Is there a plan to add:
- Longitudinal fwd with the engine reversed (Like in the Citroen Traction Avant, Renault 5)
- Transverse leaf spring suspension
- Platform sharing between modeles in campaign (It could speed up engineering time)
Longitudinal FWD with the transmission in front is an incredibly niche layout, the same as transverse leaf springs (though in both cases, one or two very famous cars make significant use of them).
Developing Automation is a balance between development time versus gameplay benefit; it makes sense to spend the most amount of our time on the things that have the biggest gameplay benefit overall. Features like these unfortunately are very complicated to add, and don’t really add a huge amount of benefit in the end, even if they would be realistic.
As for platform engineering, Automation sort of has that with how body families work, combined with the Familiarity mechanic. It’s not true platform engineering, sure, but it has essentially the same effect in the end.
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Visually you can use the advanced settings to turn the engine around 180 degrees.
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It should also be said that when you do that, the effect on weight distribution is noticable if you export the car to BeamNG, if that’s a pressing concern.
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My take on this:
You sometimes see people saying things like “why no transverse leaf springs”, “why no torsion bars”, while my take on that is that it is actually not mentioned in Automation what type of springs that are used, even if it is coils or longitudinal leaf springs that are 3D modelled.
The thing is that “transverse leaf” does not say much. It can be the very simplistic wishbone rod solid axle suspension of a Ford Model T, it can also be the advanced suspension setup of a modern Corvette. Same thing with torsion bars. They are usually just a double wishbone suspension where the coil spring is gone and replaced with a torsion bar. In some cases (the original Porsche 911 is the first example that springs to mind) torsion bars are used with a kind of McPherson where the strut only contains the damper, and you have a torsion bar attached to the wishbone just like on a DW torsion bar suspension. I would just choose the one that is the closest, and “roleplay” that it used transverse leaf/torsion bar.
So, why does the game differ between solid axle coil and solid axle leaf then? Well, simply because a solid axle, (longitudinal) leaf sprung suspension is a bit different in how it works. It only uses the leaf springs to hold the axle in place. It is a cost effective, simple solution, works well for building a truck or a very cheap car, but the drawback is poor axle location (even though it is not hopeless, proved by for example how successful the Mk1/2 Escort and the Capri was in motorsports). A coil sprung solid axle needs some kind of arrangement with rods to hold it in place,which means that you will also get a better control over the axle movement, improving handling when it is properly done. “Better” for anything but a pure workhorse, but also a more costly solution.
So, I would maybe argue that if you want to build a transverse leaf spring, solid axle car, choosing “solid axle coil” is a closer match to the actual setup than “solid axle leaf”. That does not mean that a Ford Model T handles better than something slightly more modern with longitudinal leaf springs, but eh, there’s way more than the suspension hampering that car handling wise, and it is said that Colin Chapman out of all people said that if he had to choose one suspension that can do it all, for the rest of his life, he would work with the Model T one. Can’t confirm, I have never talked to Chapman, and we are drifting offtopic now anyway, so…
(But this is why I get a bit upset about keyboard warriors mocking the Corvette for having leaf springs. It has absolutely nothing in common with the simple longitudinal leaf, solid rear axle setup on an old Datsun 120Y, more than the type of spring in itself)
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The AC/Shelby Cobra (built on the Ace platform) is another notable example of a road car that used transverse leaf springs, but even these were replaced by a coil-sprung system on the later 427 model that debuted in 1965.
Some modern Volvos use transverse leaf springs and a rather common car the Trabant.
Also I forgot to ask about introducing rear transaxles into the game. Thanks for the answears.
I guess the weight slider could be used to simulate a transaxle car at some extent.
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I actually tried that trick many times, and realized that weight distribution manipulation actually does a good job at such a task.
We are evaluating the prospect of how to do rear-mounted transaxles in front-engine cars.
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