S1 Class Gauntlet - The tale of a 1,460 mile, 40 off-meta car journey (1679 w/ 46 cars now I guess)

Forza Horizon Forza Horizon 5 FH5 Discussion
1

I originally started out just planning to try and put an unusual/rarely used car in the top 100, I initially set a time in a bonkers FE Corvette as a bit of a joke + yardstick, upon seeing it was at #229 I thought ‘This car is ridiculous and it’s ended up that high, so I wonder what a more conventional but still unlikely car can do?’

The '09 Corvette was my next car and straightaway the time I did with it (dirty) would have put it comfortably in the top 100, and from there it started, first it was 24 cars, then it ballooned to 34, and I added 6 more today to make a total of 40 cars tested.

Looked like it was going to be very fitting considering the series we’re in that 2 Italian cars would finish top, the Gallardo + Huracan, but a personal Midnight Club 3 legend had other ideas, the Saleen S7 then went and knocked nearly 4 seconds off the Gallardo and it held on to that lead right through the test…

Until in extremely video game fashion the 40th and final car that was on the list from the very start but had to wait until last for it’s turn went and had a run, the Griffith stole top spot at the very end, irritating me as I was looking forward to finishing 2 hours earlier.

But as a consolation prize for the series we’re in the Griffith does have the Lambo V10 engine swap, so there’s some form of win for Italy here.

Updated 23/8/23

5 new cars added to list + another Griffith tune

I’ve laid it out as (car-tuner-time-position it would be on the board if that was my final time)

Final results…

  1. Saleen S1 (UnworthyPleb) - 17:59.563 (#15)
    Aventador J (UnworthyPleb) - 18:00.466 (#17)
    TVR Griffith (UnworthyPleb) - 18:01.098 (#17)
    Koenigsegg CC8S (UnworthyPleb) - 18:03.092 (#18)
    5 TVR Griffith (TheDannny) - 18:04.451 (#24)
    McLaren F1 (UnworthyPleb) - 18:04.718 (#24)
    Saleen S7 (TheDannny) - 18:06.386 (#27)
    Gallardo 570-4 Superleggera (KapienPL) - 18:10.274 (#32)
    Ferrari F50 (UnworthyPleb) - 18:11.851 (#32)
    10 Huracan LP 610-4 (KapienPL) - 18:13.393 (#34)
    Lynk & Co 03+ (Rocklxd) - 18:14.630 (#35)
    Lotus Emira (TheDannny) - 18:16.858 (#38)
    Lambo Sian (KapienPL) - 18:17.164 (#38)
    Mercedes SL65 Black (KapienPL) - 18:17.707 (#41)
    15 Lexus LFA (TheDannny) - 18:17.982 (#42)
    Mercedes GT Black (UnworthyPleb) - 18:20.126 (#49)
    Camaro Exorcist (TheGr8Lebowski) - 18:22.822 (#58)
    HW 2JetZ (Rocklxd) - 18:23.003 (#59)
    Mazda RX-7 '97 (KapienPL) - 18:26.608 (#71)
    20 Porsche 918 (KapienPL) - 18:27.116 (#73)
    Camaro ZL1 1LE (KapienPL) - 18:27.936 (#77)
    Altimaniac (TheGr8Lebowski) - 18:28.543 (#78)
    Zenvo TSR-S (KapienPL) - 18:28.619 (#79)
    Corvette '09 (KapienPL) - 18:29.001 (#82)
    25 Lambo SC20 (TheGr8Lebowski) - 18:29.276 (#82)
    911 GT2 RS '18 (KapienPL) - 18:31.937 (#95)
    TVR Sagaris (gultdep) - 18:32.014 (#96)
    Porsche 718 Cayman GTS (TheGr8Lebowski) - 18:32.131 (#96)
    599 GTO (DzevoX) - 18:32.256 (#96)
    30 Lexus RC F Track Edition (Zookiwi) - 18:33.081 (#97)
    Toyota GR86 (TheGr8Lebowski) - 18:34.257 (#106)
    Ferrari Roma (BouncierRaptor) - 18:34.590 (#109)
    Huracan Tecnica (TheGr8Lebowski) - 18:36.026 (#116)
    BMW M8 Competition Couple (TheGillesMuller) - 18:36.344 (#116)
    35 911 Carrera S '19 (TonyKartRcr) - 18:39.221 (#140)
    Ford Mustang '00 (CashlessPlains8) - 18:39.554 (#140)
    AM Vantage GT12 (KapienPL) - 18:39.945 (#143)
    Ferrari Portofino (djxm189) - 18:40.431 (#144)
    ID Zerouno (TheGillesMuller) - 18:43.783 (#168)
    40 Mustang Mach-E (Mustuff124) - 18:45.694 (#178)
    911 GW (TheGr8Lebowski) - 18:49.164 (#204)
    Forsberg Datsun 280Z (TheGillesMuller) - 18:51.432 (#221)
    Corvette FE (KapienPL) - 18:52.816 (#230)
    Huracan Performante (TonyKartRcr) (rally tires) - 19:01.818 (#309)
    HSV Maloo (XGR3X) - 19.02:861 (#327)
    46 Volvo 242 (CashlessPlains8) - 19:06.331 (#354)

Biggest surprises

Saleen S7 - Can’t remember ever seeing anyone use this, very stable and honestly could have taken top spot if I’d been more aggressive on it’s clean run.

Lambo Sian - So stable, I think I could comfortably do similar times consistently with it, solid on both road + the dirt.

HW 2JetZ - Originally put this on as a bit of a joke car, bit wonky on tarmac but sailed through the dirt sections, easy to control + handled the bumpy Montana + Baja California sections beautifully.

Mustang Mach-E - Yes it’s this, a very infamous + mostly despised car on our forum, thought it was a dead cert to finish bottom of the list which is why I put it on, a top speed of 174.8mph :laughing: but it’s handling made up the time, the final tarmac section felt like another 36.5 miles on it’s own though in this.

Biggest Disappointments

HSV Maloo - Terrible, understeery, stiff rubbish, if by any chance you read this XGR3X sorry mate but it looks like you didn’t do any actual tuning to this at all, wasn’t expecting the world but considering the terrain Utes traverse in Australia this was awful everywhere, the decent straight line speed is pointless when it corners more like one of Oz’s road trains.

ID Zerouno - Possibly my own fault this but just gutless, not a terrible drive on tarmac but fell apart on the bumps of Montana, straight line oomph poor as well, really wanted this to do well but it simply failed.

AM Vantage GT12 - Memorable because of how forgettable it was, just…meh, FE Corvette may have been much slower but at least I had fun with it, this was probably the one and only car where I was truly bored while driving it, very slow considering it’s power to weight ratio.

Only ones I’d say absolutely avoid are these 3 above (and luckily I can’t inflict my rubbish Zerouno on anyone as it isn’t shared), everything else you could get some enjoyment out of and it will be viable somewhere, many of Lebowski’s cars here are more for CC than Dirt for example, and that crazy FE Corvette managed a #167 on El Descenso.

I did plan on doing some other cars but the AM DB11 + One-77 don’t go to the full 900 with Offroad tires and weirdly many of the FE cars don’t even have access to them.

Anyway I hope both forum members + lurkers alike will appreciate this and perhaps from it discover themselves a new, very good and alternative car for S1 Dirt/CC, either for driving with these tunes or for trying to make their own interpretation by tuning it themselves.

I enjoyed doing it immensely but I really don’t want to see you again for a long time Gauntlet, goodbye.

15 Likes
2

Very cool project! Thanks for sharing the results. :grin: Your times as always!..:exploding_head:

1 Like
3

Wow, this obviously took a tremendous amount of dedication. I don’t think I could handle running the Gauntlet that many times. I’d be lucky to finish under 21 minutes.:upside_down_face:

Surprised by many of the times on that list, especially the TVR and Saleen and even a Lynk & CO made it into the top 5!! I would have never expected the Mach-E to do as well as it did.

That’s an eclectic mix of cars. I love making dirt tunes, but I can’t think of many on that list that I’ve made a dirt tune for.

My Huracan Tecnica tune is fairly high rated but it’s strictly a road tune so maybe I’ll try a dirt tune with it.

Thanks for the work you put into this and sharing it with the community.

1 Like
4

Very impressive list. The only thing that confuses me is why you stopped using MY Griffith tune, lol. Now I’m going to have to download TheDanny’s tune to compare notes. That Saleen S7 is a huge surprise, at least for me. Great info @TheGillesMuller

1 Like
5

excellent work, was glad to be part of the ongoing discussion. TheDannny is one of the best, and gr8lebowski gets great performance out of some off-brand stuff.

2 Likes
6

:racehorse: :racehorse: :racehorse:

Jokes aside, great post. Interesting to see some of the big surprises.

1 Like
7

TVR managed to move up another 4 places this morning.

And in true FH5 fashion I was then dashboarded within 20 seconds of being put back into the map.

2 Likes
8

Nicely done!
Having run similar tests myself (currently have over 100 cars at A800 Marathon listed) I know how excessive it can get.

Did you set any parameter by whose you chose the cars?
The Maloo is maybe better for A800? I recon it can fit the centrifugal Viper V10.

1 Like
9

No factual or definite parameter, just pretty much my own personal interpretation of whether I would be surprised to see the car used in any kind of dirt event.

I think the Maloo would be much better in A as well, when I searched for S1 tunes running Offroads there was literally only 4 to choose from and very little between them on the face stats.

1 Like
10

That’s dedication to such an impressive yet (probably) painful journey.
Excellent work :smile:

2 Likes
11

This tends to be my go-to car for the Trial or Tour events that will allow it. Not because I think it is necessarily the best car but because I’ve just loved that car since I first came across one in the early 2000s.

1 Like
12

Few new additions to the list everyone and their position…

  1. Saleen S1
  2. Aventador J
  3. TVR Griffith (UnworthyPleb)
  4. Koenigsegg CC8S
  1. McLaren F1
    and 9. Ferrari F50

Another instance where it seems like someone scripted it, the Saleen S1 gets revenge on the Griffith for snatching 1st place from it’s older brother at the end of the original run, and the S1 happens to be the very 1st car I ever did a proper tune for.

It’s also given me the fastest auto time + only the 2nd auto sub 18 minute run on the course.

All of these late additions are truly great stuff.

3 Likes
13

Probably not surprising but those all are really strong options for S1 road as well. The Aventador J is the only one that isn’t in my top 20 for Copper Canyon (which might suggest I should re-visit it!).

1 Like
14

Also, great project Gilles! Always love to see this type of testing.

1 Like
15

I may do another finale course + class at some point in the future, there’s been something oddly relaxing about doing this and the smaller A class one I did when we had the Rivals event on the Gauntlet before the Rally DLC dropped.

1 Like
16

Great stuff, Gilles! One question, is that Zenvo TSR-S RWD on off-roads? If that’s the case, that’s really impressive.

17

Oh no I’m not that brave :sweat_smile:

1 Like
18

Lol….ok but isn’t that the Zenvo that starts in S2 or am I mixing them up again?

Edit: what I mean is, I didn’t know you could de-tune that thing with Off-roads and AWD. I’ll have to try that.

1 Like
19

Yes that’s the one, it’s AWD conversion, Offroad tires + suspension + diff, highest rear tyre width, race driveline and any of the rims that add 46/47lbs.

Will need some tuning with the gears to get the top speed up to a respectable number.

20

Gotcha….found me-self a new fun S1 dirt/CC hybrid. Pretty good at landing jumps too.

If you want to try it, I’ve uploaded a tune called “Guantlet” . I typed it in too quickly and miss-spelled it but nonetheless it’s a fun build.

Got it 240 mph top speed….but I will say this car’s gearing, top speed rating, acceleration rating and center diff tuning is a bit glitchy/wonky.

Set it at %69 center diff with rear aero. Turns quite well.