Okay guys, here’s the first challenge. Note that the Gryphon Gear crew generally drive far different cars to what they sell (even Kai, who has a Mephisto which he likes to let out of the cage and stretch its legs on occasion, but for the most part drives a third-hand Toyota Corolla because unlike a Mephisto, you can actually reverse park it and you don’t have to pay 20 bucks in petrol just to go grocery shopping).
Also remember the option to present your own story, or completely make something up from a different era is entirely up to the Round Master. For simplicity’s sake, I’m going to go with my (fictionally adapted) self, and the present. The challenge will also be relatively high detail because I want people to have a good idea of what I’m after. Please note that many of my criteria may conflict with each other. This is quite normal for a customer, and the whole point is that it’s up to you as to how you want to package and sell the car to me.
[size=200]Round One[/size]
The year is: 2016
Who am I: Stroppy McHorseguy, slightly underpaid and moderately overworked professional doodler at upstart racing and hypercar outfit Gryphon Gear. Has very fussy tastes.
What’s the story: I used to drive a Honda Civic Hatch VTi-S MY13, the space-aged ones made in the UK. It was hardly a road rocket, in fact it was damn near impossible to drive in anger. But it was extremely practical, very comfortable, and it looked distinctive but not ‘douchey’. It does the work commute, the long road trip, the mountain pass and even a bit of off-road camping adventure and ski trips no problem. And it came in this colour:
While dynamically very competent, the car was definitely built to budget specs, with macpherson fronts and torsion beam rears. And the engine and transmission was so lazy! I copped a lot of shit from my friends about being better off driving a shopping cart while they whizzed around in (and crashed, no joke) their Megane RS GranSport etc. etc. I will admit to later eyeing off various alternatives, like the Kia ProCeed GT, or the Renault Clio RS, and the like. But I had no actual motivation to change from my current car, affectionately christened “Peapod” between my girlfriend (of 3 years), whom we refer to as E, and I.
So what happened to the car? Well, sometime near the end of 2014, my colleagues apparently had enough of my car’s lack of horsepower. So they borrowed it. Two weeks after I reported it stolen, it ‘turned up’. With a repurposed reforged ex-F1 V8 Cosworth block. With two giant turbos on it. It also had been completely gutted and stripped and the steel panels replaced with CF and a whacking huge widebody kit. Basically they completely ruined Peapod, and turned it into a 900hp, 700kg road missile. Which I then decided, what the hell, and took it for a ‘little jaunt’ around the world. Some of you may remember how that turned out: with the car in probably a million pieces somewhere along Dottinger Höhe.
Since then, I’ve been using a loaner car. More recently, it was the 1992 Mazda MX5 NA which E is minding. Nicknamed “PuttPutt”.
Long story short, a squeaky rattly 24 year old budget roadster (with speaker wiring that always comes loose) is not exactly the kind of car I can drive on a daily basis and remain sane. As part of the belated compensation for stealing my car, as well as a bit of an end of 2015 bonus because 2015 was tantamount to staff abuse for GG, I’ve been given a bit of extra cash to go and buy a new car, which is great, because I don’t have a lot to spare because I’m still paying off a mortgage.
[size=200]Strop goes car shopping…[/size]
What am I looking for: I’m looking for a car that can do everything that I require of it, including commuting, chauffering up to 3 friends/family at a time, has a decent storage space I can put a bike/luggage bags/camping gear in/on as described above. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be kid-friendly, I’m not a fan of upsizing for the hell of it, and I don’t get the point of crossovers/SUVs. It’s not like the car actually has to be able to go off the beaten path too much, but if I can drive it on an unsealed surface without dying, that’ll be a plus. But I’d like it to have as much go in it as possible without drawing too much attention to the fact, because too much douche factor and E will give me that judging look forever, not to mention my mother, whom I occasionally also drive around. As a side note, my girlfriend approves of the NA because it’s cute. My mother would be horrified if she knew it was mine, but well, I’m a grown man and she doesn’t have to know so don’t worry so much about that 
Basically, I want a modern sleeper car… but I might be swayed by a really sexy roadster or mild sports car that didn’t scream “I’m an arsehole” or “I’m having a midlife crisis”.
Specific criteria:
[ul]]Model year can be whatever, just be sensible/:m]
]I’ll accept trim years 2014-2016/:m]
]Limited production and no-mass production parts are allowed/:m]
]Four/five door is preferred but two/three door is acceptable/:m]
]Wheel-base strictly under 3m. I’m not fussed about body type but will lean away from utes and soft-tops unless they offer significant other advantages/:m]
]I’m a little tired of Macpherson and Torsion beam setups, but if you can build something that literally outperforms superior setups (e.g. like what Honda did to the Civic Type R), you might yet be able to convince me otherwise/:m]
]Strictly no fiber-glass please, some of our roads have so many stones on them, the bodywork will be ruined within days/:m]
]Looks matter a lot. As I said, design should be edgy/distinctive but not outright douchey. I’ll ignore colour for the time being as I will assume that the car will come in a range of colours, unless you specify otherwise./:m]
]You may use lips freely. You may use up to ONE wing. For road-legal reasons, the wing must be placed on the rear half of the car, or behind the C pillar if the car has one./:m]
]Any of FWD, AWD, RWD is fine. I’m not looking for a 4x4.
./:m]
]The engine should have a reliability of at least 70.0/:m]
]Unleaded only. The maximum RON should be 95. I may accept 98 but this will make it much harder to ‘go bush’ and do long road trips/:m]
]Engine noise should be under 45
./:m]
]I am happy to drive auto, stick, or flappy paddles. They all have their pros and cons, so still choose carefully/:m]
*]Because of availability at most tyre retailers, plus road noise, plus simply not looking like the car’s built specifically to beat the clock, the wheels must be not too wide, and have a profile of at least 50. By “not too wide”, I mean the maximum width of the tyre can be determined by the following formula:
maximum tyre width = (car mass in kg + 1150)/10
Bonus points if they’re the same size front and rear, so I can rotate them more readily. Semi-slicks are disallowed, because I need to drive this thing rain or shine far more than I do TRACK DAY BRO. Also, I’d really prefer not to have to fork out 3000+ bucks for a set (like I would if you used Trofeo Rs or something), so, like, see if you can keep the material costs of the tyres and wheels total below 1000./*:m]
]How you set the aero is up to you, since I can always be cheeky and get my car serviced at my company HQ once the warranty expires. But the engine cooling must meet the minimum required/:m]
]The car should preferably seat 4 or 5. It certainly does not need to seat any more than that. You may get away with 2 or 3 if you can convince me of the benefits, but this will be difficult/:m]
]I do need at least a rudimentary radio, and will have a problem if I don’t have Bluetooth to pair my phone and use handsfree. At least Standard Infortainment recommended, but Basic may be acceptable./:m]
]Minimum safety of 40, so it’s road legal everywhere. More is good, too./:m]
]You can do what you like with the suspension, just make sure the car doesn’t bottom out too much because one of the things that annoyed me about my Civic was that the front bumper and mudguard were forever scraping against things.
./:m]
]Stats wise, I recommend comfort at least 25. I don’t care about prestige. Drivability and sportiness matter but not in any specific way./:m]
]Preferred fuel economy is better than 11L/100km (10km per L), but hey, if the car’s really fast, I might not mind going a bit over./:m]
]I’d also prefer it if the total emissions rating was <300./:m]
]Track times do matter, getting this thing around Green Hell in under 8:30 would be nice. Faster is even nicer./:m]
]Environmental resistance should be preferably over 80. I’m not a fan of rust./:m]
]It needs SOME storage room. The way this is currently calculated is a bit wonky, so I’m not going to grouse over the actual number, I just need to visually confirm there’s room for a trunk. But I’m not going to ban you from trying to sell me a 2 seater MR coupe with just enough room for a small luggage bag up front. Just saying /:m][/ul]
Okay, that’s actually a very long list. Hopefully I haven’t missed anything.
Mods: Any Steam workshop mod
Screenshots: just the stats and market tab are mandatory. Everything else is optional.
Budget: Market cost ~30000 Automation Money Units (I can go a little over if it’s worth it). I’d also like to know that your company isn’t going to go broke selling these things before my warranty expires, so build in a reasonable profit margin on your cars if that’s relevant, hey?
Deadline: For this round, as well as posting to the thread, all entries need to be in my PM inbox by 23:59:59.99, Automation time, 22nd January 2016. Your first PM counts, no revisions unless the file simply doesn’t load.
Okay then, have at it!
ACCEPTED ENTRIES:
vri404
Madrias
HighOctaneLove
asdren
Puffster
UrbanLiner
Racer13
AirJordan
DoctorNarfy
thecarlover
oppositelock
Dragawn
koolkei
8bs
nialloftara
carskick
nerd
UMGaming
rapidbacon
Entries for this round are now shut. Expect the results to be out around noon, GMT, 23rd Jan
This forum actually has quite reasonable users for the very most part, so I’m not too concerned about this.
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