Dark Elite's Ratings:
Well, here we go...
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TUNER: GeorgeMorley
(Aids unspecified – 0,0,0 tested)
480bhp /// 338ft/lb
Turn-in = 7. Feels easy to turn, but actually understeers slightly at initial turn-in.
Mid-Corner Response = 9. Very good. Can be pushed to the inside or outside of a long corner with the throttle easily.
Corner exit = 8. Also good, will oversteer if pushed but can be held in line.
Stability = 7. Has a tendancy to let the rear slide out, especially in 2nd, but feels well-planted and not at all skittish.
Grip = 6. The grip at the rear wheels in 1st is pretty poor, and it’s hard to utilise the power in corners in 2nd.
High-speed controllability = 8. Feels very safe and stable at high speeds.
Handling while braking = 8. Turns predictably while braking, but the brakes could be a little more powerful.
Acceleration = 8. There’s a lot of power, but it doesn’t all feel used. Nevertheless, the gearing (redlining in 5th at the highest speed reached on this course) suits Monaco well.
Total = 61/80
Final Comments
My opinion on this car is generally good. It does have its problems, and the overall feel is that it could just as well with a bit less peak power. But it is fun to drive and, when you’re used to it, it’s easy to drive fast rather than hard. Just beware the 2nd-gear traction trouble in the bends.
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TUNER: Opendriver19a
374bhp /// 278ft/lb
Turn-in = 8. A lot less power means this car turns in eagerly.
Mid-Corner Response = 9. Very nice. This is one of the only cars that can be pushed inside in 3rd gear on a long turn.
Corner exit = 8. No problems.
Stability = 8. The traction control probably isn’t needed, as the car is so stable anyway.
Grip = 8. It’s very hard to make the tyres break grip. Drive it as hard as you like, and you probably won’t notice the traction control.
High-speed controllability = 8. Feels very safe and stable at high speeds. Turns well at speed too.
Handling while braking = 8. The brakes are good, and the car doesn’t understeer too much on heavy braking.
Acceleration = 7. The car does make excellent use of its power, and it is 100bhp in deficit of some cars here, but even so it’s not quite so fast on the straights. The gearing’s good, though. (Redlining in 4th at highest speed)
Total = 64/80
Final Comments
This looks like a basic, maybe even poor, setup on paper but when applied to the car and driven it comes into its own. The car’s very neutral, but still agile: no mean feat. The little bit of traction control could be done without, but it does allow the driver to simply go flat-out all the way with no fear. This setup managed a lap time of 1’41.789, which puts it about fourth in this list of nine as far as laptimes are concerned. How brilliant a use of power is that? I like it.
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TUNER: Sprite
415bhp /// 304ft/lb
Turn-in = 8. With less power than an NA3 car, but still riding low, it turns in well.
Mid-Corner Response = 9. Very good. Can be pushed to the inside or outside of a long corner with the throttle easily.
Corner exit = 8. Good. It will push wide a little in a high gear, but it can be adjusted without much trouble.
Stability = 7. Much easier to control than an NA3 car, but the rear can still be swung round when pushed. That’s a good thing, but not stable.
Grip = 7. Full-power start-offs will still punish you, but out of 1st gear you can use all the throttle without much fear.
High-speed controllability = 8. Feels very safe and stable at high speeds.
Handling while braking = 8. Pretty manoeuvrable on the brakes, and with this power level they feel effective enough.
Acceleration = 8. Not far off an NA3 car, and feels better for it. The gearing (redlining in 4th at the highest speed reached) suits Monaco and the car well.
Total = 63/80
Final Comments
My opinion on this car is pretty good. Not going full-tune was a wise move, as the 65bhp deficit doesn’t stop this car being within two seconds of an NA3 example. The slow-shifting nature of the car is offset well by only using 4 gears. There isn’t really any big problems, but don’t get over-confident – it can still catch you out with oversteer.
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TUNER: LeadSlead#2
446bhp /// 322ft/lb
Turn-in = 7. Even with less weight, this car feels understeery on entry, especially when pushing hard.
Mid-Corner Response = 8. Pushes a little wider than the previous cars, but still quite good.
Corner exit = 8. Good. It will push wide a little, but comes out straight and where you’d expect.
Stability = 6. It’s actually less stable than an NA3 car, and harder to pull back from a slide without snapping.
Grip = 6. Full-power starts can’t really be done, but 2nd is alright. The problem comes from the fact that if you upset the balance, the rears will break loose immediately.
High-speed controllability = 8. Feels safe and stable at high speeds.
Handling while braking = 6. The brakes feel too strong, with the ABS kicking in a lot, and turning while braking from a high speed will spin you right round.
Acceleration = 8. It accelerates cleanly out of 1st and feels sharper, but so much time is spent out of gear because of the close ratios, it feels a little restrained.
Total = 57/80
Final Comments
Somehow I didn’t like this car on test, but whether I like it or not is irrelevant. It’s not a bad setup, but there are areas that could be improved. Tight gears work well on a fast-shifting race car, but this isn’t one. The same could be said of the brakes, which are too powerful and snappy for this car. If you touch a wall with the throttle open, the rear tyres will start to shred. Although these things can be learnt around they’ll always slow you down, or annoy you, in the end.
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TUNER: De@tthwi§ho0
462bhp /// 338ft/lb
Turn-in = 9. No problems here, it just does as expected, without understeer or tail-flailing.
Mid-Corner Response = 9. Very good. This car can be pushed right to the inside on full power, sideways if you so wish.
Corner exit = 9. It’ll just hold the line you had through the corner, which should be a good one. If it starts to slide, it’s easily sorted.
Stability = 8. It’s pretty kind, this car, and even when it does slip the back end out you can pull it in line with no difficulty.
Grip = 7. Full-power start-offs will still punish you, but above 1st gear you can use all of the throttle without fear.
High-speed controllability = 8. Feels very safe and stable at high speeds.
Handling while braking = 8. These brakes suit the car well, and they’re pretty neutral – resulting in steady handling, even at high braking speeds.
Acceleration = 8. Not far off an NA3 car, and feels much better for it. The gearing (almost redlining in 4th at the highest speed reached) is basic but effective.
Total = 66/80
Final Comments
This car is very fast, but very easy to drive. It’s got the bendy bits well sorted, and it’s not exactly slow on the bits between them – only 2mph slower than an NA3 car. This car (tested fourth in line) isn’t the most powerful or the lightest here, but as testament to its performance it was the first to post a time under 1’40, and by a considerable margin.
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TUNER: Sucahyo
466bhp /// 329ft/lb
Turn-in = 7. Even with so little initial torque, this car understeers on entry.
Mid-Corner Response = 7. The traction control cancels out this car’s natural ability to come to the inside of a corner: it now understeers when under power.
Corner exit = 7. It’ll run wide with the throttle open, and often with it closed as well.
Stability = 8. It is stable, in fact it’s completely immune to oversteer or wheelspin.
Grip = 8. The traction control’s one and only advantage is found here – try and make this car spin the drive wheels, because it just won’t.
High-speed controllability = 8. Feels very safe and stable at high speeds.
Handling while braking = 8. Quite safe understeer on the brakes, and the stopping power is decent.
Acceleration = 6. Hugely limited by the traction control, this car can’t gain speed very well. These gears (about 7,500rpm at highest speed reached) don’t seem to suit Monaco.
Total = 59/80
Final Comments
This car feels like so much wasted potential. The car is naturally a tail-happy, open-the-throttle car but this setup departs from that too much. A racing exhaust would have been a cheap addition to the power and soundtrack, too. One can only imagine what this car would be like without being held back by the excessive traction control.
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TUNER: gregc
446bhp 322ft/lb
Turn-in = 8. Nice and easy to turn in - not brilliantly agile, but still good and sharp.
Mid-Corner Response = 8. Holds its line very well, and can be pushed inside in a low gear.
Corner exit = 8. This car just keeps right on its line out of the corner, but this makes it a bit tricky to pull inside hard if needs be.
Stability = 8. The little bit of traction control keeps a lid on things, letting you drive hard without problems.
Grip = 7. Full-power starts make you feel restrained, and you can still get the rears to break out, but it grips well.
High-Speed controllability = 8. Feels very safe and stable at high speeds.
Handling while braking = 8. Safe and steady understeer on the brakes, but it's still decently capable of turning in under braking.
Acceleration = 8. Once out of first gear, the car doesn't feel held back by the traction control. Makes good use of its power.
Total = 63/80
Final Comments
My overall opinion on this car is good. It has a good feel about it, and it makes the driver feel secure - the traction control is just enough to let you use full power in corners, but not so much as to slow you down. This car can be thrown into just about any corner and the mess can be sorted out halfway through without much difficulty, making for a very 'chuckable' feel. It's not hard to make it go very quickly, either, and it came very close to being the #2 car under 1'40 (tested 6th). This is an example of good use of driving aids.
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TUNER: Duċk
480bhp /// 338ft/lb
Turn-in = 8. All that power doesn’t make this car too slow on the way into turns.
Mid-Corner Response = 8. Not easy to get this car to pull inside, but it doesn’t oversteer madly either.
Corner exit = 7. The understeer pushes you a little wide, and sometimes this messes up the next corner. Not too bad though.
Stability = 8. The traction control keeps the rear end and tyres under easy control.
Grip = 8. You’d have a job to make the tyres break grip with these. Drive it as hard as you like, and place confidence in the traction control.
High-speed controllability = 8. Feels very safe and stable at high speeds.
Handling while braking = 8. The brakes are good, and the car doesn’t understeer too much on heavy braking.
Acceleration = 8. The power doesn’t feel quite so well used here, this car doesn’t have a great top end and the gears could be a little better than the standard setup (low revs in 5th at highest speed) for Monaco.
Total = 63/80
Final Comments
This car is clearly set up to dial out the oversteer inherent in the 350Z, but perhaps it over-compensates. The car does perform as expected in most situations, but it is very much a race car rather than a fun car – the traction control may make it fast, but it negates the ability to kick out the rear end and put quite so much of a smile on your face. Still, it does what it was meant to do: this was the third of three cars to post a time under 1’40.
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The Verdict
Highest Points Score = De@tthwi§ho0
De@tthwi§ho0's car is my winner for certain - the car isn't even on full tune and yet it's still the fastest by far, posting a time a full second ahead of any other car on test, and it's so easy to control. This car can be driven fast and straight for the clock, or hard and sideways for the crowd. It's so agile and sharp there's never a dull moment.
Moral of the Story: The indisputable fastest car here wasn't fully tuned.
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I'm becoming worried that I might have been far too generous with some of my scores! 
👍 GReat reports you guys,,
