Occasional Tales

And Horizon Open. Yes, I know I said I wasn’t going to bother, but I was also curious to see how my Opel Manta might fare in the Trial. We started with Fuera del Camino , which I’ve never much liked. I started on the middle row of the human grid and came 3rd in spite of some atrocious cornering on the sharp turns. I was a bit too fast into the first one and think that I pulled away from the rest of the team because I wasn’t making such an arse of myself as they were. El Pípila was the same. Mid pack start and 3rd place. I could’ve taken 2nd because the player in second was incompetent at cornering (all of them), but as humanity was winning by a large margin and as there was no threat from the drivatars, I let him keep the place. I missed the previous set of Horizon Open races and started on the second row of the grid round Bahía de Plano . I came 4th in my 2021 911 GT3 because other players were busy botching corners. I was on the second row again for Vista del Mar . Some sliding into...

 Series 43 preview and the 2023 Porsche 911 Turbo S. As I guessed yesterday, the post outline Series 41 was on the forums this morning, The post also covered Series 42 and teased Series 43. The cars. A couple of estate cars. Not my favourite class, although there are one or two decent ones such as the Hammer Wagon. There ought to be one of those stupid phrases to go with estate cars saying, “Get orf moi laaand!” (Irate country sort.) The Nissan Z Nismo doesn’t really interest me. I find the Nissan Z to be a barge and not a worthy heir to its antecedents, and I suspect that, for example, the perks for both cars will be the same. It’s a pity they won’t bring back the Bentley FE from FH4 because that had racing pedigree. I don’t really see the point of adding some chunky luxury barge to the game. Bentley marketing? The BMW M5 CS does interest me. First new M5 since the 2018 model which in FH4 has the most wins of any car I’ve driven. And lastly, in Series 42, we have some ridiculous s...

I started the week with 50 Years of Porsche to get my hands on the 2023 Porsche 911 Turbo S. I went with the 2023 911 GT3 RS. Not the best driving in Reservorio , which is not a track I like. Marginally less irritating than Panorámica . Línea Costera went well enough, but as I’ve said before, I’ve never really gelled with these new sprint races. Sound win round Mulegé . The new car wins bonus points for having tunable third-party aero. Tuning 2/9, but if you shorten the gears overall, the top speed of the car increases. Perks are all right, but include the head-to-head one, which you have to unlock if you want the FP perk. There were no real issues with the Ariel Atom in the weekly challenge. I one-shotted all three PR stunts on the mainland. One one-third good SWS and the other two were rubbish. The word on the street has been that the treasure hunt was bugged, but I managed to complete it in my S2 998 F40 Competizione. Eventlab (1). Festival High Speed Circuit . This was a sort of ...

The treasure hunt required you to do an awesome burnout skill in the vicinity of the test track, and being suspicious, I went into the test track in case you were meant to do it there. No, apparently not. I did the weekly in the Lotus Exige, a car I rather like. No problems doing any of the tasks, and I got a good wheel spin after the race. I did the HA and probably got something utterly naff. I managed to one-shot all the PR stunts in the BMW X5 M. I got a one-third very good SWS from Mudflows . Paso Inferior gave me a one-third good SWS, and the SWS from La Marisma , which I’d been practising, spat in my face and called me a dog and a poltroon. The photo got me enough Brownie points to unlock the 2023 911 GT3 R. Tuning 8/9 (the exception is brakes). Perks are good, but you’re forced to unlock a wheel spin to get another race bonus (the result was rubbish). Quite a few engine swaps, but for the stock, there’s not a wide range of upgrades. I checked the painting options and found that...

Easy money. Because of the current regime (“You will attend prison all day!”), I’ve been doing much of the Festival playlist first thing in the morning and tidying up the rest in the afternoon. I had enough done this morning to get my hands on the Porsche Rallye(/Dakar) after the first few tasks. I drove round the oval track in under 20 seconds to win treasure, and should’ve stayed there to deal with the collectibles and the daily. Was this some scheme to get players to go racing round the least interesting track in the game? The weekly in the KTM X-Bow went relatively well apart from the race ( Descansar Dorado ) in which a cheating drivatar ran off into the distance. Damn your digital wheels, sir! I already knew that I wanted to use the GTC4 Lusso for the PR stunts. As the car is ridiculously overpowered, it was just the thing for the drift zones both of which I one-shotted and both of which yielded one-third very good and one-third excellent SWSs. I one-shotted the danger sign and g...

 I started with the photo since the daily was to go to the stadium anyway. I drove onto the H, took my picture, and got some cap which only an American could wear. Like a plaid shirt. Me in plaid shirt – a complete ass. (Ditto one of those ridiculous caps.) American in plaid shirt – immediately identifiable as an American. The weekly was in the 1993 Mazda MX-5 Miata. Hang on, is it last week again? 1990s? I did Marigold as the road race. I ended up sliding a lot because the surface was wet and the tyres were thinner than a 90s supermodel. It needed aero (I had such a suspicion), which would probably have helped a little. Yesterday I practised the PR stunts in the 2015 Audi TTS. I one-shotted the speed zone for a rubbish SWS. I one-shotted the trailblazer for a one-third good and one-third very good. And in the same vein, I one-shotted the drift zone more competently than when I practised it yesterday. Two-thirds good SWS. I liked the new 911 GT3 RS in Rivals. Very drivable. The 91...

The treasure hunt was easy money. I haven’t done that danger sign in ages, but by and large I only do the PR stunts that are included in the Festival playlist. I followed this with the weekly challenge in the Toyota Supra RZ. Yet another bloody night race. Portentous voiceover to black screen: In an age of darkness… Screen caption: The 1990s… I one-shotted the speed trap in my 1996 Chevrolet Impala, but had been practising ahead of the new season. A one-third good SWS. I one-shotted the speed zone as well for a rubbish SWS, and I one-shotted the trailblazer for a second one-third good SWS. I did Horizon Tour next and ended up in retro rally cars. I initially chose the GT70, but found it was tuned for road racing, and switched to the 1970s Escort rally car. 3rd place from the back row round Mangrove and watched the usually iffy cornering from my teammates. I was on the front row of the human grid for River Scramble and won the race probably because of the questionable cornering behind...