GTPlanet Weekly Rewind: State of the Art

Before anything else, before I even advance into my usual introductory diatribe I want to preface the entire Rewind with wishing the late and great Carroll Shelby a belated happy birthday; he would have been 90 years old this past January. For those of you (and I’m one of them) who are of the opinion this entry isn’t long enough, fear not because we’ll revisit the subject in May where I’ll put together a lengthier tribute.

Now as of today, March 1st, 2013, therein lies sixteen days until the beginning of the 2013 Formula 1 season, and let me tell you: I can’t wait. This is supposed to be the final year the sport uses the V8, because in 2014 the regulations will call for a switch to a turbocharged V6 platform – awfully uninspiring stuff if I do say so myself. Isn’t Formula 1 supposed to a plateau for the best of the best driving the best of the best? It’s slowly becoming nothing more than an über spec series. Now it’s worth acknowledging that the V6 platform being used isn’t new as the earliest use of such a platform—that I can recall—was in 1977 when Renault used a V6 Turbo.

However, and my memory of the subject isn’t really the best to go by so please feel free to correct me, the situation then compared to now is moot. There still may be some hope but my gut tells me that’s just the optimist in me wanting to hear the fantastic howling banter of the V12’s and V10’s from the past. Needless to say I’m still excited about the forthcoming season and just as always I’ll be pulling for Mark Webber; a driver whom I sincerely feel should have at least one Driver’s Championship to his name, much like the departed Rubens Barrichello.

More of this later on but for now let’s get this Rewind underway!

GTPlanet Picture of the Week

This week’s image features an audacious Graphite Grey Viper GTS blitzing down the longest straight on the mainstay Trial Mountain Circuit and was recommended to us by Fyshokid and is courtesy of ShaolinMasta,

Have a suggestion for next week’s featured image? Drop me a private message, entitle it “GTPlanet Picture of the Week” and fill it out with your two choices and they’ll be featured in upcoming Rewinds. NOTE: You cannot elect your own work.

GT Academy Team Iberian (English subtitles)

I’m well out of my comfort zone with this one considering I don’t follow Academy-related news so I’ll jump right to the point: GT Academy finalist Hugo Araújo has translated all nine episodes of the GT Academy special aired in Spain, the first of which can be found here. The remaining eight parts can be found on the same page in the panel to the right of the video.

GTPlanet Vehicle of the Week

Racing toward you with stunning good looks is this week’s featured vehicle, the Alfa Romeo Brera recommended by Bobert power and is courtesy of our very own CoolJetta3.

The Brera was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro in collaboration with the Alfa Romeo Styling Centre and has a strong personality with a succession of traditional Alfa Romeo styling cues: the rear window is reminiscent of the Giulietta Sprint from years past, the bonnet (hood) is reminiscent of cars from the fifties, and the impression of powerful sports car via the large rear light clusters and four exhaust outlets. At the heart of the Brera lies a variety of platform options, but the cream of the crop is the 3.2L JTS V6 making 260 horsepower.

Have a suggestion for next week’s featured image? Drop me a private message, entitle it “GTPlanet Vehicle of the Week” and fill it out with your two choices and they’ll be featured in upcoming Rewinds. NOTE: You cannot elect your own work.

GTPlanet Tune of the Week

This week’s tune, recommended by danbojte for the second week in a row, focuses on the GT Academy Special Nissan GT-R SpecV done by resident tuner praiano63, and is relevant to all events allowing 550PP-tuned track monsters. Wait, it gets better because the tune not only applies to the GTA SpecV but any SpecV. The tune can be found here.

Exactly like the Picture and Vehicle of the Week features, if you have any suggestions for the upcoming Rewinds be sure to drop me a private message, entitle it “GTPlanet Tune of the Week” and let me know. NOTE: You cannot elect your own work.

Audi Quattro Sport S1 Rally Group B “Total Tribute”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7AQmgeMoM0A

Another carryover video but trust me, you won’t mind one bit.

Nine minutes of unadulterated bliss; nine minutes of crackles, pops, chirping, and the unearthly howl of that Straight-5 which is all too reminiscent of today’s Gallardo. In the Group B era of rally it was as much of a spectacle as it were a pleasure to watch, it’s come a long way since then but the cars are a lot more tamed and environmentally-friendly these days, and while it may be capable of retaining lifetime fans, nothing today can come close to the tenacity of the cars from this era. While the video may be lengthy it’s entirely worth it: the sights and sounds of the S1 and S1 E2.

GTPlanet Photomode Competitions

In Week 118 of the Standard and Advanced competitions you are to put your best foot forth and show the community just how seriously you take your in-game photography. All you need to know is as follows:

Week 118, Standard: Spring In Your Step – I’ll let this week’s judge, Miklad, take reigns on this one: “Yep, looks like Spring has finally arrive in the UK. The sun is out, the birds are singing and there’s no better reason to finally take your roof off and have a hoon in the country. So what better reason to get the Caterham out the garage and break the speed limit? Do it – only limiter is I want trees in the background. So no cities or buildings please. Keep it in the countryside.”

Week 118, Advanced 2.0 (Head to Head): Kazunori’s Army – If a Skyline jokes comes to mind the second after reading that you won’t be off base, however, this week is what you make of it. Literally. Side with Kaz and select any Japanese vehicle in the game, or go the way of the rest of the world and choose a vehicle from anywhere that’s not Japan. Any car, any location, it’s your canvas – go crazy!

For all of the relevant information pertaining to this week’s challenges be sure to stop by here and here.

Closing Thoughts

So many games have come out in the past 2 months it’s ridiculous. Yes, italicizing that entire sentence was indeed necessary because short of me yelling into each and every one of your ears, there’s simply no way to punch in or emphasize the point being made, short of saying “I place emphasis on…” or some variation thereof, of course. This month on the 5th lies the release of Crystal Dynamic’s reboot of Tomb Raider and I’m going to be all over it the day it releases, now whether or not I can tear myself away from Crysis 3 is an entirely matter. Or the Assetto Corsa Tech Preview. Or Project CARS. Or Dead Space 3. I’m certain you see the dilemma now.

As a PC and console gamer it’s a problem I absolutely love to have and I would appreciate it happening far more often than it does now because after this month there’s nothing on my horizon for several months… at least that I can currently recall. Although that may change with the apparent foregone conclusion that Gran Turismo is bound for the PS3 and not it’s upcoming successor which sets off a few alarms in my head because for one, unless the game itself is streamlined to an outstanding degree it’s going to be limited the same ways GT5 is, and two, is it really the best move to shoehorn GT6 onto PS3 when PD themselves have been involved in the PS4’s hardware development seemingly to circumvent those very shortcomings?

I don’t know. In any case I’m still looking forward to Forza Motorsport 5—which reminds me, ForzaPlanet and GTPlanet will be combining into one on May 10th, which means you’re possibly going to be seeing a lot more of me around here. How many times have I said “possibly” today? 12 times, possibly?

“Possibly” has been brought to you by GTPlanet. And on that bombshell it’s time to end. Until next week keep racing!

GT5 Photomode image by Kodje.

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Comments (31)

  1. Ferrari Enthusi

    OMG I also can’t wait for F1 2013 season to start! I have been watching F1 since Schmi Ferrari days & I can’t wait to watch it on the new channel now, NBC.

  2. ScotteDawg

    After watching the video of the Audi S1, I’m reminded of something that GT5 was missing and I hope is on GT6!
    They already have us racing on dirt and on asphalt and on wet asphalt – how about on ‘wet’ dirt (aka MUD)?

  3. gumbidave

    “the V6 platform being used isn’t new as the earliest use of such a platform—that I can recall—was in 1977 when Renault used a V6 Turbo.”

    Just because I’m a pedantic sod (sorry), the first V6 in F1 was a Ferrari in the late 50’s – first of all a 2.4l, followed by the 1.5l in the ‘Sharknose’. Neither were turbo’d, admittedly.

  4. LyingTruth

    Project CARS > GT6

    I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with GT6 but sadly I have this doubt inside of me that says I’ll be disappointed with what they do. Project CARS on the other hand looks like it could really change sim racing games.

  5. TokoTurismo

    Wooo love that Group B vid you posted T-12. :D Awesome GTP Weekly Rewind again, it rules. Btw. I never knew GTP and FMP was combining. o_O

  6. 05XR8

    I’ll be in the Schumacher stand at Melbourne this year. And like every year I go, I look forward to all the support races and special events. Each year I go gets better and better. Definitely want to hear the Erebus E63 AMG V8 Supercar at full song!!

  7. Rich S

    I think the Red bull X2010 used a turbo V6. Anyways, yes its a shame F1 cars continuously get heavier, have less downforce.

  8. praiano63

    Insane Group B…o_O . I don’t know what was the most dangerous thing to do: inside the car ? Or outside standing up at a few centimeters looking at this bolids. Crazy times, good times !!

  9. CallmeDan

    Alfa Romeo Brera was my first car I ever drove in Need For Speed Carbon! It will always remain as my second favorite car in the game, the Z06 was just so fast and loud.

  10. sangdude82

    Talking of F1, I wonder if PD can have a recent Red Bull F1 car like the RB7 or RB8 on GT6. I mean they already collaborated with Red Bull Racing’s Adrian Newey to make X1 Prototype.

  11. Phouchg

    No f1 isn’t about the best of the best driving the best of the best, have never been. You need some kind of regulations to make it even and interesting to watch and economically viable for more than a few extremely rich. It also needs a connection to real world cars to make it viable for car makers to join in on the fun, a v6 is apparently more widely used (although v4s as was planned first probably is even more) in the cars they make and then it makes sense to develop those kinds of engines.

    Also don’t understand why other racing and car nerds often are against environmental friendly cars.. It’s not like cars have gotten slower since car makers started making green cars. Cars just keep getting faster and better so come on, progress is good, be happy.

    On another note I really like weekly rewind so keep up the good work. :)

    1. mistersafeway

      The regulations are making the cars slower, uglier (personal opinion) and more expensive. Companies started backing out as the sport was made slower, I’m not sure why, but it could be to do with the escalating price of getting a competitive car because of the more rigid restrictions. The restrictions started heading down the current path after the 1994 season in the name of safety… now it seems like a convenient excuse as after 10 years without a death the cars reached one of their fastest points, then got castrated.

      And green? What’s green about jetting all over the globe? Don’t listen to Ecclestone and the FIA, they do what’s profitable, nothing more. If it were profitable to pump several tonnes of methane into the atmosphere, we’d all need factor 50 sunscreen on cloudy days by now…

      If this comes across as rude I wholeheartedly apologise as it isn’t meant as such.

  12. tka_tha

    Very nice photos as usual, and I enjoyed watching the video very much. The spectators must love the sport very much as they’re risking their lives in several scenes. I also liked very much the shot where one of the fans raised his arms and held his head.

    Thanks

  13. HarVee

    GTP and FMP are combining? That’s going to be kind of odd with all the GT vs FM going on. What concerns me the most, will the domain name to say SimRacingPlanet? or will the domain name still be gtplanet after combination?

    1. HarVee

      Whoops, meant to say: Will the domain name change to something like SimRacingPlanet, or will the domain of gtplanet still be the same?

      Damn typos.

    2. StiggyGT

      Merging? I hate to criticise, but there is a bit of a rivalry between the two franchises. And will the news be distributed to to all fans of both series?

  14. Bobert power

    Another good weekley rewind T12. The Audi Quattro S1 Group B was a fascinating machine. Didn’t Renault use the first Turbo F1 (The RS01) in 1982 or 1983?

  15. GT HP Nut

    It’s only now that I’ve known ForzaPlanet and GTPlanet are going to be merged together…
    That’s (probably) a good news.

    1. NA

      Should be interesting, given that it was my understanding that part of the reason for the forza site’s separate creation had to do with the “children” not playing well together when competing fans where just hanging around here bickering with each other, lol.

      Admittedly, that may have just been speculation that I read somewhere.

    2. SlipZtrEm

      NA – Funnily enough, the bickering still happens over there, since the vast majority of FP’s userbase are existing GTP members :)

      In my opinion, FP’s merger mostly has to do with the existing online communities being more established than it. GTP is the big fish of the GT community, but FP, thanks to a later start-up time relative to the series, and the much higher profile of the official Forza forums versus the official GT forums, meant Forza Planet had it’s work cut out. That said, there is a pretty big vast well of knowledge there, and shortly, here :p

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