Impenetrable car article: Forza 3’s “Summer Velocity” DLC

Anyone who’s hardcore into their hobby tends to pick up a bunch of vocabulary and habits that are totally foreign to people who don’t share the same passion. Fantasy sports fans, art enthusiasts, WoW players, all of them will ramble ad nausea about the really specific thing they love regardless of who’s listening, completely oblivious to the fact that not only does their audience not care, but thatthey're incapable of understanding what you’re saying. As a huge car fan, I'll do my best to perpetuate this stereotype with our look at Forza Motorsport 3’s new “Summer Velocity Car Pack”.

The new “Summer Velocity Car Pack” (400 MS points, available today) continues FM3’s trend of giving players a grab bag of 10 new vehicles that really couldn’t be more different. Let’s have a look at a few of them:

1. 2010 Peugeot 308 RCZ

Above: Note the drastic slope of the C pillar into the boot, I mean trunk

One of the best parts about being a car fan is that you can look at a completely gibberish string of numbers and characters, and instead of imagining a dreary algebra class, picture a slick sports car in your head. The Peugot 308 RCZ is one of those cars. Peugot, for the American readers, is a French car company that makes a quality vehicle everywhere else in the world, but decided toexclusively import atrocious boxy rustbuckets to the states, which explains why you’ve never heard of them.

Above: If you've ever parked your car like this you're an enormous jerk

The 308 RCZ is a 2 door sports coupe powered by a 218bhp, turbo charged 1.6 liter four cylinder, and while still a concept vehicle, is destined for production under a different name. It’s a step away from Peugot’s other cars, which are mostly boring economical grocery getters (read: slow,practical). While it’s not as low slung and sexy as a proper sports car, it does have a neat look about it with its cockpit bubble and dramatically sloped back. The car’s looks are equal parts Nissan 350Z and Audi TT, though they’ve been shortened a bit to match with Peugot’s trademark headlights/grille.

In-game potential: Low horsepower and front wheel drive mean that the car will likely require some tinkering to make it a contender in anything above theC and D ranks.

2010 Bertone Mantide

Above: Required credit level: Oil Sultan

The Bertone Mantide is the epitome of an Italian show car, a gorgeous, dramatic, one off masterpiece designed to ignite the passions and hopefully open the wallets of the world’s kings and sultans. While technically based on the Corvette ZR1’s chassis and engine (don’t scoff, the ZR1 currently holds the production car record at the Nurburgring Nordschleife), the car is in a league of its own style wise. The audacious rear end looks like a Ferrari F430/Audi R8 hybrid, though the sloping front is a little less wild.

In-game potential:A 638 supercharged V8 in a lightweight carbon fiber body means a 217 mph top speed, so expect S rank performance