ENGINE REVIEWS
Sorry for the delay, all. Reviews have taken a biiiiit longer than expected to get out, due to some IRL issues. I have completed the engine reviews, and I am going to push those out today. The rest of the reviews are still forthcoming. This is a bit of a barebones post, because I just want to get these engine reviews out.
General Overview
So, many of the cars have gone with a rather similar engine formula. Lots of people have used V-engines, with large numbers of cylinders. Lots of people have used Direct Injection, and Turbochargers. The elephant in the room is Octane. I did not set a required octane - a mistake on my part. Fortunately, all but three entries have used 95 Octane. The three entries to use 98 will have it noted but will not be penalised. Without further ado, let’s get into specifics. Please note that engines are not ordered from worst to best within their categories - it’s just a random order.
Part One: Interesting, but not to my liking.
There are two entries who did something rather interesting. Unfortunately, interesting does not always mean good…
Team 13 - Aether 8.5L V12
An 8.5L, Naturally Aspirated V12 using Multi-Point Injection is an unconventional choice. Unfortunately, this engine also shows why it’s not a common choice. It is the least efficient and loudest engine. One of the core benefits of a naturally aspirated engine fails to fully appear as well, with two other engines having a better response. The engine is smooth, but not quite as smooth as the other two V12s. With no VVL either, the engine has a clear peak-trough torque and power curve. It is the most powerful, but not by much - and when that power and torque comes only at a certain RPM, it’s losing out to its turbocharged competition.
Team 5 - AMP Saturn 2700
From the largest engine to the smallest now… The AMP Saturn 2700, a 2.7 Liter V6. The engine hurts for efficiency, and is exceptionally rough. Otherwise, it’s fairly, uh, average? Decent reliability, decently quiet. The turbo lags a little, but it’s not alone in that. It’s one of the quietest engines, but there’s thin margins there. The turbo comes in a little late, but the decent redline is able to keep it sensible. It’s a very light, very cheap engine… and therein lies the issue. This feels like an engine for a premium sedan (and the entry feels like a premium sedan rather than a luxury one). This is an engine for a different challenge, in my opinion. It’s a let-down for “Make a 100k luxury car”.
Part Two: Same Same, But Different
These two engines are, coincidentally, V8s. They share a fair few, uh, issues together inherent to the design.
Team 10 - VTRI-50T-8CS
The first of our V8s, and the first car running 98 Octane Fuel. On the surface, it looks pretty good - nice and efficient, super reliable, and nicely responsive. The torque band is exceptionally flat and smooth. Unfortunately, there are a few issues. The V8 runs pretty rough, and the service costs are a bit high. Worst of all, the engine is somewhat difficult to drive. The turbo spools at 3000 - not exceptional - but the redline has been set at 6000. Having such a low redline really hamstrings the driving experience. The performance intakes are a little bit odd, as well.
Team 8 - Marculus 4SS6R4
The Marculus is another V8 with Performance intakes and, while it has a sensible redline, it still has its issues. It’s among the worst for reliability. Like the VTRI, it is fairly rough. The engine is loud as well, which hurts for luxury. The stats seem more like a performance engine than a luxury one, in all honesty.
Part Three: The Usual
So, a lot of these engines all exhibit similar characteristics. I consider these “the standard”, and I am reviewing them all as one. They are: Team 2 - Huron NGV10; Team 4 - Tristella VBR57BTN2; Team 11 - YJ50-PKHS; and Team 12 - Recanna CR5500 VersionKapati 55-10V.
There really, really isn’t much to separate these cars. The YJ is a V12, and thus has higher smoothness than the other three (which are V10s). The YJ is also much, much quieter somehow. They all have really similar efficiency and reliability. The Tristella is more responsive than the other three, and service costs are pretty homogenous. Ultimately, the biggest element holding these back from the very top is their torque curves. All of them have odd bumps and rough elements, while the top category is amazingly flat. That said, they are all really well engineered, and you should all be proud.
Part Three Point Five: Unconventional, but in the best way
Team 1 - Cambria Unius Harmony i6 Platform
The Cambria Unius is a rather genius piece of engineering. It is a somewhat diminuitive inline six, unlike all the other V-engines. Unlike our other 6-cylinder, however, this is an engine that gives everything you want. Great efficiency, nice smoothness, good reliability and pretty low noise. It has one of the laggy turbos, but that is honestly not too egregious. The simpler engine comes with reduced running costs too, and the engine is nice and flat. The one drawback is the power - it is down by quite a bit, probably due to its smaller size. This is honestly my second favourite, narrowly beating out the engines above.
Part Four: My Favourite Things
Team Six - LS60
So, let’s just get this out of the way - it’s a 98 Octane engine. Despite that, it probably comes in cheaper to run than the 95 Octane engines. Why? Because it uses low-friction cast. This is the most efficient engine, by a long stretch… And there are really no compromises made here. You get plenty of power and torque, the most responsive of all the engines, great reliability, V12 smoothness and the flattest torque curve I have seen in a long time. The turbo spools earlier than any other, giving at least 700 Nm of torque from 2100RPM all the way up to 5000RPM. It suffers in terms of weight and service costs, but those are not major concerns for a luxury car. To summarise, the LS-60 is my favourite luxury car engine in the challenge,
