The European sedans' Test

We all have used, played and enjoyed Gran Turismo. And we all drove a Civic, a 200SX, a Skyline, a 300ZX, a RX-7, a MX-5, and probably even a GTone and an Escudo. But how many of us have driven a 166, a Laguna, or maybe a Citroen Xantia? Not all… not many… perhaps very few. So, I felt the need of testing all that kind of cars: 9 european saloons which you won’t need to finish the game and probably you’ll never want to use, as they are expensive and also quite slow. But which is the best?

I’ve tested these cars:

BMW 528i (138hp, multiplied to 192), Cr 61,500

Alfa Romeo 166 2,0 TS (148hp), Cr 40,850

Alfa Romeo 166 2,5 V6 (208hp), Cr 46,210

Alfa Romeo 166 3,0 V6 (243hp), Cr 51,000

Citroen Xantia 3,0 V6 Exclusive (190hp), Cr 39,225

Audi A4 2,8 quattro (191hp), Cr 50,525

Opel Vectra 2,5 V6 GSi (191hp), Cr 36,750

Jaguar XJ 3,2 V6 Sports (237hp), Cr 61,540

Renault Laguna V6 (190hp), Cr 36,550

 

So, before showing results and driving notes, which of them do you think will be the most fast? Which of them do you consider the best one? Well, I ensure you that results will be very different from what you’re thinking, as they have been different from what I personally thought before testing them. So, let’s start.

 

  1. Alfa 166 2,0 Twin Spark 148hp, Cr 40,850

Well, this is the less-powered car of the lot. For the same price, you can buy a Mitsubishi 3000GT Turbo, which is faster, better-cornering and also more beautiful.

The Alfa 166 TS suffers in every occasion of a tremendous lack of power. You’ll be lucky if you’ll manage to use even the 4th gear, as it’s so slow accelerating that, to do that, you need a very long straight. Alfa 166 isn’t bad in corners, but it simply can’t reach a decent speed. So, at Seattle Short track, it gets a terrible 1’14.604, with a medium speed of 105km/h (65mph).

  1. Citroen Xantia V6 190hp, Cr 39,225

Oh, what an ugly car! I always loved some old Citroens, as the beautiful XM… why did they make such a bad looking ride?

I used the Xantia in an Event-Generator 5-race championship, and I finished 5th after 5 races. The best result I obtained was at Midfield, where I reached the 2nd place at the last corner and managed to keep it maintaining my car in front of a Golf 1,8T that was making everything to overtake me. The main point with the Xantia is understeer. It will never go through a corner the way it should. In the beginning of the corner, it’s easy to give it the right direction, but it’s impossible to keep it during the curve, so most of the times it ends up going off-road… and don’t try to brake, thinking it will prevent the car from going off the track: simply understeer gets worse and worse, and front tyres will be like flying on the track. Horrible to drive, and quite slow: only 1’11.788 at Seattle, medium speed 109km/h (68mph). However, it’s cheaper than the Alfa and goes faster: buying it seems to have a sense… for now.

3.  Audi A4 Quattro 2,8 (191hp), Cr 50,525

Personally I like the shape of the A4: when it was deigned it was quite likeable, and even nowadays it has got old well. To drive? When I first tried it I was sure this car would have been the best. It’s a pleasure to dive the A4 at Seattle: it has enough power, it drifts easily and everyone can reach its limits. But it’s slow: only 1’11.733, a little faster than the Citroen, which costs 10000 credits less… No, there’s no reason to buy the A4 in GT2.

  1. BMW 528i (139hp, multiplied to 193), Cr 61,500

Never understood why Polyphony gave the BMW only 139 out of its 193HP… that’s crazy! I tried to win an Extreme-level 5-race generated championship, and I completely lose. My results were: 6th, 6th, 5th, 6th, 6th, with only 6 points out of 50 at the end… a BMW with 139Hp is completely unuseful.

For this test, I power-multiplied the engine, so it gave me the original power amount of the 528: 193Hp. But even with that power, it was too slow to compete even with the Citroen: 1’11.977, slow, slow, slow! To drive, it’s just an average, heavy saloon with rear transmission. Don’t buy this, too.

  1. Alfa Romeo 166 2,5 V6 (208hp), Cr 46,210

2500cc and 208hp without turbo? Alfa Romeo can do it. Its V6 engine has been for a long time the best in the world. They developed it in 1968 and stopped making it in late 2005… 37 years of life… I think this is a record.

208hp are enough to give decent performance to the heavy 166? Yes. Now, the “underpowered” feeling of the TS isn’t here. In corners, 166 is very good. It prefers fast corners rather than the slow ones, or the tight ones. So it suffers, at Seattle, where there are lots of tight corners. But’s quite fast: 1’11.043: nearly one second faster than the expensive BMW.

  1. Opel Vectra GSi (191hp), Cr 36,750

Not beautiful nor apparently sporty, this car was a surprise to me. It’s incredible how fast it can be at Seattle, more unbelievable if you think it’s only a FF-layout car. 1’10.858 is its time: a little faster than the Alfa and a lot faster than the BMW! The only matter is that the Opel isn’t very funny to drive. Its understeer prevents it from being even faster, and sometimes its gearbox just isn’t as fast as you can imagine…

  1. Renault Laguna V6 (190hp), Cr 36,550

Not as powerful as the Opel, but a little more progressive in steering, and funnier, too: that’s the Laguna, a French sedan introduced in mid 90s and, in the V6 version, a fast car. I like the Laguna even outside: it was the soft-lines era, and Laguna was one of the most beautiful sedans of that kind. At Seattle, it performs easily 1’10.884: considering I made only 2 laps per car, the Laguna is as fast as the Opel and the Alfa, it’s as funny as the Alfa and less expensive. Very good car.

  1. Jaguar XJ 3,2 Sports V6 (237hp), Cr 61540

Wow, a decent FR car, now! It costs just as much as the 528 and it’s a lot faster. More difficult to drive, true, but also funnier and with 40hp more (100 if the BMW isn’t modified). Easily made 1’09.812: good, and perhaps could do even better. But, for 25000 credits more, it’s only 1 second faster than the Renault. With 25000 you could modify the Renault so that it would smoke the Jaguar anytime you wanted to.

  1. Alfa Romeo 166 3,0 V6 (243hp), Cr 51,000

Another Alfa. I already had this in my garage, and I had joined an Event Generator championship with it. I finished 2nd, after an unbeatable Nissan 300ZX turbo (I think it was modified, too), but before an ’84 Skyline and always in front of an R34 Skyline. I love this car. English TV showman Jeremy Clarkson does, too. Its wheelbase is better than BMW one, and slightly better than any other saloon’s one. It’s got long gears and, as the 2,5 version, it hates tight corners. But, simply, it’s the fastest one. 1’09.043. No way for the others to chase it: it’s over 1,5 second faster than the Renault and 0.8 seconds faster than the expensive Jaguar. If tuned, this car can reach over 300km/h (186mph).

 

Conclusion

My choice? The Laguna. It will never be as fast as an Alfa, but it’s got a decent drivetrain and good suspensions. And, for that price, you can’t have anything better in European sedans.

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