When the Smart City-Coupé first rolled onto the streets in 1998, it looked like something from the future — a tiny spark of rebellion against the sprawling bulk of ordinary cars. Barely longer than a park bench, it was an answer to the chaos of city life: simple, clever, and unafraid to be different. Born from the unlikely marriage of Swatch’s playful creativity and Mercedes-Benz’s engineering discipline, the Smart wasn’t about power or prestige — it was about purpose. It could slip through narrow alleys, spin into parking spaces others only dreamed of, and do it all with a grin. In an age obsessed with more, the Smart dared to be less — and in doing so, it became quietly iconic.
A few years later, in 2003, its spirit found a new shape — lower, longer, but still unmistakably Smart. The Smart Roadster was a mischievous offshoot of the City-Coupé’s DNA: the same tiny turbocharged heart, the same rear-engine layout, but dressed for adventure. Where the Coupé was born for tight corners and short commutes, the Roadster wanted open skies and winding roads. Together, they told two sides of the same story — one of freedom, efficiency, and a playful defiance of what a car was supposed to be.
Let’s go back to drawingboard to reinvent said designs. It will be your task to design two very related cars, one the tiny city machine, the other the fuel of a driving enthusiast, whilst sharing components.
Hard Rules (fail 1 of these and you will be DSQ’d)
Family name of body and engine: “ESC - username”
Trim year: no later than 2002
Tech pool: sum of techpool of Cartech and Enginetech maximum of $35M
Both cars must use the same:
Panel Material
Chassis Design and Material
Engine Placement
Front and Rear Suspension type (tuning can differ)
Engine (with exceptions, see later)
Gearbox type and gearing (you are allowed to change the Speed Limiter)
Entertainment
Steering
Springs, Dampers and Sway Bars (the tuning may differ)
Model Body has to the same
Sports models wheel base can be 1 option greater than City models (Ask for clearification if needed)
No brake fade allowed
Must be sellable in all countries (Minimum Safety = 45, Wes Standard = 9)
Open Beta (Al-Rilma)
The engines may differ in: Turbo set-up, spring stiffnes of top end, exhaust system and the sliders for rich/lean, lambda value and timing
City Car Design Focus:
Footprint (10)
Driveability (10)
Comfort (7)
Fuel Economy (7)
Price (5)
Running Cost (5)
Reliability (3)
Sportiness (3)
Sport Car Design Focus:
Driveability (10)
Sportiness (10)
Weight (7)
Fuel Economy (7)
Price (5)
Production Units (5)
Reliability (3)
Comfort (3)
Submissions
Send me a DM with the .car file of both cars. Also make an Advertisment in this Topic channel
I fail to see the point of some components that should be shared, like the engine, damper type, and entertainment, since a lot of coupe versions of existing cars had differing options in said areas, engine-wise the same model would have had a range of different engines to begin with (for example: Megane I: 1.4, 1.6 and 2.0 options), most ”normal” cars would have been sold with the 1.4 and 1.6 and most Megane coupes were sold with the 2.0.
Well the Smart Roadster very much was an elongated City-Coupé, using the exact same engine, suspension, steering, etc. The main differences were that the wheelbase was longer and the front wider
Does that mean the actial spring rates etc. must be the same or just the component selection? It probably used the same suspension elements, but the actual spring rates, dampers and sway bars are almost certainly different. Same cars with only different engine tune options may even have different springs and dampers, so a car with a longer wheelbase definitely has different suspension tuning. So I recommend making spring rate, damper rate and sway bars free, but the selected component must be the same
Sounds like an interesting challenge, got a 90s model in the right game version for once!
One thing about the rules: the fortwo was a completely different shape and size to the roadster, could we use different bodies/variants for the two cars as this would be a bit closer to the idea. Maybe different bodies with wheelbases close to each other would work?
The smart roadster has a different engine setup to the fortwo, it has a different turbo with different exhaust, the valves and camshaft are different too as the roadster even on base form has more power.
I would have assumed changing turbo boost (if used), exhaust and manifold size and then actual tuning differences between the two engines would have been appropriate for the challenge. Not the exact same engine.
Also its 2002 for the year limit, nothing at all at the lower end? so one could make a 1946 car for example?
On the last part, well yes technically you could do that, however good luck trying to get to those safety standards.
For the engine, you have been able to change my mind a bit. I will allow using different turbos (the turbo tab will be free to play with), altering the spring stiffnes to go along with it. You can also change the exhaust system and alter the rich/lean slider, timing and lambda value. However all other components I feel should stay the same. It is not a challenge in making the best engine for both types, but to make a middleground one.
