[LHC] - Letara History Challenge - Rd 5 [Results being posted]

[Aruna]

Vizzuri’s Proposal '75

–

---

–

24hr Endurance racing at a newly envisioned Lerance Raceway

–

With the Letaran public embracing the spirit of racing at Lerance Raceway each year, we will be spending towards further improvements of the track as laid out below; (Red: New track segments. Blue: Change to the short track {Still unpaved})

Changes include a corkscrew downhill in the bottom left, two chicanes on the back straight as well as the unique “Knife-edge” and “Twin-90” corners in the revised top right and left.

We would like to make changes to the R1 class for 1975 onwards, the “R1 Prototypes” era:

Proposed changes to R1

R1 Class 1975-1984 “R1 Prototypes”:

• Runs on Lerance raceway full course
• Two-seater mandated
• Not required to be road-legal
• All prototypes run on Ethanol Blend E85 (108 RON) racing fuel mixture
• Minimum safety of 35
• Minimum comfort of 5
• Enclosed bodywork (Does not require a roof)
• Natural or turbocharged allowed - Turbocharged cars are allowed up to a maximum of 5.0L
• Must be fitted with a minimum of a windshield, one or more windscreen wipers, two doors, headlights, taillights, front and rear indicators, roll bar (If interior, or exposed interior)
• A maximum of two aero fixtures allowed
• Slick radial tyres only

–

Caring for Letara, the Vizzuri way

–

Vizzuri are dedicated to the growth and aid of Letara: We are officially planning to expand with a full scale car factory (yet to be located, but likely with the assembly plant inside Lerance Raceway grounds.), which will offer more jobs, and training to the Letaran people.

Alongside our spending to Lerance Raceway, we would create 15 spaces for caravans or static holiday homes to be made on-site next to the lake as a scenic getaway or residence for those with a passion for motorsport. Additional spectator stands would be built and others moved in accordance to the new track changes.

Investing towards higher education will be done again, however we shall be funding support for a new class in higher education: Electrical robotics and computing, to help advancements towards driver assistance within cars and revolutionary computing of the future.

With the government’s proposal for mandated amber indicator lights, we urge them to reconsider, and keep current regulations allowing for white glass over indicators with amber bulbs on front/side and amber or red rear/rear side.

We are saddened to announce our lack of additional spending from this has sacrificed aid to the Letaran natural disaster response departments as well as Ethanol producing farms, and would urge fellow companies to offer their spending towards them. A safer and cleaner future is in everyone’s best interest.

–

We hope other car marques can collaborate with Vizzuri’s efforts for an invested Letara, with a well established and growing racing heritage, focus on safety, education and renewable environmentally friendly ethanol fuel.

–

---

–

[doot]

KHI on Racing

"...so while we will NOT be financially or politically supporting any racing initiatives, KHI does offer its full spiritual support of Vizzuri's proposal..."

[GassTiresandOil]

AN OPEN LETTER TO RHANIA FROM KESSEL

Greetings! We would like to thank you for inviting us to be a part of such a worthwhile cause. It may please you to know that we have already been testing converter systems in our new models for emissions reduction. We humbly accept your CHURCH proposal.

We will, however, remain indifferent on your AREA proposal. Our vehicles still cannot reach below 1000 ppm emissions. Also, as we are a domestic manufacturer, we’re not sure a tax rebate would help us as much as others. But the cause itself is still a noble one.

We have also read Vaughn’s response to your proposal. As an auto enthusiast, I can completely understand their position. From a business perspective, however, their decision confuses me. I’m left wondering why an American based company wouldn’t want Letara’s manufacturers to cope with the same restrictions they (presumably) ALREADY have to work with in order to legally sell their cars in the States. To each their own, I suppose. It’s not our job to pass judgement.

We would also like to submit a small proposal as it pertains to racing. We at Kessel feel there should be a minimum weight requirement added to the current racing rules, in an effort to keep the various classes more competitive. We have no set weight in mind, and we would welcome any input from manufacturers on the subject.

Cheers!

[abg7]

Wolfram Press Release, 1974

With the increasing use of radial tires in Letara, we have decided to lobby for a total ban on the use of any and all types of cross-ply tires for road-legal consumer vehicles in that country, citing safety concerns. Also, the importance of aerodynamics for race cars has prompted us to lobby for allowing the use of functional aerodynamic devices on road cars, not only for aesthetic purposes, but also for improved performance.

In addition to this, we have invested heavily into the expansion of the Letaran road network, along with continued maintenance for the country’s existing roads.

We hope that our investment and lobbying leads to a better future for the people of Letara.

[Ludvig]

Technical question: is a combined tarmac/gravel race feasible in game?
On the Modred Downhill, does the simulation account for elevation?

Modred Downhill malarkey

This section of road is often “closed momentarily for maintenance”. Reportedly this “maintenance” sounds like high-revving car engines to nearby hikers. It’s not far from Modred Resort & Casino, in which the parking lot is often occupied by several sports cars…
A box of very grainy videotape was found in the local Swanson archives in the 90s. After restoration, they revealed then-secret onboard footage of several Swanson vehicles being driven hard up and down this particular road.
Most interesting in context was the one titled “255 R2 8-3 take 2”, showing the 64-74 racecar clocking in at 4:16:09. Another one shows the '66 225PF road car at a more leisurely pace, completing the run in 4:47:22.

[cake_ape]

In-game, no, that is not something the track simulator currently does. But I have in the past successfully simulated dirt tracks through my own excel calculator (see this ARM thread). It’s not perfect, but it served the purpose well enough. Basically for tarmac track I take the sport/drive stats ratio into account, and for dirt it’s the offroad/drive stats ratio.

Tracks can indeed simulate elevation changes, that is no issue.

[doot]

It does, yes. The grade typically ranges from 2-5, but some sections go from 4-6 (particularly near the end). There is also appropriate banking on the curves.

EDIT: Also, that’s a pretty good time for a '66!! My Harrier came in at 4:47 as well, despite being an expensive mid 70s car!

[Ludvig]

Interesting. By “feasible” I also meant “not adding extra work” which would negate the switch to a single class maybe.

The 225 isn’t particularly fast by 70s standards, the downhill probably helps quite a bit. I suppose an uphill version of the track would reward powerful cars more. Alternating between up and down could then lead to quite different race results…

But I’ll return to that in character.

[doot]

Unfortunately it’s not as easy as just reversing the track- I’d have to remake the whole thing for an uphill, and that’s not likely to happen in the next few days before lobbying ends. Don’t put too much stock into that touge- running touge racing would be completely different to our racing thus far and would have very different priorities. Not sure cake wants to deal with it all- I know I wouldn’t. It’s essentially just a fun little thing for those of us who watch too much anime enjoy well-handling cars.

[Madrias]

AMCW, 1975

---

Kadinya gripped the steering wheel in the grip she’d been instructed to use by the technicians on staff, the raspy snarling growl of the prototype’s inline 5 engine setting every nerve on edge with a mix of excitement… and a hint of concern.

She pumped the accelerator twice, feeling the AMCW’s new powerplant responding a little less lethargically than her usual experience with the old Minerva she still drove, pulled the gearbox down into Drive, and then floored the accelerator.

20 km/h. 40. 60. 80. 100 km/h. She knew it was a bit over 12 seconds, but it felt like an eternity while on camera as she piloted the AMCW directly at a concrete wall, engine snarling under the load of shoving the test mule for their latest technology toward the inevitable doom awaiting the vehicle.

There, against the wall, were the previous 4 cars she’d crashed on film, back to back. The fifth joined them with a mighty crunch of steel and a heavy muffled thud as the center of the steering wheel opened up like a popcorn kernel left in the heat, a bag blasting out as it filled rapidly with air from the carefully controlled explosion. A millisecond later, Kadinya’s face slammed into it, decelerating her body safely from 100 km/h.

In the crash, her hands had been knocked away from the wheel, but like the previous four times, her specialized grip - thumbs resting on the rim, not tucked inside it - kept her from breaking anything. She pulled the release handle, shouldered the door open, and stepped out of the crumpled AMCW.

Kadinya walked over to the camera and spoke for the world to hear later, to see later, “You have just witnessed me crash five cars back to back at a speed that could kill even me on the highways of Letara. A speed we all travel at because there is no better option. I was saved each time by three things. The first is AMCW’s dedication to safety. Our next generation of cars have three point seat belts, improved crumple zones, and improved structural integrity of the cabin. The second is that I was doing what we all must start doing, I was wearing my seat belt. The new over-the-shoulder seat belt keeps you in place better in a crash so that you don’t smash your face into the steering wheel. The third technology, in our language, is adaki. Directly translated, it’s an “air vessel.” We are calling it an “air-bag.” It is a supplementary restraint system, designed to inflate instantaneously upon impact and further assist in slowing your body down upon impact. After all…” Kadinya smiled, motioning to the cars before finishing with, “It’s not the speed that kills you. It’s the sudden stop at the end. While driving an AMCW, Kasivah, or Minerva equipped with an air-bag system will require you to learn a new grip on your steering wheel, we assure you, lives will be saved if people use both the seat-belt and the air-bag together.”

---

Once the cameras were no longer rolling, Kadinya sat down in a chair and set a bag of ice on her forehead. “Please tell me I wasn’t bleeding on camera,” she grumbled.

“No, Kadinya, you were fine. We’re a bit surprised, honestly. John made a hell of a mess when he crashed one of the new “Vyrada” test mules at Lerance the other day and the air-bag mashed his nose,” Nathan said, smiling. “Still, a publicity stunt like that should prove that we put our money behind what we preach. We call out for safer cars, and we provide them.”

“And how is John doing?” Kadinya inquired.

“Other than a bloody nose and wounded pride, he’s fine. Honestly, I think he’s far more annoyed that he wrecked one of our three V6 test mules, and the only one with the “Vyrada” system in place. By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask…”

“Yes, Nathan?”

“What does “Vyrada” mean?” Nathan inquired.

“In my language? It loosely means “Storm.” But I’m using it more literally, so it is “Violent Wind.” That is what it means,” Kadinya said with a vicious feline smile. “But it is also symbolic. With it, we will reenter the market like a vicious sea storm.”

[Knugcab]

For some reason, I get the feeling that the violent wind will enter the intake manifold… …time will tell.

[MisterRocketMan]

JUNE 1974

FROM THE DESK OF ICHIRO NIICHI, PRESIDENT OF NIICHI MOTOR COMPANY OF LETARA

Fourteen years ago, cars built by the Niichi Motor Company of Japan made their debut in Letara. Ten years ago, the Niichi Motor Company of Letara was established. Four years ago, our first product, the Niichi Dynema line, was released. Our goal has always been to positively impact the lives of the Letaran people. Up until today, we aimed to do this by delivering automobiles that are economical, elegant, and excellent: in those respects I could not be more satisfied.

However, I have always felt that this view of service is limited - though our primary focus will always be on improving our automotive operations, I believe that our company is capable of so much more. Today is the start of a new era for Niichi of Letara - one where our company will take full advantage of the experience and influence it has gained to make Letara a better place to live.

First, on grounds of safety, we call for the lifting of restrictions on aerodynamic devices on consumer vehicles. Excessive lift has been shown in numerous cases to lead to dangerous handling characteristics at speed, posing a danger both to the occupants of the vehicle as well as to people around them.

Second, Niichi of Letara urges the government to consider a 3% tax break for vehicles using ethanol-based fuels. We believe that reducing Letara’s dependence on fossil fuels can only be good for Letara, both economically and ecologically.

Third, and most importantly, Niichi of Letara is breaking ground on a factory to be located in Fiegheni. We believe the best way to serve the people of Letara is to give back as much as we receive - a stronger Letara benefits us all.

Where will we be fourteen years from now? This much I can say for certain - though our company may change, our focus on making a real difference in the lives of Letarans will be unchanged.

Economy. Elegance. Excellence.

The Niichi of Letara Promise

Ichiro Niichi
President, Niichi of Letara

[Edsel]

Publication by The Aero Company.

An announcement regarding emissions policy in Letara, and other initiatives.

---

Having heard much discussion recently on emissions in Letara, and with the 1974 lawmaking season approaching, we felt we wished to add our part to the discussion.

Aero's experience and opinions on the subject of emissions

We realize that in the past we haven’t been the most vocal on the matter- other than in joining the charge to phase out lead fuels -but over the past 10 years Aero has been at the forefront of emissions research. Our “Free” model line is, as far as we’ve measured, the least emissive gasoline vehicle on sale in Letara, and among the best in the world. So we already have a fair bit of research and experience to add to the discussion

And from what our experience tells us, the future of emissions reduction is the catalytic converter (or “cat” for short). To those unfamiliar with the technology, the cat is a device fitted to a car’s exhaust, which chemically reacts with said exhaust to break down the harmful chemicals it contains. At the expense of a little extra cost, and slightly reduced power and efficiency, the cat drastically slashes the emissions of a combustion engine.

How drastically? Let’s use our own model, the Free, to illustrate. The original Free in 1964 was already the nation’s least emissive vehicle, with emissions of 2116 emission units on our efficiency-oriented trim (the low pre-cat figure is largely just due to the engine’s exceptionally small size). As part of its 1971 facelift, we added a cat, and emissions plumeted to just 792 units- a %62.6 reduction in emissions!

2 years later, the 1973-model Rhania Hunters managed to contest the original Free in emissions, emitting 2132 units with their I4 models. To repeat: a work-oriented pickup truck managed to rival in emissions what microcars was doing just 3 years prior, thanks largely to its inclusion of a cat! Now imagine if that level of emissions reduction were applied en-masse to the entire auto industry, where the average car emits ~7246 units.

Emissions data provided by the Letaran Government Statistical Bureau.

---

Aero's Proposal: A tax incentive for cars with catalytic converters

Now, we want to make it clear that we are NOT proposing a mandate. The technology is still in its infancy, and takes more power/efficiency than some cars (especially utility vehicles) can afford to lose. The cat needs further development before it can be standardized industry-wide. But in order to further this development, we need to test out the technology as much as possible- running it in as many cars as possible, and as many types of car as possible, in as many conditions as possible.

So we propose a tax deduction for all cars which include any catalytic converter. This doesn’t punish manufacturers who understandably can’t or don’t want to try it out yet, while encouraging manufacturers that can support it- especially luxury and sports demographics, which already have an abundance of excess power anyway -to invest in and help improve the technology.

We also wish to clarify that we do not support any additional emissions restrictions to this cat incentive. We don’t want to create a situation similar to the US, where the industry is getting crippled by too many regulations applying at once. Plus, the advantages of a cat are already pretty superb on their own, as we have shown above. We should note that we are fine with other positive tax breaks, just nothing that adds tax or restrictions.

We hope you will join us in pushing for a cat-equipped car incentive, and also for testing and equipping your cars with the device if you are able. Refining this technology will be a huge step in reducing the emissions output of Letara.

---

Other lobbying policies

While we’re on the subject of the 1974 lawmaking season, we might as well discuss our other, unrelated spending and lobbying ideas.

We will continue to invest heavily in aluminum production, to bring down the cost of aluminum. We value the metal for its lightness and corrosion-resistance, and our eventual goal is to make the cost of aluminum comparable to that of steel someday by improving its infrastructure and distribution.

We are disappointed to see the ideas of requiring double headlights instead of singles, and of banning the third center headlight, are once again on the table. As we have said before and will again, the government has no place regulating a purely-aesthetic aspect of a product’s design. On the subject, we would like to continue to push for requiring side-marker lights, which actually do have a safety benefit.

We would like to petition to remove the service-costs requirement in auto racing. This regulation has kept us from competing in the previous decade, and also doesn’t really make sense in auto racing from a practical standpoint, where cars are built for limited short-term use anyway.

Finally, the way the current 160km/h speed tax-break is written, it only applies to vehicles with a speed limiter- and not vehicles with a natural top speed already lower than that. In our case, our own vehicles were too slow to even be able to equip a limiter at all- so even though we were among the nation’s best-aligned with the tax break’s goals, we did not qualify for the break itself. So we’ll be pushing to have the law rephrased to allow vehicles naturally below the limit to qualify.

---

The Aero Company.

5-chōme-325 Komaki,
Aichi 485-0041, Japan
+81 568-XX-XXXX

[Petakabras]

SAETA Official Proposal

Pushing the limits of design

We can´t go green if the technology isn´t here yet. Widespread adoption of catalytic converters in the US has proved that it actually makes cars less efficient and also unsafe to drive due to substantially decreased engine performance. The clean fuels already in use in Letara are not proved to cause any health issues, so why should we even bother to adopt a clearly undeveloped and harmful technology?

Our alternatives to this nonsense are:

-Tax break for efficient, ethanol-fueled cars- Cars that use clean fuels and achieve 10L/100km (23,5 mpg) or better should get a 10% tax break.

-Allow aero on cars- Aero does not only make race cars go faster around the track, it can also make consumer cars much more efficient at high speeds

-Support a rallycross event- Such an event seems like a less wasteful but equally exciting form of motorsport

[Knugcab]

In case you’re wondering, setting up a factory for this round and adopting alcohol based fuels is kind of turning this into a GM do Brasil moment anyway, and there is also some tactical shady work going on behind the curtains… this should be read OOC, but I felt that I had to add it to not look stupid.

[lotto77]

is anyone even going to read this? I guess I'll just put a spaceship here (_)(_)=====D~~

Planar History Files: Letara memos vol.3

---

When Planar first entered the Letaran market, Planar management began sending out “recap” memos to their Letaran dealerships and management to inform them of sales numbers and forthcoming plans.

Here is the third memo, sent out in 1974 after their latest successes in Letara.

---

Letara Sales Memo 2

What a decade!

Starting off with strong sales and surprising race results, to an internal feud that necessitated a rebrand that was surprisingly successful, it has been a bumper decade for our company.

First off, sales. The final Sportsman model was released largely unopposed in the luxury sedan category and remained that way even after we restyled and re-engineered it as the Danazine. While the sales of the F6S Danazine were below expectations, we realise that that was because of a lack of differentiation between it and the normal F6. Nevertheless, a good reputation with customers, a growing customer base, and a lack of competition until 1970 have meant that sales were well above expectations overall.

The racing, too, was a pleasant surprise. The Letaran racing branch snuck that project under our noses, and I must admit that nobody had much in the way of expectations, but the results were extremely pleasing! More finishes than DNFs, and even a fourth were far beyond what anyone expected of the car and team, and I’m pleased to confirm that we’ll be putting more money into racing than ever before, both internally and with money for the construction of Lerance’s short circuit.

Our government proposal is probably the only sore spot, but with the LWB prototype being delivered to the government, we’ve had multiple expressions of interest in grey market imports of them from our more wealthy customers, so it’s not a total loss.

Looking forward, we can happily announce that we are yet again providing funding for road construction, and will be lobbying for adjustments to the luxury vehicle tax, to make premium cars more affordable, luxury cars more exclusive, and provide a fairer tax system for the aspirational middle class. As for our cars, there are BIG things coming later in the 70’s, and it’s the first project headed from the start by our Advanced Technologies Group, so look forward to a revolution instead of an evolution.

-James Ardent, P&A CEO.

[AndiD]

Mara goes Letara, Ep. 4-2: Everything but car stuff

Previous post [read it for a rallycross racing proposal if you haven’t done so yet ]

14 March 1974
Great Exhibition Hall, Lerance, Letara

After the discussion of the rallycross racing proposal, Fedor informed Inna and Rodyn about the Archanan government’s investment decisions into Letara, after reassuring Inna that the Mara assembly plant will be maintained.

“First, they want to give discounts on the new Aljoscha Al-62M long-range passenger aircraft to any Letaran airline. The Al-62M should have plenty of range to connect Letara non-stop to many other countries in the world.”

An yet unpainted Al-62M prototype landing at Kronagrad Airport

Inna nodded. “Aljoscha should actually be well known here since we happened to run a racecar with their name on it for the last couple of years.”

Other Archanan investments in Letara

Fedor nodded and continued. “They furthermore want to channel additional funds into expanding the Letaran coal industry along with enhancements to the harbour so that they will finally be able to export coal to Archana directly. Moreover, as at least you will be aware of” - Fedor pointed to Rodyn - “our government increasingly is keen on offering cruise ship holidays to our workers. They therefore would also like to see that the Letaran harbour gets the necessary infrastructure for cruise ships to dock. Since it will be a long trip over the sea, the holidaying workers would probably just get one or two days in the country, before they have to head back aboard.”

Inna and Rodyn nodded. Rodyn remembered how fond Fedor and his predecessor Henri Nordhov were of Letara when they all were competing in the cannonball races over twenty years ago. Somehow they must have passed on their fondness to the right people in the Archanan government.

“If we want to establish rallycross, I think we should also contribute at least something to the track construction…”, Inna started.

Fedor shrugged. “It’s nothing the mother company could directly support since it is too far away for us to consider. However, as Comrade Executive Director of Letaran Operations, you have, of course, some leeway whether how you want to re-invest some of the funds that you make here. While appreciated, you do not have to transfer every last Letaran dollar back to us in the motherland…”

With some relief, Inna nodded gratefully.

[GassTiresandOil]

Ah. No worries lol. Like Kessel’s spokesperson said, to each their own.

[cake_ape]

One day remains for spending and lobbying!

You have about 24 hours left to get your spending and lobbying proposals in to the Letaran Government. Spending and lobbying is open until 6:00 AM ET on Sunday, February 12.

[Ludvig]

Round 4 Spending & Lobby

Swanson investment commitments 1975-1884

5 tokens - maintain factory

1 token Supporting the tourism industry
(ex. tourism board, promoting Letara as a destination (shamelessly plugging the recent(ish) racing successes) in our main markets, rental car service)

1 token Expanding and running the Modred Resort & Casino.

2 token Supporting the Aluminum industry
(alternatively its required infrastructure)

1 token Expanding docks

Swanson lobbying talking points

Modify safety regulations Yes 1 point
Considering development we suggest raising the bar a little (+5 in game)

Mandate amber indicator lights on the front and rear corners of the vehicle: Yes 1

Mandate side indicator lights. Yes 1 point

Allow white glass for indicator lights Yes 2 points

Tighten noise regulations. No 1 point
Keep Letara Loud.

Taxation slight rebalance yes 2 points
Consider balancing taxation so that domestically manufactured cars can benefit from tax breaks. While we enjoy 0% taxation as much as anyone, the safety and material use tax breaks give us no incentive as taxes are a one-way road.

Racing: Consider Rallycross yes 2 point
We are happy to participate in and win any sort of race, but Rallycross seems particularly interesting. Lerance Raceway is a logistically sound base. Perhaps replace the short course with a gravel section, or put it in the upper left as an outside expansion to the short course. Looks like a 60/40-70/30 split.

Edit: forgot this 4K HD illustration what I meant

(OOC: I believe this could be implemented by an extra formula or two in a spreadsheet, by splitting the gross time according to track surface split, calculating times and adding them together, but IDK. If its a PITA the update by Vizzuri is fine.

For later round, a touge/hillclimb/mountain circuit would be interesting. Round 6 Eurobeat intensifies )