March saw the release of the next Downloadable Content Pack from Turn 10 for Forza 3, the “Jalopnik Car Pack”. What’s a Jalopnik? Your guess is as good as mine, but Turn 10 claim they hooked up with the staff at Jalopnik to bring out this uninspired package that costs 400 Microsoft Points (about $8) for ten cars, one or more of which must always be an Audi R8 V10 otherwise we would be stuck with our 60 other Audi V10′s of the same year model that Forza installs with or every DLC pack comes with.

I propose Turn 10 should release an Audi pack every month, that way they can get their kickbacks from the auto-manufacturer as their token car, and we can avoid having 1-2/10 slots pissed away with a shitty porche on mesculine with it’s dreary dated design and ever unimpressive mechanics (however do note that in Forza Audi’s are amazing super cars with 10/10 power, acceleration, launch, cornering, braking, etc (see: kickback)).

“We hooked up with the staff Jalopnik and put our minds together to bring you a car pack that would feature power, beauty, variety and most importantly, be a blast to drive around in. These cars, while not old have really interesting backgrounds. Let’s take a look at what makes these cars worthy of the car pack.

This is possibly the WORST DLC that Forza has released, the cars are beyond uninspired, they’re just plain. They fill categories we already have a plethora of cars to fill, and the ability to modify them is severely hampered by the category, type of engine, and the fact that they were in such a rush to cash in on the franchise that there’s ZERO body kits on offer pretty much aside from the ugly Forza front splitter and rear spoiler.

The Mugen Honda is the only thing with a bit of bite and worth painting up if you’re into the graphics side, the rest are all mediocre variants in their own categories. I will admit the Mazda ‘Too Many Baked Beans’ American Le Mans Series is a nifty looking ride, and possibly the only thing Mazda has ever produced that isn’t Piero Manzoni’s shit in a can.

I really can’t be arsed reviewing each car individually, as this time it really is same ol’ same ol’ and nothing stands out performance wise. So, on with Turn 10′s wank on the matter and some pretty pictures.

2008 Mazda Furai

Named for the ‘sound of the wind,’ Mazda’s futuristic concept car combines swooping good looks with a green streak. The car was visualized running ethanol E100 produced by British Petroleum.

Furai is based on an American Le Mans Series (ALMS) racing car. In fact, its Courage C65 chassis is the same platform Mazda campaigned in the ALMS series in 2006. A fierce 450-horsepower three-rotor rotary engine lays down the law with a stratospheric redline and that unmistakable rotary induced scream which may not ‘sound like the wind’ but it will be music to the ears of Forza 3 drivers.

2010 Honda Civic Type R Mugen

The ultimate Civic, the tasty 2010 Honda Civic Type R Mugen is a JDM fans wet dream come true. Starting with a Civic Type R three-door hatchback built in Honda’s British factory, Mugen unleashes the beast by adding high-compression pistons, more aggressive cams, high-flow intake and exhaust, and a Mugen ECU that makes it all sing in harmony at its 8,500-rpm redline. This boosts the 198-horse, 2.0-liter VTEC powerplant to 237.

The Honda also sports Mugen body tuning mods, an LSD, wheels and brakes. Forza is the best place to experience the 2010 Honda Civic Type R Mugen because production is limited to 20 copies for the UK market only and they go for $64,000 US; that’s right $64k for a Civic.

2009 #40 Robertson Racing Ford GT

Kevin Doran in Lebanon, Ohio built Robertson Racing’s #40 Ford GT racer to American Le Mans Series GT2 specs. The transition to race car has encompassed widening the track, reworking the suspension geometry and adding more adjustability as well as significant aerodynamic enhancements featuring contoured fender flares and downforce-generating front and rear spoilers. Power comes from a naturally aspirated Yates-built 5.0-liter V8 spec’d to the GT2 rulebook. The hearty V8 is backed by an Emco DP transaxle so the Blue Oval bruiser is ready to rumble on Forza 3.

2010 Aston Martin Rapide

Running in parallel to the Porsche Panamera, the Rapide is Aston Martin’s take on four-door ferocity. What is essentially a stretch DB9, the Rapide delivers the goods to the tune of 470 horsepower and 4.8-0-60s. The 5.9-liter V12 is mated to a ZF six-speed Touchtronic automatic transmission. While the real dealer starts delivery in the spring, thanks to Turn 10’s DLC you can drive it now.

2011 BMW Z4

The all-new 2011 BMW Z4 roadster is hotness on wheels. The fun-in-the-sun Bavarian is powered by BMW’s N54 direct-injection, twin-turbocharged straight six. The plant has been massaged for use in the two-seater pumping out 335 horsepower at 5,900 rpm and 332 lb-ft of torque from 1,500-4,500 rpm. The result is 0-60’s in the 4.7-second range with the potential for much more thanks to Forza 3’s deep tuning garage.

2010 Audi TT RS

The RS version takes the TT to the next level. The key players are the scintillating combination of its 2.5-liter turbocharged five-cylinder engine and the accompanying Quattro all-wheel-drive system. With 1.2 Bar (17.4 psi) of boost coursing through its veins the TT RS flexes 340 horsepower. The Inglostadt boys earned their pay for the week adding a stiffened sport suspension, better brakes and a six-speed manual to the car’s 4.6-second 0-60 prowess.

2010 #33 RSR Jaguar XKR

The Jaguar/RSR XKR is a full-tilt GT2-class American Le Mans Series racer based on the road going XKR. Noted road racer Paul Gentilozzi has transformed the car and plans to go to battle in 2010. A stout 550 horsepower V8 gives this cat the tenacity it will need to duel it out with 911s, ‘Vettes, Vipers and Aston Martins.

The #33 will be easy top spot with its lively green and black livery and massive rear spoiler. The car’s 2010 debut is slated for the season opening 12 Hours of Sebring on March 20th. Thanks to this time DLC you can grab the car, go to Sebring and compare your lap times to the real thing.

2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic

Porsche has added exclusivity to the 911, a design whose silhouette has not changed since in hit the road in 1964, by introducing a limited edition. The 250 copies of the Sport Classic pay homage to the Carrera RS 2.7 with body treatments and 19-inch Fuchs-inspired wheels. The Euro-only Sport Classic is powered by a 406 horse 3.liter flat six connected to a six speed manual gearbox. She’s an expensive date at $230,000, which makes her a prime addition to Forza 3.

2010 Aston Martin V12 Vantage

Live that James Bond 007 dream to the fullest behind the wheel of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage. Aston Martin says the V12 Vantage will feature a 6.0-liter V12 engine producing 510 horsepower and 420 lbs-ft of torque with a top speed of 190 mph and 0-62 mph time of 4.2 seconds. It’s hard to argue with those numbers.

1992 Bugatti EB110SS

The Volkswagen group was not the first entity to try to resurrect the Bugatti name. Penned by Marcello Gandini and assembled by coachbuilder Aerospatiale France the EB110 SS had the numbers of an iconic supercar; 12 cylinder, four turbos, five valves per cylinder and 650 horsepower, 3.3-second 0-60 and 217 mph top speed; impressive numbers in 1992. The RWD supercar featured aluminum body over carbon fiber tub construction and came with a $380,000 price tag, which was really steep in 1992. The car’s production run ended in 1995 with 31 units, one bought by none other than Michael Schumacher.

We were so, so, so terribly wrong. I began this blog post positively in mind, excited after spending three days downloading the tiny pack due to shonky internet. Slowly as I began listing the specs of each car I realized what a lemon this DLC patch was.

Read on for a break down of the vehicles before buying it, if you still think it’s worth it at the end grab a copy. To save folks who aren’t into or don’t understand specs the read I added pros and cons and a conclusion at the bottom of this post.

Only the Astin Martin and the Saleen redeem the point of purchasing this car pack.

Aston Martin
2010 One-77
$1,850,000

S684

8.5 speed
6.0 handling
7.9 acceleration
7.0 launch
6.0 braking

Pros: Sleek looking design, expect plenty of wicked paint jobs from me through gear4gamers.com for it. The specs scream potential modifiable R2-R1 that doesn’t look like a freshly slapped arse.

Cons: Price tag, price tag, price tag. It’s also RWD, I like my ponies on the floor and AWD gives the launch and acceleration that let’s you tear up most courses.

AUDI
2009 RS 6
$155,000

C480

7.9 speed
5.3 handling
5.6 acceleration
7.1 launch
5.3 braking

Pros: Nice top speed for a C, AWD potential to be a high end performer.

Cons: What is this car even doing here? 10% of the entire car pack wasted on a generic uninspired ugly sedan. We all know AUDI and Hyundai pay off Turn 10 and Microsoft to pump the game full of their shitty under performing cars with unrealistic specs compared to their IRL equiv.s but shit me. It’s a generic plain four door sedan. And it’s LAST YEARS MODEL. Wasted slot of the ten pack.

AUDI
2009 R8 LMS Show Car
$320,000

R3 712

6.8 speed
6.8 handling
7.8 acceleration
7.9 launch
7.0 braking

Pros: Looks mean, a cleaner lined version of the A4 Touring minus the badass stance.

Cons: Twice the price of the 2010 R8 and it’s bodykit doesn’t make up for it. It’s specs are BARELY worthy of R3, really uninspired addition. Grab the current year model and drop the spare $150k on engineering and you’ll blow the doors off idiots who buy or race this car. Wasted slot of the ten pack.

BMW Motorsports
2010 M6 Coupe
$90,000

B455

7.3 speed
5.2 handling
5.8 acceleration
6.0 launch
5.0 braking

Pros: … I can’t find a single thing nice to say. It … it’s red?

Cons: Its a stock standard uninspired coupe with nothing special about it but a hefty price tag for a very mediocre vehicle. Also there’s not much in the way of parts you could use to beef it up. Stock B class rubbish. Wasted slot in the ten pack.

Chevrolet
2010 Corvette Grand Sport
$60,000

A543

7.5 speed
5.7 handling
6.7 acceleration
6.6 launch
5.5 braking

Pros: Sleek look, some may like it.

Cons: Looks like an AMG back when Merc were going through their annorexic south korean ‘hope there ain’t no cross breeze, someone fetch me a cover note’ days. It’s specs are acceptable for it’s class, but it’s no head turner. Another wasted slot.

Ford
2010 Shelby GT500
$50,000

B460

7.3 speed
5.0 handling
6.0 acceleration
5.4 launch
4.8 braking

Pros: Solid stance angry muscle car, lots of room for design fun, and heaps of room for modification to R3 maybe R2.

Cons: Barely different from the 2009 model, seems to be a bit bulkier around the front end body kit with a little more buldge on the bonnet, and has an arial. That’s pretty weird. Also, underpowered. Comparing US muscle car Fords to Australian Ford Falcons makes you realize while we pay twice as much for our cars they put out twice the power of the top end US equivs.

Lotus
2009 2-Eleven
$66,000

A572

5.0 speed
6.5 handling
7.0 acceleration
7.9 launch
6.7 braking

Pros: Unique looking topless ride, looks like a fusion between a kit car and a smart car, some of you might like that, but some of you also like men fucking your arse. I sense a demographic overlap …

Cons: It looks like something you buy when you’re 55, divorced, realized you actually like the cock and it wasn’t just ‘exploration’ back at university after all. Lotus have always been that way though.

Pagani
2010 Zonda R
$1,600,000

R2 848

8.2 speed
7.6 handling
8.6 acceleration
7.9 launch
7.6 braking

Pros: Badass looking rear engine mounted RWD.

Cons: Not much design style available, average specs, not many parts to upgrade and a HUGE PRICE TAG.

Porsche
2010 Boxter S
$42,000

B447

6.4 speed
5.5 handling
5.6 acceleration
6.4 launch
5.4 braking

Pros: Don’t even go there.

Cons: Looks like a fucking MR2 from the 1980s, shit specs, shit design, shit everything. What the hell were Porsche thinking? Why did Turn 10 even include this POS?

Saleen
2010 S5S Raptor
$185,000

S647

7.5 speed
6.0 handling
7.8 acceleration
7.2 launch
6.0 braking

Pros: Sleek design, looks like it could be a lambo prototype if it mated with the 2010 AUDI R8 minus the worst elements of both. Good solid racing stats, low enough range to have lots of mods. Solid quick car.

Cons: Price is a little nasty and more engines and parts would be nice. A little too AUDI in that VW ‘new’ Beetle way.

Conclusion: I wasted 400 MSP buying this … WHY? 2/10 cars that don’t suck. Rating this content patch a 1 out of 5 stars for obvious reasons.

If you’ve never seen nor heard of Kingdom Hospital I encourage horror fans to look into it; I also recently stumbled across a fun podcast while waiting for “We’re Alive” (the zombie podcast I reviewed a while ago) takes it’s sweet time with an update. It’s classic old radio plays of horror stories!

It’s called Tales of Horror, it’s free and on iTunes in the podcast section, or for non apple folks click here: http://www.google.com/search?q=Tales+of+Horror+podcast&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

I broke 2k gamer points on xbox which was fun and well overdue, I realized I was playing the same games daily–not that I don’t still play them and think them awesome–but Forza 3, Assassins Creed 2 and L4D2 consumed most of my gaming, even World of Warcraft hasn’t been touched in so long my mail is probably auto deleting as I type this losing me tens of thousands of gold pieces! D:

I started playing FEAR, cool game, but the plot is very j-horror and thus doesn’t really suit a western mindset horror fan as creepy little kids and freak out effects don’t make me wet myself. It’s fun, challenging, and I’m one of those tards who always get lost / don’t know where to go or what to do next.

Prince Caspian is another I’ve been playing, it’s from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe famed Narnia series in case you’re from some deep jungle tribe (speaking of, I watched 30 minutes of Attenborough interacting with the Biami tribe who had never met white men and use a 12 base calculating system and share no common words other than nouns with other locals!) and the game play is unbecoming. It’s like Assassins Creed 2 minus parkour, minus assassins, minus creed … but it has a lot of cut scenes from the movie at least?

Ice Age 3 is another I’ve been playing a lot, it and Prince Caspian are identical in every way, although IA3 has parkour like AC2; albeit an animated lullzy style. It too shares the marginally interactive movie (ie: button mash for five minutes between five minute cut scenes!) but is a good no brainer to play, and Scratte + Sid sloth == AMUSED! You get to play both of them too!

I’m wearing a beanie with cat ears and a cat skull motif on the front, suddenly my lovey cat is wide eyed and won’t come near me. This is brilliant, no rubbing in my face tonight!

So, I’m curious. What did you, my dear readers, get for Christmas and what’ve you been up to? I think one of my most awesome gifts are a snazzy pair of mooks sunnies and a car polisher (because everyone knows I’m anal retentive about my car and try to keep it in show car standard) along with a crapload of xbox games which will be keeping me out of trouble for some time.

I have, however, eaten far more than I can take. I cooked Christmas dinner on a BBQ for my family, and didn’t even touch what I cooked opting for more light food stuffs, but familial peer pressure has led to gluttony and god knows I need to get back into working out daily until this one-pack ab I’m sporting pisses off.

I managed to cruise through the Christmas break so far without hitting a police check point; lucky because I’m still suspended and the second a cop stops me and runs my license I’m done for and will be facing six months suspension in court. :/

I got caught speeding between 10-15kph over the limit twice in three years; that’s how unreasonable road laws are in New South Wales, Australia. Even the government admitted it was unreasonable, with 15% of all drivers currently suspended, 1:3 drivers having no license, and almost every case in local and district court being vehicle related–they even released details on the new road rules–but they haven’t brought them in, and probably won’t because they’re spineless and make more from fines / public transport usage!

Anyway, this is all tl;dr and I’m sure only a handful of you have read this far. So to reward your reader loyalty I’m going to attach a picture of myself naked here … okay, I’m lying, but you’re awesome! <3

2010 Nissan GT-R BPR 01

Originally uploaded by BaSH PR0MPT

I’ve been spending far too long on this car, and this game in general. But it’s definitely a one of a kind. Well, I’m sure other people have figured it out, so it’s not THAT unique, and it definitely won’t be the second I click the [post] button on this update, but check out the sexy paint job before I get to the hack.

Custom paintwork, BP Racing is fictional and just something a few mates and I race under, BP standing for bashprompt (not just my nick, but a command line prompt in *nix based systems) and all other brand livery was recreated by hand by myself because Forza is lame and doesn’t let you export car designs if you use any manufacturers logos, even though EVERYONE has copies of the logos on their hard drives from the game anyway .. go figure.

The car only has livery of companies it is using and has discounts with, features a splash wrap with pin striping, black GT stripes with ghost stripes over a carbon fiber bonnet and carbon fiber sun roof. The sun roof has a two pixel pitch black line around it before the grey of the undercoat for one pixel then the carbon fiber, this gives it the effect as though it’s popped out and part of the facade of the vehicle and not just drawn in. Positioning of stickers was hard to keep things original, there’s a minor defect in the Nismo sticker I can see as I write this, but it’s on three panels (L side, R side, and front) made to look like two stickers.

Check it out, then on with the hacks.

So, did you notice anything? Notice the wheels are a set you can’t paint, but they have a clearly painted inner spoke section? Notice the spoiler is painted even though you can’t paint those spoilers? It really completes the look of the car and makes it utterly unique in it’s class, although it’s locked off however there’s a little hack I discovered through fucking around with a lot of rims, then later gave it a shot with the spoiler and lo and behold it worked!

First we’ll start with the wheels: -

Go into Upgrade Shop, wheels section, pick a pair of wheels (I usually use ‘buddyclub racing’ wheels because they -12 kg’s off your car which is perfect for racing) and then back out to main, go to Paint, Paint Car, Rims, paint them the colour you want, then go back to the Upgrade Shop, wheels section, and purchase a set of rims that look epic but are unpaintable.

This hack works on the following rim types: -

Haman Edition Race
Rota JPL
Holeshot Hole Star
Tenzo RS-5

To carry out the same with body kit features, find one you CAN paint on, and repeat the above steps but with the body kit. This gives you a far more professional finish and leaves a lot of people bugging you in game and in private asking you how the hell you painted your spoiler up, or painted your wheels. :)

If you want anything featured on the car, from NSW license plate through to the tow tag or electric certification tag (small icons on the front, that are stickers all race cars are required to have on 99% of race tracks before they can race indicating certification and safety, as well as providing an emergency towing point location tag) it’s all on my storefront.

When I’m finished this design and everything is flawless, I’ll release a limited run of these cars, high end R2 rated, for direct purchase. Stay tuned, and tell your Forza chums to check my shit out and add me, always up for more friends in the Forza community!

So I had to recreate everything from scratch, which was hard when it came to the carbon fiber layer because I’m using a monitor that runs twice what te xbox puts out which means I have very fine pixel wide stripes down the screen; this isn’t even noticable unless you’re doing something graphics related that involves 1px lines, then it all goes pear shaped.

My CF is done though, and I sent all my garage from BaSH PR0MPT to xBaSHxPR0MPTx (thanks xbox live, again :/) and have $300k in the bank I need to spend and send from my old account.

I made a sweet custom after setting myself a challenge to use a colour I would never normally use, a metallic pink. Balanced it with white and the black grey of the CF nicely and it looks sweet. Used an old 2004 WRX STi I had sitting in the garage, modified it with a mix’n'match body kit to some success. Looks pretty sweet!

So with that $300k+ I have I might buy a line up of rexxies and apply the custom paint job to them all and send them out to my userlist just as a lame albeit well intended Christmas present. Gives me until the 25th to custom paint and modify a fleet of vehicles but it’s doable.

I really wish Forza let you edit templates in a PC environment. :(

What’s the deal? There is no deal, I want to meet more forza players who’re active on social networks, this is a sweet way. Is this a scam? Nope! Are you mad? Yes, to be giving away a bloody R3 let alone an R2 rated car (looking at 500k base for an R3 and 1.5m for a nice R2) I’d have to be.

How do you win it? Every Saturday get as many fellow racers, or twitterers you know to follow me and @bashpr0mpt me your xbox gamer tag associated with your Forza 3 account and the person who gets me the greatest number of crazed car loving gamers gets the car. It’s as easy as that. Make sure they simply follow me, and @ me your tag.

Week 1′s Prize
2009 Citroen C4 VTS
D-350

This is an ideal car for a beginner to Forza or even someone who’s been playing a while yet is still in the hatch range. This 1,221 kg Citroen is running full race displacement 1.8L block with racing valves and an Ansa sport exhaust’s dump spooling up a Garret sport turbo, blowing out 177 kW of power and 345 Nm of torque in a tight package.

This ride is specifically designed as a dream for racers who’re still getting the hang of the game, it runs 14.61 quarter miles, and does 0-97 kph in 6.405 seconds (or 0-161 in 15.172) so it’s definitely a quick car for it’s class, it is at the highest performance level it can be yet still fall inside the D range.

Aside from driving well, it looks great with a custom bodykit from Ibher Design, smooth carbon fibre with metallic black ghost GT stripes up it sleaks across the top while the side has chameleon detailing disecting the cold clean white of this machine.

This little beast cost 20,000 new with five times that worth of engineering–at least–sunk into it it’s going to be the property of one lucky racer out there.

This ride includes: -

• Gredder Intercooler
• Garret Sport Performance Turbo
• BC Rims
• Ibher Design Bodykit
• Carbon Fiber Bonnet & Roof
• Custom paintwork by BaSH PR0MPT
• Citroen race valves
• Citroen race displacement
• Ansa Race Exhaust
• Schrick cams
• Fioanza sport fly wheel
• Getrab Race Oil & Cooling
• Magnetarelli Fuel System
• Green Sports Air Induction
• Intrax Springs & Dampeners
• AP Racing Brakes
• Whiteline Performance Anti Roll Bars (front & back)

RS3 [765]
#25 BRITEK MOTORSPORTS 2009 FG FALCON

S [677]
2007 FORD GT500

A [598]
2007 SEAT LEON SUPERCUP

B [488]
2009 FERRARI CALIFORNIA

C [424]
2009 FORD FOCUS RS