You’ve just entered an endurance race, hooray! Congratulations, you’re a contender. However, new rules from ecologists are suggesting that people aren’t being frugal enough or economical enough. Of course, you know it’s not as fun, but you’ll play… For now. Anyways, the race will have certain restrictions.
1: The whole car must cost less than $25,000. 2: The car must have gas mileage higher than 40 MPG (US). 3: You must have emissions under 30. 4: The total output of the engine either must exceed 300 HP, or you must have a power:weight ratio of 1 HP:4 KG. 6: The sportiness must be over 50. 7: The reliability must be over 40 for the overall car. 8: Weight must be under 1300 KG. 9: Gas used must be Regular Unleaded. (RON must be 91 or less)
Test your car around the Airfield track, then send me your time.
The winner gets a reward of a terribly photoshopped picture of their car.
Please show me a picture of you car so I know who’s participating.
So, with all of that considered, the deadline is on December 7th at 6:00 EST (Eastern Standard Time). This shouldn’t be too hard. Also, you must PM me you results. You’re not allowed to publicly share your lap times. NO EXCEPTIONS. I’ll update the entries as we go.
You’ll get judged by 4 parts:
RACING CREDENTIAlS: How well you perform on the track.
ECONOMY: Based off of overall eco-friendliness.
PRICE: How much you spent on your car.
RACING POSITION: Overall position of the race, based off of all the above factors.
Gryphon Gear don’t normally do economical, budget racing. But now that our credentials are more established, we feel a certain freedom to branch out and explore different approaches. This one might be of good interest to us, to reprise the role of the Swift!
The sub 30 emissions are really killing me, I am running my engine as lean as I can, with a compromise on pistons and still can’t get the emissions below 67, while maintaining the 300hp quota.
This was an issue for me as well but if you increase the exhaust slider the emissions will reduce. This is no doubt because the extra mony buys you a proper cat, not just an iron mesh in an old muffler body!
This was an issue for me as well but if you increase the exhaust slider the emissions will reduce. This is no doubt because the extra mony buys you a proper cat, not just an iron mesh in an old muffler body! [/quote]
You had mesh in yours? Mine had wet cardboard in it!
But what about the unicorns!? We shall be picketing Prato motors for sure!!!
EDIT: Out of respect for the spirit of the rule, I won’t post any stats, but agree that yes, it was difficult to satisfy the emissions criteria. However both that and the power output figures almost go hand in hand, so it makes a fair bit of sense. This being said, in true GG style, I abandoned all sensibility and went for a build that maximises power to weight ratio by making as much power out of as light a car as possible… even at the cost of picking a sensible drivetrain. FF endurance beetle anyone?
Oh, sorry, I didn’t mention this in the OP. It would be GREAT if you guys could send pictures of your cars! I’d have better tracking. Pictures CAN be shared.
Quick questions before I submit: are there no restrictions on fuel quality? Because right now I’m using 100RON but I can easily switch to 98RON if required.
Introducing Mushu, the ultralight retro racer with a whale tail and a ridiculous Rado style wing on the front! With over 300bhp tipping the scales at barely 528kg, that makes for an astounding power:weight ratio of a whopping 574hp:tonne! The chassis is spaceframe aluminium, the panels carbon fibre, making for extreme lightness. For the powerplant we opted for a restored and reconditioned 1.3L V8 block from a 70s F1 car (we’re very fond of old F1 engines), and put some modern touches on it, using a DOHC 40 valve direct injection system with race intakes. Then we removed the old compressor and boosted the living f#@% out of it. But despite that, Mushu returns exactly 40mpg, and enjoys superior reliability despite revving to 11000rpm!
Due to space restrictions, we had to use a FF drivetrain, though Gryphon Gear is no stranger to making over-boosted FWD hatchback racers for kicks (just look at what they did to Strop’s Honda Civic). For all the madness, this retro bubble car covers the 0-100 in 4 seconds dead and the quarter mile in under 12, and will crush your bones in the corners. On race-grade 15" semi-slicks, it will outdo many certified supercars with twice as much power. All this, on a budget of 25K (and many hours of hard labour).
Will it be the fastest on the track? Probably not, the FF drivetrain is a bit nutty and has fundamental shortcomings compared to FR, AWD and MR drivetrains. But guaranteed, this featherweight nimble piece of lunacy will be a hoot to drive on the track!
[size=85]Bonus trivia: While the technical aspects of the car were designed by Strop, the selection of the frame and the aesthetics were largely influenced by Strop’s girlfriend, E.[/size]
A wreck of an infamous 2000 Prato Zoope Rally Car was found on craigslist. The thing had no engine and no drive train, this made it a prime candidate for the project. After cobbling together a super spartan interior, polymer body pannels and active areo it was fitted with a EA827 Prato/VW motor. The engine had the stroke reduced and aggressive DOHC system, it produced 308 hp. With the all wheel drive set up and a 6 speed manual it was capable of 41.5 miles per gallon with an emissions rating of 25. Total cost is sub 16,000$.
