FS: 1994 Ilaris Ion S8 wagon (26316$)
V8 6MT
I wish I could have gotten this up to my standard of quality but apparently it’s the season of malaise and coughing up blood…
I wish I could have gotten this up to my standard of quality but apparently it’s the season of malaise and coughing up blood…
9 Likes
2003 Volaro Verlyn Tourer - VST “Arizaga”
year make model bodystyle trim “special”
taken care of. it has a 3.3 liter turbocharged inline-6 that makes about 369.2 hp @ 6600RPM and 363.5 lb-ft @ 3900RPM, sent through a 6-speed manual to all 4 wheels. The engine redlines at 7400RPM, and the car is electronically limited to 165MPH.
VST is a trim slightly different (currently arbitrarily) to the facelift VSN of a prior-generation seen in QFC47 and the pre-facelift VSN from Happyhungryhippo’s CSCS4. The Arizaga designation comes from having been turbocharged by Volaro’s internal turbo-specialized tuning house partially run by the Arizaga Legal team family of VOLARO Group, as opposed to the Llereza supercharger-specialized mini-house headed by some Llereza Finance BODs. The VSN from CSCS4 is a Llereza supercharged car.
This is a facelift of the second generation (to be manufactured under VOLARO Group) Verlyn. The first generation under VOLARO Group ran from its inception in 1988 to 1996 (ignore the aforementioned QFC entry’s claims of being a 1998 model, this is now my retconning) and the second generation under them ran from 1997 to 2003. The third generation can be seen in CSCS3 as a sedan and CSR162 as a coupe running from 2004 to 2010, with a facelift posted as an extra goodie in my pinned topic.
this example is meant to have a neon taillamp bar! if it were real, it would be the fourth production vehicle to ever feature a neon element in at least one part of its exterior lighting features. it’s also got HID headlights, which are less noteworthy relatively.
$28657
8 Likes
Unlike previous Cool Walls, we will save for last the criteria that are most subjective, most difficult to evaluate and to compare to others, and most of all, the biggest point categories that will decide the winner, so as to build and maintain suspense. We begin in the opposite corner…
Upfront costs
None of the cars went over the $35k soft cap after I remembered to factor out weight redistribution. There are no longer any penalties, but the order has little changed - @ErenWithPizza’s 2005 Mancini Dirigente is most expensive car in this lineup of twelve, a score of flat zero for this category.
Whatever else there’ll be to say about the styling, I will say at this point that it does look like it should be the most expensive.
At the other end of the spectrum, and at P1 by a significant margin, is @Knugcab’s 1987 IP Celestia 2000DX wagon for a bit over half of that, at $22,048, earning it this category’s maximum of 2.0 points.
The IP is also a bit of a fluke to the pattern of older entries costing more. @tsarchasm’s 1958 300GT Europa was the better part of double the present-day budget, costing $57500 when it was new. The Europa is also the oldest car submitted by any measure; it was 22 when the next oldest sold with a warranty.
And the rest:
Service costs
Nobody used a crankshaft-driven supercharger of any kind, and the strongest driver of maintenace costs appears to be turbochargers, especially older and fancier ones. At the top here in the “poster child money pit” department is the 1980 Novalina 626 GT4 wagon by Carrosserie Marin (@mart1n2005), with its estimated annual bill of nearly $1800 and a corresponding score of zero.
It isn’t just a turbo, it also uses a quite complex mechanical fuel injection system - the only car to do so - and furthermore with individual throttle bodies. That hood/bonnet line also reminds of the early 90s Nissan Z32, with some component access resembling in situ neurosurgery on heartworms. Still, it isn’t much worse than the runners-up.
Meanwhile, its opposite is the 1958 300GT Europa (see above) by @tsarchasm, which is the only carbureted engine here. Despite being a V12 with a relatively advanced carb setup (mid-performance triple two-barrels), maintaining it just doesn’t seem to be that troublesome or expensive. Its victory margin isn’t vast, however.
Offroad
While this vehicle won’t be anything like an expedition vehicle, much less a dedicated offroader, the reality of long-distance roadtrips is that obstacles are out there, and making minor sacrifices elsewhere to be able to handle them minimally or better is a good idea.
No, these all vary from the low end of Mediocre to the high end of Hopeless, when it comes to anything more challenging than wet leaves. The one SUV here isn’t even on the podium, and the top two are RWD, not AWD as many (most?) others, both details speaking volumes about how much we’re out of our element here. The 2012 Hockenheim EST635 Citadel Sport by @superbiirdd takes a very narrow victory, but a full 2.0-point victory all the same.
Meanwhile, good luck getting the 2013 Artemis Osprey Gale Edition Wagon by @oldmanbuick even out of a bad driveway, nevermind up a snowy road or dry trail.
Sportiness
It’s better news here: the worst is a not-bad-at-all 18.7 (the 1958 300GT Europa), which despite its light weight and reasonable power, has tires too small.
The most athletic is over double that, at 41.5. Remember that 2013 Artemis (@oldmanbuick) that struggled to move on anything less than perfect tarmac? Well, ifnwhen you do manage to get it onto good pavement, and keep it there, you do get rewarded by the best handling in town. Though on the heavy side (1736kg, 58% of which is in the nose due to no attempt made to fix an Automation bug) and surprisingly soft-sprung for its 265/45R19 sport tires, the strong grip and quite lively engine make it the most fun to drive here, by a small but decisive margin.
Pleasant surprise from the (partial?) corporate littermate of Flint, notorious for Feeling Like It’s Nap Time.
Rotating inertia
Why is this even here, especially when “responsiveness” is already a major component of Sportiness? Because it’s a different variable that trades responsiveness (especially when shifting) for smoothness, not for fuel consumption. And because it’s something Des particularly cares about.
Unlike Sportiness, a wide chasm separates the liveliest from the most lethargic, with a rather tapered midrange due to one big fat outlier. The winner, however, shouldn’t be too surprising: that 2013 Artemis Osprey Gale Wagon (@oldmanbuick) is powered by an oversquare all-alloy 4.7L V8 that not only has no flywheel, beyond a bare minimum for clutch and starter motor purposes, but also has forged and mostly lightweight internals, machined in a few choice areas to weigh even less. The car’s handling is servicable, but outright grip aside, nothing special. The engine, however, is a veritable dance partner, and would be an absolute joy to drop two or three gears and wind out to its 8300rpm redline. Even with its weight, 426hp is nothing to sneeze at, either. Out of 4.7L, naturally aspirated? Impressive. Still manages to get 11.4L/100km with a car this size? Good sweet spot. 84.7 reliability? Most impressive. On the loud side, but Des can’t hear it anyway because of a highly misspent youth doesn’t mind.
If Flint is predictable, boring naptime, this is is A Remarkably Torrid Engine, a Most Impressive Surprise.
At the other end, the otherwise fairly maximalist build of the engine on the 2001 North W73 (@toxicnet) - more on this one later - also includes an utterly colossal 67.5kg rotating assembly. What this tank engine lacks in responsiveness, though… well, you’ll see.
OOC: I realize that this should have been scaled for displacement. As neither prestige nor outright power were among the priorities, while economy was, this would/should have overly encouraged tiny engines. Thankfully, at least in this case, a holistic approach to the engineering kept this one in what I’ve found to be a pretty good sweet spot for this size and type of car, high 4.some liters regardless of cylinder count.
| Year | Make & Model | Rotating Inertia | RI Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | North W73 | 67.5 | 0.0 |
| 2008 | DDS R-Speed 8 | 45.2 | 0.9 |
| 2009 | Menschen Sahara RV8 | 30.8 | 1.4 |
| 2005 | Armor Kestrel Sportwagon | 25.7 | 1.6 |
| 2012 | Hockenheim EST635 Citadel Sport | 20.9 | 1.8 |
| 1958 | 300GT Europa | 19.4 | 1.9 |
| 2005 | Mancini Dirigente | 18.4 | 1.9 |
| 1994 | Ilaris Ion S8 | 18.4 | 1.9 |
| 1980 | Novalina 626 GT4 wagon by Carrosserie Marin | 18.4 | 1.9 |
| 2003 | VOLARO Verlyn Tourer VST Arizaga | 18.3 | 1.9 |
| 1987 | IP Celestia 2000DX | 15.9 | 2.0 |
| 2013 | Artemis Osprey Gale Edition | 15.8 | 2.0 |
Overall standings after all 2-point categories:
| Year | Make & Model | 2-point subtotal |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | North W73 | 2.6 |
| 1980 | Novalina 626 GT4 wagon by Carrosserie Marin | 3.6 |
| 2008 | DDS R-Speed 8 | 3.9 |
| 2005 | Armor Kestrel Sportwagon | 5.2 |
| 2005 | Mancini Dirigente | 5.9 |
| 2003 | VOLARO Verlyn Tourer VST Arizaga | 6.0 |
| 1958 | 300GT Europa | 6.1 |
| 1987 | IP Celestia 2000DX | 6.5 |
| 2013 | Artemis Osprey Gale Edition | 6.5 |
| 2012 | Hockenheim EST635 Citadel Sport | 7.3 |
| 2009 | Menschen Sahara RV8 | 7.6 |
| 1994 | Ilaris Ion S8 | 8.6 |
10 Likes
Well. The engine in the Celestia is supposed to be swapped for the one from the sportiest of the models, the GTT coupé, hence the disharmony.
It appears I forgot about weight sliders in price calculations. Uhhh… standby for correction.
3 Likes
My car is in fact a wagon as classified by Automation and therefore the weight slider should be free. It should only cost $34615 and should not get any penalties
2 Likes
Hey now, Artemis Automotive Company, Inc., is only partially owned by Flint Group, Inc., parent company of Flint Motor Company, Inc. Because Flint’s founder refused to accept the “damn fool” idea of building sports cars, of course. So any accusations that Artemis makes slow, boring cars will not be accepted. Let the record reflect that Artemis specializes in manufacturing fast, boring cars with that certain je ne sais quoi of just not really having all that much flair.
3 Likes