In many ways, the “Top Gear Car Pack” DLC for Forza Motorsport 5 is important. Firstly, it marks almost two years since I joined Stevivor.com in May 2012, with my first article being a review of the “Top Gear Car Pack” DLC for Forza Motorsport 4. Secondly, it’s one of the rare moments when I’ve looked at the list of cars and honestly felt like Turn 10 have put together something solid. The third, and perhaps the most significant of them all, is that it’s first time since I started reviewing the DLC for the Forza Motorsport franchise that I’ve been able to drive these cars and think to myself, “this is actually a car pack that I would recommend to others.”
The reason for this comes largely to a decision by Turn 10 to make all current and previous DLC cars available for free within career mode. Typically when I’ve reviewed DLC in the past, I’ve always had to rely on driving them all in either entirely free play, or only buying the affordable cars in the pack for use in my career. The problem here is that without the ability to modify these vehicles it had severely restricted my ability to test and see what these cars where made of. Except for now. So as it was when I reviewed the “Top Gear Car Pack” almost two years ago, join me as I embrace my inner-Clarkson and explain why this could very well be, the best FM5 car pack… in the world.
Beginning with the 2013 Holden #10 Xbox Racing Team Commodore VF, the car performs as you’d expect a V8 Supercar to – quick, somewhat stiff and suffers from slight understeer. Testing it across multiple tracks within the game I noticed that it didn’t appear to perform as well on the city circuits like Circuit de Prague, but felt right at home on the purpose-built race tracks. It also seemed to suffer from average acceleration when compared to the other vehicles in its class.
Moving onto the 1998 Nissan R390 however and things go from strength to strength. Like you’d expect a Japanese tuner to handle, the R390 is an absolute breeze to drive and goes incredibly quick too. I found it an easy car to dominate the rest of the grid with across all of the races I used it in, and it’s complimented by a beautiful engine note too. It is, quite simply, amazing.
Jumping from the supercars into the 1999 Lotus Elise Series 1 Sport 190, and the fun and enjoyment just continues to build. Lotus cars have always been known for being sporty and quick, and the Elise Series 1 is certainly no exception. Being both fast and nimble it’s an absolute joy to drive and there’s a lot of fun to be had overtaking your opponents on each corner, particularly on tracks like Silverstone where overtaking opportunities are plentiful. The only downside is that the car suffers from the same plight as the Alfa Romeo I reviewed from the “Alpinestars Car Pack”. That is, the tinted windshield makes for somewhat of an ugly view if you drive using the in-car camera. Continuing with this nimble and fun theme, the 1980 Renault 5 Turbo mightn’t be much of a looker, but the lightweight body and turbo-charged engine is sure to make it a car you continue to return to. Originally designed for tackling the world’s rally stages, the car makes for some light and intense racing on the track.
Next up is the 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STi, which is nothing short of a rocket. While it does feel a little heavy and suffers from some understeer, the WRX is a true performer. Despite being only upgraded to A-class, the Subaru accelerates something shocking and apart from the Chaparral, really felt like the quickest car in the entire pack.
Now speaking of which, the 1966 Chaparral #66 Chaparral Cars 2E feels as quick as its name is long. Driving it on the streets of Prague, the car accelerates blisteringly fast and gives you the same feeling as when Paul Walker hit the NOS button in his Mitsubishi Eclipse for the first time in The Fast & The Furious (if you could actually feel it that is). As you’d expect, the car does feel a little loose (similar to the Renault), which is interesting given the ridiculously massive spoiler at the back. Another impressive thing about the Chaparral is it only has three gears, but the downside is you’ll reach its top speed of approximately 270KM/H fairly quickly, which seemed somewhat lacking compared to the other race cars in the R class – noticeable particularly on those circuits with the longer straights. Another thing I noticed is that Turn 10 hasn’t included the shift animations for this car, which is disappointing.
Next up is the 2013 Lexus GS350 F Sport and the 2013 Audi RS 4 Avant, both being reasonably great cars to drive. The former, an all-around performer with slightly poor braking, and the latter, impressively quick and handles brilliantly. I should note that I was unable to feather the brakes as I’d normally do with the Audi, instead having to brake hard and simply deal with the brake lock-up.
Now with all eight cars above reviewed it leaves just the two remaining vehicles in the pack – the 2006 Hummer H1 Alpha and the 2011 Ford Transit SuperSportVan. As you’d guess, the Hummer is clearly the most pointless vehicle in the back. It isn’t fast, brakes poorly and corners like a vehicle the size of a building would, but it’s not the Hummer I’m interested in talking about.
When I reviewed the ”Top Gear Car Pack” for Forza Motorsport 4 in 2012 I described it as “slow, boring and handles poorly”, so when I saw that Turn 10 had decided to include the SuperSportVan yet again in this pack I was already coming up with a rant before I had driven it. I was prepared to talk about how the car was nothing more than a moving billboard for Ford, what with its website included in the livery, the massive ‘Ford’ icon on the sides and the tagline ‘Feel the difference’. I was prepared to ask what difference I should be ‘feeling’ – a sluggish and pathetic excuse for a car compared to the supercars I’d driven previously? Then I drove it. Despite only being able to upgrade to a C-class, I was quite honestly blown away. Sure, the SuperSportVan isn’t as quick as a Ferrari and nor it does stick to the road like a LeMans car either, but to suggest that it was boring, slow and handled poorly was quite frankly far off. I had decided to use it for the sports truck league in career mode, and it blew the competition away. Going around Road America it was fantastic, amazing even! Like I said, it’s no supercar, but it’s no Hummer either.
The “Top Gear Car Pack” of Forza Motorsport 4 was nothing more than a collection of uninspiring and undesirable vehicles. Quite simply, a joke. The “Top Gear Car Pack” of Forza Motorsport 5 however, is great. With Turn 10 now allowing you to buy each DLC car for free in career mode, you now get the chance to drive and own each car in the game, and let me tell you, there isn’t a better pack they could have started this with. Apart from the Hummer (which has no place in Forza), the “Top Gear Car Pack” is a decent selection of vehicles and one that I’d certainly recommend to players to check out. Along with the free Long Beach track add-on, I’d say now is a great time to get into Forza Motorsport 5 and experience what it has to offer.
