I asked for something to drive online at 500pp, and got pointed to these two vehicles by VTiRoj.
I figured I ought to try them both, and do a side by side review of the pair of them. Here it is. All tests were performed online with a DS3, ABS=1 and no other aids.
I went to my local Lotus and Honda dealerships and acquired the cars. Amazing how my local Honda dealership still sells a vehicle that has been out of production for several years. After obtaining the required parts (and using wikipedia to find that header means exhaust) I shipped both cars over to Japan for a nice drive around Suzuka.
Arriving at Suzuka I find that my shipping people hadn't just sent the Locust and the Sidewinder, but also an M3 '04 that was up to now my least bad car at 500pp. I know it's potentially a very good car, but my particular model has been tuned by someone far less knowledgeable than RKM Motorsport (me) and has never been particularly interesting to drive. It is reasonably stable and not horribly slow, so I decide to take it out first to set some sort of benchmark. I ask my pit crew to put some SH tires on it and set off.
The M3 was solid but unspectacular. Some understeer on the brakes, some oversteer on throttle, and on the whole nothing remarkable about it. A reasonable benchmark. I end up with a 2:22.0 and plenty of room for improvement. On to the real test.
I get into the
Locust, and can hear the capacity crowd (what are all these people doing in those stands in the first place?) get interested. They see plenty of M3s, but the Locust definitely catches the eye. I set off, and my first impression is: grip! It feels so much grippier than the M3, that I immediately go into several corners way too fast and run out of track. When I take it a little slower, I find that this car is tons of fun when taken just over the limit. Most MR cars seem to just go into a ditch when you overdo it. This one just gives wonderful powerslides out of corners and wonderful braking oversteer into corners. As a result, I end up mucking about more than focussing on fast times. However, when I do drive it a bit more careful it feels very precise, and very quick. I'm surprised I don't trash my previous time, but it's probably just because I spent too much time powersliding. I get to 2:21.3 (with a small excursion off the track).
I get into the
Sidewinder, and now the crowd really goes crazy. They love this car here. Lets see if I agree with them. Where the Locust responded to any insubordination on my part with lots of very controllable drifting, the Sidewinder just seems to straighten out, as if to say 'get on with it please, we have a time to beat'. This car is very stable, although I do get into trouble a few times by not controlling my throttle input well enough on turn-in. Apart from that, it drives like it's on rails. However, it doesn't seem quite as quick as the Locust, and my times seem to confirm that. With a lap that feels cleaner than what I did in the Locust I only get to 2:21.5. Once again, there's plenty of time still in that, but not as much as in the Locust one, I feel.
The verdict: the Locust was tons of fun to drive, but also very fast. Thus, this would be my car of choice both for some casual online fun and for a time trial. The Sidewinder is more stable and a pleasure to drive, but doesn't feel quite as poised as the Locust. This would be my car of choice for a longer race I really wanted to do well in, as it's more forgiving to my somewhat aggressive and inconsistent style, and thus faster on average. Thanks to RKM Motorsport for providing these two excellent cars.
Note: I know all the times I posted are crap. I only drove about 7 laps in each car, and don't know the track particularly well, so my lines were nowhere near optimal.