27 December 2009. Bottom Gear broadcasts the Bolivia Special, a challenge where Ramón Richards, Jeremiah Clack and James April have to cross the jungle, the Bolivian high plains and the Death Road in order to get to the coast of Chile. All of this was done in three beater offroaders.
12 August 2018. The host of the infamous 1995 race, the Great Automation Run, sends a new challenge to racers: buying or building an offroader, and recreating the same route that was taken in Bottom Gear to see who gets to the coast of Chile first!
And what’s the catch? 3 million dollars for the winner, of course!
Overview of the race.
Click here for an overview of the route.
Stage 1: the jungle. Just as the race begins, your characters will have to get their cars running and open a path for themselves through the dense rainforest. At the end of the day, each team will place a tent at the beginning of stage 2 to rest, repair and treat injuries before the next day.
Stage 2: the Bolivian Death Road. By some considered the world’s most dangerous road, the Death Road has seen countless casualties. The racers will have to be the most careful they’ve ever been in order to not be just another victim to the infamous trail. At the end of the day, if they survive, they’ll stop for the night at La Paz, to get ready for their next adventure…
Stage 3: The “Altiplano” (High plains). The beginning of the stage is a fast highway segment, soon followed by more offroading; as your characters climb the volcanos of the high plains, they (and their engines) will be starved of oxygen, making them more prone to making mistakes. Will they power through or will they be another victim to altitude sickness?
Stage 4: exiting the high plains. The engines regain power and the brains regain sanity as oxygen becomes more abundant. Who will be the king of the downhill segment?
Stage 5: the final stretch. One last highway segment and a few dangerous, steep dunes separate your characters from victory. Will they make it? Or will they fail this close to the finish line?
Each chapter will be a stage, with a total of five chapters. I don’t want this one to drag as much as the original Great Automation Run.
The rules.
RULES CONCERNING THE CHARACTERS:
This is a dangerous, illegal race. This means that you character might get injured or even die. You can opt out of your character being able to die (include it in the PM), but you may not opt out of injuries since these will play a role in the final times. Your crew will be composed of at least two people, up to 4 people.
RP is not mandatory, but I encourage you to develop and write characters and rp posts. I will point out that not RPing (as in not creating characters) doesn’t mean you’re safe from injuries.
CONCERNING THE VEHICLES:
Quality points: no more than 10 quality points in total and per slider in the engine tab, and no more than 10 points in total and per slider in the trim tab.
Aero: maximum one wing and lip. Undertray must be an offroad ready undertray.
Year: the car of choice must be from between the years 1970 and 2000. Engine swaps are allowed, but the higher the difference in model year and engine variant year, the bigger the reliability penalty, with a penalty of a point per year of difference. Drivetrain swaps and engine placement/suspension geometry are allowed, however.
Pricing will be as follows:
Cars from the 70s and 90s will be marked down 10%. Cars from the 80s will be marked down 20%. Cars from 2000 count as 90s.
Body style: may be any body style except two seaters and GT/exotic cars.
Engines: Engines will run on 91 octane fuel.
Chassis and body: Carbon fiber may not be used.
Wheels: may not be bigger than 800mm in diameter. That includes the tyre, which must be offroad compound. Rims may not be bigger than 18 inches.
Offroad stat: you’ll need at least an offroad rating of 30. More than 30 will be benefitial when it comes to the obstacles, making your vehicle more likely to make it through in the first attempt needing less time to get past them.
Interior: You need as many seats as crew members you have.
Safety: the safer your car is, the less likely your crew is to be injured, as safety will factor in the injury rolls (see injury chart for more info). If they find themselves in an accident, they’ll suffer less the higher the safety.
Reliability: Reliability (trim reliability) will also play a factor. Breakdowns will cost your team time to repair, money to buy spares and, if there’s no spares left and you’re far from any cities, you’ll be out of the race. The cost of spare parts will be calculated from your production units and how severe the breakdown is. The more crew members, the quicker repairing the car will be.
Drivability: the easier your car is to control, the easier it will be for your characters to drive…well, relatively quickly, but certainly quicker than with a undrivable car.
Fuel economy: Similarly to reliability, fuel economy will cost your team time to refuel, as well as the possibility of running out of fuel in the middle of nowhere, and being out of the race. Every car will be using a standard 53 liter fuel tank.
Budget: $18000. This includes possible expenses, like fuel, food, medical supplies, and spare parts.
Injury chart.
Note: in the last cell, it’s supposed to read “if the player opted out of death they’ll quit the race by breakdown.”
Entry format
Car name: GAR2-Username.
Trim name: name of the car.
Engine family: GAR2-Username.
Engine variant: engine name.
DEADLINE: Friday 24th August, 23:59 CEST.
You now have a period of a day or two to discuss and/or correct stuff that I might’ve got wrong. Get those entries in!
Entries (player, car and team).
- Lava_cake - '87 Guirere TF3 - Team Bozo-Cross
- Mikonp7 - '92 SX-2 Bolivian Special - Team JuiceHouse.
- Private_Miros - '89 Merkur A10 - Team Quicksilver.
- Madrias - '00 Travette 2000 - Team Rental Wreckers.
- Racer13 - '00 Rallye STV - Team ABOPCO.
- Watermelon3878 - '82 M-Series - …
- RetroSteve - '81 Outlander 4x4 - Team Old but Gold
- VicVictory - '85 R3200 S6 - Team Cannon Fodder
- HighOctaneLove - '00 Alpaca - Team Run N Gun
- NickingHC - '86 Nash GPE - Aston’s Orc Krew
- VG33E - '78 GA700 - Team Mud Masters
- MrChips - '85 Arcturus 100i - …
- Vri404 - '81 Van Buren - Team Vallhalla
- LinkLuke - '81 G400L - Team WAC
- Knugcab - '96 Rexetta V6 - Team Hillbilly Rollers
- Detsikeulii - '00 Serla - Team HHDWEUIH
- Ramthecowy - '82 Mitrus - …
- DoriftoDorito - '00 Bopproader - Team Bibimbap
- AaronW - '00 Kishita AWD Sport - Team Brazilia!!!
- BoostAndEthanol - '95 Kaiken II 2000 - Team Lights and Sounds
- NormanVauxhall and Leonardo9613 - '86 3316 B Spec - Team Baltaznopresk
- Elizipeazie - '78 Mimas 80 Sleeppakket - Operation BIRD
- TheEpicRanger6 - '85 DirtRider - Team Two Idiots
- Xepy - '89 Marax Turbo - Team GGEz
- DeusExMackia - '98 Estate Roamer - Team Southend or Bust!
- abg7 - '85 Teton Dirt Warrior - Team Dirt Warriors
- TheElt - '00 Area Wanderer - …
- ElMenduko - '89 The Modesty Machine - The Merry Men
- DerBayer - '75 Paginza 622 - …
- Rk38 - '90 Cross-4x Turbo - Team [REDACTED]
- Strop - '98 Rugged - Team Finish or Die Trying
- LS-Vehicles - '90 Liva GAT - Team Super Special
- Mytrhin - '00 3027i - Team Bakewell Baltata
- DukeOfHazards - '90 Land Crusher - Team 11
- TheTechnoVampire - '89 Ranger 4x4 Raid - Team Wonderbolts
- EnryGT5 - '89 Grandcab 3.0 - …
- TheNomade - '90 Nomad Sport - Team 2 Girls 1 Truck
- CadillacDave - '72 S120 Basic - The Communist Expendables
