Forza Horizon: Rated ZAGATO

In reality, when a restaurant is labeled "Rated ZAGAT", then you'll know that it's a kind of restaurant that passed the likings from ZAGAT. Here in Forza Horizon, I wanted to give this game a "Rated ZAGATO" because not one but two Zagato models arrived on the party. One is pure British and the other one is half-Italian, half-American, if you know what I mean... But first...

This car feels like it's ZAGAT rated

Let's start with the V12 Zagato. Although, I maybe familiar with that car because I drove one on Forza Motorsport 4, the V12 Zagato is all about the power, beauty, and soul of an Aston Martin, enveloped with the timeless beauty done by a coachbuilder, Zagato. It is one of the most potent rides I have ever driven, not by the fact because it's an V12 Vantage underneath it but it is because the V12 Zagato, in racing-spec form as seen on Villa D'Este in 2011, feels like it's a wild party diguised as an intimate get-together. Get it? Intimate Get-Together! Now where did I heard that word? From a kids show that I often watched?

V12 Zagato is movin' to the beat

Because the V12 Zagato, as I explained, as a wild party disguised as an intimate get together, it sure knows how to move in to the beat and unlike any other Aston Martins that are a bit too dynamic for my tastes, it feels a bit normal, a bit well-behaved, and it really tickles me hardcore. This is the same feeling I'd expect on other Italian supercars but with a bit of "tea party" spilling through my driving fancies. This car will make you as fancy as an village idiot from a family of geniuses.

A dynamic point of view

I love this kind of Zagato machine so what on Earth have been thinking when this coachbuilder's joining forces again with Alfa Romeo when they made this?

Combination of Italian design with American powertrain

This is the TZ3 Stradale Zagato. This car is part of the April Top Gear Pack on Horizon and by the looks of it, it's not half bad, knowing the fact that it looks more like a modern equivalent of the Giulia TZ2 Zagato from the past. Good thing, the producers did the right thing, featuring an Alfa Romeo that was never been taken by a rival video game and that's the result. I'm starting to feel that I like this more than the Giulia TZ2 Zagato from a rival game but more importantly, it's a Dodge Viper underneath it!

Timeless beauty

Really?! This car was a Dodge Viper underneath it?! So this must be the first time I drove an Alfa Romeo that combines the design of Italian coachbuilder with the powertrain of an American sportscar. Sure, Chrysler was owned by Fiat so this is the cunning result of what happens when two worlds collide. Therefore, it still has the same V10 engine from the Viper, the same 6-speed manual from the Viper, the same interior from the Viper, and overall, the same dangerous driving feel that I can expect on the Dodge Viper SRT-10. Interesting...

Beat it, kid! Mine's more valuable than yours!

For car with an awkward-looking design, this car requires a skilled driver to master the fundamentals of the TZ3 Stradale and unlike the V12 Zagato, the TZ3 Stradale is a monster of a machine with the same dynamic and challenging driving feel of an V10-powerer American sportscar. It can kill even the most unskilled driver when fallen to the wrong hands but with enough practice, this is more rewarding. It's really really, that rewarding when you're careful.

Those ZAGATO-designed cars are just one way that even in Horizon, there's still some time living the fancy life because of its rarity, its unique looks, its driving feel, and everything that treats you like royalty. If you were Colorado's Ridge, Rave, or Rage of a racer, those two really know how to change courses because they're both fancy cars for the speedo boys living the fancy life in car heaven. Oh, just don't get fancy too much because it's going to be quite a disgusting feat.

Domo Arigato Mr. Zagato

Students of Top Gear will remember it as the Aston Martin V12 Zagato, the one that was seen on the news portion of one episode of Top Gear after James May test drove the new Aston Martin Virage. A letter from the boss of Aston Martin once said that the Nurburgring is the proving ground for every new Aston Martin model launched and there could be no better than the new V12 Zagato to be tested on that venue. That's why the Nurburgring is James May's least favorite place because there was a reason why most cars are getting uncomfortable because of their sessions at the Green Hell. Anyway, what is the V12 Zagato?

First off, its Aston Martin's endurance racer concept premiered on the shores of Lake Como, Italy at the 2011 Villa D' Este Concours D'Elegance, as a revival of a collaboration between Aston Martin and Zagato since the original DB4GT Zagato.

The V12 Zagato pushing its limits at Catalunya

The Aston Martin V12 Zagato that was featured on Forza Motorsport 4 via the March Pirelli Pack, on sale now, aren't exactly what you supposed to be. This one is rather more of a Zagato racecar rather than the one as seen at the Villa D'Este Concours but never mind. What matters most is that we are finally getting to know more about the Aston Martin V12 Zagato as the stalwart of the March Pirelli Pack.

Basically, it was based on the Aston Martin V12 Vantage and it comes with the same V12 engine that powers the V12 Vantage. However, unlike the V12 Vantage, it's lighter because while the V12 Vantage weighs 3,704lbs, the new V12 Zagato racecar weighs 3,197lbs. so that is a lot of weight-stripping to make it a racebred car that was once tested at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring. Naught to 60, it can do 4.1 seconds and top speed, it would go up to 189MPH. For braking distance, it would stop from 100mph to dead at 304.7ft. Those stats only tell half of the story.

There could be no better than the new V12 Zagato to
test through the Nurburgring

A certain lyric from a certain that goes "Secret, secret, I've got a secret" but there are no secrets under the skin of the V12 Zagato. When I tried this one on the Circuit de Catalunya, which of course the venue for this month's Rivals event, the Aston Martin's V12 Zagato's started to come alive. All that racing pedigree coming out after its experience from the Green Hell really pushed the players very hard through temptation, making it an absolute Forza 4 favorite since the Lamborghini Aventador last November, the Monster Sport SX4 last December, the Pagani Huayra last January, and the Audi R18 TDi last February. As for me, I love the Zagato's cornering thanks to its suspension and its rear spoiler to push the back. In fact, I would gladly not going to remove it's spoiler from the upgrade shop because it looks good on it.

The V12 Zagato in its Stig Sessions

Because this is just a racecar that needs some racing livery, most Forza Faithfuls love to spend their time creating unique liveries for the V12 Zagato. What I'm worrying now that there could be someone replicating the "Zig" or the "Zag" that were seen at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring last year. Yep, we're talking about the V12 Zagato racecars that went 5th and 6th in the SP8 class of the 39th ADAC Nurburgring 24-hour race. I'm getting nervous if I see one at the storefronts.

That doesn't matter because this V12 Zagato is all about being the most emotional racing machine ever built as a celebration of the original DB4GT's 50th Anniversary. When it showed up at the Villa D'Este since May 2011, it won the Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes, the award that triumphed the One-77 since 2009. It maybe a V12 Vantage converted into a endurance racer but this one really blows a punch through the opponents on the racetrack. I'm glad I was one of the lucky many to try one.