Review: Forza Motorsport 5 “Alpinestars Car Pack” DLC

As great as additional content is, I’ve always been somewhat hesitant when it comes to either purchasing or recommending DLC for racing games. I understand that with racers it’s a little difficult to offer anything other than new cars or tracks, but it’s sometimes difficult to justify spending $10 on ten cars which you might or mightn’t use for more than a few races each. The “Alpinestars Car Pack” marks the fourth DLC instalment for Forza Motorsport 5, and while it’s undeniable that it offers the best collection of cars to date, one has to ask if it’s worth the download.

I can still remember the first time I came across the 1999 Toyota GT-ONE TS020 in a video game. It was with Project Gotham Racing 3, and while I loved its futuristic design (which for me, having only recently gotten into cars and racing, was completely revolutionary) it didn’t quite impress me as far as performance goes. Needless to say, things couldn’t be different this time around. Not only does the GT-ONE look amazing, it drives fantastic too. As you’d expect a prototype LeMans racer to perform, it’s incredibly quick, handles superbly and sticks to the road well. Perhaps most impressive of all however is how the Toyota sounds, which, once you get into second gear, can be described as nothing short of automotive insanity. To be quite honest, I’ve never heard anything like it, and with it being available for free with the pack, there’s no doubt it’ll become a favourite car of choice for your career.

Sticking with the super-quick track cars, I decided to jump in the 2012 Ultima GTR720. On the Forza Motorsport website the Ultima is described as setting acceleration and deceleration records, but the only thing I could think of while driving this car was whether as much emphasis was placed on making the car go fast as making it actually turn. During my test drive the car felt stiff, suffered from horrible understeer, and to be honest braked pretty poorly as well. No doubt it goes fast, but an overall performer it certainly isn’t.

Jump into the 2011 Radical SR8 RX though, and things couldn’t be more different. It goes like stink, grips to the road superbly and handles like a dream. In all honesty, the Radical is the perfect cars for beginners, where it seems to handle absolutely anything you throw at it. Coming into a corner a  little too fast? Don’t worry, you can brake a little late, throw it in, slide the rear out and rest assured that everything will be just fine. Much like the GT-ONE, it certainly stands out as one of the greater cars in the pack.

Moving onto the 1986 Alfa Romeo Spider Quadrifoglio Verde, and the pack begins to fizzle a little. Much like the Ferrari Dino 246GT, neither car really seem to impress – not to say they are slow, but they aren’t particularly fast either. The Alfa Romeo is also a contender for one of the ugliest cars to drive too, with it’s massive tinted windshield completely ruining your veiw while driving (I thought it was illegal to tint the windshields, no?). The Volkswagen Scirocco S is equally as uninspiring as the two Italian additions above, and to be frank, serves as little more than a filler for the pack.

Next up, the 1965 Ford Mustang GT Coupe, because you know, the original Ford Mustang GT isn’t enough that Ford had to ruin the shape with a coupe model as well. Deciding to do things a little differently, rather than merely upgrade the car to the B-class, I decided to throw in a 5.9L V8 engine and see how it would perform. Needless to say, it didn’t. With traction control turned on, you could tell that the car was just too powerful for its own good, and with this assist turned off, it was virtually impossible to drive (or even keep in a straight line). Similarly to the Volkswagen Scirocco S, the Mustang GT Coupe comes across as a filler in the pack, where it would have been nicer to see something other than a slight body change for an existing car in the game already.

After this, it was time to check out the 2013 Mercedes Benz E63 AMG. Now, with the C63 AMG being such an amazing car I figured how much different the E63 could be, but boy was I in for a surprise. I mentioned earlier that the Ultima was a poor car to drive, but it really does not come close to the atrocity that is this Mercedes-Benz. The understeer and braking are so horrible with this car that I’m lead to wonder whether brakes and a steering wheel are included as an optional extra. I’ve always thought that the Germans made much better muscle cars than the Americans (seriously, just YouTube what a C63 AMG sounds like), but the E63 makes me wonder whether it’s all just been a fluke. Make no mistake, this is the worst car in the pack.

Moving onto the final two cars, a friend once said, “up and down might work for sex, but round and round is the best for motors”. It was with absolute joy when I first watched the trailer for the “Alpinestars Car Pack” to see that Turn 10 had finally shown the rotary fans some love with the inclusion of the 1985 Mazda RX-7. Taking the car for a spin in multiple races in my career, the Mazda RX-7 (perhaps with a touch of bias) stands, idles, braps, as my favourite car in the pack. It mightn’t be the quickest when compared to the Radical or the Toyota, but make no mistake, this car is great fun to drive. Powered by a 1.3L Wankel engine, the RX-7 feels light and nimble, and can easily keep up with the likes of modern Audis, Jaguars and Ferraris as you rip around the track, shifting at 8000RPM with the soundtrack of a beautiful rotary coming out of your speakers.

The 1997 Mitsubishi GTO, as stunning as it looks, falls short in comparison to the RX-7 unfortunately,  suffering from some understeer and just feeling a tad too heavy on the track.

When I reviewed the “IGN Car Pack” a few months ago I was pretty harsh. The cars were stupidly expensive, you couldn’t rent them for free play without using a ridiculous work-around and they weren’t that fun to drive either. It seems like these complaints were heard by Turn 10 though, with this pack offering a good selection of cars, which are both reasonably priced and all available to rent too. The only problem is that the “Alpinestars Car Pack” is guilty of including cars that were made available in FM4 – 9 out of the 10 to be exact! I mentioned at the beginning whether this would be a worthwhile download, and while you’ll get some enjoyment from the Mazda, Toyota and the Radical, there’s no excusing the fact that Turn 10 are trying to get away with charging fans for cars that should have been in the game already. For this fact, much like the packs before it, the Alpinestars Car Pack is certainly good, but not great.

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