Automation RestoMod chapter 30 (ARM30) - Restore My Sanity [DONE]

DCMW Sharriallat Superiority Twelve by LMJ Design

How do you improve on superiority? With that being already in the name, it is hard to do. Well, one thing should be clear. When it comes to the styling, you just won’t do it on a beauty like this. But we gave it the paintjob it deserved. Black cherry pearl, with a contrasting ivory roof. Looks both nostalgic and contemporary at the same time.


The black wire wheels gave way for chrome ones, for a classic and elegant touch. The integrated door handles? Well, we made them even more integrated by looking at another classic, the BMW E9, for inspiration. Also, we played around a little with the taillights and exhaust - we think it looks a little more balanced this way. The gas cap is now hidden under a filler door. With the resources that’s now under the hood, we fiddled with some (integrated and barely visible) aero, that helps keeping the car planted to the ground. But that is pretty much it.


When a car like this needs a new driveline, what do you even replace it with? A M275 (OOC, not an exact replica of a M275 since it was hard to pull off without tweaking, but enjoy anyway) and 7G-tronic was the answer in our case - because of course it deserved a V12 again. With ABS, sticky rubber compound, improved brake cooling and the most meaty rotors we could fit inside the wheels, it stops as well as it goes. Air suspension and electric power steering gives a ride that is as close to a magic carpet as you will get with a 50s car.


The interior was reupholstered in red perforated leather and contrasting cream leather. Since the wood trim had not aged well and needed replacement, why not be a little bit different? In this case, we replaced it with hand painted marble imitation, which looks exclusive and sober.


For comfort and convenience, as well as safety, we added modern inertia reel seatbelts, as well as headrests, in a way we thought was as elegant as possible.


Entertainment? At the flick of a switch, the stock speaker grille will fold down and reveal a modern touchscreen infotainment system, while the stock radio is kept just as a decoration. We removed some of the storage compartments to fit mesh that we now have hidden modern speakers behind. Not the easiest to notice at a first glance - but still can blow your ears off!

Bring back the superior in superiority with LMJ Design!

(Sorry, this took more time than it should, thank you for the deadline extensions…)

7 Likes

(And now for something completely different)

DCMW Sharriallat “Low Ryder”

by MTL Customs & Tuning

Dear Blinoor & Farra,

Please accept our humble proposal to restore the venerable Sharriallat Superiority Twelve. As renowned as the spanish inquisition, our proposal are not usually expected and this is a great example. You probably never thought about driving into a low rider & spyder edition of the Sharriallat, but this is exactly what we are proposing - the “Low Ryder”.

First, we carefully crafted and 3D printed a widebody kit for the DCMW, extended the wheels, added considerable camber and dropped it to the ground. Thanks to its adjustable active suspension, you can raise it as you see fit.

All lights were modernized with LEDs, the long roof was removed for a slim rear profile and a two tone silver and matte paint was applied, modernizing the car significantly.

The old V12 was gutted out, as well as the gearbox. It was rebuilt completely on a 6-speed manual Torsen AWD system paired with retuned BMW M57 3.0L straight-6 turbo diesel producing 270hp @ 4300 rpm and 427 lb-ft of torque @ 2000 rpm. The whole thing includes modern ESC and electronic variable steering.

Component were upgraded all around, increasing reliability and performance greatly. The square 205/60R18 tyres mounted on alloy rims are made for a comfortable cruise on the tarmac, but it can still handle some impediments. Brakes were thoroughly upgraded, and the undertray was 3D printed and optimized for flow, while the front and side vents were enlarged for better airflow.

With all those changes taken into consideration, we expect the Sharriallat to be able to reach 275km/h and reach 100km/h in under 5.4s. It is made to cruise, not to drift, but it can handle some maneuvering. It even comes with a temporary roof packed in the rear compartment for those long road trips.

Finally, the interior would be completely reworked with a SOTA center console with premium entertainment. The look of the interior is similar but totally hand made, with carbo panels replacing the old wood finish, and more comfortable bucket seats as well as integrated sound system.

We hope this proposal to transform the DCMW into something truly unique is unexpected but exciting.

Best Regards,
MTL Customs & Tuning

13 Likes

We have five submissions, and it’s past the 7th. The challenge is hereby closed apart from one ad to be posted.

3 Likes

Sharriallat Superiority Twelve “StarGazer” by TreadKillers

Let me sing you the song of my people

SCREEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEE </small

Mostly kept untouched, the biggest features of these star sparkled leadsled is the in House Air ride and new massivly chopped roofline to make this already sleek ride even more unique

10 Likes

Reviews part 1


“Good morning, sunshine!”

The personification of groggy and disheveled opened one crusted-over eye at Farra, shutting immediately with a wince upon ingesting far too much sunlight. Blinoor stumbled across the kitchen, arms in front to avoid colliding with anything on the arduous journey towards the fridge.

“Morning, really?”

“Well, no, it’s nearly 2pm. But considering the hour you came home last night… er, this morning… the gods of timekeeping have decided to accommodate you. Judging by that, and the trail of items you left on your way to the kitchen and then into the study - and come now, I appreciate the consideration, but you know I don’t mind you crawling into bed in the wee hours - you not only had a fun night, but made some progress in figuring out our car build?”

Blinoor paused between swigs of a large milk jug. “…Huh.”

Forensic evidence would have to substitute for actual memory of what happened after encountering the one classic car club on the island outside the better of two bars. Farra, with a bemused expression, gestured to a pile of drawings, renderings, spec sheets, and scribbled-on napkins detailing five proposals for restoring the '59 Sharriallat they had towed to their driveway a few days ago.

“Once you’ve got your eyes open and something in your stomach other than alcohol, let’s take a look, shall we?”


1. Tungsten Modifications

by @TwistedUmbreon

“Judging by the overall appearance, looks like someone took your mention of welcoming real off-road ability and ran with it. Judging by the specs, however… um, how do I put this politely? Was this from someone you know?”

"No, and I’ll finish your thought: this is hot garbage. I’m too hung over to be polite, and anyway my politeness was expended when some yokel at the bar overheard my conversation, bought me a drink, and made me listen to his old-fart farmer’s wisdom of how he restored stuff ‘back in his day’. A few minutes into that spiel, I politely declined any and all of his advice, and thought I’d thrown away the sketches but I guess they snuck back in.

For starters, the suspension lift is just that: a raised suspension. The proposal was to source a good used stock engine and gearbox, jack up the control arms, throw on some truck tires - not off-road or all-terrain or even bigger ones, mind you - and call it a day. No locking diff, no armor, no transfer case and front driveline. What’s worse, all the weight distribution optimization was completely removed, devil knows why, and with no other tuning done, the hitherto finely-balanced footwork now oversteers at 65kph!"

“What’s the point of the lift, then?”

“Well, it does have trivially more off-road ability than stock - 5.8 vs. 3.3. And the tires do help with fuel consumption, taking it from pretty bad to medium-bad - 13.2 L/100km vs. 14.4… Are those pictures of the interior? I couldn’t remember what he said about that, except…”

“There’s now a back seat?! With no legroom? For a car meant for two people? Jammed in there willy-nilly and not even styled to match?”

“‘Styled’ would be a bit of an overstatement anyway. It looks like we’ve got large unadorned slabs of bluish-grey leather on the front seats. Rather Brutalist in architectural terms. That leather appears nowhere else except… the floor.” The two exchanged worried glances.

“Meanwhile, the upper door cards and some of the wood trim use a lovely, if subtle, stitched diamond cloth pattern, while the dashboard has the vinyl that matches the color but not the texture, and there’s a random chunk of wood on the passenger side.”

“None of this makes any sense, as a whole. What’s going on in the middle of the doors?”

“I have no idea, but it sure looks weird. And with bright red… ashtrays, I’m guessing… stuck in the middle.”

“Shall we move on to the outside, or just move on altogether?”

“Let’s not leave the stoning half-dead, hm? What do you think?”

“I’ve seen worse, but this doesn’t work. The rims are from some other DCMW and look ok as such, but neither modern nor an upgrade over the originals. Some inexplicable and hideous orange reflectors on the rear sides, and even more questionably, on the back. They’re tucked inside and partially obscured by the huge and very reflective original tailfins, further underscoring the question ‘WHY?!’. The side trim curve is now gold, which might’ve been ok had it matched something else, but it doesn’t. The spinal trim piece is missing altogether, which would require expensive new compound-curve glass for the roof and rear window. And in the front… what on earth?” Farra’s eyebrows were getting quite a workout as Blinoor eyed the drawing and started to crack up.

“What is that, a Hitachi Magic Wand on the driver’s side fender?”

Once their laughter had subsided, frowns and eyebrows returned upon seeing the grill. “Despite all the metal trim on our car very much intact, it’s somehow deemed fitting to take out two of the grill’s slats. On top of sticking some foreign license plate right in the middle of its face. The plate… I don’t know what to say to that. But the grill…”

“Now looks like missing teeth.”

“Huh, that’s funny. Not that I like it - at all - but there’s this: the entire build is slapdash and misbegotten. All major stats are significantly worse for almost no gain anywhere. Visually, it’s a disjointed disaster, as ugly as it is incohesive. Yet… ironically… those missing teeth make it cohesive in the end, because they sum up the overall theme so perfectly.”

“Well, when we hear of another one for sale, bring it down to the bar and if your buddy there wants to turn it into… this… more power to them.”

“Are you kidding me? I will do no such thing! Poor car…”

VERDICT: Rejected.

2. ZRD

by @Riley


“WOW!”

“Yeah, no kidding. My memory’s coming back now… this one is courtesy of some young bloke who’d just come from a race event on the mainland. Apparently a race driver and head of some outfit called ZRD. Still wore his race suit at the bar for some reason. His fashion sense belies the keen eye for esthetics that went into this.”

“I’ll say! This is a visual bombshell, a world-class parade of loud and proud hotrod from start to finish… where do we even begin?” Farra flipped through the pictures slowly, while collecting her jaw from her lap. “There’s a lot going on here, almost all of it simply excellent, but I’ll start with my single favorite element. The two-tone paint not only looks brilliant as such, but the way the tailfins’ profile is repeated in the transition from red to black… de-LICIOUS!”

“Classy, innit? And check out those taillights. I think the blackout is the perfect modern equivalent to the statement the originals made in 1959.”

“That’s not quite blackout, my dear; your eyes just haven’t yet adjusted to the Day Star. They’re dark, yes, but there are subtle red bits that look to be LEDs… oh, and here’s a rendering of them on. Your assessment is spot-on: these are a worthy modern equivalent of the flavor and quality the original had when it was new. A-level work, this. Apart from the one nit to pick in the back: the spoiler. Not sure how I feel about it visually, but the large and very practical hatch appears to be disabled by it. That’s really the only complaint here. Otherwise, moving forward, there are very well-executed fender flares covering… hm… what’s going on with the wheels?”

“The huge blocks of chrome aren’t quite to my liking either, but they do fit the rest of the build visually, and are a reasonable size as far as function goes. That is, until we talk about the power, more on which later. I think this chap was under an impression of a tighter budget than we have, and furthermore wasn’t aware that the staggered tire cost penalty doesn’t apply to us. The 205-width rubber looks frankly odd in the back, but given those assumptions, miscommunicating which was my fault anyway, understandable. The car should be able to stuff 245 in the back, all else held constant, which would look a lot better.”

“Moving forward… it’s nice to see a lot of stock features retained but subtly adjusted to fit - the gill vents, the big swoopy trim piece, the original glass, the pierced-circle details… The mirrors are another success story; they look modern yet not out of place. Let’s take a detour to the interior. What do you think?”

“Same as the wheels: all that white is not quite my taste, but more importantly, the cohesion is very much there, and I appreciate how it confidently complements rather than merely mimics the exterior colors. It helps that the trim matches the red, and it looks good enough that I almost wouldn’t miss wood. Elsewhere, it’s a very nice blend of old and new - original dashboard, small screen in the middle; original switchgear, modern steering wheel that somehow just works. The seats are modern luxury-grade buckets. They probably don’t fold flat like the stock ones, but you know what? They look so good, visually as well as what I presume they feel like, that I won’t miss that feature. The center console is a comparably useful feature anyway… hm, that’s odd…”

“What, that the floor appears to be the same leather as the dash trim, just like Golden McToothless before?”

“Huh, that’s weird too, for sure - I think we were nearing the bottom of our second pitcher by the time we got to interior materials - but no, what I’m puzzled about is why there’s an automatic shifter but manual pedals.”

“Pitcher of what, absinthe?”

“Damned if I remember…”

“And now we come around to the front… and my word, it’s no less of a visual triumph than the back. The chrome bumper is gone, though they kept the… uh…”

“I don’t know what they’re called, either.”

“Alright, ‘tits’ it is. They work, and the missing bumper accentuates the sharp-toothed maw that announces this car for what it is. Below that, we’ve got a big aero lip that makes the front look like a locomotive, in a good way, and a couple of new vents for some reason?”

“Those are for brake cooling, and they sure have reasons, alright - ‘loco-motive’ is an aptly chosen term, my dear; I don’t remember the details, which are printed out somewhere in this pile of papers, but the proposed powertrain indeed provides a loco amount of motive power… ah, here it is! Take a look.”

“Holy hell…”

Blinoor’s mood had been much lifted by the tour around the eye candy shop, and even more so by the spec sheet for the supercharged V12 that ZRD had proposed, especially by the prospect of hearing twelve cylinders, twelve throttle bodies, and the wail of a blower on top of that… Her smile, however, began to waver just as Farra thought to ask, “Wait… how much does this behemoth drink?”

“Oof… Being modern doesn’t make up for being huge, and for being transmitted by a complex and relatively lossy drivetrain. We’re looking at 15.7L/100km, which, alas…”

“…Is significantly past what we’d a priori decided was a hard limit. Glorious though it may be to look at and listen to - and to drive; economy aside, the specs are quite impressive - it doesn’t meet the requirements. Can you find that guy again and talk to him about a different powertrain? Because I really hate to bin something this gorgeous, but a hard rule is a hard rule, and it’s broken.”

“It’s not the only one, at that - we couldn’t get the result road-registered because it doesn’t meet emissions requirements. The engine is 2020, which year in Dalluha must meet WES 9, but this only meets WES 7.”

“Ouch.”

Blinoor paused a moment and sighed. “Bollocks… so visually splendid, but two hard rules broken are two too many.”

VERDICT: Binned.

3. LMJ Design

by @knugcab

“Definitely more ‘resto’ than ‘mod’, at least the exterior. Where’d this come from?”

“An older gentleman at the bar, a regular of the local classic car club that I’d met before. I remember us yakking about Mercedes V12 engines, otherwise that’s about when last night’s Dark Age began. I’m glad there are good reference drawings…”

“After the bombastic performance of the last candidate, this is frankly a bit underwhelming… although, as I study it more, I see less ‘underwhelming’ and more ‘sensible’. And the interior… ok, yeah, this is a visually modest but ultimately thorough proposal. Let’s start the visual tour, shall we?”

“It looks like a period-correct custom paint job at first glance, though there are a lot of subtle visual tweaks. The exhaust and reverse lights have traded places. There are bumper tits on the back. It’s unclear where the license plate is supposed to mount, but that’s a minor quibble. Not sure what that chrome bar under the rear window is supposed to be, but it looks like it belongs there anyway. The sides…”

“They’ve tidied up the side details. In a good way, I’d say, except two things I notice. First, it’s all well and good to give a modern fuel filler, but the original had dual tanks and fillers to match; where is the second one here?”

“Perhaps the tanks are now integrated? I’ll have to ask and clarify. And the other thing?”

“Why did they leave the side vents the original, unrestored, badly peeling paint?”

“…I have no idea.”

“Coming around to the front… hah! This time, instead of missing teeth, we’ve got a couple of crowns. I can’t say I like or dislike them.”

“Same here. I think, regarding the exterior, that’s a pretty apt summary - the proposed work is fairly subtle, not intensive or extensive, and what changes there are… simply are. The result is perfectly servicable, and does justice to the visuals of the stock car, but as modifications go, the feeling elicited is mostly Indifference. Which is a lot preferable to Lamentable Ruin as with the first candidate, but takes a back seat to Splendor, as with the second. What’s inside, then…?”

“It gets more interesting in here. As it should; I’ve always said that a car is defined by its interior more than exterior. Whoever runs LMJ appears to be on the same page about these priorities. Although I can’t say quite the same for the esthetics.”

“Fake marble, really?”

“Hand-painted, allegedly, but… why? Some DCMW have used real marble, and in the right place and the right quantity, it works. Here… it’s a bit tacky, eh?”

“A bit much, yes. Moving past that, however, I must say - I like what I see. Not my preferred color scheme, but it’s cohesive, well-executed, visually impressive… apart from… what, seriously?”

“Why on earth is the dashboard painted in the deteriorated original paint?”

“Perhaps it’s a rendering glitch? I can’t imagine that’s on purpose…”

“Overlooking that, what else have we got? The carpet is thankfully carpet, not leather. The headliner has a lovely diamond pattern that complements the seat and doorpanel inserts well. The neatly folding seats are still so, except now with removable headrests. There’s a very nicely integrated infotainment system. And… modern seatbelts! They do spoil the open-window visuals a bit, but I’d say it’s worth the tradeoff, no?”

“Ehhh, sure. What do we think of the looks overall?”

“I liked the ZRD’s exterior a lot more, but the LMJ has a bit of a lead inside. Both are quite cohesive on the whole. Functionally, this one keeps the hatch and the folding bed feature, so ranking them by looks and design alone… is hard. The ZRD is just so much nicer to look at. But to own and drive and live with, it’d be this one. Of course, there are mechanicals to consider as well. What’re we working with here?”

“The proposal is a Mercedes M275 - a 5.5L twin-turbo 36-valve V12, making a smooth and reliable 517hp with a nice, round, gentle torque curve. This is fed through… bah, another slushbox! But it’s my own damn fault for not stating a preference for ye olde stick-n-clutch. Rear-drive, except the clutch-type diff is to be a more civilized and reliable gear-type… high-quality tires… a lot of extra quality poured into footwork… presumably to make the conversion from hydropneumatics to air shocks more straightforward and reliable. Likely similar logic was followed for the variable electric steering and ABS.”

“Does it work?”

“Judging by the specs, I’d say it does, more or less. Consumption is a problem, at 13.9L/100km, but it’s minimally acceptable. The power, and especially the low-revving torque-monster powerband, are great as such, but it’s a good thing I’m doing most of the driving; there’s no traction control, and the skinny 205mm tires are going to have a hard time with anywhere near full power. The less direct control due to the seven transmission speeds controlled by a semi-autonomous wizard somewhere, doesn’t help matters. Aside from that, it seems well set-up - brakes are balanced and fade-free, the suspension very comfortable while still handling well, it’s reliable, and overall well-sorted-out. Shall we keep it in consideration?”

“Yes, of course. It’s not the most exciting restomod proposal, though it has its highlights, but it’s sensible, cohesive, and functionally a decent match for what we’re after.”

VERDICT: Taken into consideration.

To be continued…

4 Likes

Some explanations (and some weird things) here. I did not touch the grille as far as I can remember, must have been something messing up in the import. Vents…yeah, the problem is probably that I repainted the body instead of changing the actual paint, easy to mess such things up then. I have some memory about changing at least the top of the dashboard, but since I played with multiple fixtures there to hide the infotainment, I might have messed something up. I have some memories (might be messed up) about thinking it was supposed to be black wrinkle finish on the bottom which may be why I kept it.

The chrome bar is a take on “how can I integrate aero and make it look period correct”. Sure, IRL that spoiler wouldn’t do shit, but I used the artistic freedom of the game here…so yep, I am a sinner myself despite nagging about realism.

I admit this is a real rushjob… :see_no_evil:

whoops, well I guess I forgot to give the engine some emissions trim when I made it, and curse UK MPG conversions :stuck_out_tongue:

meh. expected results atp im just ass at modding/building cars. least i didnt get binned…

4. Low Ryder by MTL Customs & Tuning

by @karhgath

“Muscular and topless, eh?” Farra cast a seductive look her partner, and continued, “You of all people should know how weak my knees get for that…” Blinoor smiled and blushed faintly in appreciation.

“…But beyond that, the first visual impression is that it’s something I neither care to see nor be seen in. We’ve got a bodykit that looks like something from AutomationZone’s clearance bins, unfinished in a couple shades of primer grey. The wheels are very nice, but how tucked in they are doesn’t help, and the camber? When and how in the name of the sand and sky did it become desirable for cars to look like the wheels are either about to fall off, or already have, and are just propped against the hubs?”

“Unlike the ZRD, the fender flares are not as well visually balanced or executed. The ass is quite long, and dangles awkwardly. No way we’re crossing Archana in this! I’m not sure it’ll even make it out of our driveway!”

“Ah, but it uses a sophisticated active suspension system that 1. automatically raises when terrain gets too uneven, and 2. allows it to be manually raised from the driver’s seat. It’s shown here in fully dropped form - Hard Park Mode, if you will.”

“I suppose that’s ok, then. Still looks a bit funny, though. And by the way, does this thing still have a usable trunk?”

“The soft top lives in there. I’m sure it can’t take up the whole space, but it’s certainly smaller and less accessible than before. And sleeping in it, like we can in the original, is out of the question. Not ideal for roadtrips.”

“What’s going on with the rear grill?”

Blinoor shuffled through the pictures and found one demonstrating the lights.

“Oh yes, that’s lovely. No mistaking that car for any other at night. You know, this is starting to grow on me… slightly. It’s still juvenile and ridiculous, but sincere enough that I can embrace the garishness and low-budget ratrod vibe, and run with it. It helps that the more subtle tweaks - the revised taillights, the grill, the trunk and hood - are better done. It’s visually not my favorite, but I won’t veto it on looks alone. That’s just one third of the equation, so let’s examine the other two, starting with… wow! Now that’s an interior!”

“Hah, look! Yet another dashboard with the nasty old horseshit-infused original paint.”

“What’s up with that? Are the natives of this island just that surrounded by horses and horseshit that it gets to their heads? As before, I guess we can overlook that. Otherise, this is outstanding - the colors, the materials, the modernizations along with what’s been left alone…”

“Yeah, about that… touchscreens are abominations with respect to ergonomics and safety, but we can’t fault the designer for including one. And as screens go, this is very neatly integrated into the dash. I especially like how it’s left a few of the stock dashboard vent’s slats visible alongside the upper screen. Unlike a lot of even factory-installed screens, this one didn’t invade this space, it improves it.”

“Agreed on both counts. Aside from the paint, the only two faults I find with the interior: 1. some of the carbon fiber trim doesn’t line up with itself, and 2. the manual shifter is rather… um… girthy. If I were a size queen, that’d be a selling point by itself, but as someone with not the biggest hands having to shift the gearbox… it’s a minor nit to pick, and really the last remaining one in an otherwise stellar interior. It’s the best we’ve seen so far, though I can’t say it goes with the exterior at all.”

“Cohesiveness is a bit lacking, yes. But did I mention that the interior work would be done to a handmade +5 standard?”

“You mean it’d be made as well as it looks? That certainly helps its case, though heightens the contrast with the bodywork. Still, a net gain, and now we have mechanicals to consider. You said there was something unusual about this one?”

"It’s a turbodiesel! An inline-six common-rail type mated to the driveline and front suspension pulled off a later Sharriallat. The bad news is that its song and feel are rather ho-hum compared to the V12 of the others, just smooth and balanced in a safe and slighly boring sort of way. The good news is damn near everything else.

Power? Plenty adequate - 273hp in a smooth, low-revving curve, and the driveline puts it to good use; this thing keeps up with many dedicated performance cars.

Engine reliability? A fantastic 116.7, that becomes a still-excellent - and best of the candidates - 110.9 when accounting for common-rail problems.

NVH? 83.7 smoothness, not quite a V12 but still a paragon. Noise is a bit high due to a performance intake, but it’s somewhat mitigated by a lot of development effort spent on acoustic tuning, and it ends up 37.7 adjusted, roughly a wash with the others, assuming the ZRD’s outlying 26.2 rating isn’t taking its blower into account.

But the star of this show is the fuel consuption - 6.5L/100km is, no exaggeration, half of the next best candidate. Half!"

"That’s quite impressive! How’s the ride?

“It uses a trick active suspension that allows it to look like a framescraper but maintain normal ride height in normal use, and even raise itself further as needed. Being an off-the-shelf kit, spring and damper rates aren’t as precisely matched as the originals, but they’re reasonably close and well balanced. Body lean is well-controlled at 4.8 degrees. Between the ride and the interior, comfort is an excellent 76.4 when corrected for gearbox and torque - the best of the proposals by a small margin.”

“Anything else to say about it?”

“Yes, this time not good news. Though I made it clear in the requirements that we weren’t too worried about service costs except for wacky alignment specs, this car was up and designed with severe camber and toe settings, especially in the back. Now, the camber gets more reasonable at normal height, but the toe is still quite a lot. Compared to the original alignment specifications (camber front/rear 0/-1.2, toe 0.05/0.15), the Low Ryder has -3.0/-3.0 and 0.15/0.50, which make it eat tires about 2.5x faster, and rob it of about 5% fuel economy. Having high-quality tires doesn’t help matters.”

“Definitely drawbacks. How do those costs compare to the savings from the fuel economy?”

[OOC: the costs of wheels and tires are unrealistically low, while brakes are unrealistically high, but it’s what I have to work with]

"Let’s see… Wheels and tires cost a combined $536, of which $89 are the alu wheels, leaving the set of medium-compound 205/60R18 102Y radials at +4 quality costing $447. Let’s assume a 50000km lifespan for those $447 tires in normal use. The alignment results in those same 50000km costing about 2.5x as much, or $1118, an extra $671. Driving in Dalluha or Archana, where diesel and 91RON both cost $0.80/liter, at 6.5L/100km, those same 50000km cost $2600 in fuel. At 6.2L, where it would be at stock toe, that amount would be $2480, a reduction of $120. But at the consumption of the next best proposal, 13L/100k, those 50000km cost $5200 in fuel, $2600 more than this diesel would cost for the same distance traveled.

Of course, there’s more to the equation than simply fuel and tire costs, including that we both frown upon waste as such… but looking at the proposals as wholes (and assuming equal baseline tire costs in the others), the $671 extra that the Low Ryder costs in tires every 50000km is dwarfed by the $2600 it saves in fuel."

“So considering the whole package, that’s really not bad.”

“No, it’s not. I’d say that mechanically, this is head and shoulders above anything else proposed. Oh, and one other thing - this has by far the best off-road ability of the lot, though that’s not saying much: 19.0. Functionally, though, the reduced cargo area usability is a sigificant drawback. What do you think?”

“Suppose cargo room as such were ok, we just couldn’t sleep in it. While a drawback no matter what, how far do fuel costs help pay for lodging?”

“On a roadtrip, 1000km in a day is common enough. Driving that distance, compared to a 13L/100km V12, the Low Ryder saves $52 in fuel. Roughly cancels that out.”

“Ok, let’s put it on the short list.”

“There’s only one left anyway…”

VERDICT: Taken into consideration.

5. StarGazer by TreadKillers

by @mikonp7

“Hot damn!”

“Gives the ZRD a run for its money, eh?”

“Sure does! I like the paint on that one better, and some lesser details, but the chop top makes the already sleek Sharriallat look so swanky that it’d get kicked out of an awards ceremony at the Ritz Carlton for making the venue look drab.”

“The handful of stars sprinkled over the exterior… not sure how I feel about those. Nor about the whitewalls; I guess I’m undecided. The wheel covers and wheels themselves look like they belong there. I’m not sure how I’d rank the exterior against the ZRD, but considering that one’s disqualified, I’d say this is by far the best exterior design. Let’s take a look inside…”

“It’s not bad, and matches the exterior quite well, but is not its equal.”

“The Low Ryder’s looked better, for sure. All that pink padding reminds me of my grandma’s bathrobe. Not sure what’s going on in the center console, with the… ductwork?”

“As with the LMJ, they paid attention to an original feature that’s central to the car’s purpose - the fold-flat seats - and simply restored them with the addition of headrests. And in the back…”

“More of grandma’s bathrobe, I’m afaid. But at least it’s soft and functional. And that looks like a pretty thumpin’ sound system! But I see no updated headunit, so we get thumpin’, audiophile-grade… AM radio?”

“While looking for the headunit, I notice that there’s an auto shifter and manual pedals, but they did pay attention to the dash paint; no horseshit here, thankfully.”

“Speaking of the auto shifter, what’s going on under the hood?”

“Mild disappointment. The proposal calls for an original 12-560-43 longblock, updated with an expensive mechanical fuel injection system, feeding the rear wheels through yet another slushbox. While the 331hp and the chorus of twelve throttle bodies are very welcome, fuel consumption is very high at 13.0L/100km, while reliability quite low by modern standards (72.5 engine and overall). At least the transmission is a modern, reliable, and well-geared unit.”

“And the rest of the mechanicals?”

“The suspension is on the soft side, which it gets away with thanks to adaptive air struts with active swaybars. It looks like it handles ok and is very comfortable, but in neither parameter quite the Low Ryder’s equal. Off-road is 10.2, so anything beyond a flat gravel road is off-limits.”

“So driving it amounts to displaying an utterly gorgeous exterior while we have to contend with a decent-looking and reasonably functional interior. Aurally, an odd mix of fantastic but expensive engine note and hi-fi AM radio. Low reliability, but at least we won’t be far fom pavement ifnwhen it does break down. If we get into an accident, on the other hand, I’m not sure what happens; though the specs indicated that newer safety than Advanced 70s would be unrealistic, this proposal somehow includes Standard 20s.”

“Is that a bin?”

“Ehh… it’s borderline. Let’s say, for now, that it isn’t. Are we ready to pick a winner?”

VERDICT: Nearly binned, but taken into consideration.

At this point in the writeup, Automation decided to send an army of poltergeists to break my mods in a haphazard fashion. Therefore there will be no futher pictures.

Deliberations

Per initial criteria…

Comfort: All three are comparable per the stat, and have similar suspension equipment and tuning. Corrected for gearbox and torque, LMJ places third at 67.6, the StarGazer second with 70.0, the Low Ryder in the lead with 76.4. Adjusting to account for engine noise mitigation, the gap widens further. Countering the Low Ryder’s lead is that car-camping is no longer possible, but the interior quality, both engineered and modeled, restores its Superiority. Winner: Low Ryder.

Looks, inside and out: Externally, the StarGazer takes the cake and devours every last crumb. The LMJ stands respectfully next to it, while the Low Ryder isn’t even invited to that party. Inside, it’s the other way around to a lesser extent - the LMJ’s interior is comparable, the StarGazer’s not quite at the same level, while the Low Ryder redeems itself visually, though at the cost of cohesion. Winner: StarGazer.

Reliability: Low Ryder’s 89.4 has a comfortable lead over LMJ’s 79.3 and StarGazer’s 72.5.

Fuel economy: Low Ryder’s margin of victory here is 2:1.

Off-road: Low Ryder is far from a rough ryder, but by nearly 2:1 is the best we’ve got.

Sportiness, drivability: with gearbox bonus/penalty removed, Sportiness is nearly a wash, with all three 21-22. For Driveability, the Low Ryder leads with 71.7, followed by the LMJ’s 65.3 and the StarGazer’s 63.7. Winner: Low Ryder.

Prestige: on paper, LMJ’s twin-turbo V12, with a Mercedes-Benz badge no less, gives it a solid lead with 70.2 over the StarGazer’s 65.5 and the Low Ryder’s lowly 64.1. Considering what exactly Farra and Blinoor value, however, the twelve throttle bodies and less-muffled song of the StarGazer, combined with its looks, hand it the win here.

Safety: StarGazer is a near-bin. Low Ryder suffers a bit for being a convertible, but this isn’t reflected in the stats. None are obvious deathtraps. Call it a mistrial.

Service costs: LMJ’s twin-turbo V12 is a pain in the ass to work on, contributing to its place as the worst, at $2644. Low Ryder also has a German engine with two turbos, but with half the cylinders helps offset the added wear and tear from the alignment and the driveline, amounting to $2293. Throttle bodies don’t really take much maintenance, so having twelve of them doesn’t keep the StarGazer from winning this category with $1673.

Upfront costs: All three are very close - StarGazer at $57500, LMJ at $58500, Low Ryder at $59900.

Congratulations to...

@karhgath for solid interior and engineering overcoming questionable exterior styling. While scoring no further points per se, the decision to venture into the experimental world of fake diesels is commendable in its own right.

4 Likes

Maybe (the winner) wants to host, but in case not, it could be an idea to post a ranking of the rest too.

Also, if one should be picky, LMJ, but I don’t expect you to change the whole post for that, I understood what was written.

Changed it anyway. Sorry about that!

Further ranking isn’t easy, in part because of the StarGazer’s near-bin, and also because of uncertainty regarding how to rate the final execution of the impossible task of a jank-free chop top… but while the LMJ has slightly better stats, contributing to its stronger showing in most priorities, the StarGazer’s decisive win in one of the top priorities - looks - mean @mikonp7 has dibs in case @karhgath declines. @Knugcab is third, followed by @twistedumbreon and then @riley.

I invite anyone to comment on the diesel rules.

3 Likes

Thanks a lot moroza for hosting this round, was super fun to mutilate your creation! And grats to all those who participated.

I will most likely host next round, but I only have one idea currently.

In honor of the new patch and new bodies, I was thinking of basing it on this, if people are interested (very WIP and rough)… Yes, it would be back to an IRL car.

image

Yay or nay?

5 Likes

Yay! But what about a Helios Turbo?

As a fan of older Jeeps I say “yay”.

First, I am not that confident doing one of my car, and then I am not sure what would be fun to do with it - it is already a very good supercar. What kind of fun restomod would you do with a Countach for example? Not the best canvas for ARM I think, the engine bay is minuscule anyway so very limited swaps.


014ac84a8bf1581ef20fb5471ad611ac
I can think of a few things haha

One tip if going the Jeep route is to not be too obvious and set offroad as a top priority.

conrads jeep1
Sure, this is fun and has its place in such a challenge, but…

If the ruleset allows for less radical stuff like this to have a chance too…
1617f1d1e35c5cce7a1b7872f0159bfe

…not to speak about radical but in a completely different way like this…

…we might get some more diversity, which could be fun. It is up to you of course, just a suggestion.

3 Likes

Do not worry, I think I have an interesting brief, some of the above are already in my inspo :wink:

Should have the brief early this week.

Oh sure you can modify it and such, but it is not a super open canvas for tons of possibilities and also begs the question - why? :wink:

Also FYI, it won’t be a 100% lookalike, I backtracked and decided to simplify the base car and stick to the base model as much as possible and not attempt to get the finer details right on the body (should be a round fender in the rear, the door has a offset to the rear, the rear is different, etc.) - I will leave those precise detailing to those who want to go into details instead of having to rework my hundreds of shoddy fixtures work :wink: (and also it will be easier to morph the car, change body, etc.)

Also, I was thinking of leaving the interior completely up to people and not provide a simple one - with the amount of body change and possible morph I think it is the best option.

2 Likes