I’m trying something a little different this time. Instead
of just talking about a few tuned cars I decided to talk about a tuner. I
originally came up with this idea when Jfiler started his Ferrari competition.
I thought it would be kind of neat to talk about the tuners & their
entries. Well, that fell through…no biggie though.
Some of you reading might ask ‘How do you decide which tuner
to talk about?’ Good question. Basically, I just find out who tuned my favorite
cars and if they’re social enough to chit-chat on XBL…well… I write about them.
This gives me an opportunity to share with everyone the people who are behind
my favorite cars and how they go about tuning. I may even tell everyone about
all their releases…no promises though!
BravoXXX is a cool MF. No better way of putting it. He first
started tinkering with Forza tunes back in the good old days of Forza V1.0.
Actually, his tuning days go way back to the original Gran Turismo. Remember
when that game was the bee’s knees? That was a decade ago…my I’m getting old.
Anyways, BravoXXX is also a car guy through-and-through and loves
wheel-to-wheel racing. He puts that passion for cars and things that go
‘vroom!’ into every tune he releases.
At first, BravoXXX was flying solo and tinkering with cars
here & there just for fun. It wasn’t until he met the future CEO of Gearbox
(Jfiler) that he really started to perfect the black art of tuning. He met
Jfiler in a competition and they chatted about different cars and different
tunes. This was it…BravoXXX was now hooked. He learned a lot from Jfiler & soon
joined Gearbox. This was when the ‘Tuning Marketplace’ was a sub-forum of the
Auction House. He started out with Gearbox, had a short stint with SW2, and
decided to re-join Gearbox to be with like minds.
Before joining Gearbox, he released his 1st car:
a TVR. TVR’s are not the easiest things in the game to tune…especially for
S-Class. Was he nuts? Not only did he tune it for S-Class, he tuned it for AWD
dominated short-tracks. Ok, now you can call him crazy. Well, he sent me that
car and all I can really say is that it is simply fantastic. It really doesn’t
seem like this is a 1st tune at all. The car is perfect. At Mugello
it’ll keep up with the S7s without breaking a sweat…that’s hard to do for most
cars let alone a grip-tuned TVR that’s made for short tracks.
BravoXXX got great responses and feedback from that car. He
found a talent and joined Gearbox to tune & release cars for the community
to have bidding wars over. Also unique to BravoXXX, he likes weird cars and
cars that people think can be tuned. I’m not sure if he likes the challenge or
if he’s just that good…personally, I don’t care. Just keep the cars coming!
He has an interesting style of tuning. Where many tuners
tinker with this, change that, etc; BravoXXX has a cookie-cutter base tunes
that he uses for their respective drivelines. I bet those baseline tunes would
be worth a few Cr. He then applies the tunes and sees how the car feels. After
a few hours, the car is basically done. That’s how good he is. He can quickly
feel what’s good & bad about the car and has the experience necessary to
know which adjustments should be made and how much they should be adjusted.
Talent indeed.
After the tune has been sorted out, it then goes to the test
drivers for a final shakedown. From the feedback given, BravoXXX may make some
small adjustments so that the car will be enjoyable and drivable for just about
anyone. The only setback to releasing tunes is waiting for paint. According to
BravoXXX; that can take a while…
Why did I choose BravoXXX? I chose him because I’m head over
heels in love with his Ferrari GTO. After talking with him for a while, he told
me about his other releases. Funny enough, I already had ½ of them! What I
noticed is that most of his cars have the same personality and have a similar
feel. Personally, I think this guy drives with the same style I do because I’m
usually the car people are chasing around the track. His cars are very quick
and are somewhat difficult to really get out of shape. It takes a lot to screw
up a corner, even without driver aids. Even better, BravoXXX is a RWD
specialist. Since I prefer RWD cars, it’s a perfect match. Tack on the fact
that he likes to tune weird and/or difficult cars and you can begin to see why
I chose to write about him.
He tunes weird cars – I like weird cars
He tunes RWD cars – I prefer RWD cars
…actually, there isn’t a car that he’s tuned that I don’t
like. And you all know I’m a picky SOB when it comes to cars. If I like it,
I’ll let you know. If I don’t like it, well…those posts tend to attract quite a
bit of drama because I don’t sugar coat anything.
LB cars or not, his tunes are very competitive and are some
of the most fun cars I have in my garage. If you don’t like them, get an MRI. I
could have simply write up a review on a few of his cars and called it a day,
but I don’t want to sell him short. I like his cars, all of his cars, and I
honestly don’t really care if you do or not. It would take a special individual
to fail to appreciate the amount of work that went into these cars, the talent BravoXXX
possesses, and not find these cars both quick and fun. They are all simply
awesome.
Some of these cars I’ve talked about before without even
knowing who tuned them, others were bought on the AH…and I’ll admit it…some
were gifted. (I couldn’t help myself; I HAD to try out that RX-8 & GTO!!!).
So here they are:
Saying that I was excited would be an understatement. Until
I received a Wankel-Rotary powered gift from BravoXXX, I have never found a
well sorted out RX-8. This thing is laugh-out-loud fun and very quick. Don’t
let the lack of aero scare you, there’s grip everywhere…and it makes that
horrible buzz sound that I love so much.
How did I take that pic? I haven’t a clue!
An AWD S-Class car that I love and an S-Class car people
around me absolutely hate. This thing drives like a RWD and accelerates like a
rocket. Quick & nimble…expect to be passed.
Only bad thing is that the car may have the infamous ‘Moron
Magnet’ installed somewhere. On-line, I usually get nailed…broadsided actually…b/c
the idiot behind thinks his POS can do what this car does. I guess getting hit
once or twice actually makes the race a fair fight. Oh well…
Very sexy & very well mannered. I get a lot of people
asking what the car is. When I tell them it is a Jag they can’t believe it. It
does well just about anywhere and will surprise everyone.
My favorite S-Class car by far. Search for the OP. BravoXXX
quoted a PM I sent him regarding this car. If you can’t handle this car, a man
you are not.
Another S-Class fav. I wrote a review on this a while ago,
search the forums or look in the Tuning Shop Catalog threads for my review
archive. One sour note; I lost the bid on the LE : (
Another killer all-purpose tuned RWD car. I’ve seen these in
a few A-Class rooms before, and I know why people use it. It’s easy to drive,
very quick, and the rear can slide out whenever you want it to. Very fun…especially
for a Caddy.
One of BravoXXX’s SW2 releases and his only B-Class release.
Normally, this car likes to swap ends…not anymore. Very agile & has the HP
to run down the top B-Class cars. Great paint too! SW2 sold the hell out of
these…and there’s a good reason.
Another SW2 release. I’ve had a lot, and I mean A LOT, of
people asking for this tune. This is a very difficult car to tune to be both
forgiving and competitive. It looks great and has a lovely V8 rumble when you
get on the skinny pedal. This is part of SW2’s ‘Weekend Racer Pack’, I suggest
you collect them all!
Quick car and it’s very good for beginners or people afraid
of high HP RWD cars. The car has a bit of under-steer to keep the tires on the
road and to keep the car pointing somewhat in the right direction. TCS is not
needed either. This is a step in the right direction to for people who cannot
race unless they’re in an STI, EVO, or Skyline.
BravoXXX’s 1st car. It’s tuned for short tracks
but will run down just about anything at places like Mugello Long. Very agile
and stops on a dime. This is a killer car, almost unheard of for a 1st
tune, and is a sure bet to win on-line. Despite its speed, it’s quite easy to
drive fast. You’ll feel like a hero in a few laps and everyone will ask “WTF is
that?” They ask b/c they’ve probably never seen a grip tuned TVR run quick and
consistent laps…I never have…until I got this car.
So now you are probably wondering which cars you should buy.
Well, you better start running some endurance races because BravoXXX has a
couple cars in his garage that are waiting for paint and will be released
shortly. Like the majority of his work, you’ll be seeing lots of A-Class &
S-Class grip tuned rockets from a Mercedes CLK55 & C32 to a McLaren F1. To
change things up, he’s also planning on releasing a few FWD cars and even a few
AWDs. And who knows what else he has…he didn’t tell me everything.
One thing he did tell me was to try Dos Equis Amber beer. Which
makes me wonder why he chose skunky Becks beer for the livery of the XJ220? I
better stop before I start another beer war.
Thanks for putting out some great cars BravoXXX,
BrutherSuperior