General entries have now closed, may the odds be ever in your favor.
Let the lot be filled with not miatas!
Is that… is that a Hunger Games reference?
You can just count me out of the competition, k?
(I’m joking I think I actually made a good car this time 
)
CSR-78 Preliminary
Bruce opens his phone and starts browsing for a car:
The Morton Sparrow
“2L turbo 4 pot, reviews generally well across the entire board, thats certainly hopeful for the very first thing I open, I just hope its lives up to it in person”
saves dealership to phone for later
after flipping through a few dozen more:
Handuh Ceevik Version-RS
“Wow that color is still loud, and the styling is even louder… I’m surprised those pipes are even legal”
“Interestingly there are actually reviews for it though, drives well but not very sporty”
Closes Tab
The Popcorn
“Now that looks more like a car I’d like to own… 1.5L inline6 is small, but 207kw is decent power”… “oh, reviews say while quick enough, ts pretty hard to drive… maybe not as a daily, a shame really, it sure looks nice”
Closes Tab
The Manta Corana
“Well within budget, and larger 2.9L v6 for the money, lets check out some reveiws”.
“4speed Manual in 2014, lowest quality suspension you’ve ever seen? Slow track times and very hard to drive… perhaps I’ll pass this time”
Closes Tab
The XAML
“I wasn’t really looking for a hatch, but its practical and this one sure looks sporty, lets see some reviews”
“Wow, thats a really fast track speed, and 280kw! Unsuprisingly fairly hard to handle that power in such a tiny package though without AWD, and it leans like its going to roll over, so I’ll have to pass this time as I want to keep it stock, but with a wider stance or aftermarket rollbars this thing could be a absolute monster, I’ll send this to Rick”
forwards to Rick, then closes tab
The FM Celeritas
“A proper MR sportscar within my budget, thats pretty cool, but I’ll admit to being skeptical”… “Good power, great track times and its prestigious, and that styling is unmistakeable, I’m pretty tempted, but yes it is hard to drive and I know I shouldn’t, another one towards Rick though…”
forwards to Rick, then closes tab
The FAAL Coupe 25TFE
“Small Coupe with 4 seats, AWD, sporty and well under budget, I’m certainly saving this one for later… the entertainment is pretty basic but I guess that should be fine”
Saves dealership address to phone
The Command Wagon
“Not really what I’m looking for, but fekkin cool and actually fast enough, rick is certainly getting this in his inbox”
forwards to Rick, then closes tab
The Perestroika P16 LGD
“A cool looking little coupe, reviews say its got a good mix of drivability and sportiness too… but the 1.8L makes less power than I’m looking for… if only they offered a 2L”
Closes Tab
The Cabart-Danneville RITO MKII R
“That name is sure a mouthful, its got a cool unique styling going on too”
“reveiws say its super easy to drive, and its pretty quick too, but low saftey and a transverse FWD i4?, not really my thing, almost makes up for it though”
Closes Tab
The EcaMobile Broadway 2014 Roadster Base
“A little bit larger convertible, this thing just ozzes prestige”…
“Sadly from what people say its neither comfortable or quick to back that up, and only ok to drive, even if its still sporty and absolutely something I’d like to be seen in”
Closes Tab
The Survivor Starter Sport
“You know what, I’m impressed they managed to make it fit my search terms, DOHC Carburated v8 sports offroader, its certainly different”
Closes Tab
The Adenine Essence
“Another awesome smaller sports car, really like the styling, and a boxer6 at 9,700rpm will sound mental”… “Being NA and only 2L puts it on the lower limit of power though, but cool, and very close, if they had a turbo or 2.5L in stock I may get one”.
Closes Tab
The Aniki Raiton
“Another boxer6, but this time instead of a small coupe this is a larger one rocking 2.5L and twin turbos, and 2+2 could be very handy for a daily”… “Surprisingly not much more power, and a bit less sporty than I’m really after… if reviews said it was a little easier to drive it’d probably a sensible choice in a way, but your only young once right?”
Foolishly Closes Tab
The Solo Fusion Turbo
“A badass looking yellow coupe, RWD, manual and, low drag with aero”… “reviews praise its sportyness, and its not impossible to drive… but again 2L i4 at the lower limit on power and as a result I’m just not sure its quick enough to justify having a 2seat sports car over a slightly more practical car with more motor”
Closes Tab
The Ninomiya Iris
“4 seats and a bit more power, recommended as easy to drive, this may be a winner if it still manages to be quick, I will miss having a manual though”… an hour of largely wasted time watching videos online later “Sadly it’d appear to be a little slower than I’d like, but practical, drivable and economical, I bet it’d sell well”.
Closes Tab, but makes a mental note to recommend it to others
The Hawker Typhoon Mk3
“Back to two seats, but 3.5L with far more power must make something so small very quick… if reveiws don’t tell me its a death trap I’m taking a look”… “apparently its actually easy to drive, shortlist for sure”.
Saves address of closest dealer onto phone
The Ars Astaroth GX
“Back down in power, and still with 2 seats and fairly basic interior… I’d bin it but people online say the way it drives needs to be felt to understand it, so maybe its worth a once around the block before I though it out”
Reluctantly saves address to phone
The Albatross C250t
“Small coupe, 2.5L Turbo, almost half what I’m able to pay… whats the catch”. “No, people say it drives ok… safe enough… eco tuned motor is low on power, darn. Really close, but just not quite fast enough to make a shortlist, the internet says you can pick up big gains with just a flash tune, but I’ll aim to hold onto a warranty for now”.
Closes Tab
Aeros Remex Mk.3
“4 seat, 2 door, RWD, 2.3 Turbo i5…182kw… once again another factory eco tune on an otherwise great option… reviews say it drives well and everything, if only it where that little bit quicker”
Closes Tab
The JHW Trident R5
“An extremely classy looking roadster with a 3L motor and active suspension, interior looks classy too”… “Close but no cigar, Naturally Aspirated, people say it sounds amazing, but its just a little less power than I’m looking for once again, if only they had a turbocharged version it may be a winner”
Closes Tab
The Duecentosessanta
“A retro body style, thats kinda neat in its own way I guess, and despite the looks the 2.5L actually makes enough power too… oh, err 4 speed duel clutch, it doesn’t seem to hurt its blinding fast track times much but it may be a a short straw for drivability on the street”
Closes Tab
The Kyoki Crusader
“A small coupe with an amazing looking interior and highly distinctive rear grill, it’d be a serious option, but for that 186lw listed… the forums say its another tunable car, but not only warranty concerns, you’d be starting on an older style SOHC 16v… maybe a motor swap… but thinking stock only for now, no sadly thats just not quick enough”
Closes Tab
Gabatron G4 Cross Sport
“4 doors 4 seats would be practical, not sure if its nessesarily the look I want but if its quick enough… but sadly the listed 167.8kw is low, and track times reflect that. Internet says its once again running a lot leaner for economy and emissions reasons, but without changing ECU parameters around its not going to cut it, especially with the extra set of doors”.
Closes Tab
Finally after a full nights searching the last item on the list:
CMV SC18S
“2 seat coupe, the aero looks good, and its a manual which is fun,although the 1.8L boxer has me a little concerned about power… still though reviews are saying one of the best drivability\sportyness balances around… unfortunately said reviews also say the Ars Astaroth GX steals the crown for a little less money (I guess I really will have to try that despite unassuming stats), and that this car is more uncomfortable than I’d really intended to consider as a daily drive… still surprisingly quick.”
CSR-78 Final
Having finally come to the last day in order to make his choice (I mean he’d look a lot online, that counts as prep right?), Bruce gets up earlier than normal in the morning (10am) and alongside his mate Rick, who is half a year behind Bruce in his law internship, jumps into his current student beater car and heads for one of the mega dealerships that dot Auto-sytraila… they look like a bunch of adjacent single brand dealerships, but really all share an owner as they work under one of the limited dealer licenses the government requires, which can be sold person to person by no new licenses have been issued in decades, although that is a story for another day.
Lost in his tangent of thought about the socioeconomic ramifications of dealer licenses Bruce almost walks into a customer leaving the closest showroom… which happens to be the recently re-opened FAAL, if the huge hanging logo is anything to go by. The car of interest to Bruce is bright yellow, and conveniently near the door in this instance.
Rick: “TETRA AWD? Should be nice to drive, and that fuel economy is great at 6…”
Bruce: “Don’t care, and people say its actually a bit of a handful although 250hp & 4 seats is nice”
Rick: “Yeah yeah, its just like those rb7 whats-it-calleds you fantasize over… really mate, when do you have more than one other person anyway, and with 2 doors and that cramped legroom its not practical anyway, there’s hardly any point, and with that weight it’ll be slower than a 200hp sportscar anyway”
Bruce: “So what does your genius recommend then sudden car expert”
Rick: points diagonally 2 shops over “my uncle owns a Morton, its good”.
Bruce: sighs “fine, but lets make a note of this one, it fill most of my criteria”
The pair strut in… well Rick struts in, and Bruce rolls his eyes as he follows behind
Rick: “The Sparrow, now this is a proper sports car, 2 seats, RWD, manual, turbo motor…”
Bruce: “Holy-Cow, my eyes, that color”
Rick: “I like the color, and I’m sure it comes in others”
Bruce: after test drive “well color aside it seems a really well balanced car, sure I’ll get it”
Rick: “wait, wait, wait, your not buying the second car we see just to avoid shopping around mate, get real, and reading reviews don’t count. Lets check out Hawker next door”.
Bruce: “The Typhoon… I’ve heard of the typhoon, didn’t it set fastest lap of anything below $100k on the Max gear track”
Rick: “Don’t know man, don’t watch the show… are you sure you’d be happy with those flappy paddles though man, that ain’t real driving”
Bruce: “Probably easier in city traffic everyday man, and its sporty, comfortable and prestigious enough…”
Rick:“Just promise me you’ll look at at least one more right, the last two have both been improvements?”
Bruce:“The Ars Astaroth Gx… I don’t get it, I’m looking at the numbers and its just not up to the Typhoon, you’d spend all day browsing if you could”
Rick: “look man, you promised to try a third, lets just wait to you drive it”
After test drive
Rick:“wow that thing steers”
Bruce:“wow… Yeah it does, it still feels a little down on power though”
Rick: “How quick are you thinking of going on the road man, its not like you plan to track the thing… at least improvement over the last again”
Bruce:“Maybe… Probably… I don’t know its real close man, I need some time to think.”
RIck: “Sure, I’ll go grab us some lunch, you mull this one over”
15mins later
Rick: “Hey man, I got Kababs, you made up your mind”
Bruce:“Yeah mate, signing the paperwork on the lease now”
Rick: “Cool, which one did you get, the Ars or the Typhoon”
Bruce:“Actually I decided on the Evanto TS, its the one out front”
Rick:“The one out front… wait WHAT, you bought a friggin wagon! What the heck man”
Bruce:“Wait till you try it, it steers better than the typhoon, and with a 4.5L it ain’t slow”
Rick:“But not as well as the Ars, and I bet its slower than the Typhoon… despite the same silly paddles, and still only 2 seats… you sure about this, I thought you had your heart set on something fun”
Bruce:“Its massively comfortable man, has presence people respect and driving like that its no soccer wagon”
Rick:“Whatever dude, your mad, but its your money…”
And with that the two leave the dealer, in a new H4 Evanto TS 4.5
Well done to HintBoyRight from winning this round of CSR, your the next host!
1st @Hintboyright - The H4 Evanto TS 4.5
2nd @Xepy - Ars Astaroth GX
3rd @USDMFTW - Hawker Typhoon Mk3
4th @abg7 - Morton Sparrow
5th @Knightophonix - FAAL Coupe 25TFE
A big thanks to everybody who entered, while I’ve only mentioned the top5 it was actually really close score wise, the winner being 260 points in a field averaging 237, and there was a fraction of a ponit between both FAAL and Morton, and Between Hawker and Ars. I’m also pleasantly surprised that the finalists is 5 different bodies, both myself and others had some concern over battle of the 2L turbio not miata, but instead people entered a diverse range of displacement both naturally aspirated and turbo entries spanning FF, FR, FA and MR. Hats off to Nerd for making a carburated v8 offroader fit somehow.
I will be running the 5 finalists on the BeamNG Automation Test Track tomorrow to determine an editors pick… it won’t change the outcome of the CSR round, nor will be very objective, but hopefully it’ll provide an interesting 2nd take on the results.
Here is the score sheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16g-g06u0dWSYSoRLU1KS_Ed-5I3fWhRpSC-ylPX_jCE/edit?usp=sharing
Wow, that scoring was very close across the entire range of cars submitted, ill take 3rd for doing an emergency redesign an hour before i submitted after i realized i was about 18 over the PU requirement…facepalm
Also, only reviews for the top 5 seems a bit unfair towards the other entrants who probably spent the same if not more time than those in the top 5.
So where are the reviews for all the other cars…? Even a couple sentences for what they did right/wrong? It’s not exactly CSR without getting something about all the entries.
^^^^^^
Most CSR rounds I’ve seen ran on two rounds, the first being an overview of all the cars, and a second round with more details on a handful of good cars, leading to one winner. Plus, they were more gravitating around roleplay and the customer’s state of mind, than raw stats just like you did.
I mean, that’s different. But I’d be pissed if I was one of the binned cars 
Some earlier CSRs also had a full review for each car followed by some deliberation for the winner, but that only really makes sense when the turnout is low.
That last part sums up joining CSR and not being a finalist in the only round to ever not review all the cars. 
From the perspective of the binned cars it does seem odd submitting into a vacuum…and with my limited experience with CSR that’s what I liked about what I saw. (edit: I meant I being sure that your car will be somehow reviewed by the host)
I’m glad and surprised I won and am excited to host, but considering I’ve only been around for these last 2 CSRs it’s a little intimidating…I’ll try to have fun with it I guess 
Didn’t expect final results so soon, and from what I’ve seen I shouldn’t have been expecting it this soon anyways. Either way I’m happy with how well my car did for the first time I’ve entered a CSR, even if this one was a bit controversial to say the least.
Now I guess I should actually make lore for my company and think of what to do if I do win one of these…
Wow that was…Fast? What about the almost 30 others entries we have every CSR?
Well at least I can honestly say is that the only was my car would breakdown is when it killed you by making you drive into a tree!
Gz to @Hintboyright on the win.
Pointer for hosting…simple rules. 
You mixed around the pictures
I’ll take 4th this time, having redesigned my car after realizing that it would most likely not finish as high as I wanted it to (or even reach the final round of judging) in its original form.
Anyway, congratulations to HintBoyRight for winning, and many thanks to SheepInACart for hosting an entertaining round (after some revisions to the rule set) and getting the initial reviews and final results all done in one post!
Damn I was so close! I should have stiffened my suspension and widened my stance on my XAML. Time to get better with suspension tuning
Honestly the suspension tune wasn’t bad, its just while Bruce would have been happy with a much wider car as he was in the market for a sports vehicle purely in order for it to handle better at the limit, most demographics looking for a compact would greatly disagree. In order to get a low roll angle with sticky tires (remember less grip = less roll, although would score more poorly for Bruce again) on that body without going wider you’d be up for either spine crunching springs or shocks… which while you may be able to fudge in game by going with a 2 seater and more premium interior, its pretty min-maxy and would kill the overall concept of the car and not made much sense IRL
Also you still got highest top speed and 6th fastest lap time out of that amazing motor while keeping 2nd highest reliability and practicality, thats no small feat.
I’m happy with how the Wildcard did. I was expect it to be lower.
Editors choice award
The Ars Astaroth GX takes top honors handily… it has a little understeer that does cost it a good line in corners if your not a little careful, but its flat out easy to consistently drive and even to recover if you make some minor mistakes. Once you’re a lot of laps in, it starts to feel like you could have a hair more power, but since this is the factory tune of a road car, thats probably a realistic and good thing that it has a little grip reserve, and no matter what I was doing on the track it had plenty of brake force. Only time it got squirrelly is turn in after very hard braking, and even then braking a little earlier totally mitigates this. It was also the only car that looked better in BeamNG than Automation, especally from the back where its overhang was lit up by the rear light bar. Handling Track: On the tighter track I was worried the slight understeer would become more present, but the Astaroth handling remains a thing of beauty. It still takes concentration to put a good lap time in, but instead of meeting a horrible end on bad corner lines throttle doctrine, you simply leave slightly slower than you otherwise would. It is however possible to overrun if you carry far too much speed into a corner. I wasn’t able to make it do a burnout, but the excellent aero\suspension tune and AWD really did shine in the BeamNG tests.
The runner up is the Hawker Typhoon Mk3… just like in automation numbers I did get a better lap time than the Astaroth, but driveability is much harder, with not only substantial oversteer under any power, it can throttle off oversteer or spin out if you touch bumps during a turn, although all got more neutral as you packed speed on, so it was far from undrivable. Yet I imagine this gets a lot better for drivers with actual pedals from more smoothness in application of power and transition onto and off the brakes… and it is quicker. However unlike the Astatoth where after more laps you want more power, the better you get and faster you lap the Typhoon, the more the brakes fade, and potentially fade unequally. My best laps where consistently done after a fresh reset… which happened plenty as trying to get lap times down resulted in good familiarity with the walls. Handling Track: Pretty much the same as the big track here in the regard the times where great, but you really work for it. Its almost worth using manual mode for more control, but I honestly didn’t beat my sport mode time. Turning ESC on makes it a little more forgiving to bad throttle application, but really brings out more of that oversteer, even under light throttle, bogs in corners, and I found it as hard or harder than ESC off on this one, although granted if you back off from the limit instead of shoot for times it becomes an easy to point and drive normally car with it on… which is probably more realistic for anyone on a normal fun drive without a death wish.
In third but not far behind is the Morton Sparrow. It too liked to oversteer, and I didn’t have issues with the brakes, but in part because unlike the Typhoon I struggled to get the same speed on. Turn ESC on and it was an absolute blast (although not much quicker) rotating under throttle instead of requiring you back out of the power… but using the ESC nanny also meant it bogged in the tight low speed corners and heated the brakes badly (although still not to the degree of noticeable effect on braking zone), so it was hardly a perfect fix. Handling Track: Without ESC things got a little better on the tighter course, with a respectable time, but still very preset oversteer, however with a bit of turbo lag it feels easy to fall off the peak power in the confined space, and turning ESC made this very present in many of the corners… you get good at picking shifts or you get stuck in 2nd for a lot of the track.
Forth is the H4 Evanto TS 4.5. Our CSR winner, its a true muscle car on the track. You can drive it around without drama, and when you can plant the gas speed piles on shockingly quickly, but I found myself squirrely on corner exit and otherwise needing to lift a couple of times each pass of the track, making consistent fast times beyond my ability. ESC could help you drive, but unlike the Sparrow killed most of the fun also. Like the Typhoon, I bet this car is a lot better with a pedal box, but for my part it only makes 4th. That said, Bruce far from missed out on having a performance car… this thing is a tire fire any time you want in manual mode, more pony than sports, but Auto-stralia is a market familiar with powerful inline6 engines. Handling Track: Firstly its a lot more fun in the smaller space, the sound is the best of any of the cars here, with the brief bursts of noise on downshifts. It once again feels a bit more neutral at this speeds also, with more understeer at throttle off making it controlable during the corner. However doesn’t do nearly as well as the FAAL in the respect it retains its squirrelyness on corner exit, which costs it a time on the handling circuit for last place… although far from least fun. ESC here only really works if your shifting manually, in D or S mode it shifts then brakes hard to prevent oversteer during corners or randomly bogs, making handling a mess… but with M mode and ESC I did put out an ok time.
Finally the FAAL Coupe 25TFE. Honestly I just think this didn’t translate well to the beamNG Automation big track at all, without ESC it was very hard to make a lap with any sort of gusto. I didn’t get to try the AWD offering as despite his mates advice bruce only was interested in RWD, but I suspect with only slight rear bias instead of full RWD it may have been a much more balanced car. As it was with either keyboard or controller I couldn’t tame it to get down anywhere close to its Automation in game track time, let alone chase the cars higher on the list. Still, its the only one here with 4 seats, it was the most economical and cheapest of the finalists tested here, so prehaps pure track times where you can’t see, hear or feel the inside of the car would be being pretty unfair. Leave ESC on and its driveable, but can still overrun pretty easy on corners if you come in too hot, and even spin out if you try steer with throttle, where the Astaroth shines with no ESC, and the Sparrow handles with it. Handling Track: The FAAL’s performance gets a lot better here, not placing an excellent time, but being very fun to throw around, and at the lower speeds very balanced, understeering off throttle and being easy to oversteer on power. I had few few crashes and would rate it pretty well in this more back roads style driving.
