Forza Reviews

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photo by europeancarlove

A Go-Kart for the Rich

Introduction: In the year 1947, Enzo Ferrari started to produce road cars to fund his racing team. Fast forward 40 years, and the Ferrari S.p.A. brand has just released a supercar to celebrate the 40th anniversary. This car is the legendary F40.

Inside the car you won’t find luscious leather abundant, cool AC, and tiger fur floor mats. Instead you’ll find a steering wheel, a dashboard, two seats, and that’s about it. This car was built to go around a track and it shows. The F40 has a monstrous 471 hp getting the car from 0-62mph in only 3.8 seconds. 

A friend of mine happens to own one of these and I have to say that Turn 10 did quite the job on rendering this car. They even got the thin paint that gives off a reflection of anything within 100 feet of the car.

When I drive this car, I turn all driving assists off so no abs, no traction or stability control, and with a manual, 3 pedal gearbox. This is the way the car was meant to be driven in my opinion. It is a big, red, Italian go-kart.

Off the line: The car is a little slow off the line, but once it reaches about 40 mph and the turbos kick in, your speed spikes dramatically. Of course you can’t go full throttle right off the line because that’s an easy way to meet a new friend named “Mr. Barrier.” 

Handling: The car has a little trouble with understeer on most curves, so you have to compensate with some rather slow speeds for tracks on most corners. The F40 does keep it’s traction quite well though, so don’t be afraid to push the throttle a little harder if you have to.

Price: Costing just under $400,000 CR, the F40 is a difficult choice to make when deciding what car to buy. Stock, the F40, is a low S Class, so if you want to race it, you’ll have to upgrade it. Some people may call this blasphemy, but in the end, it’s what’s important to you.

Verdict: The F40 is iconic, beautiful, fast, fun, and a great car for the track. If you’ve got a large amount of CR sitting around, I would definitely advise buying the F40 to track, maybe upgrade, and make your own. You’ll never tire of looking at the car and with all the assists off, you’ll always be trying harder and harder to tame the car. With all assists off, everything has to be done perfectly do get the corner down right. You have to brake early enough to account for understeer, but not so hard that your breaks lock up. Then you have to feather the throttle or else welcome to spin city. Despite all of this, the F40 is one of best cars in the game to drive and I think everyone should drive it at Mugello at least once.

Purchase or Pass? Purchase, but only if you have money to spare.

A Little Blue Pill Can Work Wonders via Europeancarlove

Hennessey isn’t like most tuning companies. Instead of adding a body kit that makes a car look more like a fish, they make a car that wipes out anything that challenges it at a stoplight. From GMC Sierras to McLaren SLRs, Hennessey has a performance kit for everything. So when Hennessey got bored of adding twin-turbochargers to Ford SVT Raptors, they did the obvious thing: Feed a Lotus Elise some Viagra and put a turbocharged V8 in the middle. Welcome to the certifiably insane Hennessey Venom GT.

The Venom is powered by a GM sourced twin-turbocharged LSX V8 (bored to seven liters), that pushes out either 800hp, 1000hp, or 1,200hp depending on what trim level is purchased. The 1,200hp version that is provided in game jumps from zero-to-sixty in a Bugatti Veyron matching 2.5 seconds, and to a top speed of 266mph. Handling is not the best point of this car, and for good reason. All that power with none of the weight (2,700lbs) makes it a bit spooky to drive on track. Any variation of the throttle will cause the back-end to step out, all while causing general mayhem among other drivers. However, with high amounts of patience along with a ‘light foot,’ the Venom GT becomes a grippy rocket ship that becomes one of the most satisfying cars to drive in all of Forza.

The Hennessey’s price is just as ridiculous as the car itself: A dizzying 900,000Cr. It beats all the serious contenders in the 250+mph club price-wise. Every car except for  the Nissan R35 GTR, which is about 750,000Cr less expensive and about 750,000 times less exciting. In the end the price might scare, the car might not be a circuit monster, and it might not be the fastest straight-line car, but the Hennessey Venom GT is definitely one of the craziest cars in the game.

Pass or Purchase? Purchase.

The Little Cayman That Couldn’t via Europeancarlove

Porsche is back in Forza Motorsport. After EA’s contract ended with the company from Stuttgart, Turn10 jumped at the opportunity to make a deal. Jump to May 22^nd, and Porsche is back. Many of the cars stayed the same, however some were updated to more current models. An example of one of these updated cars is the 2011 Porsche Cayman R. All around, the new Cayman R is more aggressive. The designers added a bit of mascara to the headlights, making it look…meaner. Out back the tail lights are styled a bit differently compared to Forza 3’s Cayman S, and a fixed spoiler replaces the retractable one. The only styling that really doesn’t work is the contrasting Porsche sticker on the side, which seems to pay homage to a base-V6 Ford Mustang.

The engine is upgraded too. The 3.4L Flat-6 is now upgraded to 330hp, 10hp more than the S. The 3,025lb Coxster banshee screams to sixty in a relatively quick 4.4 seconds and on to a top speed of 183mph. Handling in stock form is a bit iffy. Safe and slow understeer reigns supreme on turn in, making the car feel much slower than it actually is. Attacking corners way too fast, however, has the opposite effect. The mid-engined layout drags the car off the track, which is not ideal, but neither is the slow understeer. A race suspension and some quick tuning can fix the handling quickly, making this car a somewhat decent A-class circuit car.

With a price tag of 66,000Cr, the Cayman R isn’t cheap, and nowhere near a bargain for what the car is. Considering it’s main rivals in the same price point are the 2004 Porsche 911 GT3 and 2005 Acura NSX, the Cayman struggles to prove itself in a very tough high-B, low-A class market. The Porsche Cayman R isn’t a bad car by any stretch of the imagination (it’s a heap of fun), there are much better cars for that price.

Pass or Purchase? Pass. Buy the NSX.

New Forza Review out tonight! This badboy Acura plays a bit like the villain to our reviewed set of wheels. 

Stay tuned. 

Chrysler’s Comeback via Europeancarlove

The year 2008 was a rough one for the Chrysler Group. Well, most years were really. Facing bankruptcy was a real possibility for the company; however the government and Fiat stepped in to stop that from occurring. In 2011 Chrysler Group came back in a big way, especially with the 300. The redesigned 300 sedan showed that Fiat was more than willing to get Chrysler up and running to be the luxury brand it should have always been. And with the new 300 completed, it was only a matter of time before SRT got their hands on the car.

With Dodge’s new 392 (6.4L) V8 pushing out a brawny 465hp through a five speed automatic transmission that has zero to sixty is dealt with in 4.5 seconds, the 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8 moves with gusto and bravado usually saved for something of a more sporting caliber (No pun intended). The engine delivers smooth power throughout the RPM range, all while sounding vaguely similar to Barry White in a room full of disgruntled bumblebees. Although the car may be fast in a straight line, the SRT8 falls apart staggeringly quick when the car approaches a corner. This being a luxury street brawler and not a track car, the SRT8 rolls to the point of slamming it’s corners on the tarmac on turn in, all the while struggling to keep the back end in check on exit. Circuit racers look elsewhere. However, when the car is driven like a loon, it responds beautifully. Sliding completely around a corner is easily managed thanks to its gobs of useable power and torque.

Ringing in at a cool 28,000Cr, the SRT8 makes quite a bargain of itself. It’s only 3,000Cr more than the previous generation 300 SRT8, and about one million times greater. If 465hp isn’t enough go-go power, turbo chargers can be fitted to push power past 800 while still staying A-class. The 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8 is an immensely fast and insanely fun to drive on almost any track, all while looking drop dead beautiful. It’s a true comeback story.

Pass or Purchase? Purchase.

Sticker Shock
via Europeancarlove

Let’s just get this out of the way now: The 2007 European market Honda Civic Type-R is a weird looking car. That is not an insult, per say; the car is just different.  And different is a lot better than beige. So when Mugen had a go with the Type-R in 2010, they made something pretty special: Enter the Mugen Civic Type-R 3D. Powered by a demonic 2.0L inline four cylinder, the Mugen pushes out 237 horsepower to the front wheels; and manages zero to sixty in 5.9 seconds.

At Hockenheim, the Mugen is a precision track weapon. Grip is almost infinite once the corner has been entered; it was even hard to even tell that the Mugen was a front wheel drive Honda Civic. Part of this comes down to the miniscule weight (2,718 pounds), and the small amount of power. It is very easy to go full-throttle through a corner, and not feel any of the front wheel drive’s negative effects. Hondas have always had less powerful cars than their competitors, and they have always handled better; this Mugen is no different. It’s closest competitors the Chevrolet Cobalt SS, and Seat Leon Cupra R both have more than a thirty horsepower advantage; but the Honda can drive circles around both.

However, the Mugen falls flat on its face in the price department. At 55,000Cr, it’s the second most expensive front wheel drive car; behind only the Seat Leon Supercup, which is a mental little racecar. 55,000Cr is a lot to ask for most rear/all wheel drive cars in the first place, and it is more than insane to price a Mugen that high. The car is more than twice as much as the Cobalt and the Cupra R mentioned earlier. If it’s a front wheel drive car one is after, use the “built not bought” mentality; there are much cheaper, and better ways to hit Vtec..…yo.

Pass or Purchase? Pass.  

(via europeancarlove)

A Wood Paneled Dream
via Europeancarlove 

Many muscle car legends were born in the 1960s. The Chevy Camaro, and Ford Mustang may ring a bell to anybody familiar with the muscle car era. On the other end of the car spectrum is the 1966 Ford Country Squire. Although the Country Squire may not be a muscle car, it most certainly has the power of one. With a 390 (6.4L) V8, the Ford pushes out 315hp and an earth splitting 427lb-ft of torque through a three-speed transmission. Zero to sixty takes a healthy 7.9 seconds, and a top speed of 138mph can be reached.

The Ford is a boat in the corners. It was never designed to be a Ferrari killer on the track, so circuit tuners may want to look elsewhere. The skinny 195mm tires have trouble handling the 4,049 pound curb weight, making cornering a slow, tedious affair. The transmission has issues as well. With only three gears, the big Ford is either bogging down or bouncing on the rev-limiter. The engine’s big torque, however, can easily pull the car from a slow corner up to speed. Even if the car’s suspension is as soft and spongy as Rosie O’Donnel’s mid-section, the car is good fun to drive. All that power from the 390 can easily overwhelm the rear tires, making the Ford a sliding master when stock. 

For a painless price of 12,000Cr, the Ford Country Squire is a bargain. If the 390 V8 is not torquey enough, a 5.4L supercharged V8 from the GT500 is an option. In a straight line with the 5.4L, the Country Squire is hard to beat. The Ford may not be a competitive car on the track, but what the car does exceptionally well is look cool. No matter what direction one takes the Country Squire, it looks awesome. The Ford can do everything that a SUV can do, but with wood paneling. 

Pass or Purchase? Purchase.