If there is one thing that the guys at Turn 10 Studios strived for when making Forza Motorsport4 was authenticity. The team flew all over the world to visit race tracks and scan real live versions of all the cars you can play in the game. They also do extensive sound recording for each car to make sure that the exhaust note is just right. Generally speaking getting a car for sound recording is not very hard for them. They can rent or borrow just about any street car they need for recording. However they ran into a bit of a problem when they decided they wanted to put the legendary Mazda 787B 4-rotor LeMans winner in the game. It’s engine is so rare that the only way to get a recording was to go through Mazda and get one of the original race cars.
Getting Mazda to bring out one of the original cars is a feat in and of itself. However, that turned out to be only half the battle. Once the team got a 787B in their possession they realized that the 4-rotor’s wail was so powerful that it exceeded the limits of what their highly specialized audio equipment could capture! How did they manage? Check out the video below to find out.
Today the February ALMS DLC pack was released for Forza Motorsport 4 on the Xbox Live marketplace. The DLC pack goes for 560 microsoft points AKA about 7 bucks which is a pretty good price considering the 10 top notch cars you get in the pack. However if you just cant seem to find enough points in your virtual pockets then we have a way for you to get this new DLC pack for free! How? Well, it is simple. Actually it is not that simple. You see we only have one DLC code to give away so we have to make sure who ever we give it to really deserves it so in order to deem who is worthy we are holding a contest.
We know there are many talented painters and graphic designers in Forza land and for this contest we are calling on you. We want to see your best MotorworldHype themed livery in Forza Motorsport 4. Look at our website for inspiration. The only limitations to the design is that you have the MotorworldHype logo on your livery somewhere. Your design can be on any type of car and you can have the car in your marketplace to download (if your design is the winner we will probably be first in line to download it!). After you finish your design post a link to a picture of it in the comments of this post, tweet a link to the picture to @MotorworldHype, or post pictures on our wall at Facebook.com/MotorworldHype
We will stop accepting submissions after 12:01am Monday (February13th) morning. Later on that day (February 13th) we will choose ONE winner and announce the winning submission here on MotorworldHype.com. You may only submit one design (multiple submissions will be disqualified).
Good luck and we are looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
Tomorrow is a new month which means a new DLC pack for Forza Motorsports 4 is on the way! February will bring the ALMS Pack which will include a few LeMans jems like the 1991 Mazda 787B 4-Rotor race car and the 2011 Audi R18 TDI. For some extra fun the pack will also include UFC fighter Rampage Jackson’s widebody Dodge Challenger and the Platnium Motorsports widebody Bentley Continental GT that won Best Of Show at Forza’s 2011 E3 car show. For a full list of the pack’s cars and a video preview scroll down!
This year was the 20th anniversary of Mazda’s historic win at LeMans with their mythical 4-rotor 787B race car. To celebrate Mazda went back to LeMans and brought the 787B and Johnny Herbert (the man who was behind the wheel when the 787B crossed the checkered flag) with them. In the video below we get to see Herbert jump inside the cockpit one more time and do a flying lap around LeMans 20 years later. Scroll down below to see it all for yourself, by the way you should turn your speakers up for this one!
The year was 1991. Ric Flair won the NWA/WCW championship, Seinfield made its TV debut, Bryan Addams was on the top of the Billboard 100, I started 4th grade, and most importantly Mazda made history by being the first Japanese manufacturer to win the 24 Hours Of LeMans with their 4-rotor powered 787B race car. Its been 20 years and a lot of things have changed since ’91. Ric Flair retired, Seinfield ended, Bryan Addams has been spoofed by a cartoon baby, and I finished college (mostly). However, one thing that hasn’t changed was Mazda’s accomplishment. They are still the only Japanese manufacturer to ever win LeMans and the 787B is the first and only rotary powered car to win the race (rotaries were banned after ’91).
To celebrate their 20 year standing accomplishment the organizers of the 24 hours of LeMans have invited Mazda to back to Circuit de la Sarthe for a special exhibition run, complete with members of the original 1991 team! Engineers at Mazda have completely restored the 787B to racing condition for the event on June 11th which will be photographed and recorded by Mazda and then uploaded for all the interwebs to see. And it will be quite a sight to see the ol’ 787B taking the corners of de la Sarthe again. I can’t wait! Until then I will just listen to another 4-rotor Mazda in action to hold me over.
Press Release:
- The Mazda 787B’s incredible 4-rotor engine noise will be heard again around the Circuit de la Sarthe on June 11, before the 24-hour race begins -
HIROSHIMA, Japan—2011 marks the 20th anniversary of Mazda’s victory in the world’s most demanding endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1991, Mazda became the first and only Japanese car manufacturer to win the race. In celebration of this anniversary, and at the invitation of the event organizers, the Automobile Club de L’Ouest (ACO), Mazda will demonstrate the winning Mazda 787B on the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France on Saturday, June 11, 2011, before the 24-hour race begins.The 79th 24-Hours of Le Mans is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. (local time) on Saturday, June 11, 2011, and finish at the same time on the following day. Mazda plans to hold the demonstration of the 787B racecar on the Circuit de la Sarthe at 12:30 p.m. on June 11. Additionally, the 787B will also take part in the Driver’s Parade through the Le Mans city center on Friday June 10.
The Mazda 787B is the first and only Japanese car, and rotary-engine car, to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jointly developed by Mazda and Mazdaspeed, the organization that managed Mazda’s racing program, the 787B has a chassis designed to meet Group C racing car technical regulations and is powered by a four-rotor rotary engine that produces 700 horsepower. Due to a change in the race regulations, 1991 was to become the last year that a rotary-engine car could participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. At the last chance, after 17 years of effort, Mazda finally realized its long-held dream to take the overall victory at Le Mans. This victory was not Mazda’s alone, but the result of long years of hard work by Mazdaspeed, the drivers, suppliers and the many others involved.
Takashi Yamanouchi, Mazda’s representative director, chairman of the board, president and CEO, said, “Mazda is founded on a desire to ‘never stop challenging.’ This spirit brings Mazda Group employees together across the globe, and it inspires us to achieve the demanding goals we set ourselves. Exactly 50 years ago, in 1961, Mazda commenced development of the rotary engine. The road from this beginning until our 1991 victory at Le Mans, and on to our current SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY development program, is built upon our spirit of challenge. 2011 is set to be another landmark year for the entire Mazda Group, as we enter our SKYACTIV era with the global introduction of our next-generation vehicles.”
Since 1991, the winning Mazda 787B has mostly been on display at the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima, Japan. In preparation for the demonstration at Le Mans, Mazda has carefully restored the winning 787B racecar back to driving condition for the first time since its post-race overhaul in 1991. The work was carried out by current Mazda employees who participated in the company’s original Le Mans Challenge Project, along with engineers from Mazda’s subsidiary engineering company Mazda E&T. The restored 787B has been tested by one of Mazda’s in-house top gun drivers, and its performance has been confirmed by former Mazda factory drivers Yoshimi Katayama, Takashi Yorino and Yojiro Terada at Mazda’s Mine Proving Ground in western Japan.
As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations, various members of the 1991 Mazda team will also return to Le Mans. The winning driver Johnny Herbert (England) will be joined by 1991 Mazda drivers David Kennedy (Ireland), Pierre Dieudonné (Belgium) and other team members.
Video footage and photographs of the restoration work and the demonstration at Le Mans will be uploaded on Mazda’s official Facebook and YouTube web pages.
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