Seriously, what's with the samba van?

[BD Ford]

seriously Polyphony... A VW samba van?
This must have come in an update, I didn't know it was in the game. While testing a new 911 GT3 I suddenly heard the unmistakable dakk-dakk-dakk of a VW engine. I have AI engines turned up a bit so I can hear where they are.
The sound was getting louder, closer...
I rocketed around a corner... And here it was in the centre of the road, all 72 mph downhill with a taitlwind terror of it, a flaming VW van, like a moving chicane.
I swerved so hard, I crashed the Porsche. And then just burst out laughing.
My wife suggests they have different joke versions of it to appear at random - a green and white Italian Polizia version with flashing blue light, an ice cream or fried chippie van version, and a flower power version with long haired hippies singing in the back. For starters...

Seriuosly PD ? All I can think it is some sort of joke.

Gawd... There's not some event where we have to race these, is there?
BF

 

[SSQES]

Van came with an update. And it's also an iconic car and a lot of fun with livery. I like it much more than an i3 for exemple.

 

[Guffaluff]

It was indeed added in the last update.

It's classic PD eccentric nature and I love it. It was used in some daily one make races and personally I found those to be a lot of fun

Each to his own, but I've always loved PD's inclusion of random out of place vehicles.

With that said, I understand some people disliking it

 

[ColinNZ]

They were fun to race around suzuka east in Sport mode, too. I'm assuming you came across one in a GT league event? I was surprised the first time I lapped one.

 

[baldgye]

I don’t know what your talking about, it’s a serious racing car

 

[Donnced]

Well... Talking about Porsche 911 and VW Sambabus....

 

[Meggle]

I don’t know what your talking about, it’s a serious racing car

I won a few in it as well. It was great fun.👍👍

 

[BD Ford]

They were fun to race around suzuka east in Sport mode, too. I'm assuming you came across one in a GT league event? I was surprised the first time I lapped one.

Yes, I was lapping it in I think the GT League Boxer Spirit event. It was going so slow, and I so fast, I actually thought it was stationary.

Yeah you gotta love PDs sense of whimsy.

The last thing I expected to find on a race track was a VW bus. I had to laugh.

BF

 

[ZGBox]

I don’t know what your talking about, it’s a serious racing car

Hahahaha, that's hilarious

 

[TheNuvolari]

I don’t know what your talking about, it’s a serious racing car

Thomas 2.0?

 

[Lebowski]

I don't get it's inclusion either. It may be iconic but why does that mean it deserves to be in a game about racing? When I think of all the other iconic race cars and proper road cars that could have been included I can only conclude they just don't take the game seriously or they're on drugs.

 

[Furinkazen]

I don't get it's inclusion either. It may be iconic but why does that mean it deserves to be in a game about racing? When I think of all the other iconic race cars and proper road cars that could have been included I can only conclude they just don't take the game seriously or they're on drugs.

You can race anything. Doesn't matter.

 

[Lebowski]

Never said you can't, there's just far more deseving inclusions than that shed.

 

[NoFinClue]

For the Samba lovers:



For everyone else:

 

[Alpha Cipher]

For the Samba lovers:



For everyone else:

That intro on the second video was perfect

 

[WRECKU]

I have owned 2 so they are pretty special to me and just plain fun to drive when you throw some more HP at them.

 

[Solstice93]

Oh, you must be new to GT.

 

[Volksauto]

That Volkswagen has been around since GT5

 

[coxbox]

you have never heard of NASBUS then BTW i have 6 Samba Buses fully tuned.

 

[FastFurious77]

My Samba Bus will just about reach 105Mph before dropping to 103Mph. I've tried but haven't succeeded in making it reach a faster top speed.

The bus is amazing at cornering if you know exactly where to set the spring rates carefully, camber carefully, ride height and especially the aanti roll bars.

It's a cornering beast. Depending on how you setup the suspension it will either kill you or roll you like a vicious crocodile or please you like your in a rollercoaster ride

They can corner without rolling over at like 85-90mph. It's truly a lot of fun. It would be nice for PD to give the engine a nice bhp increase like just over 200bhp like it had in the last games.

 

[Macboyilija]

The Sambabus is an icon since GT5 with the TopGear track. Best races ever. Know your history or learn it here

It would be also clear to you what all the initial complaints were against GT sport. It was the part of the fans that were more into ordinary cars than racecars. You would say that PD makes the decision but bringing GT league in an update was a clear “sorry” from their side.

True that ordinary cars do not belong on a racetrack most of the times. Some exceptions of course. But do not forget that PD has not created beautiful road tracks yet. This was vastly missed by a big group of fans from the GT series. So you are partly right, but this part also was a major complaint of the community.

Furthermore I find it strange how people sometimes dislike certain cars since you have the freedom not to buy or to race with that car. Not meaning the OP but in general.

 

[MidFieldMaven]

I appreciate having a truly slow car to drive on racetracks in GT. That said, it's 23 seconds slower than the Mazda MX-5 at Suzuka East, with both on SH tires.

That is ssssssslllllloooooowwwww....

 

[Famine]

Never said you can't, there's just far more deseving inclusions than that shed.

Who decides what is deserving and what isn't?

 

[Dan]

it's 23 seconds slower than the Mazda MX-5 at Suzuka East, with both on SH tires.

That is ssssssslllllloooooowwwww....

A car doesn’t need to be fast in order to be fun.

 

[ColinNZ]

Never said you can't, there's just far more deseving inclusions than that shed.

I've had some very enjoyable races in these things, they make for some good close racing.

 

[BD Ford]

Oh, you must be new to GT.

Actually, far from. Ive had them all since GT 0 on ps1, and still have 4,5 and 6. But I've never gone looking for a VW van nor, can I think of a reason why I'd want to? In a game that celebrates driving high speed exotic machinery, I tend to shy away from anything I might drive in real life. This included things like Renault 2CVs, Beetles, and that weird little Daihatsu truck from GT5. I drive a toyota Hi-Ace van for work everyday. Let me tell you how exciting that is : heres the list :
1.


yep.
I've never seen one as AI befofre, and in a game like GT S where they have stripped the car list down to fairly flash stuff, its inclusion in this version seemed.... bizarre. But then PD does have a weird sense of humour. It made me laugh so maybe, that was the point.
cheers
BF

I appreciate having a truly slow car to drive on racetracks in GT. That said, it's 23 seconds slower than the Mazda MX-5 at Suzuka East, with both on SH tires.

That is ssssssslllllloooooowwwww....

wow, thats slow. Most other cars could stop for drive thru, and still beat it...

BF

The Sambabus is an icon since GT5 with the TopGear track. Best races ever. Know your history or learn it here

It would be also clear to you what all the initial complaints were against GT sport. It was the part of the fans that were more into ordinary cars than racecars. You would say that PD makes the decision but bringing GT league in an update was a clear “sorry” from their side.

True that ordinary cars do not belong on a racetrack most of the times. Some exceptions of course. But do not forget that PD has not created beautiful road tracks yet. This was vastly missed by a big group of fans from the GT series. So you are partly right, but this part also was a major complaint of the community.

Furthermore I find it strange how people sometimes dislike certain cars since you have the freedom not to buy or to race with that car. Not meaning the OP but in general.

Don't dislike it, and while GT has been home to many older slower cars over the years, and some pretty weird stuff too, in a version like GT Sport which has been clearly stripped down to focus on more performance, hence the "Sport" moniker, its inclusion seems, odder than usual. I've personally tended to go for more exotic machinery, I've got plenty of old and slow cars in real life.
Perhaps PD is making a point with the VW van? Perhaps they're saying "Ok, its a bit of a joke, a bit tongue in cheek... but hey, it's only a game. Chill out and relax a bit, now and then... "
Maybe thats a good thing.
Cheers
BF

 

[Nuschel01]

This included things like Renault 2CVs, Beetles, and that weird little Daihatsu truck from GT5.

Can't wait for PD to bring the Renault 2CV, Citroen 204 and Peugeot R4 to GTS.
The Midget II was in GT4, too and has always been one of the most fun cars to race alongside the VW T1 and many other small economy cars

 

[CliveH]

I enjoyed the races with them, racing them teaches you the importance of being smooth and maximizing your momentum out of a corner. Looking forward to them coming back to the daily races.

 

[ShiftingGears]

They have too few actual cars to start venturing into the novelty vehicles.

 

[NoFinClue]

Can't wait for PD to bring the Renault 2CV, Citroen 204 and Peugeot R4 to GTS.
The Midget II was in GT4, too and has always been one of the most fun cars to race alongside the VW T1 and many other small economy cars

I'd take all those over fantasy cars like the Chaparral 2X (2X referring to the number of times you will be killed on a typical lap).