Mr. Guarnere was talking to Gary, explaining something with the Valkrja’s engine that the SPNX didn’t have, or maybe the other way around. He wasn’t as good a speaker as Lenny, not as personable. Of course, Guarnere was a nice guy, even a good man. Just not someone Gary could pay close attention to, was all. Gary watched him, and when he stopped talking and beamed at Gary, Gary smiled back.
“So, when can we test drive these?”
Grinning, Guarnere handed him the keys. “Thought you’d never ask. I hate the sales pitch part of this job. Better to let the cars sell themselves, I says.”
“Yeah,” Gary laughed. He put the key in the ignition. Up first was the white knight: the Swanson SPNX. SPNX was a cool name- Gary and Guarnere were both saying it “Spinx.”
“For lack of any fuckin idea what it means,” Guarnere had explained.
The motor in the SPNX turned over, and Gary had to keep himself from grinning. It was a kickass motor: all-aluminum flat-six. Four cams in total, a performance intake, tubular headers: this was real race car stuff. And so were the numbers. 320 horsepower made the Sinclaire sound like a toy.
As they drove down the winding mountain road the dealership was on, Gary let himself feel the car. It was a lot better than the Sinclaire, and Gary could tell exactly where the money went. On the run up to 60, with the windows down, the wind rushing by, the smell of autumn leaves mixing with the faint hint of exhaust that the roads here always clung to…
…the SPNX was awesome. It wasn’t quite as agile at low speeds as the Sinclaire, but it wasn’t far off either. It didn’t look quite as nice, was a bit more expensive to run, fuel economy was terrible… but man, did it absolutely nail that straight-line thrill, as Gary knew when flying down the highway.
Under the body shell, there was a lot to love. The better-quality interior was how the SPNX was able to offer similar comfort to the Sinclaire but a better road feel. Four-corner wishbone suspension and partial aluminum panels were reminiscent of the cheaper car, but the SPNX offered all-wheel-drive, magnesium rims, high-tech power steering, and despite all that better reliability. It was a solid, well-made car.
It wasn’t without faults, but as they pulled back into the lot, Gary knew the Valkyrja was going to have a lot of selling to do for that $8,200 of his hard-earned dollars.
The startup for the black knight told him there was hope. Despite being smaller, the flat-six running the Valkyrja was actually more powerful- at least at the top end. 360 horsepower. It had a more aggressive intake that made a hellish noise befitting the aggressive, aristocratic styling. While it was maybe not as sporty as the SPNX, it was a better execution, leveling the playing field in Gary’s eyes.
Naturally, it was slower, thanks to its active, high-tech suspension sucking up power. Gary was a little worried about those failing, and supposedly not without reason; but it was still in the upper half of cars he’d looked at recently as far as consumer reports went. And all that was paper stuff, just like the all-aluminum body over the galvanized chassis that promised to never rust. Or the high-tech rear suspension with “multiple arms,” whatever that meant.
Driving the car, it was head and shoulders above the rest. Putting the driving feel into words wasn’t possible. And it was easy. It had so much grip that driving the Swanson or Somervell at the limit wouldn’t even be pushing the Valkyrja.
The straight line wasn’t as good as the SPNX. When they got to the highway, there was no denying that. The SPNX was faster to 60 by a really wide margin, and it was a half-second faster at the strip. But both cars were under 13 seconds, so neither was gonna be a disappointment.
Choosing just one was hard. But the way Gary saw it, the Valkyrja delivered more on the things he valued most, and hit a lot of high notes along the way. All he had left to decide was which of the two black cars he was going to pick.
The underdog, rough-and-tumble Somvervell Sinclair SBP, taking a low-horsepower front-wheel-drive platform and showing everyone just how capable it was anyways.
Or the heavyweight, the Valkyrja GS-6x4, a high-horsepower no expense spared super saloon. It was undeniably the better car… but was double the money a gamble it could win?
Results
Moving On: @moroza Valkyrja GS-6x4
Passed Over: @Ludvig Swanson 237 SPNX
In the end, while the Swanson was a tough customer, the Valkyrja was better at what it wanted to do. Some numbers for you:
- SPNX had a Fun score of 123.6, and the Valkyrja had 166.4.
- The Valkyrja was the only car with >1.10 cornering Gs at any speed, and has a cornering G-force of 1.28 at high speed.
- The Valkyrja has the highest Drivability score in the entire challenge.
In short, while the SPNX has a case for being a better deal, and it provides improvement over the Somervell in key areas, it doesn’t have quite as much to offer in secondary stats as the Valkyrja, and both of them are massively more expensive. In short, if Gary is going to pinch pennies, he wants to pinch them tight, and the SPNX just wasn’t quite the right balance of excess and cost savings.
Part 3: Finale, coming soon.