The Ultimate Forza Motorsport Racing Rig – and it’s for sale!
Not only is this the ultimate Forza Motorsport Racing rig, but even more amazingly it has an identical twin in a UK warehouse, and they’re both up for sale! And just in time for the launch of Forza Motorsport 4!
The story behind them is pretty special. They were both originally built for Microsoft to promote the launch of Forza Motorsport 3 at a cost of £25,000 each, and once they were built they were shipped to Le Mans, and used to demonstrate the game. After the launch they were shipped back to the UK, but eventually became property of the shipping company, from where the current owner bought them. One of the two units has now been set-up for demonstration purposes as you can see in the video, and will be sold complete with everything you need.
The specifications list is pretty long, as you’d image for what must be the ultimate Forza Motorsport racing rig. For starters, you’ll get the required 3 Xbox 360 consoles. Those feed into the 3 Samsung 42 inch monitors, and control is with an official Xbox paddle shift steering wheel and foot pedals. Meanwhile you’ll be able to relax in the Corbeau race seat, assuming you can cope with the sound system. If you like engine noise, then you’ll love the fact the units feature an Onkyo TX-SR507 AV Receiver/Amplifier, a Kef Kube-1 Bass Box, Kef Surround Sound Speakers, and a Buttkicker amplifier under the seat.
And as you’d imagine for units built for a Microsoft launch, it’s all professionally built with steel and silver-coated MDF. All the wiring is hidden and everything fits into custom-built compartments, complete with cooling fans at the front and rear of each set-up. And the underside is lit, as wel as the light box on top of the spoiler.
Opportunities to own something like the ultimate Forza Motorsport racing rig don’t come along very often, and the company which currently owns the two units have already been speaking to potential buyers, but if you’re interested, there’s still a chance to own one of this extremely special set-ups, assuming you have the space to put it in! The owners are looking for around £10k for each unit, and if you’re a serious potential buyer get in touch with us via dan.thornton@hotmodmedia.com, and we’ll put you in touch to arrange a demonstration or purchase.
And remember – when you’re explaining this to your partner or bank manager, it’s an investment in a unique piece of entertainment and motorsport history, not the utilimate Forza Motorsport racing rig. And if you can’t see a way to raise the cash yourself, there’s always a local bar or club that definitely needs it (pick one within walking distance of your house and with a friendly bar manager/landlord). Meanwhile we’re trying to work out how many online racing friends we need to get to club together, as long as they don’t mind one of the units being located at OnlineRaceDriver HQ. But if you do have access to around £10,000 before us, make sure you email dan.thornton@hotmodmedia.com to get the details of the current owners and arrange a demonstration.
Specs for the ultimate Forza Motorsport racing rig:
- Ex Microsoft demonstration units, costing £25,000 to build
- 3 x Xbox 360 consoles
- 3 x 42″ Samsung monitors
- Xbox paddle shift steering wheel and foot pedals
- Onkyo TX-SR507 AV receiver / amplifier
- Kef Kube-1 bass box
- Kef surround sound speakers
- Buttkicker amplifier (under seat)
- Corbeau race seat
Forza Motorsport 3 vs Real World- Pagani Zonda R (Nurburgring)
ORD Racing: IFCA ALMS Series Race #3 Road America
If you’re really eagle-eyed, you might have noticed there wasn’t the customary midweek practice update for ORD Racing. Mainly because a quick 15 lap blast around Road America was all I could manage thanks to work and family commitments, and as a result, I stuck with the stock set-up for the BMW GT2 M3. That’s not entirely a bad thing, as I’m pretty accustomed to the way it handles now, and even with no tuning, times in the 2:04/2:05 range were possible, which wouldn’t be enough to compete with the leaders, but could edge towards the middle of the pack.
Road America: The Race
It turns out that I really could have done with more practice and set-up when faced with hosting a full lobby of drivers who were either more skillful, better prepared, or both! I’m not sure whether it was nerves, but somehow I managed to make a mistake with setting up the grid positions which meant I’d effectively reversed the grid, leaving myself in near the back. I didn’t mind personally, as I’d rather not hold anyone up getting away from the line, but it did disadvantage the driver who should have rightfully been on pole, and it’d come back to bite me later…
So the lights went green, I got an OK start, and the first corner went without any incidents. In fact it wasn’t until Turn 5 that we had any issues, when two cars came together – luckily both drivers were off the racing line by the time I arrived, and I picked up two places due to their misfortune. I’d spotted the rightful polesitter, Smally288, was coming up fast behind me as I’d expect, and got caught into two minds whether I should try and play careful and cautious to hold my position for a bit (Although with 50+ minutes left, I didn’t expect to hold it forever), or just move to the side, let him go and follow him for as long as I could to try and pick up some tips…
If you’ve ever wondered why a driver would move over and give up a legitmate position for a faster driver, here’s the reason…
The straightline speed of the BMW was enough to have gapped Smally288′s Porsche on the start/finish straight, but even around the first corner he’d closed right back up. For a split second I thought maybe I should either look behind and pull out of his way or just tell him to go right and go past – and that split second was enough for me to lose the rear of the BMW and wheelspin towards the inside of the track at the point Smally288 was lining up a move. With nowhere for him to go, I effectively launched the M3 into his path and with no chance to avoid me, he tagged the rear end. Totally and utterly my fault…
Luckily it didn’t seem to affect him too much as he shot off into the distance, eventually finished second. But it appears the M3 is more fragile than I might have though – multiple body panels were showing yellow damage, and the engine was also yellow and producing smoke. So it was into the pits within the first 5 minutes, and back out on track at the back of the field by some distance.
Although the steering was still OK, the engine and aerodynamic damage put me approximately 10+ mph down at the end of each straight, and with speed being the big advantage for the BMW, I resigned myself to 7th, after one driver had quit out. And thus it continued – I wasn’t able to match the speed of the driver in front, losing a little each lap, and within a few laps, I was in the uneviable position of being lapped.
Deciding to hold my line for the time being, I’d reached Canada Corner with enough of a gap back to the race leader that I planned to take the following turns 13, 13A and probably 14, and then keep out of the way on the start-finish straight. Unfortunately though, the great brakes on the BMW took the lead Porsche by surprise, and as a result, I was punted off the track. Scratch another 5-10mph off my top speed – meaning I was barely topping out 5th gear by the end of the straights.
The IFCA series do all have a complaints procedue should you wish to race a racing incident for cross-examination (Hence why saving replays is important), but as I was already trundling round to make the best of things, and after some heartfelt apologies from the leader – who was really the only one with anything to lose in the circumstances, I figured it’s just a racing incident, and hopefully I’ll be quick enough not to get lapped next time…
The only frustration was that another driver had just announced he’d damaged his car after a collision, so I finally had some hope that someone was in a similar position, and I might have a chance! Either way, as I continued, the early pitstop to repair damage meant that my tyres were pretty much shot by the 45 minute mark (Over 39% damage and sliding all over the shop), and some mental calculations suggested that I was likely to run out of fuel before the hour was up. So do I pit, or do I slow right down and try to eke out the fuel to last 60 minutes?
They say bad luck comes in threes. And Road America proved it. Having survived two collisions, and reached the point where the chequered flag would be victory enough, my internet connection dropped! Which means 2 of the only times I’d had my connection drop whilst using it have been during Race 1 and Race 3 of the ALMS series. Feel free to guess the language I was using at this point.
I think it’s safe to say I’ll be harassing my ISP and checking every possible router setting this week. To drop out with just 12 minutes to go is even more frustrating than Race 1, as although I wouldn’t have even been close to the next driver, every time I get an hour of driving time, it’s making a big difference.
The next one: The Nurburgring Nordschliefe Full
The good news is that I shouldn’t expect to get lapped at Race 4, as it’s the massively length and challenging Nordschliefe. I’m quite looking forward to this, as although the BMW will be a bit of a handful, there’s a higher than usual chance that other people will struggle with the unique challenges of the twisting, winding, bumpy, legendary circuit. Which means I hope to have more of a legitimate battle for positions, rather than mainly relying on back luck for other people… I’m also hopeful that I’ll get more of a chance to practice and set-up for this one.
Especially as I’m finally evolving ORD Racing by attracting my first team-mate for future Forza racing, so hopefully we’ll be able to benefit from each other in the future (I’m not sure what I can offer aside from cheering encouragment, but I’ll think of something). We can’t officially both run under the ORD Racing banner in the ALMS series as it’s already underway, and he’s actually using a different car at the moment, but he’s definitely faster than me, seems like a nice guy, and hopefully might share some tips on how to tackle the Nurburgring. I’ll also be developing an ORD Racing section of the site and forum, so if you’d be interested in joining the newest team in online racing, come and volunteer. We’re not necessarily looking for the absolute fastest racers (Although we won’t complain), but we’re definitely looking for people who can share a good team spirit, help out other racers to improve, and don’t mind being featured in regular articles on the site (If you fancy writing them as well, even better).
And that doesn’t mean we’re not interested in news about other teams, race series and drivers – we’ll still aim to provide unbiased coverage of every series and club wherever possible. So if you’re in a club and fancy some coverage, let us know, or send us race reports, articles, videos etc.
Time to go and tackle the Nurburgring – anyone got money for the toll barrier?
The previous exploits of ORD Racing:
- ORD enters the IFCA AlMS Series
- ORD Racing: IFCA ALMS Update #1 Sebring Full Practice
- ORD Racing: IFCA ALMS Race 1: Sebring Full Circuit.
- ORD Racing: IFCA ALMS Update #2 Mugello Practice
- ORD Racing: IFCA ALMS Race 2: Mugello Full Circuit – Our first race finish!
GT5 vs FM3: The Back to the Future DeLorean battle
Curious about some differences between the two leading console simulators, and knowing that both games have the iconic DeLorean DMC12 to compare on the same tracks, I thought I would take a trip back into, the future! But hold on to your “Flux-Capacitors” just a minute, these two cars are not exactly the same it turns out.
Turn10 chose the original version cir. 1981, you know, the Michael J. Fox/Marty McFly version used in the popular 1985 movie, “Back To The Future.” Polyphony had to be different of course, and went with a later iteration from 2004 known as the, “S2” which adds another 60hp, or around 200hp in total, as the original car had intended to be, –before the smog Nazi’s got a hold of it in the US.
Compared to the respective real car versions, the simulated versions are for whatever reasons faster cars. Not just faster, but quicker, and with better road holding ability. Lateral g on the original car was about .77, but on the sim cars, closer to .90. Even so, the original DeLorean in its day was a slightly above average performer in its class despite its mass and puny 130hp V6.
To do this experiment we had to build the FM3 DeLorean up to match the S2 GT5 version, since you can’t downgrade the newer GT5 DeLorean. We did this without increasing the size of the V6, and came up with a good compromise of hp/tq/wt to match the GT5 version. The FM3 DeLorean still ended up being slightly heavier, and less powerful than the GT5 version, depending on the state of tune of the GT5 version. As many of you know the GT5 cars are not static models, they vary in their performance depending on how fresh the car is. A car with a fresh tune-up and oil, with some break-in miles, will produce the best hp/tq numbers.
The real S2 version of the car was rated at 197hp, a number that we could hit with the FM3 car easily. The GT5 car would range from 192hp to 202hp depending on the mileage.
Aside from the hard numbers you see below, the two versions of Laguna Seca are perhaps even more different than the cars. GT5’s Laguna is a wider track that feels bigger than the FM3 track. The FM3 track feels almost cramped, and has a smoggy hazy look to it, whereas GT5’s Laguna Seca is a crystal clear day with a few puffy white clouds, and blue sky in the distance.
The handling manner’s of both cars is oddly similar to a point. Both cars exhibit a rear heavy unbalanced feel with strong front to back body movement much like the real car. Both cars have a light front end and noticeable nose dive under braking, and lift under acceleration. But the GT5 car seems to have more body roll and action in general. It’s a bit busier than the FM3 car even though both cars have what feels like the same road adhesion. The FM3 DeLorean likes an inside line and feels like it is better able to hold it. The GT5 car has no favorite cornering line, and behaves the same way no matter what line you use. The GT5 DeLorean is indifferent to rumble strips, but is sensitive to track camber, which is the opposite for the FM3 DeLorean.
Graphically both cars look great, and even though the GT5 car is a much hated “Standard” car as opposed to the beloved “Premium” cars, it is still more detailed than that of the FM3 version. Driving them back to back you start to get the feeling that the FM3 DeLorean is more cartoon-like even though it has an added interior view that the GT5 car doesn’t have.
Sound quality goes to the Forza product for the engine, but tire sound goes to the Gran Turismo product for the tire screeching. The GT5 car can tend to have too much gear whine and not enough muffler/exhaust notes too.
Speed sensation is very close to the same for both cars. I ran both cars without any assists or tuning, and never felt there was a need to do otherwise. Braking was vastly different. The FM3 DeLorean was quick to brake, but the GT5 car took a more progressive style to slow down.
Gearing was very different too. The stock GT5 gears were perfect, but the gears for the FM3 car were too tall, bogging down in 3rd gear especially.
But when the dust settled and the stop watches were stopped, everyone was scratching their heads like the “Doc” in the movie, wondering how the slower car went way faster than the faster car? Our only conclusion is that the FM3 Laguna Seca track is somewhat shorter than the GT5 version of the famous track. Either that, or the FM3 Delorean has a hidden Flux-Capacitor.
FM3 DMC12 “S2″
(Class E-232)
197hp/210tq
2,843lbs
0-60 6.7sec as tested
0-100 17.4sec as tested
Top speed 147mph as tested
Laguna Seca 1:42.600
GT5 DMC12 S2
202hp/217tq
2,839lbs
0-60 6.4sec as tested
0-100 16.1sec as tested
Top Speed 150mph as tested
Laguna Seca 1:48.108
Full Throttle,
AAR GTDon
IFCA Championship 2010 – Race 3 – Motegi East Highlights
IFCA Championship 2010 – Race 2 – Silverstone International Highlights
The ORD FM3 Community Choice Classics Project Car
The Community Choice Classics pack of downloadable content for Forza Motorsport 3 has now been released, for 400 points on Xbox Live. And like most people, we rushed online to download it – after all, it’s probably the most interesting car pack released for the game, with the following cars included:
- 1971 AMC Javelin-AMX
- 1973 BMW Motorsport 2002 Turbo
- 1970 Chevrolet El Camino SS 454
- 1971 De Tomaso Pantera
- 1982 DeLorean DMC-12
- 1987 Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth
- 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II
- 1978 Saab 99 Turbo
- 1983 Volvo 242 Turbo Evolution
- 1957 Ferrari 250 California
But we want to do more than just start racing in our shiny new cars. So what better time to unveil an OnlineRaceDriver project car. And from a list including the Ferrari 250 California, the Sierra Cosworth and DeLorean, what better car to pick than the 1983 Volvo 242 Turbo Evolution.
You’ll notice that we immediately re-sprayed it in non-original schoolteacher beige, and added the obligatory OnlineRaceDriver logos. But that’s all so far. The plan is that over the next few days and weeks we’ll explore how to tune and improve the Volvo, build on it’s strengths and combat the weaknesses to make it a truly competitive racer.
Luckily, as the self-nominated Volvo pilot, I’ll be able to call on the immense skills of our own GTDon, and at just 7,500 in-game credits, it’s easy to pick up a small fleet of Volvos to compare tweaks and changes. Plus, with the Swedish dedication to safety, I know I won’t get hurt when I inevitably wreck it.
Finally, before you mock the Volvo too much, keep in mind the 1983 Turbo was built for racing homologation in Europe. That means just 500 were built, all sold to Volvo of North America, and 30 went back to Europe to race. All of the special edition had flat bonnets and upgrades including larger radiators and intercoolers, water injection, the rear spoiler, and better suspension.
New FM3 DLC – Community Choice Classics Pack
The Community Choice Classics Pack will be available to download as an add-on to Forza Motorsport 3 on Tuesday, December 14th, 2010, at a cost of 400 Microsoft Points.
The pack was selected by Forza fans at motoring blog Jalopnik and features 10 classic cars from an original voting list of more than 100. The eventual selection runs from 1957 to 1990:
- 1971 AMC Javelin-AMX
- 1973 BMW Motorsport 2002 Turbo
- 1970 Chevrolet El Camino SS 454
- 1971 De Tomaso Pantera
- 1982 DeLorean DMC-12
- 1987 Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth
- 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II
- 1978 Saab 99 Turbo
- 1983 Volvo 242 Turbo Evolution
- 1957 Ferrari 250 California
Obviously the DeLorean should ring a few bells, but before you assume the ’57 Ferrari also has a film tie-in, you should probably know that Ferris Bueller’s Day Off featured a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California. And it was only used for interior shots, with replicas built by Mark Goyette used for all the action, etc. The real Ferrari is one of the most expensive cars to be sold at auction, going for $10,976,000 is 2008, whereas the most recent replica sale raised £79,600.
With regards to the 1957 model, it’s actually the original version, which was replaced in 1960 with the version used in the Bueller film, and only 45 of the originals were ever made. So 400 MS points to drive the Ferrari alone seems like a bit of a bargain – although there’s no word on how much it will cost in the game itself.
IFCA Championship 2010 – Promotional Video
Turn 10 pay tribute to classic Dreamcast racer
Turn 10 have referenced the classic Dreamcast racer Ferrari F355 Challenge in a new update to the cars and tracks available in the online production class races.
In addition to three new classes (Endurance, American Muscle and Stig’s Garage), they’ve changed the selections for the production class, and one new challenge is racing the full Suzuka circuit in the Ferrari F355 Challenge.
Not sure why this is cool? Ferrari F355 Challenge featured one car, a small number of tracks and a pretty high difficulty level, whether it was the Sega AM2-developed arcade machine (Notable for having 3 screens to allow peripheral views), the Dreamcast version, or the eventual Playstation 2 conversion…
A nice little touch for Forza Motorsport 3 to pay a small bit of homage to one of the greats of an earlier era…
