FH5, Italian Exotics DLC

With notes on other new cars.

The update was 16Gb. I suspect 1Gb of it was content and bug fixes, and the other 15Gb was the additional slots for cars, liveries and tunes.

I went back to Mexico and bought the new DLC. I went pootling this morning and racing this afternoon.

The Ferrari 296 GTB has the usual blah perks[1]. It gets 2/9 for stock tuning settings[2], and the gears are too short from 1-3 and too long at the top end even if the car does eventually get there. I raced it round the HW Goliath with handling upgrades but no aero. The car is fast and grippy and quite possibly the best of the bunch.

The Ferrari Roma[3] has a 150% perk, but presumably only if you race it in a seasonal[4]. Stock tuning is also 2/9 with silly gear settings, but the weight distribution is 50%. From the HW Goliath it became clear that the car needs aero. It’s not as planted as the 296 GTB.

I’ll mention the Italdesign Da Vinci Concept[5]. Big, fat barge. I drove it from the Festival site towards the speed trap at the top of the crest just as you get to Dunas Blancas. The corners are benign, but the car understeered through one. Needs race weight reduction and then some.

The Lamborghini SC20 is a modern Aventador J. It has an SWS, but the perks are otherwise the usual shrugs. Stock tuning gets 3/9 because you can tune the rear aero and partly tune the diff. The gear settings are sensible. The car put in a decent performance round the HW Goliath. Didn’t need front aero, but that probably helped with turn-in. Overall, all right, but unexciting.

The Lamborghini No. 63 Squadra Corse Huracán Super Trofeo Evo… Sorry, after all that I’ve lost my train of thought. Another car with a disappointing set of perks. It does score 8/9 for tuning, and from my initial drive, the handling was decent, but the front end was a bit floaty. It’s an extreme track toy, but without engine upgrades won’t go beyond about 300kmh. As I suspected, it struggled round the HW Goliath, being pestered by a 599 XX Evo. At least I managed to win that race. At a guess, this car needs more engine or it’s another Huracán STO.

The Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 has rubbish perks, but 9/9 for stock tuning. It’s one of those cars where shortening the overall range of the gears actually increases the speed of the car. Perhaps I should’ve left the gears alone because the HW Goliath was one of those races where the drivatars are missiles. For the first lap I languished in 9th or 10th or 11th. I managed to take the lead on the second lap on the approach to the loop, but then the Sesto Elemento blasted past me as if I wasn’t there. I managed to overhaul it only for the CCGT to pass me (as it’d done several times already) and take such a lead that I had no chance of winning[6].

The Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica has more duff perks and scores 2/9 for tuning. The gear settings are actually all right. I predicted that this would be all right round the HW Goliath and I was right. It felt a bit floaty and tended to clang over the bumps.

Overall, if I had to rank the cars, the 296 GTB is the best even without a full range of upgrades. The SC20 is a sound performer, but that’s all. The Huracán Tecnica is just another Huracán and doesn’t really offer anything special, but is a decent enough car. The Roma fits in here, but perhaps aero would put it on a par with the previous car. There’s not much between the Huracán STE and the Essenza, which are disappointing for the sort of car they’re meant to be[7]. The Da Vinci Concept should’ve remained on the drawing board. The cars of the Italian Exotics DLC are fine, but not without issues.

However, see my next post for further thoughts about the Ferrari Roma, the Huracán STE and the Lamborghini Essenza.

Other new cars.

Yes, I’ve bought all of the new cars that are available via the Autoshow and have managed to get pictures of almost all of the new cars (currently available or locked behind a playwall), but the Alfa Romeo 4C and 8C, and the Lancia Delta S4 were being coy.

Notes

1. In FH5 the perks are often so blah that I don’t bother with them. Some cars have perks for Street Scene (ugh!) and drag racing (pointless) when you’d never use them for either. Many good cars want you to waste 10 points for a slight boost to XP or you’re forced to unlock the convoy and head-to-head perk to get to something worth having.
2. Typically tyres and brakes; very useful. [Sarcasm? –ed.]
3. I saw one of these recently, but was unsure what it was; if I’d seen the ghastly looking grill, I would’ve known the answer. It looks like an Aston Martin.
4. This is no recommendation.
5. They could’ve had the anniversary Countach (but I don’t mind its exclusion); they could’ve had the Daytona SP3 (but perhaps Ferrari wanted that car to be a real-world exclusive); they could’ve had the GT3 version of the 296 (or a Clienti Corse one); and they ought to have had the Maserati MC20. Missed opportunity. I wonder whether Italdesign forced this on PGG for the money from licensing fees in return for which they could have the Zerouno (which is a good car).
6. I want to try this and the STE round, say, the Horizon Festival Circuit or somewhere like Tierra Próspera to see whether driving on proper tarmac has any impact.
7. The drivatars often trounce the more extreme cars in the game in races round the HW Goliath.