My FM Log: Black Label

The prize car for clearing the Mustang Tour in Forza Motorsport (Xbox Series X|S) before the November 27, 2024 deadline is another of the professionally-tuned sixth-generation Mustangs featured in the world of Forza; the Saleen S302 Black Label.

Based on the facelifted sixth-generation Ford Mustang, the Saleen S302 Black Label is the top-tier variant that enhances the capabilities of the standard Mustang.

For this model, Saleen has equipped the base Mustang's 5.0L V8 engine with a 2.6L screw-type supercharger and an intercooler system, featuring a 103mm throttle body that generates 12 psi of boost. It also includes 47 lb fuel injectors, a cold air induction system, a retuned ECU, and a Saleen-tuned exhaust system. By Saleen's standards, the Black Label boasts an impressive 340 horsepower increase over the standard V8-powered Mustang, all while maintaining Ford's full warranty.

To see how capable this near-800HP 'Stang by Saleen is, I return to Laguna Seca for a one-lap drive. Let's roll the tape.

My personal best in Seca in this car is 1m45.020s. Not quick as such but it proved its worth as one of the most formidable tuned 6th-gen Mustangs on the road and track.

Enjoy your new ride.

Forza Horizon 4: Best of Series 36

Looks like you've managed to get the three new cars that were featured on Forza Horizon 4's Series 36 update and with this update wrapping up, let's have a quick review on the new vehicles you've recently obtained throughout this update.

This here is the Mazda Savanna or RX-3 for the world market. Judging from its looks, this is known to be the first stage of the Savanna when it first launched in 1971, the S102. It's powered by a 10A rotary engine mated to a 4-speed floor-type manual gearbox. It produces 105PS of power and apart from the performance, the S102 Mazda Savanna comes with a rear bias mount shock absorbers as well as a torque rod and a 65L fuel tank. There's a known fact that the S102 Savanna was involved in numerous motorsport activities such as the Fuji Grand Champion Series, the Japan Golden Trophy Race, and the Fuji Turismo Trophy 500 mile, among many others.

Next, the Mazda Cosmo. This car deserves no explanation because this is the world's first rotary-powered car on sale when it was first launched in 1967. It defied skepticism of how a rotary engine is made and done thanks to the idea of employing a graphite-aluminum alloy seal. Not only that, the problems of excessive oil consumption and a lack of low-end torque were taken care of, thus led to the commercialization of cars powered by rotary engines. Oh, and for lovers of Japanese shows, did you know that the Mazda Cosmo was used by the MAT from The Return of Ultraman?

Lastly, there's another supercar that time nearly forgot. It's called the Saleen S1 and it's meant to be Saleen's all-new model since the S7. Meant to be a true driver's car, the mid-engined, two-seat independent suspension supercar features an all-aluminum lightweight chassis combined with a carbon fiber body and a 4-cylinder turbocharged engine producing 450HP of power. The Saleen 1 was priced at around a hundred grand but carmakers are still waiting when will it be out, although there was a one-make race series featuring the said car...despite the fact that it will be made in China. No joke. Made in China.

Now that we have our dibs on these three cars, let's give them a quick spin just to find out how good are these newest additions. Roll the tape!

Enjoy your new rides!

Forza Motorsport 4: HIJACKED

No no no no... Not the GTA kind of hijacking cars, Hijack. You know, it's Ridge Racer stuff. Hijack. It's a pickup truck that first appeared in Rage Racer at the end of 1996 and then resurfaced again on RR6 in late 2005 when the XBOX 360 first went on sale. Anyway, enough of that analogy because that Hijack pickup only comes into your imagination but what if you want a true-to-life pickup that behaves just like the Hijack pickup?

What we have here in FM4 are three potential sport trucks that have blown away their "pickup" images to become one of the most performance-oriented sport trucks on the market in the not-too-distant past. Those sports trucks might lose their ability to go offroad but they sure are quite a handful when they start to misbehave themselves. Putting big power in a big pickup truck might sound ridiculous but with all that added brute force, it can be as punishing as The Punisher himself.

Take a look at those three sports trucks I had lined up...

GMC Syclone

Based on the GMC Sonoma pickup truck, the Syclone is GMC's high-performance sport truck that was launched in 1991 and then it spawned a Jimmy-based Typhoon a year later. Some critics say that the Syclone pickup has specifications that had more in common with a Porsche rather than pickups even though the Syclone has a turbocharged 4.3L V6 engine equipped with Mitsubishi TD06-17C 8 cm² turbocharger and Garrett water/air intercooler. It develops 280HP of power and 475Nm of torque while mated with a 4-speed automatic. 0-60mph takes about 5.3 seconds and based on a Car & Driver test, it does a quarter-mile run in 14.1 seconds at 93 mph.



Dodge Ram SRT-10


What happens when you drop a big Viper V10 engine under the hood of the Dodge Ram pickup? The answer was the Ram SRT-10 and unlike any other Ram Trucks, which were focused on utilitarian purposes, it was made for the purpose of speed.

It features an 8.3L Viper V10 engine which develops 510HP of power and 712Nm of torque. The regular cab model of the Ram SRT-10 with such an engine has a top speed of 153 mph (246 km/h), and could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 4.9 seconds.

During its tenure, Dodge released several special models for the Ram SRT-10 such as the Viper Club of America Edition, the Yellow Fever, the Commemorative Edition, and the Night Runner. Right when the SRT-10 Ram stopped production after the 2006 model year, about 9,527 Dodge Ram SRT-10s were manufactured.

In 2004, the Ram SRT-10 was hailed as the fastest production truck in the world with an average speed of 154.587 mph (248.784 km/h). This record was beaten by an Australian-made HSV Maloo with a speed of 168.668 mph (271.445 km/h).



Saleen S331


While essentially a tuned version of the Ford F-150 SuperCab FX2, the S331 is Saleen's first-ever pickup truck since 2001 and it was priced at $54,000 for the supercharged model while non-supercharged models priced at $44,000.

The supercharged 5.4L V8 engine that powers it generates about 450HP of power and 500lb-ft of torque while being mated with a 4R75-E 4-speed automatic gearbox.

The S331 Sport Truck featured specially tuned front and rear springs and new shock absorbers specifically designed to withstand the bulk of the 23-inch forged, one-piece aluminum wheels holding 305/40R23 BFG high-performance tires, thus giving it a lower center of gravity.

While high-performance trucks sacrificed their utilitarian traits for performance purposes, the S331 keeps its traits while maintaining its performance quo. The base model has a full payload rating of 1300lbs and it's capable to tow a 5-ton trailer.



Okay, now that we finally get to know more about those sport trucks, let's find out which of these three is the best round the Top Gear Track and that means handing them over to the tamed racing driver...



I had the time! Let's see...

Syclone - 1:33.411
S331 - 1:38.145
Ram SRT-10 - 1:31.274

So based on the times, the V10-powered Dodge Ram is the quickest around the track so by sneaking suspicion, maybe the Ram SRT-10 is quite a sport truck that blown away its pickup image and sacrificed its utilitarian and offroad capabilities to become a muscle truck with a big engine that powers it. The Syclone though, that's just right for sport truck enthusiasts because even though it's not quite as fast as the V10 Ram, it's lighter and I think both of these sports trucks are instant classics because it's going to be very rare to find one of those for grabs. These are definitely future classics because of such rarity and value.

What about the S331? Meh, that's just a tuned Ford F-150 but who cares about it?