Does this include binned cars too?
Yes.
4 Likes
Affordable 1970's Sports Car Challenge
Part 2: U.S. Federalization Boogaloo
The year is now 1975. In the short time since our first comparison test, the automotive industry in the US has suffered blow after blow; rising insurance premiums, the switch to unleaded, skyrocketing oil prices, mandatory 5 mph impact absorbing bumpers, and new emissions and fuel economy standards have together greatly reshaped the automotive landscape.
But youâre not gonna let all this stop you from getting a return on investment on your sports car, will it? The United States is the largest consumer of sports cars still, despite everything. Surely a little re-engineering is worth it.
Rules are the same as part 1, with the following exceptions:
- Clone your first entry and set trim and variant to 1975. Cars and engines must be from the same model and family as the original entrant, but you are allowed to re-tune to your heartâs desire.
- 91 unleaded mandatory
- 2900 maximum engine variant emissions
- 50 maximum loudness
- 7 minimum comfort
- advanced 70s safety mandatory, no negative quality on safety
- US compliant 5 MPH impact bumpers and headlights required: see section below.
How to make your bumpers and headlights US compliant:
This fixture is a 20cm cube. Each little grey square on itâs face is 2cm. place it on the front of your car, orient to horizon, then switch to 3D. Lower the hoists, then scooch it to touch the ground, then shift-drag to stack them atop one another to measure height.
US impact bumpers were mandated to cover 4 inches (10.16cm) of height, from 16" (40.64cm) from the road surface to 20" (50.8cm) from the road surface. You will have a 4 inch tall bumper, with its lower edge 40.64 cm from the ground, and itâs upper edge 50.8cm from the ground.
The bumpers should also protrude from the carâs body. Iâm not going to mandate a specific amount it needs to protrude from the body, but look at the example vehicles for reference. These early impact bumpers stuck out FAR.
Bumper rules apply to both front and rear.
Headlights must be of the sealed beam variety and may not have anything in front of them, even clear glass. You have 4 layout options available:
- Two round 7" (17.78cm) diameter headlights
- Four round 5.75" (14.6cm) diameter headlights
- Two rectangular 6"x7" (15.24cm tall, 17.78cm wide) headlights
- Four rectangular 4"x6" (10.16cm tall, 15.24cm wide) headlights
The lowest headlightâs centerline must sit no lower than 22" (55.88cm) from the road surface. If your car has pop-up or hidden headlights, please submit with the headlights up and/or exposed.
Corner markers are mandatory too. Not going to measure these too, just slap some on there please, orange for front corners and red for rear corners.
Using these 3D blocks as measuremeant tools, I can confirm the vehicle below meets US federal regulations for bumpers and headlights, both placement and size.
Measurements are difficult to get exact, so thereâs going to be a bit of leeway here. but please get close. Large discrepancies will be binned.
Obviously, some bodies will have a much easier time hitting these requirements than others. This was the case for sports car manufacturers IRL as well; famously, MG had to raise the entire ride height of the MGB to meet these regulations. You may need to get creative.
If your car was originally RHD, you donât have to switch it to LHD. Interiorâs are enough of a pain as it is, no need to swap everything around.
Priorities
Priorities are the same as Part 1, with some changes:
- Fuel Economy is now a top-level priority.
- Acceleration figures will now be judged: Not only will acceleration figures now be a priority, also the gap in performance to your 1970 model will be judged as well. Acceleration figures of the new car will be compared to itâs 1970 counterpart; the new cars will likely be slower due to the emissions, octane, and safety requirements, so the smaller the gap in performance, the better. If you manage to make it faster, good for you, but donât forget about your fuel economy.
- Since advanced safety is now mandated, it is no longer a judging criteria
Submission open now, and will close July 7th, 0200 UTC.
I have more notes on the cars than were included in the published reviews. Please feel free to reply to the existing DM thread to ask for additional notes if youâd like them. Please submit your new .car in the same DM as your original submission. Please do not change the Model name or Family name.
14 Likes
This is cool, even though my carâs fascia was exactly not made for this. Letâs gooooo
Hey just making sure, is 91 unleaded the same as Regular 87 AKI?
Iin 1975 there are only 4 fuel types available, donât pick the leaded ones or Low Quality. Regular 91 RON/86.4 AKI
1 Like
Actually, Iâll be remiss if I donât ask:
I was already sort of going for a â70âs crash bumperâ sort-of thing when I made this abomination.
Now, I know a bumper supported on gas shocks or springs is a highly unlikely alternative to a crumply plastic bumper, but provided it meets the height and width requirements, does it stand a chance at being legal?
if it meets the bumper requirements stated Iâll accept it. But do remember that style is still a top level priority. Reference the example vehicles, as well as other mid-70s US market vehicles, to get a good mental image of the sort of bumpers youâre aiming for.
You donât like the way it looks at all? Iâll keep it in mind and decide which is worse for this body. 
No catalytic converter ?
To get under the emissions requirement youâll probably need one
Just to make sure Iâm on the same page as everyone elseâŚ
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Are we able to change engine capacity (within the variant system) and/or fuel delivery system?
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Can we use positive aero this time around, or is it still banned?
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Can we change the gearbox type and gear no.?
These are all I can think of for the moment. I must say that this twist second round is a surprisingly fun concept and Iâm really enjoying the challenge, hahaha!
2 Likes
It is not highly unlikely at all, shock mounted metal bumpers was much more common back in the 5 mph era than plastic bumpers ever were.
2 Likes
Wait, do submissions close as early as July 7? (the description says June 7, but I think thatâs flawed.
Thatâs a week to basically modify an already existing car⌠I donât know if I agree that it is to close too early.
Regarding many of the rules being the same is it the same engineering time limits as before? So if you had a car that was already right on the limit and a catalyst or the advanced safety takes us over the 95 or 85 then something else would need to be reduced?
I was asking because if thatâs the case, I wonât have access to Automation during that period, and therefore wonât be able to participate in the second round.
(Also, I wanted to alert the host of the error in their post)
1 Like
Collaboration with @z2bbgr
FATI 69 1.3 SMS Turbo Technics
In the time of pure chaos, only stututu can heal you.
In 1975, the tuning house Smorgas Motorsport & Service, maker of the FATI 69 1.3 SMS, decided to have a collaboration with Turbo Technics to produce one of the earliest example of Turbocharged pocket rocket.
Still a 1.3 with side draft carburettor. Now it has a Tiny Turbo Tech turbo producing 0.7bar of boost, which means it has extra 30 horsepower from the original 69 SMS. To keep it on the road, it got limited slip differential, wider tyres and uprated brakes. It also benefit from added 5th gear, standard on all FATI 69 from 1973. The result is 0-100km/h in 6.5 seconds and top speed is 140mph.
The federalized version for the USDM of course had to be kinda shit. The engine got lowered compression with cheaper internals, restrictive catalytic converter, leaner burning tune and also nearly extra 100kg from safety equipment and better interior accommodation required for the market. It also lacks limited slip differential and uprated brakes of the European model. Still, with 90 horsepower on tap, it does 0-60mph in 9.5 seconds and the top speed is 125mph. Cost? $13,600.
In the end it wasnât really a success. No matter if it was European or USDM, it wasnât intercooled, the boost control was intermittent, and the conversion was done haphazardly thus servicing was a chore. But itâs an interesting footnote in history and when it works well, boy, does it fly.
7 Likes
Yes, but fuel injection is still not allowed.
Unless otherwise stated, all rules from the first round remain.
Yes
Yes
Yes, July 7. June 7th already happened this year and I donât plan on the submission winsome being open for 11 months either.
3 Likes
Since this is second part takes 5 years later than the first, could we have like 5 to 10 more ET for engine and trim? It takes time to completely rework the fuel system and do the appropriate safety testing for the new regulations. Also sandbox mode also treats ET as if you were building the car from scratch each time, so a slightly higher ET limit would be a good way to show the 60 months that have passed between the first round and this one. Weâre not building a whole new car, so why treat things like weâre redesigning our entries from the ground up?