General ARM Rules
So in short, I’m going to try something different with this one. The fun part is that everyone can do as much or as little to the original car (i.e. effort can vary widely), with fun trade-offs between keeping the car more or less original (with perks and drawbacks for each decision). I think it’ll work (I hope that it’ll work!), but no guarantees. It’ll also depend on your enthusiastic participation and willingness to try something different. 
Last round
ARM1 – the re-hatching
In 1974 the VW Golf Mk1 was introduced to the world. It was an instant hit with its two-box construction and hatchback design, and eventually led to the hot-hatch boom of the 80s. The car did extremely well in Europe, and was also licensed for sale in the East Block. It slowly gained popularity in North America and elsewhere in the world. Currently the 7th generation of the model is still being produced and has a dedicated following.
*based on true-ish facts
The client
Potential inspiration
The challenge
How this will work:
- You must download the following car file, as your starting point is the VW Golf Mk1, as it rolled off the assembly line in 1975.
ARM1_-yournamehere-Golf-_yourmodname.car (34.0 KB) - Your first real task is to import the car into Automation.
- Then clone both the car model and engine family (can be done in the list view of the car designer and engine designer). Make sure you clone both the model and family! You should end up with a clone of both.
- Open the cloned car model for editing and under engine selection click “select existing engine”. Load the cloned engine (otherwise you’ll be changing the original).
- Forward time to 2020 on the car model and engine family (this will automatically forward the variant and trim as well). Check that all four are set to 2020. If you return the file to me with them not at 2020, it’ll be an insta-bin. Setting everything to 2020 ensures that you have access to all tech available for your rebuild.
- At the top I’ve already conveniently set up the naming system, just fill it in – should be self-explanatory. Delete the word “clone” from the names.
- Now you’re ready to rebuild the car!
- After you’re done and are satisfied with your rebuild, save the car and send the .car file back to me in a PM.
Rules:
-
Do NOT change:
o Do not change the model body and no morphing (except I will allow wheel arches to be extended for wider wheels - but nothing else).
o Do not change the chassis type and material. -
Several changes are allowed (even encouraged), but will incur penalties:
o 10% penalty to prestige for changing the panel material or altering the body panels significantly (e.g. adding vents or body molding fixtures).
o 5% penalty to prestige for any change to the engine head or adding a turbo (but leaving the block original).
o 10% penalty to prestige for changing the whole engine, or changing the engine placement.
o Changing the look (fixtures) of the car will incur varying levels of penalties:
– If it’s a retro-modern look (i.e. there is a clear and recognizable throwback vibe to the original, but it’s made with modern materials), then that’s a 5% penalty to prestige.
– If it’s a completely different look, then that’s a 15% penalty to prestige.
o Fuel type 95 RON will incur a 5% penalty to the price index, and 98 RON will incur a 15% penalty to the price index.
o Everything else is fair game to change without penalties. -
To adhere to modern road laws and to Nathaniel’s deadlines, the following criteria MUST also be met:
o Fuel economy must be 10.0 L/100 km or better.
o Fuel type must be unleaded 91, 95, or 98 RON.
o Safety must be 45.0 or higher.
o Trim emissions must be 200 or lower (the one from the trim summary page, not the variant summary page).
o 3-way catalytic converter is required (high flow or regular is OK).
o At least one reverse-flow muffler required.
o ESC is required.
o ET Engine: 120.0 or less.
o ET Trim: 120.0 or less.
o Seats: at least four.
Judging
Of the objective criteria, the most important aspect of this round is prestige – Nathaniel does love to brag about his prestigious (although sometimes impractical) possessions. Make the re-built car as prestigious as possible, while keeping in mind the above penalty system. Make sure that your changes are worth it!
Second importance is comfort. If Nathaniel goes for a ride, it has to be comfortable. But…
Occasionally, he wants to do some track driving on the weekends. He lives close to two famous race tracks (Automation Test Track and the Nurburgring) so he’ll also look at drivability and sportiness. But these are not a major concern for the majority of the time.
Price and safety are really minor concerns, but all else being equal, might just give you an edge.
The first round of judging will look at all of the above in a weighted average system, where individual submissions are ranked based on the average of all submissions in each metric. Ten cars will progress to the second round. The ten lucky finalists will get their cars field tested before a final verdict is made.
The second round of judging will consist of a reliability test, a road test run on two test tracks, and the final build quality will be judged (Killrob OCD style). So more points are to be gained here if you have a reliable and good handling car that has a high attention to detail (which will stand in for excellent manufacturing processes).
I will use an excel sheet for my judging. The final results will be released at the end of this round. Note that the cars are judged based on the average of the submitted results, so if you’d like to use this excel spreadsheet effectively, the more variations you try out, the better you get an idea of what works and what doesn’t. Just putting in a single model (or just a few even), will probably not be representative of the scores you might expect once I input all of the submissions.
Submission
Family (engine) name: ARM1 – [forum name]
Engine variant: [engine name]
Model (car) name: ARM1 – [forum name]
Trim name: Golf - [car name]
Send me a PM containing your .car file on the Discourse (I have Discord, but don’t use it very often).
RESUMISSION IS NOT ALLOWED!
Make sure you adhere to all the rules above. Even a 0.1 deviation in the metrics is an insta-bin; so is using the wrong fuel or the wrong year.
Mods are allowed, but no furries or meme cars, please (well, you can, but aesthetics will take a hit).
Contract proposals (your ads posted to this thread) are required to be considered for the contract.
Submissions are now open!
Deadline is January 10 midnight EST.
Countdown clock here
Final thoughts
If you’ve read all of that, you might realize that you can be lazy in this ARM competition and get away with the absolute bare minimum of work. You have an already made car, for the bare minimum all you have to do is change the Model and Family year, re-tune the engine, plop in an interior and make sure that you meet all the requirements. Or, you can go all out and re-do the whole car inside and out (aside from the chassis and morphs of course)…. The sky is the limit!
Good luck to all, and most of all, have fun!!
el “Brilliantrot 529” paintjob
