Since it’s blessed arrival from my parents-in-law on Christmas day, I’ve been playing a lot of Gran Turismo 5 - and really really enjoying it. Some people claim that the realism isn’t fun enough, but for a washed up car nut like myself, it’s fantastic! For me GT5 is all about collecting and driving cars I could never own in real life. As such, I’ve bought a Ferrari Italia, Lamborghini Gallardo, and happened to win an Audi R8 (I think I won it, at least). I quickly discovered that the Lambo had much more potential than the Ferrari and it became my main race winner for a while. You need one for the Lambo-only race and the later Gallardo-only race, so it’s a great buy. I maxed it out at 723 HP and lightened it all the way down to 1169 kg. So when I came across the R8, I thought it would be no match for my Lambo, but liked it enough to drop some cash on it. After a few engine upgrades I realized it was pushing over 600 HP, and getting dangerously close the the lighter Ferrari. I decided to take a peak at the Turbo options, which were out of reach for both the other cars. I saw that it was eligible for the High-end turbo and to my amazement, this pushed it over the 800 HP mark! I still had modifications available and this car was already my most powerful!

Amazingly, even with all that power, the Audi still out performed the Gallardo at breaking and cornering (I use medium racing slicks on both) and could reach a similar top speed with the standard gearbox. I have been truly surprised to see this little gem emerge and thought I’d share it with you in your racing endeavors :) Have fun!

(photo credit: yacknonchalant)