CSR 137: Life after (V8) Falcodore
Background
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September 2018 - Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Meet Tim, a 28-year-old man who recently graduated from Uni, and now has a job with a decent salary. As a devoted petrolhead since birth, raised on the decades-long rivalry between Ford and Holden, he imagined owning a brawny V8 muscle car from either of them in his youth, hoping to own one later in life. It seemed like a great plan on paper. Trouble was, he only had his license upgraded from P2 to open status several months ago, and by the time that happened, both Ford and Holden had stopped all local manufacturing, leaving him with no more new home-grown muscle cars to choose from!
âNo worries, mate!â he thought to himself as he read some magazine articles about the latest European super sedans. He was tempted for a while - only to be shocked at how much more they cost compared to a top-spec HSV or FPV. âThatâs way out of my budget, so Iâll guess Iâll have to make do with a front-drive hot hatch if I want a new performance car to carry my mates around in - hang on, what if other brands offer something similar to those V8 Falcodores that just went off sale? And at a relatively low price to boot? Seems like I could have a deal on my hands!â
Just as he began pondering his options, Tim realized that he was not only married, but also had two children to take care of, which meant that anything that didnât have four doors and five seats (unless it was a two-door coupe with four seats) was off the table. He didnât need to carry lots of stuff around, though, so wagons, utes, SUVs, and minivans were also out of the question. And until recently, he also thumbed his nose at turbos, AWD and automatic gearboxes for taking too much driver skill out of the equation - before realizing that in some cases, they can actually make a car better, and so he reluctantly accepted the use of such new-fangled technologies. With those in mind, his car-buying criteria were set, but in the meantime, he had other stuff to take care of, such as work commitmentsâŚ
Trim Requirements and Preferences
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Trim year 2018; model year can be anything from 2012 to 2018 inclusive.
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Longitudinal front-engined only, RWD preferred (although AWD is accepted). Tim may be young, but as an enthusiast, he is a man of the old school, and he prefers only the back pair of wheels to be driven for maximum enjoyment. That said, he also likes the idea of a well-sorted AWD system flinging him out of corners as if he were Colin McRae.
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Manual gearbox preferred (although automatic and dual-clutch transmissions are also allowed). Tim prefers to be in complete control of his car all the time, right down to the gear changes, but he also has experience with automatics (including dual-clutch gearboxes).
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Maximum ET of 170.
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No parts that reduce production efficiency (such as full aluminum panels - partial aluminum is fine) - Tim isnât looking for a low-volume product.
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Engine cooling factor must be 60 or higher - in general, Australia is a hot country, and Tim doesnât want his new car to overheat all the time, especially with summer a few months away.
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Environmental resistance of 35 or higher - even in the dry Australian climate, rust can still be a problem.
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Fuel economy must be 15 US mpg or higher (15.681 l/100km or less) - Tim doesnât want to spend too much time looking for the nearest bowser.
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Must be a 2-door coupe or 4-door sedan (as V8 Falcodores often were) - no wagons, hatchbacks, trucks, utes or MPVs. 3- and 5-door liftbacks count as coupes and sedans, respectively, for eligibility purposes. Also, if you wish to enter a coupe, make sure that the body you chose can accommodate two rows of seats.
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Must have 5 full-sized seats (no +3 in the rear row, with two bucket seats only in the front row). Exception: 2-door coupes only need two full-sized seats in the rear row (no +2).
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Minimum safety value of 60, and ESC (stability control) will be required. This is to simulate contemporary safety regs, and also takes into account the fact that the latter is now a mandatory fitment on all new cars.
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No off-road parts of any kind - this isnât about finding a vehicle that can âgo bushâ, and besides, he already has a dual-cab ute for that purpose.
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Tires must not be semi-slick or have a lower profile than 30, and cannot have a width exactly divisible by 10 - itâs not a race car, after all, and not all Australian roads are as smooth as glass.
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Wheelbase (as shown in tooltip on the body selection tab) must be between 2.70 m and 3.0 m (106.3 inches and 118.11 inches) inclusive.
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Body unlock year must be 2005 or later - it mustnât look like a rolling relic from the distant past.
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Approximate cost should be no more than $65,000. You can exceed this limit, but not by too much, and even then, only if you have a very good reason that can justify going over budget.
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No meme or 3-fixture cars, and no meme mods either. Most mods are accepted, though.
Engine Rules and Recommendations
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Variant year must be set to 2018.
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Engine can be either naturally aspirated or turbocharged. Tim was raised on atmo V8s, but knows a good turbo donk (thatâs Aussie slang for engine, by the way) when he sees one.
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No race intake or headers. It has to be street-legal, after all.
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Maximum loudness of 40.
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Maximum engine emissions of 150.
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Maximum ET of 170.
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No V16s and a maximum of 4 valves per cylinder.
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A V8 engine (especially a 90-degree one with a cross-plane crankshaft) is strongly preferred, but not required - six-cylinder engines will also be accepted.
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91 regular, 95 RON premium or 98 super unleaded required, with a very slight running costs penalty for premium, and a slightly larger penalty for super.
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A three-way catalytic converter of some kind is required.
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Due to OBD-II being mandatory in Australia, carburetors and mechanical fuel injection are banned.
Major Priorities (in decreasing order of importance) 
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Sportiness - Timâs new car needs to be fun to drive, and as such not only has to be fast in a straight line, but also must handle and stop well (also factoring in resistance to brake fade). Oh, and heâll be setting a standing start lap time at Mount Panorama in each of the cars - assuming they donât get instabinned.
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Styling - As a rule, if it looks right, then it is right - anything bland or ugly (or, worse still, both) will be a tough sell for Tim and his family. Given his age, Tim is also partial to bright colors, especially if they fit the carâs exterior design, but heâs not afraid of more sober tones either.
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Drivability - Timâs new car will still be his daily driver. Anything too challenging to drive will destroy his patience.
Moderate Priority (also in decreasing order of importance)
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Comfort - Again, since Timâs looking for a daily driver, a comfortable experience will make him feel better about his new car, especially on long road trips. This criterion depends not only on interior and in-car entertainment types and quality, but also on brake pad type and suspension tune. Transmission type wonât be as much of a factor, though, given that manuals are inherently less comfortable than automatics.
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Prestige - Tim wants to earn the approval of his mates (and other road users) with his next purchase, so a flashier car might be a better choice for him.
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Safety - Tim knows that modern cars have lots of tech that make it easier to avoid or survive a crash. Even so, he wants his next car to easily protect him in (or, better still, from) an accident.
Minor Priorities (yet again, in decreasing order of importance)
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Reliability - It may be full of tech under the skin, but Tim would rather have confidence that his next car wonât break down too often, given that he wants to use it for road trips when he gets the chance.
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Practicality - Timâs wife bought him a dual-cab ute recently, one with loads of cargo capacity. That said, a little more boot space in his other new car would be of some use to him.
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Running costs - High-performance sports sedans are, by their very nature, not the cheapest cars to buy, run or service. However, Timâs family has plenty of cash to spare, so this wonât be too much of an issue for them.
Tips
- Be sensible - no min-maxing, or youâll end up on the bin list.
- You can make your carâs exterior design loud and proud, or restrained and refined, or somewhere in between the two. Click the spoiler below for examples.
- Money saved is money earned, but going too far under budget is not recommended.
- Almost forgot about this, but some of you might be tempted to use a coupe body and make it look like a sedan, or vice versa. Donât do it - I just realized that this counts as cheating and will not accept such measures.
- If itâs not listed in the rules, then it isnât a rule.
Design Inspiration
Submission Guidelines
Please submit your entries by exporting the .car files via PM on these forums (not Discord) using the following naming scheme:
Model and engine family name: CSR137 - your forum username
Trim name: Your carâs make and model
Variant name: Your engineâs model and variant
I almost forgot to include this, but all submissions must be accompanied by an ad (with at least one picture of the car) in this thread.
Submissions will open on Saturday, 1 May 2021 at 12:00 AM AEST and will close on Monday, 10 May 2021 at 12:00 AM AEST. If you submit your entry before I begin accepting submissions, you may revise it in the event of a rule violation; however, you will not be allowed to make any resubmissions if you submitted your entry after the round has opened.
Please note that in the hours since I first posted it, I have repeatedly updated the OP in response to recent user feedback - make sure to read it once again after each update to remind yourself of the changes I have made.
Above all, good luck, and have fun!
