Hshan's random assortment of cars made on a whim

Hshan · 18 February 2024 21:17

2020 Cardinal

This car does not have a brand, just because I had no idea for one. Fortunately, I had ideas for many more things. It all started with… a name of one of the trims. Yes. At first I was joking with someone about car names and semi-related memes on semi-religious topics, and then, step by step, meme by meme, I came up with an idea for some related car names, all with a religious (catholic) theme. Therefore, this is the Cardinal. Although first I came up with a name for a coupe equivalent, that being the Crusader. I didn’t have an idea for the coupe, so I went with the sedan.

And what this sedan is? Basically, alternative Dodge Charger released in 2020. Sort of a muscle sedan, or maybe pony - it’s just around 4,9 metres long. Of course it’s RWD, in all the variants (I guess there could be some AWD variant, but I didn’t think of one), and all use an 8 speed auto. The engine lineup is a V6 + several VEE EIGHT MODORS, large and pushrod of course. I was sorta tempted to go for a 7.0, but it was a bit hard to balance in terms of several parameters, so it’s a 6.4 at most. Still, it makes a mountain of torque - more on that later.

What’s pretty special about this car is that it all flowed so nicely, that I’ve made some lineup for it. Not only it’s available with 4 engine variants, but also in 4 trims (although 2 of those are linked 1:1 with performance engines), has a full paint palette and a few rims to choose from. And I didn’t just leave the design with one look for all variants, but rather made each trim look slightly different. Heck, I even adjusted the sound individually for each engine variant! Although, I gotta admit, I went a bit overboard with it, so it’s better to tone it down a little before exporting to Beam. So, taking inspiration from @Happyhungryhippo I provide you with the possibility to configure your very own Cardinal First, let’s see what you can choose from.

Trims

The most basic one is Streetline. It’s aimed mostly at the fleet buyers, but it’s not really barebones, with premium interior, but standard infotainment. However, it’s only available with the V6. Standard rims are 19", but 20" are also available.

Next, we have the Techline. Very similar to the Streetline, but offering a few extras - premium infotainment, launch control and semi active dampers (instead of a regular mono-tube). Also, you can have the 5.9 V8 with it, and 20" rims are now standard. Looks are basically indistinguishable, of course when comparing Streetline with 20" rims and V6 Techline.

On the top of the regular ones in the Limited. This is the best equipped form of the Crusader, but that doesn’t really mean luxury. Compared to the Techline, it adds active cooling shutters, higher quality interior and active sway bars. As with the Techline, you can order the Limited with both the V6 and the 5.9 V8. Outside it’s marked by loads of chrome details - grille frame, headlight housings, bumper trim, door handles and mirrors - and, optionally, 21" rims.

The first performance variant is simply Sport. It’s coupled with a high output N/A 6.4 and sharper brakes, lower (by 11 mm) and stiffer suspension, sport compound tyres (on 20" rims only) - the typical performance stuff. It’s not super extreme though, so you can still treat it as a normal sedan on the workdays and hoon it when the weekend comes. Equipment level is basically equivalent to the Techline, and visually it differs mainly by blacked out grille, window frames, door handles etc.

The king of the hill is the Deus Vult variant. Now, it’s time for another part of the origin story - this name is the initial idea of this all. It’s meant to denote a variant that simply has irresistible amounts of power, that is overkill. That has the automotive equivalent of the might of will of God. Therefore it has the “f…k your tyres” and “f…k reason” engine, namely a “supercharged” 6.4 V8 making 800 horsepower and all of the torque. But since this is 2020, not 1980, this can also turn and brake, pretty well in fact, thanks to a rather extensive aerodynamic package. Other performance upgrades include an electric LSD, meaty semi-slick (road) tyres, much bigger brakes with additional cooling, lightweight interior (sport + standard info) and a suspension even tiny bit lower and stiffer than in the Sport. Aside from the rather noticeable aero clue, you can identify it by a hood scoop and black and red accents, including the 20" rims.

Trim pricing

Trim + engine	Starting MSRP
Streetline V6	31 500 AM$
Techline V6	33 800 AM$
Techline 5.9	40 000 AM$
Limited V6	35 100 AM$
Limited 5.9	42 100 AM$
Sport 6.4	52 000 AM$
Deus Vult 6.4 supercharged	65 600 AM$

Engines

There are 4 engine variants, and all can be recognised by how the car looks. All engines use direct injection and VVT, are fully aluminium and comply with WES11. The base is a typical, modern DOHC V6, made for economy more than power. With it under the hood, the grille has a hexagonal pattern, there’s a twin exhaust tip on one side and there is no hood bulge. Also, it comes with active cooling shutters. Then there are the V8s, all from the same, new family, quite modern despite using pushrods. All V8s use a bar pattern grille and two separate exhaust tips on two sides of an altered bumper. The 5.9 is the regular, pretty tame V8 option, with quite a lot of power, but still designed more for cruising than burnouts. It comes with a helical LSD as standard. Both 6.4s are performance engines, loud and powerful, only sold in their respective hot trims with packs of other upgrades. The 6.4 is somewhat revvy, especially for such a large pushrod engine. On the top there’s the “supercharged” (turbocharged in the game) 6.4, a volcano of an engine. Below you can see the basic stats of the engines.

Variant	Engine config	Power [hp]	Torque [lb-ft]	Accel. [s]	Top speed [MPH]	Economy [MPG]
V6	3.8 V6 N/A DOHC 24v	320 @6400	308 @4500	5.8	150*	26.3 regular
5.9	5.9 V8 N/A OHV 16v	427 @5700	449 @4500	5.2	150*	18.2 regular
6.4	6.4 V8 N/A OHV 16v	550 @6300	472 @4600	4.3	185	15.4 premium
Deus Vult	6.4 V8 supercharged OHV 16v	800 @6100	824 @3800	3.6	244	15.3 premium

* - electronically limited

Exterior design

There are 17 exterior paints and 14 rim designs to choose from, so, coupled with differences in design between trims, there is a f…ton of possible combos. Or, being more precise, 646 different exterior design configs, considering some limitations. Let’s start with the paints, as those are the simpler matter.

Paints

The first category are the basic “mono” paints (non-metallic) available at no extra cost. Those are, left to right:

Vader Black
Winter White
Flash Yellow

Next are the typical metallic paints, all adding 800 AM$ to the final price. From top left to bottom right:

Machine Silver
Slate Grey
Pure Orange
Fir Green
Venom Green
Lagoon Blue
Storm Blue
Mighty Purple
Focus Red
Heritage Bronze

Finally, we have the “premium” paints, with special effects. All cost 2000 AM$. From left to right, with the effects:

Wine Scarlet (crystal metallic)
Power Blue (crystal metallic)
Lava Orange (pearlescent metallic)
Black Pearl (pearlescent satin)

Rims

Three sizes are available - 19", 20" and 21" - but only 20" can be combined with every trim. 19" rims are available only in the Streetline, while 21" ones only in the Limited. Additionally, the Deus Vult has it’s own selection.

19" - Streetline only

Those are available only in the Streetline at no extra cost.