Alright time to get the reviews started. These are going to be released in groups of 5 cars with the tracks times being on the Watkins Glen track (which is my “home” track).
Denta - Pragata kit car - 2:06.85
Now to start off the reviews we have the Pragata kit car, an interesting looking car with its large bullbars both front and rear, will certainly help reduce damage to the body, other than that the design is fairly simplistic with its use of grills, vents, and lights. It does feature a lip in the front and wing on the back to produce downforce though. It uses a mid engined rear wheel drive aluminum monocoque chassis with full double wishbone suspension and partial aluminum panels.
The engine in the car is an undersquare 2L V6 that makes 254hp and 163lb-ft. It uses DOHC 4 with VVL, a strange choice due to the added weight and little importance on low end economy. The engine is fairly unreliable, although it’s mostly down to the race intake as the forged internals are capable of the high rpm although they must’ve been worried of their strength as the rpm limit is only just above peak power, reducing the cars acceleration. The economy of the car is 23.6 gallons/hr on regular fuel. It does use the very expensive race headers and high flow cat.
The power from that engine goes through a 7 speed manual transmission, likely to reduce the power loss as a result of the low rpm. It does has a viscous LSD although being mid engined it wasn’t really needed with the extra weight on the rear wheels. The tires are fairly expensive at $581 for a full set, mostly due to the large size at 245/255 in width and large 18” alloy rims. Braking is slightly rear biased, rather unsafe although it does have ABS.
On the track and I was able to manage a 2:06.85. It is a very fun car to drive with the suspension setup being right on the edge, surprising not to have understeer with the mid engine setup. The wing and lip do produce slight downforce. I is harder to drive than we would like with a difficulty rating of 1.18, we would like that to be right at 1.
Overall, the high price of tires, low engine reliability, and high difficulty mean this isn’t the best choice for us.
Madrias - Storm Legends RS - 2:14.99
Now onto the second car, the Storm Legends RS, this is quite an interesting one due to its use of a ladder chassis, not a spaceframe or monocoque like most of its competition will be using. Said chassis is made of AHS steel with a corrosion resistant steel body on top, an interesting choice to spend the extra money on corrosion resistance although it is appreciated.That body is very classic muscle in its styling with large chrome bumpers, large grill and large stance with its very long overhangs. Other than that the basis of this car is pretty standard with an FR setup and double wishbones all round.
Now onto the engine and it’s a square, all iron, 2.0L I4 with DOHC and VVL again.The economy of this engine uses 26.1 gallons/hour, and that is on premium fuel. The main issue with this engine is it’s reliability, being a square engine the stroke is fairly long and so it puts a lot of strain on the internals which aren’t up to the job. The exhaust system is a bit strange as well as it strangles the engine at high rpm and it uses a high flow cat which gives little benefit.
Now to focus on the rest of the car. It uses a 5 speed manual with a viscous LSD. For tires It uses staggered 175/195mm widths which results in some understeer. The tires are cheap though being medium compound and mounted onto 17” steel rims at $352 for a full set. It has plenty of engine cooling to reduce mechanical failure and it utilizes a fully clad undertray. Surprisingly it doesn’t use any driver assists not even power steering which in a 2800lb car will certainly be a workout for the drivers. It also uses progressive springs instead of standard springs, possibly to make up for the drivability lost due to the absence of power steering although due to the staggered tires its a very easy car to drive with a difficulty rating of .84, a bit lower than we would like.
Overall, a decent car however let down by staggered tires and a high weight of 2800lbs which ruined the driving characteristics of the car.
Rk38 - GBF Procurro SR6 - 2:02.20
Now onto the GBF Procurro SR6. Now this is a very interesting looking car with a very futuristic looking body that makes it look as though the car is powered by either a jet, or, like the chaparral 2X, a laser. It is a larger car with a 2.75m wheelbase. The body is full aluminum with an aluminum monocoque chassis. It also uses pushrod suspension both front and rear to improve it’s cornering.
Unfortunately the car isn’t jet or laser propelled so we’ll have to look at the mid mounted 3.6L V6 engine. It produces 405hp and 277lb-ft, quite a bit of power for an amateur race car. Again it’s another DOHC 4 setup with VVL, I wonder why so many people thought they needed VVL on a race car, although no VVT . Reliability is a bit low as the conrods and crank are quite stressed. It’s also expensive to fuel this car as it uses 57.4 gallons of premium fuel each hour.
A 6 speed manual is used as well as a viscous LSD, quite useful on this car as it can easily spin the tires with all of its power. It does mean a very fast 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds though. It uses very staggered tires at 225/335 width and they cost $597 for a full set. The braking is rear biased although there is ABS to make it less of an issue. In fact it uses every driver assist except power steering.
On the track its as though it was a muscle car compared to the competition. Very fast in a straight line, but when it comes to a corner it suffers from severe understeer which makes me concerned about the safety as people are likely to miss a corner and head straight on into a wall with its 1.13 difficulty.
In conclusion, this doesn’t suit our needs as its too powerful and fast to be safe for our drivers.
TR8R - Desert Fox - 2:24.53
Onto the Desert fox and this, a small little rear engined sports car. Another car with protective bullbars on it. It also has a rather strange exhaust setup as the muffler and exhaust are above the car. It uses a steel spaceframe with an aluminum body as well as strut suspension front and rear.
Another V6 engine is in this car, although this one is tiny at just 1.5L, it makes 137hp and 103lb-ft so still a decent output. This one does not use VVL although it is made of cast iron so is still heavy for its size. Surprisingly it uses mechanical fuel injection which reduces the reliability which would otherwise be very high. Efficiency wise it uses 34.3 g/hr on premium fuel, partly due to the inefficient injection system. RPM limit is once again a bit low with only 100 rpm past peak power.
A 6 speed manual is used however an LSD is not, although being rear engine it doesn’t need one. Tires are really cheap at just $310 since they are only 175/215 and are hard compound on small 15” steel rims. Braking is once again rear biased but unlike the others this one doesn’t feature ABS so that will make the car quite difficult to drive. A key point of this car however is the price at just $14,550
On the track and this car just isn’t as interesting as the competition, it is however very easy to drive with a .79 rating, which is actually too easy.
Although this car looked promising with its low cost it just isn’t good enough on track to be used.
Vri404 - Eduar XXV - 2:21.03
Now onto another very similar car. Again rear engine, steel spaceframe car however this one uses corrosion resistant steel. This one uses the much superior double wishbone suspension though. The look are interesting with its small headlights and few grills. Oh and it also has a table on the back…
This one uses an even smaller V6, only 1.3L and it produces 111hp and 95.8lb-ft. It does use a very mild cam however which restricts it’s output. It uses 35.1 g/hr of premium fuel, increased due to the 13.5 AFR. It’s also another car to use race intake which leads to low reliability and it also uses race headers and high flow cat which increase the price quite a bit.
A 6 speed manual is used, as is common it seems, however this one uses a geared LSD, which does more harm than good. It increases the price and makes it near impossible to spin the wheels which could lead to drivers stalling off the line as they go for a hard launch. The tire are staggered at 205/245, while it could’ve been possible to use 225 rear tires to both reduce cost, from $569 to $531, and make the car more interesting to drive. It is another car to use a fully clad undertray allowing the car to reach decent speeds even with the low power engine. The only driver assist is power steering with the others not even being necessary.
On track it’s very similar to the desert fox, less interesting to drive than the competition and also very easy to drive.
Overall, too much money seems to have been spent on things like headers and diffs which lead to it under performing in many areas.
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