlier, PSX-era game) also had Porsches in it, and we're yet to see Stuttgart's finest in a Polyphony game. And remember: they're not in the game, they're in a dev build which was released by accident, and only on PC.
