Aston Martins (useless?)

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1

Hey guys, I hope this is the right place for the post.

I was just wondering, what the deal is with the few Aston Martin cars in Horizon 2? What I mean to say is, very few of the tuners on the forums seem to bother with them and they’re rarely (if ever) featured in the upper parts of the leaderboards. Are they just that uncompetitive?

I only ask, because I like the look and sound of AM’s and was a bit dissapointed not to be able to find any decent tunes. If anyone could recommend someone’s work, It’d be appreciated.

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They are fun and sexy.
I have one in my B class.
Do you have a specific make/modal year you are looking for?

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Make it all wheel drive like the rest of the cars and it will be competitive.

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They have lots of torque and there simply tend to be better cars when left in RWD. For example, in the Super GT category, you can make an A-Class Alfa Romeo 8C and it is faster than the S1 class Aston Martin. Sure, the Alfa is RWD and the Aston in RWD but it’s a 100 PI difference.

If you convert the Aston Martin to AWD it can be quite fast and competitive. It also depends on the event restrictions, but most leaderboards tend to be dominated by the same Alfas and Subarus…

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PPIDrive: Sometimes you have to ask yourself, is it sexy? Aston Martins mmmmm

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Is it Sexy? As a can of worms… oh wait, nevermind, I was thinking of m Subaru again… :stuck_out_tongue:

The Aston Martins do look pretty darn good but it depends on which one you take and how many Jaguars you have driving alongside it…

I’m sure I might be able to make some build changes, and definitely some tuning changes, to where my SuperGT Aston is a much better car. On the other hand, I do love the Alfa 4C and 8C in this game so unless something comes up where I have to use that Aston Martin I probably won’t…

7

back in Forza 2 and 3 I drove the Race version of the DB9 as my R2 or whatever. I loved that car. I’ve always been a fan of AMs. I think tuned right, they can get the job done. Just don’t expect a plush super sexy GT car to compete with a dedicated road car. The One-77 is still one of my all-time favorites. Same with the early 000s Vanquish. I haven’t purchased an Aston yet in FH2, but I plan on it. Just deciding which one to take for which class considering their costs.

I honestly prefer RWD to AWD for road cars. AWD is great off-road, but even then, I like my ME/RWD Lancias over anything else in that category too. Now, with tuning open, the sky’s the limit and I wouldn’t be surprised if they can perform… how well in a straight “A” or “S1” class… I don’t know. Yet. I thoroughly enjoy “Rivals” and I’m looking forward to having a nice British Invasion :wink:

I’ll post up here if you want when I get my findings.

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Some very interesting points and opinions guys, thanks for the feedback.

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I have a pretty decent A-class tune for the 1964 DB5 if you’re interested. I love racing it online because of the dozens of A-class races I’ve run, I’ve never seen anybody else use the DB5. I’ll never run a Subaru or a Mitsubishi online just to be different.

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So, I finally purchased the Aston Marton V12 Zagato.

Man oh man, first thoughts off the bat: she’s incredibly RIGID. She’s not for the feint of heart. This was the first car in the game that during a rivals run, she actually gave me an adrenaline rush and really pushed me as a driver, and showed what she could do.

I started off with my basic FE/RWD-HEAVY setup for her tuning. And I’m pleased to say, it didn’t disappoint, nor did it do anything too hazardous or twitchy. I was able to get her into the $10,000 credit mark, and win the run, so that’s a good start.

First thoughts after rigidity. She’s incredibly RIGID. I can’t stress this enough. Every input is shown in everything you do. Camber adjustments, toe, caster, sway, springs, shocks. The most minute change will be felt and seen. Same with inputs. I drive with no assists and clutch and manual. You can really FEEL this car.

Second thoughts - her top speed. It isn’t great. But if I want a flying mean top end type Super GT, I’ll get the One-77 too. No problem. Beyond that, removing her rear wing may help with her top end. I’m not sure yet though. The race I did was tight, and just perfect to really put her through her paces.

On that note - one needs to research how the Zagato Race Cars are tuned. Their gear ratios are what they are for a reason. I haven’t done that myself yet. I instead tuned her for best 0-60, 0-100, and then shortest gear ratios up to her supposed “Top Speed” which is only about 195mph. But man she’s a ROCKET. She hits 61 in first, and breaks 100 in 2nd. I’m not happy with that right now, those first two gears are way, WAY too tall. - yep, just as I thought - http://www.automobile-catalog.com/auta_details1.php - I’m going to double check this reference but I need to work on my gear ratios ALOT.

beyond that, I think I finally found the car I’m going to arguably spend hours if not totalling days or maybe even weeks in time spent tuning her. Just like the old DB9. I truly do love this car.

Final thoughts -

she’s HEAVY.
she’s Front Engine with a big V12
she’s Rear Wheel Drive

keep those things in mind, work her (I mean when driving, I’ll work on a tuning, I promise!) and exploit her strengths while trying to minimize her weaknesses. Work on breaking lines, and break-away lines. When to down-shift to slow down instead of breaking hard. When to roll onto the throttle instead of mashing it down. Again, no ABS and no TCS or SMS makes this show really quick in this car. I was amazed at how she hairpined at about 80mph while I was double-clutching and shifting down into first around a really tight downward turn. She scared the bajesus out of me with that, especially when she took the next turn in 3rd and stayed in that gear for most of the s-curves that followed.

She’s a GRIPPER. Not a bat-out-of-nightmares acceleration nasty or a top speed queen. She runs HARD and likes to be driven as such.

I just hope my all is good enough for her. Because just like the DB9, she’s going to take it ALL.

Also, I have her “upgraded” just to the max of her level - S1-900 I believe. I did very little to the engine besides what would be allowed in FIA competition. The rest was tire choices, brakes, suspension, clutch, flywheel, transmission, and differential. And honestly, I think she’ll be one of the best S1s in my stable.

Give me some time, and I’ll see what I can come up with for a tuning. Right now, I’m working on her springs, then onto her shocks. Then finally I’ll finish tune with her alignment. I’ll also have her specc’d out where the downforce isn’t a crutch, but a tool. She won’t need that big wing or chin on the big sweeping top-speed runs. She’ll just need it where she truly shines, down and dirty in the trenches :wink:

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just wanted to post an update.

So I tuned the Aston Martin V12 Zagato. She is freaking SWEET!

I did the finale in under 15 minutes as a 900S1. It was like 14:5something. It still counts as sub 15! :smiley: (going back to my drag racing roots)

I also uploaded the tune to the storefront: “S1 finale” is the title, and it’s under my gamertag. Probably searching my gamertag (Cudafish1966) would work best. I have a friend in my club who is a fairly new driver, she still drives with assists and automatic. She loaded up the tune and liked it much more than the stock version, so I’m hoping it’s a good all-around grip tune. She also ran a faster lap than me at the Castelletto High Speed circuit while we were driving together. I told her she needs to run it in rivals. I’d love to see her post a sub 1% lap time. I think it’d be a great confidence booster.

in the finale, there were very, very rare instances I ever dropped below 4th gear. Man that car was a blast and it was so rewarding to drive her. I almost drove my X999 Ultima instead, like I completed Horizon 1 in. But my Zagato tugged on my heart-strings since I put so many hours into her tune. It was so rewarding.

Basically my plan was to have the Zagato be my tight-course grippy car. There’s still some work to be done, I’m thinking about adjusting the differential. Her accelleration isn’t quite where I’d like it to be. Off the line, the other cars do beat me up, it’s into the race at the twisties where she shines through and takes the win. But for a tight-course car, she needs better accel times.

I’m going to take a break with her though, and I’m now working on my Vanquish. My plan is to have that be my top-speed 80-200mph type driver for the big open races.

Then? …

On to the One-77 :wink:

and then maybe one day I’ll be able to afford the DBR1 lol

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Well, if this Zagato of ours is as good as you say, and you are able to transfer that to whatever Aston it is that is in the SuperGT class, I’d love to help you earn that DBR1.

Looking forward to getting that Zagato tune for myself, and with two tunes doing tons of races every time I play - that can help you earn some money.

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So I did go ahead and play around with my Vanquish, and I’ve got one version down pretty well. It’s amazing how a few small changes can make it feel like a completely different car.

First of all, I decided I wanted to keep it near where it was on power and focus on everything else which, in the end, meant adding AWD to keep it at S900. Then I went through and made a couple suspension changes and played with things here or there. After several races at Sisteron, it feels pretty darn good; you just have to keep good control of your right foot during cornering and expect any gap you create to shrink down on lengthened straights.

For version two, I am redoing part of the build so that I can keep the vehicle in RWD and create something to a very similar effect without the understeer and cornering issues experienced by the AWD. After all, nothing can be worse than the first RWD version I made.

Search for the AWD version if you’d like - the file name is VAWD. The RWD will also be shared once finished with a file name of VRWD. Also keep in mind, the AWD Vanquish is similar in feel to the Zagato by Cudafish and I would drive his over mine every time if the Vanquish wasn’t required.

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PPiDrive,

dude, you’ve already helped me so much! I’ve been reading a TON like “creeper status” of posts from both you and Spot the Kitty and it’s been helping me out ALOT.

I’m humbled that it seems you enjoyed my tune. It’s not great, yet. Believe it or not, I still feel like I can get a bit more out of her. I use only my controller, so there’s only so much there, but it is what it is. I’ve been playing Forza since the beginning, it’s just the “Cudafish1966” profile is “newer.” Basically was playing on other friend’s xbox’s while I had PS1 and PS2 with Gran Turismo. You could say I was “converted” back in 2010, and I haven’t looked back. Horizon is amazing to me. ultimate fantasy.

beyond that, something I think others may not realize -

in real life, we don’t have “telemetry” especially “grassroots” racers like myself. I haven’t driven hardcore in about 7 years, but I once had my pro license in SCCA and NASA. I had the (for the time) wicked high-tech laser thermometer (actually “borrowed” it from work, I was a chef) to check tire temperatures. But anyways, in real life, all we have to go off of is “feel” and lap times and section times and speeds. I think the “telemetry” in the games is great! Wish I had it in real life, and I see it as a bridge to help connect us better to the cars, but it isn’t required.

My Zagato is based solely on feels, miles, and time. I try to find the speed traps, both the averages and top speed ones, and blast through them to see how the car does. Then I use courses like the ones in Sisteron to get my lap-times and feeling of the turn-ins, oversteer-vs-understeer initials, oversteer-vs-understeer exits, and speeds as best I can.

Basically, the Zagato started out “life” in my “generic heavy Front Engine/Rear Wheel Drive” settings. I’ve been using these between Gran Turismo and Forza for God, I don’t want to admit it, but about 16 years or so. Ever since I started spanking the AI in GT2 back on PS2 with my 69 Camaro z/28.

It’s been changed of course through the years, but it’s basically this in Forza:
Alignment -
Camber - Maxxed out
Caster - Maxxed out

  • → these two have changed drastically since FH2. Back in Forza 2, 3, and 4 it was always about 2.5 neg front camber, 1.5 neg rear, and 5.5 caster.
    Toe - Zeroed Out

Tires -
Fronts - 29psi
Rears - 28psi

Gearing -
get the real race-cars gearing if you can, adjust from there

Aero -
this I put all the way down to start. I don’t want to depend on Aero. I’d rather have it as a “secret weapon” just like in real cars for when the time comes. Tight tracks, I tighten it up, loose/fast tracks I lighten the load… always knowing the car was tuned for practically ZERO Aero to begin with. AKA, my Zagato drives fine without the rear wing :wink:

Brakes -
60% forward
125% force
NO ABS

Suspension -
this gets “hinky”
basically I start with even sway bars, even springs, and maxxed out rebound, and zero bump.

I then adjust from there based on how the car drives. I always try to leave the sway bars alone. In the real world, they’re one of the things you can’t really mess with… easily. Whereas coilovers, shocks, etc, hell even alignments are easier to tune at the track than most sway bars grassroots guys have on their cars. Nothing like binding up 10minutes before “GO.” So we don’t mess with them.

beyond that PPiDrive - I have a Vanquish too. I’ll directly put in my inputs for the Zagato into the Vanquish. I’m expecting her to be looser. She’s not as rigid of a car, and quite a bit heavier. But I’ll see what I can come up with.

Right now, honestly this made my day. I was getting frustrated at my Zagato and losing faith. I usually can get into the 1% range on the leaderboards in Rivals. And I usually don’t try to go past that. I figure being in the “Top 1%” - thinking back to “TOP GUN” - is good enough. But man, the lap times at Castello’s High Speed Circuit just completely deflated me.

basically beyond these Aston’s. My next goal is going to be MY old GT, the Cobra, and the Daytona…
to put it plainly, I have real world experience with replicas of those cars, and I was wicked excited to see in the bucketlists the Cobra and the GT actually behaved much better and more as they should in this game than in FH1.

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The car is looser, not as rigid, but it’s not heavier. The Zagato is actually heavier by a couple hundred pounds I believe - even when I equipped it with a roll cage (which I would not normally do).

I did manage the Vanquish with AWD to be pretty wicked, but the RWD version is still not where I want it. I’ve been messing with the differential a bit and have it around 25%. I do have to tweak other settings a bit to get it feeling right in the corners. It is super fast in a straight line and rather good in corners but the rear wheels are too easy to spin - even on straights. It may just be that I need to change gearing and stay away from full throttle - there aren’t many issues below 95% throttle.

In any case, it’s all about driving it and getting it to feel right at this point.

I definitely enjoyed driving your Zagato. It gave me a very good idea of what I wanted from the Vanquish - what an Aston should feel like.

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PPiDrive,

I added you as a friend, hope that’s ok. If there’s a way to PM on here, or if I see you on Xbox ONE, I’ll happily share with you my tune for the Zagato. That way you can adjust it better to suit your driving tastes :wink:

I’ll be doing plenty of hotlaps tomorrow in the Vanquish. My club is going to be doing some endurance races 20+ laps tomorrow. Basically it’s a fun way to gain XP and $$ with friends I see it. We’ll be driving our Zagato and Vanquish. And…

I’ll be buying the One-77 tomorrow too :wink: :smiley:

seriously, you made my week with how much you enjoy my Zagato. I’m really looking forward to making that Vanquish fly with no rear wing on the back and taller gears. She should become quite the long track bruiser.

17

well,

not going to lie. I think I’ve really figured out the Zagato. I have a tune for me, “S1Update”, I think, the base tune “S1 Finale” that PPiDrive and a bunch of my friends all new drivers are LOVING.

and…
I made one for a friend that actually makes me have to care, and drive… HARD. :smiley: xDeaDxCriMinaLx has been working with me. He allowed me to “bird-dog” with his McLaren, which allowed my tune to get into the 1% on the High Speed Circuit.

To put it plainly, this car, doesn’t seem fast. And the thing is, top speed, she isn’t. But man oh man, is she quick. As in where it matters, in the lap times. Check these out for the finale:

breaking into the 13s! :smiley:

and this from High Speed Circuit… under the minute mark!

and just to say, the guy can DRIVE… check this out. An S1 Hummer. Seriously we started these as a joke, basically to deal with the public lobbies and their “bumper cars.” But look at the finale time:

we built S2 One-77s. But to be honest, building Zagatos to S2, maybe because we really know them now, are way, way better believe it or not. We just are way more stable in them, and more consistent. We’re still working on the tuning and tweaking. Aka, Criminal driving the compounds off, and me tuning and tweaking.

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I told you the Zagato would be quick - I put it into a couple Top 1% times but I know I then removed a couple in a different car. But that is a quick car.

I’d love to try the UPDATE tune if it’s shared.

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I have recently tuned a 1958 DBR1 in A class and I have also worked on the 2012 Vanquish in S2. The DBR1 is a shared tune. However I am unsure if I shared the Vanquish. I forget. However I have found them to be very competitive.

After looking at my tune list I have found that I have tuned most of the cars in Horizon 2 due to Wheelspins. Also I have found that I have tuned from left to right. (A to Z) So that’s my reason for not tuning them. The Astons are not won in any events or wheelspins. So I think that is the reason why you do not see them very often, however I could be wrong.

After reviewing my own tune list I am going to start to attack all of the other manufacturers that I have not tuned. So due to this post I will get all of the Astons done, and without aero if at all possible.

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V12 Zagato is a very competent S1/900 car but it takes alot of tuning and finesse to get the most from it. Mine runs on race/slick tires with a largely untouched engine. It has a race transmission to get a quick 0-60 time and improve acceleration slightly but its all about handling really. Tight tracks on S1 road trips will surprise lots of your opponents. I would recommend using the Zagato for tight tracks and then going for a more powerful S1 car for different layouts. V12 Zagato paired with Porsche 911 Turbo S (991): always ready for S1!