[DeTomaso] Interesting stuff about GTSport (video game) Pantera

[audionut at hushmail.com]

1)  When you "purchase" the Pantera, listed among Italian carmakers,
you click the new logo rather than the blue/white traditional one. 
This definitely points to cooperation/collaboration/legal stuff going
on between Polyphony Digital (creators of Gran Turismo) and the
organization currently owning the rights to DeTomaso, headed by Mr.
Tom Kim.  We may have him to thank for the long-awaited appearance of
the Pantera amongst the many fine cars in the game, as the previous
owners of the marque may have either refused permission/cooperation or
simply had no interest and requests by Polyphony to develop a software
Pantera may have gone unanswered.  (Of course this is pure speculation
and may be entirely inaccurate, but certain clues point to engaged
input by DeTomaso's current owners.)
2)  The steering wheel is an aftermarket (or GTS?) type with the old
logo, the dash is the correct dual pod and the wheels are 7" and 8"
Campy.
3)  The sideview mirrors are black and appear to be the Dodge Omni
type(?), like the ones Tom Tjaarda said looked best to him.  (Eh? 
Crappy little cheap chrome mirrors not good enough for you guys?  Oh
well, I like them.)
4)  The sound of the motor is unique, robust and throaty, making
powerful rumbling use of subwoofers and sounds to me somewhere between
stock and full race open exhaust.  Nice!  (The game puts out sound in
a 5.1 surround setting as well as std. 2-channel stereo so you can
hear cars as you pass them and also the cars breathing down your neck)
5)  The default color is close to ferrari red and the colors available
are, shall we say "stock-ish", the most obvious ones being Yellow,
Lime Green, White, Forest Green and Brown, but these are not
completely accurate to the colors we all know.   Some have an added
metallic glint to them and others are completely new like "Metallic
Aqua Green" (which is what you get when you select what appears to be
"light blue", one of my favorite Pantera colors).  A glaring omission
is the classic Pantera Orange.  So perhaps these "game colors" are a
glimpse of what may be available when new Panteras arrive?  Accurate
stock colors surely could have been easily developed and used so it
would appear intentional that they were largely avoided.
6)  The car's handling is very well done and faithful to a stocker,
which can be tuned and upgraded along with the motor through the
software options.  The steering is skewed toward understeer as
mid-engined sports cars tends to be.  A faint "click" can be felt
under hard cornering due to a worn rack bushing.  The brakes are
inadequate, the car overheats, you can't fit inside, your legs point
toward the right, your feet get hung up on the pedals and the cockpit
gets hot very quickly.  = ]
I'd say they did a damn fine job on the Pantera.  The car's
accompanying text info accurately tells a quick history of DeTomaso
and mentions Tom Tjaarda and Carozzeria Ghia, which is a nice touch in
swing with the game's increasingly elegant nature.  
**Side note:  This new version of GT all but eliminates the ability of
internet trolls to invade races and mess with serious drivers, which
was a very annoying problem within GT6.  It records data on how clean
you race and then rates your sportsmanship by a number displayed in
public revealing any tendencies toward bashing other cars so more
serious drivers can avoid novices or troublemakers.
7)  Speed evaluation @ Big Willow:  An unmodified GTSport Pantera will
almost hit 130mph in 4th gear/6,000rpm redline.  Anybody ever tried
that?  (I never went over 100 in 4th gear in my 73L).  I wasn't able
to redline 5th gear due to inadequate track space but I'd guess that
when I take it to the Spa track it'll hit 150+ no problem.
Once I've done my racing mods, I'll report back again on what the car
can do with a "maxed-out" tuning.
And nobody will read that either, but..... oh well.  I guess I can't
help myself.  It's just too cool to finally see and race the Pantera
in a video game. Anybody who gets the bug and blows $2000 on this
stuff, let me know.  We'll arrange races and dice it up in Panteras on
beautifully digitized international tracks.  
 Sent using Hushmail
 
-------------- next part --------------
   1)  When you "purchase" the Pantera, listed among Italian carmakers,
   you click the new logo rather than the blue/white traditional one.
   This definitely points to cooperation/collaboration/legal stuff going
   on between Polyphony Digital (creators of Gran Turismo) and the
   organization currently owning the rights to DeTomaso, headed by Mr. Tom
   Kim.  We may have him to thank for the long-awaited appearance of the
   Pantera amongst the many fine cars in the game, as the previous owners
   of the marque may have either refused permission/cooperation or simply
   had no interest and requests by Polyphony to develop a software Pantera
   may have gone unanswered.  (Of course this is pure speculation and may
   be entirely inaccurate, but certain clues point to engaged input by
   DeTomaso's current owners.)

   2)  The steering wheel is an aftermarket (or GTS?) type with the old
   logo, the dash is the correct dual pod and the wheels are 7" and 8"
   Campy.

   3)  The sideview mirrors are black and appear to be the Dodge Omni
   type(?), like the ones Tom Tjaarda said looked best to him.  (Eh?
   Crappy little cheap chrome mirrors not good enough for you guys?  Oh
   well, I like them.)

   4)  The sound of the motor is unique, robust and throaty, making
   powerful rumbling use of subwoofers and sounds to me somewhere between
   stock and full race open exhaust.  Nice!  (The game puts out sound in a
   5.1 surround setting as well as std. 2-channel stereo so you can hear
   cars as you pass them and also the cars breathing down your neck)

   5)  The default color is close to ferrari red and the colors available
   are, shall we say "stock-ish", the most obvious ones being Yellow, Lime
   Green, White, Forest Green and Brown, but these are not completely
   accurate to the colors we all know.   Some have an added metallic glint
   to them and others are completely new like "Metallic Aqua Green" (which
   is what you get when you select what appears to be "light blue", one of
   my favorite Pantera colors).  A glaring omission is the classic Pantera
   Orange.  So perhaps these "game colors" are a glimpse of what may be
   available when new Panteras arrive?  Accurate stock colors surely could
   have been easily developed and used so it would appear intentional that
   they were largely avoided.

   6)  The car's handling is very well done and faithful to a stocker,
   which can be tuned and upgraded along with the motor through the
   software options.  The steering is skewed toward understeer as
   mid-engined sports cars tends to be.  A faint "click" can be felt under
   hard cornering due to a worn rack bushing.  The brakes are inadequate,
   the car overheats, you can't fit inside, your legs point toward the
   right, your feet get hung up on the pedals and the cockpit gets hot
   very quickly.  = ]

   I'd say they did a damn fine job on the Pantera.  The car's
   accompanying text info accurately tells a quick history of DeTomaso and
   mentions Tom Tjaarda and Carozzeria Ghia, which is a nice touch in
   swing with the game's increasingly elegant nature.

   **Side note:  This new version of GT all but eliminates the ability of
   internet trolls to invade races and mess with serious drivers, which
   was a very annoying problem within GT6.  It records data on how clean
   you race and then rates your sportsmanship by a number displayed in
   public revealing any tendencies toward bashing other cars so more
   serious drivers can avoid novices or troublemakers.

   7)  Speed evaluation @ Big Willow:  An unmodified GTSport Pantera will
   almost hit 130mph in 4th gear/6,000rpm redline.  Anybody ever tried
   that?  (I never went over 100 in 4th gear in my 73L).  I wasn't able to
   redline 5th gear due to inadequate track space but I'd guess that when
   I take it to the Spa track it'll hit 150+ no problem.

   Once I've done my racing mods, I'll report back again on what the car
   can do with a "maxed-out" tuning.

   And nobody will read that either, but..... oh well.  I guess I can't
   help myself.  It's just too cool to finally see and race the Pantera in
   a video game.



   Anybody who gets the bug and blows $2000 on this stuff, let me know.
   We'll arrange races and dice it up in Panteras on beautifully digitized
   international tracks.

   Sent using Hushmail