Imminent Xbox 360 racing sim Forza Motorsport 4 may be packing over 500 unique cars out of the box (with more planned via regular DLC updates), but Turn 10 creative director Dan Greenawalt just wants you to, at worst, “find the 5-10 cars that really matter to you.” So if the game somehow doesn’t have the car you want out of the box, he says, “Rest assured it’s on its way.”

For me, the first two on my list are the DeLorean – which I own in real-life – and the Tesla Roadster, the all-electric supercar I’ve had a chance to drive in the real world and am completely in love with. Both are in the game – the DeLorean on the disc, and the Tesla as a free DLC car included with first-run new copies. Each is astonishingly lifelike, with the 1982 stainless steel car made famous by the Back to the Future films accelerating with a disappointing sluggishness, and the modern carbon-fiber-clad electric Roadster jumping off the line with an instant, linear, roller-coaster-esque surge.

The former is also viewable in the new Autovista mode, a sort of automotive museum that lets you tour the interior and exterior of every car on the disc (but not DLC cars). You can open the doors, get in, pop the hood, trunk, etc., with Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson relaying facts and anecdotes about each ride. The DeLorean looks painted silver rather than skinned in its native, naked stainless steel, but who else besides me would complain about that, really?

On the track, Forza 4 looks and feels better than ever. The crappy little Vauxhall I started my career with looks and drives like a terrible dream – as it should – but given that you’re up against other equally bottom-feeding cars (the Chevy Volt? Really?), it nevertheless makes for a good time. Progressing through the game’s World Tour mode unlocks new rides. Laudably, you’re never simply assigned a lone new car; anytime you reach a milestone, you’re given a pool of new whips to choose from, allowing you to better customize your campaign.

We also appreciate how buttery smooth the game runs, regardless of which camera angle you’re using (we prefer cockpit view, but the bumper cam really shows off the 60Hz framerate). The draw distance is outstanding, and the scenery is gorgeous. As are, of course, the cars. Greenawalt says Turn 10 has focused on a “sub-six-inch level of detail,” which is best exemplified in Autovista but quite visible out on the track, too.

Finally, I’m already quite fond of the Affinity Reward system, which doles out Credits the more you drive a certain manufacturer. In short, Forza 4 rewards you for using the cars you love the most.

Sadly, I didn’t get to try out the hybrid Kinect mode, which lets you drive with a controller and use Kinect for head-tracking, but even if it doesn’t work well it shouldn’t matter. Forza 4 is exploding with car-porn content, and it truly seems to be a game made by car lovers, for car lovers.