The geniuses at Turn 10 and the manufacturer of car wax and wheel cleaners came together to bring Forza fans the most unusual car pack to date: The Meguiar’s Car Pack. The wide range of cars in this pack alone is staggering. It contains the oldest car in the game, a movie star, an R3 racing Corvette, a bird, a new heavyweight, a micro-Aston, two aged roadsters, a strange Italian, and another Celica.
1940 Ford Deluxe Coupe
Design courtesy of Painkiller2112
The hard top version of Ford’s Model 18 Roadster was introduced in the early 30s to replace the aging Model B. By 1940, Edsel Ford transformed the big V8 Coupe into something that was stylish and affordable. The car has a “raked forward” appearance and an unmistakable grille that clearly means business. The 40 Coupe boasts an 89 horsepower V8 that, by today’s standards, is kind of pathetic but was absolutely decadent in 1940.
I dropped a supercharged Mustang engine into this dinosaur, bringing the horsepower up to a respectable 458. The rest of the pi points were spent shedding pounds and improving handling…which brought it up from F-Class to A-Class in a hurry. I don’t imagine this vehicle will ever be much of a threat on the leader boards, but the sheer joy of driving it renders the leader board ambitions moot. My A-Class tune does 0-60 mph in 4.727 seconds, and 0-100 in 8.050 seconds, not bad for an old gal. Try it at Nordschleiffe, Hockenheim, or Sebring.
Top Gear A-Class: 1:18.599
Design courtesy of Jedeye Jones
1963 Volkswagen Beetle
Scene from Disney’s The Love Bug
The RWD Volkswagen Beetle was in constant production from 1938 until 2003. It sold over 21 million units making it the most-manufactured car of a single platform in the world. The car was powered by a 40hp air-cooled engine mounted directly over the rear drive wheels.
63 Beetle at Odessa Test Track - “Scrapyard Herbie” design courtesy of Roo65
Meguiar’s must have a special place in their hearts for low HP, F-Class cars. I do not suffer that same sentimentality, so I dropped a turbocharged V6 from the R32 Golf into my Beetle, bringing it up to A-Class. I now have a 308hp Beetle that goes from 0-60 in 4.485 seconds, and from 0-100 in 8.517 seconds. That being said, adding 268hp to a car that starts with 40 can cause some handling issues, which can compromise the car competitively. I’m okay with this, but serious tuners may want to class-target the Beetle between F-Class and D-Class to have a better chance at leaderboard glory. Please note that if we meet on the track in matching Herbies, I get to be Dean Jones and you must be Buddy Hackett…unless your name really is Dean Jones, in which case I will vote to kick you! The Beetle is a short track hero, try it at Maple Valley Short, Ladera, or Positano.
Top Gear A-Class: 1:18.604
1987 RUF CTR Yellowbird
Yellowbird at Sedona Drag Strip
Meguiar’s is making sure that last month’s Porsche Pack doesn’t mean that RUF is out of the game. This car is almost unsuitable for any track except the drag strip…where it absolutely decimates. The Yellowbird is stock 469hp in S-Class, and my R3 build brought the horsepower up to a delightful 676. This 911-based RUF does 0-60 in 3.354 seconds and 0-100 in 5.727 seconds. Although a handful on any track with more than a 15 degree turn, the Yellowbird will pin you to the seat on straights with its brutal acceleration. If you intend to take it anywhere but the drag strip, invest in front and back aero, and set the race brakes about 15%-20% stronger than your normal tune.
Run it on tracks with lengthy straights to keep it competitive.
Top Gear R3-Class: 1:13.266
2011 Aston Martin Cygnet
Cygnet at Silverstone - Design courtesy of FungulousRex
If you think that a front wheel drive micro-car with 97hp doesn’t sound like an Aston Martin, then I’d have to agree with you…and we’d both be wrong. The Cygnet is a “luxury commuter car”…which means it smells like leather and sips gas. Expectations for the Cygnet were low. I brought mine up to C-Class, effectively raising its horsepower from a meager 97 to meager 167. Despite the lack of power, this Micro Machine now does 0-60 mph in 6.843 seconds and 0-100 mph in 14.2 seconds, in C-Class! The Cygnet puts all of my other FWD cars to shame and can pull clean, leader board times on the tightest tracks…truly the big surprise from the June Car Pack. Run it anywhere that top end speed is not a factor.
Top Gear C-Class: 1:28.178
2011 #4 Corvette Racing ZR1
ZR1 at Road America - Design courtesy of VXR Stu
Finally, we have a decent R3 Vette to run against the R3 Vipers…I was starting to get worried. The #4 Vette is one of the better ALMS cars in Forza 4, if not the best. It handles admirably, packs a 485hp Corvette punch, and possesses excellent top-end speed for a GT car. Keep it in R3-Class and run PBs at tracks that favor balanced tunes, like Infineon or Nurburgring GP.
Top Gear R3: 1:11.693
And the rest…
1992 Toyota Celica GT-Four RC STI 85
Top Gear C-Class: 1:28.307 - Design courtesy of FungulousRex
2012 Mercedes Benz C63 AMG Black at Nordschleiffe
Top Gear S-Class: 1:17.064 - Design courtesy of FungulousRex
1997 Maserati Ghibli at Positano
Top Gear A-Class: 1:20.417
1958 MG MGA Twin-Cam at Maple Valley
Top Gear B-Class: 1:24.220
1959 BMW 507
Top Gear B-Class: 1:23.792
As for the rest of the cars, the Celica has that “been there, done that better” feel to it. The roadsters are capable and fun, the Maserati is so ugly I hate to drive it, and the big Merc has all the hallmarks of an AMG-tuned tank: big, heavy, and tons of horsepower!
The Verdict!
Overall, the car pack is worth the 560 MS points needed to obtain it, individually there are 8 out of 10 cars that are worth having in my garage. The 40 Ford and the Beetle are wildly tunable and entertaining, the roadsters are close enough to have a decent spec-race, the Yellowbird is a beast, and the Vette and Cygnet could be leader board cars in the right hands. Those wax and wheel cleaner folks know a thing or two about what makes a car cool.
About the Author
Rod “Sarcasmo Jones” Wymer has been a gamer since he rolled his first ten-sided dice and played Defender at a 7-11 back in the 80s. His first love is racing games, but he has a soft spot for good, turn-based RPGs. Rod writes political humor for http://theamericanleft.com under the pen name "Sarcasmo Jones." He was working towards a Bachelors Degree in game and simulation programming and hopes to finish if he can ever get his finances straight. His greatest accomplishment in life would have to be an essay he wrote regarding rock music trends in the 60s. His most embarrassing moment would have to be his 4th grade spelling bee defeat by the word "beachcomber", a word he still refuses to use to this day...he calls them "sandsifters."
