For the beauty contest (and I did put in a serious effort on this part, to both create something new yet emulate the design language from the first stage), I’d like to reiterate that the design was supposed to look like it did in this post. If you need, @Sillyworld, I can resubmit with the mods correctly attributed.
He he he, actually, see those grey lines in the track? those are supossed to be concrete instead of tarmac, those spots favour drivability over sportiness ;D
@Strop please do 
Given that my car handles nicely and is quite easy to drive (an unexpected side-effect of its heavy all-steel construction), even with just 475 bhp it should do much better on the next round. In fact, anyone using a geared or electric LSD is likely to have a considerable advantage due to the increased drivability and sportiness that these parts confer to any car that uses them. On the other hand, if a car is too light, the reduced weight over the driven wheels will actually increase wheelspin and thus compromise its drivability, particularly if its engine output is very high.
311hp 2valve DOHC MPFI engine. bye bye guys. i’ll be racing popcorn while you guys eating the track
Awesome presentation, @Sillyworld, thanks for the effort.
Second place is good. The Howler Firebrand is supposed to be an all-rounder in this competition, so I am hoping for good points from 2nd and 3rd Stages.
Grats on the win, @koolkei, well deserved. I suspected you might take this stage after our discussion earlier. The first draft of the Firebrand cost $26k, at which point I thought, “right, track oriented car, what can I do without?” and started peeling off the dollas. It wasn’t easy, but it was both fun and educational. Though the price reduction did cost me a fair bit of time around Sebring, I did leave a few expensive bits on there for next round (like an active wing). 
Seems likely that @Asdren will take Round 2 with another specialist. With all that money in there I’d be surprised if the Revera wasn’t packing some blistering speed.
@abg7, I would argue that the Firebrand is quite the opposite of compromised. It’s track focused and (as stated in my ad earlier on) the R1B is the entry level trim for people who want speed first and budget second. Also possibly for people who would put bolt on some carbon ceramics on the first day with the money they saved on the price. If I had wanted to go all out for Round 1, no holds barred, the easiest way would probably have been LESS comfort and drivability (via a basic interior) but that didn’t mesh with The Plan.
Good round all. See you at the track.
1 Like
There, the presentation of Strop’s car is fixed now 
Now the next round!
ROUND 2:
[smartass]Win on sunday, sell on monday[/smartass]
A simple race around the Sebring speedway track.
Times are from the flyinglap (or the 2nd sector in the track).
Congratulation to @Asdren 
a pretty quick car indeed (despise being turbo with a drivability penalty). Also amazing performance of the Firebrand R1B.
5 Likes
I’m pretty happy with my results! Faster than most of the field in a 40mpg car 
That being said, I’m pretty sure the winner is going to be either Asdren or Howler depending on how many styling points the Firebrand can accrue.
No surprises here. The most powerful cars have the edge in the time trial.
The funny thing is that the Revera GTX is turborcharged, so it has a drivability penalty, but is track oriented so it can overcome that. The Firebrand is NA so it has no drivability penalty, however, due to its weight and the insufficient braking it ended up 300 miliseconds behind.
Probably, if the Firebrand were upgraded to a lighter engine (the steel engine alone weighted over 400kg) it would have been faster.
If it’s not too much trouble, would you whack up the power and weight figures for the cars alongside the cars? I suspect my car was a lot less powerful than most of the top half of the field (at least, I hope!)
That said doesn’t seem like a bad result. But it’ll be nearly impossible to beat @HowlerAutomotive on points!
It’s possible that, even if @HowlerAutomotive were to win Stage 2 overall, he’d regret not upgrading the braking system and using an all-alloy engine, since these changes would’ve improved drivability and weight distribution respectively. But I suspect that he won’t have to…
POLL TIME
It’s time for the 3rd stage, so you must vote to give points to your favorite cars (don’t worry, you can vote for yourself for first place), just don’t repeat votes and nominate the same car 3 times.
Now, if it happens something weird like a car that honestly doesn’t look that good gains a lot of votes (as last times when someone cheated [whom is participating in this round by the way)] I reserve the right to impose a % penalty on the total points for that car, now, on to the voting…
You have 59:30 hours to vote
DEADLINE: June 26th 12:30 pm UTC-5
Link to the showroom post (if you want to open it in a different tab or something) Big Fruinian Muscle Cars Cup Stage 2 [FINISHED]
WHICH CAR YOU VOTE FOR 1ST PLACE? (5 points)
- HowlerAutomotive – Firebrand R1B
- Koolkei – Exclude trial
- Asdren – Revera GTX
- USDMFTW – Typhoon GT R pack
- Phale – Adenine Defiant
- Airjordan – Smooth V block
- Strop – Genesis track pack
- Nialloftara – Centauri Marauder
- TR8R – Muscleania Tango
- Darkshine – Broadhead
- Thecarlover – Solo Hawk Anniversary
- HighOctaneLove – Meverick Action Express
- FindRED19 – Shark GT
- Reeve – LMT 55 SE
- rk38 – AAU Uiseo BX
- abg7 – Chieftain V8 GT
- sillyducky – Fahrzeug C4 P.
- Lordvader1 – Neptune
0 voters
WHICH CAR YOU VOTE FOR 2ND PLACE? (3 points)
- HowlerAutomotive – Firebrand R1B
- Koolkei – Exclude trial
- Asdren – Revera GTX
- USDMFTW – Typhoon GT R pack
- Phale – Adenine Defiant
- Airjordan – Smooth V block
- Strop – Genesis track pack
- Nialloftara – Centauri Marauder
- TR8R – Muscleania Tango
- Darkshine – Broadhead
- Thecarlover – Solo Hawk Anniversary
- HighOctaneLove – Meverick Action Express
- FindRED19 – Shark GT
- Reeve – LMT 55 SE
- rk38 – AAU Uiseo BX
- abg7 – Chieftain V8 GT
- sillyducky – Fahrzeug C4 P.
- Lordvader1 – Neptune
0 voters
WHICH CAR YOU VOTE FOR 3RD PLACE? (1 point)
- HowlerAutomotive – Firebrand R1B
- Koolkei – Exclude trial
- Asdren – Revera GTX
- USDMFTW – Typhoon GT R pack
- Phale – Adenine Defiant
- Airjordan – Smooth V block
- Strop – Genesis track pack
- Nialloftara – Centauri Marauder
- TR8R – Muscleania Tango
- Darkshine – Broadhead
- Thecarlover – Solo Hawk Anniversary
- HighOctaneLove – Meverick Action Express
- FindRED19 – Shark GT
- Reeve – LMT 55 SE
- rk38 – AAU Uiseo BX
- abg7 – Chieftain V8 GT
- sillyducky – Fahrzeug C4 P.
- Lordvader1 – Neptune
0 voters
@Sillyworld Before the start and up until somewhere in the middle of the cheapening process (I last checked at about $23k I think), the Firebrand was a tenth or two faster than the Revera’s current time. But I wanted to build an all rounder, not a specialist - and for round 1 scores, three grand in price makes a massive difference. Even a few hundred does.
The first versions did indeed use lighter materials for the body and the engine. The weight distribution of the final version is not too far from 50/50, even with the Iron block (which was among the last changes), but the increased weight up front did have an impact on performance. That said, the material change was a conscious decision so I do not regret it. I did not know what times other cars would bring to the table, and fully expected someone to go all-out on performance so I had to weigh every tenth I gave up versus the increase in Round 1 value.
Both the 1st and 2nd Round were won by specialised cars - the one that had the ultimate value for money was not near the top around the track and the one that was unbeatable around the track was quite pricy. I wanted to make the Firebrand do both, so I had to think through very carefully what I was willing to sacrifice in each category. Second place in two rounds where the requirements work against each other, especially considering the strong competition, is roughly where I hoped to end up, and better than what I sometimes expected looking at the other cars.
@strop, I hope so I put a lot of work into the looks and presentation so I’m hoping for good results from round three.
1 Like
It’s interesting how you manage to end in both second places, I learned a lot by examining your car!
It was intended (sort of) that in the first round pony and pony budget should exceed, and in the second muscle and muscle premium, being the third round the defining one.
Anyways, as @strop asked, here is the 2nd round table with weight and power.
1 Like
Interesting, i didnt think sebring times would improve that much with just a raw increase in power, ill take 3rd!
Unless you’re on the Virginia international raceway (mega ultra bumpy), or the carpark autocross, more power wins 
That said your car was obviously well tuned for track, like mine, hence punching above power for weight. I don’t think I could have gotten much more out of my configuration without compromising a few key points, such as build quality and reliability and the ability to use it as a daily!
Also, omg, so hard to pick just three cars this round. The styling standard is really high.
As a relative newcomer I did not trouble the leaders (or even expect to), but to be best in class (Muscle Premium) for stage 1 of this round was unexpected, although if I had designed a car with more bang for the buck, I would have done even better.
Dont be shy, vote my car
1 Like
i expected my car was the cheapest, lightest, and powerless in the competition. boy am i wrong…
but of course… asdren is running away with this round isn’t he?
winning both round 2 and round 3. he’s the overall winner it seems.
It’s just like what happened in stage 1, where winning rounds 2 and 3 caused a massive upset win. Though this is more running away with it.
For stage 3, well, it’s probably going to be different anyway because our bodies from stage 1 are locked in.