Daily Driver Challenge: 1995
Pictured Examples: Ford Contour, Toyota Corolla, Opel Vectra, Pontiac Grand Prix, Saturn S-Series, Buick Century
Let’s face it; to a lot of people, a car is just an appliance for basic transportation. They don’t know one market segment from another. They have no idea what kind of engine is under the hood or how much horsepower it makes. They just want something that runs, that doesn’t burn a hole in their wallet, and that handle a little bit of everything; commuting, shopping, carpool duty, etc. This is a challenge about appealing to these kinds of buyers. Build a well-rounded mass market vehicle in 1995, perhaps with some sporty or premium flair. If you go the sporty or premium route, think more of the sporty trim of a mainstream model than a pure sports car. If you go a premium route, think more the loaded version of a mainstream model or the entry-level model/trim of a luxury brand rather than a full-blown luxury car.
SUBMISSIONS OPEN UNTIL 2026-09-12T11:00:00Z
Rules and Submission Guidelines
Trim and Variant year must be set to 1995
Default techpool (+5 everywhere)
Design does not need to adhere to any specific market regulation, but the design should look complete and look like something that could exist in some real world market. Realism will therefore be taken into account in the design score.
Interiors not required, but up to 2 bonus points will be awarded to design score for interior design.
Must meet Gasmean WES standards for 1995 (WES 7)
Must use regular unleaded fuel (86 AKI/91 RON)
All entrants must DM me the .car file and post an “ad” on this thread with at least one photo of their entry. Resubmissions are not guaranteed but might be allowed at my discretion, and I will generally do so if I have yet to download and start scoring the submission.
Car Model and Engine Family must both be “DDC - yourusername”, with the actual name of your car and engine in the Trim and Variant fields. For example, I would put “DDC - oldmanbuick” in the model and family fields and then maybe something like “Flint Sentinel Standard” and “Valve-Tech 3800” in the Trim and Variant fields.
I am deliberately leaving out any wheelbase, seat count, or price restrictions to allow a variety of approaches. I recommend using the in-game Family, Family Premium, Family Utility, Family Utility Premium, Family Sport, Commuter, or Commuter Premium segments as approximate reference points for price and size depending on the way you want to go with your build.
Rule violations will be penalized at my discretion in proportion to the gravity of the rules violation, with bins reserved for violations that are willful or that require significantly reengineering the car to make it compliant.
I also reserve the right to penalize or bin any entries that try to game the system with clever exploits. As you can tell, there’s a lot of latitude in these rules, so as long as you’re just honestly trying to make a good car, you probably have nothing to worry about. If you’re unsure if something crosses the line, feel free to DM me to ask about it before you submit.
About Scoring
Design scores will be on a scale of 1 to 10, with the numbers roughly translating as follows: 9 or 10 = I love it, 7 or 8 = I like it, 5 or 6 = I think it’s OK, 3 or 4 = I don’t like it, 1 or 2 = I really don’t like it or it’s significantly incomplete. Entries will need to score a design score of at least 5 out of 10 (before any bonus for interior design) to qualify to win the challenge or any subcategory. Design realism will not be expressly scored but will factor into overall design score. With an up to 2-point bonus for an interior, there is a theoretical maximum of 12 on the design score.
Well-rounded vehicles will be rewarded in both the numerical scoring calculations and subjective assessments. There is no engineering “realism” requirement, but I will look at the cars holistically for some kind of coherent design philosophy and reserve the right to apply scoring penalties to entries that don’t have internal consistency. For example, a premium build with only basic safety or a car with a basic interior and a luxury sound system just don’t really add up.
Scoring penalties will apply to entries that are noticeably below average in a category, with those penalties increasing exponentially as scores fall well below average. This is based on the idea that one really bad thing about a car–an overly harsh ride, an uncomfortable seat, a tiny trunk, an unappealing exterior, etc.–can be enough to turn a buyer off to a car.
I generally use weighted equations in a spreadsheet for scoring. Keeping with the idea that well-rounded vehicles will be rewarded, I reserve the right to modify the scoring formulas and weighting of scoring factors (without altering their relative priority levels) to adjust for outliers and prevent cars from scoring particularly high simply by dominating a category or two.
If a wagon body seems to be unfairly and inaccurately penalized compared to a hatchback variant, I reserve the right to evaluate certain stats (especially practicality) using a hatchback variant of the body.
Comfort scores will be calculated as an average of the score with the as-is number of seats and the score with 4 seats to adjust for the penalty assigned for additional seats that are rarely occupied.
The scoring priorities below are for the overall scoring. I will subjectively identify cars for awards for “Best Value” (delivering a reasonably well-rounded vehicle for cheap both upfront and in long-term running costs and reliability), “Most Fun to Drive” (delivering a reasonably well-rounded vehicle with a dash of speed and good handling), “Most Practical” (delivering a reasonably well-rounded vehicle that can carry a lot of people and/or stuff), and “Most Luxurious” (delivering a comfortable upscale/premium experience with a well-rounded overall experience and reasonable price point). Again, the goal here is to build a well-rounded mainstream vehicle, but there are different things that can be emphasized even within these types of vehicles.
Scoring Priorities
Five Stars (Things that will universally make a difference to buyers)
Design. Especially for buyers who might not know a lot about cars, an eye-catching design. Note that this will be weighted significantly more heavily–likely several times more heavily–than any single engineering category.
Four Stars (Things that will matter significantly to most buyers)
Price: Everyone can see this upfront, and someone who views a car as a useful appliance isn’t likely to want to shell out top dollar for something they aren’t particularly enthusiastic about.
Comfort: A casual buyer can easily be turned off by a too-cramped cabin, a harsh ride, or constant noise.
Drivability: When you don’t really want to have to think much about your car, that means you don’t really want to have to think too hard about driving it.
Three Stars (Things that will matter significantly to a significant number of buyers)
Reliability, Corrosion Resistance, and Service Costs: Buyers will almost universally want something that’s not a hassle they have to constantly take to the shop and pay through the nose for repairs on, or that rusts out, but not all buyers will necessarily have the interest in doing the research to get a sense for how a car is likely to hold up in the long term.
Practicality: For most buyers, this car doesn’t need to be the “family hauler” constantly loaded up with kids and their gear, but it needs to have enough space inside and be compact enough on the outside to manage a trip to a crowded big box store, haul the purchases home, and pick up the kids.
Fuel Economy: Buyers generally aren’t seeking to make a statement about their eco-consciousness, but a lot of them will be turned off by anything too expensive to fill up.
Two Stars (Things that will matter significantly to a small number of buyers or matter a small amount to a significant number of buyers)
Sportiness/Performance: Even a driver who’s never heard of LeMans can have an appreciation for hugging a corner or getting thrown back in their seat, and even tame drivers are likely to be frustrated if they feel like the car is so underpowered it makes merging onto the highway feel like a challenge.
Safety: While some buyers might go on a deep dive into crash test results and safety features, many buyers might not have the interest in doing deep research and instead will be looking for something with “good enough” safety that doesn’t have a reputation as a death trap.
Offroad: Someone who really needs some kind of offroad ability is likely to be looking at a narrower set of vehicles, but at least the idea of having some kind of “rugged capability” and bad weather traction can be appealing to a lot of buyers–even if they never go offroad.
One Star (Things that are likely to matter only to a very limited subset of buyers or to be a “nice to have”)
Utility: Anyone looking for real payload or towing capacity will be looking at a narrow set of vehicles, but some buyers might consider it an added bonus to have something that can handle some supplies for projects around the house or not rule out the possibility of towing a small camper or boat.
Prestige: Not many of these buyers are really going to care–or even know–about brand identity or the prestige attached to a vehicle, but some might, and some might at least appreciate something that feels upscale, no matter the badge it wears.
