JOC5B - 4 wheels good, 8 wheels better [Submissions Closed]

JOC5A - Can't Hold Us


Mexico City, 2013


It’s been twelve years since we last checked in with the Schultz family - Macklemore is booming on department store speakers, everyone’s taking selfies and the recession is starting to become a thing of the past. Anna has graduated from university and is now an industrial engineer, having moved to Mexico City with her now-fiancée Erica, whom she met in a student exchange program. For the past couple of years they had been driving Erica’s trusty 2002 Menschen City, but after 11 years and 200k kilometers, it has finally given up the ghost.
The couple are now looking for a compact car that can reliably and comfortably take them to work, as well as the many trips they take around the country. Since both of them work decently-paying engineering jobs, they can spare up to 16k, though they wouldn’t mind spending less if it means being able to go to more exotic locations. They generally prefer cars - hatches, sedans and wagons - though they don’t close themselves off completely to the newly-booming crossover market.
As far as size, it needs to be something larger than the City, so friends or family can come along and carry their lugagge without having to sit on a suitcase, but not too large that it becomes unwieldy in city traffic or mountain roads. They are not looking for a hot hatch, since neither of them is particularly enthusiastic about cars - around 150 hp should do fine. In the same vein, though both of them can drive a manual transmission, a smooth automatic box is preferred.


Rules

Open beta only.

Maximum cost of $16k, hard cap.

Techpool: Maximum $60M total costs, minimum +3 on every category, except for naturally aspirated engines, which can have 0 techpool in aspiration.

Model and family years between 2003 - 2013.

Trim and variant years must be 2013.

Sedan, hatchback, wagon and SUV bodies only.

Four doors minimum.

Wheelbase between 2.5 - 2.7 metres, rounded.

Five full seats only, 2 in the front and 3 in the back.

Minimum standard 00s safety.

Mandatory TC+ABS, ESC preferred.

Mandatory power steering.

Tyre width must end in 5.

No cross-ply tyres.

Maximum 40 loudness.

Fuel type must be regular 91 RON.

Three-way catalytic converter required.

Minimum WES 9 emissions.

No race parts or semi-slicks.

Interiors are not required but they are encouraged.


Priorities

:star: :star: :star:

Drivability - it needs to be easy to drive around town, highways and windy mountain roads.

Reliability - it can’t break down on a long roadtrip or before work, it should last for several years and at least 160k kilometers.

Design - it should adhere to design trends from the era, not necessarily grading for “coolness”, since it’s not a very exciting category, but for realism and consistency.

:star: :star:

Safety - Mexican roads can be pretty unsafe, it needs to fare well in accidents big or small.

Practicality - though we’re talking about small cars, it should still be versatile and spacious - for passengers and their lugagge.

Service costs - it shouldn’t break the bank every time it needs an oil change or brake pads.

Comfort - this is relative, obviously nobody is expecting an S-Class, but it should still be a nice place in which to spend long hours.

:star:
Fuel economy - gas is relatively cheap, also, you would have to try really hard to get bad fuel economy in this category. Still, it shouldn’t need to be filled up very frequently.

Sportiness and performance - as long as it can maintain healthy motorway speeds, doesn’t roll at the slightest hint of a corner and the brakes don’t fade extremely easily, it’s fine.

Environmental resistance - no road salt means rust isn’t a big issue, but it shouldn’t rot on its own before its usefuleness runs out.


Inspirations

Hatchbacks

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Wagons

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Sedans

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Crossovers


Changelog

Increased loudness limit from 35 to 40

Changed techpool rules

Naming convention added bc I forgor :skull:


Submissions are now open - they will close (tentatively) 2024-01-07T06:00:00Z (I’ll be away from my PC so no sense in closing them earlier).

Submit a post here and send the .car file via forum DMs only.

Family and model name: JOC5A - [your forum username]

Trim and variant name free


9 Likes

OK, I want to address one important thing now. Last JOC strayed away from the regulations a bit too much. One of the main rules is that all parts of the chapter should be held in the same thread. So I say already now to the future host of JOC5B, and for that matter C etc… Keeo them in this thread until JOC6 starts!

7 Likes

Just a question: How are we going to fit at least 2 more rounds in after this one? The third one would pretty much have to be a “I want a retro car” round.

I am thinking of adapting my CSR159 entry for this one, especially since it costs so little for its time.

Since, if I understand things right, this is still being a spinoff from JOC3, I might give some slack if there is absolutely no room or ideas for a 5C. But yeah, it is clearly a thing worth thinking over before starting a new round, so for future hosts, don’t make it a habit…

They’ll invent a time machine in the next round and travel back to the 80s. Boom, problem solved! :sunglasses:

Or, it could be a prequel that explains how the situation in the first round came to be.

There’s still some room. Switching cars every five years is not unheard of, which was my metric for choosing this year rather than going more modern.

35 loudness seems a little low, especially for an econobox. I forget exactly what was said, but I believe killrob mentioned 50 as where sports cars start?

As for interior, by encouraged do you mean they factor into design scoring?

2 Likes

I’m assuming that the City was a subcompact/supermini, which explains why Anna would rather trade up to something larger.

For context, if a subcompact/supermini (or B-segment) car from 2013 usually had a 2.4-2.6m wheelbase, then a compact/C-segment car of similar vintage would often have a wheelbase of 2.6 to 2.75m or so.

1 Like

we’re slightly above econobox here. i was also able to get around 30 on my test cars with reverse flow mufflers and standard mid intake. but if the general consensus is that it’s too stringent, i could increase it to 40.

Yes, meant to be a counterpart to the IRL VW Pointer/Gol, which had a wheelbase of 2.47 m and 3.7 m length.

Correct. I wanted to give a little leeway, especially because i included B-segment crossovers in the inspirations.

2 Likes

they won’t be scored but it’s always nice to see what people do with interiors. i personally try to make one for every challenge i am able to and i want to encourage that.

2 Likes

I achieved similar figures with both of my test mules, so 35 seems easily achievable.

In addition, both of my test builds have reliability scores of over 87 - I could get into the 89s by switching to a manual transmission, but for now, at least, I’m sticking with an automatic (specifically, a 6-speed advanced unit) for the sake of drivability and comfort.

1 Like

The issue with 35 loudness is not achievability, it’s that budget cars just aren’t that quiet

3 Likes

i get your point, but they’re also not that loud
my family used to own two of the inspiration cars (Golf and Jetta, both 2.5 na 5 cyl) and they weren’t all that loud - sure, you could hear the engine in the cabin a bit but you had to roll down the windows to actually listen to the exhaust. the loudness in this segment comes from sound deadening, vibration dampening and such, which afaik engine loudness doesn’t account for. the actual exhausts and intakes are pretty well restricted in this category. again, i’ll change it to 40, but going further i feel just encourages the use of performance intakes or too few mufflers, which isn’t the point considering it’s not a performance car.

3 Likes

Mexico city mentioned :speaking_head:

4 Likes

Maybe allow the default techpool budget of 80m to be distributed as the user desires, with a minimum of 0? This way NA cars aren’t being punished by wasting techpool, and cars can be more diverse and interesting

1 Like

CSR159 had a similar rule regarding a mandatory techpool of 0 for all normally aspirated entries, as an exception to the mandated minimum allocation of +3 for all areas:

It allowed us to divert those otherwise wasted points into other areas as we saw fit, as long as the total techpool + lab cost remained within the $80m limit.

2 Likes

Seems reasonable, i’ll make the change

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Hey it says in the brief that they’ll be exploring mountain roads but off road isn’t a priority?

2 Likes