FH4/5, Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA Stradale

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I tried the car in FH4 to get a feel for it. It was all right in C class, somewhat slow, and occasionally slidey because of the bicycle tyres on it. In B class it was more of the same, but I needed to be subtle with cornering or the back end was prone to step out. A800. Aero time because the car was floaty and slidey through benign corners, dips and rises. Aero helped, and minimum tuning settings seemed to be sufficient.

In FH5, the Giulia Sprint wasn’t exactly the same. It took a good deal more fiddling to build a C class car which in the sprint races (Descansar Dorado, Dunas Blancas and Copper Canyon) took late leads and struggled to stay ahead of the drivatars. Plaza Circuit was a whole different matter, with my car winning by 15 seconds.

I upgraded to semi-slick tyres in B class, but the performance in the sprint races was much the same – a late lead in Descansar Dorado; not much oomph uphill in Dunas Blancas, but decent cornering; plagued by a Bentley 8 litre in Copper Canyon (seriously game?) but had the cornering where I needed it. I had a 12-second lead at the end of Plaza Circuit.

It became immediately apparent when I upgraded the car to A800 that it needed aero, having sod-all grip. Aero tuned to the minimum was better than nothing, but needed to be higher. I tried it round the Emerald Circuit in passing as a test, which showed up various issues. Even the sweeping curves in Dunas Blancas were a bit much for it. Copper Canyon was a bit better, but 1st and 2nd gear were prone to wheel spin. My first foray round Plaza Circuit was in the wet. The car doesn’t like the wet (cat in previous existence?) and proved intractable. I found a dry race, and the car behaved itself.

Ultimately, AWD may be the way to go with this (especially in S1 class), but with aero as well to make it decently drivable.

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