For a price of $13400, the workhorse-derivative FCD Mirus offers unmatched practicality, and a reliable fill it - shut it - forget it ownership experience. And when the time does come to service the car, you’ll still feel your wallet to be just as heavy as it was before.
Shown here is the base spec with five seats, gas dampers and a 1.8 litre four cylinder mated to a 4 speed manual transmission as standard, fitted with side and rear step rails, rear mud flaps, a rear defogger and washer in addition to the rear wiper and a casette player.
After a long day of working some on some odd jobs, Bob retreated to his modest home. Much of the unnecessary furnishings have been sold to raise funds for his upcoming grand tour, leaving a barren living room with just a television, VCR, and a monobloc chair in front of the setup. A stack of the latest automotive magazines and a Go Go Drive! tape lay cluttered beside the chair.
Without further ado, Bob played turned the TV and VCR on, playing a show he set to record while he was away…
“…and now we bring you to Albert Hoy for this week’s episode of the number one automotive journalism programme, Top Motoring!”
“In tonight’s Top Motoring, we examine some rather unfortunate vehicles that have made it onto our market recently, we try to find out if you can replace your engine oil with diluted Marmite, and we try to find determine if a fully-loaded goods van can out-accelerate a Formula One car that stays stationary throughout the whole test.”
“When our glorious island first joined the Common Market in 1973, its impact on our local industry was tremendous. Consumers were finally able to purchase higher-quality cars from the continent and at lower prices too. Local automotive giants either floundered or forced themselves to innovate in order to stay competitive. Thirteen years on however, the landscape has evolved. The car market is more crowded than it has ever been, meaning a large influx of cars into our forecourts.”
“Some are quite good cars but are kneecapped in one way or another. Some other cars just short of being good, while many others are worth scrap the moment it rolls out of the dealership. We will be having a look at these kinds of vehicles, and we will discuss whether or not they are worth looking it for you, the consumer.”
“Let’s start with the Glissando 2.2 Cross. If you have a pair of eyes like I do, you’d wish that you didn’t have them. Not terribly well engineered too. There is nothing more for me to say about this travesty of a car.”
(Verdict: binned. Submitted before the round even opened, and not a very good car either way.)
Hoffsman Arachnid Rock Crawler Edition @Kanye_West
"Next up is the Hoffsman Arachnid. Or rather, the Rock Crawler edition. It’s quite a striking car this is, with its mean face and a surprisingly practical rear hatch. However, it is quite expensive as you could imagine, far out of reach from the average car buyer.
“Tsubasa is making strides in the city car market with their updated Glide BX-I. It is cute, nimble, reliable, and fun to drive as one may expect from a car in this segment. However, customers say that the car’s stereo is too fancy for its own good, and that its front tyres seem to be an odd size not readily available at the nearest shop. Until Tsubasa addresses these issues, I think that they are quite short of dominating the market. Quite a shame.”
(Verdict: binned for having premium infotainment on standard interior, and running front tyres with a width ending with 0)
“The inconveniences faced by the potential Tsubasa owner is nothing compared to someone who wants to own a Mountaineer. Being built on what can only be described as an oxcart (not to be confused with the Lockheed A-12), the Mountaineer is downright terrible to drive, and the extremely thin tyres (with 18-inch wheels!) that would embarrass supercars is sure to make your bum feel every pebble on the road. Don’t let its sleek, French body fool you, this thing is fatale without any of the femme.”
“The XTrak is a much better-looking proposition than the Mountaineer. Though far from the worst-looking car, the XTrak is unfortunately not very reliable, is rather thirsty despite having one of the smaller engines among its competitors, and is neither comfortable or too nice to drive. A decent showing by the company but there are definitely better options.”
Additional Comments
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While not the worst looking vehicle by far (since we have discussed the Glissando 2.2 Cross) there are quite a few ways that the XTrak can be improved.
The taillights, as is obvious, does not wrap around the body very well. It is a finnicky spot in all fairness, but a better-wrapping taillight could be made with a bit of patchwork (as you did in the headlights) or by positioning your lighting fixtures in 3d before converting it to 2d, among other methods.
The side profile of the vehicle is also a little too plain. The side strips are a good starting point, but a little more cladding or texture on the rocker panel (and the areas round it) would have made a world of difference.
Most other stats are quite mediocre with reliability, fuel economy, drivability, and comfort being on the low end.
“As we all know, the French like to do things their own way. Sometimes it is better, sometimes it is worse. All the time it is polarizing. Something similar can be said about the Break Arriere. Owners say that the car is decently reliable, very economical, comfortable, and quite a nice thing to drive. With its many quirks including staggered tyres however, owners say that working on it is quite a hassle, though it usually won’t break the bank. And as for looks… I think I’d rather be seen driving around in a carton of milk.”
Additional Comments
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The raw stats of the Arriere are not actually too bad compared to the rest. However, once you look a little deeper, things start to fall apart. Drivability is relatively high but that is due exclusively to the staggered tyres. Positive aero quality was also used which is an interesting decision, to say the least.
Not to mention the design, which now that I look at it, looks like a sanded-down banana due to the low shine paint. Everything looked like it was tacked onto the body, with zero sculpting whatsoever. Speaking of sculpting though, the d-pillar stands taller and prouder than the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001 at 8:46:39AM EDT, completely at odds with the other pillars.
While the inclusion of rear vents are appreciated for a rear-engined design like this, there is literally nothing else placed here that improves the visual appeal of this vehicle. Front is aight if a bit bland.
“When you want a sensible vehicle, SVM is definitely a marque that comes to mind. It looks like a vehicle, drives like one, and has the bits and pieces that you’d normally find in one. Unfortunately, it is not particularly excellent in any of the things it does. This is not a Jack of all trades, but more like a six. Not to mention, it looks boring. Offensively so, in my opinion.”
“A similar thing can be said about this Trekker by Sapporo. Not bad, not excellent, but at least it looks a little more appealing. The design department for this certainly has a better eye, but not one for details just yet.”
Additional Comments
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This is not a bad looking car by any means, just missing any kind of feature that would catch the eye. Some detailing effort can definitely be seen, but the use of paint with zero shine or flake rather unsurprisingly makes the car look dull. Some detailing on the lower front fascia as well as the tailgate might help but even if it did, the stats are quite on par with the SVM, which is to say that it is below average. Reliability however is the lowest among non-instabinned entries.
“Speaking of the design department, Mara either needs to either invest in theirs or fire the entire team. This vehicle is cheap and competent, but definitely not something you want to be seen driving around in.”
Yeah the complete lack of any kind of depth in the front just makes the car look like a big, imposing mouthbreather. Rest of the vehicle isn’t too bad but lacks any kind of flair. That said, reliability and drivability are good, though other stats suffer because of the basic nature of the vehicle (it’s the cheapest car of the entire round!), which I think is a worthwhile tradeoff.
The Drifter is certainly one of the better cars of today’s lot. I’d argue that the designers of this vehicle had some vision. However, in its current state it looks a little blobby, or jelly mould-y. Not as bad as a certain blue oval product from a few years back, but this doesn’t have that rugged look that one would probably expect from an SUV. durability and drivability could be better, but if you can look past some of its flaws it is an alright car. Not for me though.
There has certainly been a decent attempt to properly style this vehicle. All the basic elements are there, proportions are generally good. There is some depth along the sides and roof of the vehicle (from body moulding and bumper bars) which is good, and the addition of stripes and text is certainly nice. However, I feel like the front fascia looks a bit too early 90s, and the lack of visible internals makes the design look just a little more bland.
There’s also this chin at the front bumper which I’m not sure what it is for. Either way, a good showing with room for detailing. Stats are generally below average, with somewhat low reliability, high fuel consumption, and low practicality due to having only 3 doors.
(Verdict: eliminated)
“And that sums this section up, dear viewers. A tsunami of automobile brands that will most likely dissipate in the next few years, when the weakest competitors exit a cooling market. Moving on, Marmite is known by many names around the world, including Vegemite by our inmates, Marmite by folks who don’t want nuclear submarines on their islands, and more…”
Bob turned the TV off and proceeded to complete some chores before retiring for the day. He now knows what cars to avoid, and will be inspecting more cars in-person with a friend before making his final decision.
Maybe you submitted so early that one of the updates affected you. Was hit the same way in the soviet peoples car challenge where I suddenly had minor brake fade out of nowhere.
You are right, it looked too new for the challenge, I felt the same way. In my mind, I was pressed for time to re-do it, in real life, not Automation time. I dont know what the fuck that extra lip is doing smh. I did have fun making this though, and hopefully one day i can make an interior for it, and make a higher level trim with better stats. #GOALS
I feel with challenges in this version should have some kinda leeway for how often updates changes your stats . Because im sure im not the only one who had a random stat change after posting the car
the most recent automation update was on October 23rd, we received your entry after that on the 26th and after we extended submissions due to the update - so I’m less inclined to believe the update was the cause of you being overbudget, especially considering you were nearly 3,000 dollars overbudget instead of a couple hundred
