AutoSport Show 2017 Birmingham NEC (1 Viewer)

[SlowBloke]

Went to the Autosport International Car show in Birmingham on Saturday - and damn there were some really nice cars there...

Hopefully this is shared ok for those interested in some car porn:

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=bnNkdDBFRmlRY2NzMS1iMWttZjZQZzVOX0pEU3R3

What surprised me the most is that the cars that really took my breath away the most were the McLaren 650s GT3 and the Bentley GT3. They were real lookers in the flesh and had a massive presence.

The Racing Porsches were also lovely. (GT4, GT3, Cup) and were so very closly aligned to the ones in Assetto Corsa. They got the paint job in game perfect...

Road car wise...

The 2017 Ford GT also just had a real feel to it - not typically beautiful - the lines are suspect - but DAMN man... they went all out with that one !

Oakley design Bugatti Veyron was soooo sweet - that speckled yellow paint job is beautiful..

Plenty of modern F1 cars but in all honesty as you might suspect from TV they really are not that attractive to look at.

Tiff's old Cosworth was there - looking damn sexy too !

There were a few sim setups - I was hoping to try the Project Cars with rift, motion setup and direct drive wheel but alas my specs would not fit.

I did try Asseto Corsa at the vbox stand and have to admit - I wasnt overly impressed with the Direct Drive wheel feel (they had very high end 4-5k wheel) - yes it was MUCH more powerful but turning in really felt a slog with the resistance but importantly it just felt a motor fighting me... it did not feel like it came from the road. I actually prefer my T300 over what I felt there.... was not expecting that.

Both Mr JWW and Shmee were friendly and were happy to pose for photos - Shmee was bloody busy from all the live shows back to his new Aston GT8 but still managed a smile and a few words for all those there.

The live show was fun but the cars in the main rooms were the starts for me

All in all I thoroughly recommend it if your ever in the area next January!

 

[Tom]

Arrrgh I wish I went now! I can smell the oil and dusty air just from looking at those pictures. Lots of great pictures there. Also, that novice cross on the 650s that's one expensive way to get started in motorsport!

 

[SlowBloke]

Arrrgh I wish I went now! I can smell the oil and dusty air just from looking at those pictures. Lots of great pictures there. Also, that novice cross on the 650s that's one expensive way to get started in motorsport!

Your not wrong on the 650S.. look at the right exhaust - its had a prang already... brrrrr

Also I was surprised when they said that as a GT3 car its actually very scary to drive - you really have to have a good setup or its quite punishing. Was surprised by that as I thought GT3 with all the aids would have been idiot proof to a degree.

 

[ramiboo]

I wasn't planning on going this year as there's nothing I was needing for the forthcoming season. I'll go next year though for sure. I normally go on the Trade days though, either Thursday or Friday. I can normally get some free tickets also so happy to organise some for next year if there's a gaggle of us wanting to go and have an RSR away day!

 

[Cluck]

I wasn't planning on going this year as there's nothing I was needing for the forthcoming season. I'll go next year though for sure. I normally go on the Trade days though, either Thursday or Friday. I can normally get some free tickets also so happy to organise some for next year if there's a gaggle of us wanting to go and have an RSR away day!

Count me in please

 

[falcon2081]

@SlowBloke dont take for granted what you felt using that DD wheel. I can guarantee you it was set up wrong. DD is nothing short of amazing when it comes to FFB fidelity. Hopefully you can try one out properly in the future.

 

[SlowBloke]

@SlowBloke dont take for granted what you felt using that DD wheel. I can guarantee you it was set up wrong. DD is nothing short of amazing when it comes to FFB fidelity. Hopefully you can try one out properly in the future.

Ahh fair enough - I know my t300 can feel utterly pants too if I dont get the FFB right (in any sim). Just such a shame people have such great equipment and then dont bother to spend 10 minutes getting it setup well.

I know there was a lot more road feel than I usually get in Assetto Corsa but even then it was a bit rubbish in the corners.

they had it at 25% and even at that strength I felt my pecs getting a work out within 4 laps.

 

[Laiders]

Did you get your free Autosolo passenger ride?

I was helping out on the Autosolo rides on Sunday, best bit of the show according to many passengers and pretty much the same ride that costs £20 inside in a Ginetta!

I did pop into the show for a bit, pretty much the same but smaller every year. Also you could drive an Abarth for free, sounded quite nice and characterful for a modern hot hatch.

 

[SlowBloke]

Did you get your free Autosolo passenger ride?

I was helping out on the Autosolo rides on Sunday, best bit of the show according to many passengers and pretty much the same ride that costs £20 inside in a Ginetta!

I did pop into the show for a bit, pretty much the same but smaller every year. Also you could drive an Abarth for free, sounded quite nice and characterful for a modern hot hatch.

Did not even see where that was offered let alone be aware it was offered !

The queues for the ginetta rides were mental so gave that a miss - although if I went alone I would have lined up without a problem although the constant squeeling of the tires drove me nuts just walking to and from the live show.

 

[Laiders]

Did not even see where that was offered let alone be aware it was offered !

The queues for the ginetta rides were mental so gave that a miss - although if I went alone I would have lined up without a problem although the constant squeeling of the tires drove me nuts just walking to and from the live show.

This kind of thing in, just off the end of hall 17 on the path towards the car park. There each year promoting the low cost sport of autosolo. In total there were over 1000 people who had rides over the 4 days this year! Next year pop by for a ride

And best of all the queue wasn't more than 10 minutes most of the day.

The Abarths were next to us and also had less than a 10 minute queue for a totally free drive round a course, like the autosolo one but much simpler.