The Automation Engineers Championship is a community challenge series to test your car design skills. Like many other challenge series there will be a set of rounds, each hosted by the winner of the last (except for the first which will be hosted by me). Each round the round master will post an engine to be used by all entrants, tampering with this provided engine will result in a disqualification. The round master will also pick a track from the track sharing thread and the goal is to set the fastest lap possible around that track using the set engine, meaning that this challenge is all down to chassis skills and body design. Remember to PM your entry to the round master for fair testing.
Things The Round Master Can Set:
Engineering Time and Production Limit restrictions
Trim Year
Track to set the fastest lap of
The Engine
Quality Slider restrictions
Tire Tread restrictions
Drive train restrictions
Material restrictions
Price and Markup restrictions
Rules to entrants:
Don’t cheat by editing Lua files - if caught caught you may be disqualified from future rounds
Only use the engine provided - failure to do so will mean your entry cannot be counted
Follow all set rules from the Round Master
Submit an ad on this thread with at least a picture and price of your entry
PM the round master with a download for your entry and a statement for whether you can host the next round or not
Have Fun
The first round is to be used as a template to all rounds To future Round Masters, if you have questions about hosting your round, PM me
Will there also be limits on estimated price, with or without markups? I’m guessing since all entrants must all use the same engine, production unit and engineering time limits only apply to the trim.
For the first round of the Automation Engineers Championship you will be racing around Zolder in Belgium.
The track is made by @07CobaltGirl and can be found here:
The year is 1980 and you will be restricted to RWD only, there will be no limits to Production Units or Engineering Time for your trims. However you MUST use sports compound tires, no quality sliders, no fibre glass panels and manual transmissions. Your goal is to set the fastest lap possible around the track by designing a car that uses the engine provided ( I’ll get onto that later ). The winner will be whomever sets the fastest lap and will get to host the next round.
SPE joined this championship. For this round we didn’t build a car from scratch.
For insperation, we went back to our museum gallery. We looked at our one best sellings models back in 1946.
The SPE T-150F. The model became famous because its simplicity and excellent roadabillity. First they tested the car on circuit Zolder. The car completed the circuit with a time of 3:29:52.
The mechanics striped the car, remove the old 1.5 liter F-head boxer 4 engine (38.6 hp).
Engineers of SPE has desiged a new suspension, drive train and brake system.
The engine was delivered by a race company. A 1,8 liter inline 4 twelve valve provided 138 horsepower.
Everything fit in the tuned T-150F, it was time for a first test ride on the circuit Zolder. This first try scored a 2:17:38 minutes on the circuit. Not bad for a redesigned car from the '46, isn’t it.
But als always the test staff of SPE went on with the actual adjustment. Now the tuned car has a time of 2:05:66 on the circuit.
Because of the good score, the sales team want to produce this car for $9400 @ 0% markup. This car is ideal for who wants a car that is fast on the track, good enough for daily drive for sale for not more than 10k.
Please remember to submit an ad on this thread before the deadline and make sure to use the engine provided in the round rules post above.
On a final note, the creator of the fastest car will be asked to host the next round. If they are not available to then the responsibility will be handed down to the runner up.
For the first round we have had 5 entries from 5 prominent companies. Their engineers have taken our crate engine and created a thoroughbred track machines to race around Zolder.
Our team has tested each and every car around the track and have timed the best lap. Each car has also been checked against our regulations and with varied results we have collected the following data:
@gridghostScarab - They presented the Aurora Proto. It set a reasonable time of 2.04.66 around the Zolder track and had a modern approach with it’s aerodynamic body and precision downforce. It’s lightweight design meant for a great track performance. It also had great exterior designing which turned the heads of our testing department.
@HighOctaneLoveBogliq - They presented the Dolphin 1800GT which set a lap of 2.06.53 around the track. With styling of the last decade it certain didn’t look at modern as the likes of Scarab, but it still stood up to the modern competition with it’s sleek lines and dual exhaust.
@LastgamekingSPE - They presented the T-150F, setting a lap of 2.05.66 it certainly wasn’t slow, however with 1940’s heavy steel and a rear engine layout it was a bit of a handful to drive according to our test driver. Also it suffered from a peculiar issue with the rear wheels where they petruded from the bodywork which raised tire wear, but even so it surprisingly wasn’t that slow.
@JohnWaldockJHW - These guys presented the 1800X which had the feel of an old saab but had a perky transmission and plenty of downforce, It set a lap of 2.05.91 and had moderate downforce. It also had a pleasant interior with plenty of room and came to us in a stunning white finish. One of our team n particular stuck with the car and even sent through an order for one.
@AirJordanSmooth - Finally for the Minisun SR, this set a lap of 2.00.73 which was the best of all entries. This was thanks to a small body and stiff chassis design. The Smooth engineers must be proud. However it required a rather small driver thanks to a minuscule cockpit. This meant that it lost drivability on the road making it’s sole purpose a track car.
This makes @AirJordan the winner of AEC Round 1. However they has stated their unavailability to host the next round which means the responsibility falls to @gridghost. You will have 48 hours to submit your round with the next track, engine and any requirements of the round. If you are also unavailable please message me as soon as possible so other arrangements can be made. Finally if you do not post your round within 48 hours I will give the responsibility to the next runner up.
The year is 1985 and you will be restricted to FR, FF or FAWD, there will be no limits to Production Units or Engineering Time for your trims. However you MUST use sports compound tires, no quality sliders, no fibre glass panels and manual transmissions. Your goal is to set the fastest lap possible around the track by designing a car that uses the engine provided. The winner will be whomever sets the fastest lap and will get to host the next round.
For round two of the AEC, the cars were now required to conform to 1985 standards. This posed a challenge for the engineering students of Moldova University as their donor Bogliq Dolphin was no longer current.
Upon hearing of their plight, the head of Leeroy Racing brought in a complete rolling shell of the facelifted for MY83 Dolphin so they could salvage the various parts they needed. The donor shell had been written off when a piece of sheetmetal had fallen on it’s roof, flattening the cabin, but the aesthetic parts were still perfectly useable.
Other than plumbing in the new donor engine, the students found that the retrofitting of the pop-up headlights was the trickiest part of the whole conversion process…
The car, if accepted by Bogliq Automotive, will cost $11,600 to build (break-even) and will most likely retail for $16,990 driveaway.
Oh, and the Road course time at Swanson? under 3:04, so best of luck everyone else!
