Group C (1982–1993) was built on a fuel-restricted formula rather than a displacement or boost cap — teams were free to build almost anything as long as it hit its fuel numbers over a stint. This challenge is set right in that era: mid-to-late-1980s tech, closed-cockpit sports prototype, full fendered bodywork, no open wheels, judged on outright pace and the discipline of managing fuel consumption.
The cars themselves never had live fuel-flow telemetry — that’s 2014-era F1 technology. The restriction here works the way the real Group C fuel formula did: a fuel economy ceiling standing in for the real per-stint fuel allowance. A fuel flow cap is layered on top as an organizer’s design-time check (verified in the Testing tab, not something a 1985 driver would have seen on a dash), just to keep power outputs from drifting out of period.
Engine Rules
Engine Variant year must be 1985.
Displacement, cylinder count, and aspiration are free
Fuel may be Leaded or Unleaded; maximum 98 RON / 93 AKI.
Engine must rev to at least 7000 rpm. No diesel-adjacent low-rev, high-torque units.
For turbocharged engines: maximum boost must be achieved before 60% of max RPM.
Engine fuel flow limit is 2500 g/min. Confirm using the Testing tab: throttle to maximum, let the engine rev out fully. The displayed number must be 2500 g/min or lower at all times.
Chassis Rules
Chassis Variant must be set to 1985.
Closed-cockpit sports prototype required. Two seats mandatory.
Minimum wheelbase: 2.5 m.
Minimum weight: 1000 kg (2205 lb).
Minimum Safety rating: 45.
Maximum listed fuel consumption: 17.0 L/100 km (or at least 13.8 MPG).
Drivetrain is free — RWD, FWD, or AWD
No CVT gearboxes allowed.
Traction aids are permitted.
Suspension is free — any spring type and any sway bar type, including active/semi-active systems.
Tyre choice: from Radial Race tyres. Rally, Drag, Soft, and Medium compounds are banned.
Wheel Quality may not exceed +8.
Maximum of 8 aero fixtures from the Lip, Spoiler, and Wing categories combined.
ATS: may be used to position the engine inside the body, adjust ride height/rake, and hide the chassis. No other uses permitted.
The car may not carry any red warnings, including but not limited to: flipping over, extreme understeer, extreme oversteer, or any other red warning shown by the game.
Entertainment system must be Basic AM Radio.
Maximum listed Production/Engineering Cost: $100,000. Combined engine + chassis cost may not exceed this figure — inclusive of any Anachronism Penalty applied under the Tech Pool section below.
Tech Pool
Total budget for the Tech Pool is set at 55 Million — the sum of both Engine and Chassis Tech pool cost.
Anachronism penalty: any individual Tech Pool item (engine or chassis) with a listed Tech Pool value of 5.0 or higher — i.e. technology that doesn’t actually unlock until roughly 1990, five years after this challenge is set — adds a notional cost penalty: $5,000 flat, plus $500 for every full point above 5.0 (6.0 → $5,500; 7.0 → $6,000; 8.0 → $6,500, and so on). This penalty counts against both the $100,000 price cap (chassis rule 19) and the Cost judging criterion. There’s no hard ban — stacking high-tech items is a legitimate strategic call, but it can price you straight out of the cap. List any such items in your presentation post so the penalty can be applied correctly.
Judging Criteria
Points available shown in parentheses. Weighting leans toward endurance-racing values (reliability, economy) over outright single-lap drama, consistent with Group C’s roots.
Lap time — average of standing start and flying lap, recorded at both the Narnilla GT Circuit and the Ellisbury Tri-Oval Endurance Track. Each track is scored the same way (standing start + flying lap average), then the two track results are averaged together for the final lap-time score. (10)
Reliability (8)
Sportiness (8)
Not being overweight, i.e. closer to 1000 kg (7)
Drivability (7)
Looks (7)
Fuel Economy (5)
Cost (5)
Loudness (3)
Submissions
Car and Engine Model name: GCA - Username
Car and Engine Trim name: Free
All submissions should include:
A .car file sent to the organizer via DM
An ad/team presentation in the challenge thread
*Organizer retains the right to reject any submission, even if it meets all criteria, if it doesn’t follow the spirit and goal of the challenge.
Assuming the engine’s redline is set at the absolute minimum value of 7000 rpm, that means it must reach maximum boost (whatever its pressure) no later than 4200 rpm.
Does tech pool penalty cost come from any actual parts that require the tech pool or from the tech pool points themselves? Like if I have 7 on Top End, but don’t use VVT - All Cams, do I still get 6000 cost penalty, or does it only come into play if I do use VVT? Because 55 mil is pretty high and there will be a lot of penalties added and to be calculated and a lot of confusion (at least from my part) trying to keep it under 100k. If it’s purely tech pool point based I would currently have 106k of penalties…
If you are using a part that uses techpool, you will see a number, like 3.0 or 6.0, next to a quality slider. If that number is 5.0 or higher, a penalty will be applied. So if you put 7 in top end, but don’t use VVT All cams, you would not get a penalty from it. The techpool is mainly there to increase the quality without it costing 3 billion to get to set quality number.
For clarification, the design shouldn’t completely follow designs seen in the group C era. The naming of the challenge is purely based on real life period corectness, not necessarily what I want to see as submissions, because I know that Automation doesn’t have many different bodies for that type of design. So don’t be afraid to maybe make a design from before or after the group C era, just don’t go too far into past/future. The design score will purely be based on the looks and the livery of the car.
In my game, a reasonable engine has a fuel scale not further than 0.25 kg/s, is your rule of 2.5 kg/min correct? This would mean ~ 42 g/s, which is way less. Is there a mistake in the unit?
You have to go to the testing tab of the engine and let it rev out at full throttle. The number under the rev counter gives the fuel flow of the engine
