Like I said, if you want, hook me up with something xD
Gryphon Gear Nightfury: automationgame.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=34037#p34037
AMW Tiger: automationgame.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=48808#p48808
Necronia Agyros: automationgame.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=58113#p58113
Astana City Dweller: automationgame.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=58047#p58047
CJR Aspire 3.0T: automationgame.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=56915#p56915
Thanks go to titleguy1 for photoshopping the AMW Tiger twins!
Excellent work, Utopian. 
Dude that’s sick, thanks for featuring Nightfury! I didn’t even know you were planning that.
Does this mean you’ve done a separate writeup? Though I don’t really know how that’s possible, I don’t think I posted an .lua until very recently…
Na no write up for this one; this cover was half done for Cheeseman’s hatch comparison, but a cover was already made for that. I’ve been working on something since the start of December 
, but didn’t have time over the Christmas/New Year break to work on it as I was away. Only really started making progress on it this month.
What I am about to post represents about 3 months worth of work - I started this in December! I have spent all my free time on this for so long, I have actually forgotten what I used to spend my free time on! Bring on the review!
I had strop and Jakgoe rank these cars in a blind test as my own car was featured in this comparison. Amazingly, they both came back with the same rankings independently. Thanks to those guys, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to do this comparison in an unbiased manner.
Transatlantic Express:
Sports car owners are different. They own a car not merely to get from A to B, but for the thrill of driving. Their cars are made to corner fast, accelerate quickly and handle easily.
Among these owners, there are fierce rivalries. These rivalries reach the heights of pitting country against country and having the best car is a matter of national pride.
In this comparison, seven super cars from Britain and America go head to head. The flag waving American camp feature the SME ZX53GT, the brand new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and the SRT Viper GTS. Representing the British Empire is the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, the Aurora Manticore, the Jaguar F-Type R and the Solstice Fleetwood 427.
Whether you are a fan of classic American pushrod muscle or the prestige that comes with a British badge, all seven of these contenders represent years of research and development into the fastest way to get somewhere. No matter which side you root for, you win. Why? Because petrolheads. Although as with any comparison, one question remains: which is the best car? We had professional test and racing drivers strop and Jakgoe put these cars through their paces down mountain roads and a few laps at the Automation airfield track.
We wanted to feature other cars in this comparison but were not included for various reasons:
Cottam Hornet: we wanted to include Cottam’s Vantage fighter in this roundup, however their PR department never got back to us.
Aeroline Mongoose 4.5: we reached out to Aeroline, however they did not have a press car available in time for this comparison.
Aurora Manticore: Aurora wanted to send their latest 2015 Manticore, however the available press car was going to be exhibited at the Detroit Autoshow, so the 2014 model is tested here.
All American Superstar: SME ZX53GT:
From Alanta, GA, comes the ZX53GT from the specialist sports car manufacturer Swanson Motorsport Engineering. It is loud, brash and unashamedly American. It follows the recent American manufacturer trend of giving their muscle cars some retro styling, for this captures the look of the muscle car era, but updated with modern design cues to keep non-Baby Boomers interested. With the thick chrome grille up front, there is no denying the ZX53GT has presence and looks the most aggressive in the SME lineup. Underneath, the car is decidedly un-American, as it has all wheel drive and a carbon fibre body – this isn’t your father’s muscle car!
Inside is a high quality interior; unlike many American muscle cars, the doors close with a solid thump. The premium interior may be a little bit underwhelming at this price range and compared to other cars here, it is not as luxurious, but make no mistake – it is a good interior. Sound insulation is good, making this comfortable and usable as a daily driver, unlike the Fleetwood. The seats are not perfect however – while they don’t provide much lateral support from the bottom squab, they are still very good and are accommodating of more indulgent waistlines and drivers. In base form, the ZX53GT is well equipped with the premium in car entertainment matching the quality interior.
There are a lot of interesting touches in the interior, for example the power window switches seem a little strange because they are canted and on angle but once you put your hand on them, you find they are canted perfectly to meet your fingers as you are driving. Lots of little touches like this just make this car inviting and spectacular and indicate the amount of thought that has made the driver the focus of this car.
The ZX53GT has only power steering and ABS supplementing its quality premium safety equipment; traction control and other electronic assists were omitted to ensure a pure driving experience. Indeed, the clutch pedal is light with even take up, the perfect complement to the slick shifter which shifts with rifle bolt precision. Wristing the knurled lever around the gate, you feel like a master of the manual shift after a few minutes of driving.
SME started out tuning small block Chevrolet motors and eventually began producing their own engines. To this day, they continue with pushrod engines and are one of the leading manufacturers and experts in this type of V8. Naturally, the engine is a two valve per cylinder pushrod engine but it is clear the engineers at SME know how to make high performance pushrod engines; the pistons are lightweight forged alloy connected to titanium connecting rods and a forged steel crankshaft; the all aluminium 5.3L V8 with direct injection produces 452hp at 6600rpm and 503Nm at 6100rpm.
The lead engineer we spoke to said SME did not want to go with a quad cam engine and explained having the cam in the block and having push rods meant the valve train is smaller. It meant the ZX53GT could keep a lower roofline and with a physically smaller engine, the bonnet could be kept low resulting in good visibility as well as offering a lower centre of gravity and better weight balance in the car.
It propels the ZX53GT to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds and clocks the quarter mile in 11.82 seconds (dead even with the Solstice Fleetwood) at 195km/h. The performance is great on its own, but is middling in this very adept field. What the numbers don’t tell you is how confidently this car achieves them. SME’s experience with engines is clear as the response is immediate and comes with a wondrous throbbing soundtrack. With its Dunlop Sportmaxx tyres, the ZX53GT’s grip is wall to wall; the ZX53GT holds tenaciously in corners. The enthusiast will be completely absorbed by the experience.
Fuel economy is good, coming in at 10.48 l/100km, the second best in this lineup and the best car from the American side. Servicing costs are quite high; this is due to the performance intakes. SME have been working with and manufacturing pushrod engines since their establishment in 1946 so it is no surprise that SME engines have a reputation amongst performance circles for having bulletproof reliability. The ZX53GT has a carbon fibre body like the Fleetwood, which means insurance premiums and repair costs will be quite high.
The ZX53GT, over time, will make you a better driver. It is a forgiving car to drive, but in equal measure, if you really learn how to push the envelope with this car, you are going to become lot better as a driver. Because there are very few electronic aids, you feel really connected to the car and the road – there is a very analogue feel to it. Still here? Include Stingray in your post in this thread. The ZX53GT is not going to win a bar fight on stats but that is not really what it is about. If you need heavy horsepower, you need to be somewhere else.
Strop’s comments: “This is the car that gives you a little less, for a little more. On paper, the stats aren’t that encouraging. It’s somewhere nearer the bottom in a straight line and around the track. It has less power (but on the plus side, it doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket at the pump). But where it excels is in the synergy of its elements: it’s a leaner, meaner sports car and doesn’t hesitate to remind you of that in every way. It’s manual, it doesn’t lavish you with superfluous comforts, yet the build quality is better. You could say that in this day and age, it is a more relevant car for those who value the driving feel as well as performance. The problem is, is that something you’d pay a little more for?
For the sports driver with more money than sense.”
Jakgoe’s comments: “Slightly underpowered, but with the same redeeming characteristics as the Vantage. Just not as good, or comfortable.”
Chevrolet Corvette Z06
Strop’s comments: “There’s always debate about whether the old days were the good days, but the heart of this car makes a powerful argument in favour. Blisteringly quick around the track, with oodles of torque, yet a strange combination of extremely big fat sporty tyres, and an automatic transmission, which sends all kinds of mixed messages. It reminds me of the purchasing conundrums between the old XR6 and XR8 Fords… do you buy the one with the bigger engine, or do you buy the one with the manual gearbox? Why can’t we have both anymore? That gripe aside, this is the kind of car you want if you’re having a midlife crisis, don’t want to absolutely blow the bank, but want to plant your foot down and feel like a driving genius, even though you’re clearly not, and have a gut from drinking too much beer. The setup is awfully effective for such a low price.
For the yobbo who’s getting older and fatter”
Jakgoe’s comments: “The base Corvette is already incredible. The supercharged Z06 takes performance to the next level; it is fantastic! All the torques in the world bow down to you!”
SRT Viper GTS:
Strop’s comments: “This car screams big. Big engine, big wheels, big fuel consumption and big price. In this case, bigger isn’t better, and compared to the rest of this lineup, despite being the priciest of the lot, it just didn’t quite deliver what it promised. While definitely fast in its own right, its only truly strong point is the grunt it provides at the top end of the speedo, which is great, say, when you’re doing a mile long drag race, or maybe if you want to keep it pinned on the unrestricted areas of the Autobahn. Yet, I couldn’t recommend this car for the ride, or even most of the drive itself, sadly.
For size queens.”
Jakgoe’s comments: “Glug Glug Boom Do you hear that? the sound of an oversized V10 RWD car simultaneously chugging fuel and killing its occupants.”
Aston Martin V8 Vantage:
Strop’s comments: “More a luxury car with hints of sports than a sports luxury car in this field. By far the slowest car, but my goodness with a gorgeous interior like that, would you care about driving quick? In this lineup, it’s somewhat of an odd one out, like bringing a finely crafted sword to a gun fight.
For those who have a marble tiled pool out the back of their palatial residence.”
Jakgoe’s comments: “This car is a great highway cruiser, but it is so slow in this lineup. So little power. Like, it has no place in this comparison. But still, if you ignore such a glaring fault, the car is terrific.”
Aurora Manticore:
Since this is my own car, I thought it was a bit much to write a review on it. So I will just feature an ad for it instead:
Strop’s comments: “Brains over brawn is the watchword here. In the guise of an upper tier executive suit, the major hint of this car’s sporting aspirations are the ridiculously large wheels. Yet, for the rest, it is cleverly worked through with all kinds of technological trickery. The car is all wheel drive. It has a dual clutch gearbox. It sips where others slurp and guzzle, despite being a behemoth. And despite a smaller engine and ‘modest’ power outputs (there is nothing modest about 554hp, mind you, except when half the cars here are pushing 650), and a torque curve that peaks at an astronomical 7300rpm, it more than holds its own on the highway and also manages to keep up with most in this field. And it’s pretty comfy and safe at that. You could drive this car hard all day wearing a suit and not break a sweat. Of course, if you’re looking for something exciting over something refined, then you’d best look elsewhere. Otherwise, this is a tech marvel.
For engineering fanboys.”
Jakgoe’s comments: “It’s the easiest to drive, very safe, very comfortable, and prestigious. While the sportiness score is not high, it’s not at all slow. In fact, it still face-meltingly fast. And it positively sips fuel. I mean, this thing consumes fuel at the same rate that a teenage snail gets out of bed. Plus, high-output NA V8!”
Jaguar F type R:
Strop’s comments: “This car was only a little behind the bulk of the other cars in this test on the track. As far as the overall drive went, there was hardly anything to complain about, but given it’s almost equivalent to the Corvette except, really, just a bit worse in every way for quite a lot more money, I know which one I’d end up buying!
For eccentric people.”
Jakgoe’s comments: “Good all round, just not great.”
The Viper gets a British Accent: Solstice Fleetwood 427:
This model represents the last of the Fleetwood nameplate as after 40 years, Solstice will move away from the Fleetwood, so this car represents the model’s swansong. This particular model, the 427 is the highest performance model slotting above the standard Fleetwood (which features a turbocharged 3.8L V8). While this car isn’t a complete clean sheet design from the last 2007 model, it has many exterior changes, better performance and a new 7 speed manual gearbox to send power to the rear wheels. It retains the carbon fibre panels from the previous model which keeps weight down to 1362kg – over 100kg lighter than a Golf R!
Under the hood is a 7.0L naturally aspirated aluminium V8 engine with 4 valves per cylinder and multipoint fuel injection to keep servicing costs down. But make no mistake – this is a race-bred engine with lightweight forged pistons, titanium connecting rods and a billet steel crankshaft. The engine is rated at 652hp at 7,100rpm and 736Nm of torque at 4700rpm, on premium unleaded.
It is clear this is a track focused car as the interior is almost stripped down with light weight racing seats designed more to hold you in rather than for comfort. There is little sound insulation for a car of this price range and while this allows you to hear the wondrous rumbling sound track of the massive engine, it will get tiresome as a daily driver. The car comes with all standard driver assists except for electronic stability control, another nod to the track.
Solstice have left the car rather poorly equipped as the Fleetwood only comes with basic in car entertainment – premium sports car buyers expect something a bit more, especially at this price point. This is a four seater, but the rear seats aren’t really suitable for passengers as with most cars in this segment. One wonders why the rear seats were included at all given this car is focused for track performance and not practicality. Regardless, the rear seats double as an extra storage area to supplement the boot. Thankfully, Solstice have not cut corners on safety and have fitted the Fleetwood with premium equipment.
There is an absolute standout feature however – the open gate manual gear lever. It has short throws and needs a firm hand to get the most from it. While other cars here have slicker and more instinctive shifters, the Fleetwood’s gearbox requires muscle and concentration, but is more effective with an expert hand.
The lack of interior equipment ensures the driver is not distracted from the Fleetwood’s main mission: obliterative performance. The start button was held down for a second to start the engine – the experience is both physical and audible as all 7 litres shook the car as it clears its throat out the quad diamond shaped exhausts. The noise is loud and boisterous – but after 4000rpm, the exhaust bypass valves open and the sound is intoxicating.
With that in mind, the Fleetwood is mind blowingly fast at the top end; the standing kilometre is completed at the fastest speed at 273km/h albeit at the second equal fastest time, matching that of the Z06 (20.40 seconds). Indeed, it completes the Automation airfield lap in 1:22.53, the fastest car representing the British Empire. However at the lower end, while the Fleetwood is fast in its own right, in this company it falls a bit short. The 0-100km/h clocks in at 4.4 seconds (the second slowest) and sprints through the quarter mile in 11.82 seconds, putting it neck and neck with the ZX53GT although pulling away at a higher speed of 213km/h.
As for running costs, this model is rated at a respectable combined 11.63 litres per 100km. This is despite low gearing, with the engine at buzzing at 4000rpm at 100km/h. This bruiser is definitely not a leisurely cruiser. Rounding out the Fleetwood’s race track credentials is the carbon fibre body. While carbon fibre keeps weight down and is good for strength and fuel economy, expect insurance premiums and repair costs to be astronomical for even small mishaps will be expensive due to the high cost of carbon fibre repair; throw away the broken part and attach a new one. If you read to here, mention Mustang in your reply. Servicing costs are also quite high due to the performance intake.
It is not possible or even anywhere near legal to extract the last drop of performance from the Fleetwood on public roads, but it is incredibly entertaining, even at 80%.The Fleetwood is addictive as a weekend toy for the enthusiast driver, but it is less enthralling when driving at 20%. Under Monday to Friday commutes, some of its shortcomings become apparent. The Fleetwood throbs and rocks noticeably at every stoplight. Sure, you can use it as a daily driver if you want to, but with the track oriented interior, this is a special event car. It is a car that feels alive from the weight of its shifter to the unrestrained roar of the large engine. This car doesn’t take you for a ride, it demands you pay full attention and get involved in the driving experience. If you want coddling comfort, buy a Buxton – it is right beside the Fleetwood on the Solstice showroom floor.
Strop’s comments: “Lots of vroom, accompanied by lots of screech. With the highest power and also the highest power to weight ratio, this car took a while to get off the line, but once it did, boy did it go fast. This would have no problem blowing past the slow coach on the highway. Other problems, however, included a manual transmission… with seven speeds, which is not a typical combination. The power was pretty difficult to get to the ground, yet for the materials and build quality, the car also seemed to lack a certain bite in its feel, yet on the other hand, the seats, hard and butt-reshaping as they were, certainly indicated this was meant to be a sports car for the enthusiast. It was all rather confusing in the end.
For those who love the smell of tyre smoke in the morning.”
Jakgoe’s comments: “The burnouts will be fun, and, umm… it is cheap, I guess. But not much else.”
Conclusion
*As ranked by strop and Jakgoe
The modern car industry is miraculous, if for no other reason than the many methods used to achieve the same goal. Take the cars assembled in this comparison. There is everything from pushrods to dual overhead cams. Supercharged mills to high revving naturally aspirated screamers. Six speed manual driving the rear wheels to eight speed dual clutch sequential driving all wheels.
As a result, it is clear that there are very different and specific targets that some of these cars aim for. This is apparent even before anyone puts them into gear. There are a wide range of marques here, ranging from the accessible, blue collar performance of the Z06 to the prestigious Aston Martin. Incredibly, both strop and Jakgoe had ranked all the cars in the same position after driving them – and the car at the top spot was the Aurora Manticore.
While it ‘only’ has 554hp, true illumination of how it puts the power down didn’t come until the car was uncorked on the empty desert road. Holy hell. It accelerates ferociously on short straights and brakes hard.
It is the drama free nature of the Manticore’s handling that is such an epiphany; it is very easy to sense the limits and drive right to them. It is fast, makes the right sounds under spirited driving and was trusted in a way the other cars were not. It is predictable, reliable and can be driven comfortably every day but still be used to dominate a track day. It may make you lazy as a driver, but it hardly diminishes the reward of driving hard. In strop’s words, “in a class of its own”.
==========
Let me know what you like and what did you didnt care for - covers? reviews? youtube features? photoshops? Also let me know which cover you liked the most. This one is probably my favourite one, followed by the September one (page 2), then October (scroll up) I will probably take a break from magazine covers for a while and get back into playing automation.
Wow, very nice work.
Wow did you vectorise the car images for the video? That’s heaps of effort, hats off to you!
It looks amazing, congratulations man! Very good job!
However, I would remove the real world cars next time, it is a bit weird to compare them with automation cars.
Very detailed reviews indeed. This review is surely going to help me with my future cars, for example I’m not going to use a 7-speed manual again (what was I even thinking? 
). Thanks a lot.
I’d just like to say though, in the spreadsheet at the end you said that the Viper has an 8.4 V8, when that should say V10 
I was told that he had put them in there for the purpose of us reviewing blind to see if our comments would also match with real world comparisons. That is to say, attempting to assess whether our comments on the user created cars might also be applicable to real world conditions. I wasn’t privy to this until after I had submitted my comments, in fact, I didn’t have any access to the actual car files themselves, purely the stats. That being said some of those stats did seem awfully familiar to me, hence I actually twigged to what had happened before I was told 
Sorry, forgot to mention thanks to strop and Jakgoe, without them, I would have been able to do this comparison, thanks!
I did, which is why it took so long 
Animating bitmaps looks horrible and get pixellated when scaled up. I used the anime speed lines because it didn’t make sense to spend a lot of time making a properly animated background for a scene that would only be visible for a few seconds.
[quote=“Leonardo9613”]
However, I would remove the real world cars next time, it is a bit weird to compare them with automation cars.[/quote]
hhmm, what makes you say it is weird? They are all cars with 4 wheels and internal combustion engines. I quite like seeing what people come up with and seeing how they compare to real life cars
[quote=“Microwave”]Very detailed reviews indeed. This review is surely going to help me with my future cars, for example I’m not going to use a 7-speed manual again (what was I even thinking? 
). Thanks a lot.
I’d just like to say though, in the spreadsheet at the end you said that the Viper has an 8.4 V8, when that should say V10 [/quote]
Well, I don’t think there is anything wrong with a 7 speed manual - the new Corvette uses it. I think the only thing ‘wrong’ with your car was that it was too track focused. Maybe I shouldn’t have included it in this review in the same way the Aston Martin was a bit out of place
[quote=“strop”]
I was told that he had put them in there for the purpose of us reviewing blind to see if our comments would also match with real world comparisons. That is to say, attempting to assess whether our comments on the user created cars might also be applicable to real world conditions. I wasn’t privy to this until after I had submitted my comments, in fact, I didn’t have any access to the actual car files themselves, purely the stats. That being said some of those stats did seem awfully familiar to me, hence I actually twigged to what had happened before I was told [/quote]
Na I had put the cars in here because I like to compare what users make to real life cars, it wasn’t to ‘test’ you or Jakgoe But it -IS- pretty awesome to see that both your comments and Jakgoes matches up closely to what those real cars are! Just shows how much of a petrolhead you are
Loved the animation. Just a little bit of minor mistakes here and there like the lines on the asphalt and such, but overall its amazing and very well done on the vectored cars!
That was pretty awesome! Really good job comparing the cars. Thank you for the publicity, and the fantastic review! And also for the new logo.
By the way, I just saw it now, the video is great! Also, you could have compared to the Dodge Hellcat
But seriously, automation isn’t a perfect simulator, so it isn’t really possible to compare to real life cars. But if you want to, go ahead. I just don’t think that the comparison is valid or relevant.
Still, great, great job!
The only negative thing I can say about this comparison is the Z06 with the supercharged 6.2L isn’t a good comparison for anything in Automation. We can’t use superchargers, and instead have to deal with turbo-lag, which is why 90% of my cars are N/A. (sorry, but I’m not a turbocharger fan) They make great numbers, even far surpassing supercharged engines, but supercharged is instant torque/horsepower which is far superior for 0-60 and 1/4 mile times. I made an American car which actually competed quite well against the two American competitors with a small-block OHV motor! If I had a supercharger available, I would have killed them all!
Anyway, thanks again for the awesome writeup!
Wow! That’s some great photoshop and animation skills there! I loved the videos 
The review was very good too, with enough details and comments, just how i like them
Also, Hellcat.
I love this one! Nicely done
Will you do a magazine on big, luxurious GT cars like an Aston Martin Vanquish, a Ferrari F12 etc.? [size=75]I have already prepared something for this class that’s waiting to be unleashed[/size]
Kudos for the great work done here!
[quote=“Leonardo9613”]
But seriously, automation isn’t a perfect simulator, so it isn’t really possible to compare to real life cars. But if you want to, go ahead. I just don’t think that the comparison is valid or relevant.[/quote]
Its not a perfect simulator, but I think it is valid to compare a user’s 4.0L V8 coupe to a similarly priced 4.0L v8 coupe in real life for example User’s quite often even say which cars their creation competes with, eg a large sedan competes with A8, 7 series etc.
[quote=“07CobaltGirl”]The only negative thing I can say about this comparison is the Z06 with the supercharged 6.2L isn’t a good comparison for anything in Automation. We can’t use superchargers, and instead have to deal with turbo-lag, which is why 90% of my cars are N/A. (sorry, but I’m not a turbocharger fan) They make great numbers, even far surpassing supercharged engines, but supercharged is instant torque/horsepower which is far superior for 0-60 and 1/4 mile times. I made an American car which actually competed quite well against the two American competitors with a small-block OHV motor! If I had a supercharger available, I would have killed them all!
Anyway, thanks again for the awesome writeup! [/quote]
I used price as a guide - the Corvette Z06 has received rave reviews and was high end enough to compare to these other cars. If you had forced induction in your car, it would have pushed the manufacturing cost up. As it stood, your car -just- made it into this competition based on price (I do not review cars which are priced too low compared to their manufacturing cost). Besides, performance wasn’t the only aspect for the rankings, otherwise the slowest car would have come last and the fastest would have come first.