T10 really decided to start what promises to be an exciting couple of months with a bang, haven't they? The Top Gear-sponsored car packs have traditionally been amongst the most balanced, and this DLC doesn't disappoint: all the cars featured are different: some, like the Giulietta, will be most appreciated by the nostalgics like me, while some others, like the 812 Superfast and the 720S, are amongst the most community-requested cars; but all of them are very worthy additions to FM7's car roster. And two new-to-Forza manufacturers in one pack is something almost unprecedented! As if that wasn't enough, T10 also decided to throw two free Porsches in the mix, and one of them is a 917 - in total, it's nine new machines just waiting to be driven until the wheels fall off.
The Giulietta is a symbol of Italy's post-war mass motorization, right along the Piaggio Vespa and the Fiat 500. At the beginning of the 1950s, the growing middle class of the industrious North was in need of practical sedans that would conjugate affordability and reliability with spunky performance and million-dollar looks, and both Alfa Romeo and Lancia were willing and eager to provide. For the Arese company, however, this meant breaking new grounds: the 1900, which had replaced the venerable 6C in 1950, was the first Alfa to feature unibody construction, and the first to be built on the new Portello assembly line, but while it was a radical departure from their old, semi-artisanal approach to car manufacturing, it was still an imposing sport tourer with a large (and fiscally onerous) engine, and in a decade only 17,000 were ever produced. The development of the first mass-produced Alfa required a full commitment from the company, forcing its management to temporarily abandon the world of F1 racing after two triumphant seasons with the pre-war 158; in two short years, a dream team of engineers designed a compact, 1.3 litres DOHC engine with satisfactory performance, and the unibody chassis to house it. But as the new car was approaching production, they hit a snag: excessive levels of cabin noise threatened to turn a very costly endeavour into a market failure. After several months of frustration, Rudolf Hruska - a veritable legend of automotive engineering, who was heavily involved in the development of the Tiger tanks and the VW Beetle during World War 2, and would become one of the architects of Alfa's success in the following decades - proposed to introduce a coach-built sporty version of the car first, reasoning that the loudness wasn't going to be such a problem for the gearheads interested in such a vehicle, who may have even enjoyed it! And so, when the Giulietta was first unveiled at the 1954 Turin Auto Show, the public was met with a sleek, 2+2 tourer with an elegant body penned by Boano, Scaglione and a young Giorgietto Giugiaro, and not the more practical, four-door sedan they were expecting from Alfa. But the Sprint encountered a resounding success: the company had originally intended to build anything between 100 and 200 cars per year, but by the end of the first day on the showfloor they already had 500 orders for the Sprint, and more would follow - Bertone, who was supposed to supply Alfa with the car bodies, soon had to expand their plant in Grugliasco (near Turin) to meet their contractual obligations. The "girlfriend of Italy" would not only help the sales of its four-doors sister, which would only be introduced a year later, but also enjoyed enormous success on its own, appearing in movies, starring in the first truly popular Italian car magazines (like
Quattroruote, that in 1956 featured a red Giulietta on the cover of its first issue), and ultimately representing for an entire generation of well-off Italians an affordable escapist fantasy, a piece of
Dolce Vita they could buy with their disposable income. It may not be the fastest machine out there, sure: the 1.3 litre engine produces a mere 90 hp, which are barely enough to give the pliant suspensions and skinny tires a workout. But the point is, who cares? Cars like this are made to be savoured slowly, not to be thrown around a racetrack - and although I am sure with some performance modification it would make for an eccellent period racer, the Giulietta doesn't need to be one to be worthy of a spot in Forza's roster.
Pros: the prettiest mass-produced Alfa Romeo ever
Cons: three words - positive dynamic camber
Nürburgring laptime: 10:13.750
Few cars can claim to have changed the world of motorsports as much as the Porsche 904. Back in its days, most GT racers looked... Well, like grand tourers. The Astons, Ferraris, Jaguas and Shelbys which dominated Group 3 racing at the time featured large, highly fractioned engines in the front, relatively spacious cabins, aluminum bodies, and looked an awful lot like they would've been equally comfortable cruising down the French Riviera - and as a matter of fact, jet-setters of the time often bought them for that specific purpose. Porsche had already stunned the world of racing with the 550 RS and the subsequent, much improved 718 RSK, which had established themselves as "giant killers" by winning in prestigious races such as the Sebring 12h and the Targa Florio against mcuh more powerful, but much heavier competition. The 904 cemented Porsche's growing reputation as a leader in the world of motorsports, and also represents an interesting transition between those first, lightweight, four-cylinder silver gremlins and the later purpose-built racecars. Its beating heart was the same flat-four, quad-cam engine that had debuted with the 550 and evolved through the life of the 718, now bored to 1,966 cc (or, in other words, "just below 2 litres") and producing a record-shattering 198 hp. The car also inherited the mid-engined configuration of its predecessors, but adopted a fiberglass-body-over-ladder-chassis construction. The solution kept the weight down, but had the body as a stressed component, forcing Porsche to adopt construction techniques that resulted in uneven thickness of the panels and cars with unequal weight; with engineers unable to find a solution to the problems the architecture of the car generated, the 906 would go back to a more traditional tubular spaceframe design. Regardless, the 904 was a very successful racing machine, with its performance and reliability allowing it to achieve class and overall victories in endurance and rally racing, and at the 1964 Targa Florio, against much more powerful machinery, Porsche would clinch first and second place. The writing was on the wall for the old grand tourers, which would soon be replaced by mid-engined purpose-built racing machines that were in no way suited for the streets, in an arms race that culminated with Porsche's own radical 917 (but more on that later). Engine performance's modest, but with a wide power band and joyful response at low rpm, and the handling is also a positive, with a pronounced, but easily manageable body roll and narrow tires that do their job, so it's not hard to see how this car could be so successful, both in sporting and sales terms.
Pros: the car that started mid-engined GTs, and it's as good as you'd expect
Cons: the engine compartment hasn't been modeled, sadly
Nürburgring laptime: 08:11.053
A lot of things have been said about the British, but no one will ever call into question the fact that they have a sense of humor. The Exocet originated in the Queen's country, and yes, it's named after the French-built missile that made British sailors wear brown pants during the
fracas in the Malvinas. They even went through the pain of finding a way to justify their naming choice, defining their creation an "exoskeletal car". If you want to make one, the recipe is simple: you take a 1st-gen Mazda MX-5, and you remove all the MX-5 but the engine, transmission, running gear and a couple of structural components. Then, you get the tube chassis lovely crafted by MEV, put it all together, and you are set. Easy enough, right? Almost enough to leave you wanting for more? Well, enter Kevin Patrick, an all-American adrenaline junkie, and Exomotive, the company he created to bring the Exocet Stateside. Of course, America being
'murica, you can have it with an LS V8 - and with some massaging, you can get that V8 to produce something north of 500 hp. The resulting car looks like a mix between an Ariel Atom and a post-apocalyptic go-kart, and it goes exactly like one; the grippy slick are barely enough to keep it facing the right way when the Corvette engine delivers all its torque, but they do their job (usually), and it's otherwise preternaturally easy to point the nose in whichever direction you desire otherwise. Aim, and fire: the Exocet is a truly exhilarating experience, and if it doesn't put a smile on your face, I don't know what will.
Pros: you don't need to be Immortan Joe to drive this, but you will be shouting "MEDIOCRE" at other track-goers
a lot
Cons: slick tires mean it is relegated to the "Forza Specials" division
Nürburgring laptime: 07:17.583
Compared to the Exocet, the VUHL 055RR looks... Well, a lot less like something some guy with a death wish put together in a shed. While both belong to the category of "cars you wear like a suit when you want to go to a trackday", they couldn't be more different. It all starts with the name: this car is made by
an acronym that stands for "we mean business" in Spanish, and is named a bit like an experimental antibiotic. The VUHL's body is designed to tear through air with unrelenting viciousness, the Exocet... Well,
has no body at all. The engine in this car is not a lumbering, dumb V8, but Ford's own terribly smart 2.3-litre turbocharged Ecoboost inline-4, producing 385 hp thanks to the adoption of a re-tuned ECU and redesigned air intake. Carbon fiber and composite materials are used almost everywhere (including the wheels) to keep weight to a minimum, and the suspension has been painstalkingly tuned to deliver the maximum cornering performance. The VUHL is the official car of the Race of Champion, a contest that sees world-class drivers (and former drivers) from all disciplines of motorsports face off on a short track to prove, in theory, who's best. And that is exactly what the car itself sets out to be: the best lightweight trackday car money can buy. It doesn't disappoint: handling is a bit difficult at times, requiring quick reflexes and a goood sensibility; stalling the rear wing will result in an almost instantaneous loss of rear end grip, with disastrous consequences, and the torquey engine further complicates matters by continuously testing the rear tires willingness to stick to the road. But once you can master its quirks, this Mexican rocket is a potent corner-carving machine that also brings some serious top speed to the table, and if you are not hugely into creature comforts like luggage compartments or
windshields, you may even consider it the full package.
Pros: it's the car the KTM X-Bow and BAC Mono
wished they were
Cons: remove the rear wing (as the division homologation demands) and it becomes a much more harrowing experience
Nürburgring laptime: 07:09.561
We close off the trackday toy segment of this review with a car that is less of a toy and more of a
workplace instrument. The KTM X-Bow is the first and, so far, only foray of the Austrian manufacturer in the world of cars, and it needs no introduction to Forza fanatics, having joined the series roster back in the days of FM5. It has been a personal favorite of mine ever since, despite (or, perhaps, partly because of) its oddly alien looks. Sadly, the GT4 version of the car - developed by Reiter Engineering, whose claim to fame was developing a GT3 Lamborghini back when the company didn't want to throw their hat in the GT racing ring - does away with many of the thrilling features of its road-going sibling: the body panels, which originally hung from the Dallara-built carbon fiber tub leaving much of it uncovered, have been replaced by a more pedestrian shell, and the cockpit is now covered by a fighter-jet-like canopy that is incredibly cool, but takes away much of the feeling of honesty and directness of a car that was essentially designed to court the kind of maniacs that were already well-acquainted with KTM's line of dirtbikes. But the excellent chassis and 4-banger, 2-litre, Audi-sourced turbocharged engine are still the same, and the same choices that make this X-Bow look tamer than its road-legal counterpart also make it an even more radical and focused track machine. Believe me, I
tried to make this car misbehave: it's simply not possible. No matter how much you delay your braking, no matter how early you push on the throttle, the X-Bow seems to find a way to stay on the track.
Pros: Palpatine says, UNLIMITED GRIP
Cons: tall gearing make for a eerie experience, and you will spend most of your time in 2nd and 3rd gear
Nürburgring laptime: 07:25.123
The 911 GT3 RS is Porsche's idea of a "trackday car", and it's only somewhat less spartan than the spat of skeletal machines we just reviewed. The German manufacturer has just introduced a revised version of its most extreme naturally-aspired car, which offers some slight improvements on the model it replaces : the 4-litre flat-six has received a 20 hp boost, courtesy of new engine mapping and a revised exhaust system, and revs to an astounding 9,000 rpm; the wing and the front and rear bumpers have been replaced by new elements, which of course provide more downforce at the cost of less drag; finally, a half-cage, which provides better protection from rollovers and a marginal increase in rigidity, is now part of the standard equipment. All of this results in a 911 experience that is even purer (if only slightly) than the one offered by the 1st-gen 991 Rennsport, a surgical scalpel that will blitz in and out of corner in the hands of a capable driver and make the more expensive, turbocharged GT2 RS seem downright bloated by comparison. And yes: the Carrera stripes are finally back. Hurrah.
Pros: a better 911 than the GT2 RS? You bet!
Cons: would've been even cooler if it had the Weissach package fitted
Nürburgring laptime: 07:21.022
Ferrari has a long tradition of introducing spectacular mid-life upgrades to its cars. But the 812 Superfast is something else entirely: an evolution designed to eclipse and surpass in every metric not just the 6-years old F12 Berlinetta it replaces, but also its limited-production, performance-oriented F12tdf sibling. Ferrari's own Centro Stile has injected massive amounts of
active aggressiveness in the elegant Pininfarina design of the outgoing model: the new car perfectly mixes fluid lines with sharp, dramatic edges, and a much cleaner front and rear end design, helped along by the adoption of LED lights. Sitting still, the 812 looks like a sinewy 100m runner ready to thrust from starting block, but the redesign of the car is not just a narcissistic exercise with no practical purpose: it also served to implement many aerodynamic developments first tested on the Tour De France, from which the Superfast also inherits the
Passo Corto Virtuale rear-wheel steering system, a must in 2018. Underneath the cartoonishly long bonnet, in a mid-front position, sits the ultimate evolution of the 65° V12 DOHC engine first introduced in the Enzo 16 years ago - codenamed
F140 GA, this new iteration of the legendary Maranello engine produces 800 prancing horses thanks to the adoption of a direct injection system largely derived from those used in the naturally-aspired F1 cars of the V10 and V8 eras. But don't let appearances fool you - behind the massive front grille and the angry frown of the LED headlights, behind the acronyms and the bleeding-edge technology, lies a celebration of Ferrari's 70-years long history, named after the glorious 1964 500 Superfast, the last of the made-to-order grand tourers they made. It would be easy for the 812 to disappoint the tremendously high expectations it sets, but it doesn't: on the racetrack, this big grand tourer drives like a much lighter car, offering nimble steering and an engine that loves to stay at high revs - a negative to some, but undoubtedly not to the connoisseurs of twelve-cylinder symphonic music, who will enjoy the wail of the orchestra playing in the engine bay.
Pros: Tour De France? Oh, you mean the bike race? No, thanks, I am not into cycling, I have a Ferrari!
Cons: now I have to explain to all these clueless Clarksonites that it's Lamborghini who copied Ferrari, and not the other way around...
Nürburgring laptime: 07:16.532
When McLaren announced its return to road car manufacturing, high expectations were set. Woking's only endeavour before 2009, the F1, had trascended the limits of what people thought possible for a street legal machine, and redefined the very concept of "performance", setting top speed and acceleration records that would only be beaten more than a decade later by the Bugatti Veyron. By comparison, the MP4-12C was almost
pedestrian: undoubtedly, it was one of the best cars in a crowded market, managing to outperform in many tests its Italian rivals from Ferrari and Lamborghini. But it wasn't the Earth-shattering revolution McLaren fans were expecting: for once, it seemed like the manufacturer was content with following, albeit very proficiently, rather than leading. And the 650S, an unambitious restyling and reworking of the model, almost felt like an insult. But McLaren is tired of following now, and the 720S is another thing entirely. Its body is low-slung, muscular, like that of an ambush predator, and it hides many clever aerodynamic tricks that ensure the car generates much more downforce than any of its competitors, and much more efficiently, like the headlight assemblies hiding air vents that funnel incoming air to two small radiators just in front of the wheels. Underneath the sheet metal,
pardon, carbon fiber, lies a new new Monocage II carbon monocoque, which is both lighter and stiffer than ever, and is paired with a slew of dynamic handling assists that allow the driver to choose between maximizing fun or performance with the flick of a switch. The
M838T engine, too, has seen a dramatic evolution: the new
M840T is fed compressed air by twin turbos that are electrically driven to eliminate turbolag, and produces, you guessed it, 720 hp - an increase of 70 over the car it replaces. McLaren's obsessive habits are back, and the results of their latest efforts are not up for debate: the 720S is a relentlessly precise machine, which is more than capable of surpassing the limits of the tires it sits on; the only flaw in its otherwise spotless behavior is a small tendency to oversteer on corner entry, which is not at all unexpected in a mid-engined car, and can be easily predicted and managed. For now, McLaren is back in the lead.
Pros: styling, performance, sheer charisma: this car has everything
Cons: none. If you ever wondered, "what would be the Terminator be like if it was a car?", well, here is your answer!
Nürburgring laptime: 07:06.004
Porsche's deal with Electronic Arts meant that for a very long time, many legendary, beloved racecars went missing from our favorite driving sims. The end of the agreement between Zuffenhausen and the makers of
Need For Speed changed things, but it took a while for Forza to catch up. The FM7 car pack season opened strongly, with the 935/78 "Moby Dick" featuring in the November Samsung QLED TV pack, but afterwards things slowed down, and Turn10 focused on adding other classical Porsches of a lower stature. But finally the long wait is over, and a 917 has joined Forza's roster. It was a bit of a foregone inclusion, really: introduced in 1969 to compete in Group 4 GT racing, the 917 is easily one of the most recognizable cars in racing. Its design was fairly conventional, and was a direct evolution of the 908 that had already achieved much success in prototype racing, but the engine powering the car is the stuff of legends: the
Typ 912 was a 4.5-litre, twelve-cylinders boxer designed by Hanz Mezger, and was largely derived from the flat-6 engine of the 911; with a power output of 520 hp, it is one of the most powerful air-cooled racing engines ever conceived, and there were fears that it could've been too much for the chassis of the car. The naysayers were apparently proven right by a disappointing 1969 season, in which the 917 collected only one win, in Austria: but during the off-season the source of the car's problem was found in the lack of downforce at the rear. The issue was addressed with the introduction of a redesigned, short-tail variation, the 917K, and 1970 saw a completely different tune being played: the blue-and-orange, Gulf-sponsored cars of John Wyer's team quickly became the dominant force of the World Sportscar Championship, but the sweetest win would go to the semi-official Porsche Salzburg team, whose red-and-white #23 car, driven by Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood, would be the first of only seven to cross the finish line at that year's Le Mans 24 hour. The following year Porsche would retain its form, despite the challenge mounted by Penske's Ferrari 512, which he developed far beyond the specifications of the improved "M" model from Maranello, and the factory Alfa Romeo team, whose Tipo 33/3 prototype was finally showing some performance after two years of development. And this is when our car appears: the 917/20 was, in essence, an aerodynamic laboratory on wheels. Co-developed by Porsche and French firm SERA, this model variation mixed the tail-end design of the
Kurzheck with the front-end of the low-drag
Langheck, while introducing many experimental solutions that would later be employed on the "Turbopanzer" 917/30 that would utterly dominate the Can Am series. The decision to paint the car in a light shade of pink, and to label each part of the oddly bulbous body according to the butcher cuts for pork, which would consign her to history as the "Pink Pig" or "Truffle Hunter", came from Anatole Lapine, the head of Porsche's style department. The experimental car was the fastest during testing for the 24h of Le Mans, the only motoring event it was ever a part of, but it only qualified 7th for the race. When it seemed that the high attrition of the race may favor the equipe of Willi Kauhsen and Reinhold Joest, a brake failure halfway through the race resulted in a massive crash, and the end of the 917/20's racing career. But don't let the grisly fate the real life Sau suffered intimidate you: in game, this Porsche surprises with a very nimble and responsive handling (courtesy, no doubt, of the relatively short wheelbase) and, ironically enough, top-of-the-class braking; the tires are older bias ply Firestones, and they don't provide the same levels of grip as more modern radial slicks, but with some finesse it's entirely possible to turn some astonishingly quick laptimes in this racing legend.
Pros: who knew endurance racing legends could be so delicious?
Cons: the flat-12 sounds a bit too much like a flat-6 for my liking
Nürburgring laptime: 06:57.433
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