Another amazing tune made whilst my PS3 has been killed T_T I can't wait to get my PS3 fixed so I can try out all these tunes!RKM Motorsports 599 Wild Pony
Based on: Ferrari 599 06
Obtained: Brand new model at Ferrari
Drivetrain: FR
Horsepower: 723 BHP (@ 47.8 miles)
Torque:---- 68 kgfm
Weight:---- 1280 kg
PP:-------- 583
PARTS
GT Auto
Rays Volk Racing GTS Wheels
Tuning Shop
Chassis Weight Reduction Stage 3
Rigidity Improvement
Window Weight Reduction
Carbon Bonnet (Body Colour)
Engine Tuning Stage 3
Titanium Semi-Racing Exhaust
Fully Customisable Transmission
Twin Plate Clutch
Semi Racing Flywheel
Carbon Propeller Shaft
Fully Customisable LSD
Fully Customisable Suspension Kit
Sports Soft Tyres
SETUP
Body/Chassis
Ballast
Amount:-- 0
Position: 0
Engine
Power Limiter
Power Level: 100.0%
Transmission
Transmission
(Set Max Speed, then each individual ratio.)
1st:-- 3.072
2nd:-- 2.057
3rd:-- 1.494
4th:-- 1.199
5th:-- 0.985
6th:-- 0.827
Final: 3.850
Max Speed: 230 MPH
Drivetrain
Differential
Initial: 0/20
Accel:-- 0/25
Braking: 0/10
Suspension
Suspension
Ride Height: -20/-20
Spring Rate: 12.0/14.0
Extension:-- 8/9
Compression: 6/7
Anti-Roll:-- 5/4
Camber:----- 2.3/1.9
Toe:-------- 0.15/-0.10
Brakes
Brake Balance Controller
Brake Balance: 7/8
Intended Driving Options
Transmission: Manual (MT)
ABS: 1
Everything else: OFF
Tuner Comments:
This is the 599 Wild Pony. As the name suggests, its pretty wild. The reason being is that it has 723bhp. Are we crazy? Yes. Youll notice that even with the cars colossal power, the front end is still as sharp as a razor. This means when the rear end does kick out, youll be able to hold and control it. So with this, you can change the behaviour of the car pretty quickly during cornering. Understeer? Boot it. Oversteer? Back off the throttle. Its not the fastest 599, but its the one thatll never fail to impress.
RKM Motorsport - Tuned Tuners - May '13
- Thread starter Rotary Junkie
- 12,366 comments
- 2,985,775 views
- 435
- Austin, TX
- Schadenfreude13
Great review. Creative stuff. Just a couple of nitpicky things I gotta point out.
First, Grigio means Grey. Argento is the word for Silver. And while we're discussing colors, wouldn't it make more sense for Ferrari to be Team Red, and Lambo to be Team Yellow?
Secondly, the big three in Italy historically have been Ferrari, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and sometimes Maserati. Though I will admit there's no current Fiat or Alfa production cars that can compete with Ferraris or Maseratis, and since Maserati was taken over by Ferrari, they've been basically a sort of second-rate Ferrari.
I'm sure you had your reasons for selecting the team colors and manufacturers you did. Like I said, I'm just nitpicking.
- 6,380
- United Kingdom
- RoJJieE
- mb6roj
Could the 8C not compete with the Maserati GranTurismo and perhaps one of the slower Ferrari's?
- 435
- Austin, TX
- Schadenfreude13
VTiRoj
Sure. It would definitely recapture the classic rivalry. I was just pointing out that Alfa and Maserati just dont compete with Ferrari the way they used to, though they are traditionally thought of as the 'big' Italian manufacturers, along with FIAT. Lambo and Pagani on the other hand are more 'botique'-type outfits.
- 3,131
- IL, USA
- DigitalBaka
- DigitalBaka587
REVIEW: Enzo GT
Everywhere I read I find more and more people disappointed by the Enzo in GT5. The poor handling is most of the complaints I've seen as well as tuning it being on the difficult side to get right. To get it out of the way, I don't like this car much at all. I've seen better looking things made by Dodge or Pontiac and for the price tag there are cars I like much more, even some half the price. But, let's test it out and see what the RKM boys can do for it's performance if not it's looks.
Running right out of the dealership it does have a nice sound, so I suppose it does have one thing going for it aesthetically. Performance-wise, somewhat understeery in low speed corners. Mash the throttle and you'll find plenty of power oversteer to be had and you may find it surprisingly easy to catch and handle. I definitely did not expect it that's for sure. The big ugly made it around stock in 2'09.318".
Dropping on the parts just magnifies all the points, good and bad. It brakes better, it understeers more but strangely the oversteer aspects aren't many times worse. Definitely more sensitive but still not terrible to cope with. Time around GVS drops to 1'50.816".
With RKM's tune things settle into place and it becomes much easier to control. The brakes are nice and hard but won't send you to a squirmy end in the wall. There is still some understeer to be found and the oversteer has quieted pretty significantly. It is actually quite nice to drive considering the starting point. This GT version ends with a best lap of 1'49.155".
While not a car I would use too often because of my dislike, it is quite well suited to grinding La Sarthe in the Ferrari seasonal events and I do use it often in that respect. Before getting into the long straights the traffic is pretty easy to pass just on sheer acceleration out of the corners. By the time I hit the first chicane I am normally up to 3rd position with second fairly well in sight. By the second I've passed him in the braking zone and am trying to setup a draft on the lead Enzo after exiting. By the next corner I'm in front and not looking back. The best time I have come by so far has been in the 3'42.xxx" range, normally up at 3'47.xxx" or so without attacking very hard. An easy 504K in the bank and back to do it again.
Though the car itself is not high on my list I think this is a great job making it driveable enough to be an easy car to grab for the credit grind. And very interesting to see what a tune looks like that both RJ and Roj have had a hand in considering their different styles.
Everywhere I read I find more and more people disappointed by the Enzo in GT5. The poor handling is most of the complaints I've seen as well as tuning it being on the difficult side to get right. To get it out of the way, I don't like this car much at all. I've seen better looking things made by Dodge or Pontiac and for the price tag there are cars I like much more, even some half the price. But, let's test it out and see what the RKM boys can do for it's performance if not it's looks.
Running right out of the dealership it does have a nice sound, so I suppose it does have one thing going for it aesthetically. Performance-wise, somewhat understeery in low speed corners. Mash the throttle and you'll find plenty of power oversteer to be had and you may find it surprisingly easy to catch and handle. I definitely did not expect it that's for sure. The big ugly made it around stock in 2'09.318".
Dropping on the parts just magnifies all the points, good and bad. It brakes better, it understeers more but strangely the oversteer aspects aren't many times worse. Definitely more sensitive but still not terrible to cope with. Time around GVS drops to 1'50.816".
With RKM's tune things settle into place and it becomes much easier to control. The brakes are nice and hard but won't send you to a squirmy end in the wall. There is still some understeer to be found and the oversteer has quieted pretty significantly. It is actually quite nice to drive considering the starting point. This GT version ends with a best lap of 1'49.155".
While not a car I would use too often because of my dislike, it is quite well suited to grinding La Sarthe in the Ferrari seasonal events and I do use it often in that respect. Before getting into the long straights the traffic is pretty easy to pass just on sheer acceleration out of the corners. By the time I hit the first chicane I am normally up to 3rd position with second fairly well in sight. By the second I've passed him in the braking zone and am trying to setup a draft on the lead Enzo after exiting. By the next corner I'm in front and not looking back. The best time I have come by so far has been in the 3'42.xxx" range, normally up at 3'47.xxx" or so without attacking very hard. An easy 504K in the bank and back to do it again.
Though the car itself is not high on my list I think this is a great job making it driveable enough to be an easy car to grab for the credit grind. And very interesting to see what a tune looks like that both RJ and Roj have had a hand in considering their different styles.
- 62
- Vancouver, BC
- blacktop_bandit
Roj, you never fail to impress us with your tunes! I've tried your revised transmission settings for the RKM 86 and all I can say is WOW. Your ratios keep the revs beyond 8K rpm from 1st to 4th and by the time 5th kicks in, the needle hits 9K! Not only does the speed and acceleration keep coming (from such a small powerplant), I definitely like the exhaust note of the car: it sounds like a VTEC engine but instead of engaging at 5K, the RKM 86 revs way beyond that, to an astounding 8K rpm!
I'd say this car has one of the best exhaust notes in the game
The RKM 86 wipes the floor with a GT-R that's nearly twice as powerful. Whilst the GT-R's full of technological gadgetry, the RKM 86 is a bare-bones driver's car. Go out there and stick to the racing line or drift, your call. Certainly the RKM 86 is never short of fun and always delivers. 
I'd say this car has one of the best exhaust notes in the game
The RKM 86 wipes the floor with a GT-R that's nearly twice as powerful. Whilst the GT-R's full of technological gadgetry, the RKM 86 is a bare-bones driver's car. Go out there and stick to the racing line or drift, your call. Certainly the RKM 86 is never short of fun and always delivers.
- 6,380
- United Kingdom
- RoJJieE
- mb6roj
Looking forward to it. 👍
Yeah, true.
Thanks for the review! It's a difficult car to master so I'm glad it's serving you well at Sarthe. 👍
Yeah like I said a few pages back, I gave a few cars some polishing before releasing it here. I must've dropped about a full second off my Trial Mountain time because of how the gearbox kept the revs firmly in the powerband.
That 20v 4A-GE is a gem of a motor isn't it?
- 241
- JDM-x-H22
Roj, expect a review about "Dreamy Ghost" tommorow, i've drove it for 5 hours straight (im sad) and i am in love with this car ( no really i am, i dumped my girlfriend and everything) i'll save my words of praise for tommorow
*Disclaimer*
*things written within the brackets may not be true*
*Disclaimer*
*things written within the brackets may not be true*
- 6,380
- United Kingdom
- RoJJieE
- mb6roj
- 380
- Franklin/NH/U.S
- Linkueigman
- Linkueigman
My review for the 599, which is the next installment of my story for Team Nero. I just need 4 people to help me with it. First come first serve for helping.
- 3,131
- IL, USA
- DigitalBaka
- DigitalBaka587
Had that one half written for a long time.
When the seasonals first came around I was using RJs Stradista and while possible to win it was usually pretty tight for me against the Enzos at the front. It took me some time to remember your Enzo tune and give it a whirl. The grind is infinitely easier with it; I can crash spectacularly at any point up to probably Indianapolis and still blast up to first by the end. 👍nice review there!
How did you get the pictures in, i want to do a review like yours!
I assume you mean me? I have a billion pictures uploaded on Picasa that I use. Copy the link to the picture, hit the 'Insert Image' button on your post (looks like a blue Polaroid picture with a green dot on the lower right) and paste it in. If you need help figuring out how to get it right check out the photomode forums here as there are a few FAQs and some tutorials on how to do it from different hosting sites. Good luck!
- 445
- Sonoma, CA
- ryangt18
Ft-86 vs. Ft-86 G-Sport
Warning the comments in this review may or may not be true for YOU, they are for me when I was driving them. Also I was drinking at the time of driving these cars so ignore the lap times, they would be a tad faster.
What happens when Toyota tries to revive a car they have not made in 25 years? You get the ft-86 as the road car and the ft-86 g-sport as a stripped down track car. And what happens when you take these two reincarnations and give them to VTiRoj? You get some crazy 4 pot banger beasts. I tested these two tunes on the top gear test track and Laguna Seca.
First off I took the cars to the top gear test tracks to give them a lap around. First off was the ft-86, and man was this little guy spunky. Even though it doesn’t have a turbo it’s still fast enough for a daily driver. It handles beautifully, nice drifts when you want them and even when you don’t it’s not hard to get the car back into shape. The car almost begs for you to drive it hard so it can shake its back side out and show off and I love that about this car. It has personality even though it has been tuned, it keeps the spirit of the original ae-86 and not to mention… it looks wonderful god look at that car… its simple, no ugly air vents, ugly spoiler, or a stupid grin for a grill just a car that asks you to drive it and will reward you with a stupid grin on your face instead. I will say it is a tad tail happy in 2nd gear but very very manageable. I posted a lap of 1:16:518 (again this was when drinking) so probably in the low 1:15’s if I was sober. What a great little inexpensive car.
Now the ft-86 g-sport. This car is a stripped down track version of the ft-86. It’s a good little car but very serious, it’s not tail happy as much as the ft-86. It sees a turn and just goes right threw it without any fuss. It’s kind of boring, a great car but just meh… then again it is a track car so it does well on the track… go figure lol. I don’t feel the turbo adds much for the car, yes it accelerates faster but it was slower around the track 1:16:8913. This car is good, don’t get me wrong but I just wish it had more personality.
Now Laguna Seca this is only 2 hour drive from my house so I had to take it there since they did not put Infineon raceway in the game and that’s only 20 minute drive from my house lol. The ft-86 is up first again this car loves to be driven, if you want to drift a bit and look cool, push it a bit and you will get that nice looking drift like you see in the movies. And I was very surprised; it handled the corkscrew very well better than the ft-86 g-sport. It posted a lap of 1:35:340 so minus the drinking probably around low 1:34’s. Again this car wants to be driven so drive it. I was all smiles and I am glad I asked for this car to be tuned by VTiRoj. I think he captured the spirit of the ae-86 in this car and I only hope Toyota can do the same when the car finally comes out this spring/fall.
The Ft-86 g-sport was up and as a track car it handles nice… no fuss, no drift on command, no nothing. It does have great turn in something I noticed on this track more so then on the top gear test track. Like I mentioned above this car did not handle the corkscrew as well as the ft-86 but still pretty good. It posted a time of 1:35:400. As a track car its does what it was built to do… rule the track and get you around it quickly, but it lacks character.
These are both great cars but the ft-86 is just so much more fun to drive and a bit faster in my hands. I can’t wait for these cars to be build I hope Toyota is able to capture the ae-86 in the new ft-86 like VTiRoj has.
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- 62
- Vancouver, BC
- blacktop_bandit
The RKM Amemiya RX7:
Two words. Track Knife. The RKM ARX7 is perfect in every aspect: agility, aerodynamics, acceleration, handling. All blended into 1 synchronous machine.
Grip is astounding and the car is very tractable. Do not let the drift car appearance fool you - if JGTC regulations would permit, this RX7 would give the GT-Rs, the Supras, the NSXs, and the SC430s a run for their money and outdo them on the track. Given its RKM suspension setup and fitted with racing softs, this car would be tough to beat in any track. It handles like it were riding on rails, absolutely amazing! The bumps and off-camber turns in Trial Mountain would upset and jar the ride of, say the Castrol Supra, but not this car. Its dampers and springs soak up the track irregularities without any consequence to the car. Flat tracks or bumpy tracks, the RKM ARX7 has no limitations.
I'm running the car at 479bhp. The stock engine is small in displacement but is nonetheless potent. Rolling road dyno testing revealed that RX7 Bathurst cars pump out 310bhp. Anyway, the car's potency was dramatically increased with the addition of the high-rpm unit. As a general rule, bigger- and higher-boost turbos suffer from turbo lag, but the RKM ARX7 is an exception. At low speed, the engine's base torque takes care of acceleration while the revs are building and the turbos spooling and once the tach needle hits 4K rpm, that's where the power hits you. With such a rush of acceleration, you'd assume the car'd lay down rubber from a standing start but no, it doesn't, thanks to the superb LSD setup. Performance is not wasted.
This car is one of the best that RKM Motorsport tuned, hands down. A perfect combination of everything there is to a performance car. The only and definitive RX7 you'll need. A 5/5.
P.S.
Hey Roj, how about building rivals for this bad boy: 1) Opera S2000, 2) Amuse S2000 R1 Titan (sold at the UCD), 3) AEM S2000, and 4) the Amuse S2000 (premium)
Two words. Track Knife. The RKM ARX7 is perfect in every aspect: agility, aerodynamics, acceleration, handling. All blended into 1 synchronous machine.
Grip is astounding and the car is very tractable. Do not let the drift car appearance fool you - if JGTC regulations would permit, this RX7 would give the GT-Rs, the Supras, the NSXs, and the SC430s a run for their money and outdo them on the track. Given its RKM suspension setup and fitted with racing softs, this car would be tough to beat in any track. It handles like it were riding on rails, absolutely amazing! The bumps and off-camber turns in Trial Mountain would upset and jar the ride of, say the Castrol Supra, but not this car. Its dampers and springs soak up the track irregularities without any consequence to the car. Flat tracks or bumpy tracks, the RKM ARX7 has no limitations.
I'm running the car at 479bhp. The stock engine is small in displacement but is nonetheless potent. Rolling road dyno testing revealed that RX7 Bathurst cars pump out 310bhp. Anyway, the car's potency was dramatically increased with the addition of the high-rpm unit. As a general rule, bigger- and higher-boost turbos suffer from turbo lag, but the RKM ARX7 is an exception. At low speed, the engine's base torque takes care of acceleration while the revs are building and the turbos spooling and once the tach needle hits 4K rpm, that's where the power hits you. With such a rush of acceleration, you'd assume the car'd lay down rubber from a standing start but no, it doesn't, thanks to the superb LSD setup. Performance is not wasted.
This car is one of the best that RKM Motorsport tuned, hands down. A perfect combination of everything there is to a performance car. The only and definitive RX7 you'll need. A 5/5.
P.S.
Hey Roj, how about building rivals for this bad boy: 1) Opera S2000, 2) Amuse S2000 R1 Titan (sold at the UCD), 3) AEM S2000, and 4) the Amuse S2000 (premium)
- 241
- JDM-x-H22
OMG, Roj what a car! i loved the 3rd Anni and parts of the Evo R! so this should be great!
It did not fail to impress.
I bought a new NSX and gave it the RKM treatment, i had the settings for the 3rd Anni next to me, just to compare. The suspension settings are exactly the same ( I think )
To the Ring
so. It dove into the first corner, getting its knee down. But the back end swung round which caught me off-guard, i was a bit worried because it was doing this at most corners, this got me a 7.04.368 which is decent to say the least! but i knew it had more potential than that, my 3rd Anni could go faster, so lets start again. The first corner it did the same again, but persistant as ever i tried again, this time a lot more cautious on entry, it turned in and hugged the apex and gunned it on the way out the back-end seemed to stay in check, i didnt expect that! but where the "Dreamy Ghost" comes into its own has to be high speed corners, no fuss at all no understeer or oversteer, and when braking from 100+MPH it reminds me of the "R34 Black Edition" you can go full on the brakes and turn in at full lock and it will listen to you! but maybe a bit too much! you might not get what im going to say now but oh well! say you're driving a fast car such as the C63 AMG tune, powerful and takes no prisoners, so you better hold on! if you go into the first corner on the "Ring" it will almost certainly kill you. it does what it wants not what you want it to do, which isnt such a bad thing, because the C63 AMG knows what its doing. "The Dreamy Ghost" dosnt, its like a confused child, it depends on its mother (Me) you can control it and nurture it, but if you make it angry it will turn into the Incredible Hulk this is what you call a track day car, you can make a Bond" with this car and make it your friend.
Verdict
this fills the gap between the 3rd anni and the Evo R, it sits on the fence next to the NSX type Zero. But jeez is it fast this is the first car on sports soft i've got under the 7.00 minute mark, after i worked out how to drive it i got it down to 6.57.829 its more forgiving than the Evoloution R and because of that it may be a bit faster. Roj, thankyou for making my dreams come true
I might have already got a request ready
sorry for the short review i'm taking my baby NSX to the playground...to slaughter some Italian Stallions
It did not fail to impress.
I bought a new NSX and gave it the RKM treatment, i had the settings for the 3rd Anni next to me, just to compare. The suspension settings are exactly the same ( I think )
To the Ring
so. It dove into the first corner, getting its knee down. But the back end swung round which caught me off-guard, i was a bit worried because it was doing this at most corners, this got me a 7.04.368 which is decent to say the least! but i knew it had more potential than that, my 3rd Anni could go faster, so lets start again. The first corner it did the same again, but persistant as ever i tried again, this time a lot more cautious on entry, it turned in and hugged the apex and gunned it on the way out the back-end seemed to stay in check, i didnt expect that! but where the "Dreamy Ghost" comes into its own has to be high speed corners, no fuss at all no understeer or oversteer, and when braking from 100+MPH it reminds me of the "R34 Black Edition" you can go full on the brakes and turn in at full lock and it will listen to you! but maybe a bit too much! you might not get what im going to say now but oh well! say you're driving a fast car such as the C63 AMG tune, powerful and takes no prisoners, so you better hold on! if you go into the first corner on the "Ring" it will almost certainly kill you. it does what it wants not what you want it to do, which isnt such a bad thing, because the C63 AMG knows what its doing. "The Dreamy Ghost" dosnt, its like a confused child, it depends on its mother (Me) you can control it and nurture it, but if you make it angry it will turn into the Incredible Hulk this is what you call a track day car, you can make a Bond" with this car and make it your friend.
Verdict
this fills the gap between the 3rd anni and the Evo R, it sits on the fence next to the NSX type Zero. But jeez is it fast this is the first car on sports soft i've got under the 7.00 minute mark, after i worked out how to drive it i got it down to 6.57.829 its more forgiving than the Evoloution R and because of that it may be a bit faster. Roj, thankyou for making my dreams come true
I might have already got a request ready
sorry for the short review i'm taking my baby NSX to the playground...to slaughter some Italian Stallions
- 6,380
- United Kingdom
- RoJJieE
- mb6roj
Well it was designed to give the NSX-R a run for it's money. At the time it was actually faster, but the NSX-R got new settings and overcame the RX-7.The RKM Amemiya RX7:
P.S.
Hey Roj, how about building rivals for this bad boy: 1) Opera S2000, 2) Amuse S2000 R1 Titan (sold at the UCD), 3) AEM S2000, and 4) the Amuse S2000 (premium)
But yeah it's a seriously quick car once you control that rear end. The drift car appearance just makes it all the more sweeter. Thanks for the review!I want to do the Amuse S2000 Turbo at some point so yeah.
I hope Toyota keeps the looks of the FT-86 II for the production model and I hope PD lets us drive one in GT5 in the future!
Looks better than both the FT-86 original and the G-Sports eh?
Anyway thanks for the review! As I said, the regular FT-86 is faster than the G-Sports because the G-Sport's peaky turbo gives it a disadvantage against the regular one's full NA motor, which responds beautifully. The G-Sports is a little too grippy I agree, but it's to keep that turbo from biting your bum so I can understand where you're coming from.
Glad you enjoyed both cars anyway. 👍
Verdict
this fills the gap between the 3rd anni and the Evo R, it sits on the fence next to the NSX type Zero. But jeez is it fast this is the first car on sports soft i've got under the 7.00 minute mark, after i worked out how to drive it i got it down to 6.57.829 its more forgiving than the Evoloution R and because of that it may be a bit faster. Roj, thankyou for making my dreams come true
I might have already got a request ready
sorry for the short review i'm taking my baby NSX to the playground...to slaughter some Italian Stallions
Thanks for the review! Glad you liked the car.
It's only +7 bhp over the 3rd Anniversary so it's not going to be noticably faster, hence why I decided to use RJ's LSD on it to give it some kick.
The suspension is the same as the 3rd Anniversary's because, well, if it aint broke, don't fix it. 
The main difference is the gearbox anyway, which as I said in the tuner comments for Dreamy Ghost, is based on the Evo R's but not copied directly over.It's more forgiving than the Evo R but not faster in the long run. +30bhp in the Evo R's favour.
But yeah, glad you're happy with the car.
Onboy123
Premium
- 8,872
- Hong Kong
- Onboy123
---------------------- Super Tune Review Batch: Preview ------------------------
飄移 RKM Style -
AE86 vs FT86 vs FT86 G-sport -
飄移 RKM Style -
AE86 vs FT86 vs FT86 G-sport -
飄移 is Chinese for drifting. Its also the name of the opening theme song from the Initial D movie. And here, we have 3 generations of the star of the show. The 86. Theres the AE86 SS, the authors personal car, the FT-86, Toyotas latest idea of a 86 revival and its turbo charged cousin, the FT-86 G-Sport. All were good cars to start with, and now, theyve been tuned by RKM. In theory, thats a match made in heaven. You see, what RKM are best at is taking an already quick car, and making it much quicker, and much more fun. So, lets see if theyve worked their magic on these three.
Test track- Mt. Akina (Where else?)
AE86 Hachi Roku SS-
Its the daddy. The original. The one all Initial D fans will bow down to. Its an icon. And what we have here, is that icon tuned to live up to its hype. Its been given more power, the suspension settings have been refined and it now sports some stickier rubber. And the end result is unexpectedly bad. Theres none of the enthusiasm to kick its tail out that I was expecting, theres far too much grip for it to be nimble, the steering feels heavy and when you do finally get it to slide, itll snap around *clicks fingers* just like that. It also doesnt feel that fast for such a light car. It just feels like a lot of overrated hype. Until you take it online.
Online, its a completely different animal. The steering is sharper, the car reacts quicker, its more willing to slide. The heavy feeling is gone, in its place is an almost telepathic feeling of control and fun. Its like an Elise.The gearing is pretty much perfect for it. Short enough to get it sideways, long enough to give it a decent top speed. My only slight complaint about the gearbox is that 1st is still a tad too long. But compared to the 5 speed close ratio box it came with stock, its a huge improvement. There have been similar levels of improvement elsewhere too. Before, it had too much grip, even on the stock tyres, now, it gets the balance of fun and grip just right. The car still has a slight reluctancy to slide, but overall, you would not believe the differences between its character online compared to offline. And youd be blown away by the differences between now, and its stock counterpart.
FT86 GT-Apex-
Unlike the SS, this car works offline just fine. The throttle is so responsive that when you give it a prod, the whole car will react and arc into a slide. This is one of those cars where the direction of travel can be dictated from just the throttle input. Which should make it rather tricky for a lead fingered DS3 user like me. But surprisingly, it isnt. It is remarkably easy to drive. It does lack a bit of feel and it does have hints of understeer here and there, but it is a very easy car to drive. And with the best part of 375 horse power, it shifts its sub-900kg weight very well indeed. The scenery is just a blur in a car so light but with so much power. You gun it down a straight and before you know it, the many horse powers coupled with a close ratio box settings would have accelerated you past 170mph. Then theres the brakes. Just a bit of trail braking is enough to get its puppy dog enthusiasm going. Its unbelievably good. Just like a go-kart, but with more than 10 times the power and 10 times easier to use.
FT86 G-sport G-String-
Its the least 86-ish of the 3. Its turbod, for a start. It also dislikes hanging its arse out and understeers. You really, really need to try and be smooth with it, because that turbo is like a on/off switch. The moment you prod the throttle in a corner, the car washes wide while gently oversteering. Its a slide so small that you cant apply any lock or itll throw you off. The best method I could come up with is to coast through the corner then gun it when you know the car is pointing dead straight. I guess the way to describe it here is that its the most serious of the lot. It also feels more balanced, the rear is more planted so if you remove the turbo, its more likely that it will put its power down better. It is the fastest, but by barely a second. Its more suited to flatter tracks like the TGTT, rather than the constant ups and downs of Mt. Akina. In fact, I took it on the TGTT and it scored a not inconsiderate time of 1:15.960, just behind the RKM STi 400S.
The Rankings- Mt. Akina
Toyota FT86 G-Sport G-string- 2:59.845
Toyota FT86 GT-Apex- 3:00.567
Toyota AE86 Hachi Roku SS- 3:20.379 (Test done online, standing start)
Verdict-
Its a very straight forward one. If you want to live your Takumi dreams and drift the mountain passes online, take the Hachi Roku SS, its a very fun car. Itll make you look like the legend himself, just dont try to chase any Evos with it, mmkay? If you want a car for time trials though, you have to take the G-sport. It feels so balanced on wide open tracks, so focused, like a racing car. It goes about its job like a race car as well. But it is a bit too serious a car for if you want some fun, which is where the GT-Apex comes in. Its easily the best compromise of fun and speed, if veering slightly to the fun side of things. But as I say again, a fast car that isnt fun isnt half as good as a slow car that is. And look at the GT-Apex. Laps Mt. Akina barely a second slower than the G-Sport, twice as much fun in the corners, and cost a mere 90k. So there you have it, the best of the 86s. The RKM FT86 GT-Apex.
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- 380
- Franklin/NH/U.S
- Linkueigman
- Linkueigman
I am saying this right now. Who ever doesn't use RKM Motorsports tunes are missing out. Just saying.
- 2,194
- Essex
- Huskyfluff
Time for that review I promised! Today it's the BMW Mini Cooper S, a car that (despite being a rip-off) still has style and is honestly quite a funky little car. Sure it may not be the size of a shoebox anymore but it certainly wouldn't look out of place parked up at, say...a fancy German café?
While it doesn't have much in common my other German cars like the orange aero kitted Audi TTS-R or the 750bhp Mercedes SL, it's still got that feel of German precision about it, plus it has a supercharger
Now onto the tune. Ages ago I bought a BMW Mini for the B-Spec races, and then proceeded to forget about it. With some Alfa Romeo beige, combined with BMW bronze wheels, it was a hapless style queen in a garage of (at the time) race tuned 500bhp+ monsters, all carbon fibre and noise. After a few brief cruises in the Cooper S, I gave up again until I spotted both a new Mini seasonal AND an RKM tune at the same time. And so it began...
With 315bhp and weighing about a pet cat over a ton, the Cooper SS (my cars all get special names) is small, light and scarily agile. There's an F1-esque sense of recklessness to it, that feeling that tells you to brake late, and hammer the power half way round a bend with the confidence that it will continue to turn and not just try and kill you. It earns an odd sense of trust, which very few cars can manage. On seasonal tracks like London I was constantly knocking full seconds off of my lap times, taking more daring lines and still staying planted.
It's difficult for me to type the next sentence, having been extremely bemused by the announcement of the BMW Mini launch, the only flicker of hope being the supercharger stuck on that 1.6 litre engine. But now I really do love the Cooper S, it's grown on me...it's not just the pinpoint handling, or the supercharger. It has character, which is something I never expected a remake like this to achieve. Unlike the new beetle, it has uniqueness. It's like the new Fiat 500...whereas the first remade 500 from the 90's was small and boxy, the new 500 and the new Mini have both captured the original cars' styling, but are not direct clones.
Enough rambling about petty things, I give this tune a definite 10/10 for making a 320bhp German rip-off of a British classic so damn good!
While it doesn't have much in common my other German cars like the orange aero kitted Audi TTS-R or the 750bhp Mercedes SL, it's still got that feel of German precision about it, plus it has a supercharger
Now onto the tune. Ages ago I bought a BMW Mini for the B-Spec races, and then proceeded to forget about it. With some Alfa Romeo beige, combined with BMW bronze wheels, it was a hapless style queen in a garage of (at the time) race tuned 500bhp+ monsters, all carbon fibre and noise. After a few brief cruises in the Cooper S, I gave up again until I spotted both a new Mini seasonal AND an RKM tune at the same time. And so it began...
With 315bhp and weighing about a pet cat over a ton, the Cooper SS (my cars all get special names) is small, light and scarily agile. There's an F1-esque sense of recklessness to it, that feeling that tells you to brake late, and hammer the power half way round a bend with the confidence that it will continue to turn and not just try and kill you. It earns an odd sense of trust, which very few cars can manage. On seasonal tracks like London I was constantly knocking full seconds off of my lap times, taking more daring lines and still staying planted.
It's difficult for me to type the next sentence, having been extremely bemused by the announcement of the BMW Mini launch, the only flicker of hope being the supercharger stuck on that 1.6 litre engine. But now I really do love the Cooper S, it's grown on me...it's not just the pinpoint handling, or the supercharger. It has character, which is something I never expected a remake like this to achieve. Unlike the new beetle, it has uniqueness. It's like the new Fiat 500...whereas the first remade 500 from the 90's was small and boxy, the new 500 and the new Mini have both captured the original cars' styling, but are not direct clones.
Enough rambling about petty things, I give this tune a definite 10/10 for making a 320bhp German rip-off of a British classic so damn good!
- 6,380
- United Kingdom
- RoJJieE
- mb6roj
Yeah I see what you mean. Maybe there will be an option to spec Subaru's wing on it, assuming it looks better.
Guess my other account is missing out then.
Thanks for the review!
I tuned it with the seasonals in mind so that nutty handling is actually a product of the London race. I loved it so much after I decided to keep the handling like that. Reminds me of the original, minus the drawbacks. Glad you liked it! 👍
- 138
- Dudley
- GTPorter-
Hello!!! Recently i've had a look at some tuning just to see what they offer. When I saw RKM's car tunes they had two of my favourite cars, The NSX R1 and the R34 Black edition! I just had to try them out. So i'll start with the NSX...
NSX R1...
When i first had the car I RM'ed it immediatlly(?). The first problem i had was amazingly, Understeer! For a MR!!! I realised that this ruined the whole feel for the car and I refused to drive it round Nurburgring.
I found the tune for this car and what can I say... The whole car feels transformed! The understeer has been completely and has been replaced with controlable oversteer! The car can cut and hold corners perfectly with almost any entry line! This tune made the car fun to drive and managed to set a 7:10:965 on sports softs!http://s1133.photobucket.com/albums/m598/Porta555/
R34 Black Edition
The R34 was already good and RKM have made it even better! With less understeer and supercar killing capabilties, This car is a must have in any garage. I tested it on the supercar challange and it was over taking american cars on straights and left every car dead in corners. This is a car that has been tuned to perfection!!!!
NSX R1...
When i first had the car I RM'ed it immediatlly(?). The first problem i had was amazingly, Understeer! For a MR!!! I realised that this ruined the whole feel for the car and I refused to drive it round Nurburgring.
I found the tune for this car and what can I say... The whole car feels transformed! The understeer has been completely and has been replaced with controlable oversteer! The car can cut and hold corners perfectly with almost any entry line! This tune made the car fun to drive and managed to set a 7:10:965 on sports softs!http://s1133.photobucket.com/albums/m598/Porta555/
R34 Black Edition
The R34 was already good and RKM have made it even better! With less understeer and supercar killing capabilties, This car is a must have in any garage. I tested it on the supercar challange and it was over taking american cars on straights and left every car dead in corners. This is a car that has been tuned to perfection!!!!
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- 6,380
- United Kingdom
- RoJJieE
- mb6roj
- 3,245
- United Kingdom
- TankAss95
+1 👍
