FH5, Series 46, new cars, and Horizon Realms

-

I’ve spent much of today trying the Nissan Retro Rides Car Pack, and the cars which Horizon Realms has unlocked.

Nissan Retro Rides

They’re mostly the same. Same stock tuning – 1/9 (see me after class), the same perks, including the 150% XP racing bonus (probably to entice players to drive them), and whole range of engine swaps. I built all of them in much the same way and raced them round 5 laps of the Stadium Track.

1991 Nissan Figaro. Built to B class. 04:25.359 with a best lap of 00:50.594, which shows just how short this track is if I can lap it in this time in a FWD car.

1989 Nissan Pao. The camshaft boosted this into A class. Overall time, 04:16.551, which was 15 seconds faster than the drivatars. My fastest lap was 00:49.749.

1989 Nissan S-Cargo (escargot – geddit?). In this first race, this blasted into the lead. Another car I built into low A class. Very nose-heavy. Race time of 04:15.505 which was 21 seconds ahead of the drivatars probably because by now I had the measure of the track. Best lap was 00:49.424.

1987 Nisan Be-1. The most upgraded car, ending up in the middle of A class. My time was 04:09.807, which was 28 seconds ahead of the drivatars. Best lap 00:48.002. Only one drivatar completed the race. The rest DNF’ed. In fact, this wasn’t the only race in which over ten circuits I might’ve lapped the drivatars.

Is this car pack worth it? Not really. I don’t see myself ever driving these cars again. The game needs a museum where such cars can be put on display along with interesting information about them such as anime series or films in which they’ve featured (e.g. Kiki’s Delivery Service, which dates from about this time; yes, I know the film has nothing to do with cars).

The new cars

Unlocking the new cars is actually a good deal less excruciating than doing all the accolades, which could be shunned.

Hennessey Mammoth

Bloody awful. I tried the Titan. On my first attempt the Mammoth slid sideways into the trees on the left of the first slope, and then understeered into the trees on the right, refusing to turn even slightly. After reducing the weight to a mere 2.6 tonnes, I did better through the first sector on my second attempt to do the race, but kept getting passed by the drivatars and abandoned the race and this bloated American barge.

2024 Lamborghini Revuelto

Tuning 2/9 (pathetic). Perks include a 150% XP boost, a wheel spin and an SWS, but the right-hand side of the table is blocked by the radio and head-to-head perks. I chose the former, but care for neither.

I did the Goliath in 12:35.654, but found the car to be understeery enough to have me changing down by two gears to stop in from understeering through various curves and corners. In essence, a combination of too much power and the inherent understeer of AWD cars. It is possible to drop this into S1 class with an engine swap.

2023 Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato

I did the Gauntlet in 20:36.028, but wondered whether off-road race tyres might be a better choice even though the car already appears to be on off-road race tyres. I did five laps of River Scramble in 06:23.853, which put me 15 seconds ahead of the drivatars. I then switched back to stock tyres and did five laps of the Mangrove Scramble in 06:12.333, with the drivatars trailing by 11 seconds. Might’ve been the tyres, but I’d have to test them further. There wasn’t any noticeable difference between the two tyre compounds. Overall, the Sterrato seemed decent enough. I’d rate it more highly than the Porsche Rallye.

2018 Lotus Exige Cup 430

I have to give the Exige extra points for having tunable, manufacturer aero options that aren’t worse than Horizon aero. I did the Goliath in 13:57.678, but was circumspect about my upgrades. Not the fastest or the best car, but pretty decent to drive. I have a certain fondness for the original Exige.

Horizon Realms: the other accolades

I went through the rest of the accolades this afternoon, but was aware that there were issues with some of them. Many of them were the straightforward “Take a photo of a car” or “Reach a speed of 140kmh”. Others were colossally dull such as driving 32.2km round the Stadium Maze, which I estimate to be about 21.3 laps round the perimeter, and others were colossally annoying such as getting 25 speed skills round the Stadium Track (FE Sesto Elemento and expect to do 25 laps of the circuit).

The only accolade I’ve been unable to get is playing Radio Eterna for five minutes in Mulegé. I’ve tried doing it in skills and free roam mode. I’ve tried by starting with a different radio station and switching to Eterna. No luck, and I’m not the only person who’s had this problem.

To sum up: Retro Rides, don’t bother unless you’re a collector; the new cars are two hits, a near miss, and a what-were-you-thinking; Horizon Realms are a short-lived distraction to which I’m never likely to return.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FH5, Series 47, Week 3

-
The treasure hunt was doing Basejump in an Aston Martin. This DS is painful because the target is a smidge to the left, which meant failing the jump because I was either landing on rocks or failing the jump by landing to the left on, er, something. I tried the Valkyrie and the Valhalla, but completed the task in the Vantage since the game seemed not to like the other two cars. All this for 300FPs. I must be very close to passing 100,000FPs. From the weekly challenge I find I have five 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500s. I have no idea how I come to be in this position. The ultimate burnout was annoying because the car kept sliding off the road. I painted the car, but as I’d done that previously, wasn’t wasting a slot. I zipped down the motorway and completed another weekly challenge. I PB’ed the DS, but it took several attempts because of annoying obstacles. One-third good SWS. I managed to one-shot the SZ in the MB CLK GTR. Phew! That’s an SZ that can be a massive pain i’ th’ posterior. No, ...
Read more

FH5, Series 49, Week 2

-
The weekly in the 2014 Huracán ended up covering the daily (the visit to the vaguely located Festival site-of-the-week) and the scattered collectibles. I was expecting the novelty speed zones to be pains to do, but one-shotted both of them. Pyramid of the Moon took a couple of attempts as it usually does. One one-third very good SWS, and the other two were rubbish. I ended up ion B-class modern sports cars for Horizon Tour and chose the 2013 BRZ. I ought to have picked the BMW Z4 (older or newer) because the car launched like a slug that’s been nailed to the door of the garden shed. I started from the back round Emerald and came 3rd, but couldn’t catch the Z4s. Started on the front row for Horizon Mexico and came 3rd after overtaking a couple of less competent players, who insisted on sliding into turns. I was on the front row for Mulegé and came 2nd, partly because of a late overtake (again, I’ll beat ’em on corners every time) and partly, I believe, because someone missed a check...
Read more

FH5, Series 48, Week 3

-
No treasure hunt, but I combined the collectibles with the daily. I took a picture. I got an orange suit. Gods, I feel so sexy that my underpants have melted. No, wait, that’s the effects of the heatwave. The weekly challenge was in the 2010 Nissan 370Z. Fortunately, I had a new one, which I could build to complete the first event. I did the drift zone challenge in two goes, probably using the same car I used the last time. I used another Street Scene race for Rivals. My opponent had a dirty time, which mean I didn’t have to win to get the job done. My 1997 BMW M3 was still the same car from the last time I had to use it for the PT stunts. The ST is easily doable from the west even in a car that’s mostly stock. The SWS was one-third good and one-third very good. I managed to one-shot the SZ even though I crashed through the armco. One-third very good SWS. The DZ was a pain because I cannot drift for sustained distances in RWD cars. I was rubbish. The SWS was rubbish. Eventlab (1). Plyn...
Read more