GT4 2002 Saleen S7

As I mentioned earlier my summer villa has a working PS2 console plus a copy of Gran Turismo 4 (the game that started the car photo thing with its Photo Mode feature) so this summer (2016) I will be making and posting some GT4 car pictures. 

The 2002 Saleen S7 is today's featured car.

The color is Speedlab (!) Yellow.

The Saleen S7 was designed from scratch by Steve Saleen, a professional racing driver turned car tuner (of Ford Mustangs) and then car designer and builder who pioneered the concept of "lifestyle performance autos", i.e. cars designed to appeal to celebrities.

In designing the Saleen S7, Steve Saleen aimed at combining the performance of a track-race car with the driving pleasure of a regular road car.

The Saleen S7 is a rear mid-engine supercar with butterfly doors and the interior that supposedly makes a point of using plenty of luxury and functionality.

Here it is pictured at Shibuya, Tokyo, which is one of the GT4 Photo Travel spots representing the "intersection at the bottom of Dogenzaka in Shibuya where an endless stream of people and cars continuously cross back and forth and is set to the flow of car lights throughout the night".

The GT file on the car says:

"An ultra-special supercar from Saleen, to which there is also a Le Mans spec car."



The Saleen S7 is an elegant midship sports car that perfectly fits the description of "supercar". The Le Mans prototype racecar was released before the street car, and with that kind of detail and performance, it had an unprecedented position for a street car.

The body construction is a slightly old fashioned, aluminum honeycomb composite center hub with steel tube sub frames extending towards the front and back. The front and rear suspension were double wishbones using racing style long arms. The coilover dampers, and brakes developed in a collaboration between Saleen and Brembo, are pretty much racing spec.

The V8 OHV engine may seem ordinary, but this is a Saleen original. An all aluminum, miniaturized engine based on the Ford big block design, it produces 550 HP from its 7-liter displacement, 0-60 mph acceleration is 3.3 seconds, with 1-100 mph in 8.9 seconds, and a quarter mile time of 11.8 seconds. Top speed is over 215 mph, and obviously its performance is exceptional.

Mechanically speaking, the specs of the street version were not much different from the Le Mans Prototype Saleen S7R, but its interior was filled with unreal luxury.

Of course air-conditioning and an audio system were standard, but of the two full bucket seats made of Connolly Leather, the driver's side seat is custom made to fit the owner.

No Saleen in the below picture, just plenty of Toyota taxis.

Update: the S7 is your best choice in the American events, it wins all races it can be entered into hands down.

You won't have to do much yourself as races will be reduced to 1 A-spec point (but you won't get many points, but again what is the point of having a lot of A-spec points?).

And now moving over to another GT4 Photo Travel locale - Tsumago - where I think it will be easier to focus on the car.

Tsumagoyada, Kiso, is an inn town sitting on what remains of the ancient Nakasen Road in Nagano prefecture, typical of that era.

The S7 has numerous vents and grilles which supposedly control the airflow over, under and even through the car, and Saleen himself boasted that the car had the best aerodynamics of any car.

In the game, so far I used it only to win Saleen S7 Club. 

Although a complete supercar, it still allows you to buy and install additional upgrades.

Steve Saleen left Saleen in 2008 and took with him the rights to the S7. He started operating under the name SMS. However he may have returned to Saleen in 2012.