The Datsun 510, beloved economy/race/nostalgic/tuner car, is the second most popular chariot for virtual racers in Forza Motorsports 3. Slotting just under the million-dollar Bugatti Veyron and ahead of a slew of Ferraris, Alfas and Porsches, the good ‘ol 510 has raced over 11 million times on Forza‘s online community. Sadly, we at JNC are easily confused by any technology newer than a carburetor and do not have a box of X on which to run this doohickey, and thus no frame of reference to explain why. Luckily Jalopnik does, and according to them it’s Forza‘s capacity for insane engine swaps that make the lightweight box a crowd favorite. In other words, just like real life! See the list of top 99 cars below the fold.
1. Bugatti Veyron 11,479,924
2. Datsun 510 11,249,622
3. Audi R8 5.2 10,835,396
4. Alfa Romeo Brera 10,022,840
5. Ford Focus ’09 8,852,870
6. Ford Fiesta 8,288,149
7. Vauxhall VX220 6,550,745
8. Renault Clio V6 5,725,256
9. VW Scirocco GT 5,318,298
10. Fiat Abarth 500 5,287,162
11. Shelby GT500 ’07 4,986,709
12. Ferrari FXX 4,850,798
13. Lotus Exige ’06 4,743,235
14. MINE’S GT-R R34 4,732,949
15. Dodge Viper ’08 4,433,523
16. Peugeot 207 S 4,351,868
17. Reventon 4,299,478
18. Porsche 997 GT2 4,237,177
19. California 4,096,532
20. 66 ARX-02a 3,945,154
21. Citroen C4 3,840,674
22. Nissan GT-R R34 3,832,462
23. 8 Peugeot 908 3,753,862
24. Chevy Camaro ’10 3,717,529
25. 25 GT500 SC430 3,593,011
26. Koenigsegg CCGT 3,564,605
27. BMW M5 E60 3,532,529
28. 9 Peugeot 908 3,514,818
29. Subaru WRX ’05 3,354,301
30. Lexus IS F 3,189,252
31. Audi S5 3,185,552
32. Silvia S15 3,110,802
33. Nissan GT-R ’10 3,080,806
34. BMW M3-GTR 3,015,458
35. Ford GT 2,968,264
36. Honda NSX-R GT 2,909,608
37. 16 Mazda B09/86 2,855,767
38. Toyota Supra ’98 2,714,637
39. Mercedes SL65 2,693,024
40. Subaru WRX ’08 2,649,033
41. SEAT Leon SC 2,527,914
42. Top Secret Supra 2,392,235
43. Fairlady Z ’03 2,336,503
44. Honda Civic ’94 2,306,031
45. Corvette C6 Z06 2,288,484
46. Toyota Trueno 2,092,126
47. Honda Fit + 2,083,775
48. 4 C6.R ’07 2,074,223
49. 45 GT3-RSR 2,058,709
50. 23 GT500 GT-R 2,047,564
51. Nissan 370Z 2,034,679
52. 92 BMW M3 GT2 1,995,719
53. VW Golf GTi Mk2 1,991,807
54. Nissan GT-R R33 1,945,466
55. Lancer Evo.9 MR 1,943,480
56. 6 GT500 SC430 1,890,580
57. 7 RS Spyder 1,863,670
58. Lancer Evo.10 1,847,229
59. Ford Mustang ’93 1,824,184
60. 8 Audi R10 TDI 1,818,934
61. VW Rabbit GTI 1,811,116
62. Subaru WRX ’04 1,766,795
63. Mazda RX-7 FD 1,685,038
64. 62 F430GT 1,634,959
65. Murcielago LP640 1,613,457
66. Subaru 22B 1,541,457
67. Maserati GT 1,533,951
68. 007 Aston DBR9 1,526,323
69. Dodge Viper ’03 1,514,909
70. Toyota Celica’03 1,414,136
71. Alfa Romeo 8C 1,412,767
72. Charger ’69 1,397,317
73. Challenger ’09 1,372,853
74. 16 RS Spyder 1,341,677
75. Trans Am ’87 1,317,784
76. Silvia S13 1,296,425
77. Ferrari F50 GT 1,290,890
78. Honda CR-X 1,267,254
79. Gallardo 1,248,753
80. Ferrari F430 1,246,373
81. Honda S2000 1,238,218
82. Murcielago 1,230,353
83. Chevy Camaro ’90 1,221,286
84. Ferrari 599 GTB 1,212,589
85. Audi R8 4.2 1,202,767
86. Toyota Yaris + 1,198,704
87. Miura ’06 1,191,472
88. Dodge Ram 1,177,589
89. VW Golf R32 1,171,874
90. Barracuda 1,104,047
91. Honda Civic ’99 1,101,955
92. Nissan GT-R R32 1,042,591
93. TVR Sagaris 1,036,433
94. HKS Lancer Evo 1,029,244
95. 43 McLaren F1 1,020,136
96. 2 Audi R10 TDI 1,005,481
97. Chevy Aveo5 + 1,003,088
98. Silvia S14 1,002,408
99. Jaguar XKR-S 996,871
[Image: Emm O’Bryne]
I see the AE86 is in the top 50 (# 46) and S13 is # 76.
But the 510 is the only old j-tin in the top 10.
I’m lovin’ it~
And rolling in at #5958 is the Subaru 360! lol
The Chevy Aveo!!?? Seriously!?
It has the option of a RWD and Chevy V8 swap, so you can get 700+kw and 1000+Nm for some crazy skids!
A lot of the more mundane cars on that list are starter cars the player is given for free at the beginning of the game, or prize cars for wins at the beginning of career mode, so that will skew their numbers upward.
That still doesn’t explain why the Datsun 510 is second. Like the article says, it’s enormously fun to race for the same reason the real thing is so much fun to drive: light, quick, flingable, and highly tunable. I love racing mine, but I had no idea so many other people were so into the little Bluebird, too.
Another car that is fun for all the same reasons is the Fiat Abarth 131. A little 2-door economy sedan with four cylinders and RWD that can be transformed into a giant killer.
The Fiesta AND Focus, are in the Top 10. Who cares? Forza SUCKS ass, compared to Gran Turismo 5, anyways.
I new there’d be one!