Virou farra agora? Vou mandar mensagem em português então.
Vão catar coquinho na ladeira todo mundo.
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That “other car” you were referring to is, in fact, mine. Speaking of which…
It didn’t take me long to realize that a mid-engined configuration was the best one for sportiness, given that it’s a huge priority for this round. However, it took me a while longer for me to realize that, for the sake of prestige and drivability (also major priorities for this round), a big normally aspirated V12 would be the best option for it, service costs be damned. (I tried a test car with a twin-turbo V8, but soon realized that having no turbo lag at all was preferable to even a small amount of lag.)
And given that the newest eligible trim year for this round is 1988, I had to mount the engine longitudinally in order to install an AWD system, since transverse-engined AWD drivetrains are not available until 1990. Combined with all the fancy tech and interior fittings, plus all the quality points used throughout the car (including the engine), it left me very close to the budget limit (in terms of engine/trim ET and price) - but regardless of whether I win or not, I now know that it will all be worth it in the end.
Incidentally, the LP12 AWD’s combination of a naturally aspirated V12 and AWD is identical to the configuration that was originally intended for the Jaguar XJ220, but would ultimately be discarded for being too heavy, and was replaced by a twin-turbo V6 derived from the XJR-11 Group C prototype, driving just the rear wheels. Although it left potential customers in an uproar, it ensured that the XJ220 would ultimately end up being a far better car - but that’s another story.
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Finals
Western Luxury Car Dealer
Somewhere in Fruinia
The Western Luxury Car Dealer was just your average luxury car dealer. Less cars up front, a few expensive flashy vehicles to attract customers, far more snobbish salesmen, but the same shady underhanded deals. Still, this was useful for Jakob, especially when you need them to be a little more loose with the registration details. It was a place he’s been to only a few times, but he’s come to get to know the owner.
“Jakob my good friend! How are you doing?” The owner, Mr. Peters, greeted.
“Considering I’m here with no car, you could probably guess.” Jakob answered.
“Ah haha, well I’m sure I’ll lighten your mood today!” Mr. Peters laughed.
“Right, so do you have what I asked?”
“Of course, of course. Right out back! But first, would you like a coffee, tea?”
“Coffee is good. Black.” Jakob replied, walking with Mr. Peters.
After they got his coffee, the two men stepped out to the back of the dealer, where the 5 cars he requested sat, shining with their pristine paints.
“Have to say, some of these were difficult to get in time!” Mr. Peters said. “So, which one first?”
“Let’s start with the LCE.”
LCE LP12 AWD Concept - @abg7
At 88600, the LP12 was at the top of Jakob’s budget, and in his mind, the best baseline to start with. Afterall, if everything was worse, there wouldn’t be a reason to go with the others… if they were just as good or better, easy way to eliminate it.
Its looks was definitely more new age, smooth and rounded rather than the wedges that he was familiar with. This black example hid a lot of the curves however, being a bit of a blob of black shadow. Not that it was a bad thing, just an observation.
Getting in, he was instantly quite familiar with the level of luxury it had. Though he had to say, the Tristella’s was a bit better - but that was an irrelevant comparison. It was still good afterall. Great even. Starting it up, the 6l V12 roared to life, with smooth idle. Mr. Peters entered in with him.
“Quite quiet for a V12.” Jakob noted.
“Yes, but you’ll find it making more power than noise.”
Shifting into gear, he drove out onto the road. The air suspension that was equipped on the LCE definitely dampened the bumps out, though in terms of feel it wasn’t too different from his old car. Even though it had a lot of power, the LCE handled itself very well on the road, with a very smooth engine helping that along. That said, he could definitely feel the weight of everything that was on this car, it was not exactly light on its feet.
Soon though, Jakob reached the highway to do a few pulls. Mr. Peters tightly grasped one of the handles on the door, then chuckled a bit. Needless to say, 520 HP definitely did its work, with it being suitably quick. However, with not much to compare it to, it was mostly just to set a baseline on the acceleration. Jakob took it to some bendy bits of road after, seeing how it will do. Unsurprisingly, it handled them well, with the awd definitely helping it out. There was definitely however, big spaces in the gearing that he felt was bogging him down between gearshifts.
Still, the LCE LP12 definitely performed to his expectations, and he took it back to the dealer.
Next car he would get into was the Nazzaro Tempest.
Nazzaro Tempest - @Boiled_Steak
The Nazzaro stood boldly in its metallic pink colour, definitely far more eye catching than the black LCE. Even so, it also had a nice cleanness to its lines, which the pink definitely brought out. That said Jakob may try to look for one in a different color - this might be a bit too bold for him.
At 82200, the Nazzaro Tempest was on paper, the fastest of the lot. It also had a V12 under the hood, which starting up was a much louder note. The interior within was also much more sports oriented, with much more confining bucket seats, and simply trimmed leather interior pieces. All in all, a much more sporty package, with the insides matching the on paper performance. Not completely to Jakob’s preference, but if its as fast as it says it could be worth it.
Driving it out of the lot, the Tempest was definitely a rougher ride. Basically every bump was felt, though the steering feel was close to the LCE’s. At low speeds it definitely was more of a handful and unwieldy to drive, a bit more pointy and sharp too from the lower weight and more rear biased weight distribution.
Of course, with the selling point being speed, he eagerly stepped on it while in the first gear, scaring Mr. Peters a bit as the tires squealed for grip for a moment. First thing he noticed over the LCE was that it was actually quite a bit quicker, with also much smoother gear changes thanks to the tighter spacing. On the bendier sections, the stickier compounds really stuck the car around the corners, though he could notice the brakes starting to fade a little by the end of his quick drive. One thing was certain though, it was definitely much quicker than the LCE.
Getting back to the dealer, Jakob noticed he definitely cooked the brakes slightly. Nothing bad now, but for a longer drive it could be an issue.
Still, it was time to move onto the next mid engine V12 supercar, the Zephorus Kigore.
Zephorus Kigore V12 S Touring - @Riley
Looking at it, Jakob could definitely tell it was older than the previous two, lacking the roundedness of the LCE or the winged boldness of the Nazzaro. It was something familiar he supposed, which was definitely nice to have.
The Zephorous was the oldest car of the bunch, but were still being sold at or above original sticker price, that being 75000. Needless to say it was lightly used, but with it being a supercar, lightly used was not exactly an issue. Getting inside, Jakob found the interior to be of similar quality to the LCE. More cramped and older perhaps, but that was to be expected. A nicer place to be in than the Tempest at least. Starting the engine up, it was roughly the same volume as the Tempest, maybe a bit rougher. Still, a V12 was always going to make the best noises.
Taking it out of the lot, the Kigore was quite a lot like the Tempest. He could definitely feel the bumps, though the nicer seats absorbed it all a bit better. That said, it was nicer to drive around the low speed city sections, it being a fair bit smaller than the other two helping out with that. Jakob preferred the LCE for city driving still, but this was close. And that’s even with much less fancy tech. Impressive to say the least.
Now however, was to put the performance to the test. And the Kigore did not disappoint, hooking up immediately and accelerating nearly at the pace the Tempest had. With over 100 horsepowers down too. Needless to say, Jakob was impressed. Taking it out to the curvier bits of road, it was unsurprising that it was less grippy than the Tempest - having a less aggressive tire and all. It handled them very well still however, about as good as the LCE in the slower ones while feeling more stable round the faster ones.
Back at the dealer, Jakob definitely had an idea that the benchmark had been moved from both the more expensive cars. Plus there was a lack of ‘hot brake’ smell from the Kigore.
Jakob and Mr. Peters took a break for a moment, for a spot of lunch. Jakob could definitely tell Mr. Peters was trying to get him to sign off on one of the cars already, but Jakob of course, wished to drive the other two on his list as well.
Returning back to the dealer, it was time to drive the Turbol F4.
Turból F4 - @donutsnail
Being the only front engined car on his list, Jakob definitely had his reservations about it. Afterall, he had just came fresh off from a mid engined car himself. Still, the long hooded coupe was nice, even among the mid engined supercars. It still had the wedge-like styling as well, which Jakob rather liked.
At 68400, Jakob was expecting some things to be traded off from the bars he had set by now. But on contare, getting into the Turbol, he found that it was actually the one with the nicest interior thus far. Maybe even better than his old car. Turning the ignition and starting it up, the V8 was definitely not as smooth as the V12s, but was a nice low note. Not too loud either, but not overwhelmingly quiet.
Taking it out on the road, the Turbol was definitely the best to drive, at least on the slow streets. It lacked the fancy suspension the LCE had, but was easier to manage. The engine was also more responsive than the rest he tried so far, giving it a nice immediate feel. And even though it was slightly larger than the Kigore, the FR seating position was more conventional and was easier to place on the road.
Onto the highway however, this was where the Turbol’s price comes back in. On immediate acceleration, it was definitely the slowest of the bunch so far. But that is unsurprising, with it having the worst power to weight of the 5 cars he had chosen, and it was still faster than his old car. What was surprising though, was that around the bends was where it excelled. The responsive engine along with the gearing made it feel nearly as fast as the LCE. Not quite to the performance of the Tempest or Kigore, but it was still rather good.
At the dealer, Jakob was less clear rather or not he had made up his choice just yet. With one more car left to go however, he decided to give that a spin before making his decision.
RJM 55-8R GT - @titleguy1
It was a bit interesting to see, but on the pictures the RJM Jakob had thought it looked smaller. But in actuality it was about the same size as the Nazzaro. TThat said, the styling of it was definitely less bold, but the bits of roundedness on its shape gave it a bit of a modern touch. It was unique, and honestly looked great but different.
Getting into it, the RJM was a bit of a step down from the Turbol, maybe close to the interior quality of the LCE or Zephorous. It was well put together, but looking at the fine details you could definitely tell there was a price difference between the cars. But at 56300, this was actually quite the gap in price. Starting it up, the V8 rumbled to life. Just a bit louder than the Turbol, a bit less smooth on idle. Nothing bad still, though again he could tell from the details that the rest were just a bit more refined.
On the road, Jakob was quite impressed with how well it behaved. It took bumps on the road maybe slightly better than the Turbol, but the Turbol had the advantage of nicer seats and an AWD drivetrain to keep its power in check. Still, it worked well in the low speeds, definitely better than Jakob had anticipated - especially as it had quite a traditional setup.
Taking it to the highway, the acceleration was similar to the Turbol’s, maybe even a bit more of a pull up top. It was expected, with similar power and less weight, it should be a bit faster in the straights. On the bends however, Jakob could definitely feel the adverse effects of its good street tuning - the RJM definitely was less sharp than the others. He could also feel its grip limit come sooner than in the rest, which out of the Nazzaro were pretty similar to one another.
Getting back to the dealer, he had most of his mind made up already.
The first two to be crossed off his list was the LCE, then the Nazzaro. While the LCE was a good car, and perhaps the overall best package, the cheaper alternatives simply did them nearly as good or better than what it offered.
The Nazzaro meanwhile, being the fastest of them all also was the only one with braking issues. And considering performance was what it had going for it, if it wasn’t the best in performance everywhere the others simply had a better overall package.
After a bit of a thought, the RJM was also eliminated. It was a very good car, an underdog of what was offered even. But at a certain point, it just lacked the little bit compared to what was left.
Looking at the last two options, Jakob was left with two very different cars at a somewhat similar price point. One was a better normal car, the other a better fast car. It was until Jakob got more papers about the cars, particularly the servicing costs of the two cars did it tilt in advantage of one of the two…
Winner
With its well rounded performance and usability, the Turbol F4 was the chosen.
Congratulations @donutsnail
2. @Riley
3. @titleguy1
4. @Boiled_Steak
5. @abg7
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Oh yes congrats to donutsnail for a well deserved win
totally wasn’t rooting for you
And xepy you have created an excellent round that brought out the best in all of us, the storm of progress creates some amazing things
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I thought any four of the mid-engined (and with one exception, V12-powered) supercars in the top 5 (including mine) could win, but props to him for snatching it from under our noses with an FR-platform (actually AWD) V8 muscle car! Granted, it was the slowest of the bunch on paper, but had the most luxurious interior of all, and as the clincher, it turned out to be better value for money than the others in the short and long term.
At least I can hold my head high knowing that I gave the rest of the top 5 a huge fright with the LP12, despite having feared an ignominious early exit due to min-maxing, right up until the reviews started coming out - at which point I realized that, as far as something that was originally meant to be a concept goes, it would be a real contender for the overall win right up until the very end. And yes, I admit that its futuristic and curvaceous cab-forward shape - the antithesis of the other finalists’ angular wedge profiles - was eerily prescient of the '90s aero blob craze:
Regardless of the final results, however, I had more fun entering this round than I ever expected, thanks mainly to a highly compelling theme and rule set.
Quite rightly so - this round is going to take some beating, given that it was certainly as fun to enter as it was to follow, and has set the bar even higher for the next round (regardless of the theme for that one), especially since it was the first supercar-themed round of CSR in a (very) long time.
Speaking of which, if none of the top four are able to host the next round, I will happily accept the offer.
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Thankers Xepy for cool round everyone was too pussy to make a supercar round in like 500 months
no i cannot host i have final exams
a
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The closest I’ve come in a CSR, and well deserved. I was so excited reading through that writeup, and I knew that service costs would come to bite me.
200mph and transverse V12 does that to you.
Thanks for hosting Xepy, super awesome round and really well judged.
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Great round everyone! Some really good looking cars this round. I was a little concerned about the smoothness and prestige deficiencies of using a relatively small 4 liter V8 in a crowd of big V12s but it worked out.
I have an idea for the the next round, and after I make some test vehicles I’ll have a new post up.
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