(Ok, I’ll start with my own guide, shall we?)
bxDroid’s Guide on 2010s Euro Sport Premium Compact Executives and Executives
Note: Since this is still WIP, the guide may include some errors and a lack of content. Expect more improvements soon. 
This guide is created for people to give an idea on how build a typical premium Euro D-segment or E-segment vehicles. You can also use this guide to make an American/Asian car from the similar segment as well since they mostly have similar configs too.
D-segment = equivalent to mid-size in America
E-segment = equivalent to full-size in America
1. Body
For these kinds of vehicles, I often recommend these bodies, shown below, if you want to make such vehicles. Typically in the 2010s, a D-segment compact executive often has a wheelbase of 2.8m, and a E-segment executive has a wheelbase of 2.9 - 3m. Use bodies of similar length to make it work well. Generally, 2010s European body styles are recommended for these cars, but with enough working, some other bodies could actually work in some cases too.
Legend
Recommended bodies
Workable but not really recommended
2010s Audi A4 body (3m)
2010s BMW 1/3/7 body (2.8m/3m)
2010s Jaguar XF body (3m)
2000s Generic Sedan (modified Audi?) body (3m)
2010s Toyota CH-R car (not SUV) bodies (3m)
Other similar bodies may work too, but not that recommended. Older bodies (1990 and older) are generally should be avoided unless you’re desperate or being something like ClassicWorks from me.
Mod bodies are not included here, because not everyone has the mods but if you wanted to use mods, the 2.8m Audi body (for some reason it’s still unofficialized when it’s 3.0m brother is), the Saab 9-5 body and the standard 00s Bentley Continental body are also nice choices while making such vehicles.
As for body styles, normally a sedan/estate is really enough for most cases. Some vehicles such as the Mercedes Benz C/E or BMW 3 Series have extra body styles such as coupes, cabriolets and also crossover-like estates too, so you can literally use most of the styles given from the bodies.
Lengths for typical D-segment compact executive sedans are typically 4.7-4.8m, while E-segment executive sedans are often seen hovering between 4.9 to 5m.
2. Chassis
Typically, most vehicles from this segment have pretty sophisticated chassis designs and of course, the use of much fancier materials is encouraged in those cars. Just don’t make it too fancy that can even make a S-Class feels like a bargain.
Chassis type: AHS steel (or light AHS in some more expensive vehicles) monocoque. Nobody in this day makes a 5-series beater with a cheap steel ladder or an expensive carbon fiber shell. Audi does have it’s awesome Audi Space Frame but that’s for the the higher end cars like the Audi A8 and the R8 so I generally say no, but if you want a something that is on the higher end then that’s probably possible.
Panel material: Often times, aluminum is used on those vehicles. Partial aluminum (Steel bodies with aluminum parts) is possible but not recommended.
Engine layout: In most cases many vehicles from those segments use the tried and tested longitudinal front-engine, RWD layout. AWD is sometimes used for higher-end models. Exceptions: Audi and Volvo currently uses FWD instead of RWD on this segment, with Audi utilizing the longitudinal engine layouts while Volvo is using the transverse engine layout.
Suspension: The most commonly used layout for those vehicles are double wishbones on the front and multi-link suspension on the rear.
Suspension of a Jaguar XE. The picture does clearly state that the XE has double wishbones on the front and Integral Link (it’s just multi-link in Jaguar speak) on the rear
3. Engine
https://i.imgur.com/Ntz8WM8.jpg
Vehicles of this segment in the 2010s commonly use these kinds of petrol engines:
- 4-cylinder inline turbo engines (often 2.0 liters, but sometimes up to 2.8 liters is used as well in some cases) - For most low-mid range vehicles
- 6-cylinder inline (BMW, new Jaguar, new Mercedes)/V (Audi, Alfa Romeo, old Jaguar, old Mercedes) turbo engines (often 3.0 liters) - Some high-end vehicles, as well as some performance compact executives
- V8 engines (often 4.0 liters in turbocharged form, sometimes maybe N/A and/or capacities up to 6.2 liters (older C63/E63)) - most high-performance executives and some cases (C63) compact executives
Of course, diesel and hybrids are also used in these cars but due to limitations it’s yet to be possibly implemented in Automation.
Bore and Stroke: Typically it’s common to have an undersquare engine in most cases due to it’s higher fuel effiency. Not all cases are accurate tho. The Mercedes M156 V8 engine (used in the W204 C63 and the early models of the W212 E63) is actually an oversquare design, just for more power.
Engine materials: Aluminum or AiSi engines are pretty much the norm for this segment. High-performance vehicles could get away with titanium.
Valvetrains and top-end: Currently everyone on this segment uses DOHC with 4 valves per cylinder. Variable valve lift is also pretty much common in this segment.
Crank and bottom-end: Cast cranks and conrods still rules on the lower part of most engines. The fancier forged/billet parts is more likely reserved for more fancier models.
Pistons: Normal engines of that kind uses hypereutectic cast pistons. High-performance engines needs much complex forged pistons for more power and reliablity in higher RPMs.
VVT: Standard on all engines. (use the “All Cams” option)
Compression Ratio: Most engines on that segment have a compression ratio of 10.0:1 - 10.8:1.
Forced Induction: (Info to be updated soon due to this section needs a redo)
Fuel systems: Direct injection is probably the most common fuel system type in this setup. Early-2010 engines can make use of MPI, but beyond that DI is the way to go.
Fuel type: RON 95 unleaded is perfect for most cases. High-performance models may need the more expensive RON 98 unleaded to help with more power.
Fuel mixture: Lower values (13 - 14) are better for most vehicles for better fuel economy. Powerful engines can take a much richer mixture but not too rich, say at most 12.5.
Intake: Standard intake is enough for normal cars. Performance intake is mostly reserved for performance cars. As for intake config set it to single for normal engines, with higher performance ones can take advantage for dual or even per-cylinder configs.
RPM limits: Typically anything around 6500 - 7200 RPM for most engines. High-performance engines can go higher but not too high.
Exhausts: Since most of the engines are turbocharged and Automation only allows short-cast headers to be used with turbos so we’ll go with that. As for cats and mufflers pick high-flow 3-way cats and reverse-flow mufflers as it’s most likely used by everyone in that segment.
4. Drivetrain
Transmission: Manual transmissions is extremely rare in this segment, and are often not available in most cars on that level unless it’s a base model or probably some high-performance models. Most of the time an advanced automatic transmission is often used. DCTs are sometimes used on some higher-end models. Try to use at least a 7 speed gearbox for any automatic transmission.
Differentials: Open diffs is often used in most vehicles. Some high-performance vehicles may use some kind of LSD to improve handling.
Tires: Nobody in the right mind use cross-ply tires for a brand-new E-Class or a brand-new S90, as everyone is using radial tires these days. Medium compound is the most common material for tires in this segment. Sport compound is often an option on most cars but standard on higher-performance vehicles.
Rims: 16-inches is probably the smallest rims you want on a car for this segment. 15-inches are probably fine for the early 2010s but beyond that era it’s a no-no. Typically 17/18-inches are common for most mid-range models with 19/20-inches often commonly found on the top-of-the-line models. Rims beyond 20-inches is pretty uncommon however. Nearly all rims for that segment are alloy rims. Steel rims are used on the lower end and magnesium is sometimes seen as options for performance vehicles.
| Tire Sizes |
Usage |
| 14" and below |
Just don’t. |
| 15" |
For the most cheapest of the early 2010s vehicles. |
| 16" |
Entry-level standard option and sometimes the standard option for some lower mid-range models. |
| 17" |
Standard option for most mid-range models. |
| 18" |
Standard option for most mid-range and sometimes higher-end models. |
| 19" |
Standard option for higher-end models. |
| 20" |
Optional kit in most cases except for some high-performance models. |
| 21" |
Occasionally used as an option for high-performance models. |
| 22" and above |
Extremely rare unless it’s a modified vehicle. |
Brakes: Low-end models could get by with solid discs. For most cars tho vented disc brakes are the standard. Carbon ceramic brakes are used only in the high-performance vehicles and even then it’s most likely an optional upgrade to the much standard vented discs.
Aero: Fully cladded undersides are the norm in this segment. Cooling flaps and active aero are not commonly used on most vehicles.
Underbody of an Audi A4 B8
Springs: Lower end models tend to have standard coil springs (progressive is recommended, although the lowest end could get away with standard), and higher-end models tend to have air or actively controlled (aka. Active Sport/Luxury) springs.
Dampers: Most of the time “standard” twin-tube suspension is possible for that kind of cars but more complex designs is encouraged if you’re making something more fancier.
Sway bars: Standard on all cars. Passive is mostly used in the cheaper models. Fancier sway bars are often used in higher-end models.
5. Equipment
Seating layout: 2 seats on front, 3 seats on rear in most cases. That’s it. Unless it’s a coupe/convertible then it’s 2 rear seats instead of a 3. If you’re making an estate then sometimes a +2 seat layout on the behind of the rear passenger seats is acceptable (see below).
The rear is from an W212 E-Class Estate BTW
Interior: Premium is obviously the way to go in most cases. Standard is fine for lower-end models. Luxury is possible for the top-of-the-line models. As for the entertainment systems go for at least a standard infotainment system, although premium infotainment systems is recommended. Sunroofs can be fitted in higher-end models.
Driveability: Power steering (especially electric ones) is a must have for those cars. ESC is a must for this segment (and nearly all cars in the 2010s), although launch control is always an option unless it’s on the sports models.
Safety: These cars are known for their high safety so at least 2010s Standard safety is a requirement. Advanced safety is better but not a requirement for some cases. 2020s safety is fine as well for higher end models in the mid to late-2010s.
6. Suspension tuning
7. Quality sliders
Unless your name is Lexus, most vehicles from this segment has similar reliability at best. Not that I meant most cars have bad reliability (infact cars from the 2010s has higher build quality and reliability than those from the older days) but what I meant is most of the time everyone from this segment has similar build, but some will did much better, some will did much worse than others.
But anyway, if you need some quality boost from the sliders, take advantage on the interior, suspension, driving assists and safety parts while making the car which most of these cars are known of.
8. Naming and Trim levels
Naming
Despite being known as a German thing on many parts of the car community, It’s absolutely common for most European vehicles to have random set of words and/or numbers as models. e.g. E350, 330i, S60 T5…etc. Hell, even some Japanese and American carmakers also used this layout of combos as car models too! Go creative with the naming scheme if you want, but here’s some guidelines for naming like this.
- Use shorter combos. Often 3 - 5 letters/numbers is really enough for that kind of vehicle names.
- Higher numbers = better specs. Unless it’s some high-end performance model then that rule is often invalid.
- Numbers on the car ≠ engine size. This is true for most cases since you can literally expect a C300 or a 330i using 2-liter turbo-4s now.
And here’s an example of what kind of names you can expect from these segments. (taken from the page from the Wikipedia entry of the BMW 3 Series (G20))
Despite this, not everyone is doing the same thing. There is some cars not using this format of words + numbers and used some actual human words instead, eg. Alfa Romeo’s Guilia and Maserati’s Ghibli.
Trim levels
9. Typical Scenarios
The compact executive/executive segments are often normal sedans but can be sold in different body types and can be used in many scenarios. Here are some typical scenarios used for such cars.
Low-end: The cheapest versions of the premium executive vehicles, often used as taxicabs in some countries (Germany, Singapore, etc.) and fleet vehicles for rentals. Often these vehicles are coupled with low-powered inline-4s and cheaper interior materials, with less options and possibly some compromises on amenities.
Mid-range: These are the typical cars people would buy as personal or company vehicles. The 4-cylinder turbos are mostly used again on this segment, but often has more power than it’s lower-end models. More options are installed, and often includes better interior layouts.
Top-end: Most likely used as a company car or owned by much well-off people such as managers. This time, more powerful engines with more cylinders (often 6) are possible in this lineup, with more equipment and sometimes a better ride thanks to AWD (on some cases) and more safety features.
High-performance: The ultimate luxury supercar. Instead of lower-powered units, higher-performance six cyinder turbos and even V8s are used in this scenario. Suspensions and drivetrains are tuned to improve performance, and standard kit is similar on the mid-range/high-end levels.
Estates: Same as all of these scenarios above but with an estate body for more practicality and cargo load. Most cars from this segment has their own estates.
Long-wheelbase: Mostly sold in some countries such as China, these vehicles are often just typical sedans with a longer wheelbase for easier access. Not common in all models.
Coupes and convertibles: Sold as sports cars or GTs in some cases, these vehicles has the same layouts as their sedan counterparts and often has more powerful engines and (sometimes) better equipment than their sedan/estates models. Those vehicles also has a lower ground clearance to improve handling. Convertibles can be a soft-top (eg. Mercedes Benz C-Class Cabrio) or a hard-top (eg. BMW 4 Series Cabrio). Not common on some vehicles.
4-door “coupes”: These are actually just sedans with a more slanted back and a more sporty profile, makes it a compromise between a sedan and a coupe. Often sold as upmarket vehicles with higher prices and better kit compared to their more traditional counterparts. Examples include the Audi A7 and Mercedes-Benz CLS. Uncommon on some models.
Crossover estates: This special kind of estates are often sold with more off-road oriented cladding and also higher ground clearance compared to normal estates. Examples include the Volvo V90 Cross Country and the Audi A4 allroad. Also pretty uncommon on some vehicles.
(Don’t ask me why I put so much Mercedes Benz E-Classes (and an odd CLS) in the examples list. I just put that because these models are a really great example of how a typical lineup of an premium executive sedan looks like.)
(Guide is still WIP, stay tuned)
To-do list:
- Adding more new segments, as well as finishing most segments of this guide
1a. Adding more info lol.
- Fixing errors obviously.
- Redo the “Forced Induction” section on the Engine part.
Updates
0.1 beta - initial release
0.101 beta - Fixed some small errors, as well as a small info change thanks to @Aaron.W
0.2 beta - More content for the engine part of the guide, as well as new segments
0.21 beta - New content for several segments, as well as fixes
0.3 beta - New content, scenarios and fixes
0.31 beta - New info for the engine and other stuff.
0.4 beta - More content and design improvements. and why the fuck this site like to be fuzzy with my pictures
0.41 beta - Updated with more content
