Well, after spending ages typing up the D Class car summary, I figured it would be a bit less taxing to break C Class up into bite size chunks. So, here's the progress so far:
Dodge Charger Daytona (Drag): While I have seen this car up at the sharp end of the drag leaderboards, i can only summise that that is due to AWD variants. That's because this car is pretty bad off the line what with lots of power and not a lot of handling. The car couldn't match the VX220 or Range Rover at the 1/8 or 1/4 mile drags, but did do pretty well at the Standing Mile where the top end speed partly negated the difficulty in getting off the line.
Subaru 22b (Ovals): If only this and the Daytona had been the other way around. This car leaps off the line, but even with as much power as you can stuff into it, it just doesn't have the top end speed to really be competitive. A top speed of 163mph meant that on Benchmark Oval it was losing about 9 seconds a lap to the top Acura TSX's. On the bright side though, even with as much power as I could fit, it still handled pretty well and so didn't do too bad at the tighter ovals.
BMW M1 (Amalfi): Surprisingly good around here even giving some of the better AWDs a run for their money. Only trouble is, while it's fast, it's not the easiest to drive. If you can keep it clean, the lap times will tumble, but clip a wall (or another car if you're racing) and the chances are you'll end up facing the wrong way. It is heaps of fun to drive though.
SEAT Lean (2007) (Benchmark and
New York): I just can't get the hang of these tracks, and my lap times go to show that. But, with a full grip upgrade, this car has come closer to getting a respectable time for me than almost any other car I've tried. That grip was particularly evident on Benchmark E (the little circle) where the grip paid off and it did very well for a FWD.
At New York I obviously had to go for a more power biased set up, but even on stock tyres the car still had lots of grip. Although it is my fastest car at all variants of the track, the positions on the leaderboard would support the argument that there is too much grip, but I suspect in race conditions where consistency comes into play, this would be a very competitive car.Toyota TOMS MR2 T020 (Camino): I've seen AWD versions of this car go very well at quite a few tracks, and am pleased to say that the RWD version here is pretty good too. Whether I had a power biased or grip biased build on it, it still came out as my best car at all eight track variants here. The only down side is that it can be a little skittish and doesn't stand up very well to the contact which often happens at Camino due to the narrowness of the track.
Bentley Continental (Catalunya and
Maple Valley): In contrast, this copes very well in the event of contact, mainly due to weighing over 5300lbs. Unfortunately, once you've added the adjustable parts that's about it for you PI allowance so it's a case of tuning to make the best of the situation. The end result was quite a poor hotlapper which was bested by other cars on all three tracks. But, in online racing it is much better. Not particularly fast (if you end up at the back of the field that's probably your race over), but it has fast developed a reputation for being incredibly difficult to pass, mainly due to very good acceleration and just enough grip to hold the line at a decent pace.
At Maple Valley, the fact that there isn't enough PI to upgrade the tyres once again had a major impact on the times. I may have got the car under 1:40 at the full track, but it's over two seconds slower than my best cars at this track. It still annoys anyone stuck behind it though 
Alfa Romeo Brera (Iberian): This one is a very good hotlapper though and came in the top 1% at 5 of the tracks as well as being my fastest car there. The only weakness so far is that the top end speed isn't great, but that is more down to me wanting high downforce for all the quick corners here.
MINI Cooper Works (2009) (Fujimi Kaido): A great little car, lots of fun and some pretty respectable times in it too. The car feels pretty quick out of the corners too, the main downside in my opinion being that it feels like I'm starting to approach the limits of power relative to grip in this car.
Lotus Elan (Ladera): I was very pleased with this car as a hotlapper and apart from the Mini Reverse track all the times were in the top 1%. Unfortunately, the ultra light weight and slightly tail happy nature means it only really works in online racing if you can get clear of the opposition early.
VW Bora (Laguna Seca): Bora by name, and it has to be admitted that the car is also boring by nature. But, it is very quick - my best car around here, probably of all the classes I've run. It also has an enviable record online too - if only it was a bit more interesting to drive I might have clocked up a few more miles in it.
Lancia Stratos (Le Mans): Not a car I would have picked for this track as it is somewhat lacking in top speed. But, leaving the grip as standard and whacking in a load of power meant the car was at least competitive, particularly around Bugatti. It remained competitive online too, if not up to the pace of the 4WD Porsche 550's it did at least prove a match for the non-leaderboard material.
Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX (Motegi): Blooze's favourite makes another appearance, and once again did itself proud. This time I went for a power oriented tune with the 4WD covering for the lack of grip, and it turned out to be good for racing as well as hotlapping too. As with the Stratos, it's not quite up with the leaderboard cars, but it's very close to them.
Mazda RX-7 FC (1997) (Mugello): This one is surprisingly good for a RWD here, getting top 1% times at both track variants. It lacks a little power on the straights but by running non-Forza aero it gets up to speed eventually and has oodles of grip in the corners. As with the previous two, it's not world-beating but is great fun to drive.
Lamborghini Miura (Nuerburgring): The positions on the leaderboard don't do this car credit, mainly because there are so few times on the P2Ps in C Class here. The car has a good top speed and handles well, is a joy to drive and looks brilliant. If it didn't cost so much to buy, I'd think this was a new contender for "Best Car in Game".
VW Golf Mk6 (Nuerburgring GP): As opposed to this car which is #$@&! Is it just me, or do the new Golfs only do well on the leaderboards because of the AWD swap?
Mercedes A200 (Positano): I've struggles with this car in all classes from F up to B, and only really started to get my head around it with the D Class Sebring tune. However, here it has finally found it's nirvana. Surprisingly good grip and lots of torque out of corners meant I managed to get it around the full track in 6'28 - not bad for an FWD. The only downsides are a lack of top speed (mainly due to the downforce added) and that I haven't completely managed to get rid of the A200 tendency to tip over, but at least now you have to really clout a curb to do that. Feedback from another driver suggests that this car is knocking on the door of the '94 Civic on short tracks.
Lexus IS350 (Road America): Even more than the Golf above, this is a car which is a leaderboard stalwart in 4WD form. Unfortunately, I was unable to replicate the effect in RWD format and despite the car feeling quick, it wasn't.
VW Golf Mk5 (Road Atlanta): Better than the Mk6, and it did at least get my best times around these tracks, both in the top 1% overall. But, despite cornering well and having reasonable grunt out of corners it still feels like it's missing something.
Citroen DS3 (Sebring): Not the best track for this car, what with it being lightweight, grippy (despite a fairly poor initial turn-in) and low on power, but I was still a bit disappointed. Even when I tried adding as much power as possible, it still couldn't beat any of my pre-existing times on any of the tracks. That said, apart from the Club circuit, it still got the equivalent of top 1% times all round.
Vauxhall VX220 (Sedona): I was quite pleased with this one. It's not a world beater, but it has a good turn of pace which combines with decent handling to give a solid all-round performance. It's also not a bad car for the drag races either!
Honda Del Sol (Sidewinder): Despite being outside the top 10% on most tracks, this car put in a very creditable performance being the highest placed FWD on my friends list on the majority of the tracks it ran. The light weight helped enormously, and it felt grippier, if less fast, than the Kaido MINI.
Dodge Ram (Silverstone): I expected this to be bad, but around the fast corners of the GP track it was terrible ending up about 5 seconds off the pace of my Subaru Legacy. But, the acceleration and fact that it was ok in the slow corners meant that it regained some face on the shorter tracks being a similar pace to Bucks Toon's Eclipse and even getting a top 1% time at the National circuit.
Toyota Supra (1998) (Sunset Peninsula): While acceleration is impacted by it being quite heavy, the slippery shape and reasonable handling on stock tyres/suspension meant that this car put in a creditable performance and was in the top 1% at three of the tracks here. In online racing, it does pretty well and can hold it's own against all but the leaderboard cars, although it has been known to come of worse in collisions
Mazda Axela Sport (Suzuka): A bit of a surprise package this one - I didn't expect much of it but as a car it handles very well without needing to sacrifice much in the way of speed. Very much recommended if you want to try an alternative hot hatch.
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 GSR (Tsukuba): The Lancers seem to have a bad reputation in Forza. Even though the Evo 6 seems to be considered the best of them, it still was nothing special. Around here, I couldn't match a time set in a 423PI Renault Clio (although it was close) and it really struggled to beat the Motegi tuned Eclipse which should have had less grip. I suspect that the Evos are a bit too heavy for a given PI - whatever the cause though, this car was a disappointment.
