Done and done, with a margin of a little more than three seconds. I should qualify for gold standard with this tune, as long as I understood the restrictions correctly. Once you give me the OK I’ll post np1993’s challenge.
2015 Challenge Protagonist - Rev1.lua (91.3 KB)
You did it chipskate and you did it to the Gold standard I was hoping you’d go for 
I hope that it wasn’t too easy for you as I’m new to what’s possible in Automation! 
Oh hells yes it is 
[size=200]T[/size]he year is 1986. Madonna is still a relevant artist, “Top Gun” and “Crocodile Dundee” are top-grossing cinema hits, and Miami Vice is on its third season. In the automotive industry, car manufactuers are experimenting with turbochargers, electronic gizmos and all-wheel drive and more obscure technologies like four-wheel steering, most of which never leave the decade. The Group B rally is running its fifth and what will turn out to be its final season, soon to be ended by Henri Toivonen’s horrendous death crash, and the forests of the world are populated by fire-breathing Audi Quattros, Lancia Deltas and Renault 5 MAXIs with twice the power of modern WRC cars and a fraction of the driveability.
You, a teenager and car fanatic living in a forest-clad country in northern Europe, of course want to be part of the fun. Obviously the big company-sponsored world-wide championships are off limits to you, but a local motorsports organization is arranging a regional championship in your area. Even though you have even less money than sense you manage to find a nice 1976 Mk.II Ford Escort Mexico. The model has an excellent rallying pedgree, and while it’s not exactly competitive in the current scene, it’s a nice platform to work off. Yes, the body is pretty badly eaten by rust - so bad, infact, that it would fail the pre-race inspection - yes, the shocks are sagging and yes, the exhaust sounds like it’s made out of swiss cheese, but it’s nothing that you can’t handle and the engine is a pearl (save for the rotten exhaust), which is the most important thing. Using your left-over money, your job is to modify the car to make it fit for fighting in the forests. Keep in mind, though, that this is also going to be your daily driver, so please keep it somewhat usable outside of the rally course.
[size=200]Objective[/size]
Modify your car, a 1976 Mk.II Ford Escort Mexico, so that it:
[ul]]Can lap the Automation Test Track in less than:
[list]]For Bronze: 2:37/:m]
]For Silver: 2:36.5/:m]
]For Gold: 2:36/:m]
]For Platinum: 2:35.5/:m]
]To beat my personal record: 2:35.4/:m][/ul]/:m]
]Has a fuel economy of less than 11 l/100km (or more than 21.383 US MPG)/:m]
]Has an engine reliability of 30 or more/:m]
]Has an overall reliability of 60 or more/:m]
]Has a comfort rating of 10 or more/:m]
]Has a safety rating of 15 or more/:m]
]Has an offroad ability of 13 or more/:m][/list:u]
All of this must be achieved without exceeding a total cost of $5500.
[size=200]Rules and restrictions[/size]
[size=150]You may NOT:[/size]
[ul]]Change the platform and/or engine year from 1976/:m]
]Use quality sliders above +3/:m]
]Touch anything in the platform tab, except for quality sliders and body color (since it doesn’t contribute to the performance)/:m]
]Change the engine piston configuration or block material/:m]
]Change the head type or material/:m]
]Use mechanical fuel injection/:m]
]Use semi-slick tires/:m]
]Use full undertray cladding/:m]
]Install driver aids/:m][/ul]
[size=150]You MAY:[/size]
[ul]]Change any quality sliders up to +3/:m]
]Increase the cylinder bore by up to 1mm/:m]
]Increase the cylinder stroke by up to 5mm/:m]
]Swap out the engine internals (i.e. crank shaft, con rods and pistons)/:m]
]Change the compression and cam profile/:m]
]Install a turbocharger, with or without intercooler/:m]
]Swap out the carburettor/:m]
]Change the fuel mixture, ignition timing and RPM limit/:m]
]Modify/replace the exhaust/:m]
]Swap out the gearbox (and modify the gear and differential ratios)/:m]
]Replace the wheels and tires/:m]
]Change the brakes/:m]
]Adjust the cooling airflow, both engine and brakes/:m]
]Adjust the aero inclination and downforce/:m]
]Strip out the interior/:m]
]Change the safety features/:m]
]Modify any suspension settings/:m][/ul]
That should cover everything, I think. Just shoot me a question if there’s anything you want cleared up. Oh and before I forget…
[size=200]The Car[/size]
Ford Escort Mk.II Mexico (worn) - Rev0.lua (76.1 KB)
[size=50]God damn that took way too long to type[/size]
I can’t wait to give this a go. I have a physiotherapy appointment tonight and wont be home until late, but I will give it the good old college try, I should have something to show either by tonight or tomorrow night a the latest. If not you can put lipstick on me and clal me nancy 
Okie-dokie, see you in a few days then, Nancy!
Seriously though, don’t beat yourself up if you can’t reach the lower times; I spent a lot more than a day tweaking the car to get to the performance it has now.
I have gotten down to the low 2:40’s time to fine tune! (or pretend to know how to )
Am I allowed to change the number of valves per cylinder? It says I can’t change head material or type.
EDIT: keeping with the 2 valve per cylinder set up I am 0.14 off from braking the Gold Benchmark
Gold challenge complete! Lap time of 2:36:00
Ford Escort Mk.II Mexico Fixed Up - Rev2.lua (101 KB)
I am pretty sure the car falls within spec, feel free to check er out! I will construct the next challenge 
Are you ready Hermann?
It’s the early 2000’s and the streets are your playground. You are a mechanics apprentice by trade and street racer by night. You however are in a tricky situation, you have had a good run, you have beat cars that you have no business beating, you are a shaggy haired poorly dressed version of the Stig. You have been enjoying the street rep, however the cops have you in their sights and are you are desperately looking for a way out. A local mob bosses son, Rocko has called you out and wants to race for the title ‘king of the streets.’ Rocko drives a generic hatchback with v-tech yo and a few bells and whistles, your car could eat it for breakfast 6 ways to Sunday. The mob boss knows this and has made you an offer you can’t refuse. You must lose to Rocko and he will give you $30,000.00, however you must make it look like a legitimate race. Rocko would be very, very upset if he knew his dad paid you off. You are set to race Rocko at the automation test track, the don rented the track out for the evening, afraid of little Rocko wrapping his hatchback around a hydro pole if he actually raced on the streets.
You drive a heavily modified 2001 Domestic Sedan with a 4.5l transversally mounted v8, a 5 speed tranny and its tuned moderately well. It has big brakes, a decent suspension, a kickin’ sound system, and according to your boyz, the exhaust sounds sick! Its your pride and joy, you have been sinking paychecks into this bad boy for 3 years. It can run a 2:33:50 on the automation test track.
Rocko Drives a 1996 Generic Hatch and it is not pretty. It has a 156hp 2.0l I4 with mad v-tech yo! It is capable of a 2:38:41, a whopping 5 seconds slower then your speed machine.
There are two ways you can go about this challenge. You can detune your car OR upgrade Rockos car, the don had some cronies sneak Rockos car to your garage while Rocko is out shooting a self-produced music video called “money, bitches and machine guns” and gave you a check for $1000.00 to tune up the Generic Hatch.
You MUST lose the race, but only by a 0:00:50 margin, you want to go down with pride and make it look legitimate.
Option 1: Detune your car, you have too much pride to just ‘drive slower’.
Your Car - Rev0.lua (76.3 KB)
**You CAN NOT: **
Change anything in the platform tab.
Change Fixtures
Change engine size or materials
Change internals
Change Head type or materials
Change the exhaust type of size
Change your rims size
Change compression ratio
Change anything about the interior/entertainment/safety (you like it as is)
You CAN:
Adjust cam settings
Adjust air/fuel mixture
Adjust Areo
Adjust ignition settings
Adjust suspension
Adjust tire type/quality
Adjust any/all quality sliders up to a -3 (a good thrashing around the parking lot, with total disregard to your safety is a good way to wear out your car, or a few good taps with a mallet works).
If you choose option 2:
Generic 90’s Hatch - Rev0.lua (80.2 KB)
You have $1000.00 to spend (Initial car costs $8,128.95 allowing for max cost to be $9,128.95)
YOU CAN NOT:
Adjust quality more then 3 points on any given part (-3/+3)
Cannot gut interior (he would notice the car has been tampered with)
Cannot change anything in the platform tab
Cannot change engine block dimensions more then 1mm bore, 6mm stroke
Cannot change head type or valves per cylender
YOU CAN:
You do anything you would like to the engine aside from what is mentioned above, Rocko is a goon and hasn’t popped the hood of his car since he bought the thing off of another small time street racer.
Change any transmission settings
Change tyre components
Adjust suspension
Adjust/change Areo
Adjust/change Brakes
Adjust quality of any parts with a maxiumum of + or - 3
If I missed anything out feel free to PM or post the question.
actually nate, hermann’s on the end of the list, so your challenge would be directed at hermann!
Fixed it! My bad Hermann, I kept thinking i was the last one on the list
[quote=“np1993”]Gold challenge complete! Lap time of 2:36:00
stats1.png
Ford Escort Mk.II Mexico Fixed Up - Rev2.lua
I am pretty sure the car falls within spec, feel free to check er out! I will construct the next challenge
proof2.png[/quote]
Proper job, mate! 
The criteria for gold was to actually beat 2:36, but I’m not going to fail you on such a technicality, especially considering your safety rating was a whole 10 units higher than required. By downgrading safety to basic /w +1 quality I got the lap time to 2:35.67, which is closing in on the Platinum rank, and by tuning the engine a little for another 5 horsepower the lap time dropped to 2:35.21 which is not only enough for Platinum, but also torpedoes my record. Carrying over some of the suspension settings to my car I got it around the track in less than 2:35 without sacrificing any other qualities. So to summarize, my car had a better engine (okay, more powerful at least) while yours had a better suspension setup.
If anyone wants to control my lap times, you can find my car attached below:
Ford Escort Mk.II Mexico (tuned) - Rev0.lua (102 KB)
I am surprised my suspension was the highlight of my car :-p I usually have pretty crude suspension
C’mon, Mr. Prato… time to cough up a challenge…
It’s on page 15.
Whoops. So it is. In that case… did you bother to PM him to let him know it was ready?
Just shot him one!
Hermann!!! You’ve only got 2 more days or we’ll consider you as having forfeited.
I’ll shoot him another message
OK, Hermann95 forfeits due to lack of response, which brings Round 1 to a close.
So it’s time to start round two.
Here’s the deal for between rounds:
Anyone who participated in round 1 who does NOT want to participate this time around, speak up that you want to be removed. (Due to Hermann never responding at all last time, he will automatically be removed. Rileybanks will also similarly be removed.)
Anyone who has not participate yet but wants to, now is the time to speak up.
Once the entry period expires (we’ll give it a week), the order of participants will be randomized. Whoever goes first will do np1993’s challenge (you may need to re-post it at that time, Mr. Prato). And then we will continue on down the fresh list in the same manner that we did in the last round: Issue challenge, respond, work the challenge, post completion, and issue the next challenge.
Let me reiterate: The name list on the first page is NOT yet randomized for order.