News Forza Horizon’s January Recaro Car Pack announced

Another month passes, and another car pack bundle for Forza Horizon has been announced. This time, it's January's Recaro Pack, and it's certainly a quirky start for the Horizon DLC's push into the New Year!

Set to go on sale on the Xbox Live Marketplace  on New Years Day for 400 Microsoft Points, the Recaro Pack features a rather varied collection of cars: one one hand, you get one of the fastest road cars ever to lap the fabled Nordschleife, whilst on the other is a van.

A van made famous in a certain TV show revolving around framed Vietnam veterans, but a van nonetheless.

Oh, and for all of you who bought the Season Pass, not only will all six cars turn up in the Autoshow, but you also get the Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster thrown in as well.

GMC Vandura G-1500

From an objective point of view, this might perhaps be the vehicle in the pack that'll annoy the Forza community the most. Not only was the Vandura part of a DLC bundle for Forza Motorsport 4, but there's almost no logical reason to include the GMC in the game other than that it could be done.

But we're not objective people for all of the time here at Team VVV and, given Horizon's the less serious take on the Forza franchise, we can see why it was included.

Oh, and it also means that those A-Team van liveries you spent ages crafting and perfecting in FM4 can now be transferred to the world of Forza Horizon!

Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition

In the world of motorsports, Lexus has had quite a bit of success with its homologated LFA racer at the Nurburgring 24 Hour event over the years – in 2010, for instance, it was the first SP8 class car to cross the finish line.

And, as a result, it was only logical that a commemorative edition was made.

Made lighter, more powerful and festooned with more aerodynamic adhesion, the LFA Nurburgring had all the hallmarks of being a monster track tool. Indeed, its 7.14 time around the Nordschliefe is the fourth fastest for a production car, and the only sub-7.20 lap that wasn't set on slick or racing compound tyres.

Oh, and another thing: as only the Lexus test drivers and the 50 affluent customers who bought the LFA Nurburgring Edition have ever driven the car on the street, the realms of Forza Horizon will most likely be the closest many people will get to hustling one along the open road.

Lotus Exige S

Not only is the bodywork all-new, but so is the suspension, the rear assembly, the steering…in fact, the only parts bins bits are the 345bhp supercharged V6 and the transmission from the Evora S.

Which certainly aren't what you'd call 'shabby components'…

For the purists, the fact it weights nearly 1.2 tons may be a bit dissapointing, but it's not like there isn't enough power on tap, and it's still a raw beast of a car if you start to take liberties with it. Master and tame the beast that is the Exige S, and – if it's been modelled and programmed correctly in Forza Horizon – it shouldn't be too hard to see why so many people see it was one of the all-time great Lotus road cars…

Cadillac Escalade ESV

Indeed, it shares the same "fault" with the GMC Vandura, in that there's very little logical reasoning behind its inclusion in the game. If the lumpen, lazy and lethargic real car is anything to go by, the virtual Escalade will be one of the most wretched cars you'll ever drive in Forza Horizon/

But hey, we've now got the Rally Expansion Pack, so – as long as you can shed enough weight, give it enough power and set it up for the lumps and bumps for the various dirt trails – it might be a surprise stage smasher.

And, if it's not, then you can always lark about with it for a few minutes or so on the golf course…

Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

Whilst its status as the fastest and most powerful front-engined Mercedes road car will soon be robbed by next year's SLS Black Series, the ferocity of the 'McMerc' should never be underestimated. Despite nearly being a decade old, the SLR's 617bhp supercharged V8 still ensures this uber-GT has the legs to show all but the fastest of cars a thing or two about straight line speed.

So, yeah, unless you're in something that's festooned with racing slicks or boasts a truly rediculous power output, you'd perhaps want to think twice about drag racing an SLR McLaren…

Ford Mustang Cobra R

Just as the latest 660bhp Shelby GT500 shames many a supercar on the dragstrip, the Cobra R also has the reputation of a gaint slayer – Motor Trend magazine was able to complete the sprint to 60mph and the quarter-mile post in 4.4 and 12.9 seconds respectively, which was marginally but noticeably quicker than what the Corvette of the time could muster.

Such speed was partly responsible for a lack of weight – the rear seats were yanked out, the foglights were removed and it couldn't be specified with a stereo. Not that you'd be needing a stereo, when you've got the vocals of a 5.8, 300bhp Winsor V8 and a collection of tunnels to play with…

Oh, and if the car modellers at Turn 10 and Playground Games knew that the Cobra R didn't come with a stereo – and, as a result, removed the ability to listen to the radio whilst driving the car – we'll have newfound respect for their accurate attention to detail!

And that's all the cars for the Recaro Car Pack! Be sure to let us know what you think of it so far, and expect a review of the pack by Ross shortly after the pack goes live on New Years Day…
 

Log in with:

Please login to comment

0 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments