To vinyl, or not to vinyl: is that a question?

One feature new to PGR 4 that many of you may have overlooked is the ability to customise your rides with the strategic placement of stickers, or “vinyls,” onto the bodywork. Essentially large blocks of colour and simple geometric shapes, these can be slapped on in just about any way you see fit as a way of personalising your vehicle, accentuating its curves, or operating on the mistaken belief that go-faster stripes will do what they say on the tin. This ability was never intended to rival the detailed visual customisation available in other racers, such as Forza 2 or Need For Speed: Carbon, but it is, nevertheless, a welcome addition for those out there who like to stand out from the crowd or just be a little bit different.

Of course, it’s not compulsory that you use this feature; you can take it or leave it. Choice, any choice, is a good thing, right? Well, maybe. With choice comes responsibility, and just how many of us act responsibly while playing videogames? I know I certainly don’t, especially in racing games. How many of us can say, hand on heart, that we treat the cars in PGR 4 as if they were our very own possessions, paid for with the sweat of our brows and cherished and nurtured accordingly? Not many, that’s how many. And how many of us cringe when we misjudge an apex and paint a nice, silver stripe down the side of our Lambo or leave a wing mirror under the rear wheels of our Merc? Too few to mention, I’ll wager. In fact, the complete opposite is probably true. One of the first things I do when I get into a new car in PGR 4 is park up at the start of a nice long straight and try to blow the engine up while systematically reducing the diameter of the tyres by one layer of rubber at a time. If the road is my canvas, then I’m painting a black cat in a coal mine. Hell, I’ve even taped the accelerator down and gone to make a cup of tea. When it finally dawns on me that you can’t blow the valves through the bonnet no matter how big your boots are, it’s on to stage two: smashing the car into the nearest barrier at 90 degrees and at top speed—purely to see what will happen, you understand. It’s almost a science experiment, and therefore almost to be applauded. I could even probably apply for government funding. So would I contemplate this in a real car of my own? Of course not. Not only would it probably be the last thing I ever did, there would be a very real chance of cracking a headlight or maybe ripping the chassis in two, both of which can be upsetting to any car owner.

So, back to the point of this ramble: vinyls. Do we or don’t we? Well, if you feel that Mr Pininfarina doesn’t know his wheel arch from his elbow, or aren’t at all happy with Ian Callum’s doodlings for Aston Martin, then by all means attempt to improve on their work through use of boy-racer chevrons or paint-roller stripes. Personally, I don’t believe you can improve on perfection, so forgive me if I choose to decline. And that, my friends, is a responsible choice. One of the few, in fact, you will ever see me making.

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