Friday, May 23, 2014

Forza Motorsport 5: Spirit of LaFerrari

laferrari

This is the ultimate Ferrari even built, the LaFerrari. Don't let that funny name fool you because this is the Ferrari to end all Ferraris in the history of Ferrari. With the LaFerrari Car Pack, the first DLC pack offered on Forza Motorsport 5, players now had the chance to try out Ferrari's ultimate weapon of mass awesomeness. When I said awesomeness, what I mean, of course, is the high power output provided by the V12 engine and the HY-KERS that made this hybrid hypercar the king of Ferraris.

laferrari (2)

Supercars are like idols and idols need to be focused on three key concepts; Visual, Vocal, and Dance. In automotive terms, it's the way how it looks, how it sounds, and how it does. Let's start at the Visual department and by the looks of it, it seems that Ferrari didn't seek help to its longtime friend, Pininfarina, for the first time to design the hypercar's beauty from the bare essentials. Even though the name sounds too ridiculous for a petrolhead, the design penned by Ferrari themselves truly shows that it this car really is the alpha of the lineup, despite the fact that it's limited to 499 units, each costing a million euros.

laferrari (3)

On the Vocal department, despite the hybrid powetrain like you get from the McLaren P1, the LaFerrari sounds like an old F1 car...but only just. In Forza 5, not every exhaust note is textbook but trust me, the vocals that came from the exhaust is as close to the real one as you can get.

In the Dance department, now this is how it gets interesting...

laferrari (4)

To find out just how good is the LaFerrari is, I went to the Top Gear Test Track and meet up with some old friends from Modena...

f40 f50 enzo

What we have here is some of LaFerrari's ancestors through the years. There's the F40 which is known to be the first to break the 200mph mark. Then, there's the F50 which some say it has the V12 engine derived from an F1 car but in reality, the V12 engine shares nothing in common with the one from a F1 car. And finally, the Enzo, it's one of my favorite cars of all time and it's a honorable one because this supercar was named after the founder of Ferrari.

These four Ferrari special machines are now dancing through the Top Gear Track like a swords dance but there can only be one winner but first, let's talk about how they dance at the track.

In the F40, it feels more like a oversized go-kart because of its massive wing on the back but this aerodynamic party piece really get the job done with its clinical precision.



As for the F50 though, one of my least-favorite Ferrari feels more like an F1 car rather than a GT car. It handles like if a boy rushes back home for tea.



Even though Michael Schumacher contributed to this car, the Enzo Ferrari feels more dramatic and as precise like a F1 car which Ferrari draws their inspiration from. I still enjoy driving in one of these because it has some bittersweet memories with it, something that boggles my mind and my heart and I just can't forget how did the Enzo performs on the road ahead.


Now, on the LaFerrari though, the sleek aerodynamic design, the 7-speed double clutch gearbox, the V12 engine from the Ferrari F12, and the HY-KERS really worked its magic. It maybe messy at start but when things starting to come unraveled, the LaFerrari really lives up to the state as the king of Ferraris. When you unleash the full majesty of Ferrari's first-ever hybrid hypercar, you can really let this car do the talking for you.



After a whole session down at the TG Track, I have the results...

F40 - 1:19.692
F50 - 1:19.253
Enzo - 1:18:513
LaFerrari - 1:14.989

So, there you go, folks. The LaFerrari really is the King of Ferraris after all and when it comes to competition, looks like the P1 and the LaFerrari will surely want to bash against each other to see which hybrid supercar reign supreme in the world of Forza Motorsport 5.

Go ahead, give these hybrid hypercars a spin and when you hear the roar of the powerful engines combined with hum of the electric motor, you will surely never regret that both the P1 and LaFerrari really are the Big Bang Theory of motoring because even though they are classified are hybrids, you'll be dying to drive these two rival hypercars!

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