CSR 139- Luxury, Uncompromised (Completed, Winner Announced!)

CSR 139- Phase 2, Part 2- Eliminations
(Electric Boogaloo)


azka

Delphinda 88 “Homage Edition”- @azkaalfafa
Starting on the other half of his list, David brings up the 88 “Homage”. A well designed roadster, with a striking livery drew his eye, but after reading some owner reports he finds that it has a slightly laggy turbo, runs strange tire sizes, and its suspension is a bit too firm for his tastes.
(Reason for elimination- a laggy turbo, zero tire sizes and a quite firm suspension tune that nuked comfort, plus a heavily rear biased AWD system that hurt drivability. Shame too, as it had a nice design.)

yugo

VULKAN Kellir VX- @TheYugo45GV
Next on David’s list was the VULKAN Kellir. Immediately he was tuned off by the somewhat cartoon-y design, and noted that it was the cheapest car he’d seen. After reading some reviews, David learned that Kellir wasn’t particularly sporty, and that it’s lower price felt like a disadvantage compared to other cars in this segment.
(Reason for Eliminations- design was slightly cartoon-y with large lights all around, and aero flaps that weren’t well integrated into the design. The suspension was also way soft, having the second lowest sportiness of all of the cars submitted. The biggest issue, however, was its price. The price was low, but it didn’t offer great value for the price.)

mikon

EcaMobile Jackpot Coupe- @Mikonp7
Next up was the EcaMobile Jackpot. David didn’t love the grille sticking out from the body, and wasn’t a fan of the split headlights either. Reading up on it, David found that while it was easy to drive, it wasn’t particularly sporty, due to it’s comfort tuned suspension, and low output engine.
(Reason for elimination- the design was a bit weird, with the split light affect not translating well, and the 3D grille looking too pasted on. It also had the lowest sportiness out of any car submitted, and 458hp out of a 6.5L V10 is disappointing, to say the least.)

karhgath

Octane GT-P- @karhgath
Next up on the list was the Octane GT-P. David wasn’t a fan of the futuristic design, and felt as if it was trying too hard. Disappointed, he moved to the next car.
(Reason for elimination- the design felt like it was trying too hard to be futuristic, and it never really translated well. Engineering was good though, just not enough to save it.)

oppositelock

GSI Sybaris- @oppositelock
Next up was the Sybaris. David wasn’t an immediate fan of its design, with a muted paintjob, a rear that feels underdeveloped, and wheels that felt like they were too small for the car. While reading some owner forums, David found that the mixed brakes led to the Sybaris being quite expensive to service.
(Reason for elimination- the design as a whole wasn’t the best, with a front that’s too wide, and a rear that’s lacking in terms of shape and detail. Engineering was mostly fine, but the choice to run vented discs up front and ceramics out back was weird, and really hit you in the service costs department.)

kaer_romann

Astier Détrempée- @ImKaeR/@romann
Next up on the list was the Détrempée. David liked the design, but felt that the headlights were too big. Upon reading a review, David found that it had a front-biased AWD system, which hampered it’s sportiness some. All in all, David came away unimpressed.
(Reason for bin- design was good, though as I said the headlights were too big in proportion to everything else. However, the largest driving factor behind your elimination was the front-biased AWD, which goes against realism here a bit, as does the 5-valve powertrain.)

hi

Voodoo Brimstone 1100- @HelloHi
Next on David’s list is the Brimstone. While not immediately taken with the design, David gave it a pass for the moment. Reading up on reviews, David quickly realised that 1100hp was just far too much for him, and so he moved on.
(Reason for elimination- yeah I think you saw this coming; 1,100hp is just far too much for this class of car, and is quite literally double what most cars in this class have IRL, as well as your competitors. The design wasn’t great either, with a hyperkit vent to nowhere, and really small and narrow headlights that look out of proportion to everything else. Also, despite the insane power output, it was rather decent.)

tanks

Levante GranMilano GT- @TanksAreTryhards
Next on David’s list was the GranMilano GT, a stylish GT David liked the look of. Reading a review, David found that the car had trouble putting its power down, and felt that the turbo was slightly laggy. Disappointed, David closed the review.
(Reason for elimination- the viscous differential was a strange choice here, and the choice to run partially cast engine internals was also a strange choice. The turbo was laggy, though not to the same extent as some of the other cars here.)

mrm

Zanardi Ravenna- @MisterRocketMan
Next up was the Ravenna. David liked the design, with it’s stylish yet simple design. Reading some of the owner reports, David found that the really narrow tires limit it’s handling, and the front-biased AWD system makes it feel less sporty in comparison to the competition. Disappointed, he moved on to the next.
(Reason for elimination- the narrow 225 width tires limit your car’s handling, and the front biased AWD goes against realism too. While not the driving factor behind your elimination, the choice to run 5v heads was another questionable choice from a realism standpoint. Overall, not a bad showing though.)

mcp

PMC Moray V8- @mcp928
Next on David’s list was the Moray V8. While not impressed with the design, David decided to look at it some more before making a decision. After reading reviews and some owner reports, he found that the car was well engineered and relatively well built, but the quote that the gearing is a bit on the long side, and that the suspension tune was a bit too firm. Unceremoniously, David closed the page.
(Reason for elimination- well tuned but fuckhuge engine that’s somewhat hampered in the performance department by it’s gearing, styling that’s a bit busy and is more muscle car than GT car, and firm suspension tuning that lends itself more to a muscle car.)

Nitra 690F- @Kyorg
Next on David’s list was the Nitra 690F. Impressed by its performance and design, David was interested. However, upon some reading, David found that the Nitra had a low-pressure turbo, something that reviewers thought was a strange choice in a performance vehicle.
(Reason for elimination- yeah this one sucked to bin, but the really low boost turbo (6.36 PSI) to smooth out power delivery and up comfort was definitely a bit too minmax-y for my taste. Really disappointing too, as it was an objectively good car otherwise.)

texas

Waldersee Woland RennTouring- @Texaslav
Next up on David’s list was the Woland RennTouring. Taken with the front design, David enjoyed what he saw. Moving to the rear, however, he was left disappointed. He also didn’t love the paint, and thought the rear fenders were a bit large. However, not discounting it immediately, David did some more research. He found that it has slightly strong brakes, but it was otherwise fine. While it was all around solid, David just couldn’t get over the design.
(Reason for elimination- Overall it was decent, but the awkward and low rear design wasn’t the best, and the comically large rear fenders and weird paint made it look less upscale. Tuning was fine, but the 5v heads are a tad unrealistic (for 2020), and the brakes were just a bit too strong.)

repti

Veldora Gami Zenith- @Repti
Next on David’s list was the Gami Zenith. David mostly liked the design, but though the large front grille and bar filled vents on the front and rear were a bit strange. He also noted that it was the only car on his list with a flat-6. Upon reading some reviews and reading some owner stories, he found that the Gami had yet another low-pressure turbo, something that was strange to find on a performance vehicle.
(Reason for elimination- well props for getting a decent spool out of a flat-6, but the really low PSI turbo (like on the Nitra) you used to do so was a little too minmax-y for my taste. The design was fine, but the really thick bars running through the vents on the front and back looked a little strange, and the front grille was too big, and dated the design some in my opinion. Shame, because it was otherwise very solid.)

vaporscape

Bishop Kriese 338- @VaporScape
Next on David’s list is the Kriese 338. He liked the design, though he felt the taillights looked a little strange. Upon reading some reviews, David found that the Kriese had a very hard suspension tune, a very laggy engine that’s mated to ultra-long gearing, so it’s never really kept in it’s optimal powerband. Disappointed, he moves on.
(Reason for elimination- hardest suspension tune out of all the entrants that simultaneously gave you the worst comfort out of everyone, a really laggy engine that’s matted to an gearbox with extremely long gears, so it’s kept out of it’s optimal powerband. It was also the cheapest car submitted, and it definitely felt that way.)

ldub

Shijazhuang S1 GT- @ldub0775
Next on his list was the S1 GT. David wasn’t the biggest fan of the design, with an overly large front and headlights that didn’t feel connected to anything. He also disliked the overly thick and dated body cladding. Not discounting it immediately, David looked into the S1 some more. What he found was that it was another car running cast internals, and its suspension tune leaned more towards oversteer. Overall, David just didn’t like the design, so he moved on.
(Reason for elimination- The design was very disjointed, with headlights mounted way above anything else on the front, and it had a very large fascia that looked dated. The body cladding didn’t help here, with it being both too thick and too straight. If it had curved upwards towards the rear of the car, along with being thinner, it would’ve been much better. The cast internals are a weird choice given your power output, and the suspension tuning leans just a bit too much towards oversteer for my taste. That said, it was a really rather decent car in many areas.)

arion

Arion Celeste Drophead- @Aruna/@kookie/@kaybee
Next up on David’s list was the Celeste Drophead, one of two convertibles on his list. While he generally liked the design, he felt that the front was too big and tall, and didn’t really sync with the narrow and angular lights on the front and back. This was also another car on David’s list with a low-pressure turbo as well, yet another strange choice for a performance vehicle.
(Reason for elimination- while the design was generally solid, the really large front grille and blocky side vents didn’t really work with the thin and angular headlights, and it didn’t really feel that consistent with the rear either. Tuning as a whole was good, but the really low boost turbo (like the Veldora and Nitra) was similarly a bit too minmax-y for my tastes. Overall, not bad though.)

Zavir Z Volante SV8- @Hshan
Last on David’s list for tonight was the Z Volante. While David generally speaking liked the design, he felt the errant side vents on the front looked a bit out of place, and the rear felt a bit barren to him. Upon reading some reviews and owner reports, David found that the Z Volante had a rather laggy and rough running engine, a gearing setup that kept the car out of it’s optimal power, and brakes that liked to fade far too often under spirited driving.
(Reason for elimination- Design for the most part was solid, but the engine was super laggy, and a 60 degree V8 is a bit unrealistic for my tastes. The gearing was also off, and the brakes had far too much sportiness fade.)


Semifinalists:
@Aaron.W
@yurimacs
@Tsundere-kun
@Ezdmn
@donutsnail and @Lazar
@On3CherryShake
@SpeedyBoi/@Falling_Comet/@Urke101/@variationofvariables
@Boiled_Steak
@Portalkat42
@Tzuyu_main and @chiefzach2018
@SayokiN
@ARM_Tune
@Xepy
@MrChips
@66mazda
@CriticalSet9849
@S_U_C_C_U_L_E_N_T
@EnCR

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C O M I C A L L Y large!

Well, I’m happy where I’m at. Best of luck to everyone, Xepy OP lul

Also, the front end of my car had a lot of first-time techniques for me (in comparison with the rear end where I have already done all that before). I am glad it’s well-received

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oh welp, realism was never my strong suit, but always nice to learn something from these stuff.

Congrats to the surviving entrants, I’d love to watch the round until its conclusion, should be interesting.

Edit: totally didn’t mean for my car to look like a supra from the front and a Z4 from the rear

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Just happy my car made it as far as it did! Still got binned for power, but I expected that :stuck_out_tongue:

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ggez

That’s ok, I also got binned for too much engine. Maybe that turbo V12 was the trick after all. Good round so far, and good luck to all the semi finalists. I’ll leave you guys with the meme that inspired the name (I was hoping the car would have a memorable standout feature like its namesake).

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Just a small correction, the Sybaris uses carbon front rotors for fade resistance and to remove weight from the nose of the car combined with regular cast iron rotors in rear. Various Audi RS and Mercedes Benz AMG models come this way from the factory, so I’m going to disagree that it’s an unusual or unrealistic engineering choice. Of course the car still gets shitcanned for styling, I need to find someone willing to do fixtures for me. I was shooting for a military-industrial / cyberpunk theme that didn’t really pan out. I’m still pretty proud of the technical side, however. Thanks for the review!

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Ah, that’s my fault then, had it written down in my spreadsheet wrong :sweat_smile:

As for the realism thing, didn’t realize it was quite that common, but good to know! The styling wasn’t all that bad removed from the competition, just it fell flat here. Happy to have given it a review!

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Just so you know, Vero binned you for the service costs resulting from the carbon ceramics, not that the carbon ceramics were unrealistic, according to the blurb. Just so you know: Carbon ceramics in Automation are heavily borked. FR ceramics add over 2000 dollars in service costs to a car. Ceramics in either the front or rear only are 1500 dollars service costs, which is absurd. That’s why you got binned, as far as I can tell.

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Yes, I read that, too. I went back and played around with the brakes, going from carbon to iron front rotors dropped the service costs from $3220 to $2545. Not quite $1500, but I see your point. I could have made it work with more brake cooling, but c’est la vie.

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Ooo got into semi finals nice.

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My thoughts on this set of eliminations:

In a hypercar such immense power would be strongly recommended, but in a GT? Not so much.

With service costs as a priority in this round (though not as much as, say, sportiness), fitting carbon ceramic brakes on either axle (or even worse, both) is tantamount to financial suicide:

I found a workaround by using cast-iron vented discs of a sufficiently large diameter and with enough pistons per caliper to provide the desired amount of braking force. On top of that, I set the brake cooling level to just the right amount to avoid excessive (or better still, any) sportiness fade. However, I still wish that carbon ceramic brakes would be buffed in the next update so they don’t increase service costs (compared to equivalent cast-iron vented discs) as much as they do now.

In AWD cars with transversely mounted engines, it often makes sense to skew the power distribution to the front for stability. With a longitudinally mounted engine, however, this is not ideal, since it often compromises traction and thereby wastes power.

In the 90s and 00s, there were quite a few real-life engines with 5v DOHC heads, but there haven’t been any since 2006, so it makes sense to eliminate any and all entries so equipped. Another disadvantage of 5v setups is that you cannot combine them with VVL if you want to use the latter.

Quite right. Cast internals simply can’t withstand as much torque (or as many revs, for that matter) as an equivalent forged or CNC-milled item.

For reference, here is an example of an engine (a 3.0L I6) with a low-pressure turbo (0.5 bar of boost):

Not a lot of lag, and hence more comfort and drivability, but not as much power for its displacement. It is more effficient, though, and has a wide power band.

And for comparison’s sake, here is the same engine with a high-pressure turbo setup (1.6 bar):

As I have previously stated, a high-pressure turbo yields more power for a given displacement, but also more lag - in this case a whole 1300 rpm later - and with a stronger kick, thereby reducing comfort, drivability and efficiency. The power band is also narrower.

I have to agree on this one - all other things being equal, a 60-degree V8 is less smooth than one with a 90-degree bank angle, and also has a higher center of gravity. However, it does not take up as much horizontal space.

That leaves just 18 cars for David to choose from - even after separating the duds from the good 'uns, he may have his work cut out for him, but I’m sure he’ll make the right choice eventually.

I think the problem is with the way that turbos work in Automation in general, it’s basically 80s turbo technology. The only way you’re gonna get a turbo engine that’s not “laggy” (aka kicks in anywhere near 2000RPM or earlier like real life cars) is to either go really high displacement for the amount of cylinders you’ve got, or run a very low boost setup. Both of these methods work but aren’t very realistic. Twin-scroll turbos, Variable Geometry turbos or the option to have one small and one large turbo on the same engine would be nice additions to the game, but I don’t know if they’ll ever be added.

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I still managed to push 653hp from the 5.2L V10 TT with a boost of less than half the BMW M8’s engine produces (mine being 8.38psi compared to 17psi+) but if low boost is min maxing it can’t be helped and I will remember for next time.

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Ah, i knew some of my cost conscious choices would have come back to haunt me. To fit all i had to fit in the car for the price point, i had to make some sacrifices.

Viscous diffs might be strange at first, but they work pretty well in AWD systems, and at 550 hp, a more expensive geared system was simply overkill. Same for the cast crank, both hp and torque aren’t exactly stellar. It’s an unusual choice, i totally agree, and i can see why it turned David down.

I’m happy with making It this far on my first CSR, was a fun run! Thanks for hosting it!

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Warning - turned out a bit long.

Mmmkay, barren rear… Yeah, maybe somewhat. Not enough for my sometimes minimalistic taste to notice in… a year, I’ve had this car mostly done? I hoped that the design would save me, but oh well. And errant vents do line up at one point, and were meant to be more interesting than a single gaping hole :wink:

As for the engineering… I should’ve left the carbon ceramics untouched :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: The engine, you might be surprised, is a victim of… my realism - it’s a 60° because it’s a part of a modular family of V6s, V8s and V12s (and hey, there was the Volvo-Yamaha V8), and the laggy turbo is the only way before the revamp to get realistic numbers in modern performance turbo engines - and I always care more for those than those terrible curves, as they affect the whole car far more. While I get why you eliminated both laggy high pressure turbos and unrealistic low pressure ones, I feel like by that you’ve put the turbo engines at a serious disadvantage, as we had to hit that - I guess - narrow spot of low lag with high pressure (basically an I6 or a V12). And in 2020 turbos are almost everywhere. 14 cars had some issue with the turbo as one of the elimination factors, of the 51 entries that weren’t binned right away and of… how many turbos in total? I know that turbo tuning isn’t easy but that seems like a bit too much focus IMO. And no, at this point it’s not my car’s defence, as the only way that turbo could be accepted is my way - to ignore half of the curve, which is unlikely in a challenge :stuck_out_tongue:

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Your design as a whole was really rather well done, most of my major complaints were more nitpicks than anything else.

As for engineering, I question the 60* V8 because it’s just not done in 2020. Even then, it put you at a bit of a disadvantage, as 60* V8s are inherently less balanced than a 90* V8 and therefore aren’t as smooth, which affects comfort. But alas, it’s your lore, which outside of a competition I’m in no place to question. As for turbos, yeah, I was maybe a bit too picky in terms of lag upon retrospect. That said, plenty of turbocharged cars moved into the semifinals, and had what I would consider “good for Automation” levels of lag. I do get what you were going for in terms of your turbo tuning, however it just didn’t translate well.

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Yeah, I know it’s less smooth, but still better than a V6, so that’s why I accept it. Also it’s one of those details that I consider minor enough to be realistic even when not currently done IRL. Or like B6 in the front - no brand does it currently, but it has been done and there could be reasons for that. But I admit, it’s a quirk that I like for the sake of being quirky.

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To be totally fair, judging turbo set ups on automation tech is a bit of a nightmare. Current turbos in Automation are also very limiting for lower displacement units in terms of lag.

I think the judgment could have been more liberal (having a 3.5/4k turbo spool in a 10k max rev engine Is not as detrimental as in a 7.5k max rev car), but it’s not as wrong to set the bar lower, especially if the car might be used in cities or trafficked roads on the regular.

That said, going bigger than 5.5 liters and slapping turbos on the engine is a little cheesy under the current system imho, so i’m rooting for any N/A or small-ish turbocharged competitor left in the field

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Agreed. That’s why so many cars got binned for having too much lag, or too little boost.

In cheaper, less powerful cars, a viscous LSD may actually be a good idea, but I reckon 550 horsepower is too much for a viscous diff to cope with (even with AWD), and in this day and age, an electric LSD is preferable if you can afford to use it. Besides, cast internals are not strong enough for use in engines with such high power outputs.