the xbow is super fast, but the others mentioned are way easier to use with cold tires so overall you are probably better off going with those because the races are usually short anyway.
For me the mid engined ferraris are the best for a class overall, most of them work pretty good. the f50 is the dominant one around corners while the f40 is a good speed machine. but i really like the 360cs, 430s & 458 too.
Great info guys, thanks. Hey Mike, I’m back!
about time! welcome back
I never used to have a problem with leaderboard cars (I’ve even defended their use before), but in certain classes, it’s just out of hand in FM5. I present 3 cars.
'65 Mini (D-class)
KTM Xbow (A-class)
Mazda 787b (P-class)
There are leaderboard cars, and then there are Leaderboard Cars. Every class is going to have its top performers, but these cars, I feel, almost constitute an unfair advantage. A well-tuned D-class Mini can easily set a competitive lap time in a C or even B-class lobby, even with a mediocre driver. It just isn’t balanced.
It’s gotten to the point where if I join a D class lobby and there are: A.) less than 8 players AND B.) more than 2 '65 Minis, I won’t bother racing. I’m not the “ragequit” type (although wreckers sometimes get to me), but I do like feeling like I at least have a chance to podium.
Yeah, I’ve gotten my fair share of grumbling for using LB cars, to include one guy who has “LB cars = no skill” actually written on his car. Some regulars here probably know who it is.
I finally unlocked Full Medal Jacket last night, so I’ll dial back the use of LB cars for future MP sessions, unless the room gets packed with race teamers and such.
Based on my own experience, I have to admit that the '74 Celica in C Class could probably be added to your list for some tracks. That thing can be downright nasty. Some will point out (and it is mostly true) that C Class doesn’t really have stand-out LB cars and you can have success in many. I just know that I was torching some lobbies in the Celica and I’m really not at the level where I should be torching lobbies.
AX
The thing that grinds my gears about that car is I have an original motor celica in C class that does pretty well but people accuse me of using the rally engine when it is the original engine. I do have a rally engine version but only bring it out if the lobby seems to be a leaderboard car lobby. So most of my c class racing in a Celica is with the original motor.
Ed, you’ve seen me race in no-collision C. I’m a middle of the pack guy, for the most part. But, let’s take Bathurst, for example. Unless you, the DTM guys or a couple of others are there, if I’m in the Celica with the rally engine, I’m winning that race - usually comfortably.
AX
P.S. I am of course referring to people who usually hang out there. I am well aware that the vast majority of you could come in there and kick my Celica-driving butt. Hope that clarifies.
The quick racers sleep at that time, trust me 
Yeah. I added the clarification because it sounded too big-headed upon further reflection. I know where I am on the LB and my Forzastats listing looks like the menu at the Anorexic Cafe. It’s just that I had a few wins at Bathurst that were so easy it surprised me. It wasn’t me just beating up on wimps, either - they could hang or beat me on other tracks. The Celica is pretty brutal at Silverstone and Road America, too. Could be at Spa, as well, if I didn’t have a natural weakness with that track. I still can’t get that angle right on the left around the mountain.
AX
Yeah those DTM racers are pretty quick. So was EMW Raul lol. Both the gaps between drivers and the gaps between cars makes it hard to get close finishes sometimes.
Well that’s just rude. Not the WORST thing I’ve seen on a car (Political hatespeech on the boot lid is MY pet peeve- some of us play videogames to get AWAY from that crap), but still totally unneccessary.
Doesn’t that just mean that those manufacturer’s made a very, very good car that may have been set up in particular for those very classes?
No. That would be the case if we were talking stock cars but we are talking cars all upgraded to the same PI meaning the PI system is not resulting in a good balance.
In some classes there are some cars that dominate on grip tracks and other cars on speed tracks.
In P class a Pi 998 787B dominates pretty much all tracks against PI998 other cars.
If we were just seeing the cars natural speed then a stock 787B should have its PI at say 998 and other P class cars have room to upgrade to that level so they are closer to the 787B when upgraded.
You do. Jump in a mini.
Lol, my point exactly, Sat. I shouldn’t have to drive a particular car in order to be competitive. With ORDINARY leaderboard cars, I don’t. I guess that’s the difference between a LB car and a Class Dominator.
I think I am saying something different though. Does it suck? Maybe but depends how often it happens.
But you have the choice. Drive the car you want to and do your best in that car (maybe not on podium) OR compete for the podium in the dominant car in that lobby.
Not every lobby is dominated by the dominant car. Some need the car to be mid pack. Some lobbies are all muscle. So I just race in my car of choice for a few races and if I am losing a lot then I jump in my better cars.
You’re correct, of course, but I think that proves the P.I. system is critically flawed in some way. When 2 cars with 400 pts each face off, the biggest determining factor OUGHT to be skill. When class dominators enter the fray, skill counts for less.
Now, I’ve seen your lap times, Sat. You could probably beat me on a motorized bar stool, regardless what I’m driving. However, the opposite has happened too many times for me to keep quiet: Being beaten by a sloppy, lineless, bumper-ramming mini driver who is only winning because he or she doesn’t have to use their brakes when everyone else does. It just adds insult to, erm… insult, to know I’d be eating them for lunch if they were in any other car. Little buggaz recover so quick these dolts barely pay for going off track unless they actually spin or hit stickies.
(Anubis, I know YOU know what you’re doing in your Mini, so that wasn’t about you. Still happens a lot with others, though)
Big Mek, never assume I know what I’m doing, even if I say “Trust me, I know what I’m doing” in honor of childhood hero Sledge Hammer! 
AX