Not knowing weight of categories in the scoring is killing me. Should I go for that heavy advanced safety? Is premium HUD worth it? so many dilemmas…
kay. who’s going full bonkers? and on what?
i managed to make something feasible that is priced at sub-50k, but gets more than 94mpg 
at the cost of everything else though.
I made a 100 MPG sportscar costing around 80k. It’s not a big hit in the markets and is not a supercar (0-100 in just over 9 seconds, top speed just under 200), but yeah, to get that 100 MPG I made major performance sacrifices. I ultimately chose to submit a more “realistic” car as far as current markets. Performance is lower than what you’d expect in the present, but over 50 MPG from a non-hybrid large sedan is pretty good without making too many sacrifices.
I sorta went “We need a sporty luxury sedan”
Finally, I’ve reached what I can call a first prototype.
The eventual evolution of GG’s first “reasonable” hypercar, Salamander, this pint-sized concept aims to express what high performance of the future should be. Contained within the simple pleasure of a small two seater sports car is the absolute pinnacle of aerodynamic science. The bodywork has been carefully shaped to redirect flow over and within the car’s monocoque tubular structure. To manage internal flow are a splitter with active air dam, flexible wings and vortex generating canards on the front (but engineered to mitigate pedestrian impact). The bottom is fully shear but air escaping to the sides are promptly sucked into the NACA style vents on the flared arches. Air turbulence from the rear wheels is redirected through well hidden rear canards. The largely open space around the engine bay allows free flow through the bay, and over an F1-style two-tier rear diffuser with aerodynamic inserts. But most interestingly, Kelpie takes a leaf out of the 918’s book and has the exhaust outlet facing rearwards, on the boot lid (this one was particularly tricky to get ratified by Vehicle Standards: ADR). This reduces drag by disrupting the attached layer of planar air flow over the top bodywork with a high velocity airstream directed directly at the rear wing. Furthermore, independent active flaps on the rear body can further direct air to the wing.
Magnesium block manufacture being made a practical reality in Australia through ongoing environmental technical research, the lightweight 2.2L bi-turbo V6 produces 470hp, propelling Kelpie’s ultra-light weight of just 890kg through the 0-100 in less than 3 seconds on sports tyres, through the quarter mile in under 10 seconds, and around Green Hell in under 7 minutes. Yet with the help of a cruising overdrive gear, it can attain greater than 40mpg. All this, without resorting to heavy electric engines or the additional manufacturing complications and integration of hybrid systems. And with a total emissions rating of just 12, this car makes a strong case for the viability of the green hypercar.
EDIT: stupid lower canard vanished! I’ll have to put it back on…
DAT DESIGN… 
Accept this “best looking car in automation” imaginary medal on behalf of me.
omg coming from you that’s a big deal
[size=50]I’d like to dedicate this imaginary medal to all the wonderful people of Automation, some of whose mods I have used, many of whom have inspired me, and others whose techniques I stole in the making of this design[/size]
I am not so sure about the front and those half moon headlights, BUT that rear looks freaking amazing
somebody need to make an automation hall of fame. and this need to be in it
OKAY!
As in - I’ve had this idea before, and I can run it.
Do I see black rims??? tell me it’s a mod (yet to be released) and not just a photoshop…
It’s really inspiring to see what can be done within automation, awesome job strop.
Sorry, just a photoshop. I selected the areas in GIMP and just used the curve tool to decrease the darker values all the way down. It was a very quick, dirty job.
Thanks for the comments. I was really trying to figure out what kind of design language production cars would adopt in 2020. One interesting trend I noticed are the increasingly prominent “cutaway” look on the front end, which brands such as Kia and Hyundai are aggressively ramping up. It’s as if they took the shape and purposefully sculpted a shape into it, for example:
or
It has certainly been a feature that Lexus has been hinting at for a while, in particular:
If you look at my company thread, you’ll see that 2016 Salamander concept starts building upon this motif. I thought by 2020 the whole daytime running LED lights would integrate themselves further into the bodywork to the point that they might even directly provide/accompany the ridge. This is part of the ‘sporty’ design vogue I’ve noticed the most coming into play this decade, at least.
Wow, a full design analysis 
I basically modelled mine off the styling of a Tesla (though the front turned out quite Renault imo). I just figured that for an efficient sedan, low drag would be important so I went with a very smooth shape. Clearly a sports/super car would need more than a small and partially covered grill for cooling.
I really like these sorts of competitions. The wide range of vehicles makes it more interesting, even if its harder to directly compare all of the vehicles.
Updated Car Submission status’ on OP.
I am exstatic to see the participation and the great variety of approaches that are coming in! It will make for a very interesting competition and group of writeups.
At this time, my plan is to post one to two reviews/writeups per one to days, starting with the lowest scoring car, working towards the highest. I will also put clickable URL links on the OP to each car’s review. I want to give each car a full review with pictures and analysis. I will reveal each car’s total points and my subjective score based on the priorities of this competition with each write up. Once I have reviewed every car, I will post a table with the full stats and scores.
I am excited! We have about 5 more days before the competition closes and reviews begin. So many times, I’ve wanted to comment on the cars I’ve received, but I’ve refrained!!! Trust me, each and every one of you will receive overly detailed feedback with my overly wordy writing style.
Excellent to hear. I look forward to the reviews!
We present the 2020 Revera XR, the entry sports car of the future.
3.7s from 0 to 100 km/h. A top speed of 302km/h and a combined fuel economy of 38MPG. Preorder now for $42400.
And now I clearly see how plain my cars are! These designs are awesome.
you guys are setting the standards high here… i might have to take a different approach