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Here's a bit different race report. It will be somewhat similar to my last one. Last time I did a small story on the NSX-R at Laguna Seca.
This time, the action takes place at Laguna Seca yet again, but it's not the Honda again. This time, I'm gonna take a look at the McLaren Mercedes SLR. As I may have confused you with the title (SLR vs SLR), this is actually a small comparo between the SLR in Forza Motorsport and the SLR in Gran Turismo 4, taking place at Laguna Seca which is in both games.
First, a note. This isn't a comparison between FM and GT4 as much as it is how the car itself behave and a small track comparison. I'm not going to draw any conclusions as to which game is "better" or more "enjoyable", I'll simply give my "race report" and you can draw your own conclusion.
Second, the setups.
Gran Turismo 4
- Sony 27" CRT
- 720x480i
- Logitech Driving Force Pro
- tv speakers
- manual transmission
- TCS on, all other aids off
- Arcade mode, N3 Tyres (Road)
Forza Motorsport
- Sony 36" CRT Wega
- 852x480p (16:9)
- Xbox controller-s
- Sony 5.1 surround 500w
- manual transmission
- TCS on, all other aids off
- Free Run mode, stock car, therefore stock "road" tyres
And the car in question...
McLaren Mercedes SLR
(courtesy of einfach-autos.de)
Weight: 1768kg
Engine: AMG V8 5.4L Supercharged
Power: 626hp @ 6500rpm
Torque: 575 ft.lbs @ 3250rpm
Accel: 0-60mph in 3.7s
Top Speed: 334km/h (208mph)
Drivetrain: 5 Speed Auto, Front Engine RWD
Impressive specs, but does it impress at the track? Read on..
First, let's start off with how this car fares in Forza Motorsport. First impression is that this car accelerates quickly, and the traction control was quick to act on this monster at the start. In the very first corner, the first thing I notice is the weight of the car. Very heavy. Throughout the lap, the car seemed to behave with a mild understeer. I can still throw its tail around a bit and it's quite controllable, but it still has that mild understeer effect in the end. So far so good. The other characteristics of this car that I like are that it feels very balanced and "easy" to drive in Forza. I remember watching Top Gear with the SLR and another episode with the Carrera GT, and I remember Jeremy saying that the SLR is an easy car to drive really fast, and how you can't turn off the traction control completely. Key word, easy to drive fast. It was fairly easy to drive this monster in Forza Motorsport. In that corner before corkscrew, the short apex elevated one, I was always able to steer the SLR to the outside with its understeer, and then gently push the throttle to full near the very outside of the corner. It was a pleasant experience to drive the SLR in Forza Motorsport. The most enjoyable thing about it would be the whistling of the supercharger, its instant power push, and the sound it makes at ~6500rpm. The other thing worth mentioning is that the replay was quite satisfying, the SLR looks good, the track looks good and I enjoy the sound this car makes.
Best Lap: 1:34.0x
Top Speed at Front Straight: ~230km/h
Rating: 8.0/10
+ nice sounding supercharger and exhaust
+ good feel and traction control doesn't take away the fun
- not too enjoyable to throw around corners (because it doesn't really let you..)
- handles much worse than other supercars in Forza Motorsport
Now for the Gran Turismo 4 test of the SLR. First, the car seems to take longer to shift (delay between gears). This may or may not be realistic, as the SLR has an automatic 5 speed (which is semi-auto I think, I believe you can control yourself if you want, but it's still an automatic in the end). There's not too much about the SLR that I can say. The characteristics of it in GT4 are just a couple. First, the tires squeal a lot compared to Forza Motorsport. Second, the car's understeer is much more apparent, and it takes a bit more work with the DFP to control the car. The car seems to be much more on a knife's edge than in FM. Seems to be more like what Jeremy described in the Carrera GT, only with an understeer feel instead of an oversteer feel. The 2nd gear also appears to not have as much power as in FM, but when it gets going, it certainly gets going if you know what I mean. The replay was also quite satisfying. I liked the music and the camera angles and how the car charges, but the track didn't look as exciting as in Forza. Another thing to note is that the engine sound seemed much more based on the supercharge noise itself. It was quite a bit different than in Forza, more treble (high range), whistle based, whereas in FM it was quite a bit deeper with the supercharger much more in the "background".
Best lap: 1:35.9x
Top Speed at Front Straight: ~228km/h
Rating: 7.0/10
+ more attention needed through corners means more realism & fear
+ charges hard through straights
- understeer feeling not that enjoyable
- squealing of tyres kind of unpleasant
Notable differences between GT4 & FM tests:
- easier to hard brake on the first and last corners in FM
- had to go in 1st gear in last corner and corkscrew in GT4 (2nd gear in FM)
- more focus on supercharger sound in GT4
- car not as easy to drive fast in GT4, requires more focus
PS, another note, the car can manage better lap times in both games, I put a fair amount of effort, but I know better lap times are possible, I only tried as hard as I feeled like in order to get a realistic feel of the car.
PSS, the "rating" is more a rating of the car in the game, compared to how good of an experience and how enjoyable it is compared to other cars I've raced around in the respective game.
Well that's about it. Hope you enjoyed reading my little comparo. I was thinking of doing a Forza Motorsport only race report next time, as I've done it twice on the ForzaCentral boards and I didn't receive much attention, people seem to more into it here. I know it's a GT4 board, but the games are quite similar, and after all, it's a "race story" basically and what matters more is really imagining and just reading a story about sportscar/racecar at the track and its characteristics rather than whether it's GT4 or FM. Also another note, I wouldn't be posting something just to show that Forza has "X" car that GT4 doesn't like a Ferrari, but more to share a race story with the other people here.
Anyway, if you reply to this thread, if you could share your thoughts on whether you'd approve of me doing one or two race reports based on Forza Motorsport, that'd be great.
This time, the action takes place at Laguna Seca yet again, but it's not the Honda again. This time, I'm gonna take a look at the McLaren Mercedes SLR. As I may have confused you with the title (SLR vs SLR), this is actually a small comparo between the SLR in Forza Motorsport and the SLR in Gran Turismo 4, taking place at Laguna Seca which is in both games.
First, a note. This isn't a comparison between FM and GT4 as much as it is how the car itself behave and a small track comparison. I'm not going to draw any conclusions as to which game is "better" or more "enjoyable", I'll simply give my "race report" and you can draw your own conclusion.
Second, the setups.
Gran Turismo 4
- Sony 27" CRT
- 720x480i
- Logitech Driving Force Pro
- tv speakers
- manual transmission
- TCS on, all other aids off
- Arcade mode, N3 Tyres (Road)
Forza Motorsport
- Sony 36" CRT Wega
- 852x480p (16:9)
- Xbox controller-s
- Sony 5.1 surround 500w
- manual transmission
- TCS on, all other aids off
- Free Run mode, stock car, therefore stock "road" tyres
And the car in question...
McLaren Mercedes SLR
(courtesy of einfach-autos.de)
Weight: 1768kg
Engine: AMG V8 5.4L Supercharged
Power: 626hp @ 6500rpm
Torque: 575 ft.lbs @ 3250rpm
Accel: 0-60mph in 3.7s
Top Speed: 334km/h (208mph)
Drivetrain: 5 Speed Auto, Front Engine RWD
Impressive specs, but does it impress at the track? Read on..
First, let's start off with how this car fares in Forza Motorsport. First impression is that this car accelerates quickly, and the traction control was quick to act on this monster at the start. In the very first corner, the first thing I notice is the weight of the car. Very heavy. Throughout the lap, the car seemed to behave with a mild understeer. I can still throw its tail around a bit and it's quite controllable, but it still has that mild understeer effect in the end. So far so good. The other characteristics of this car that I like are that it feels very balanced and "easy" to drive in Forza. I remember watching Top Gear with the SLR and another episode with the Carrera GT, and I remember Jeremy saying that the SLR is an easy car to drive really fast, and how you can't turn off the traction control completely. Key word, easy to drive fast. It was fairly easy to drive this monster in Forza Motorsport. In that corner before corkscrew, the short apex elevated one, I was always able to steer the SLR to the outside with its understeer, and then gently push the throttle to full near the very outside of the corner. It was a pleasant experience to drive the SLR in Forza Motorsport. The most enjoyable thing about it would be the whistling of the supercharger, its instant power push, and the sound it makes at ~6500rpm. The other thing worth mentioning is that the replay was quite satisfying, the SLR looks good, the track looks good and I enjoy the sound this car makes.
Best Lap: 1:34.0x
Top Speed at Front Straight: ~230km/h
Rating: 8.0/10
+ nice sounding supercharger and exhaust
+ good feel and traction control doesn't take away the fun
- not too enjoyable to throw around corners (because it doesn't really let you..)
- handles much worse than other supercars in Forza Motorsport
Now for the Gran Turismo 4 test of the SLR. First, the car seems to take longer to shift (delay between gears). This may or may not be realistic, as the SLR has an automatic 5 speed (which is semi-auto I think, I believe you can control yourself if you want, but it's still an automatic in the end). There's not too much about the SLR that I can say. The characteristics of it in GT4 are just a couple. First, the tires squeal a lot compared to Forza Motorsport. Second, the car's understeer is much more apparent, and it takes a bit more work with the DFP to control the car. The car seems to be much more on a knife's edge than in FM. Seems to be more like what Jeremy described in the Carrera GT, only with an understeer feel instead of an oversteer feel. The 2nd gear also appears to not have as much power as in FM, but when it gets going, it certainly gets going if you know what I mean. The replay was also quite satisfying. I liked the music and the camera angles and how the car charges, but the track didn't look as exciting as in Forza. Another thing to note is that the engine sound seemed much more based on the supercharge noise itself. It was quite a bit different than in Forza, more treble (high range), whistle based, whereas in FM it was quite a bit deeper with the supercharger much more in the "background".
Best lap: 1:35.9x
Top Speed at Front Straight: ~228km/h
Rating: 7.0/10
+ more attention needed through corners means more realism & fear
+ charges hard through straights
- understeer feeling not that enjoyable
- squealing of tyres kind of unpleasant
Notable differences between GT4 & FM tests:
- easier to hard brake on the first and last corners in FM
- had to go in 1st gear in last corner and corkscrew in GT4 (2nd gear in FM)
- more focus on supercharger sound in GT4
- car not as easy to drive fast in GT4, requires more focus
PS, another note, the car can manage better lap times in both games, I put a fair amount of effort, but I know better lap times are possible, I only tried as hard as I feeled like in order to get a realistic feel of the car.
PSS, the "rating" is more a rating of the car in the game, compared to how good of an experience and how enjoyable it is compared to other cars I've raced around in the respective game.
Well that's about it. Hope you enjoyed reading my little comparo. I was thinking of doing a Forza Motorsport only race report next time, as I've done it twice on the ForzaCentral boards and I didn't receive much attention, people seem to more into it here. I know it's a GT4 board, but the games are quite similar, and after all, it's a "race story" basically and what matters more is really imagining and just reading a story about sportscar/racecar at the track and its characteristics rather than whether it's GT4 or FM. Also another note, I wouldn't be posting something just to show that Forza has "X" car that GT4 doesn't like a Ferrari, but more to share a race story with the other people here.
Anyway, if you reply to this thread, if you could share your thoughts on whether you'd approve of me doing one or two race reports based on Forza Motorsport, that'd be great.
