Lonestar Labs’ “Hell’s Angel” proposal. Mean 3.2 Boxer-6 that is so busted it lopes and burbles at the lower end. Drivable as hell, fast as hell, sexy as hell, kind of a T-top lmao. No time to format today sorry
Rebirth Restorations’ Porsche 356A M1N3 edition
Our team is proud to present this innovative study of a complete restomod for a Porsche 356A. The main goal was to make a perfect blend of a track-day ready sportscar and a daily drivable tourer. We revamped the original B4, adding a pair of turbos and direct injection, as well as modified the original engine placement. Now the car is a much more stable driving platform.
The roof has been chopped off, and replaced with a detachable soft top. The chassis has been galvanised, and springs and sway bars have been replaced. On the interior, we added modern features to keep both driver and passenger comfortable and entertained, while enjoying a perfect drive down the backroads.
Although this car is specifically designed for our customer Fred, it is available to anyone who has a Porsche 356 ready to be restomodded!
The WDesign P35 is the ultimate expression of classic Porsche design, merged with a delightfully responsive tune.
Aaand with that, submissions are closed. Fred is currently in the process of reviewing all 10 entries while sipping some espresso and listening to 80s disco. He hopes to have some hair left on his head by the time he makes a decision… Stay tuned!
Your submission is by far the most extreme out of all those I’ve seen this round. Did you use the “set the base body material to transparent and stick lots of 3D fixtures in the right places” trick, as you did with the Takahashi Wolf some time ago? It certainly looks like you did.
3d is love, 3d is life
FRED CREEPING THE CAFE
PRELUDE
Bayside Missile
@WangMaster_420
Design: “What have we here?” - thought Fred as he opened the first email. The screen lit up with a baby-blue and white rendition of his 356. Fred’s immediate reactions was one of mild shock. The car is certainly eye-catching and will turn heads. But the light blue and bi-colour implementation doesn’t really fit with the image Fred is going for. As for the overall design of the car, it is still easily recognizable as a 356 from the front and side. Some minor details include the swapped headlights, the modern blinkers, and the modern mirrors that kinda feel out of place. The rims are classic race rims, and objectively do suit this car, but is also not really something Fred desires. Moving to the rear of the car Fred is greeted by a completely new light bar that at first glance does suit the car, but the longer Fred looks at it the more he thinks that it doesn’t quite work. The separate reversing light strip feels a bit like an afterthought. The large centre exhaust is interesting though and really emphasizes the V10’s beastly nature. Moving to the inside, the dash is nicely detailed with interesting features. Fred is a little put-off by the disparate seats though; that is certainly an unusual move.
Driving character: The car promises to have decent drivability aided by the 8-spd adv. auto gearbox and geared LSD, well-controlled wheel spin, electronic steering aid and ESC. Drivability is held back, however, by an uneven torque curve and a suspension tune that is right on the edge. The predicted sportiness raises some eyebrows though. Despite this car being the fastest and having the most raw power of the bunch, its sportiness is actually the lowest. So overall it looks like a relatively easy to drive car that, while fast, still feels a little pedestrian.
Equipment: In terms of stand-out upgrades and creature comforts, Fred is a little underwhelmed. Sure, the V10 engine adds a lot of prestige and bragging rights to the car, but there is nothing more that really stands out. Anyone looking in through the window will ‘just’ see a premium interior. Nothing too fancy there. The premium infotainment is nice, but slightly outdated perhaps. The LED strips on the inside sure add a custom vibe though. The ESC is certainly nice to have too, but Fred wonders if the car might’ve been even better with variable steering assist, even it it was at the cost of only having TC+ABS.
Performance: Fred put on his headphones to listen to the audio sample of the car. The car will be fairly quiet and well muffled. A bit of a shame, really, because the V10 has a very nice rumble down low, and a beautiful sporty scream up high. The 9100 RPM redline is nothing to balk at, neither are the >400 horses pushing this car down the road. The raw power of this car is certainly a highlight that the other cars can’t match. The 3.8s 0-100 acceleration promises to be face-melting too, and the 324 km/h gear limited top speed is also second to none. Despite these stats, the car is not the most sporty feeling in the bunch. Perhaps because cornering performance is not the best, or because of the brake fade of the solid disks. Looks like it’s very much tuned to be on the edge though. Despite the lack of cornering performance, but helped by its raw power and straight-line speed, this is a pretty fast car on track (2:31 ATT time in Fred’s hands). I guess Fred will just have to be slow through the corners, point the car down each straight, and simply gun it and hope for the best. Fred feels a bit like he has a drag-strip muscle car here. The car certainly lives up to its name “Bayside Missile.”
Price: Fred expects most proposals to come in at his price limit or just under. The Bayside Missile is certainly living up to expectations, having an upfront cost of $49800. Looking at the long-term costs, unfortunately the Bayside Missile does not look too favourable. Service costs are projected at $1569, which is just about middle-range in this line-up. However fuel costs are going to be pretty high with the projected 12.2 l/100 km - tied for the worst fuel consumption in the line-up. The mileage is pretty easily explained by the rich fuel mixture and aggressive tune of the V10. The one saving grace is that this car is relatively reliable, so hopefully repairs wouldn’t be too bad.
Questionable stuff and other notes: Fred wonders about some engineering choices on this car. For example, the AlSi block with a Cast head… it’s not something he’s heard of before. It sounds like this might result in some reliability issues down the road. Another thing giving Fred some pause is the extreme tire stagger: 245 rears and 175 fronts. Speaking of tires, Fred feels like the first thing he’ll have to do is switch the medium compound tires to sports tires. That would certainly better suit this particular vehicle. Lastly, vented discs would certainly have helped this car in the performance department.
Fred’s quick notes: Mind-numbingly fast in a straight line, insane power. Probably too much to handle for me, really. The V10 is cool, I give that much. But would the ladies want to get into this car? The interior is well made, but also kind of… odd. I just don’t know about this one.
Porsche 356a T2 Custom
@noid5454
Design: “All-right, lets see the second proposal” - murmured Fred, and ordered a second espresso. Up popped the render of a nice rich dark grey 356. This is much more to Fred’s liking: it looks more luxurious and prestigious. The styling of this car follows a similar script as the Bayside Missile - a relatively conservative front end, but a more extensively modified rear. This particular car added a nice extruding second headlight that suits the car well. The bumper has been modified slightly and a lip was added, overall adding a hint of sportiness to the car. The side profile features an enlarged vent, otherwise it isn’t changed much. The rear is changed significantly and resembles a much more modern Porsche design. Fred is especially enamoured with the large cut-out of the rear and the peashooter exhausts. Nice touch there. The interior is very nicely detailed indeed. Classic and modern features a melded together effectively with a screen integrated into a wooded and chromed dash.
Driving character: This car also has an adv. auto gearbox and geared LSD, but only six gears here. The car also has a variable hydraulic steering assist and ABS. Despite these aids, Fred is not too happy with the sub-average drivability. Wondering what could cause this, Fred investigated a bit more, and found it to be a plenitude of factors: the MacPherson front suspension, the lower-tier driver aids, racey brake pads, torque curve… all probably add a little bit to this. And several factors do add up. On the other hand, the car does feel a little bit sporty aided by the active sports springs, which is appreciated by Fred.
Equipment: This car also has a premium interior and premium infotainment - nice, but nothing exceptional and the infotainment perhaps a little outdated. The V6 engine swap adds a little interest to the car, but since it’s just a ‘regular’ V6, it doesn’t add much prestige in Fred’s eyes. What does stand out to Fred is the race diffuser - he can certainly show that off at the track! He can already see his gearhead friends examining it. Overall, the car isn’t overly comfortable or prestigious, just about in the middle of the pack on both accounts.
Performance: Fred donned his headphones again to listen to the provided audio sample. The car is fairly well baffled, which in this case is probably a good thing. The V6 sounds… just like a run of the mill V6. Not bad, but not special either like the V10 of the previous car. The engine has a fairly sporty tune and a relatively high red line at 8300 RPM. With 287 HP this car has more than enough power to propel it down the road with confidence. Acceleration 0-100 km/h under 5 sec is very good too. The suspension is set up well and the added aero bits keep the car planted under speed. Yes, cornering promises to be pretty good with this car. Fred’s ATT time is 2:36, roughly in the middle of the pack.
Price: This car is also pushing the overall budget with its upfront cost of $48900 - but in this field small differences exist and this is one of the cheaper proposals. It all falls apart though when Fred looks at the service costs: $2382! Fred almost spit out his coffee when he saw that figure. Fuel milage is also on the poor end of the spectrum at 11.8 l/100 km. Here too, it is explained by the rich fuel mixture and aggressive tuning. To make matters worse, reliability also seems to be a bit of an issue with this car.
Questionable stuff and other notes: The car is gear-limited to 300.8 km/h. Fred thinks this is an exceptionally big oversight, knowing that for a car going over 300 km/h he’ll have to buy exceptionally expensive tires. As such, both service costs and upfront costs are quite inflated for essentially no gain… having the car limited at/under 300 km/h would’ve saved a LOT of money here ($2382 vs $1608 SVC, and $1200 cheaper purchase price too). The second thing Fred took a good hard look at is the rear solid disc brakes; vented should surely be the standard for such a sporty car. Lastly, some of the design choices feel a bit uneven across the board. Downgrading to MacPhersons on the front, but upgrading to active sport springs is just one example here.
Fred’s quick notes: Fast too, sporty but hard to drive, unfortunately. Doesn’t seem very comfortable for a cruiser. Looks good though! Too bad it’s very expensive to maintain - I don’t think I can afford this one in the long run.
Sparky T Customs Porsche 356
@Maverick74
Design: Next Fred opened Sparky T Customs’ proposal. A nice burgundy rendition of the 356 greeted him on the screen. “Yes, this colour is fantastic!” - Fred smiled. Somehow this colour has always seemed luxurious yet sporty to him. From the render this car seemed to have some more substantial changes. On the front the bumper has been removed, the venting re-designed, and all lights moved into a single fixture. All this results in a rather clean and minimalist design that Fred doesn’t dislike at all. This design is carried through the side of the car with subtle fender flairs and an unobtrusive door handle. The rear kind of breaks the mould with a brash light strip and lettering, a large-ish diffuser and exhausts, and venting on the engine cover. In itself not a bad look, but it is in striking contrast to the rest of the car. Fred is also slightly worried that no reversing lights are seen on the car, but that could perhaps just be a rendering issue. The interior is also nicely detailed here and seems rather luxurious. It does seem to have a bit of an identity crisis; Fred can’t decide if it’s more 70s, 80s, or 90s design language, but seems to be a bit of all of the above. Nevertheless it seems to be very well made.
Driving character: This car has a very smooth power delivery through a 6-spd adv. auto gearbox and electric LSD. Wheelspin is nowhere to be found, ESC and electric variable steering help the driver under all driving conditions, and the suspension and aero help keep the car planted at all speeds. Yes, this car promises to be a dream to drive - second to one only in fact. Fred was a little worried that all these aids might take away from spirited driving, but there is still enough aggression left in the car to have about average sportiness in this field, which is not too bad at all! The sportiness can also be attributed to the active sport springs and the louder-than-average sporty exhaust. Impressed with what Fred saw, he moved quickly to the next category.
Equipment: This car sets itself apart from the previous two in this department. It is decked out with a luxury interior, luxury infotainment system (perhaps outdated a little, but it is absolutely top of the line), sport undertray, cooling flaps, electric variable power steering, ESC, active springs… looks like this car brought it! Overall the car has decent comfort, but slightly below average prestige - probably dragged down by the original engine block… only so many bragging rights with a small B4 with low power. Which brings Fred to…
Performance: 150 HP. Yes, after seeing the first two proposals with 400+ and nearly 300 HP, 150 seemed rather paltry to Fred. “Is that… is that going to be enough? Is that going to impress anyone?” - he thought. Taking another sip of his espresso, he continued to examine the stats. Ok, 150 HP is on the low end of the proposals, but there is some good here too. The car is rather light, Fred notes. This allows a pretty decent 0-100 km/h time of 7.4 seconds. The sound of the engine is quite nice. Fred always loved the sound of the B4, and this one sounds especially nice in the higher rev range. Speaking of which, even though the car’s red line is at 7600 RPM, it could easily make it to 10k. Very impressive indeed. On the four corners the tires provide ample grip, and the vented discs front and rear have more than adequate stopping power and zero fade under even the most spirited driving conditions. Fred’s time on the track is 2:33 - only two seconds slower than with the 400 HP monster, and 3 seconds faster than with the 287 HP car. It just goes to show you, raw speed is not everything. Fred thinks that he can actually handle this car well and use it to its full potential, unlike the other two. And as one of Fred’s buddies at the track always says: “It’s more fun to feel like you push the equipment, rather than the equipment pushing you, right?”
Price: Upfront, this car would cost fred $49300. Service costs are mediocre at $1759. But when Fred flipped the page, his jaw dropped. Sparky T’s promises a fuel economy of 4.7 l/100 km! Fred had to reload the page twice, just to make sure he saw that right. That is nearly three times the fuel economy of the Bayside Missile! With a pretty decent reliability to boot, Fred already feels confident that he could put a lot of cheap miles on this car. Very impressive indeed.
Questionable stuff and other notes: Fred wonders at all of the forged internals of the engine. Since the car is nowhere near the theoretical RPM limit, it does seem like a bit of a waste that maybe could’ve been better spent on a 4v head. But this is really just a minor musing on Fred’s part. Another point Fred makes a mental note of is the relatively low safety figure of this car. Sure, it won’t go as fast as the previous two, but still…
Fred’s quick notes: Nice colour and decent looks. Kinda weak in the power department, but very well equipped and super easy to drive. I’ll be able to push this one, and the ladies could travel in comfort with me. Dirt cheap to run. I’ll take a second look at this one later.
Porsche Carrera Ol'Sport
@Edsel
Design: “Well hello there!” - Fred said to the lady who was just about to sit at the table next to him. She promptly halted her downward motion, gave Fred a frown and moved to a table further away. Disappointed, Fred decided to forge on with the car reviews. Next up is the proposal by the Generic Tuning Company. This is the first company on this list that Fred had previous contact with, so he knew a little about the car already. He noted that they stuck with the red/black colour scheme, which Fred appreciates. It is more of a sporty red, and with the black accents it exudes a true sportscar aura. Other than that, Fred notes that most of the exterior has remained true to the original. The lights have been changed to more modern fixtures, but occupy the same space - and the rest is just about stock. This is OK, Fred does like the original look of the car. Perhaps the magic is on the inside… but wait, there is no render of the interior. Sure, it promises to be rather plush, but Fred really would’ve loved to see at least a rudimentary render of what the cockpit would look like.
Driving character: This car also uses the original engine, but it adds a turbo - and attendant turbo lag, which reduces drivability a little. Despite that, the car is still extremely easy to drive, not far behind Sparky T’s proposal. Why is that? Well, the drivetrain explains a lot: the car features a 7-spd DCT and electric LSD. “And WHAT?!” - Fred exclaimed just slightly too loudly prompting a grimace from the aforementioned lady. This car moved the engine up front and is FWD? That is certainly a… change from the original. That would explain the perfectly linear steering behaviour even with square tires. Driving aids include electric variable steering and ESC+LC. In this case, however, the active comfort springs take away a little from the sportiness of the car, and so does the lack of aero and suspension set-up.
Equipment: This is the first car Fred sees on the list with a DCT, and that certainly appeals to him. A flow-optimized undertray is pretty nice too. Fred is especially enamoured by the proposed luxury interior with luxury HUD. This set-up is practically top of the line and would be his pride and joy - not to mention extremely comfortable. Fred makes another note of the great driving aids on this car, also top of the line. Fred makes a special note of the safety equipment on this proposal. It is absolutely second to none. If something goes wrong, Fred and his passenger will no doubt live to tell the tale. Overall, the car is very comfortable, almost top-notch in fact. But despite all the luxurious equipment, the car falls short in the prestige department. The original engine and lackluster performance are nothing to brag about, and just lets the car down a little.
Performance: Fred puts on his headphones to give the audio file a listen. At first he’s a little confused why he can’t hear anything, but then realizes that he has to turn up the volume. This car is mouse quiet - by far the quietest of the proposals. “Does it even have an engine in there?” - he thinks. Nevertheless, the sounds that Fred hears are quite pleasing, and become a little livelier in the more the car revs. He’s just a little sad that the turbo spool is mixed into the exhaust notes. Moving on, despite the turbo, this car produces even less power than Sparky T’s at 146 HP. Added that this car is significantly heavier than Sparky T’s, its acceleration suffers (7.9 s 0-100 km/h). The car has rather large and overpowered carbon ceramic brakes that show zero fade, which is nice to see. Fred’s time on the track is 2:48. This is just enough to not be called an official slow-poke, but is still comparatively slow to most of the other proposals. In this case, Fred thinks it’s a combination of lack of cornering grip and the lack of raw power. Yes, he can push the car quite hard, but in this case the car doesn’t feel like it wants to be pushed at all.
Price: This car maxes out Fred’s budget of $50,000, so Fred hopes that he can make some of that money back in the long run. The car’s service costs are just about average i n this field at $1652, and fuel economy is slightly below average at 9.0 l/100 km. Freds hopes wither slightly as he realizes that this car is probably just too expensive for what it promises to be.
Questionable stuff and other notes: Fred notes the engine placement up front - that is fine, but it’s just the original engine. Seems like a rather large expense to move the original engine. Why not also change the whole block at the same time? Fred also notes the rather skinny 185/70R15 tires all-around. “Those are the same tires my ex wife’s Nissan Versa had…” - he shook his head at the memory. Another note as he flipped through the stats: “Carbon ceramic brakes all-round? With 6 pistons up front? But why? This certainly adds a ton to service costs - is it really worth it?”
Fred’s quick notes: Wish I could’ve seen an interior on this one. Exterior is quite nice, and the car promises to be well equipped. However, some engineering choices just make it too expensive without good justification. Overall, I want to be interested, but am sadly forced to pass and move on.
Porsche 356A - Tuned by FST
@Lanson
Design: The afternoon was wearing on and the waiter seemed to hint at Fred that he should either order another drink, perhaps even dinner, or get out. So Fred ordered a margarita and a bowl of mixed nuts before opening the next proposal. FST’s 356 immediately jumped off the page with the deep blue-gray paintjob, black rims, and whitewall tires. Of course, Fred had seen this render before during his communications with FST, so it wasn’t a complete surprise. Overall, Fred decided that he does really like the looks of this car. The “356-ness” was more deeply hidden in this mod, but still there. The front is quite modern looking with the new integrated light fixture, remodelled vents, bumper, and lip. The new badge also serves the purpose to bring the fascia into the 21st century. Moving to the side, there is now a larger intake vent behind the doors, enlarged fender flares, new mirrors and door knobs. The most striking feature of the side profile is the large rear wing sticking out of the car’s butt - very reminiscent of modern Porsches. Yes, moving around the back, Fred can hardly recognize the 356 anymore, and only sees a modern Porsche with that wing and light bar. It’s not a bad look though; he likes it quite a bit. The oversized tailpipes add a sporty flair to the butt. Moving to the inside, Fred is quite impressed with what he sees. The dash is reminiscent of a more rugged sports car, but it promises to be absolutely top quality hand-made luxury. The center mounted speedo is an interesting touch as well. Overall, quite a nice design in Fred’s eyes.
Driving character: After delving deeper into the stats of the car, Fred’s initial enthusiasm faded a bit. The car seems pretty hard to drive - second worst of the bunch actually. Fred decided to delve deeper into what the issue might be. He didn’t have to look too far to spot the first issue: the turbo has a rather uneven and large kick, and only fully spools at 3700 RPM! No wonder this beast is so hard to drive. The 7-spd DCT and geared LSD is fine for this car, but the touchy race brake pads don’t help drivability either, but the electric variable power steering and ESC do. Overall, the car is a little oversteery, but not overly so. In the end, it’s probably just another case “many little things add up” and the result is subpar drivability. On the flipside, sportiness of this car is decent. Fred notes that the car would be a hoot to drive - probably - if only he had learned how to properly drift without spinning out.
Equipment: Fred makes a note of the DCT, which he likes on this car as much as on the others that have it. The sports undertray also gets a positive note. The electric variable steering and ESC properly complement each other. Fred is particularly pleased with the proposed extra-quality hand-made interior! He certainly had not expected such luxury in his little car. The luxury CD player is an interesting touch, but Fred wonders which century we actually live in? Speaking of which. Fred turned the page to the proposed safety features of the car. Lap belts. He refreshed the page to see if there was something else there, but that seemed to be it! This, ummm, concerned Fred quite a bit. Looking at the overall picture, the hand-made interior and decent sportiness allow the car to have decent prestige and bragging rights, but despite the hand-made interior comfort is unfortunately sub-par. Comfort further suffers due to the fitted standard springs and more sports-oriented suspension tune and racy brakes.
Performance: Fred put on his headphones one more time to listen to the car’s sounds. This car promises to be fairly well baffled with a quite a bit of turbo whine up high in the rev range. But lower down it is the beloved B4 rumble that Fred likes so much. With the fitted turbo this car delivers decent power once it “gets there”: 223 horses. Redline is rather race-y high at 9300 RPM befitting a sports-oriented car. The other stats are equally impressive: 4.5s 0-100 km/h and over 1.1g in both slow and fast corners. Vented disks with race pads on all four corners provide ample stopping power without an ounce of face in any driving condition. No, Fred shouldn’t have too much to complain about the capabilities of this car - if only he could make use of them! He realizes that he’s just not a good enough driver to make full use of this car as it is harder to handle, and his ATT track time is only 2:38. He’d just be too scared to push it harder.
Price: At a final price of $47100, the proposal by FST is tied for the cheapest offering here, and that plays very favourably for Fred. Service costs are $1712 - not the cheapest by any means, but also not outrageous. Fuel economy is not that good however at 12.2 l/100 km. Yeah, given the equipment, this is quite a bit of car for the price. Reliability is below average however, so repairs might be necessary just a little too often. Despite the cheap upfront cost, Fred feels like he has to be cautious about the FST proposal when it comes to costs.
Questionable stuff and other notes: Fred feels a little terrified to drive this car… The crazy turbo spool is scary. That it has standard 60s safety leaves Fred a little speechless! There aren’t even three-point seat belts in this car… Lastly, two cheap choices stand out to Fred: the CD player and the standard springs. They just seem like outdated cheap options that if upgraded could easily improve the car tremendously. Given that there is budget left on the table, it would’ve probably been a good idea.
Fred’s quick notes: Looks pretty cool, would love to be seen in this one. Some questionable choices that are hard to justify. Terrifying and uncomfortable to drive. It breaks my heart, because I like the looks, but I am not willing to put my life on the line each time I drive a car.
Fred realized it was now really time to give up his table and head home. For the best probably anyway, as his head was starting to spin from all of the statistics and whatnot he had to keep track of. He will have another five cars to evaluate, but first a well-deserved rest. Till next time!
This was a fun one!
I’ve totally screwed up my gearing set up and completely missed that.
Would you care to elaborate on the suspension setup comments?
When trying to tune the suspension, I found that in my case, MacPherson struts fared a bit better than double wishbone when it came to oversteer and such. (I don’t rule out me being bad at suspension tuning as well)
I also took inspiration from the suspension setup that recent 911s have. If I recall correctly only last year’s gt3 upgraded to double wishbone in the front. That’s at least how I justify my decision.
With the competition being this strong, I’m glad he liked my luxury cruiser, even if it turned out a bit too pricy for him. Excited to see what ultimately ends up getting chosen!
I keep forgetting that you are not reviewing the driving characteristics in Beam. Because in Beam it handles like a dream and the 3700 Rpm boost point matched to the gears and tires won’t break traction unpredictably. She drifts pretty good unless you ham-fist it hard and do what should never be done (panic brake in a corner).
But it’s my fault, I really do not know how to build an Automation car only. If it doesn’t run right in Beam, I remake it in Automation until it’s on-point.
I think also mis-intrepeted “one star” items as not important / make it better than the stock car.
@noid5454 - properly tuned, a DW suspension will always be superior to MS. Emphasis on properly tuned. You cannot simply click on one and the other and see a miracle happen. A suspension switch always requires at the very least a re-tune. I’d however recommend a full inspection to see if there were any knock-on effects on other parts of the car that require some changes. For example, you might want to consider different tire sizes, or a slightly different weight distribution, different aero setup etc. It gets pretty complicated, that’s why choosing the right suspension at the beginning is so important. I don’t deny that MPs aren’t realistic and respect your justification - but that doesn’t mean that they are just not the best choice in this case, especially considering that the base car had DW. You yourself say that the GT3 got ‘upgraded’ to DW - so you admit it’s an upgrade, implying that going from DW to MS is a ‘downgrade’ 
@Lanson - most challenges don’t review in Beam. The ones that do explicitly state so. With more challenge experience you’ll also become versed in the ‘art of spreadsheet reading’. Re the one-star requirements: those are less important than the three and five star requirements, but that doesn’t mean they are irrelevant. Especially when the competition is very tight they can be the tiebreaker that makes of sinks an entry.
One of the reasons I built the stat-tracking sheet, to properly compare.
Also, a note about standard springs and monotube shocks. That’s a standard on non-luxury cars as well as sports cars that eschew tons of electronics in order to get more road feel. So I could have picked any spring and shock but I picked the most realistic for a RestoMod, because who is going to build and install active magnetofluid dampers and active springs (whatever those are…maybe air or hydraulic on anything? I couldn’t envision it. I have seen dual clutch sequential gearbox upgrades and I’ve done some EFI conversion stuff, so I pictured those being real.
One fail I had was assuming people know what a McIntosh radio is and what it’s purpose is. I forgot Fred is vain and a bit of a pleb, so a multi-thousand dollar SQ sound system is wasted on him. Iow Fred ain’t me. Lol
Note I’m not complaining or throwing salt, quite the contrary. Just talking it out.
Yep, no salt inferred at all 
As for realism, this is also something you’ll have to get more experience with. The most strict series is CSR, but even there your mileage will vary with specific hosts. Just get to know the people and the series and you’ll get a feel for it. As for ARM, it’s usually pretty lax. If it fits within the budget and gets you better stats, do it. Truly bonkers stuff gets done IRL under the umbrella of customizing/restomodding, so my philosophy is ‘why not here too’. It also makes for better gameplay IMO if it’s not overly restrictive.
As a Jeep driver myself, I know McIntosh - got to hear it in last year’s Grand Cherokee L model. Sounds great! If the buyer had a different personality (like our friend Sami in ARM12), then it might’ve made a difference. But Fred is a pleb. He sees a CD player and goes WTF is this junk. With a bit more experience you’ll be an expert to pay attention to these little details in the brief that give important hints as to how the character/buyer sees a product.
I’m salty that I gotta wait for my review :>
No, I’m afraid it’s not a rendering issue. I simply forgot to put reverse lights on my entry and didn’t notice until you mentioned it. And I had originally planned on giving this a modernish front bumper to better match the rear. But my 3D modeling skills simply weren’t up to the task to make something that flowed well with the curvaceousness of the body. So I settled for this.
I’ve always interpreted the entertainment selector as showing the best appliance the car has, rather than the only one. So for example, selecting “8-track” doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t an AM radio receiver, just that the 8-Track is what’s mentioned because it’s the newest thing.
So it might’ve made more sense for @Lanson to select “infotainment,” then specify in lore that it also includes a CD slot.
Basically this. If you were to click on the little question mark above your selection it will tell you all that is included in your entertainment choice. So yes, selecting an infotainment system would also include an am/fm/satellite radio, cd player, mp3 player, gps, etc.
FRED CREEPING THE LIBRARY
PRELUDE
"Something Sensible" by BRM
@AMuteCrypt
Design: First up is a car called “Something Sensible”. Fred was intrigued. What greeted him on the screen was a blue/green pearlescent 356 with blue/black rims. Fred couldn’t look away. For all the wrong reasons. “No, no, I don’t want a kitchy tuner car!” - was his immediate reaction. All-right, perhaps the paint could be negotiated. Perhaps. When Fred finally got past the paint, he began to look at the car’s design. On the front almost nothing changed from the original. The lights are swapped to modern fixtures, but that is about it. On the side Fred spotted the new door handles, mirros, and the rims… oh why doesn’t the rim colour don’t match the rest of the car? Before he got distracted by the colour choices again, he quickly moved to the rear of the car. The rear was rather… empty looking. The light fixtures have been switched to a modern assembly that doesn’t quite suit the car. And other than the bumper, the rear is plain - the engine cover vents are removed, and the car doesn’t even have an exhaust tip. Moving to the inside Fred is greeted by cavernous emptiness. Such a shame.
Driving character: Fred quickly moved on to look at the car’s stats to see if it could redeem itself. This car promises to have the best drivability of the entire line-up. The front-mounted (!) I6 turbo (!) is rather smooth, the adv. auto and electric variable power steering help to operate the car with minimal effort and fuss, and the LSD combined with ESC put the power down on the road in a very predicable manner. Despite the plethora of driving aids, the car still retains an acceptable amount of sportiness, perhaps helped by the car’s performance and active sport suspension. Overall, Fred was very impressed with the driving character of the car.
Equipment: Fred moved on to the included equipment. He already noted the plethora of driving aids and top-notch mechanical bits. On top of all that, the car’s interior promises to be very plush as well. Fred is impressed to see that BRM wants to fit a very high-quality luxury interior and luxury HUD, making this the most comfortable offering. Fred also noted the flow-optimized undertray - a possible bragging point with his track buddies. Fred feels that this car is also top of the line when it comes to prestige. That plus-quality luxury interior is just perfect, and the I6 does carry a little bit of prestige with it.
Performance: Fred put on his headphones, but once again he had to turn on the volume. That I6 does have a nice rumble down low, if only you could hear it! As the engine revs the turbo whine kick in. So overall Fred was not too taken by the sounds of the car. On the other hand, the power output of the engine at 242 HP is very nice indeed, and probably just about in Fred’s ideal range for this car. The car is pretty fast in a straight line: 5.8s 0-100 km/h and an electronically limited top speed of 300 km/h. Fred was more than satisfied to see such figures. What was a little less optimal though were the skinny tires (175s all around) and no aero whatsoever, leaving the car pretty weak in the corners. Fred predicted an ATT lap time of 2:39 for himself - not the fastest, but more than adequate. The brakes and suspension are both quite well tuned too. In other words, Fred thinks this is a pretty solid showing.
Price: At $49800 the BRM slots in right under the cost cap. Where this car really shines are the predicted service costs of $1180 and a fuel consumption of 6.3 l/100 km. Reliability is average. Fred is quite impressed, especially with the service costs - that’s practically a steal!
Questionable stuff and other notes: There is really not too much Fred noted in this category. The tires are rather skinny for the power this car delivers. The rear brakes are more powerful than the fronts (not a huge issue with an effective ESC system, but still). Other than that, Fred was quite impressed with a very sensible build.
Fred’s quick notes: Unfortunately I can’t get over the paint choice and unfinished design. Definitely not my thing. Looks like the engineering department did their job, but the design department gave up halfway through. Shame really, because the engineering is actually superb on this car. Highest drivability, highest comfort, highest prestige of all entries. I just really really don’t ever want to be seen driving it.
Porsche blob thingy by Reduit Shed Department
@kobacrashi
Design: To cleanse his eyes, Fred moved on to the next proposal by Reduit. A ‘blob thingy’. After reading the name Fred was starting to think that this was some spam email -surely it cannot be a serious proposal. Not easily deterred, Fred decided to give it a chance, despite the name. Once time image loaded, Fred was pleasantly surprised. The dark greenish-blue paintjob was right up his alley. Zooming in on the front he noted subtle but tasteful modifications to the original 356: new light fixtures, bumper, and lip. Moving to the side, a similar theme continued with a nice side vent with blinker, retro-modern mirrors, fender flares and skirt. Moving around the back Fred could see the harmony of the car with the tasteful but minor improvements. The upturned exhaust tips sure are interesting albeit a bit brash. The only detail not exactly to Fred’s liking is the spoiler, otherwise it is a very well executed and coherent design front to back. So far so good. Moving to the inside, Fred was greeted with a beige interior that didn’t show too much detail, but looked nice nonetheless.
Driving character: Fred was happy to see a 6-spd DCT and electric variable power steering, and electric LSD and ESC. “This car should surely be easy to drive” - he thought. However, when he looked at the predicted stats, the car only promised mediocre drivability. Delving deeper, Fred found several culprits: the poor throttle response, crazy turbo kick, and the car is practically slammed to the ground with only 1.4 degree roll. Sure seems more like a thoroughbred race car, backed up by the predicted above average sportiness. The pushrod front suspension, fibreglass body, and active sports springs further reinforce this notion for Fred. “So perhaps not a very good cruiser” - he thought.
Equipment: This car brings it in the driving aids department, and the DCT is noted as a very welcome feature. However, moving to the cockpit, the car only has a premium interior and premium infotainment - both proving to be sub-par in this line-up. Between the lower-tier interior of the car, the race-y suspension, this car is the second most uncomfortable in the bunch. Certainly not something he could take the ladies for a nice cruise in. Unfortunately, there is also not much to brag about in this car, and it has the lowest prestige of all. Besides the underwhelming equipment, the engine is a 723 cc I6 (read coffee grinder). Fred fears that if he shows up at the track with this, he’ll be laughed at mercilessly.
Performance: Since Fred just made note of the engine, it’s time to move on to the performance of the car. The tiny I6 makes 142 HP. Fred is impressed that such a small engine can make this amount of power, but it is still the weakest of the whole line-up. Not to mention, it comes at the cost of poor engine response. Fred was so surprised by this whole engine affair, that he almost forgot to listen to the audio clip provided for the car. Well… it idles at some 1700 RPM and has a redline of 10700 RPM. Unsurprisingly, it sounds like a motorcycle engine. An R6 perhaps. And it’s pretty loud too. Anyway, moving on Fred noted the decent cornering of the car helped by its many aero bits. In his hands this car will do 2:37 around the ATT - so very middle of the pack.
Price: Upfront this car maxes out Fred’s budget of $50,000. Service costs are very good at $1295. Unfortunately, due to the broken engine, fuel economy is unknown, and Fred cannot make an accurate determination what this car actually would cost him. Another major negative factor here is the lowest reliability of the whole line-up.
Questionable stuff and other notes: The race suspension tune is definitely too much for Fred. Fibreglass seems a little scary. The aero doesn’t prevent terminal oversteer, further terrifying Fred. Speaking of aero Fred notes that the car seems to have a lot of aero bits on the car, and that is certainly something he does not want ( 
reason #1). The engine also seems to be broken ( reason #2). Oh, and Fred also raised an eyebrow at the extreme tire stagger: 155 fronts and 215 rears; and the 1.4 degree roll angle.
Fred’s quick notes: Good looks. Not very enamoured by some engineering choices. I’ll move on quickly.
Lonestar Labs "Hell's Angel" 356
@Texaslav
Design: Next, Fred opened Lonestar’s proposal called ‘Hell’s Angel’. Certainly an ominous name that immediately put Fred on edge. He had a bad encounter once with a leather-clad biker at a bar who mocked his Hawaiian shirt. Perhaps it’s because Fred was talking to his girl, but we’ll never know the real reason… Anyway. Fred was greeted by a beautiful burgundy coloured render of the 356. Looking at the front, Fred saw that the fascia still retains its original character, but is modernized with upgraded fixtures and bumper. The side is also modestly updated with new mirrors, fender flares and a large air intake in front of the rear wheels. The rear of the car is also tastefully laid out with a light bar reminiscent of more modern Porsche offerings, and a skinny wing. This car brings so far the largest change to the bodywork: it includes a small T-top cutout above the doors. Fred particularly loved this change to the original car: he could have a semblance of driving “with the top off”. Peeking inside, Fred is blown away by the level of detail this proposal includes. Not only is it impressive -it is quite nice looking too.
Driving character: That car should have pretty good drivability thanks to the 7-spd DCT, electric variable power steering, geared LSD and ESC. Not the easiest to drive of the bunch, but more than acceptable. Even the very minor wheelspin and brake fade don’t detract much from the driving experience, although the brake fade does take a little off the sportiness. Not that that is a huge issue, because this car promises to also be quite sporty - second of the bunch. Fred likes how this car strikes a healthy balance between the two criteria.
Equipment: Fred takes a look at the inside specs of the car. He sees that this is the first car to feature a sports interior. Certainly more unique among the other premium or luxury offerings. The premium HUD adds a very welcome modern touch to the dash too. Despite these elements, the car’s comfort is only about average. Perhaps the passive springs let it down a little among the other active-sprung cars. Perhaps it is the low aspect tires, or the grippy brakes, or the loudness (it’s tied for loudest car in the line-up). Either way, Comfort is adequate, but nothing special. Prestige, however, is very good. Fred muses that with the prestige he will be able to lure in the ladies… and once they are in the car they won’t care anymore about the comfort. Maybe.
Performance: The Hell’s Angel features a modern 3.2L B6 engine producing 327 HP - both please Fred a lot. In fact, this is the second most powerful car in the line-up. The sound is less throaty than the B4 (a bit of a shame in Fred’s opinion), but it does sound a lot sportier. So it’s a bit of a toss-up, but definitely not a negative mark for this car. Fred is very impressed by the 3.5 s 0-100 km/h acceleration, and equally impressed by the g-forces during hard cornering. This car is quite the rocket! The top speed is electronically limited to 270 km/h. It’s therefore not the fastest car, by far - but realistically, this is not a problem for Fred. When would he go that fast anyway? Looking at the predicted track time, Fred would do a 2:17 around the ATT, which is the fastest of all cars on offer. Very very impressive indeed! It just shows that the Hell’s Angel nailed the balance between raw power and handling for Fred.
Price: At $49900, this car nearly maxes out Fred’s initial budget. Service costs are about average at $1613, but fuel consumption is very good at 6.7 l/100 km. Reliability is a stand-out for this car: breakdowns will be very rare indeed, further reducing predicted future costs. Overall, Fred was quite pleased with these figures.
Questionable stuff and other notes: Fred feels like he has to nitpick a little… the brakes show minor fade under hard sport driving conditions. Nothing overly concerning, but could easily be mitigated with slightly larger discs. Otherwise, there is nothing Fred could think of to call out.
Fred’s quick notes: T-top! Looks pretty good. Great attention to detail. It’s exceptionally fast around a track and even I can push it to its limits! Could be more comfortable. Cheap to maintain. Will take a second look.
W Design P35 Rennausrustung
@ldub0775
Design: “What?! Where is my 356?” - Fred said just a little too loudly in the quiet library. The librarian came over to see if everything is all-right, but Fred could just dumbly point at his screen. “That’s a nice car” - the librarian said. Fred was too flustered to even respond; he just stared at the screen silently for a few minutes. Once Fred regained his composure, he started to really appreciate this design. The design studio obviously put a lot of work into this render. The proposal is to completely strip the car bare and replace all of the body work with a modern Porsche-esque hull. There is no reason to go front to back on this one, Fred decided. He just has to take it all in first. It’s a nice, low-slung car with an elegant ‘wave’ moving along the shoulder. The side profile is very sexy. The wing is rather large, but somehow still suits the overall design. The enormous rear diffuser is another Fred-favourite on this car. Overall, the car exudes an aura of ‘track monster’. Fred is already envisioning all the attention he’ll get driving this car down the boulevard - people would have no clue what they are seeing and will want a second look or even strike up a conversation. Looking on the inside, Fred sees a rather plain interior, but it gives him an idea of what it might look like at least.
Driving character: Being a track monster, this car predictably doesn’t have the best drivability. Not bad, just average. The 7-spd DCT, electric variable power steering, electric LSD and ESC certainly help this car too, but a bit of a turbo kick and a very sporty suspension tune take away some drivability points. On the other hand, this car is the sportiest by far of the entire bunch. Yes, it is indeed a true track monster. Accordingly, it is tied for being the loudest and has active sport springs. True to a sports car, Fred also sees that the car has better cornering at speed than in slow corners. Yes, this one needs to be driven fast - if he only dared or could last more than two laps before getting a back ache.
Equipment: Fred is getting a little bored by now as this car joins the long list of proposed cars with a premium interior and premium infotainment. Fred has now seen that more luxurious and comfortable offerings can be fitted in the 356, so this doesn’t impress him much. As with the other cars with the DCT, he notes that this is a very nice feature to have. The bottom of the car is fully clad, which is neat, but there have also been cars with much cooler undertrays already. The only real stand-out that this car offers compared to the others are magnesium rims - Fred does think this is a very cool option. Such an extreme car definitely deserves them. In the end, Fred does a tally and finds that the car is by far the least comfortable of all, and prestige is only mediocre despite the magnesium rims. It looks cool, but Fred is not sure if that is enough to carry the car. Perhaps its performance matches its looks?
Performance: Fred opens the engine stats and sees that this monster retains the original B4 of the 356. He had expected some monstrous engine in this one, but no. The engine has been significantly modernized however, and a turbo is fitted, so it cranks out 216 HP. In this line-up, that is just about average. Listening to the audio, Fred hears his beloved B4 rumble low down. It is barely muffled too, providing a full spectrum audio experience. Higher up, however, the turbo whine kicks in killing some of the pure exhaust notes. Diving deeper, Fred notes that the car’s top speed is aero-limited to just under 300 km/h. This is quite a nice engineering feat and Fred admires this. No electronic limiter needed here! Looking at how this car gets off the line, Fred is not surprised but slightly disappointed that it is clearly beaten by two other cars in the line-up (granted, they have much more power), and is nearly matched by two others (both having slightly more power, so impressive here). In any case, 0-100 km/h is 4.4 s with the P35. Lastly, Fred’s track time is 2:21, second fastest behind the Hell’s Angel. Impressive, but clearly beaten by one other.
Price: Upfront, the car maxes out Fred’s budget at $50000. Service costs are second highest of the bunch at $1940. Fuel consumption is a pleasant surprise: it’s better than average at 7.3 l/100 km. Fred expected this track car to be more thirsty. The turbo and lean tune certainly helped out in this department. Reliability is about average. Overall, it looks like this car would be a little above average in overall costs.
Questionable stuff and other notes: 1.7 degrees roll angle is very low for a road car. Flipping to the suspension page, Fred’s eye is caught by something quite concerning. The car is so low to the ground that it actually bottoms out slightly.
Fred’s quick notes: Very uncomfortable. Very sporty. Expensive to maintain. Despite the sportiness, not the fastest of the bunch - so cannot justify the extreme looks. I don’t think I or anyone else would want to spend too much time in this car without making a chiropractic appointment first. It looks extremely cool, but just the looks cannot justify overlooking its other flaws; I will pass on this one. (Mental reminder: send kudos to the designers, they did an exceptional job on this car)
Porsche 356A M1N3
@Prium
Design: Opening the last proposal Fred couldn’t contain his delight! “Finally, a decapitated car!” - he nearly shouted with delight. Fred instantly got fidgety, which drew disapproving looks from the people around him. Fred was just getting too excited seeing a Cabrio among the submissions and decided to leave the library and finish this last review over a margarita down at the beach bar. The excitement was just too much… He packed up his laptop and bounded over to the bar. Once settled in with his drink, he was calm enough to finally get to the objective evaluation of the car. He hoped that it’s everything he hoped for! || First, Fred noted the beautiful dark blue paintjob. Up front, the car retains its classic 356 looks, but changes fixtures to retro-modern ones in a very tasteful way. The changes on the side are similar, subtle and tasteful. The riveted fender flares and the new vent over the rear wheel are particularly nice additions as they are implemented. Moving to the rear, this same cohesive theme continues with retro-modern touches replacing the original fixtures. The speedster top with the wing around the soft-top housing is beautifully done and a nice touch to the overall design. The interior is superbly detailed and matches the aesthetics of the car perfectly with modern features integrated into a retro design. Even the rims suit the car to a tee. Fred was simply enamoured with this car the moment he saw it, and this feeling only increased the more he looked at it. In Fred’s eyes this car just stands head and shoulders above the others - dare he say that when it comes to looks, this is pretty much exactly what he wanted?
Driving character: Opening up the stats sheets for the M1N3, reality came crashing down on Fred. The car doesn’t seem the easiest to drive… Not. At. All. This is a problem that caused some cognitive dissonance for Fred. But he tried to be as objective as he could while gathering the data. So, the car has a 7-spd adv auto gearbox, variable hydraulic power steering, geared LSD, and TC+ABS. Yes, Fred is a little disappointed as he looks back at other offerings in the line-up. Drivability is further hampered by a large turbo kick and a non-optimal suspension set-up. Sportiness too is on the low end of the spectrum. It seems like the adv. automatic gearbox doesn’t do enough to counteract the other flaws to make the car drivable, and at the same time hampers a sporty feeling. Overall, it’s a little disappointing for Fred, because he feels like this might not be the perfect cruiser that it promised to be with its looks.
Equipment: Fred noted that the above driving and traction aids are on the lower end of the spectrum in this line-up. Eager to move on and explore the car further, he was pleased to see a sports interior, but the premium infotainment was once again a little disappointing. The safety seems rather rudimentary too and doesn’t give Fred much confidence about his chance of survival in an accident. The semi-clad undertray is also nothing too special. Overall, Fred feels that this car really only has one thing to offer: it’s a cabrio. Accordingly, the car is not overly comfortable or prestigious, even if its prestige is inflated in Fred’s eyes being a cabrio. Neither comfort or prestige are the worst in the line-up, but just below average did not make Fred overly happy about this car.
Performance: More fittingly, the original engine has been retained in this car. It’s been fitted with a turbo and power output increased to 165 HP. This is on the low end, but Fred thinks this might just be enough. Moving on, Fred notes similar engine sounds here as for the P35: nice low rumble and a turbo whine up high. The volume is even almost the same for the two cars. Fred felt a little weird about this… how different the two cars look, but how similar they sound. The M1N3 probably has a slightly cleaner low range, but a more pronounce whine up high, probably due to the retention of the original OHV2 header in the case of the low range, and a louder twin-turbo with wastegate setup for the higher range. Very interesting nuance. Next, Fred took a look at the track performance. This car does 0-100 km/h in 7.5 seconds - not disastrously slow, but among the slowest in this bunch. Top speed is gear limited at 225 km/h. Fred feels like this might be a tad low, but given the other stats of the car, it’s not his biggest concern. Looking at the track time, Fred would do a 3:01 on the ATT - which puts him outright in the slowpoke category. As much as the cabrio strokes his ego, this result deflates his ego like a rabid woodpecker on a hot air balloon. Fred was by now nearing complete and utter dismay and cognitive dissonance was reaching its peak.
Price: Finally some good news entered Fred’s eyes: the upfront purchase price of this car is $47100. This is the cheapest by quite a margin. Service costs are above average though at $1826, and fuel economy is quite poor at 13.5 l/100 km. Reliability however is superb. So overall, this category is a wash in Fred’s eyes. All of this just leaves Fred with a very very difficult decision.
Questionable stuff and other notes: Lots of $$ left on the table; this could’ve easily been spent to improve drivability with e.g. electric variable power steering and ESC. 1.8 degrees of body roll is very low for a road car lowering comfort significantly. Vented discs in the rear are arguably not necessary, but would’ve been nice to have. Standard 80s safety is a little low in this line-up.
Fred’s quick notes: 1. It’s a Cabrio! 2. It’s a Cabrio! 3. A Cabrio it is! All right, it has its many flaws: subpar drivability, mediocre comfort, not the best equipped, slow… but it’s a cabrio. I simply cannot make a decision on this, my mind isn’t clear. That is enough reason to take another look at it. Worst case, I can print out a poster of it hang it up in the garage.
In complete confusion and with some trepidation Fred closed his computer, finished his drink and headed home. There are three cars that he wants to take another look at. This will be a very tough decision… Will Fred lose his mind trying to pick his favourite? Stay tuned for the final verdict.
I get it that you can’t really simulate an early VW/Porsche suspension in Automation but I would say that a modern strut suspension is superior. It is after all a design from the 30s when they knew very little about good geometry in an independent suspension, and is by modern standards relatively flawed. After all, Porsche went to struts on the 911 and VW on the 1302/Super bug, and it wasn’t because the earlier style suspension was unnecessarily good.
Not a rant, going for a better DW setup would of course be the natural thing to do if updating a 356.