My FH5 Log: An American Welcome

Forza Horizon 5's Horizon Holiday series update brought back four American-made machines in the stable; three classic muscle cars and a limousine. Let's get to know about these four American oddballs while we're at it.

Obtained from the Wet Season playlist is the AMC Javelin AMX. The variant is known to be "the closest thing you can buy to a Trans-Am champion". It's got a 401 cu in (6.6L) V8 engine producing 335HP of power while mated to a four-speed manual, which is not much by modern standards but in the era of muscle cars, it's downright glorious to get tempted at.

Obtained from the Storm Season playlist is the Plymouth Fury, the infamous car as seen in the Stephen King masterpiece, Christine. First launched in 1956, the Fury is a sub-series of the Belvedere and when improved for the 1958 model year, it sports a 350 cu in (5.7L) Golden Commando engine with two four-barrel carburetors producing 305hp of power with ten more for the fuel injection option, which was sadly recalled. There are various Plymouth models at that time aside from the Fury to use the Golden Commando engine.

Obtained from the Dry Season playlist is a Cadillac XTS that was converted into a limousine by Royale. Based on the XTS flagship sedan, the folks from Royale, a Cadillac Master Coachbuilder, spent countless hours converting it into a limousine fit for high-profile personalities. It comes in two different versions such as the normal 70-inch version and the five-door 70-inch version.

Lastly, it's the AMC Rebel "The Machine" that was obtained from the Hot Season Playlist. This car was originally introduced as a sub-model of the Rambler but AMC went ahead and call it The Machine. Built for the road and for the drag strip, The Machine is powered by a 6.4L V8 engine producing 340hp of power while mated to a 4-speed Borg-Warner manual gearbox and AMC Twin-Grip differential. 

Having obtained those four returning machines in the game, it's time to give these Horizon Holiday prize cars an American welcome. Roll the tapes.

This is what you call "an American welcome".

Enjoy your new rides, boys and girls, because as 2023 kicks in, be ready for January's FORDZATHON series update featuring Ford-related challenges, returning Renaults, and the arrival of an MG6 that Britain didn't get.

Until then, have a happy new year, and keep on driving.

Forza Horizon 3: Pace Yourself

Another barn find is located deep within the depths of the Australian landscape but sadly, no one ever knew where the latest barn find is located at...until now.

Today, I set off to see the next barn find hidden somewhere in the Land Down Under but there's a major catch as demonstrated to the latest Forzathon event this weekend only. The task? Complete a Race in an AMC car to receive a Barn Find Rumor. Now that's the catch I am curious about and for anyone trying to hunt down the next barn find, they have limited amount of time to do so because if they don't act within this weekend, the mysterious barn find rumor will be lost forever...ish.



The AMC I got here is the Javelin AMX, the variant known to be as "the closest thing you can buy to a Trans-Am champion". It's got a 401 cu in (6.6L) V8 engine producing 335HP of power while mated to a four-speed manual, which is not much by modern standards but in the era of muscle cars, it's downright glorious to get tempted at. Anyway, no time for chitchat because I got a mission to complete...



After finishing the race with the AMC of my choice, I got the location of the Barn Find in question...



It is two miles away from the Yarra Valley Festival Site and it's time to get some digging.



Time to unload the barn and find out what that is...



Isn't that the car from Wayne's World?! That's right! It's the AMC Pacer, the first wide small car! Built in response to the global energy crisis of the 70's, the AMC Pacer was meant to be powered by a rotary engine like the ones from Mazda but it turned out to be thirsty and dirty so they hastily re-engineered it and put it a much bulky 3.8L 6-cylinder unit. It returns with 18MPG of fuel economy, which isn't sounds fuel efficient for a compact, a 0-60mph time of 14 seconds and top speed of 105mph.

Despite the poor performance for a car meant to be in tune with the times, the width is the Pacer's turning point compared to its relatively short length. The main idea about this car is to have the handling quality of a compact car while delivering a spacious interior and it works. Once more, the door on the passenger side is wider than the driver side, allowing easy access to the back seats.

Due to its bizarre egg-shaped design, most mocked this car as an "upside-down bathtub" but that doesn't stop garnering supporters such as stuntman Evel Knievel, country singer Conway Twitty, and Brigitte Bardot. In terms of movies, the Pacer got featured as the Murph Mobile from Wayne's World as well as inspired Cars 2 character, Acer, one of the baddies.

The AMC Pacer was discontinued in 1980 and its unique platform couldn't be adapted to other models so it was shelved before it was taken over by Chrysler in 1988.

Anyway, that's enough storytelling because the Pacer's too interesting enough to be told so let's take it out for a spin and live to tell about it.



Although the Pacer is a terrible car in the real world, it remains one of the most iconic cult classics in American car culture as well as movie junkies everywhere and in the world of Forza, it's somewhat legendary if you know what I mean. Anyway, you got to hurry, ladies and gents, you got the whole weekend to get this car while you still can!

Getting to know about the "little giants"

The United States of America - land of the gas guzzlers, where the big engines with bigger displacements rule right until the Energy Crisis broke out in the mid-70's where America tries to rethink the automotive industry by providing fuel-efficient compacts because back then, gas prices cost like a bag of pretzels. That decade also introduces Japanese cars to the American market as well.

The producers sent me a Forza 4 challenge held at this month's Community Monthly Rivals event titled DON'T BE FUELISH. Turn 10 dev, phREDESIGN, issued us a challenge to take on him for this week's Community Bounty Hunter event, where we will beat phREDESIGN's lap time at the DON'T BE FUELISH event. More info here; http://forums.forzamotorsport.net/forums/1/5577333/ShowThread.aspx

The AMC Pacer, Gremlin, Ford Pinto, and the King Cobra are the cars you'll be using on the Don't Be Fuelish event. Because the restrictions said that it has to be in the F-Class, tuning for these cars are allowed, so you can manage its power, weight, and others, as long as its not exceeding the F-Class limit of F/200. Surely, they want to tune the listed cars up to F/200, but for decision making, were not really sure which of these cars are recommended to beat phREDESIGN's time. To sum up, I drove these cars and observing how are these cars behave. Let's begin with the King Cobra...

1978 King Cobra

The 1978 Ford Mustang King Cobra...as told that the second-generation Ford Mustang is hailed as the worst car in America as told from Top Gear USA's Worst Cars episode but this King Cobra though...this is more like a properly dressed version of America's worst car. Surely I prefer the first generation Mustang because it has class and glamour. It even reminded me of the car Steve McQueen drove on the Bullitt movie, which in fact, the first generation Mustang became pop culture stardom as are the legendary car chase on that film.

This though, this is a bit too rubbish, Mustangs are supposed to be cool but this second-generation though, this is a bit rubbish right until 1979, where the third-generation Mustang broke loose and lost all of its muscle car biceps. This King Cobra is more of a final special edition of the second-generation Mustang and it's limited to 4,313 units made, complete with a deep air-dam, stripes, and a "Pontiac Trans-Am style" cobra snake decal on the hood. Under the hood lies a heavy 4.9L V8 engine that produces 139HP of power and 250lb-ft of torque.

This may have more power than the Pacer and the Pinto but less than the Gremlin. With the F/174 class, tuning is very limited for choices and it's not easy to find the right setup for the King Cobra. As for the handling, it's hopeless to beat phREDESIGN's lap time because it's too dynamic thanks to its rear-wheel drive and its oversteering risks. I would not recommend this car for this challenge...

Gremlin

Now if you watched last year's Cars 2 movie, you might remember that the AMC Gremlin inspired the character named Grem, who was one of the bad guys on Cars 2. For the more mature people, the AMC Gremlin loves to pick the fight against the Ford Pinto. Back in 1977, the AMC Gremlin costs $2995, cheaper than the Ford Pinto Pony's pricing of $3099. The Gremlin lists for less but gives them more. Both have bucket seats but Gremlin has a fold down rear seats and a rear hatch. When they stacked them up, the Gremlin comes on top, true to its slogan: THERE'S MORE TO AN AMC.

Sadly, there's no Chevy Vega on FM4 and if they did put it here, we can all have a good fight between the Vega, the Pinto, and the Gremlin. This will be fun but not now. Anyway, the one I have here on FM4's July Car Pack is powered with a heavyweight 304 cu in (5.0 L) V8 engine that churns out 151HP of power and 245lb-ft of torque. This guy may have more power than the King Cobra but unfortunately, It's difficult to tweak it up. You can't fit it with racing tyres because it may exceed the requirement for that challenge. Wait, you can fit it with racing tires in any races but no, not in the DON'T BE FUELISH challenge. You can lose its weight, you can tweak its power, you can tweak its handling as long as the car is in the required limit but I'm afraid that the Gremlin won't work on this challenge. To be honest, it's too twitchy and sluggish to handle the Gremlin because of its weight, no matter how many weight loss pills you're taking on this car.

Pacer

Hmmm...I already talked about the AMC Pacer two months ago but I'm not sure if this car's up to the challenge but to me, it's got potential because of its F/104 class and you can feel free to tweak Acer as long as it not exceed the F/200 limit. You can put it with racing tires, weight loss, power upgrades, anything but not exceeding the limit. Surely, it maybe the heaviest of the competition but with genius tuning, you'll never know what you can throw next on the Pacer. Being "the first wide small car" seems to be a big deal but I believe that it's just wasn't quite enough to beat phREDESIGN's time.

Pinto

Despite having the reputation of being the most dangerous car ever built because of the fuel tank mounted at the back, the Ford Pinto is highly the recommended car for the challenge. It may have the least power of the required cars but with the F/100 class, you can tweak it up with racing tyres, weight loss, more power, anything, as long as it not exceeds the limit. The lightweight body truly is the "ace in the sleeve" and it shouldn't be a problem cornering through the short spaghetti turns of Positano. If tuning the Pinto for the challenge by yourself isn't enough to beat phREDESIGN's time, try picking up the tuning setup by fat burns, whose lap time was 1:04.934.

As I checked the leaderboards, most people who come on top of this DON'T BE FUELISH challenge are driving Pintos. From top 10 to 100, they're always driving the little carefree car from Ford because the lightweight body makes it a joker in the card game.

I'd recommend the Pinto because most people came on top used this car no matter what setup they're using. The rules is simple, beat phREDESIGN's time and you'll get the RX-7 Spirit R unicorn car to use in the game. If you already have the RX-7 Spirit R, it may be optional to disregard this notice or take it for a spare one. It's your choice but for those looking for some easy money might consider taking this challenge using a tuning setup bought from some guy who made it in the first place. 

I already have two Spirit R's so I'm confident that I won't be needing to take phREDESIGN's challenge but I would rather take this challenge to boost my cash, my experience, or my affinity level. Those Community Bounty Hunters are those kind of challenges made by the producers to make players getting to know more about the car's true talent.

Anyway, you have until 8AM Pacific Tuesday July 24 to beat his time! Don't forget that if you want to get the Spirit R in case you haven't have one!

Size and width does matters!

Pinto in the Top Gear Studio

Hello and welcome to the classic Ford Pinto. This car was featured on Car Town as a starter car, we drove it on Forza Motorsport 4 a couple of months ago, and Adam Ferrera drove one at the Top Gear USA's Dangerous Cars episode. The Ford Pinto is definitely not more of a classic but it is very rare to see a Ford Pinto driving around the streets of Seattle. Despite the fact that it produced over two million Pintos are sold, it's too rare to see one, making it a rare classic car you would find in Seattle.

The Pinto emblem

Burning rubber in my Pinto

The Ford Pinto was introduced to the market since September 1970 and it has a powertrain proven in Europe from the European Ford Escort. This is the Runabout model and some say, it competes with cars such as the AMC Gremlin and Chevrolet Vega as well as Volkswagen, Datsun, and Toyota. By January 1971, the Pinto sold over a hundred thousand units and on its last model year, Ford built almost 70,000 Pintos. During its 10-year tenure, over two million Pintos are sold.

Sadly, some media criticized the Ford Pinto not only as the worst car in America but also one of the most dangerous cars to drive, partly because of the fuel tank mounted and the back and rear-ending the Pinto's fuel tank will result in fires from spilled fuel. This resulted the conspiracy of THE PINTO MEMO, coined from a 1977 Mother Jones article where a cost-benefit analysis that it said Ford had used to compare the cost of an $11 repair against the monetary value of a human life. Ford was aware of the design flaw and they don't want to pay for a redesign but rather preparing for lawsuits from casualties.

Leave no asphalt burnt

No wonder the media called the Pinto not only it's one of the worst cars according to TIME Magazine but this is one of the most dangerous cars to drive because the gas tank is bolted to the back and crashing through it may cause flames. That's why there are only a few Pintos lurking around the Fast Food Nation. Something bugs me...this Ford Pinto somewhat do have an identical twin. Something more of a substitute for the Ford Pinto....

Hey! You're that last place from the Top Gear Olympics!

This might be a contender. It's called the AMC Pacer.

The AMC Pacer was been produced in 1975 in the wake of the energy crisis. The Pacer was supposed to be clean and frugal but it turned out to be dirty and very thirsty. In "old" Top Gear, Vicki Butler-Henderson reviewed the AMC Pacer. Several years later, the AMC Pacer took part in Top Gear's Carlympics Challenge episode. Sadly, the power-to-weight ratio of the Pacer didn't make this American compact jump high, 6.2 meters to be exact, sending this to the last place. The AMC Pacer made a movie appearance in Wayne's World. It inspired Cars 2 character, Acer, one of the baddies.

This is the X model of the AMC Pacer. It was available from 1975-1978 on the coupe version of the car until it renamed this variant as Sport in 1978 and later discontinued. It has vinyl bucket seats, sports steering wheel, custom trim, as well as a floor mounted gear shift and front sway bar.

The catchcopy for the AMC Pacer was "The first wide small car". Despite the AMC Pacer discontinued in the 80's, it still gained supporters, including stuntman Evel Knievel, country singer Conway Twitty, and Bridgitte Bardot.

This Pacer is all about charisma

Question...is the Pacer and the Pinto identical? Which is better? The Pinto or the Pacer. I pushed both the Pacer and the Pinto on the straight and the Pacer mullered the Pinto. What about Lap Times? Let's bring it to Le Chevalier D'Stig!

By personal best, the Ford Pinto did 1:48.275 while the AMC Pacer did it in 1:47.448, meaning that they're both very close by a second. That's unbelievable.

By general, I prefer the Pacer more than the Pinto because it has presence. Despite the Pacer is dying due to the oil crisis, it gained many supporters such as Evel Knievel, Conway Twitty, and Bridgitte Bardot. It made an appearance on a film WAYNE'S WORLD and it inspired Cars 2 character Acer. I think this Pacer is becoming more of a fan favorite than the utterly dangerous Pinto. I wouldn't blame anyone who drove the Pacer or the Pinto because they're both epic.