Stock -vs- Tuned: It's been too long.

[VspecZR1GT2RS89]

Hey SvT, what type of cars are you guys doing this time around? Here's some of my ideas.

Viper ACR vs. Nissan Skyline R34

BMW M3 E92 vs. GT86/BRZ/FRS

 

[Giygas]

Dodge viper srt-10 coupe vs dodge viper srt-10 ACR

But seriously i cant wait for the next episode.

 

[gamerdog6482]

If you're taking requests again then I say Nissan GT-R SpecV '09 against Lexus LFA '10.

 

[MOTORTRENDmitch]

If you're taking requests again then I say Nissan GT-R SpecV '09 against Lexus LFA '10.

See, this type of comparison doesn't really work, the GTR and LFA are already very close, so with the 300k of saving the GTR would be fully tuned and would obliterate the LFA. It's a great comparison but not for this series.:tup

Dodge viper srt-10 coupe vs dodge viper srt-10 ACR

But seriously i cant wait for the next episode.

Trust me I'm excited too..

 

[gamerdog6482]

See, this type of comparison doesn't really work, the GTR and LFA are already very close, so with the 300k of saving the GTR would be fully tuned and would obliterate the LFA. It's a great comparison but not for this series.👍

In that case, GT-R SpecV against the Lexus...IS F!
That should be interesting.

 

[MOTORTRENDmitch]

In that case, GT-R SpecV against the Lexus...IS F!
That should be interesting.

Yeah that would actually not be bad.. GTR would still win I believe

 

[gamerdog6482]

IS F: 510PP @ ~75,000 Cr.
SpecV: 535PP @ ~160,000 Cr.

You could get some serous juice out of the IS F for almost 100,000 Cr.
It would certainly be interesting. They're so close, the upgraded IS and the SpecV.

 

[MOTORTRENDmitch]

Episode 5 has just been finished and sent off to the editor! Hopefully if we get enough people together tomorrow for the photoshoot it will go live in this time Tomorrow! :tup:

 

[VspecZR1GT2RS89]

Nice!! Can't wait!

 

[MOTORTRENDmitch]

Having some trouble getting a photographer together for this episode. Everything is done, literally waiting on pictures.. Anyone know a good photographer?

 

[gamerdog6482]

Having some trouble getting a photographer together for this episode. Everything is done, literally waiting on pictures.. Anyone know a good photographer?

I'm a good photographer.

I've been told by some big names that "I have potential".👍

 

[MOTORTRENDmitch]

Looking for a photographer with an internet connection.. Still.

 

[gamerdog6482]

 

[turbolefty78]

Sorry guys if I've been less than helpful with the photoshoot aspect of the newest writeup. I've come down with a nasty and have been just hanging out in and out of bed a lot plus jamming to a different game. Let me know if there's something I can do to help out.

 

[Yauma9]

Looking for a photographer with an internet connection.. Still.

Hi there! I have GT5, too much free time .. and an internet connection (unless my internet company decides I can't) Can I be the photographer?
Down there in my siggy there's a link to my flickr if you want to see my works.
Thanks in advance.

 

[gamerdog6482]

Everyone, expect the latest episode sometime tonight...and it will be a good one!

 

[Yauma9]

Everyone, expect the latest episode sometime tonight...and it will be a good one!

I'm afraid it appears it will be tomorrow, but it's my fault.
I mismanaged my time and couldn't have the pics at the time needed.

 

[gamerdog6482]

I'm afraid it appears it will be tomorrow, but it's my fault.
I mismanaged my time and couldn't have the pics at the time needed.

👎👎👎
I worked my butt off for four hours to get those pictures in on time, and then I see that you delayed it?!?!👎👎



Did you at least get a picture of this?:

 

[Yauma9]

It's only one day
Just wait...
And no ... I just have 2 pics of that race.

 

[MOTORTRENDmitch]

Stock -vs- Tuned Episode 6
Viper SRT10 coupe vs Camaro SS​

Welcome to the revivial of Stock vs Tuned! It's been months upon months since you've seen a new episode, but now the wait is finally over. I felt like bringing it back with a bang, so I picked a couple show stoppers. Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the Chevrolet Camaro SS and the Dodge Viper SRT10! Buying the Camaro will leave you 35,000cr in the hole, while buying the Viper will put you back 99,000cr. The Camaro will save you a considerable 64,000cr. Will that amount be enough to trump the V10 Leviathan? We're about to find out.

We'll start this off with a quick overview of the Camaro. After an 8 year hiatus, Chevy brought back it's iconic Muscle car in epic fashion by giving it a Corvette motor and the ability to transform. Powered by a 6.2 Liter LS3 V8, this retro pony car produces 426hp and 420ft-lbs of torque, redlining at a respectable 6800RPM. It's mated to a 5-speed manual with overdrive and weighs in at a beefy 1755KG. It is no feather weight but definitely has the grunt to move it along. The Camaro has almost perfect weight distribution running a 47/53. There's no question it has the looks to match it's motor, with it's extremely low roof line and a stance that resembles an NFL line backer. We were excited to take to the track in this old school , but first let's take a look at the Viper.

​

If you thought the Camaro was dramatic than you'll think the Viper is an absolute thriller. The same man that brought you the nut house car we know as the 427 Cobra is responsible for this one as well, his name; Carroll Shelby. So you'd better expect the unexpected. This car is powered by the type of motor you would find in a Locomotive, or the Titanic. 8.3 Liters of American V10 madness moves this low slung supercar, and does a decent of it as well. Producing 510hp and 544ft-lbs of torque, and redlining at 6500, you'll have no trouble leaving a pound of rubber where ever you find your self. The Viper has a 6-speed manual gearbox. 510hp may seem a little underwhelming considering the vast displacement of this beast, but I dare you put the boot into 'er and tell me how "underwhelming" it really is. The Viper weighs 1556KG weilding an even better weight balance of 49/51. This car has no trouble turning heads while cruising down the boulevard with it's extrememly aggressive fenders and side-body exhaust, nor does it have trouble snapping necks from a stand still with it's over the top numbers. Oh, and I should mention, these rear tires are wider than the state of Texas!

Before heading to the track, we took to the runway strip to measure it's straight-line performance. The Camaro bites hard off the line, no need to feather the throttle, just mash it. 60MPH appears in 4.3 Seconds, the 1/4 mile in 12.9. It reaches the 1 mile mark in 32 seconds flat, and carries on to reach 178MPH. By no means slow. The Viper has no trouble disposing of the SS down a stretch, which is no surprise being 200KG lighter and having an extra 100hp. The Viper is pretty tricky to launch cleanly, dumping the clutch around 2500 and feeding as much power as you can will earn you a 4 second 0-60 and a 12.2 second 1/4 mile. The 1 mile goes by in 30 seconds and the Viper is able to reach a very fast 193MPH, eating the Chevy for breakfast. Lets see if it can find it's lunch on the track.

​

As always we took the two cars to Top Gear Test Track to see how they dealt with some turns. Starting with the Camaro we set off into the first turn. Before anything you notice the exhaust note; the low revs sound amazing but as you get higher into it it starts to sound pretty bland. The Camaro's handling characteristics are satisfactory. Upon entry you have to deal with a lot of understeer, which lasts almost the whole way through the turn. The exit can be fun, as the big Chev seems to shed it's weight as it leaves the turn, often getting slightly squirley but in a relatively fast, controllable way. It isn't surprising that it does oversteer, considering it weighs as much as a damn truck. Body roll isn't bad, but I would prefer a bit flatter handling from this caliber of sport car. All in all this car is a nice, yet sometimes boring car to drive on the limits, and don't get me started about the garbage visability from the cockpit. At the test track she managed to run a 1:17.443 which is quick. In fact I wasn't expecting it to be that fast. I handed the Camaro to the iconic mike_gt3 to see how it fared up around the Green Hell and it went surprisingly well. Mike managed a 7:35.986 around the 12.9 mile long circuit. He also noticed the early-to-mid corner understeer it left him to deal with. Still, a 7:35 is a very fast lap. Now it's the Dodge's turn to have it's say at the track.

​

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much out of this car when it came to the track. Just look at the size of it's hood, how could you ever hit an apex with something like that? Once again I was wrong, as this car was almost well mannered. Turned in better than the Camaro, and had some mid-corner push. Coming out of a turn however was a challenge, you may remember me saying it made 530 ft. lbs. of torque? Coming out of a corner cleanly in a Viper is like trying to build a deck of cards outside. During a hurricane. Luckily it is a very controllable car, so when it does feel like being part of the Formula Drift League it isn't hard to keep a decent lap. The chassis feels very easy to disrupt though, if you transition to quickly between turns your bound to see smoke and rubber flying, and possibly a wheel or two. Exhaust note of the Viper is strangely industrial, with a motor like this you would expect the soundtrack of World War II to escape the pipes. Instead the exhaust note is a quiet humming sound. Definitely more conservative than the Camaro, but who buys a Super car to be "conservative". Compared to the Camaro it just felt faster, grippier, and way more fun! It really did drive somewhat like the Chevy, it's just that it felt like it was on steroids. The SRT10 was capable of a 1:15.663, very quick. This car makes you indestructible, sure there are much faster and more extreme vehicular machines, but none of them have the workhorse that the Viper has under the hood. Around the Nurburgring the big Dodge struck a 7:22.731, 13 seconds faster than the Chevy. Time to discover whether or not the Camaro can redeem it's self.

​

With those out of the way, it's time for what everyone came for. The tuning process! As I mentioned earlier we have 64,000cr to work with, which is a fair bit but on GT5 doesn't always get you far. First we put some thought into what the Camaro needed most, and what struck us was how badly she needed a diet, so we called up Jenny Craig and just like that it lost 400KG. We then put the rest of the money into the motor, giving it an ECU tune, and let the motor flow more freely with a titanium semi-race exhaust and gave it some stability with a playboy race style lip. These upgrades gave the Camaro 509hp and 462ft-lbs of torque & bumped the Rev limiter to 7500. Total weight was now down to 1333KG, this car was shaping up to be a track star! Lets take this to the strip.

On paper this should decimate the Viper. More horsepower and less weight should make an easy job of it. We put the pedal to the floor, eager to find out. Now with the tuned variant of this Camaro, you can't use the throttle like an on/off switch like you could with the stock counterpart. Instead you really need to give input to get this one off the line quickly, do it right and 60 should appear in about 4 seconds and the 1/4 mile in a mere 12 seconds flat. 1 Mile mark is reached in 29.5 seconds, but the top speed is hurt by its less then stellar gearing, and horrid aerodynamics. 6th gear literally won't accelerate, one helluva long overdrive gear! Top speed is only 187MPH, I say "only" as if that is slow or something. It's not, but with better gearing, breaking 200 wouldn't have been a problem. Now it's time for the track.

​

This is usually the scariest, most dramatic part of any SvT. How will the Camaro react to these upgrades? Will it be another Skyline (R32), saturated with power? Or another 300C, unable to stay straight? On the contrary, this Camaro is right at home when it comes to the bends! I am genuinely suprised how well the big Chev reacted to the tuning. Beautifully balanced and easy to drive. In fact, if you can keep the tail in check out of turns, this may be easier to drive than the Stock variant. I kid you not. The loss of weight massaged all the understeer away, making this car turn in like no other domestic ever has. Mid corner the car is pretty nuetral, and out of the turn it has no trouble gripping unless you get a little overzealous with the throttle, but even then it's no drift car. Unless of course you want it to be.

With all joking aside we got to business and put the Camaro on it's limit around the TGTT. The magic number, a 1:14.939, edging out the SRT10 by 6 tenths. Extremely close. Thing is, that was literally the first lap I did in the car and it beat the lap set by the Viper. That shows just how easy and natural the Camaro is to drive. 5 minutes later I ran a 1:14 flat, a second and a half faster than the Dodge. And that exhaust note just made it even sweeter. Deep, low, nascar-esque rumble. Much better than what the stock pipes had to offer. Forget the Camaro ZL1, the Camaro SvT takes the cake for my favourite Camaro. Hell, it's my favourite Chevy! Once again, it was Mike's turn to have a hand at the car to see if it had what it took to make it around the Ring in one piece. He gladly took it off my hands and let loose on the historic German circuit. It was but a lap into it and he had shattered the Viper's lap. It also managed to beat cars by the likes of Ferrari 430, Nissan GTR, and Ferrari 599! It ran a 7:16 leaving Mike with a couple comments. He had this to say, "It's a lot more fun with the added power, it suits the gear a whole lot better. Still oversteers in the high RPM, but adjusting the aero fixes that. Great car!". And that sums it up quite nicely. Great car for less than 100k. Camaro wins it neatly.

Well, that wraps up our latest Stock vs Tuned. For once, the tuned car isn't an animal frothing at the mouth! This was a genuine drivers car with amazing looks and great sounds. It goes to show that horsepower rarely makes a better car, and that it is the weight and chassis that produce a good track car. In fact I think I found myself a new 550PP car, not to mention I haven't even put a suspension on it yet... Well, I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did, it was fun to create. See you next time!

-SvT Team-
MOTORTRENDmitch - Writer & Test Driver
Turbolefty78 - Editor in chief
Gamerdog6482 - Photographer
Yauma9 - Photographer
mike_gt3 - Nurburgring Hot Lapper
Jesse208 - Test driver​

 

[LVracerGT]

Great write up Mitch!

 

[gamerdog6482]

Spoiler

The funny thing is that my Viper and Camaro (The blue/white Viper and the dark blue/white Camaro) aren't even stock! The Camaro is ZL1 spec and the Viper was fully upgraded.

Overall great episode. I didn't expect the Camaro to fare so well against the Viper. 👍

 

[Doog]

Great episode! Nice balance of writing and pictures, kept me entertained the entire way.

Also, how about Mustang VS Ford GT? 💡

 

[Mac K]

Nice work Mitch and crew! Almost makes me want to help out again. Any ideas for the next episode?

 

[BobbyBRAKEaNek]

This turned out pretty close with just a slight tune to the Camaro.
The Camaro is one of my favorite 550pp cars along with the Challenger. No one expects anything out of them.

 

[VspecZR1GT2RS89]

Great, just great! Love the review. Now this tells you one thing, don't ness with a 5th Gen Camaro 👍.

Excellent work. 👍

 

[MOTORTRENDmitch]

Great episode! Nice balance of writing and pictures, kept me entertained the entire way.

Also, how about Mustang VS Ford GT? 💡

I've thought about that matchup haha
Thanks man

Nice work Mitch and crew! Almost makes me want to help out again. Any ideas for the next episode?

You're fired,

This turned out pretty close with just a slight tune to the Camaro.
The Camaro is one of my favorite 550pp cars along with the Challenger. No one expects anything out of them.

Big lazy V8 muscle turned into a supercar with a few mods 👍

Great, just great! Love the review. Now this tells you one thing, don't ness with a 5th Gen Camaro 👍.

Excellent work. 👍

Yeah, that Camaro is a great base for some tuning

 

[gamerdog6482]

How about Mustang GT '05 to a Ford GT (No Stripe) '02?

And here are some other ideas I came up with:

Lexus IS F vs. Nissan GT-R '07

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR P.P. '07 vs. Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) V-Spec II Nur '02

Ruf CTR2 vs. DMC DeLorean S-2 '02

Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 Superveloce '09 vs. Pagani Zonda C12S 7.3 '02

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 '09 vs. McLaren F1 '94

 

[masterrawad]

Very exciting to read. Might have to stick to the viper because it is more versatile. Here are a few I came up with, just in case:


Lamborghini Murcielago vs Lamborghini Aventador

Nissan Lead vs Toyota Prius

Renault Aventime vs Honda Odyssey

Corvette ZR-1 vs Viper ACR

Bmw m3 vs Mercedes benz c63

 

[Yauma9]

Really nice episodes, your write ups make me wanna go and drive this things.
JUST TWO PICS?
What about Gallardo vs. Murcielago or A-vent-a-door?