Now, the car size may be about equal to a Polo or a Mito, but the engine size was always a bit bigger, starting with a 1.6L I4T that makes 125hp and the next step was already the 2.0L with 160hp.
But this car is basically aimed at young people, as the design suggests. However, if you’re 18 and you want a hot looking hatchback, you might not have the 17.500€ necessary to buy the 1.6L Mantis.
That’s why i decided to break some of my rules. For the first time ever, a DQE car will be powered by an engine with less than 1L of capacity. It has 800cc, is naturally aspirated and makes 80hp. Also, the interior is now pretty basic and you don’t get driver aids other than ABS, and (also for the first time in a DQE) you only get standard safety features.
All that results in a car that weighs just 781kg. This way, the 80hp is enough to go from 0 to 100km/h in 10.3 seconds and the car will only use 3.7l/100km. AND: It will only cost you 10.000€, which is a sum that an 18-year-old may possess if he worked for it. (If not, he won’t be able to buy a car anyway, unless he has rich parents).
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome a new DQE family member! The Leo! This is DQE’s competitor for the BMW 5 series (might be a tough competitor though).
It’s refined and elegant, not only on the outside, but also on the inside. Like its german rivals, it comes with premium interior (+5 quality), premium entertainment, all driver aids (except Launch Control) and advanced safety features. But unlike the 5 series, it’s made from aluminium which makes it much lighter. Below are the stats of this car with its most popular engine, the 30t6e with 205hp and great fuel economy:
The price is 45.000€ for the 3.0L eco model. That’s a little bit less than what the BMW 520i costs, and yet the Leo is more powerful and more economical.
However, if you want something even more exclusive and a lot more power, stay tuned for the Leo XX! It will be posted in the Speed Academy thread tomorrow
Time to present something from the future! You guys are the first to see a sneak peak of a 2020 model of DQE which will be presented at the Vienna motor show in January 2015 and is for now called Futuro but will be renamed once it’s put into production.
This model gets several features that today’s DQE models don’t have: headlights which are integrated into the main grille, thin square LED backlights, recycled carbon fibre as standard (which i think many cars will have by 2020) and of course some new engines as well which 2014’s engines just can’t match. The basic engine is a 1.5L I4T with 110hp and over 42% efficiency. And even though the car gets premium interior, standard 20s entertainment and advanced 20s safety features, it weighs less than 900kg and uses just 3.05l/100km. But it will do 0-100km/h in 7.2 seconds. Then, there’s a sportier version of the same 1.5L block, which makes 200hp, 0-100 in 5.0s and uses 4.5l/100km.
Then, there’s a 2.0L I4T block, again with two different tunes. The 2.0 eco makes 150hp and also about 42% efficiency, getting from 0-100km/h in 5.9 seconds while using just 3.5l/100km. Last but definitely not least, the 2.0L sport version: 250hp, 0-100 in 4.4 seconds and 4.8l/100km.
This car, whatever its name will end up being, will definitely set the benchmark in the entry-level to mid-range sports coupe section. It offers plenty of power as well as surprisingly low fuel consumption for a reasonable price (27.500€ for the 1.5 eco, 29.000€ for the 1.5 sport, 30.500€ for the 2.0 eco, 33.000€ for the 2.0 sport)
DQE recently visited the Queen. She said she wanted a new car but would only buy anything non-british if i could totally convince her with one of my own cars. She said, she wanted high comfort, at least 600hp so that she would never be late, and safety was the number one priority because well… it’s the Queen. Obviously, the price didn’t matter. So i went on and created a luxury saloon for her, the Royal:
When i turned up at the Buckingham Palace in this car, she was very thrilled about its looks. I opened the passenger door for her and then took the driver seat myself. I started the engine, a 7.0L I6T which is as smooth as double cream, just perfect for her majesty. Then i drove her to her next meeting and she felt the power and torque of that massive engine, but the power didn’t punch her into the seat like in a Ferrari or Lamborghini, it gently pressed her into the soft leather seats which were massaging her in the mean time while accelerating like a proper supercar.
After her meeting, she said she had already closed Britain’s main highway for 5 miles to see how fast this car could really go. I floored the throttle and immediately, she realized that this car was just faster than all the Bentleys and Rolls Royces currently in production. Even at speeds of over 300km/h, she felt totally safe and comfortable. Also, she found it a pleasant surprise that this car uses less than 10l/100km (not that fuel economy would matter but still). She liked it a lot. So much in fact, that she signed the contract and bought the car. For 500.000€.
The Queen’s back might hurt a bit in that car! The profile of the tyres is very low and the bump rating… Ouch. At least you tried to compensate that with comfy seats.
Despite selling 1 car to the Queen, DQE’s hard efforts didn’t pay off at the end. The cars didn’t sell well enough so unfortunately, the company will be closed shortly. But don’t worry, its owner was able to take out a loan which enabled him to build a new factory. It will be opened within the next week, so stay tuned! The first new models are already being designed on the drawing boards (virtual ones because my freehand drawing is terrible), and they will be (even) less conservative than before.
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