Sorry, this is going to be a long one, but it was a fun experiment...
In real life I drive a 2003 V6 Hyundai Tiburon, red, automatic tranny w/ "autostick," bought new by me (my first new car ever, in fact). I went with the Tib because of the price, warranty, looks, handling, and the all around "feel" of the car. I did not expect to get a high HP, rubber burning monster for that price, and I didn't get one- it's rated at 170hp, but has a very nice torque rating of 181 foot pounds.
I've been happy with the Tiburon- it's been 90% trouble free over the years, and the only downside I can think of is that it's on the heavy side.
I drove it stock for about 10 months, and decided it was time for more power. First off was a cat- back exhaust system. This probably added 8 - 10hp. For what it's worth, I went with Borla for the stealth look and understated sound.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-RG25gyKhJim/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=626140064
Next up was a Cold Air Intake. The shop did before and after dyno runs, and the intake added a very respectable 10 - 15hp at various points across the power band. Plus it sounded GREAT combined with the exhaust.
http://www.aempower.com/ViewCategory.aspx?CategoryID=17
Up next was some minor weight reduction- the rule of thumb is every 100lb reduction shaves one tenth of a second off your 1/4 mile time. In the back the spare tire, jack, and jack support came out. Hey, I live on the edge. Up front all of the engine bay plastics, supports, and bolts came out. In the cabin I made sure to have all books, CDs, tools, etc out- it all adds up, plus you don't want stuff flying all over the place. On race day all the washer fluid came out, and I went with less than 1/4 tank of gas in the tank. I didn't take out the rear or passenger seat because I wanted to get a somewhat normal snapshot of the Tib's performance.
Then I added front and rear strut tower bars to tighten things up in the corners. There are anti-sway bars out there for the Tib, but they tend to break the strut link tab, so I stayed away from those.
http://www.injectedperformance.com/ViewProduct.aspx?ID=4916
Finally it was time to head for Cedar Falls Raceway in Iowa, so I changed the oil, washed the car, and headed to the track. I'm not really a "car guy," so my first time at the track was rather intimidating. I'd never even gone as a spectator. Luckily I was able to go with some other Tib owners, so that helped. Since it was a "test n tune" day, there wasn't much racing- just pull up, stage, and off you go to get your 1/4 mile times.
I'd read that stock, the V6 Tib is supposed to do mid 15s, so I was a little disappointed to run a 15.8, 15.8, and 15.8 (all at 88mph) in my slightly modified car. Still, it was fun and exciting, and at least I was consistent. I got good, burnout- free launches all three times, and having seen the dyno charts (there was a power drop off at a certain RPM), I knew NOT to redline when shifting from 2nd to 3rd with the autostick. This was on the car's stock tires (Michelin Energy MXV4s w/ 38,000 miles) at normal tire pressure. Leaving the front tire pressure normal was a mistake, but I'll know for next time.
A few weeks later I thought it would be fun to build a GT4 Tiburon, trying to modify it similarly, and wind up with matching times on the game's 1/4 mile strip. I bought a red one and went to work:
Medium (S2) tires
Stage 1 weight reduction
Racing exhaust
Sports racing chip
I set the driving aids to 0 / 0 / 7, which is how I normally drive in GT4. Then I changed the oil, washed the car, and headed to the track- and nailed 15.8 every time. It's worth noting that GT4 does not allow you to break down the exhaust system into intake, headers, and cat- back, since the game takes an "all together" approach. Also, I don't have a Racing Chip in my car. There are a few options out there, but you have to send them back for a reflash whenever you make additional performance modifications. But overall I did what I could to get the game car to have the same time as my real car.
Oddly enough, while the 1/4 mile game time was perfect, the end speed was off, coming in at 96mph instead of 88.
Other stuff:
The body style seen in the game came out in 2003, not 2001.
The auto version of the real Tib does not have 6 gears.
The real Tib does not do such massive burnouts off the line.
My car does not have that smooth chrome gas cap.
My car doesn not shoot flames when downshifting.
Still, I'm happy with the game's version of the Tiburon. For one, I'm glad it's even in the game, since it is not that popular. But mainly, being able to build a virtual version of you car and drive it on tracks all over the world is a pretty unique opportunity. Plus, I think real racing involves corners, and all I have access to in real life is a straight 1/4 mile track, so when I'm in the mood to swerve, it's off to The Nürburgring
**
Since my trip to the track, I've added a fuel tuner
http://store.evostore.com/apexisafc2.html
and had the car dyno tuned, installed a big bore throttle body and stiffer motor mounts, tossed on some lightweight rims and new W rated tires, along with slight upgrades to the brakes and suspension. Somewhere out there I have headers on backorder. I am eager to hit the real track again to see how the new mods perform, and then it will be time to change the game Tib around some more.
I probably will upgrade to the sports suspension in the game, but my real brake changes aren't enough to step up to the game's racing brakes- unless I get a wild hair.
Some pics, click to enlarge-
Here you can see the gray front strut bar back by the firewall, and the grayish silver diagonal arm of the cold air intake. Sitting on the battery is the motor mount waiting to be installed-
The yellow box I added shows where the air filter now sits, thanks to the aftermarket intake- way out of the engine bay, and low to the ground-
Some shots of us at Cedar Falls Raceway-
Getting ready
Staging lanes
Return lane
Hope you enjoyed the read. I always like to see how sims stack up the real world, and vice versa
In real life I drive a 2003 V6 Hyundai Tiburon, red, automatic tranny w/ "autostick," bought new by me (my first new car ever, in fact). I went with the Tib because of the price, warranty, looks, handling, and the all around "feel" of the car. I did not expect to get a high HP, rubber burning monster for that price, and I didn't get one- it's rated at 170hp, but has a very nice torque rating of 181 foot pounds.
I've been happy with the Tiburon- it's been 90% trouble free over the years, and the only downside I can think of is that it's on the heavy side.
I drove it stock for about 10 months, and decided it was time for more power. First off was a cat- back exhaust system. This probably added 8 - 10hp. For what it's worth, I went with Borla for the stealth look and understated sound.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-RG25gyKhJim/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=626140064
Next up was a Cold Air Intake. The shop did before and after dyno runs, and the intake added a very respectable 10 - 15hp at various points across the power band. Plus it sounded GREAT combined with the exhaust.
http://www.aempower.com/ViewCategory.aspx?CategoryID=17
Up next was some minor weight reduction- the rule of thumb is every 100lb reduction shaves one tenth of a second off your 1/4 mile time. In the back the spare tire, jack, and jack support came out. Hey, I live on the edge. Up front all of the engine bay plastics, supports, and bolts came out. In the cabin I made sure to have all books, CDs, tools, etc out- it all adds up, plus you don't want stuff flying all over the place. On race day all the washer fluid came out, and I went with less than 1/4 tank of gas in the tank. I didn't take out the rear or passenger seat because I wanted to get a somewhat normal snapshot of the Tib's performance.
Then I added front and rear strut tower bars to tighten things up in the corners. There are anti-sway bars out there for the Tib, but they tend to break the strut link tab, so I stayed away from those.
http://www.injectedperformance.com/ViewProduct.aspx?ID=4916
Finally it was time to head for Cedar Falls Raceway in Iowa, so I changed the oil, washed the car, and headed to the track. I'm not really a "car guy," so my first time at the track was rather intimidating. I'd never even gone as a spectator. Luckily I was able to go with some other Tib owners, so that helped. Since it was a "test n tune" day, there wasn't much racing- just pull up, stage, and off you go to get your 1/4 mile times.
I'd read that stock, the V6 Tib is supposed to do mid 15s, so I was a little disappointed to run a 15.8, 15.8, and 15.8 (all at 88mph) in my slightly modified car. Still, it was fun and exciting, and at least I was consistent. I got good, burnout- free launches all three times, and having seen the dyno charts (there was a power drop off at a certain RPM), I knew NOT to redline when shifting from 2nd to 3rd with the autostick. This was on the car's stock tires (Michelin Energy MXV4s w/ 38,000 miles) at normal tire pressure. Leaving the front tire pressure normal was a mistake, but I'll know for next time.
A few weeks later I thought it would be fun to build a GT4 Tiburon, trying to modify it similarly, and wind up with matching times on the game's 1/4 mile strip. I bought a red one and went to work:
Medium (S2) tires
Stage 1 weight reduction
Racing exhaust
Sports racing chip
I set the driving aids to 0 / 0 / 7, which is how I normally drive in GT4. Then I changed the oil, washed the car, and headed to the track- and nailed 15.8 every time. It's worth noting that GT4 does not allow you to break down the exhaust system into intake, headers, and cat- back, since the game takes an "all together" approach. Also, I don't have a Racing Chip in my car. There are a few options out there, but you have to send them back for a reflash whenever you make additional performance modifications. But overall I did what I could to get the game car to have the same time as my real car.
Oddly enough, while the 1/4 mile game time was perfect, the end speed was off, coming in at 96mph instead of 88.
Other stuff:
The body style seen in the game came out in 2003, not 2001.
The auto version of the real Tib does not have 6 gears.
The real Tib does not do such massive burnouts off the line.
My car does not have that smooth chrome gas cap.
My car doesn not shoot flames when downshifting.
Still, I'm happy with the game's version of the Tiburon. For one, I'm glad it's even in the game, since it is not that popular. But mainly, being able to build a virtual version of you car and drive it on tracks all over the world is a pretty unique opportunity. Plus, I think real racing involves corners, and all I have access to in real life is a straight 1/4 mile track, so when I'm in the mood to swerve, it's off to The Nürburgring
**
Since my trip to the track, I've added a fuel tuner
http://store.evostore.com/apexisafc2.html
and had the car dyno tuned, installed a big bore throttle body and stiffer motor mounts, tossed on some lightweight rims and new W rated tires, along with slight upgrades to the brakes and suspension. Somewhere out there I have headers on backorder. I am eager to hit the real track again to see how the new mods perform, and then it will be time to change the game Tib around some more.
I probably will upgrade to the sports suspension in the game, but my real brake changes aren't enough to step up to the game's racing brakes- unless I get a wild hair.
Some pics, click to enlarge-
Here you can see the gray front strut bar back by the firewall, and the grayish silver diagonal arm of the cold air intake. Sitting on the battery is the motor mount waiting to be installed-
The yellow box I added shows where the air filter now sits, thanks to the aftermarket intake- way out of the engine bay, and low to the ground-
Some shots of us at Cedar Falls Raceway-
Getting ready
Staging lanes
Return lane
Hope you enjoyed the read. I always like to see how sims stack up the real world, and vice versa
, how can you make your car do that?
