I almost forgot, didn’t quite finish the tune, and it looks less than great, but it should do okay
When are the results coming?
We’re currently sitting on a 24h wait period as multiple people had issues with their cars complying to their rules, so we instated a turnaround period. After that the reviews come out once all the cars are ready, then finally we will get to the results. I can’t say for sure but all this will take anywhere between 3 to 5 more days.
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can confirm, i forgot the safety thing.
1 Like
The first part of the Reviews should be released today 
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REVIEWS 1/3
We are finally at our 5th edition of the Automation Beginner’s League, our last edition during the ‘70s decade!
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I decided to get early to the race so this time I could take a look at our cars before the race actually started. As soon as I got to the track there were already people working at the boxes, so I entered the first box:
I remember seeing this strange red folk here before, it’s the same DFM Rally Prototype from the last round, but I can notice that this spoiler is new, it actually fit well at this car’s design. Talking with one of the mechanics, he said this is the Build 2, it got a new engine to fit the new rules and some different adjusts to work better with the engine.
About the engine, it’s a 2.0L I4 fitted with a turbo and mechanical injection at the front of the car, the DFM team as able to take 416hp out of this little engine using 2.54 bar of boost, which I found really impressive! For what I heard it even start spooling as early as 4000rpm and have full pressure at 4600rpm, with the max. power at 7100rpm and redline at 7900rpm.
The car itself weight a little over 1ton, 1031.2kg to be exactly, and with all the aero efficiency it corners really well, being able to handle numbers like 1.30g of lateral force.
This time the DFM Team learned and didn’t made the same mistake of last round, this thing can go faster than 250km/h.
(Player: @Newtonmeter)
At the next box there was the official team of the JHW manufacturer and they had an all new car to race: the Thunderclaw.
This Thunderclaw name must be because it is so high that it works as a lightning rod, but that aside the design is quite good.
The JHW team decided to use a 5.0L V8, but for what I heard they didn’t achieved much, their engine only produces around 328hp. That was quite disappointing for what it shows at the outside.
Even though it doesn’t weigh so much, with 1042.3kg, it still doesn’t corner so well, being capable of only 1.10g of lateral force, probably due to the high gravity center together with the high bottoming out suspension.
Also, it don’t have almost any high quality parts for what I could judge, it can’t cost more than $14k to build one of these. I don’t know why JHW went cheap this time, maybe they are having money issues.
(Player: @JohnWaldock)
The next one was my own team, the GTL with a modified car, the Proto3.
We choose to use an old-style approach, to give our farewell to the ’70 decade, so we went with the V8. As it wasn’t our main project we didn’t expend too much time on it, so our power was limited to 357hp (that’s what we say when we can’t find a better excuse for being a noob).
The corner ability isn’t the best, since the car is too high, it can handle a maximum of 1.17g of lateral force. After seeing the DFM car I can’t expect much of my old-styled pony, basically it can’t keep with the DFM at the straits nor at the corners.
(Player: @Nomade0013)
After I left my team box I entered the next one just to find some strange things: a green SUV laying at the middle with the hood open; but even stranger: the crew was nowhere to be found.
“Probably they are yet bringing things to the box”, I thought, but then I noticed that all the things they could need, except for a racing car, were already there. That was when I saw that long wing at the top of the rear of the SUV and thought with myself: “They must be joking.”
They weren’t. I went and checked the engine bay of the SUV, just to see a red V8 with four DCOE carburettors over it. So I went searching for papers that could explain the meaning of this!
I found the papers laying over the toolboxes and the found the meaning too, it was:[spoiler]“I’m f***ed”[/spoiler].
This green monster, developed by @Dorifto_Dorito and named only by “Offroad”, develop 380hp out of the red V8 and weight only 966.2kg, the lightest car until now, and even with the high gravity center it could achieve 1.17g of lateral force during their tests. I just didn’t get why they didn’t use a race intake, they could have easily got +17hp and +19Nm if they did.
(Player: @Dorifto_Dorito)
- Engines count:
- I4 = 1
- V8 = 3
7 Likes
Need to Revise/Add Ballast for Mine, a Tad Light. Also, Mistake in the Rules:
Minimum weight 950kg/1984lbs
According to Google, 950kg=2094.39lbs (since there’s only 1 digit after the decimal in automation, then say 2094.4
My car is 2059.6lbs so as Written in the Rules it should be good, but if going by the google conversion, then it’s 34.8lbs underweight. also it’s Right at the Budget of $17000@0% so it’s not like I Can up the quality of the interior/safety to add weight as it’d bust the budget.
Also, Anyone got tips on importing a car that was exported? I Tried to revise my entry but forgot to make a copy before hand so I Deleted it followed by trying to copy from the export to import file so it’s in the import folder zipped & unzipped but it’s not showing up in the car list. Still Have the Engine, just not the Body/Trim.
##REVIEWS 2/3
Moving on I entered the Scarab Team, they brought the Eruption GT, their new bet. I really liked the sober style, it reminds me of a mix between a BMW M3 and an Audi Quattro, would buy a road-legal version for sure.
The mechanics were working at the car, so I could take a peek at the engine bay, and found a Turbo I4, exactly what I expected from an euro-looking coupe. But even though this is one of the best looking cars, it isn’t fast: only 272hp goes to the wheels, what means this is less powerful car at the grid until now.
The handling numbers are good: a maximum of 1.18g, but not as good as you would expect with such low weight of 954,4kg, so the car handles as good as the SUV “Offroad”, but is slower at the straits.
A little disappointed I left the Scarab Team behind.
(Player: @gridghost)
The next is the CPV Team with the Widowmaker MK2 5.0, I don’t know how the drivers accept to drive a car with this name, anyway, the car’s name give us a hint of the engine which is exactly what I thought: a V8.
The CPV Team made a great work with this engine, they managed to squeeze 405hp out of it, making this the most powerful V8 until now. Seeing as they had a weight penalty, the Widowmaker isn’t light, it weights 1092kg, the limit, but even with this weight it’s quite capable to handle some g force: a maximum of 1.21g of lateral acceleration.
This yellow bird will give trouble at the top positions.
(Player: @nialloftara)
Entering the closer pit I found a red version of the Widowmaker that remembered me of a Ferrari: the OMG ACE built by the VPower Team.
The VPower driver explained to me that they focused on cornering and low weight, so it can handle up to 1.30g and weights only 953.2kg, so even though the 379hp of the I4 don’t look much, is enough to make this car fly, also the early spooling turbo is better to keep the pace on narrower corners.
So we have a new challenger that may be able to take the podium, it is becoming hard to the vets to keep on!
(Player: @MitsubishiFan)
Next were a small team, organized by a guy called “Cookey” or something like that, probably he eat too much cookies while working, I don’t know.
What I do know is that the looks don’t give this car what it deserves, at least according to what the team told me: that it can corner at a maximum of 1.24g of lateral acceleration, weights 1044.2kg and the V8 engine is capable of delivering 375hp. These are quite good numbers, my team’s car will for sure stay behind this thing…
(Player: @koolkei)
- Engines count:
- I4 = 3
- V8 = 5
Try to unzip the file inside the Automation folder:
So the “Car” folder inside the .zip file goes to the “Car” folder in Automation and the same with the “Engine” folder. It’s like importing manually.
Rest assured that we’ll find a solution tomorrow, because I’m going to sleep right now.
Edit: I would like to know what you guys think of the reviews like that, it’s better? Should we go back to the old simpler way?
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No the reviews are awesome! I think the grid looks strong . 405hp out of that V8 is insane but this red low weight not Porsche will kick asses i think. The Widowmaker seems to be fast aswell.
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Thank you! We’re trying to improve the best we can!
They will most likely win, but for me the most impressive car until now is the SUV, it’s really capable for a SUV.
Announcement: My sincere apology for the delay, I fucked up the weight conversions and the imperial value I (not Frank or Nomade, this is totally my fault) gave to you was 50kg too light. This is what’s causing the delay, we’re just waiting for everyone to have a running, eligible entry. I’m really really sorry about the slip up. 
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Which weight is 50kg to low?
Looks like the base non penalty weight, 950kg is actually 2094lbs rather than the 1984lbs as listed. So anyone who built with imperial was way under weight.
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shame I had a car almost ready but no time to tune and send it…such a promising round
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##REVIEWS FINAL
As I kept going I finally got to one of the most recurrent team on ABL, know for their stylish blue cars: the Bogliq factory team.
They brought us what looks like their new Slyde Turbo on a race version, to match the road car it is powered by the turbo engine, as the name says. I really liked the front end, looks aggressive, but sober, without too much nor too little; the rear didn’t matched my tastes, but nothing is perfect, unfortunately not even a Blogliq.
The car is well balanced in terms of aerodynamics and suspension settings, being capable to handle forces of 1.24g, but it lacks in power, they only got 317hp of the little engine.
Sadly I don’t think the Blogliq will get much more than a half grid, but it’ll have some intense battles for sure.
(Player: @HighOctaneLove)
The next is one of the two others ABL’s organizers: Ram.
This car, called “Ramrunner”, is a really interesting mix of choices: the exterior is all modern and cool, while the intern is totally conservative using an OHV V8, instead of the newer DOHC turbo. They could achieve an interesting amount of power, 369hp, and a not so have body, 1023.8kg, but the cornering isn’t so good, only 1.18g.
This will be an interesting battle between this the Bogliq, my Proto3 and some others mid-grid.
(Player: @ramthecowy )
And finally I got to the last pit, where I found a bizarre yellow thing with some matte black details. The first thing I noticed was the ride height, it looks like a SUV, just like the “Thunderclaw”; later I saw the big bonnet air entry and thought: “this is a V8 for sure”, but only then I saw something that make me wonder, the rear wing had air entries too, “why the hell would they do that?”
This was the moment a mechanic using a bright yellow overall approached me with a distrustful face, but then I showed him my credentials and he become friendly and decided to show me their machine.
Finally I understood the spoiler thing, the V8 engine was at the trunk, apparently they thought it would help the handling since it would put weight on the rear wheels. Well, it didn’t, the “Megalodon” (as I found later) could barely keep up with 1.03g of maximum lateral force; the engine wasn’t so powerful either, can deliver 351hp, and the ca isn’t light, it weights 1126.1kg.
I guess we can predict that the “Megalodon” is really what the name says: a prehistoric thing that won’t will be extinct, unfortunately.
(Player: @doncornaldie)
As I was leaving, I noticed a truck with another crew getting to the pits, “looks like someone is late”, I thought, so I went to their box.
The mechanics were angry because of the hurry, for what I heard they had to make last moment modifications to fit the rules. Oh, and it was our fault…?! Dammit, I should’ve checked them one more time.
Well, at least they are here, I saw that pink boxy car, that they called “Verdura Mk II”, and thought with myself: “these tyres are too tiny and the car roof is to high, hope they went turbo or they won’t make corners at all”.
Then they parked the car inside the box and I could interview one of the crew members about it, he said they went with the V8, but the engine only produced 284hp, the tyres are 165/50 R14 at front and 175/45 R14 at the rear, really small tyres, the rear brakes are really small too, so it have some brake fade, the gearbox have only 4-speeds and the suspension is way too soft, also the weight balance is bad, 60.7F / 39.3R
Basically the car is slow in every way; can only handle 1.04g (due to understeer) and don’t have enough power to accelerate. At least it is light, with only 960.2kg.
The “Verdura” isn’t all bad, but it lacks a lot in refinement, could have been a lot better tuned.
(PS: “Verdura” in portuguese means Greenery, so the car should be green)
(Player: @LordLetto)
With this let’s start the races!
- Final engines count:
- I4 = 4
- V8 = 8
5 Likes
Um, I Don’t see a Review for my Car, Should still be Eligible after the Tweaks I Made to my car to meet Minimum Weight & Shave off 2 Seconds at the ATT.
1978 Results
The season opening at Beginners Course was a victory for @Newtonmeter. The DFM Rally car shaved off almost half a second compared to last season due to the new, more powerful turbo engine. It wasn’t by much though, the OMG ACE of the VPower team, lead by @MitsubishiFan, laid down a time only 13 hundreths of a second slower, taking 2nd place. 3rd is @nialloftara who can’t quite keep up due to their weight penalty, despite having the 2nd most powerful car in the grid. And to the surprise of everyone, @Dorifto_Dorito’s SUV takes 4th place. That SUV really is a well balanced race car after all.
Second event, the half mile at Swanson Proving Grounds. This really is @nialloftara’s terrain, the Widowmaker with its 405hp V8 engine pulling away from everyone else. 2nd is @Newtonmeter with the rally car, 3rd is the SUV. @MitsubishiFan, who was rumored to be the secret favorite, can’t quite pull in front here, only going 4th.
The 3rd and last event in the year 1978 again takes place at Swanson Proving Grounds. The Road Course, known for its tight, slow corners, is a track that heavily favores handling over raw speed. Both @Newtonmeter with the DFM Rally and @MitsubishiFan with the VPower OMG ACE lay down excellent times, the VPower team again loses by a very small margin. 3rd, way back in time, is @nialloftara who had a close battle with @koolkei in 4th.
Standings
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Wot, im not last 
Also, looks like theres fierce competition between 4th and 5th place in the overall leaderboard between me and @koolkei. As a note, i have no intention of coming in fifth 
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Sorry, my fault, looks like I forgot to import your updated car.
I’ll update the reviews as soon as possible!
Hey look at that the widomaker’s lard a$$ is still pretty quick! Exciting season so far @Newtonmeter damn that little rallycar is quick.