American Fairgrounds- Demo Derby Cars (Submissions Open!)

As the weather gets colder, what better way to spend the day then watching cars fight to the death at the fairground!


(Photo Credit, Powell Tribune)

Demolition Derby Competition Rules

Naming Convention (Apply to Car Model And Engine Family) (Trim and Variant Name are free)
- Full-size | AFDDC-F-Username
- Midsize | AFDDC-M-Username
- Compact | AFDDC-C-Username

Vehicle Class:

  • Participants may choose from three car classes:

    • Full-size
    • Midsize
    • Compact
  • Allowed Body Types: sedans, coupes, wagons, hatchbacks (compact only).
    mod bodies are permitted.

  • Restricted Body Types: SUVs, trucks, vans, legacy bodies, and open-wheel bodies are not allowed.

Model and Trim Year:

  • Model Year: Must be 2006 or before
  • Variant Year: Must be 2006.

Wheelbase Requirements:

  • Each car class must meet the following wheelbase (distance between front and rear wheels) limits:
    • Full-size: 2.64 - 3.25 m (104 - 128 inches)
    • Midsize: 2.5 - 2.64 m (98 - 104 inches)
    • Compact: 2.3 - 2.5 m (90 - 98 inches)

Engine Restrictions:

  • Full-size: Must be a V8 with a maximum displacement of 6.5L (396 cubic inches). Must be rear-wheel drive (RWD).
  • Midsize: Must be a I4, Boxer 4, I5, I6, V6, Boxer 6, or possibly V8 with a maximum displacement of 4L (244 cubic inches). Can be front-wheel drive (FWD) or rear-wheel drive (RWD).
  • Compact: Must be an I3. I4, Boxer 4, I5, I6, V6, Boxer 6 or V6 with a maximum displacement of 2.5L (153 cubic inches). Can be front-wheel drive (FWD) or rear-wheel drive (RWD).
  • All engines must be naturally aspirated (no turbochargers).
  • Full sized cars must have their engine mounted in the front (no mid/rear engine cars).
  • Mid size cars are allowed to be mid engined (with permission) (they will also have a durability debuff)
  • Compacts are allowed to be mid or rear engined.
  • All cars must not have any Catalytic Converter, or Mufflers.
  • Race parts are not allowed.
  1. Safety Requirements:

    • Reinforcement structures encouraged (simulate with Advanced 10s safety).
  2. Fuel Type:

    • Standardized fuel: Regular Unleaded
  3. Budget and Production Limits:

    • No maximum budget, but price will be considered in judging.
    • Unrealistic prices from engineering time or material cost will result in a (bin). (e.g., spending 100,000 AMU on your car is discouraged.)
    • Tech Pool: Must be standard (all 5s).
    • Quality Sliders - No negative quality.
  4. Weight Limits:

    • Full-size:
      • Minimum: 1,500 kg (3,307 lbs)
      • Maximum: 2,200 kg (4,850 lbs)
    • Midsize:
      • Minimum: 1,100 kg (2,425 lbs)
      • Maximum: 1,500 kg (3,307 lbs)
    • Compact:
      • Minimum: 700 kg (1,543 lbs)
      • Maximum: 1,200 kg (2,645 lbs)
  5. Aesthetic Modifications:

    • Complete Styling freedom is given, but realistic cars and classic derby aesthetics, are encouraged (e.g., bumper reinforcement, simple liveries, rollover bar, ect.).
      -Advanced Trim Settings are allowed
Judging Criteria

Sorted By most important to least
Design and Aesthetics:

  • Visual Appeal: Creativity and uniqueness of paint jobs and overall design.
  • Theme Consistency: How well the design aligns with a demolition derby aesthetic.

This competition is mostly aesthetics based, however these criteria will be judged too.

Reliability: This determines the car’s ability to function without mechanical failures during the event.

Cost Efficiency:

  • Budget Consideration: Balance performance and durability with overall cost. (cheaper is usually better here)
  • Realism of Pricing: Avoid unrealistic costs in engineering time (approximate cost) and material costs.
Important Dates

Rules Deliberation 10-26-2024 - 11-1-2024
Submission Deadline 11-22-2024

Submissions must be DMed as a .car file
Submitters are required to post an ad giving at least a name for your car, its class, and a picture.
Multiple submissions are allowed, having one entry per class (you can submit one of each class).

Example Submission

(Fullsize) 1968 SurCharge Wagon “Sargent Smash”

(Insert other details and pictures (not required))

Inspiration

Full size


Mid size


17300422314306433583766846164591

Compact
17300413657521375243051578119993
17300415846787561991119288530407

6 Likes

Please let me know if there are any changes that you would like to request!

Usually for names, it’s the car model not trim that you change

Also I’d change the compact to be from 1.8-2.2 and midsize to 2.3-2.64

1 Like

I meant model, fixing that now!

The complete ban on AWD and 4x4 isn’t just to keep costs down, it’s also to reflect the fact that I’ve found AWD in particular to potentially be overpowered regarding grip, even on tarmac. However, the road car on which the race car is based will not be required to have its catalytic converters and mufflers removed.

Is there any reason we cant do mid engine? I remember seeing fieros and mr2s back in the day getting wrecked in creampuff events right along side beetles and metros lol
(Youre the boss, just curious)

2 Likes

I might open mid and rear engine up for compacts, its banned on the others to prevent people from entering supercars and other cars that do not fit the competition.

1 Like

Could have a rule that mid engine cars are limited to four cylinders

TBH, demolition derby is a rather “american” motorsport so the size classifications seems sane.

The thing I question is maybe the need for full size cars to be RWD. Now I don’t know about the IRL rules, it’s just that I feel that it would rule out quite a lot of cars.

3 Likes

In almost all of the full size rulesets I’ve found RWD is required, however some dont explicitly ban FWD. However all rulesets I’ve found ban AWD setups. Might change ruling on FWD full size cars, but not sure yet.

2 Likes

After a bit of thinking, I’m going to keep full size cars as RWD only. Depending on the amount of people interested, I might change it so there is only one or two classes, which I will put up to a vote. (only if not enough people are interested.

Also I forgot to mention, multiple submissions are allowed, having one entry per class.

2 Likes

Should we submit the original, unmodified road car, alongside the modified one? Or should only the modded one be submitted?

1 Like

I’m assuming we only need to submit the race car, and not the road car on which it wad based.

1 Like

Just the modified one is needed.

Although feel free to use the original if you want to make lore of how the car became a derby car!

Throwing my hat into the ring first I suppose.

From Dealer

To Derelict

To Derby.

The 1975 Nautilus Lamna was not a good car, by any sane metric. The 3L I6 was woefully anemic for the surprisingly heavy chassis given its scale, the design for the brakes and suspension could best be summed up as “Dangerously negligent”, and the rusting issues led many of them to the scrapyard in under a decade.

But the people who bought this car didn’t know that - And they didn’t care. It became a family heirloom of sorts. Unbearable to drive, woefully inefficient and all around awful. But they loved it.

However following a crash in 2004, in which the front end was too banged up to be considered road legal, and too costly to replace, the - now 3rd generation - of the family considered scrapping her for good, but nobody could bear to let the poor girl go.

Now revived as ‘The Unbearable’, this Lamna has been given new life as a derby monster - What better way to breath fresh life into a car which - frankly - doesn’t deserve it? And if she ends up totalled one day, well. It’ll have been a good run.

hope this is good haha
10 Likes

Some people are already working on their derby cars. so, I may end rule Deliberation early. If anyone has any more changes (including judging) to suggest let me know soon.

This seems fantastic to me may do something like the massive fwd cadillacs of the 70s honestly im thinking about entering each of the classes and you mentioned how demo derby is an American sport which for the most part it is but theres also banger racing which isnt very far off from a derby they just add racing to it

wait demo derby or banger racing? @theduck1347 s ad makes it seem like banger racing haha

Fromwhat i understand this is demolition derby. I was merely commenting on the similarities between the two being how someone said something to the effect th demo derby is an American sport where as (from my knowledge) banger racing is mainly over seas in European countries but both involve beating to pieces old cars

2 Likes