Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Forza Motorsport 6: Battle of the hybrid hypercars!

p1 laferrari 918

Now that everything I need to know about the McLaren P1, the Ferrari LaFerrari, and the Porsche 918 Spyder in Forza Motorsport 6 are all checked and done, it's time for me to do the one thing Clarkson, Hammond, and May never got the balls to attempt this ultimate decider to show which of these three hybrid hypercars is the fastest round the Top Gear Test Track and this is the surreal test to prove if Clarkson's name is going to change to "Jennifer". As a matter of fact, I got a high probability on what's going to happen next.

But first, let's have a quick review of the hybrid hypercar trio. The P1 is a hybrid hypercar that incorporates most of McLaren's motorsports know-how. It's powered by an improved version of the 3.8L V8 twin-turbo engine as applied on the 12C and a single electric motor, making the combined power output of 903HP and torque output of 664ft-lb of torque.It's strictly limited to 375 units, each costing GB£866,000, and all of the units have sold out.

The 918, meanwhile, features a combination of a 4.6L V8 engine which produces 612HP of power by itself, two electric motors bolted on the axles, and a 6.8kWh Li-ion battery. The electric motors deliver around 500lb-ft of torque at 8000rpm, a torque that a Ferrari 458 deemed impossible. A Weissach Package-spec 918 Spyder, noteworthy with a unique livery and 60kg weight drop, lapped round the Nurburgring of less than 6:57, making it the fastest series production street-legal car to break the seven minute barrier.

Finally, the LaFerrari may come with the same hybrid layout as the other two, meaning its V12 engine is bolted with electric motors and a Li-ion battery, but unlike the McLaren and the Porsche that can run on electricity alone, the LaFerrari doesn't have that kind of feature because Ferrari is not heavily interested in electric power alone. Instead, the LaFerrari comes with HY-KERS (Hybrid-Kinetic Energy Recovery System), a tech similar to the one used in Formula One cars. It captures energy during braking and feeds it back when needed. That's why the engine-motor combination are all working together and cannot be separated, therefore it produces 963HP of power and 663lb-ft of torque, while mated with a 7-speed F1 gearbox. Not only that, the LaFerrari's dynamics are unique thanks to its bodywork that was built entirely from different kinds of carbon fiber as well as the lowered center of gravity but it's the high-tech active aerodynamics that sets them apart and because it's computer-controlled; the faster the LaFerrari goes through the corner, the better it works.

Now that everything is all settled out, the it's time to decide who flies and who falls from grace. The game is on!



So, how did the hyper three performed at the Top Gear Track? Well, time to read the results! The P1 did it in 1:14.976 while the LaFerrari, thanks to its active aerodynamics that work when it gets faster round the follow-through, 1:14.567, and the 918, the least powerful of the three, made it in a surprisingly quick 1:13.597, meaning the 918 is the fastest of the three and Jeremy Clarkson's going to rename himself as "Jennifer" should the three kept their hosting duties if they didn't messed up with the producers, well Clarkson that is.

Hard to believe that the 918 won the battle despite its power output but because of its Porsche motorsport DNA, its low center of gravity, its 4WD system, and lots of stuff that made the 918 great. It's no surprisingly it lapped round the Nurburgring faster than almost everything and if McLaren managed to file a full report on how fast the P1 went, it would be somewhat a second slower than the 918 and that could be the outcome I might be looking forward to.

With everything settled out, I'm going to close this case completely, concluding that the 918 is the fastest of the three round the Top Gear track but the battle is not yet over so these muscles need to hustle for more.

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