Forums

Some really great shots and nice entries ;] Thanks to all who have entered thus far ;] Keep those entries coming ;]

I was going to use the '97 Lamborghini Diablo SV (as it's my all time favorite car), but I've used it for photocomps before and wanted to use something else... Ironically enough, the other car is powered by a Lamborghini engine; the Dodge Viper!

The Viper is my 2nd favorite car of all time, and for many reasons. For starters, the original Viper was the result of a joint effort between Dodge, Lamborghini, and Shelby; three of the most badass car companies out there, and they were all working on a car together (can you say dream team?!).

Next up there's the very thing that makes the Viper so special: it's a true driver's car. If you've got enough skill to wield it, there are very few track weapons that are more capable. But if it thinks you aren't worthy, it's just gonna kill you. Seriously. It doesn't get much more hardcore than that.

Then you've got the styling... Normally the production car is nothing like the concept car, but in the Viper's case, it essentially was the concept car (the 1st-gen didn't even have external door handles). And not only does it look badass from every angle, but man is it beautiful! If you had to give an example of what a femme fatale is with a car, this is it.

The sound... There is no other car in the world that sounds like a Viper, it's instantly identifiable. It may not beat the sound of a high-revving V10, but it's still among the best sounding engines.

Soul, character, aggression, beauty, feeling, and sound, the Viper has it all. Even better yet, it's actually very affordable (in terms of supercars), so someone like myself could realistically buy one with enough hard work. Aside from the Corvette, there aren't many supercars where that's possible.

I was able to watch the 5th gen Viper be revealed live online, and the moment it rolled on stage... It's been the only time to date that a car left me completely speechless. When I was finally able to talk again, all I could say was "WOW!" Over, and over, and over... Hopefully my pics will give you an idea as to why... ; )

whoa......Great shots, Yakov ;] Thanks for the post and your reasons for choosing - well done ;]

OK, fellas, few days left to enter ;] Hope to see some more. Some really amazing shots so far - really impressed ;]

Thanks, Kool

I have to say, those are some nice shots of that Viper, Yakov. I really like the shot of the rear quarter panel with the sunlight barely gleaming just above--absolutely beautiful shot, man. I'm a big fan of Dodge myself, and my wife and I have always wanted to get a viper for hobby racing (though we've been eye-balling late 90's models due to the fact that they're so cheap now). Have to agree with you about the fact that it's a very affordable supercar--for the price, you couldn't do much better. Excellent choice for a favorite car, IMO.

Glad you like 'em! And thanks for continuing to host these, it gives me something to do. ; )


Thanks! I was trying to give the pic a really calm and clean atmosphere while highlighting the Viper's gorgeous curves. I'm pretty happy with the final product. : )

I've used the Indianapolis at sunset environment a few too many times, but I love the look of it (especially turn 1). You can play with the sun to either block or highlight parts of the car, and that skybox is by far the most beautiful one in game. The lighting itself can also give you extremely realistic pics, so long as you balance everything just right.


It may be horribly impractical as an everyday car, but it's an awesome track weapon. I was looking at getting a '99 GTS in the future if I could get enough money together ($30-$40K is extremely reasonable); I've had a special attachment to the ACR variant of it as it was the only car capable of beating the Hennessey Venom 800TT in FM1's Viper vs 'Vette championship.

Like I said before, it's just such a badass car, I don't know how someone couldn't like it! When it first came out there were very few supercars that could beat it, and over two decades later, it's still one of the best supercars out there (and an extremely high quality one as well). What I'm really interested in seeing is what the new ACR can do. Supposedly it's way quicker than a C7 with the Z07 package, and that's one of the quickest cars you can get right now... How much you wanna bet that it's only gonna be slower than the 918, P1, and LaFerrari? Lol

Down to the wire, here ;) Any other entries ??

Was going to enter this one but then came down with a case of "option paralysis" lol =).

Edited by user Friday, July 31, 2015 1:55:10 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Ah, come on CC - you have till Midnight ;) Eenie, meanie, mighty, mo ;) close your eyes and pick one ;)

Last minute substitution. 2011 McLaren #59 McLaren GT MP4-12C GT3 with one of my designs (center shot). Couldn't leave this one out. Great car another one of my favorites!

Thanks Kool

OK fellas - this one closed - will get with my judges and hopefully have results tomorrow ;] Thanks for participating and hope to have some more photo comps if some of you guys are interested ;] Let me know your thoughts

Kool

You're welcome! It's funny because I originally wanted to ask if the photos were shot at Indy, as it certainly looked like it. That curiosity has been satiated. Another great use of Indy, I've discovered, is in finding a place far off from track, as if you were an onlooker standing at the walls, and then zooming in as far as you can to get the car as large as you want in the photo; between the backgrounds and the way the aperture affects the environment, and the balance of sunlight, you can get some VERY realistic looking photos. If you haven't tried this technique, or anything similar, give it a shot--you might be surprised at the results! It works very nicely on Lagunza Seca and Suzuka as well.



You had me chuckling here too... the wife and I were discussing the very same model, but see, she has a thing for the '96's body and curves and whatnot. We ended up deciding that if money ever became no object, we could pick up a 99 GTS from salvage (assuming motor and drivetrain are okay, and I'm an automotive technician so I know what I'm looking for), and just swap everything into the 96. The differences in suspension geometry are nominal at best, in my opinion, so even though it'd be a 96, there's more than enough aftermarket parts to equip it well enough to handle just as well as the 99's and on. It'd be one hell of a project, and lots of time, but definitely worth the while.

And as far as impracticality, you might be surprised. I used to work for a shop owned by, and neighbor to, a large Dodge dealership. I've sat in 'em, seen 'em up close, and even worked on them (LOVE the car, but God save you if ever you have to tune one up...), and I must say that for what it is, you can do far worse in regards to impracticality. I know a few people in town that own one, and I also know a few people with Ferrari's and Lamborghini's (which is truly an oddity, being that I live in a rather small town, seemingly in the middle of nowhere), and it seems to me a larger pain in the *ahem* to own and drive the latter two for daily drivers; the gearing isn't really there for it. Our beloved Vipers, on the other hand, though still geared for performance have smaller ratios for the first half of the gearbox to make cruising and driving more pleasant.



As am I. It'd be nice to see one of those in person. Mmmmmm..... And Yeah, I'll bet my money (paychecks, even) that it's quicker than the C7 and Z07, considering what Chrysler has been up to lately (if you've read any details about the design, engineering, and manufacturing process of the Hellcat Challenger and Charger, particularly the motor, you should know what I mean). I have always given some credit to Chevy in the respect that they've always been able to almost do what Dodge can with two fewer cylinders, but at the end of the day, almost winning isn't winning. And with what I've been reading, I'm thinking that the gap in performance between the Viper and it's competitors me be slight enough at this point to drive the actual competition more towards driver skill than vehicle performance alone. Only time will tell us though (damn my impatience, lol...).

And being that you are such a fan of the car (and I assume Dodge as well), check out the Challenger Drag Pack available from Chrysler. 200mph top speed, 0-60 in 3.5, 700 Hp and 660 lb-ft torque... and you have to sign some paperwork legally binding you from driving it on public roads of any kind; it's sold off the showroom floor as a drag car--A FULLY BLOWN, READY TO GO, 9 SECOND CAR, WITH SLICKS!!!!!! And it's supposed to be faster than the Hellcats!!! It's beyond words, Yakov! You've got to check it out!

Edited by user Saturday, August 1, 2015 10:50:42 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Kool, I'm definitely down for some more comps! I'm kind of thinking that if I can make enough credits, I'll start hosting some of my own comps as well--I'd really love to get some kind of a time attack gig going.

Whether the competition involves photography or driving, I'm game. Keep us all posted! You can even message me on Xbox if you want. I'm on quite the bit lately, just keep my status offline to keep from being bothered by random people too much (I'm sure you understand what I mean). If ever you do message me and I'm on at the time, I'll respond (so if there's no response, I'm not on).

Oh, and thanks for hosting this comp! And thanks for the first entry bonus (I don't believe I thanked you for that yet).

You are more than welcome ;] You don't know how I appreciate you guys that participate and still take part in these Forza 4 forum comps - THE GAME IS STILL ALIVE !! As far as gaining some credits - visit us over in the RACERS LOUNGE - KOTT Challenges and Voldemortt's Challenges both offer some great Forza 4 fun and competition and Credit Prizes !!! Hope to see you stop in there as well ;]

Kool

Results are posted ;] Start selling me some grey IROCZs for your winning amounts - 24 hr Auctions please. Thanks again for those of you who took the time to enter and participate ;] New photo comp starting soon ;]

Let me know when your IROCs are up ;]

Thanks, Kool

Thanks for putting this comp together..really enjoyed this and I'm waiting for the next.

Gray IROCZ is up.

These photocomps are pretty much my only reason to take pics, so I'm all for continuing 'em. : )


: ) I believe Camino, Infineon, and Suzuka are the only other tracks that have a sunset/sunrise option. But like I mentioned, I love Indy's skybox so I use it the most. I got some nice shots of the Venom GT on Infineon though, there's a nice spot at the top of the turn 4 hill where you can get a really clean background. The lighting can help things look really realistic too.


Another at Infineon...


I took this at Indy while zoomed in...
And this one zoomed out...
You can make both zoom levels look good, you've just gotta mess around with stuff.

And I actually took some shots of the 2000 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R Foxbody II (got enough designations there Ford?!) on Laguna Seca yesterday...

Story time! I was hotlapping with a stock '92 Honda NSX (b-class), and it ran a 1:39.7. Thinking that wasn't anything special, I grabbed a Shelby GT500 to "easily" beat it... Nope, ran a 1:40.7... '10 Camaro SS? Nope, 1:40.5... C4 Corvette? Nope, 1:40.4... I had driven every single stock b-class American car (aside from the Cobra R) and none of them could beat the NSX. The two closest to beating it were the C4 Corvette and '10 Camaro SS; the C4 would destroy the NSX around turns but lose too much ground down the straights, and the Camaro would match the NSX around the track until just after the corkscrew, at which point the NSX couldn't be caught. It was down to the Fox II, and if that didn't do it that'd be it, no b-class American car could touch an NSX... 6 laps later, 1:37.5! The Fox II did it! It's another one of my all-time favorite cars (I was actually considering using it for this month's comp instead of the Viper), so that made the victory that much more special. I did a burnout that lasted about 10 minutes to celebrate...




If you ever start on that project be sure to message me with updates, it sounds like one heck of an amazing project car! ; )


Unfortunately I've only seen two Vipers in my entire life (one '99 GTS ACR in red, and one 3rd-gen SRT-10 in black) and they were both driving the opposite direction as me, so I couldn't go and check 'em out. Basically, I have no real world hands-on experience with them. My sister actually saw a black 5th-gen Viper GTS in a parade last month (lead by a C7 Z06 in Laguna Blue), but I wasn't there... :'(

Anyways... Yeah, I don't have personal experience with 'em so I just have to go off of the opinions of others. I was always told the Viper is brutal for daily driving, so I just figured that's how it was. Glad to hear that's not completely true. : )


Well, around Seca, the '13 Corvette ZR1 beat the '10 Viper ACR, and when you consider the stupid amount of downforce the ACR produces and it still lost... Then the 5th-gen GTS was a full two seconds slower than that same ZR1, so SRT had to go back and add an aerokit (among other mods) to make the T/A which beat the ZR1 by a mere 8 hundredths of a second. The Corvette has almost always been quicker and faster than the Viper at everything, then Dodge has to go and do something fancy to keep up. Once they do those modifications though, it's always a close race with the Viper typically winning by a small margin. It's fun though, because one never completely dominates the other, it'll always be a close battle.

But lap times aren't everything... What really matters is that they force each other to improve, and that means a better end product for the consumer. On top of that I view them as brothers instead of rivals, so while the fanboys are cursing each other out I'm rooting for the Viper and the Vette. It makes things so much more enjoyable. : )


Yeah, I've seen it, thing's a freaking beast! I really wish they'd put wheelie bars on it though (I have a feeling that it doesn't because of class regulations), the fact that it does wheelstands every time it launches is usually what will end up costing it the race to a Cobra Jet or a Copo. Still, it's such a badass dragster that it's hard to fault it for anything!

BTW, be sure to check out my friend and fellow BTM member, DevoGT sometime. He does replicas of the Drag Pak, Cobra Jet, and Copo Camaro (among many, many others) and they're the highest quality replicas you'll find. Plus they come with excellent drag tunes so you can go straight into racing them. All of his latest stuff he sells exclusively through the auction house, but he's still got lots awesome paints in his storefront.


YAY!!! The first time I won a photocomp I had used a pic of my #1 favorite car, the '97 Diablo SV, and the second time I win a photcomp I use my #2 favorite car, the '13 Viper. I guess people like my taste in cars. Lol

Thanks Kool, and congrats to everyone else that participated this month! Everyone had excellent pics! : )

G'Day everyone! Here are my three photos..

Great shots, Falcon ;] but this comp ended Fri 7/31 - results have already been posted

A new photo comp will be starting this week - please take part and hope to see you there ;]

Kool

Congrats to the winners, great pics, and thanks for the HM :)

Enjoyed seeing the cool designs! Congrats to winners!

Thanks for third place, guys! Will be posting in the new comp, "Show Me A Chevy" being that I own one...

And Kool, thanks for the credits!

Thanks for the HM, put grey Irocz is in auction house. Thanks for the photo comp KoolIROCZ1967. Good photos everyone.