So this weeks Test Drive Tuesday car was the first car since I started reviewing the TDT's that isn't a GT1/GTX supercar. Today we take a look a back to Formula 1 in 1957 with the Maserati 250F. The car was very interesting as I've never really delved much into classic cars - as I usually pipe: modern front wheel drives are my strong point. Despite its differences, the car had very similar characteristics to last weeks Koenigsegg Agera R, albeit for very different reasons. In the Koenigsegg, you had too much power, making it very easy to spin out. Whereas the Maserati is very much designed for speed in a straight line, hence the very narrow wheels, and as a result the rear end loses traction very easily on the exits of corners.
Of course, it is quite difficult to comprehend why these cars were designed this way, but if you take a look back to the 50's, you find that grand prix tracks were very different from how we see them today. Back then, the gearboxes couldn't handle alot of gear changes before burning out, so it was preferable to find a route that allowed cars to get to their top speed and stay there. This meant that cornering wasn't really much of a concern when designing the cars and hence this is how finished product turns out!
So as a result of the narrow wheels, exiting corners was a bit perilous but once you got used to how the car handled, boy did it flow together well! In fact, the oversteer characteristic meant that if you nailed the corner entry, then you had very little input other than regulating the throttle so you didn't spin out. It doesn't sound like too much, but in practice, what it meant for me is that I could really push the car right to its limits - something I was never able to do with any of the previous cars - which was exhilarating. It really is just great fun knowing that one millimetre more on the throttle, or one degree round on the steering, and you've gone from a beautiful lap to being fodder for the tyre walls!
The alien nature of the car (compared to the more modern ones we deal with regularly on this game) does take a lot of getting used to and is still fairly challenging even after several hours practising, but is seriously fun and provides a very welcome brake from what has become a bit of a supercar-grind. Its funny to think that driving supercars could become boring! By this point, the Maserati has gone up to $15, so its a bit pricey, but if it ever comes down in price on is part of a bundle, I'd heartily recommend getting it!
This review has got me thinking a bit, and I might do a bit of a re-purposing of the blog for a while - more will follow in a day or two!
