1991 Great Archanean Trek [FINAL RESULTS]

[BF94387]

AURA

Complete the incompletable

The legendary Icelandic automaker Aura is back strong at this years 1991 Great Archanean Trek, and are indeed going all out. Entering 4 cars into the race is not an easy feat, but Aura seems to have pulled off the impossible. Will they be competitive? Time, and decent driving, will only tell…

Car 1: AR4 - GAT Spec

Buggy class

Based on Aura’s latest top of the line sportscar, the AR4 GAT Spec is potentially a strong contender in the buggy class. The performance oriented ATR6 2.5L v6 found in the street version is nowhere to be seen however, and instead an ATR4 2L Endurance tuned I4 can be found in the engine bay. While the beloved ATR6 is amazing for the street and track, the ATR4 is better suited for the GAT, being high in torque, very reliable, and having great fuel economy.

Pilots

Primary: Olaf Nordhagen (ISL)

A 47 year old man from Iceland, Olaf Is one of the more experienced drivers on the team, and experience is worth it’s weight in gold when it comes to the GAT.

Co-Pilot: Handel Manderholf (DEU)

An up and coming touring car racer, Handel (21) is also testing the scalding hot waters of the GAT. Will he have what it takes?

Car 2: BBT4 - GAT SPEC

Buggy class

The BBT4 has been a huge success for Aura, selling hundreds of thousands in the past years. This is the GAT spec however, and with that comes big changes. It comes with the endurance tuned B4t 1.0l, which while small in size isn’t short on competitivness. The exact specs remain classified, but we can assure you that it’s… different

Pilots

Primary: Tyrrell Jorgsen (ISL)

25 year old Tyrrell has proved to be a talented driver, making his way through multiple rally championships and grabbing some titles. He’s new to endurance though, so this will be a new experience for him. Hopefully the testing gave him enough practice to suffice.

Co-Pilot: Ingrid Olsen (GRL)

19 year old Ingrid is new to the sport, but what she’s shown so far is very promising, and she made the cut to the final team. We wish her luck!

Car 3: Bobby - GAT spec

Offroad class

The Bobby is a new addition to the Aura family, but certainly a welcome one. This cute little micro-offroader isn’t micro in power. 141 glorious little horsepowers come from an ATR3 2.0L Inline 3 GAT tune, and this thing weighing a mere 895kg it sure does go!

"Pilots..."

Primary: Tia (крестная мать) Byrchkyov (RUS)

The godmother of offroad, Tia (~70 however her exact age is unknown) is both brutal in person and brutal in her driving. Even if the race isn’t going well, Tia is sure to make the opposition an offer they can’t refuse

Co-Pilot: Lianna Varskovich (RUS)

34 year old Lianna is a retired dirtbike champion, and now she wants to try the GAT. She’s not exactly… confident about sharing the cabin with her primary pilot, but she’s not willing to let that stop her.

Car 4: Brawler GAT

Truck class

The beastly Brawler is coming to the '91 GAT, and it’s ready to rip the vital organs from the ribcages of it’s opposition. The engine is entirely classified, (we can only assume it has a variation of the trusty flat 6 found in the road going version) but there has been reports of Aura engineers with broken necks… we’ll let you interpret that as you will.

Pilots

Primary: Gustav Johanassen (SWE)

47 year old Gustav was one of the only to have a thick enough neck to drive this beast, and hopefully he has a bit of skill as well.

Co-Pilot: Aaren Muller (DEU)

Runnner up for the next thickest neck was 38 year old Aaren, and this is his first time even riding in a car. He is an garbage truck emptier, but it’s alway been his dream to ride along in a GAT. We hope that he can read the directions well, other wise there wont be much hope for the pair of them.

I haven’t tested any of these designs in Beam as of yet, but hopefully they are controlable…

[CMT]

I wonder what is crazier - the cars or the pilots.

This will be real fun no matter how the CMT team scores.

[machalel]

…And because my other entries have a slight chance of doing not terribly, my final entry into the “Buggy” category will be a mid-engined turbocharged v8 powered ‘Hypermiler’ modified for off-road use!

The Boccaccino HYPR

This car was purpose built to enter fuel-efficiency focused competitions, and as a concept demonstrator to show the world how efficient Boccaccino’s new powerplant was. That being said, whilst the production engine came in at 3.2L, this was reduced down to 2.2L for the HYPR concept car. Even with this reduced engine size, the HYPR could accelerate to 100km/h in under 10 seconds and returned an independently-verified fuel economy figure of 3.0L/100km at 90km/h.

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Team details:

Name - Boccaccino (factory backed)
Home Country - Italy
Driver - Antonio Ricci. Born and bred in Sicily, Italy, Antonio is one of Boccaccino’s official test-drivers. Whilst appearing a stereotypical Italian motor enthusiast, Antonio is actually quite deliberate and sensible when behind the wheel.
CoDriver - Pierre Thomas. Hailing from Nice, France, and born the son of a racing car drive, Pierre grew up surrounded by luxury and motorsports. His father was only moderately successful as a driver, however instilled all his lessons early in his son, allowing Pierre to progress in leaps and bounds.

[stm316]

Right. Let’s see what we’ve got here…

It’s amazing what you can find if you look in the right places. After the car was almost destroyed during the 1966 GAT, Arturo Greco’s brother, Luigi, effectively stole it. He had it loaded onto a truck and shipped back to his property in Libya (something to do with family connections). It sat in a shed until 1987, when Luigi’s grandson, Max, decided he’d heard enough tales about the incident.
With a desire to prove that a Greco can complete a GAT, he got to work; effectively rebuilding the Inglese as a 2-door fibreglass-bodied buggy, there were very few parts he could re-use…
Although very little remains of the original car, (aside from the now very modified Fe25 engine) it should be able to handle most of the terrain.
This buggy is probably a little low on power compared to the others.

Driver: Max Greco (Libyan descendant of a Raviolian) 30 y.o.
Co-Driver: Pat Malone (Believe it or not, Arturo’s Grandson) 29 y.o

Oh, yeah. Puttzalong build cars on the Island of warm beer… You can decide where the team is based.

[Private_Miros]

@Enderjed

should I enter this challenge?

No.

[Enderjed]

Car model: Grasshopper.
Car trim: Beetle
Engine family: Brank.
Engine variant: EFI.
Type: Truck
Brand: Enderjed`s Junkyard
Nationality of Brand: British
Driver: Shah Lang (Japanese) (40 y.o)
Co-Driver: Albi Walter ( British) (36 y.o)
IMAGE

Here at Enderjeds Junkyard, we Do not strive to be the best, we strive to be the one of a kind corporation, not only from our models being made out of other peoples junk, but from the abstraction of our designs - Enderjed

[gridghost]

Scarab decided to throw together a whole team consisting of the afore mentioned Scarab Flare RX24 and the following cars and drivers:

The Scara Boulder RX24 (truck class) :

Driven by Carine Fredricks, 32 (SWE) and copiloted by Mats Stenson, 35 (SWE), both experienced Rallycross drivers but new to Offroading

Scarab Cirrus RX24 (buggy class) :

Driven by Fredrika “Ika” Olsson, 28 (SWE) and copiloted by Daniel Lundbom, 25 (SWE), both junior rally drivers new to Offroading

And Scarab Flare H24RX (offroad class) :

Driven by Tom Andersson, 42 (SWE) and copiloted by Anna Fredricks, 45 (SWE), both experienced rally drivers with some experience in Offroading

[GassTiresandOil]

My second buggy entry:

In this month’s episode of Road Rash, co-hosts Doug Freitag and John Stockton rescue a 1985 Armor AFX-4 from the junkyard, only to turn it into a buggy for the Archanean Treck in 4 days. Stay tuned to see how they do.

[jameseydude]

I present to you, the Voiture de rallye Team vila (Team vila rally car). Team Vila is the rally / race tem from the small counry of Vanuata. This is a very new team as Vanuata only became an independent nation 11 years earlier. Because of this, It currently has very little funding, so can only entrer 1 vehicle. It is a completely custom fleet of 3 cars, all the same, And1 driver and co driver. The driver is Ahohako Bule, who is Vanuatuan, and co driver Benoit Boucher, who is Canadian. The team is named afer the capital city of Vanuata, Port Vila.
Here are some pics of the car.

[Turbofreak88884444]

making a buggy out of this and can stuff a 10L but i decided to go a 7.8l instead v8 XD since this in an illegal car time to put some street illegal mods on it.

[missionsystem]

Team YRD (Yotata Racing and Development) lineup for this years event

Our 1st vehicle is the Yotata F-class custom Buggy covered with a fiberglass MicroSport shell.
Drivers: Jari-Matti Harvetoula (25)-FIN, Marsa Tarjous (32)-FIN

The 2nd Bugghy entry is another custom build, this time with a custom Yotata Megumi body shell from fiber glass
Drivers: Matt Prill (19) -GB, Robert Cleaver (39) -GB

This car will be entering the Offroads class, it is a factory spec yotata Culero Micro fitted with a racing engine and heavy Duty accessories.
Drivers: Keiichi Katsuomoto (42)-JP, Ayako Ayane (31)-JP

The Trucks class entry is this monsterous Yotata Land crusher, it may look stock but its completely rebuilt to take on anything the race can throw at it.
Drivers Norman Davidson (41)-US, Jesse Stutz(29)-US

[Alib]

Bramble Motors has a history in the Great Archanean Trek – and for the 25th running of the event, we are entering our most varied selection ever to take the win. First up is the truck class, the Wyvern B.12a

The definition of the outdoors, and a rock.

The Wyvern Boxer, Project 13/12a, to give its full name, is the 13th vehicle to come out of Dundee based Wyvern Automotive, Bramble’s Van manufacturer. This version has had its engine and suspension comprehensively upgraded, making the Wyvern a threat for the overall, let alone the class, win. This van will be driven by Erik Franks (DEU) and Alex Carrick (GBR).

Next, we’ll cast our minds back to 1966. We entered a heavily modified sports car into the 1966 edition of the Trek, the Bramble Flint. Fitted with a screaming but small V12, the Flint would cause several upsets but was let down by bad luck and mechanical complexity. Why does this matter in 1991?

Because of this, the Bramble Bolero Baja. Based on a small kit car we made to take the running gear of the original Mini in the early ‘70s, we’ve done to the Bolero what we did to the Flint. To remind us of this link to the past, the Bolero’s new engine is the 2-litre example found in some Flints, albeit heavily modified. Considering its basis in the Mini, driver Oliver Townsend (GBR) and navigator Gustav Kristofferson (SWE) are hoping for a bit of that rallying pedigree to rub off on this buggy.

Comparison between the standard Bolero and the Bolero Baja - the black square on the Baja’s bonnet is a secondary radiator in case of extreme heat.

The off-road class could have been taken by a dedicated off-roader, but we at Bramble decided to do things differently – and unveil the Bramble Basalt to the public for the first time.

Using the proven Bramble 5 engine – that can trace its motorsport pedigree all the way back to 1952 and the 6 cylinder in the Bramble Envoy – the Basalt is Bramble’s newest addition to the family market. This event should show that the Basalt can be modified for motorsport successfully and taking home the class win would be a dream for this only lightly modified car. Test driver Diego di Silva (PRT) and Francis Brodeur (MCO) are the team for this challenger.

From Lightly modified to the second of our Buggies – which is purpose-built for this event. Taking inspiration from the dune buggies of the 1960s, and after exhaustive testing on the local North Yorkshire Moors, the Bramble Jerboa is the fastest of our four entries, at least in a straight line.

Powered by a rear-mounted 4-cylinder turbocharged boxer engine, the Jerboa is not for the faint hearted – its best described as ‘twitchy’, and the locking differential is highly recommended to be kept on in all conditions. But for those who can harness its wild nature, such as Nigel Hughes (GBR) and navigator Sean Fallon (IRL), the Jerboa is an unbeatable vehicle. If the Bolero can’t take the class win, then the ‘desert rat’ in traditional Bramble livery will get the job done.

Bramble wishes all teams the best of luck and may the best team win!

 3 DAYS BEFORE THE TREK
 It is with great regret that the Bramble Basalt has had to pull out of the Trek due to paperwork
 problems during transit. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope the three other
 entries from Bramble and its subsidiaries are successful.

[GassTiresandOil]

Offroad submission:

Famed race car driver Matt Madison is also an avid car collector. So, when he saw this incredibly rare 1968 Armor Valence 2-door wagon sitting in a field in Indiana, he had to save it. Only problem was… the frame had rotted beyond repair. Matt decided to do what any proper Southern boy would do, and put the restored body on top of a Hevvy S-15 chassis and put giant off-road tires on it.
Matt is still a race car driver, though, so it was only a matter of time before he would test his new toy’s abilities.

[Aaron.W]

Tanaka Racing Factory Team

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Category: Off-road
Driver: David Bowman (American)
Co-driver: Haruto Nakamura

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In 1991, a mysterious car took part in the Great Archanean Trek. It has a Tanaka badge on it. However, it is not based on any Tanaka road car at the time. It is also mid-engined. No other Tanaka vehicle are mid-engned in the last decade other than the early 80s Tanaka Trinity made for Group B. The car was codenamed “TOP” which stands for (Tanaka Off-road Prototype).

The front of the Tanaka TOP

The 1995 Tanaka Trinity

As you can see, the headlight looks like the 1995 Tanaka Trinity. But of course in 1991, people would not have known that. It has many lights - lights on the roof, the headlight itself and rally lights on the bumper.

The rear of the Tanaka TOP

The rear of a Tanaka 350X

At the rear, Tanaka took whatever that’s left on the parts bin. They used the 1st generation Tanaka X-Series taillights of the 80s. The engine was a Inline 4 from other Tanaka models and then turbocharged.

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In conclusion:
The Tanaka TOP was a test mule of the upcoming 1995 Tanaka Trinity in 1991. Participating in this event would give them more research on the AWD system of the Trinity (The Tanaka TOP uses a manual locking differential not found on the Trinity) and also act as a reliability test for the chassis to see if it is strong enough.

[strop]

Hey, I thought I’d take a look at the course you’re using to test the entries as a benchmark, the East Coast Offroad Trail.

… it’s got bouldering sections that are impossible to cross for just about any and every body you care to count as a Buggy. It’s a challenge even for vehicles with wheel diameters of over 800mm and ride heights of 400mm.

Which is to say I’m looking at this big list of entries of people who are entering coupes and superminis and stuff and can absolutely guarantee that they have no chance in absolute hell of making it through that stage.

So maybe now would be a good time to clarify, must every vehicle be able to pass that stage? Or, what exactly do you mean by “perform something”? I forsee a hell of a lot of DNFs.

[Private_Miros]

@strop

Hey, I thought I’d take a look at the course you’re using to test the entries as a benchmark, the East Coast Offroad Trail.

I’m not
I indicated that as a worst case scenario. I will only disclose the tracks after submissions are closed. This is to simulate the unknown factor of what exactly to expect on a trek like that, but it’s a dakar style desert rally, so think undulating sand hills and/or rocky trails (but not rock climbing).

@strop

So maybe now would be a good time to clarify, must every vehicle be able to pass that stage? Or, what exactly do you mean by “perform something”? I forsee a hell of a lot of DNFs.

@Private_Miros

it should be able to perform something (if not fully complete, this will not be one of the stages)

I did clarify that from the onset. Perform something can be interpreted as don’t give a me low riding meme mobile and don’t worry. Actually no, that’s a lie, because then I would have written that. I meant don’t give me a low riding meme mobile, but worry, because a desert rally like that is all about endurance and tension.

@strop

… it’s got bouldering sections that are impossible to cross for just about any and every body you care to count as a Buggy. It’s a challenge even for vehicles with wheel diameters of over 800mm and ride heights of 400mm.

That’s untrue, I cleared it with a number of cars made by buggy specification for my own fun. Somewhat bigger tires, ground clearance and low end torque, and a diff lock of some kind optionally linked to a low range gearbox is all you need. You don’t even need all-wheel drive in every single case.

@strop

Which is to say I’m looking at this big list of entries of people who are entering coupes and superminis and stuff and can absolutely guarantee that they have no chance in absolute hell of making it through that stage.

Most would have a chance I think, if it mattered, though agreed, some not.

If an entry DNFs it will have other problems than that. Either fundamental design flaws to allow it to perform even the most limited of offroading (loose sand, higher incline surfaces), or in relation to, well, something communicated to the user after entry (that is equal for all). Those that entered know what I mean, and have not complained. But again there the main goal is to create tension, not to DNF.

(Note: a spanner final for DNF’d entries is foreseen.)

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Now, I said more than I want, but do so in the light of earlier communication in another thread. I do however swear to review nothing, but absolutely nothing, in Portuguese.

[LinkLuke]

I already know one vehicle in the spanner final

[CMT]

This here seems well-thought and handled with some professionalism. I trust the host and I am convinced that it will be a fair and exciting challenge.

[strop]

@Private_Miros

but it’s a dakar style desert rally, so think undulating sand hills and/or rocky trails (but not rock climbing).

ok fair enough. I at least understand your intention with regards to the premise. However what I also happen to know is that there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes skepticism about your methods, a lot of which you may be able to do something about if you can humour me.

See, while I’m familiar with track racing and some forms of rally I don’t profess to be that familiar with Paris-Dakar or the rigors of the endurance style rallies. Think of me as someone who would like to enter your challenge as it seems very interesting, and I also have a specific car with rich backstory that I’d like to enter. That is, if I think it can actually make a good showing. I’m not going all out to win here. I just don’t want to waste your time, and I especially don’t want to waste mine. So I don’t know whether to enter this car or not because having completed half a dozen test builds for the buggy class, the only car I was able to clear the latter sections with was this:

with tyre diameter of 800mm and a ride height of 445mm. Actually this didn’t do badly at all, clearing the entire course in well under 4 minutes. I don’t want to submit this car. If it were possible I’d like to submit something more like this:

I maxxed out the wheel diameter but I just don’t know if it’s going to be enough

But then I run into this problem:

yep that’s well stuck

Despite a ride height of over 1 foot and basically every off-road friendly option I can come up with.

Toiling away at some nebulous prerequisite I’m not sure I understand, I’m starting to get a bit weary. Maybe since I don’t do it much I just suck at rock-crawling, oh wait, that wasn’t actually relevant to the actual requirements now was it???

Which still leaves me with this question:

@Private_Miros

That’s untrue, I cleared it with a number of cars made by buggy specification for my own fun.

I know this is a lot to ask, but if you were able to provide video evidence of this specific claim I reckon you’d blow away all my doubts as to what this challenge is about as well as give me (and some others you may or may not consider) a huge confidence boost in your skills and therefore judging. Not that I actually doubt your skills, but I’ve only seen them with regards to road racing.

[Private_Miros]

Look, @strop, no need for the passive aggressiveness. I like to believe I’m an open and reasonable person that will answer all questions you have.

I know and appreciate you are a competitive person, who pushes himself to perform the best of his abilities, I admire your driving prowess around the track, you know this as well.

My challenges are meant in good fun, and always follow the same premise. I drive a time trail in Beam, giving each car an honest base line with the same driver and same ability (I train the courses in advance). This base time is modified with penalties based on reliability (and depending on the challenge things like fuel consumption and service costs). The penalties are determined on the basis of the Automation stats, the chances by a simple random 1 to 1000 function in Excel.

You have 660 reliability and roll 659 => penalty. 661 ==> no penalty.

This means there’s a relatively big factor of chance involved, and neither the objectively best car, nor the entry I consider the best subjectively, is guaranteed to win in any way. So in that sense, I understand if that’s a waste of time for you. That’s not a negative thing. I respect that a casual challenge, which isn’t really a challenge, but more of a role playing experience, is not for everyone. I will never blame you for thinking that’s a stupid premise.

As for the car, yes the buggy is more than sufficient (and preferred over that odd-looking off-roader for that matter).

I agree on the nebulous prerequisite, but it’s part of how I want this challenge to leave you expecting and somewhat nervous about what will happen to the team. It’s fully intentional in other words.

As for the rock climbing, 4-minutes is extremely fast - a strop achievement like we know it. But other cars are able to pass it a lot slower. And, yeah, sure, I can record a replay over the weekend, that’s not an issue. It’s not much of skill, just a matter of locking your differential and inching forward, picking your route over some of the toughest rocks (and, yes, there are 3 places that with one wrong move will bottom you out and strand you).

On a side note, if for a challenge like this there would be a track like that, and entries would bottom out, I’d simply give them a penalty and use the node grabber to continue, and role play in the report the event. I have no intention to DNF entries unless the random numbers tell me so or the design is just so bad that the car is useless to begin with.

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On a personal side note, but something that I do want to underline. Considering the sizable field in every of my competitions, you can calculate how much time I put into my competitions, knowing that I drive each car for up to an hour, next to processing it.

I gladly take feedback to heart, but there’s a choice between being extremely minituous in all input and output, and being lenient but fair. I chose the latter and having a bigger scope. But that doesn’t mean I don’t spend days on each challenge in my free time - which is mostly fun, but sometimes simply work.