Forza 3: the real life challenge
Dom Sacco got behind the wheel of an Xbox 360 and a Lotus Exige to find out which is faster.
I look down at the speedometer and the gauge trickles past 120mph.
The car is revving almost as hard as my heartbeat, and the long Hangar Straight at Silverstone urges me to put my foot down further.
Gallery: Lotus Exige and Forza 3 at Silverstone
Suddenly a turning approaches too fast, sending the £42,000 Lotus Exige careering across the grass before smashing headfirst into a barrier.
I hit rewind and play the track again. Thankfully, this was just a game.
Forza 3 Motorsport is a new racing game for the Xbox 360, boasting more than 400 real-world cars and 100 race tracks - including England's very own Silverstone.
Auto Trader had the chance to compare a real-life Lotus Exige with the in-game model. And the results were interesting to say the least…
On your marks
Before heading out to the south circuit of Silverstone, we set our fastest lap time in Forza 3.
Make no mistake: the game looks gorgeous as Jodie Kidd in a Bugatti Veyron. And all the engine noises have been recorded from real cars, so our Lotus Exige sounds like the real deal.
Auto Trader were one of only two publications brave enough to choose manual transmission with all the driving assists switched off (apart from traction control - which the real car has).
This meant the controls with the Xbox 360 steering wheel were tough, but not too difficult. After being hit from behind by a virtual Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X and crashing into the barriers umpteen times, we recorded a miserable lap of 2:31.
In our defence, the game is even harder in the more realistic cockpit-view, and we weren't used to it. But excuses aside, at the end of the session our Exige looked more like a tin can than a race car.
And we were being watched.
"You'll be travelling at 100mph while turning a tight corner out on the circuit."
The safety instructor's attempt to prepare us for the track didn't work, and we were beginning to feel anxious. That doesn't happen in Forza 3.
Video: Forza 3 trailer
Stepping out onto the cold tarmac of Silverstone's South Circuit however, the next real difference is striking - the track is huge.
Racing on a television screen gives a distorted view of the circuit's size. In real life, it's wide enough for three or four cars side-by-side on the Hangar Straight.
Plus it's freezing and slightly foggy. And weather effects are something which the game sadly can't recreate.
Negatives aside, we don our helmet and squeeze ourselves into the passenger seat of the low, bare interior of the 257bhp Lotus Exige.
"Forget everything you've learnt about driving a car," the instructor says, as he fastens our seatbelts and starts the car's engine.
"You're on a race track now, the rules are different."
I motion to say something back but the car shuts me up before I can even open my mouth. 0-60mph in 4 seconds certainly feels a lot quicker in real life.
The noise of the engine roars through my ears and I try my hardest to take in the instructor's advice about changing gears and positioning, but everything is literally a blur.
We're driving so fast around Stowe corner I feel like we're tilting onto our sides, and my sense of direction is seriously put into question. Forza 3 isn't like this.
Before I know it, it's my turn to drive. And it's not looking good.
There's no DSG paddle-shift system in the real Exige, just a standard gearbox. The clutch pedal is stiff and has a habit of dropping into sixth when you want fourth.
Thankfully, being in control of the Exige is a lot more fun. It's a seriously powerful track car and light as anything, with fantastic grip.
We swing from corner to corner, hitting over 120mph on the Hangar Straight and manage to stay safely between third and fifth gear.
The only difficulty we face is staying on the left-hand side before entering a corner, to follow the correct racing line. This is much easier in the game.
On the real-life track our Exige wobbles in the middle, giving us massive understeer, which causes us to brake mid-turn. Not good.
But the acceleration is more fun than on Forza 3.Going from third to fourth and putting your foot down in an Exige is awesome. Everything feels faster in real life, and the wind noise at 120mph is incomparable to the same speed in a computer game.
Gallery: Just some of the cars from Forza 3
Breaking records
When we get back inside to play Forza 3 and try to beat our initial lap time, the similarities become clearer.
We take our hats off to Forza - all the corners and barriers have been perfectly recreated like-for-like. Even heavy tyre marks on virtual Silverstone can be found in the same places in real life.
Freshly armed with the knowledge of a professional race driver and a taste for speed, we manage to shave six seconds off our original lap time to 2:25.
We take the proper racing line and only spin out once. This is the fault of the game's hardest difficulty setting however - not our newfound driving skills.
But give us a real-life Lotus Exige over a computer game any day. You can't beat sitting in one zooming across a track at 120mph.
Sorry Forza 3. We love you, but you're just not as good as the real thing. But as far as computer games go, you've got pole position.
Forza 3 is out now on Xbox 360.
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