MicroDesigns - Braconash/Hyperhatch

[strop]

I’m honestly a little envious (and kicking myself for not getting in on this first). For much of 2015 I had been grappling with the idea of the hyper-hatch. I toyed with the idea with a one-off (the Prato Rally Zoope, given the right old “Juke R” treatment, being modernised using mule parts from other projects) ultra hatch and it worked well enough there but I deemed it too improbable to succeed on the market. Then I also noted that 2015 was the year of growing concerns about impending recession, so I knew my company would get the jitters and not foray into it. It’s only in 2016 following some big successes that they decided they could try something similar… but not the same.

For me, I was first focusing on making a front-wheel drive that could match the performance and price of a Radical SR8… except it was front-wheel drive only. For some very strange reason, I want to try keeping my hatches FWD only, to try and preserve the fundamental characteristics of their roots, so that’s why I said it was like trying to pitch a Civic R against an AMG 45, which has so much power and AWD that it would completely spank the Civic R (or would it!?)

EDIT: holy shit I did go and make a 4 seater FF hatch that gets around green hell <7 minutes. It’s doable for a price tag of ~150k… which now begs the question, is this something you’d pay 150k for, or for something like that, would you be demanding AWD to go even faster?

[Microwave]

Wow. Trust you to make a FF hatch that is faster than my 600HP AWD hatch Although, I’ve barely modified the suspension in mine from the race preset. I gave it slightly more negative camber and made it understeer a little bit more. I think if you were to get your hands on it, it could easily do something like 6:55.
I think though, if it was real life, these hatches would use a system where it is FWD most of the time but AWD when the driver demands it (this is what Audi Quattro is on transverse engines, isn’t it?).

Edit: Along with tuning the suspension, I reckon that if I slightly decrease the size of the engine and fitted DOHC with VVT to eliminate some of the wheelspin, this thing would go a helluvalot faster.

[strop]

I’m also under the impression that this is what the AMG A45 does, since it can transmit “up to half” the torque to the rear wheels when required.

Also the FF hatch also has close to 600hp. I actually backed off LOL because I don’t like it when a hatchback has a fuel economy worse than 15L/100km. And yes, the suspension tuning matters quite a lot in this sector, it was only through that, I was able to match your time and then tweak other things. Also the servicing costs… are kind of high…

[Microwave]

Little ad for my latest car, the Kuiper. Stats to come soon after I’ve finished fine tuning it.

[strop]

Nice photoshop. Now I’m trying to guess which corner it is, assuming most likely that it is Nordschleife. Adanauer Forst? I can’t think of any other right-handers that go over a crest with that kind of kerb on it.

[squidhead]

I think that’s the exit from Breidscheid chicane. Could be wrong. Also yeah, nice photoshop!

[Microwave]

Thanks! Sucks that the car ended up looking all jagged around the edges because of the low resolution
And yes, it is indeed Nordschleife.

[strop]

Maybe so, yeah, it’s not Forst, because there’s no fence on the side. I agree it’s more likely one of the segments post Metzgesfeld.

By the way Microwave, did you ever get around to finishing the tuning of the hyper hatch?

[Microwave]

Unfortunately, no. My computer’s boot drive had to be reset and on that drive was my Automation Cars and Engines folder. ALLof my cars are gone.

I am, to say the least, rather salty. I could try re-making it, but I wont have time today.

[Microwave]

Just a little ad. Learned a good bit of stuff whilst making this. Feedback is welcomed and encouraged.

[squidhead]

I see some clever design choices here Nice to see such attention to small details.

[Microwave]

Thanks. The side profile doesn’t show much off in terms of fixtures, so that’s why I added things like the blue calipers and that.
Just updated the photo to make it a bit more 3D by adding a shadow, as the car looked flat previously without a shadow.

[Microwave]

So, quick question: Which of these front end designs do you prefer? The car is going to be a luxury car, similar to the Lexus LS.

[strop]

I want to say the bottom one, but it looks a little busy with that grille… though I feel it has potential. Maybe if you made it follow the curve a bit more such that it aligned more with the headlights. But I’m not 100% sure.

[Microwave]

######(So many incomplete cars)

The Velox V22 made its first appearance in the middle of 1984. Many things were unclear at that time, such as the engine configuration and what the main focus of the car would be. Seeing as V12 supercars were popular at the time, we decided to follow suit and thus the Velox V22 ended up using the “V22” twin-turbo 2.2L V12. Production officially began in 1988. Production was very limited at the start and so the application process for a car was very complicated and lengthy.

The car was offered in either a “Standard” or “Optional Premium” form. The standard form had a very basic sports interior. Luxuries included: gauges, seats and a wheel. Yup. There was no radio, A/C, power windows or anything. The seats were very high quality bucket seats that were made of a lightweight cloth-like material, as was the steering wheel.
The Optional Premium trim featured a premium leather interior (which came in many shades and colours), a relatively basic radio, power windows, A/C and other such luxuries that you might expect on a high-end car.
The standard model weighed in at just 951.5 KG and the premium model weighed in at 1025.8 KG.

Despite this, the standard and premium models shared a lot of things. Both had vented discs from and rear, had 5-Speed manual gearboxes and both had the exact same engine and power output.

After a while, a lot of customers started to complain that the car just didn’t feel fast enough for the money that they paid. As a result, the car received a major update in 1995…

To be continued

[Microwave]

Just whilst I’ve got a moment (or 4 hours) to spare, I’m just wondering: If I was to re-make the Astro R “Hyperhatch” (see above posts), would anybody else attempt to make a competitor car? Furthermore, would anybody be up to making a comparison article type of thing between all of the Hyperhatches? Of course, there’d be rules to follow (such as no $700,000 price tag…) but I think it’d be a really cool little thing to do.
I’m open to any thoughts or suggestions people might have so… fire away!

[Microwave]

Gonna go ahead and assume that there’s no interest for that idea… either way, will have the continuation of the Velox V22 up later I guess (or something else maybe).

[Oskiinus]

Looks good, I’m interestef

[Microwave]

###Decided to build something else instead for now!
######(bit of mediocre photoshop)

#The 1967 MicroDesigns Braconash
The Braconash was first put into production for the 1967 model year.
Originally marketed as a sporty, premium family car, the Braconash came as standard with the all-new “Shire” V8 - A 5.2L or 318Ci V8 that produces 222HP @ 4800 RPM and 273 ft-lb @ 2700 RPM. Offered in 1967 were two different transmissions, a 4-Speed full-synchro manual that was made by us, or a 3-Speed GM “Turbo-Hydramatic”.

Do not assume that the only difference between these is just the fact that one is automatic and one is manual, as there are a couple of noticeable differences between the two. Firstly, vehicles equipped with the manual were capable of 0-62MPH in 8.9 seconds whereas vehicles equipped with the turbo-hydramatic were capable of the same speeds in 10 seconds. As you might expect, the manual also has the top speed advantage by about 4 MPH to give it a top speed of 132.5 MPH. Secondly, the manual transmission was capable of 1 or 2 more miles to the gallon than the automatic, mostly due to the way each are geared. Finally, as time went on it became clear that the cars equipped with the manual transmission were far more reliable. Despite the fact that the automatic was at a clear disadvantage (and yet cost more), it still sold much better than the manual.

The interior is on the more premium side. The car will seat 6 people (though 4 was the recommended maximum), thanks to the front and rear bench seats. However, there were only two lap belts in the front and two in the back. As you can imagine, having a floor-mounted gearstick between your legs as a passenger in the front would be rather irritating as both a passenger and driver.

For the price, the car was VERY well equipped. Power steering was a standard feature, as were the 4 wheel solid disc brakes, a feature that was still not too common at the time. The front brakes have 2 piston calipers and the rear calipers are single piston. The reason for this choice was that, due to the weight of the car coupled with the fact that it was meant to be sporty, rear drum brakes did not offer good enough performance. Braking distance pre-disk was around 60m and the brake fade became very apparent, very quickly. After disk brakes were fitted, the braking distance came down to just over 40m and the brake fade, while still noticeable, was not nearly as bad. This later became one of the defining features of this model line.

Aaaaand I guess that concludes this post. Please leave any thoughts, ideas and just general feedback because I’d love to hear what you think.

[strop]

oh shit, I missed this post. I am totally down for making a competitor hatch, at least as a concept. I mean I believe I approached you earlier this year about it and I’m still really quite interested. I’d suggest seeing what the timing of the new release will be, of course, as it may take some time to get an article written by which time…