CSR82 - A Businessman's New Car [ENTRIES CLOSED]

Round One - Part One


Richard began by doing research. He bought a copy of every major motor magazine that he could. He began skimming these reviews, and slowly starting to sort out what he wanted to drive.


@Abg7 - DiMarino La Spezia

“…Excellent Performance doesn’t outweigh the high cost of maintaining the car, and the cheap looks don’t help it either.”

@Der_Bayer - BAM Moenis 126

image

“…Well rounded performer that doesn’t stand out compared to the stiff competition in the class.”

@Asami - Cattaneo Viara V12 Duepi

“…Woeful fuel economy, and high price to service, alongside the less-than-stellar sport feel doesn’t help the car at all.” (Disqualified due to falling outside the maximum allowed price)

@BoostandEthanol - Keika Triumph

“…The Less than perfect Safety and Sport feel keep this golden monster from being more than adequate for its class”

@th3maldonado - Bramhall Valiant VS-Ti

“… With a horrid ride comfort, high cost of upkeep, and difficulty to drive, the stellar looking Valiant is unable to be a solid competitor in the class.”

@DoctorNarfy - Shromet Levine

“…The Imposing Levine shines in Luxury and Comfort, however fails to live up to the sporty wants of the opposition”

@VicVictory - Keystone M51 Decimus

“… a good balance between sport and comfort, it is able to find its footing compared to the opposition.”

@Marcus_gt500 - Orchid Gisa

“…The Gisa is unable to overcome the sub-par comfort to shine where it counts.”

@B1ill4Hard8in1 - Hammerstein Laginappe Grand Tour

“… The rather undesirable fuel economy figures, low crash ratings, and being less Reliable than it’s competition hampers the competitiveness of the Laginappe.”

@Conan - Tishillyman Conan Spita

“… Low Comfort and Difficulty to drive compared to competition are unable to outweigh the dependability of the Spita.”

@MrChips - Scagliati Veneto 4800i

“… The Dangerously Unstable Reliability, and high cost to maintain sour an otherwise incredible machine.”

@TheAlmightyTwingo - Meijer San Marino Rapido-12

“… A uncomfortable ride and less than acceptable sport feeling harm an otherwise interesting machine.”

@Mikonp7 - EcaMobile Chipleader 1990

“… The Ease of driving combined with the excellent practicality are able to outweigh the lack of comfort, but a lower safety rating does need cause to worry.”

@Camjkerman - Vanguard Meteor Mr540i

“… It does nothing to stand out from the competition, but doesn’t fall behind its competition either.”

@Goblin95 - Kasai A600 Ara Royal

“… Able to Ride comfortably, quickly, and in style places it above the competition. Low cost to service and repair is a solid bonus.”

@Jaimz - FM Trailway GT

“… An excellent drive and comfort let down by the lack of sport feel, and less than desirable looks.”

@Private_Miros - PMI Minerva deGand Mk.IV L

“… Another excellent car let down by lack of sport feel, outright performance, and fuel economy.”

@Saddiseased - Berkely Devon

“… A well-rounded car which falls down in fuel economy, safety scores, and top end speed.”

@TheTom - AMW Kestrel

“… The Rear Engine ends up with an unsafe, hard to maintain, and unreliable mess of high performance insanity.”

@Xepy - Griel Arondight 6.4

“… Very well rounded, high performance car let down slightly by the underwhelming sport feel despite the performance.”

@Flamers - FP-Voluptas Sport Premium

“… Good performing machine that is let down by the looks and lower sport feeling compared to its rivals.”

@Tea_Pawt - Farina

“… Difficulty to drive, lack of comfort, and less than great fuel economy cause the Farina to fall flat despite its other characteristics.”

@HighOctaneLove - Bogliq Enthuse ASCAR (UK Spec)

“Who let an ASCAR in here? … Oh… It’s Not very comfortable. Not Very Economical. Not Very Safe, but good lord if it isn’t bulletproof.”

@Chickenbiscuit - LMC Scylla S

http://d3hrnetf5izp16.cloudfront.net/optimized/4X/1/e/c/1ec5a4d899b198aaa597c414def46597e8915338_1_666x500.jpg

“… Low comfort doesn’t sour the otherwise well performing Scylla.”


Part 2 Soon

20 Likes

Holy crap…….instabinned……… :crying_cat_face:

Given the oversubscribed entry list for this round (54 entries?!), deciding on a shortlist would normally be a nightmare, but you have made things a lot easier by keeping the initial reviews short and to the point. Well done.

That said, 54 entries is an all-time record for CSR; would it be more practical for future hosts to impose an upper limit on the number of entries (possibly 30-ish, give or take a few) in subsequent rounds?

Edit: An upper limit might not be practical or necessary after all. At any rate I believe that my car deserved to be criticized the way it was… but at least it has some redeeming virtues.

2 Likes

On the review, thanks Vri, for a fair evaluation. My car has an engine from the late 60s (albeit with an updated top end) and seriously lacked in sportiness, despite being opulent and comfortable.

On the high number of entries: it’s better to have a short pre-selection and review the rest than set an upper limit. Setting an upper limit will lead to rushing entires and lower quality overall.

Should anyone wish to tune the PMI Minerva into a real sports luxury car, feel free to do so:
CSR82 - Private_Miros - PMI Minerva deGand Mk.IV L.car (52.2 KB)

4 Likes

Round One - Part 2


@Crash77 - AME Aerlo V6 Panta

“… Low Safety, less than stellar looks, and underwhelming sport feel don’t do much to hamper the Aerlo.”

@JOVA1987 - Juggernaut Kulkuri Coupe

“… Lower comfort and arguably worse looks don’t hamper the Kulkuri from standing out anyway.”

@Nicking_HC - CSM deNiro 12 Coupe

“… Looks and Economy Hold the deNiro back from becoming a standout in class.”

@Thecarlover - RCM Kingston V12

“… Ease to drive and high reliability allow the Kingston to find its niche.”

@Yangx2 - Hirasawa Shibuya

“… Economy, Sport feeling, and Looks allow the Shibuya find its footing in class.”

@Yurimacs - Lagau GT 01

“… Horrid comfort, Looks, and Difficulty to drive mean the Lagau is not a car to even consider.”

@DriftinCovet1987 - KZNG Comrade 10-4-4

“… A Wonderfully comfortable car let down by a horrible exterior design.” (Disqualified for Exceeding Budget)

@Murokmakto - TBA Centurion

http://d3hrnetf5izp16.cloudfront.net/optimized/4X/b/1/9/b1950c83e9ad92b358278c95f344eb8cfd7dfb47_1_353x500.jpg

“… Weak fuel economy doesn’t sour the Centurion’s ease of repair, dependability, and performance.”

@Z2bbgr - SBA Cdx. (MkIII) 4.0 Prestige

“… The Cdx. is able to stand above the rest with its excellent looks and ease of maintenance.”

@Aaron.W - TSR Mont Blanc Turbo SE

“… Highly Economical and reliable, but falls down compared to the rest of the competition everywhere else.”

@DeusExMachia - Erin Scarlet (MkII) 3.3l S Lux

“… Every other aspect of the Scarlet makes up for the low ride comfort.”

@NiuYorqCiti - DAAG FS60i/FS16i

“… A well rounded car that has the looks to back itself up”


Part 3 Soon

16 Likes

“… The Rear Engine ends up with an unsafe, hard to maintain, and unreliable mess of high performance insanity.”

I was expecting something like that :smiley:
But to be honest, for a luxury coupe with all the toys and gizmos that most of these cars have, and for year 1990, the reliability of 55 isn’t bad.
Unsafe, despite Advanced safety features?
Hard to maintain, okay I’ll give you that one. Fuel economy is pretty bad, and the service costs are through the roof.

Then again, don’t buy a luxury car if you can’t afford to maintain it xD

3 Likes

Welp, instabinned as always, thought it had some redeeming qualities that I guess makes it atleast worth taking a second look (got more to learn as always).

Maybe someone help me make it a decent car and learn from my mistakes : CSR82 - Yurimacs - Lagau GT 01.car (24.9 KB)
(Trust me, I always hope that in every challenge i took part of, my car somehow makes the cut through luck. On the whole, my cars are just utter garbage in every way.)

Wow, I didn’t expect my first CSR entry resulted as beyond my expectation.

After the published review, SBA’s head of overseas market operation smiled and mentioned,
“This shall be send to our CEO and board of directors, as our experiences of being official state vehicle and royal vehicle has paid off”

overall reliability of 55 is rather bad for 1990, and advanced safety =/= actual safety. for reliability, 60 should be the aim.

And there it is. Sigh… I hate it when my self-predictions turn out to be accurate.
It’s even worse in this case; from what I can take of the review, if the looks were good the lack of fuel economy could be offset by the DeNiro’s qualities.

Well, time to hit the design books again and study European luxury cars in better detail. Need to figure out where my design went wrong…

  • Corrosion resistant steel sucks, I literally dropped the price 7k by going galvanized, for only a minor setback in stats
  • quality slider tweaking is for when the car is done.

And last but not least:

  • Okay car. Wrong target audience. Check out some Doug DeMuro (or other youtubers) luxury car reviews, especially the test drive part. They’re all automatics. They’re all quiet (you have no mufflers :t) They all have cushion like suspensions. They all “build up power like a jet” rather than ram it into your back. They have everything. The highest safety features. the most comfy seats. The best sound system ever. And the budget allowed you to put that, but you didn’t.

[edit] I just checked your engine.
You don’t get anything more of a non race engine by going over, say, 70 ignition timing, than you would get by upping compression. You were at 100. I literally only get that high when I have nowhere else to find power because I have the richest AFR, quality everywhere and my turbo is topped out. So yeah. Compression > ignition timing more advanced that Stephen Hawking

1 Like

Ok, noted.

About the car:
I was aiming my car to be a Porsche 928 competitor, albeit having an upperhand on performance and price (and absolute pile of sh*t in everything else) while having some sort of design references of 80s Japanese cars. I didnt really get the market right because I put a bit too much emphasis on being sporty in an attempt to stand out but forgetting the memo and making an absolute track day monster without realizing.

Maybe next CSR, I will try to look at others first instead of jumping right in.

edit: Just seen the score.

Wew, I already knew what hot steaming pile of bullpoo my car is just by comparing it to others,
it gets amplified by my atrocious score, being third to last and getting beaten by DISQUALIFIED cars.

I haven’t got a single clue on building an decent luxury car at all.

2 Likes


Released in 1990, the Æxelia Argon was a large, luxury sedan. Manufactured in Yeoposu, Anikatia, the rear-wheel drive Æxelia Argon was powered by a all-new Eurani V8 petrol engine that was mated to an electronically-controlled four-speed automatic transmission. The engine was developed by BMMA in Trieste, Italy and built in the brand new plant in Yeoposu, Anikatia. It had an aluminium alloy block and cylinder head, double overhead camshafts per cylinder bank, four valves per cylinder, with 5.3 liter of displacement capable of 330 horsepower. The platform was based on the current BMMA Narwhal with some modification in order to be used by Dokko, Hyoun, Bahk Corporation (DHB) for future Anikatian internal car projects to be assembled from the new Yeoposu plant.

Development of the Argon commenced in the 1980s a project initiated by Žnoprešk-Marlin’s leadership. At the time It was becoming clear that its production plants for its luxury division Iurlaro brand were becoming dangerously overstretched putting the quality of the brand at risk. It became necessary for ŽM Group to revert to back Atelier Iurlaro to its roots, as high end luxury brand with lower production numbers. This however left ŽM Group with a lack of mainstream luxury brands within its lineup. To remedy this a number of options were explored, BMMA didn’t had the personnel to cover the request in a short time, nor even Žnoprešk. It was clear the company had to look outside for help. The feasibility of creating a new brand from scratch were too expensive, so ŽM started looking for a joint venture. After dismissing plans of purchasing any existing brands due to excessive costs.

At the same time, across the globe, the Democratic People’s Republic of Anikatia (DPRA), had introduced series of economic liberalisation and market oriented reforms from 1979 by General Secretary Choi Kyu-sik. This effectively opened the Anikatian market to foreign investment and allowed ŽM Group to reach a deal to partner with the countries leading luxury brand DHB, by way of the state owner Anikatian Auto Union (AAU).

The initial agreement consisted of the creation of joint-venture company Eurani Motors that would build the first foreign designed cars into Anikatia based on the previous generation Žnoprešk Zenit CM01 as the DHB Type 3091 for the local market and better known internationally as Zenit Simple. This would be the first of series of cooperative efforts between the two brands. ŽM Group would assist in the modernisation of DHB and the Anikatian Automative Industry in exchange for massive government backed investment in ŽM Group and the creation of two new factories within Anikatia.The second stage of the joint-venture was possible due to large investment would see the creation of a international premium brand Æxelia, within ŽM Group.

The new brand Æxelia made its debut with the Argon a large executive sedan in the E-segment. Taking advantage of special economic agreements ŽM Group, commissioned the construction of two brand new state of the art facilities in the southern province of Gyeolgung, Anikatia. The Eurani Motors new engine facility was built in the provincial capital of Buchyeon and the nearby assembly plant was constructed in the port city of Yeoposu. This Yeoposu facility would see the construction of the ŽM based platforms for all domestic projects within DHB and its state parent AAU.

Intended to compete with the class-leading luxury sedans, extensive market research was used in the creation of brand and series of new dealership networks. When development of the Argon was completed in 1990, the project had involved 70 designers, 34 engineering teams, 1600 engineers, 2500 technicians, 250 support workers and expenditure of over €1.283 billion.


16 Likes

Part 1 - Round 3


@PugeHenis - The Trident

“… Wildly comfortable, but fall short in looks and outright performance.”

@VG33E - HTA LSC1

“… Low Comfort and Safety cannot overcome the high reliability and practicality on offer.”

@MasterDoggo - Banthaar Lynx V12

“… Great Looks and Comfort are able to overcome the lack of performance and sporty feel.”

@VMO - Montes 530 GTS

-Please Refer to 1993 copy of Motornation for Review- (Disqualified for incorrect trim year)

@Undercoverhardwarema - G5 by Giusseppe

“… Bad comfort, bad upkeep costs, and bad looks oppress over a high performance vehicle.”

@DeadlockRiff - Criterion Pantheon

“… Bad ride comfort, difficulty to drive, and high cost to service, mean the Pantheon isn’t at all strong in its class.”

@LS-Vehicles - Teuvo B10-ze Findesign

“… less-than-spectacular ride comfort slightly sours an otherwise well performing car.”

@Machalel - Boccaccino Medusa Velocita di Turismo Super Lusso

“… Once you get past the mouthful, the Medusa falls down in the looks department on an otherwise average performer.”

@Obfuscious - Runspeed Wildkat K330

“… Entire absence of sporty feel is covered by the ease to drive and practicality of the small Convertable.”

@Knugcab - IP Ocelot 3200GXT

“… Great Economy, Looks, and sport feel cover the lacking comfort.”

@ZSCHMEEZ - Albatross 500GT

“… Outstanding economy and performance outshines the average looks.”

@Nerd - Sofa L4000-B

“… This piece of Bloc engineering is horrible, but is able to stand somehow due to its ease of repair.”

@Grandea - Zenshi Axia CT400 Coupe

“… Despite the low sport feel, the Axia has the chance to break into the market.”

@NormanVauxhall & @RK38 - AEXELIA Argon 5.3 AT

“… The stunning AEXELIA is unable to break past being average elsewhere.”

@Kafoullie - Skald

“… The lack of comfort and reliability compared to the competitors is able to be shown up by the sheer performance.”

@Titleguy1 - Rennen Apophis TS37X Prestige 4.8 S4

“… The Apophis’ Looks and sport feeling are able to overshadow the lack in comfort and outright performance.”

@Archi - Mitsuo Cheeter V12 5.6T

“… An Ironic name for a car almost twice as expensive than all the rest” (Disqualified for Over Budget)

@Knightophonix - FAAL Klinos Derrickson

“… The Great looks are able to overcome the flaws in the Klinos’ design.”


The Entries that will be moving on to round Number Two Are:

@Goblin95 - Kasai A600 Ara Royal
@Z2bbgr - SBA Cdx. (MkIII) 4.0 Prestige
@DeusExMackia - Erin Scarlet (MkII) 3.3l S Lux
@MasterDoggo - Banthaar Lynx V12
@Knightophonix - FAAL Klinos Derrickson
@ZSCHMEEZ - Albatross 500GT


And here is the Spreadsheet used to Calculate Round one’s Scores!

19 Likes

Welp, I predicted it. I exceeded the budget by a whopping two dollars and into the bin my car goes.

I do wonder, though…what is it that made my car look “horrible”? Sure, I’m not the best car designer, but I thought that the Comrade looked decent.

But if I set the trim to 1991… I can’t explain that…

looks are subjective, but from a design standpoint, the car doesn’t look cohesive and it looks far too modern for 1991. the lights are angular, yet the indicators are round, the body, despite unlocking in 1990, is not a 1990 body. it’s far too rounded and blobby for 1990. and the rear lights, where as the idea is sound, have way too much of a gap between the 2 element, and they’re not properly lined up.

here are a couple of examples of cars from 1991 that fit the bill of what you should aim for.



image

5 Likes

Well, I can agree that the rear end of my car is bit dodgy, I did it 12 times from scratch and then settled decided to go with the least horrible solution I came up. (Which was still rather bad even in my own opinion) How ever I was relatively happy with the front, so I just stuck with it, even thuogh I was thinking about changing to completely different body.
Apparently you were looking higher class comfort than I set up to create, as I was going for performance over comfort. Idea being a car that “could have been done” if VW would have gone to build to compete with Mercedes AMG models, or Jaguar sporty models.

I was feeling pretty good, having managed to create a rear-engined RWD sports car with a turbocharged Boxer 6 engine, and achieving 62.4 drivability, 34.6 sportiness, 43.5 comfort, 55.8 prestige and 49.4 safety.
Despite having all the luxury equipments and advanced safety, it also weighs only 1374kg which is probably among the lightest in the competition, which is why it’s also among the fastest (with 350hp).

I actually scored much better in the Excel that I though, with only 276 horsepower and non-existent sportiness. But Minerva is a brand that is al about good drivability and great comfort. So I guess I should be very happy.

1 Like