Quote from Crashgate3 :

I use a ps2 dual-shock pad running through a USB adapter I got off Ebay.

I used this setup for years, mostly for emulated games and stuff. Works well. These days though I use a 360 controller, just fits the hands nicer, and feels more natural, suppose because I mostly play on the 360. White one for PC, black one for Xbox, easy

Can't honestly understand why they've developed it for the PS3, Wii, even the PS2, but not the 360. I thought we was mostly past that stage for 3rd party game developers these days. Because this game does look rather tasty.

Pill + condom = win. I couldn't ask my GF to have an abortion, and I have little faith in pills, so why look at it any other way. The odds aren't exactly in your favor if you don't take precautions.

An S2 rallye is still a basic car in the bottom end of the market. Most of the chassis components are still the same as any standard trim, the S1 was rather unique but the S2 is basically a stripped down GTI with an 8v and fettled suspension from what I remember. They were not exactly track-day only things either.

There are a lot more Peugeotsport parts you can purchase, not just an exhaust system. They clearly chose to try and profit more from the people who wanted such parts that didn't compromise, and sold the "basic" car so as to reach as broad an audience as possible.

Quote from tristancliffe :

I'm not denying that perhaps it gives a little more top end power (5hp), but it will come at the expense of low down torque, which competition cars don't need so much... If it was better all the way across the rev-range then surely they'd have fitted it as standard, especially if the improvement only cost £150 (cost price).

You think they was fussed about putting a top spec, high performance exhaust system as standard on a vehicle that was bottom of the line, smallest in the range and cheapest to buy?

A small minority of small hatches like 106's, Saxo's etc are driven by either chavs that put giant Ripspeed stickers in the windows, an even smaller percentage are driven by people who dedicate a lot of time to the car, and care about the affect of every single component. Most are driven by people who don't give a toss, and just want something small, cheap and easy to drive to get to work in. So why would these people want a harsh sounding, noisy exhaust to gain 5hp? Even if it is a work of art

I may be slightly biased though, my last 2 cars before my Focus were both 106's And I did play around with it, changing the carb for a different size and having it retuned, changed the exhaust bits, stiffers bushings etc.

I brought the MS wheel a few weeks back. Mostly for use with Forza.

And its shite.

I made sure the wheel was a later 2nd revision one, but there was not one single thing to recommend about it. The steering shaft had a ton of play, the clamping system is useless, the base of the wheel itself is bigger than a G25's, and the pedals are crap with no feel or resistance to them.

The force feedback was quite good though, a good runner up to the Logitech wheels in that dept. Ended up taking it back. At least they're cheap at £60.

Still using these little "kontrol freek" things though, I even use it in Halo & Call of Duty, fantastic little idea.

Can't really offer any meaningful advice, as I live down in south Devon, but have drove over there a few times. Strange, strange people. The roadsigns will make you laugh, and the roads/traffic itself will make you cry at times. Lovely people though, and a great part of the country to explore. Got two weeks holiday booked to spend some time over there around Perranporth next month.

I would get used to commuting a lot though, I live in a pretty similar sized town (Kingsbridge), and still find myself in Plymouth more than I care to

I can't see them taking a more realism-based approach to be honest. Forza 2 covers that pretty well, as well as I think you can get away with, and still be able to run laps on a gamepad.

GT4 I thought was immense fun, not for hotlapping and admiring the way the tyres deform or the feel you get back through it, but for having a laugh, mostly with other people present and a bit of alcohol involved. Having two G25's setup infront of a big telly with a PS2 in the middle may look a bit daft, but its a lot of fun because even people who just enjoy cars and don't give a toss about suspension tuning or slip-angles can have a good time. I don't see GT5 being any different.

It could be worse really..I'm 21, no NCB, Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec (2000), 3rd party, with full EU breakdown, and audio cover, £730 or so a year. Can't really grumble. Covers me for other vehicles with permission as well, which as far as I know not many 3rd party policies add on.

Thats what I get for living in a remote part of the country I guess You'd think its safe to drive down here - almost been in more accidents in last 3 months than in the years I was able to drive living in a city.

Last edited by Rtsbasic, Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:34.

I tried the 360 demo again yesterday, blame their extensive marketing for once And to be honest I get more fun out Prostreet now they've fixed most the bits I didn't like. GRID just feels empty, like your pulling strings on a puppet. It would be more belivable if they took the wheels off the models, stuck some futuristic 2039-esque neons under the car and said they were hovercrafts. Even the replays are done in such a way that lame driving and half assed attempts look snazzy, much prefer the replay style of Gran Turismo.

I never thought I'd be able to say it, but even Prostreet got the physics better - you feel connected to the car for an arcade game, you have to pay for car damage, you can fiddle with some settings that actually affect how it drives, there's a use for the money you earn etc.

No doubt GRID will sell well though, all the local gaming shops are plastered with posters for it, and it has telly adverts.

Quote from pb32000 :

Forget £2k, £500 will get you something acceptable, £1k will get you something that won't go wrong.

I've had my car for three years now, driven pretty energetically shall we say, only thing that went wrong is a snapped cutch cable, which is very common with Zetec engined (not zetec spec) mk3 Fiesta's. Paid nearly a K for it, which seems a lot for a fiesta, I'm sure you'll hear of people buying them for £20 etc, but it was fine for my first car. Top spec model (for a fiesta) so was nice enough inside. Personally I wouldn't bother with a 1.1/1.3, guess they're pretty reliable though.

(an R clio, presumably mk1 phase3 will arguably be the best handling first-car hatch you could get btw).

Valid points, my first "real" car that wasn't a complete banger was my 2nd 106, which was £500. My brother in law still uses it today. My Focus only set me back £1,600, 1.8 Zetec spec and all. Reasonable milage and good condition, runs and drives brilliant. Maybe cars down this way are just cheap

(I'd argue a 106 phase 1 rallye would be the best handling mini-hatch for a first car btw )

Buses don't exactly do me a lot of good. There's an hourly service to either of the main city's near here, and no busses to get about town. Infact I hate the busstation itself, for the type of people who think sitting around drinking cheap cider and acting like twats all night is cool.

I used to cycle everywhere, used to have a bit of a laugh with that. Its worth it just for the look on peoples faces when you go flying past their 50cc moped Has its moments, I remember overtaking a taxi at 45mph or so flying down this insane hill, and him "forgetting" to use the brakes coming up to the big roundabout at the bottom, flying around that at those sort of speeds isn't something I'd like to do without the buzz you get from it.

None of it matters though, I refuse to get on a bus again and my bike hasn't been used in 6 months.

Thats a starting point, for that money you can get a Nissan Micra and still have change for the pub (coke for the drivers, of course). Seriously, I brought my 1st car for £40. That lasted me over a year. 100 miles to a fiver on long journeys as well, good 'ol 1.0 engines That was 5 years back though, I made more than that back off the scrap metal at the end

Depends if you can live with the smell really Its re-sale value once you come to sell it will be poor as well, due to being HPI listed and stuff.

I can't really think of many reasons why it wouldn't be fine mechanically, unless its a Ford, then it'll be rusting even before you put your bid in for it.

I'm somewhere in the middle really. I walk to work, I walk to my GF's, I walk to the local shop, I'll sometimes walk into town. But living in a fairly remote town, I have to drive to Plymouth a lot, and sometimes I get lazy and drive into town centre.

Easy to understand how people do it, I've in the last week paid out for tax, mot, insurance, repairs and had several Ford recall parts fitted. I did however get £60 back for scrapping my old 106, and that didn't have fancy wheels on it

1. RBR
2. RBR
3. RBR
....
99: RBR

All that needs to be said. The graphics are realistic enough for good immersion, and the sensation of driving..its making me want to set my G25 up for the first time this year. I remember an RAC rally game from when I was younger that I was immensely addicted to, but I suspect if I played it again now i'd probably call it crap, so I'll let that one fade into pleasant memories. All other rally games at the min are rubbish, CMR: Dirt can look good on PC once you take the bloom away, but it still doesn't drive right no matter how much grip you take away, CMR games always feel like your pivoting around a single point and not in control of 4 dynamic tyres.

Talking of insurance, for every car I've had Quinn Direct have worked out cheapest. Have phoned them a few times to update details, transfer to new car etc, and really can't fault them. Their 3rd party cover gives you the ability to drive other peoples vehicles as well, with permission and such, normally only fully comp gives that option. Maybe I'm just lucky though, last time I phoned them I spent 30 secs updating my policy, and 10 mins talking about what to do on a weeks uni break with the rather nice sounding girl on the other end

One other peice of advice that goes when buying a small car, if it has a big exhaust bolted on the back or has had a cutout in the bumper made for one, avoid it, odds are the engines naff, in my experience. So many cars I've seen locally have been driven by fools who think bouncing off a revlimit with the handbrake on asswiggling around a carpark is cool, have ended up stripping the bits they brought off the car, and sticking it on Ebay "well looked after, used mostly for commuting, a brilliant example". Pfft.

Nah the 360 uses a different interface for controllers (XID Vs HID, IIRC), so the G25 doesn't work on it.

Nothing wrong with the wheel, just lost interest in racing on the PC. Maybe I should flog it, least mine still have original packaging

I'm trying so hard to bring myself to flog mine - its been sat under the bed unused for 6 months, but I can't do it. I spent £60 on an MS 360 wheel last week for Forza, and its crap compared to the G25.

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

Get a 306 meridian!

For a car that has to be cheap, suggesting a car whereby any example under £800 or so will be complete bollocks, probably isn't too helpful. Not to mention the 1.4 is hugely underpowered in those. Although they feel suprisingly nice with the diesels. They're nice enough cars, but if you try to get one on a budget odds are your going home with a car on its last legs or that needs cash throwing at it. Added to that a 306 1.4 is not cheaper than any number of smaller cars to insure/tax/put fuel in.

My insurance on the 106 1.4 was around £650 TFTP from what I can recall. Thats with mods declared - twin carb setup, new exhaust, enclosed induction etc.

For the sort of money a decent phase 2/3 costs anyway, you can do better. I testdrove a couple before I took a Focus out, and they were just wobbly in comparison, nowhere near as nice to drive. I was going to get one when I decided driving a 106 when your 6ft5 is just uncool, but preferred the feel of the Focus.

Your right though, putting a parent on the insurance helps. Sticking my mother on there brings it down ~£100.

Last edited by Rtsbasic, Sun, 1 Jun 2008 23:41.

I'd go for the 106, not only are they tidy looking little cars, they're one of the best handling cars in that size. Bloody cheap to run as well, 100 miles to a tenner (back in oct/nov, so fuel prices weren't so bad) on a 1.4 that would also cover 0-60 in 9 secs? On £50 a month insurance as a 1st car. Had only spent around £150 on mechanical bits by that point as well.

Not to mention..my 1st 106, I picked up, for £87. When I broke it up, I made more than that back from the rallye interior someone had stuck in there before I got it. A mate of mine paid £110 or so for another one, low milage, long mot/tax, had all the options like remote locking etc, only fault was the rear window had been replaced with a plastic one If you went for one though, do pick up some XSi or rallye seats for it, the normal ones will land your arse on the floor just pulling out a junction. Such fun little things to throw around, you don't really worry about what the front tyres are doing, you just try to keep the back end swinging the way you need it to and enjoy the ride. Feels very much like a successor to the old 205 GTi in that sense. The steering is brilliantly direct as well compared to my Focus.

Quote from Bose321 :

Hm.. Havn't seen where i can do that..

What gfx brand do you have?

Its somewhere in my Nvidia drivers..it might not be a standard option, might be worth spending a few secs with Google. Not that I would go to such lengths for this game

Burnout...sucks? First time I've ever heard anyone say it sucks, honestly. Its one of the rare racing games even people who hate racing games will play, its definately not the sort of game you play while thinking about physics, thats not what its about.

PGR2 was easily one of the very best on the Xbox, a big improvement on the original. IIRC it was one of the first live-enabled games as well. It was basically because PGR2 & Forza I first got interested in an Xbox. Which is ironic now it sits there just being a (bloody good) media centre.

Bumped just because its brilliant.

Finally got round to buying this game on 360, and right now I can feel that Halo addiction slowly slipping away..anyone here still play it online on 360?

And is the map pack worth the money? Not heard a great deal about it. But then again I barely know the standard maps

Can you add the resolution as a custom one to your video driver? I had to do something along them lines to run my tv at its native res, and every game I've tried on it has picked it up fine and gave me that option.