This whole month we have been suggesting things that we think should be on your gift list this year or things you should consider getting for that special someone in your life. We realize that you may have missed a few items so we are bringing you the whole list again! Just click on any of the red text to go to that item’s post. Also remember that the best gift you can get is good friends and a happy family! Happy Holidays!
The one thing that any race car or even car fan wants to do before they die is drive in a real race car. It is easily at the top of the mountain when it comes to things that people like us desire. We dream about it in our sleep and daydream about it when we should probably be doing our work. It among the end-all-be-all of coveted tangibles among car lovers. There is a way for people who desire such things to obtain them thanks to Skip Barber Racing School. Skip Barber is arguably the biggest, best racing school in the country. Many of the best racers from the last two decades have graduated from Skip Barber’s cirrculum and have participated in Skip Barber’s racing series. To this day Skip Barber is still part of a motorsports ladder (thanks to Mazda) that allows someone to climb up from kart racing all the way up to Indy Car racing. If you really want to make your beloved car person’s dream come true surprise them with a trip to a 1-day, 2-day, or 3-day Skip Barber school. There are so many experiences to have at Skip Barber that probably could not fit it all in a single post but know that Skip makes it possible to get behind the wheel of everything from a Porsche to a MX-5 cup car, to a full out open wheel racer! Skip Barber is not based at just one track either, they have schools coast to coast at some of the best tracks in the country like Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Road America. While the prices are pretty steep we can almost gurantee you that they will NEVER forget the experience. Also there are current holiday discounts that ease the load on the wallet a bit. We realize that not everyone can afford to do something like this for their loved ones but if you can we highly reccomend it, which is why we reserved this for the top of our list. There you have it! Stay tuned tomorrow for a recap of all 10 things in case you need a refresher.
Our number two item on our top ten gift list is the ultimate in racer-escapeism. Say you have Forza Motorsport 4 and the Fanatec CSR Forza 4 wheel, even though both those items are cool together if you want the ultimate trifecta you need the Forza Mototsport 4 Edition REVO Playseatto complete the experience. There are a lot of racing sim seats out there but Playseat is always at the top of the list due to their construction, limited editions, and ease of use. The Forza Motorsport 4 Edition Playseat is extra nice because they have relocated the steering wheel post to come up from underneath the seat providing better leg room for heel-toe-ing and for more customization they include an adjustable pedal plate so you can set your pedals to the perfect angle for your feet. When you are all done racing the seat folds up and retracts for easy storage. We have had the Forza Motorsport 3 Edition seat for a while and we are getting acquainted with the new Forza Motorsport 4 seat and so far we can tell you that things are going well enough that we would definitely recommend it as a potential gift this season. Although you may need to put in rush shipping to get it by Christmas! By the way stay tuned to MotorworldHype for more on the Forza Motorsport 4 playseat as a full review and unboxing video is coming up soon!
Full Disclosure: Playseat USA is an advertiser on MotorworldHype.com and provided us with the Forza Motorsport 4 Edition REVO Playseat for review purposes.
If loving cars is a religon then Top Gear is our bible and James May, Richard Hammond, and Jeremy Clarkson are our three wisemen. Blasphomey aside, Top Gear really is an insitution for lovers of all things automotive. For years Captian Slow, Hamster, and Jezza have entertained us with their ridiculous stunts and got us talking with their reviews of everything from million dollar supercars to the latest econobox from Brand X car company. In return fans would love to get their hands on damn near anything with the Top Gear logo on it. Top Gear UK goods are tricky to get, mostly because they have to come from the UK but they will be an instant hit with the car lover in your life and if you are the car lover writing your list and you haven’t included any Top Gear swag in your list yet then slap yourself in the face and correct the problem. Some quick easy to get hints would be DVDs of any of the Top Gear seasons. They are easy enough to find on BestBuy.com or Amazon.com and they range between 20-50 bucks.
Some of the best race car drivers in the world started out in go-karts and most top-tier drivers still go karting to keep their skills sharp. For the rest of us karting is a cheap way for us to pretend we are Michael Schumaher or Dario Franchitti. For anyone who loves racing or even just likes to drive, karting (indoor or outdoor) is instant fun and usually instantly addicting which means it can really drain one’s wallet! A great gift would be a gift card to the local kart track. Even though we picture a K1 Speed gift card above for their awesome indoor tracks with electric karts, theoretically this can be done with any kart track near you.
So far our gift list suggestions have been pretty pricy, all items are well worth their MSRPs but we understand that not everyone has that kind of scratch to spend on a gift. This is #5 gift is infintely as fun as any of the previous gifts while only a fraction of the price. Ladies and gentlement I humbly suggest to you, the classic slot car set. If you are a car person or not just about everyone has at least one memory of playing with a slot car set as a kid and having more fun than should be legally allowed, even if all you did was throw the pieces of slot car tracks at each other like ninja stars a good time was had by all (except for the kid you threw the track at).
Today slot car sets are different. Instead of non-descript “car shaped” cars you can actually get scale models of the real thing in some of these sets. For example the set pictured above pits a Mercedes Benz CLK-GTR against a Super GT spec Nissan GT-R! You can also get a Ferrari Challenge set up or even solve the eternal battle of Subaru vs Mitsubishi. The choice is yours and most of these kits cost no more than 65 bucks and can all (and hopefully still) be found at Toys R Us.
If you like to race you know that there is nothing worse than the times when you are NOT racing. We try to get our fix by playing games like Forza Motorsport 4 to take the edge off but even then we still can’t quite get the level of realism we want with the standard controller in our hands. Steering with your thumb on an analog stick is nice but it just is not quite the same as holding a wheel in your hands. For an added touch of realism you may want to put Fanatec’s Forza Motorsport CSR wheel on your gift list this year. With up to 900 degrees of rotation, top of the line forcefeed back motors and high resolution steering input sensors this is one of the best steering virtual steering wheels you can get right now and the $249 price tag reflects that. There is also a shifter set and aluminum pedal set available to go with your wheel as well. The full package with the wheels, shifter set, and pedals will run you about $459. While that seems like an astronomical price this set up is pretty high quality, plus there is the added bonus of Playstation 3 compatibility. Before this wheel, consumers had to buy a wheel for their Xbox 360 and a wheel for their PS3. So in a way you are actually getting two-wheels in one. If you want to see everything you get in the package check out our unboxing video. Then add this wheel to your gift list this year or consider it as a gift for the gearhead in your life!
We are in the midst of the holiday season and you may still be pondering what you want to put on your list or scrambling trying to think of something nice to get for that special gear head in your life, thats why we are here to help with our holiday gift list series. In our latest post we highly suggest the Alpinestars SP racing suit. If you are a weekend racer or know a weekend racer, this racing suit is perfect! The quality is great with two layers of fireproof construction, the styling is fresh, and the price is right at $599. This is something you definitely want to consider for that special someone or for your own list this year.
If your one of the few gear heads on earth who does not own Forza Motorsport 4 yet then you should definitely add it to your gift list for the holidays this year. Over the years the Forza Motorsport series has really come into its own and has gone from a pretender to the Gran Turismo throne to the king of the realm. There is also so much more for players to explore in the latest chapter including Top Gear challenges and the beautiful Autovista mode, which when coupled with Microsoft Kinect lets the player take a virual walk around of a long list of beautiful supercars and other cars that are notable to the car lover culture. This game is a MUST HAVE if you love cars even just a little bit. If you do not have an Xbox 360 then go ahead and put one of those on the list too or buy one because it is worth getting the console just for this game! If you want to know exactly why we love it so much then check out our review.
We have all been stuck in hopelessly boring situations: waiting in line, stuck on a long plane trip, listening to people. All those those aforementioned things suck! However there is a new and awesome way to pass time, especially if your a Formula 1 fan. Codemasters has released F1 2011 for the Nintendo 3DS handheld system! So not only can you race around the world on the go but you can do it in 3D with no dorky glasses! This is not a super condensed version of the console game either. Players still get all the teams, cars, and tracks from the 2011 F1 season, multiplayer via LAN or wi-fi with up to four players, season co-op mode, and there is even an exclusive 3DS feature in which players can put their fastest lap-times up against passers-by via the 3DS’ “streetpass” feature.
You can find the game at Best Buy or Gamestop or any other major retailer for about 40 bucks which makes this a great and easy to find gift for the racing fan in your life, just make sure they have a Nintendo 3DS. If not you can pick one up for about 170 bucks. If you are the racing fan and you are reading this then trust us when we tell you this game is a must for your wish list this year. Stay tuned for more suggestions!
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