PROLOGUE
art by Namako Mikan (@nmgmkn)
“Show me the way home, honey.”
As the new year had begun, the two had found themselves lost within the heat of the moment. The light from the fireworks lightly illuminating the room and shining upon the girl’s short blonde hair.
One thing had led to another, and through their continuous happiness they’d found themselves raw, with used and filled up pieces of multicolored rubber laid about on the hotel room bed.
They both had concluded right there and then, and their love filled one another as they were over and done with their sweet and quick merging of two lovers.
“You really didn’t want to lose me, did you?”
Daytona Beach, Florida.
January 2020
It was quarter past nine in the morning, Marko dressed up in his white Lacoste polo shirt and black Balenciaga shoes as he prepared to head out for the day. A meeting with his old friends he hadn’t seen in a long while was planned. A day of heading out to some fine-dining, drinking, and chatting. No women of course, for he already had one, and one was all he needed.
“You’re heading out already?” Emilia asked as she sat up from their large, white bed, clenching her stomach. She looked as though she was slightly dizzy, and might have a slight tummy ache, and as Marko looked over to see his wife, he had a feeling that he likely rework the plans and reschedule.
“I don’t think I’ll be going out today, now that I’ve given it some thought. Are you sure you’re all right?” He walked over to her, placing the back of his hand over her forehead. Emilia pouted slightly. “I-I’m fine! You can go on with your meeting! Trust me-” She was cut off as she felt as her gag reflexes activated, something didn’t seem to be right.
Immediately, Marko sped to the table on the other end of the room, quickly getting a paper bag and giving it to his wife, just in case.
He got his phone out, and opened Discord, sending a message to his mates;
Not even a few seconds after that, he already got a couple of messages back;
He sighed, before putting his phone back in his pocket. “Can you still get dressed? We’re going to the hospital, I don’t want this to be something bad.”
“I-I haven’t been that weakened! If you insist, I’ll get dressed then.” She moved over to the other side of the bed, and got up towards the changing room. “You don’t need to dress up all fancily, we’re just going for a check-up.” Marko said as she disappeared towards the changing room.
“Gotcha!”
Whilst his wife got changed, he went ahead and called up their doctor, setting an appointment for 12 in the afternoon and dealing with other, not exactly very exciting stuff.
Roughly about half an hour later, Emilia got out of the changing room, wearing just a simple enough dress. Marko got up from sitting on the bed and escorted her out to their spacious garage with their singular car in it, with the garage gate automatically opening as it detected them entering it. He opened the doors to their Timely Yellow Pearl 2017 Sendo GT-Sport for Emilia before eventually getting in himself.
The fairly mute V12 hummed to life, as he configured the car in its settings to start in comfort mode to avoid startling his wife every time it started. He shifted into reverse gear and drove out of their garage, the gate closing in behind them automatically. Turning through the village and eventually stopping at the gate at the entrance, he greeted the guard and with some quick exchanges they headed out towards the hospital.
After a few hours, the results had been presented to them. The young doctor greeted them with a smile and she presented the results to them.
“Mr and Mrs Danube, I’d like to announce that Emilia is pregnant! Congratulations!” She exclaimed. “It’s a bit too early to determine whether it’s a boy or a girl, but I’ll schedule you for a few months from now.” She said as she began typing up on her Mac.
Emilia’s eyes were filled with joy, she was finally going to become a mother now, and she hugged Marko tightly. Marko on the other hand, was trying to comprehend what was happening and confusion filled his mind, but eventually a smile grew on his face and he hugged Emilia back, they were now going to be parents. He held tightly onto her hand, their matching marriage rings gleaming from the hospitals lights.
She’s having his baby.
Daytona Beach, Florida
One week later
The Floridian sea breeze blew over as the four men gathered around the table at a seaside restaurant just by Daytona Beach in Florida. General aviation aircraft flew overhead, not a lot of people out on the beach due to the fairly cold January weather, and boats out at sea, presumably with some bunnies on them.
William took a sip of champagne from his glass and looked at Marko. “Looks like you’ve done it now, Marky boy! First one upon us! Is the baby a boy or a girl?” He smugged
“Yeah go tell us! You thought of names already?” Said Stefan as he gave Marko a good pat on the back.
“How about a car, you thought about that yet? You can’t just keep going in that flashy thing with your child, can you? Can that even fit the stuff you need?” Asked Isaac as he pointed at the yellow Sendo sitting in the parking lot, with some people occasionally posing to get a picture with the exquisite grand tourer.
Marko couldn’t do anything but sigh, sure he was excited to be a father, but that problem was now bugging him. He didn’t want to look like the regular old family man of a father with their minivan, he absolutely hated to be compared with a stereotype more than anyone, and picking a car practical enough for a child without exactly going in the steps of something like a van dad or a soccer mom was proving difficult for him.
“Yeah, I’ve really been thinking about it this past week. I don’t really know what I should pick…” His voice trailed off as he took a sip of wine.
“Why not get another Sendo? You’ve been having great experience with that one, so why not get another?” Asked William.
“Sure, they’re great cars but maintaining just one is already kind of a pain, so you could imagine what it’d be like with two. And besides, its not like any of their offerings are what I’m looking for anyway.”
“So what are you looking for, then?” Stefan’s hand landed on Marko’s back yet again. Marko slowly turned his head to give him the stare and Stefan backed away. “S-sorry…”
“Anyway, you know those sport utility coupes? Yeah! I’ve really taken a liking to those. Sleekness of a coupe, ride height of an SUV, it has that presence to it that I really like whilst still remaining fairly practical.” He explained. The rest of the men stared at him in confusion. They all likely had the same thing in mind, A Coupe SUV? They all thought.
“Whaaaat?! Really? I mean, I guess it is your money, nothing we can do about that. But are you sure you want to get something like that? Those things are mostly known for not being good off-road, nor on-road, and have less practicality than a regular SUV, and honestly they look quite…” Isaac made a fake belching.
“Yeah! You said it, pretty terrible things. Especially that Quezon one, you seen it right? Absolutely useless and what an absolute pig! It’s literally just a lifted sedan! It’s not going off-road with those thin arse tyres any time soon!” Said William as he laughed.
“Well, it’s what I want, I think they’re pretty cool and stylish. Who knows, some might actually be pretty darn good! Like that one ███████ ███████ Coupe! It’s brilliant!” Said Marko as he defended himself.
“Oh right, that’s actually a good one! Okay, okay, you got me there I guess. There’s a bunch of different automakers in this universe we’re living in, so I suppose we could go car hunting, aye? I’d be willing to help, I’ve got the entire month of January off, anyway.” Stefan placed his hand on Marko’s back, more gently this time, and lifted his glass.
“I guess I can re-book my flight. I’d be willing to help out, too! I’d like to see if there are actually any good coupe SUVs out there!” Isaac lifted his glass as well.
“Ah fuck it, I have the entire January off as well. Let’s go car hunting!” William lifted his glass.
“Aye!” They had a toast to their new plans, and alas it was settled.
So what exactly is the deal here, you're wondering?
Put simply, if you haven't read the prologue, our main protagonist Marko Danube, a lawyer in his late 20s, is having a child soon. He wants a vehicle that meets his criteria for a good family vehlcle (in his own words).
Marko heavily prefers Coupe-SUVs for their sleek coupe-style rears, and the high ride of an SUV despite its reduced space compared to one with a normal roof. If there is a very stylish normal SUV that fits his fancy, however, he could go for that instead.
So, we’ve got a soon-to-be family man wanting a not-quite-the-family-car, put simply.
- Trim/variant year - 2020
- 2.7m (106.3in) wheelbase minimum
- 2.9m (114.3in) wheelbase maximum
- At least 4 seats
- At least 4 doors (2-door coupes with manually cutout rear doors are insta-
) - Advanced 20s safety required
- No V16s
- 95 RON/90 AKI max (lower grade fuel is allowed but won’t yield any practical benefits)
- At least one muffler required as well as some three-way catalytic converter
- No race parts
- Max engine ET - 155
- Max trim ET - 170
- 55k soft cap, 60k hard limit
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Design (including interior)
A bad-looking car with an equally bad-looking interior will immediately turn off Marko from even considering it, no matter how compelling its engineering may be. After all, no one wants to be seen driving something that looks like an aborted pig with its eyes turned to the sides. -
Practicality
As one would expect, practicality is a priority for an SUV. Even if it’s a coupe, he expects things like SUV ground clearance, the ability to haul groceries, luggage, the ability to fit baby seats, and other such basic things you can expect from something like a lifted sedan. Typical family stuff. -
Drivability
Marko owned a 2001 Honda Prelude Type SH in San Marino Red with a 5-speed manual as his first car when he graduated back in 2010, so he definitely knows what it’s like to drive something like that. However, he’s going to be lending his car to his less experienced wife, so it better be easy to drive. -
Comfort
At the price segment, Marko expects something that sure, won’t be matching his GT-Sport anytime soon, nor will it be a full-on luxury boat, but he’d at least want something comfortable for his wife and upcoming child. -
Safety
A no-brainer at this point. If this isn’t a high priority in a 2020s CSR then something must’ve horribly gone wrong. Marko obviously wants to keep his family safe. A shaky and flimsy car isn’t what he wants, especially with a forthcoming arrival.
-
Reliability
Marko is a busy man, and will likely get busier once the child arrives, so he likely won’t be having the time to send it back to the dealership or send it to a shop if ever something goes wrong with it. -
Sportiness
He understands Coupe SUVs aren’t as sporty as they seem, and certainly won’t be matching the driving experience of his GT-Sport, but generally if a vehicle could give him enough driving fun then that would be a great bonus for him. -
Service costs
Marko has more than enough money to run his GT-Sport, but spending less would be better, especially since he wants to keep his Sendo running as he loves it quite a lot, and if he had a son he would love for him to inherit the car. -
Cost
Lower is always better, but don’t overdo it.
-
Offroad
While offroading his new SUV isn’t going to be Marko’s primary priority, he’d still like to be able to take it and his family on some rather light trails every now and then. He’ll likely pick up a set of separate off-road tyres if ever. -
Prestige
He lives in a rather affluent neighbourhood, and he wants to maintain his status even if he is going with a vehicle cheaper than his current one. -
Fuel economy
Marko isn’t looking for 90 MPG economy car Honda Prius Insight Fusion EV-4 Hybrid, but neither is he looking for a gas-guzzler, the less he needs to spend on fuel the better.
-
Standard CSR realism etiquette is expected here, anything deemed too minmaxxed or unrealistic will be binned.
-
If you’re going over the soft cap, there better be a good reason. there usually isn’t lmao
-
Marko has a decent budget, but if a 40k car can do everything a 50k one, he’s going to go for the cheaper car.
-
This round is going to be taking place in the LCV4.1 version of Automation exclusively. If 4.2 releases during the round, we’ll be switching to the Legacy branch of Automation.
-
It’s perfectly fine to not have an interior and you probably won’t be penalized for it, however a good interior will definitely boost the car’s final ranking. especially with optional $60,000 tourbillon clocks wink wink
-
Going to reiterate this again, but non-coupe SUVs are “fine”. If you think your wildcard normal SUV might have a chance at being stylish enough for Marko, don’t be shy, for you might have a slight chance.
-
Using sedan/wagon/hatchback bodies then lifting it and giving it skirts is allowed and encouraged in the event that the pre-existing coupe SUV bodies are lacking.
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There are a grand total of four of us hosting this round of CSR, so do feel free to message the three other hosts (@Urke101, @Speedyboi & @Falling_Comet)as well if you feel severe discomfort with me (@variationofvariables).
Column 1
Vehicles within Marko’s budget:
Column 2
Vehicles out of budget, but still cool:
Model/Family Name: CSR140 - <forum username here>
Trim/Variant Name: whatever lol
When sending submissions, feel free to send it to either four of us (Or literally all of us please) via a Private Message on the forums. Keeping with traditions, submissions will NOT be accepted if they were sent through Discord.
