Forza PI Pairings // 14 // Muscle vs. Tuner (Again) - #blogpost

Monday means Forza PI Pairings!

This time we have a classic Muscle vs. Tuner-battle, supplied by RWB Dude, through the Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX and the 1970s Chevrolet Chevelle SS.

As this is a battle between two different modding communities I figured that it would be inappropriate to keep them stock. I only changed the wheels; the rest is purely cosmetic and represents each style pretty well.

Because of the silly weather in Germany at the moment (38°C) I will keep this episode a bit shorter.

Here is what we are doing:

The idea is to find two cars from different eras, surfaces or simply countries and comparing them through timed laps. The only thing they have in common is their PI rating (PI = Performance Index). Forza gives them a rating to determine how various vehicles compare. Stats like top speed, handling and braking are mixed together to put out a number (In this case it is 621-620). Those numbers are then used to put cars into classes (D, C, B, A, S1, S2, X). In this instance I will stick to the classes C, B, A and S1 because others lack the variety I am looking for here. Exceptions prove the rule, though. All cars are not modified and driven with ABS and an automatic transmission. For drag races all assists are turned off and manual with clutch is used.

All previous episodes can be found through the #ForzaPIPairings hashtag.

545 PI: Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX

The Eclipse to me is a Mitsubishi Evolution with a coupe body and a less playful AWD system. If that is good or bad depends on what you expect from it. It is clearly neither slow nor ugly but also not the most appealing package that you could have either.

If I should ever come across one with an intriguing price tag and in need of some wheels I might go for it but I would not go looking for one specifically. I think that is the biggest problem of the Eclipse. It was always in the shadow of other Japanese performance cars back then and now it is forgotten.

Still, should be enough for the American grandpa over there…

542 PI: Chevrolet Chevelle SS

A Chevelle is a Chevrolet Malibu with a fancy body on top and a massive engine below the bonnet. The 454ci V8 (7.4 liters!!!) is an absolute brute of an engine. It is big, even by American engine standards. Having that lump in the front of your commuter sedan does affect the handling somewhat. Speed goes up but understeer does as well.

I always was (and probably always will be) in the Muscle car camp. They are cool to everybody who thinks fuel consumption is important but not so much that an econobox is bearable.

Will it be able to beat the shopping cart from Japan?

1st test: Horizon's Groovy Lap

Conditions: Night/Cloudy (3 laps)

Since this is a very subjective comparison the only way to show a clear winner is through some hard facts. For this I have arranged a few tests (at night, on the street) that will prove who is right and who has bitten of more than they can chew. First of are three laps each around the Horizon Festival.

The Eclipse pulled the short straw and had to go first out into the cold night. It was, as you would expect, very composed and provided good grip through corners, great exit speeds out of hairpins and was overall easy to drive. It could have used more power, though.

What did not need more power was its competitor. The Chevelle struggled due to bad tires, bad brakes and the lack of a fifth gear. This track has no real straights and yet it managed to top out at 200 km/h (120 mph). Only just so that it was not an issue but still.

Traction was surprisingly good but I guess the weird gears had something to do with it.

The Turbo child takes the first point but will it be able to win a second one?

2nd test: Horizon Festival Drags

Conditions: Evening/Cloudy (3 runs)

Street Racing is all about acceleration, quarter miles and the perfect run between the lights. So naturally we need to have a drag race.

As with all drag tests, the cars get three runs each against the AI. I drive them without any driver aids here so if I mess up a shift…so be it.

The Chevy pulls up first and would be the obvious winner but this is a real quarter mile, not a Fast & Furious quarter mile, where your race lasts for about a minute. If the muscle car messes up the start it is over. As we have established before, the Chevelle does have traction that should not be underestimated.

A 14 second quarter mile time is equally impressive for a car of this age.

The Mitsubishis ace up its sleeve is of course the AWD system but here it also creates a new problem: the traction is too great. Instead of spinning the tires like the Chevelle does the Eclipse bogs down at the start and has to kick the clutch again to get going. This and the fact that it has less power mean that the Chevelle is easily faster.

1:1 so far.

3rd test: Edinburgh trainstation

Conditions: Afternoon/Sunny, Wet roads (3 laps)

A big city, a simple road circuit, modified cars…it could be a proper race from Fast & Furious but annoyingly I forgot to turn it to night time again so we have a street race in the middle of Edinburgh…at lunch.

This track features many fast corners which the first track did not have. The GSX has the favorite status here and is allowed to go first.

Would it surprise anyone to hear that it is very easy to drive? Probably not. If you stick to the racing line there are no problems to be had with the Japanese companion.

The Chevelle is a different breed entirely. It has huge problems in the fast corners which is only because the tires are almost 50 years old. If it had better ones the Eclipse would be in big trouble but as it stands the Chevy cannot match its pace. That said, both cars are way faster than the AI around here.

Conclusion

So the Tuners take it. As it turned out a 24 year old car is better handling than a 49 year old one.

Who would have guessed?

With that we are at my main criticism about the whole Muscle vs. Tuner-thing. You compare an old car to a really old car. If I told you that a ‘64 Mustang is faster than a Model T you would think of course it is but with Japanese machinery people seemingly have to do this kind of a comparison every time someone says that a big V8 is better than a tiny four-cylinder with a massive turbo.

Actually, if you boil it down the fact that the Chevelle could hang with the Mitsubishi is far more impressive than the GSX’s win. Last week the antiquated Buick lost to the advanced Cossie. This was pretty much the same sort of comparison (only that there we did not have such a production year gap) and it went the same way, only that back then the Cossie was at a disadvantage.

On a side note: I did not call the Tuners ‘JDM’ because that refers to cars being built in Japan and sold for Japan (Japanese Domestic Market). If you own a Civic that was built in England it is not JDM!

Next time we will have two front-wheel driven Japanese cars that have to battle it out with exceptional handling, rather than to rely on power.

If you have any suggestions for further PI Pairings you can leave them below!

See you later,

Roadduck.

#ForzaPIPairings