It probably is pretty satiny, I just take my photos with heavy RTX these days. I don’t think you made an error; if it’s not your/Gary’s cup of tea then that’s just how it is
Gotcha, then so be it! It may look better in beam for photos then
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i have pm’d reference photos incase anything breaks dearest doot
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Ah well, what I get for leaning to heavily into building for the lore rather than minmaxing for the comp… and using a car that I had around well before this comp existed. 
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Not a surprise, really, considering that it uses a dual-wishbone front and a multilink rear - but its superior throttle response got it over the line.
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you did pretty well, but you were essentially in the wrong market. your car was over 1000 below the next cheapest car, and close to 8,000 below the median price
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Oh, in South East Asia and Australia also having this which called “Ford Laser” (without this grill)
Its cool to know that I almost made it to the next round. I tried thinking outside the box a bit and ended up with this. Who knows if the Sidewinder 4 will make it to see another generation, only time will tell. And if it does, hopefully its a proper successor.
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Reviews 1-2
Standard Cars - The Drive
Gary started out his day of drives with the pedestrian Baumhauer 423E Vier. He leafed through the owner’s manual, surprised to learn that the hood and roof were actually aluminum to save weight. It struck him as odd, considering the motor had a cast iron block. With all wheel drive and its soft tires, he had been more sure of it being a commuter’s car.
During his drive, he found the limits of its handling. It wasn’t particularly impressive in that regard, and thanks to its four wheel power, it meant that he still couldn’t drift it or anything particularly fun like that.
Power delivery was expected to be mediocre, but what he hadn’t realized was how much he’d lose with each gear change. First to second was bad, but so were second to third, and third to fourth. It made for a slightly jarring experience, and it was only a few minutes before Gary was back at the dealer, handing in the keys.
Despite its impeccably low service costs and good fuel economy, the Baumhauer just wasn’t exciting.
On the subject of not exciting, Gary was impressed by the Primus Astrona 200 GLS. It was a truly cool car. Its handling sure wasn’t, though, unsurprisingly. It made up for it with impeccable engine design.
The naturally aspirated, twin cam, sixteen valve four cylinder was pretty small. But it developed very good torque for its displacement and the weight of the car. It was very fun, and while the raw handling of the Astrona wasn’t great, it was very responsive nonetheless. Front wheels being where the power went didn’t hold it back from an awesome experience.
Things sort of fell apart from there, though. While it was supremely fun to drive, it was undeniably slow. Faster than the Baumhauer, but of the sporty sedans he was driving today, it was still the slowest. And thanks to that nimble tune, it wasn’t actually that much more comfortable than the Baumhauer. No slouch, but not what you’d expect from the brand, which was disappointing considering the price.
Also like the Baumhauer, the Astrona was riding on more typical comfort tires rather than true sports tires. Gary wasn’t too sure about this one.
Beaten only by the Baumhauer in price was the Somervell Sinclaire SBP. The Sinclaire was a good looking car. Photos didn’t do the paint justice, and Gary loved the shape. It was very American, and looked right at home on the east coast.
Like the Baumhauer, this had some aluminum panels. But its rear suspension was a simpler design, and the motor was much lighter despite making more power. Proper sports tires, big alloy rims: this was today’s first true sports sedan, as fun as the Primus was. Right away, Gary knew that of the two front-drivers, he’d have the Sinclaire.
Despite being four thousand dollars cheaper, it was almost as fun. Something about the suspension wasn’t quite as exciting as the Astrona’s, but it more than made up for that with speed, being a full second faster on the quarter mile and almost that much faster to sixty. The V4 was a great sound, too.
Things were not all sunshine and rainbows, though. There was a serious drop in comfort compared to the Baumhauer and Astrona, and while that was to be expected given the performance and price, it was still a factor, and one that surprised him given the adaptive dampers. Gary knew those were pricey to replace, too.
The Sinclaire also wasn’t as effortless to drive. More power, more agility- the most low-speed agility he’d ever felt, actually- and more tail-happiness made that unsurprising. That said, Gary didn’t expect a car at this price to be perfect, and it offered a lot.
Curious, Gary held onto the Sinclaire in his mind, even if he was putting back the key. He knew he’d rather have it than the Astrona or Baumhauer, flaws included. But this next car was nothing like it. Despite being only a few thousand more expensive, it was almost hard to compare the Vittoria FC to a lot of the other cars.
A strange car, it was. Minimal rust protection. Big iron single overhead cam V6. Advanced fuel injection. Rear wheel drive. Old-school springs.
But man, was it fun, and fast, the fastest today. Gary spoke, and the Vittoria listened. The handling wasn’t the best, sure, but it was still good. The red paint and the cool styling spoke to Gary. And the motor was truly awesome, especially with the six-speed gearbox. It screamed its heart out, and Gary could tell right away that it was the truest sports car he would drive today.
Unfortunately, that was a double-edged sword. To get its good handling, it had big, expensive tires. It was reliable, but it wasn’t rust proofed, and it sucked down gas. But the real nail in the coffin for the Vittoria was its touchiness.
The FC was pretty tough to drive, threatening to oversteer if you overdid it. Gary couldn’t really see his wife, or a kid he was teaching, handling a car like this in the rain. As much as it pained him, he couldn’t take it along. It was just too compromised. But he did have something nice in store.
Up next was the green machine made by AMS, the Acolyte 3.0S. Gary liked it right away. The advanced suspension made the car a nimble, fierce competitor. The twin-cam straight six was very responsive, and it combined with the chassis to make for a riveting experience, all naturally aspirated.
Being rear-wheel-drive, Gary naturally decided to send it in an abandoned parking lot. Him arriving in an Irena had assured Lenny that Gary was trustworthy enough to test drive on his own, and so he was able to push the Acolyte.
In slaloming around arbitrary points, Gary had no trouble thanks to high tech power steering, and it had enough power to do proper thrilling donuts. The five-speed gearbox gave him plenty of versatility, and it was a familiar, conventional layout, requiring few gear changes and being quiet on the highway. He was overall pretty impressed with it, because it was very comfortable without giving up a drop of excitement, with only the Primus being close, though penny-for-penny the Sinclaire was no slouch.
The other thing for Gary was that it really had the ease of driving he was afraid these cars would give up, despite how exciting it was otherwise. The rear-wheel-drive he was so excited about was tamed by a quality differential in the rear and smart alignment specifications that balanced agility and stability. It still wasn’t as easy to drive as the Astrona or Baumhauer, but it wasn’t any tougher than the Sinclaire.
So, Gary had to make a decision…
Decision
It was a really close decision. The AMS Acolyte was better in many ways, but the Sinclaire ultimately won out on value. It was less than half a second off the Acolyte’s quarter mile, better in low-speed handling, and not much worse at high speeds. While the Acolyte was a bit more fun to drive, the Sinclaire offered slightly better rustproofing, safety, much more fuel economy, and substantially better reliability.
The Acolyte also didn’t look great. If it had looked as good as the Sinclaire, or better, it might have been able to offset its less-critical deficits… but Gary definitely liked the Sinclaire better.
Of course, he wasn’t buying today, and Lenny nodded in understanding when Gary said as much.
“Sinclaire’s a great car,” Gary explained. “Especially for the money. But I want to look at some… less responsible options.”
He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, and Lenny grinned, taking the key back.
“No, I totally understand. Look, I’ll retain the Sinclaire for you until next week. They’re not too expensive, so it’s not the end of the world for me if it doesn’t sell right away.”
“Thanks, Lenny.”
“Hey,” Lenny said, “You want someone with you at the other dealer?”
“Oh, I’m sure you’re unbiased towards the cars your competitor is selling,” Gary said with an eyeroll. “No, but I’ll buy you a pity beer if I go with someone else.”
“Busted,” the other man grinned, his bronze skin seeming to glow with the big smile he gave Gary. “Sounds like a deal. See you around.”
“Definitely, Lenny,” Gary said, and he hopped back in his Irena. He’d head home, and then tomorrow morning head out to the city, where the exotic and luxury cars dwelt.
Results
Standard Cars Ranking
- @Texaslav Somervell Sinclaire SBP - A great all-rounder with good performance, handling, and bang-for-buck, especially on secondary stats.
- @abg7 AMS Acolyte 3.0S - A great all-rounder with good performance, handling, and comfort. Suffers a bit from price vs competitors and poor secondary stats, but the styling was what really held it back
- @Happyhungryhippo Primus Astrona 200 GLS - A wonderful sedan with some sporty characteristics. Suffered from an engine that was a bit too small and thus was too slow, as well as not committing fully to being a sports sedan.
- @Danicoptero Tarquini Vittoria FC - A true sports car that is only pretending to be a sedan. Good reliability failed to make up for poor drivability and secondary characteristics, but it should be noted that this was the most fun and fastest car present. With a bit more agility, and perhaps better panel material, this might have won the segment on performance alone.
- @S_U_C_C_U_L_E_N_T Baumhauer 423E Vier - A sedan that isn’t depressing to drive, and maybe even fun sometimes. Unfortunately, this car focused too much on being a daily driver, and compromised its sports characteristics for value, quality assurance, and comfort. It’s a great car, but it’s in the wrong market.
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i couldnt think of a cool name in time so i named it after what i thought it looked like
but yes it is the intended name
it says 350 S on the back if you prefer that in writing
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The Sinclaire reminds me of a larger version of my LVC LF2, flat-four and all (which in the Sinclaire’s case simulates a V4, something that may never be featured in this game), but unlike the LF2, the Sinclaire is a FWD sleeper sedan - and it uses the '85 Juliet body set instead of the '87 E36/405-like body set.
Very interessing reviews, I wonder if being old and wise isn´t some kind of handicap sometimes. The Astrona is exactly what would have happened in 89, a mass-produced boring car with spiced up engine and suspension and … nothing else. And it is already faster than most real life competitors. I guess in challenges it can be helpful to “forget” about real life cars of these long-bygone times, just to be less restricted in your mind.
Nevertheless, I felt like this was a fair and balanced judging, and I can be quite satisfied with being 3rd in this category, considering the competition wasn´t sleeping and the Astrona GLS had to fight well-engineered cars from respected and established manufactors.
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Yeah, all judging is relative to autoverse. Even P5 would be a fun car, in real life, as it is actually quite fast for the era.
I mean, I went with a very similar concept as well: your usual “luxury compact” with a stronger engine and tauter suspension. In fact, the displacement and power of said engine, despite the unusual layout, pretty much mirror those of the Oldsmobile Quad-4 High-Output mill.
Did I overall go a bit overboard compared to reality in making the car a partial alu lightweight? Maybe. But fundamentally, my car is literally just an Oldsmobile Calais 442 with my brand’s inherently more old-fashioned (read: complex and sporty) suspension choices.
In other words, realism itself isn’t your handicap; if you do have one, it’s trying to stick to exact era numbers.
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Yes, the only time I deactivated my realism brain TOTALLY and I instantly won 
But I thought, well, a daily-suiting sport sedan might not need more than 200 horsepower in 1989, however, that`s my fault and not a host problem if I bring a .45 Magnum to a modern warfare contest.
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i thought it was funny at first but it stopped being funny so
for the good of the write up - the car has a name now, the stoica-moretti 350
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Lmao I just noticed, the port into beam clipped the Somervell’s badge to center and now it only has a bar instead of a cross on the badge
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shh… its only a minor major bug
it affects all badging so i took my photos in ways that de emphasized them, or i tried to.
part 2 is Coming (i ended up folding both halves into one writeup since there are fewer cars)
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