I'm not an uber-elite phantom pilot either. And my friend also agrees with me that the Fury Icaras doesn't look as good as the old one.
I think you misunderstand me. I'm saying that you'd have to be a pretty spectacular pilot to gain anything from the improved stats of the Fury ships. There's always tenths of seconds to be gained from just taking a slightly better line through a corner, before a slightly improved ship makes any difference. I for one have never reached the limits of the HD ships' capabilities.
I was just disputing the fact you said the Fury ships make the HD ones "OBSOLETE". This is totally incorrect. If, as an average pilot, you reckon you're getting a performance advantage from using a Fury ship, you are wrong. The only difference is that they 'feel' slightly different in terms of handling. And if you find the Fury ones 'feel' better to you, that's fair enough. But I can guarantee that someone (who was taking better lines) in an HD ship could easily come along and beat your times, etc.