This is the outward facing location for the pieces of car and forum design work that I am most proud of and want to share outside of the Automation community. Please refrain from commenting in here. Likes on what I post are appreciated.
1987 Aether 9/2 Belle Étoile
Original Post Date: 6/20/2022
Challenge Entered: CSR 147
The 1987 Aether 9/2 Belle Étoile is the newest entry level luxury creation from Aether’s Voiture Atelier. Based on the standard 9/2, the Belle Étoile sacrifices none of the sporting presence that is usually lost when the roof is removed. The engineers have added extra bracing to the all aluminium body to preserve rigidity and handling dynamics. Even with the addition of more material and the premium leather hidden automatic soft top, the Belle Étoile tips the scales at only just over 3000 lbs (around 1400 kg), only around 200 lbs heavier than the original and markedly lighter than most other convertibles in this segment. This lightness also allows remarkable performance, with the Belle Étoile making the 0-60 mph sprint in just over 7.2s and toping out at 157 mph. This performance is paired with a combined 20 mpg fuel efficiency rating, which lightens the overall costs of a luxury convertible such as this.
While the performance and agility of the 9/2 Belle Étoile may leave those watching you breathless, you’ll be cozy and relaxed in its full luxury interior. Premium leather, wood, and aluminium trimmings create an atmosphere to be seen in as well as be comfortable. Aether has gone to great lengths with wind tunnel testing to minimize air buffeting at speeds below 80 mph, so you can be sure that whatever hairstyle you have will stay put without dousing it in gallons of aquanet. Aether’s iconic and award winning Hydropneumatique™ suspension soaks up every bump in the road with ease. It can be adjusted to one of three firmness levels based on road conditions and desired levels of sportiness. The 9/2 Belle Étoile as shown in the pictures above runs about $43000 and, as with all vehicles offered by Aether, it can be customized to the buyer’s tastes. The starlit experience of the 1987 Aether 9/2 Belle Étoile awaits you at your nearest Aether showroom.
2024 #53 Team Midlands Astraea GT3
Original Post Date: 6/6/2023
Challenge Entered: Race of The Century - A Le Mans Challenge
Placed 1st overall and in the GT specific category
The 2024 Midlands Astraea GTC may seem like an odd to choice as a base for a LMGT3 touring car. It’s a long, semi traditional two door sedan that while it may be able to keep up with the likes of a 2024 Bentley Flying spur in terms of top speed and acceleration, it’s not exactly the most nimble. However, the engineers at Midlands welcomed the challenge of bringing such an unexpected competitor to Le Mans to prove just how powerful a rear engined behemoth can be. The recipe for a porsche-esque touring car was there: 550 hp from from the engine situated in the rear, slightly rear biased weight distribution, highly tunable suspension, and massive tyres. The ironic thing is that this is all of that is wrapped up in a car that’s 4.5 meters long, almost 2 meters wide, and instead of a relatively small turboed flat 6 in the rear there’s a 5.4 L N/A V8. The Astraea GT3 is a tank of a car compared to most other traditional GT3s. Despite this, the Astraea GT3 achieves a respectable 0-60 of 3.6 seconds, an aero limited top speed of 224 mph, and cornering G’s similar to a Porsche 911 RSR. These figures are thanks to the staggering amount of energy Midlands has put into reshaping the Astraea into a wider, lower, and slightly menacing carbon fiber version of its roadgoing counterpart. In fact, due to engine size regulations, the Astraea actually has less base hp than the road version due to the loss of its supercharger. This has allowed the car to do exceedingly well in endurance testing, since the 5.4 L V8 is much less stressed than usual. This particular version of the Astraea GT3 is liveried in the traditional Team Midlands petrol blue over Sebring Grey and the factory team has decided to show off their team mascot on the side this year.
Specifications
✧ 5.44 L DOHC, N/A V8
✧ 554 horsepower @ 7100 RPM (subject to BoP changes)
✧ 433 Ft-Lb of torque @ 6300 RPM
✧ 1305 Kg (subject to BoP changes)
✧ 6 speed sequential gearbox
✧ 18 in Advan RCIII’s, 280/40R18(F), 330/35R18(R)
✧ 3.6 sec 0-60
✧ 224 mph top speed (Aero limited)
Is that a furry livery on the side of this racing behemoth? Yes. Yes it is. This good boi is the whole reason the #53 Team Midlands Astraea GT3 has a .car file size of 1.8 mb. He took me forever to make (as did the gran turismo logos scattered across the car), but I’m super proud of how he turned out. Full on anime liveries are a pain, but it was worth it. X3
2009 Hiyunzari Citrine Macro
Original Post Date: 2/29/2024
Challenge Entered: CSR 160
✧ 1.599 L DOHC i4 With VVL
✧ 119 horsepower @ 6000 RPM
✧ 110.1 Ft-Lb of torque @ 5100 RPM
✧ 1214 Kg
✧ CVT with detents for “Sport Mode”
✧ 37.4 MPG combined
✧ 16 in, 9 spoke steel rims (215/45R16’s)
✧ 8.06 second 0-60
✧ 137 mph top speed
1953 Aether 9/2 Mille Miglia Coupé Vitesse
Original Post Date: 4/25/2024
Challenge Entered: Mille Monti 1953
1993 Dodge Charger 500
Original Post Date: 5/25/2024
Challenge Entered: Real Design Challenge
Placed 1st overall.
1999 Sube Kuru
Original Post Date: 5/31/2024
Challenge Entered: The Best Kei Sportscar!
2024 Comet Bar x Aether 9/2 Atomique
Original Post Date: 7/27/2024
Challenge Entered: Weekend Warrior C-Spec
Specifications
✧ 4.496 L DOHC, N/A V8 made from aerospace grade billet aluminium
✧ 831.4 horsepower @ 10200 RPM
✧ 444.6 Ft-Lb of torque @ 7500 RPM
✧ 707 Kg
✧ 6 speed Sequential gearbox
✧ 17 in mag rims, (255/35R17 F/305/35R17 R)
✧ 2.4 sec 0-60
✧ 8.54 sec 1/4 mile
✧ 243 mph top speed
✧ 1.175 P/W ratio (Hp/Kg)
✧ 1.6 G short(20m) cornering Gs
✧ 2.06 G long(200m) cornering Gs, no active aero
(All above specs are achieved with 95 RON pump gas and street legal tires)
© 2024 Aether V.A. & ©2017-24 Comet-Bar, All Rights Reserved
2010 Hiyunzari Quartz Castella GTZ
Original Post Date: 8/7/2024
Challenge Entered: CSR 163
For optimal viewing please use desktop.
Hiyunzari are known for taking what may seem to others to be outlandish concept cars and bringing them to market. Sweeping curves, fiddly detailing, and extreme proportions are all made production ready with Hiyunzari’s high levels of reliability and precision. Their engineers follow the avantgarde whims of their designers and are always up to the challenge. Said engineers also do not back down when asked to do the nearly impossible. Not even when it’s the drunken challenge of a shareholder to beat the Nürburgring production car lap record with the most niche car in Hiyunzari’s lineup.
Enter: The 2010 Hiyunzari Quartz Castella GTZ.
Understanding the Quartz Castella GTZ is like unwrapping the layers of a carefully packed bento. The regular Hiyunzari Quartz is your typical lightweight Japanese sportscar: small N/A inline 6, excellent cornering dynamics, driver focused interior. The Quartz Castella asks the question of “What if the Quartz had been made in the 1930s at the peak of the art deco aero coupes?”. The wheelbase has been stretched. The body has been given a massive retro overhaul with a large formal grill and friendly oversized headlamps. The suspension has been softened for a more luxurious ride. It’s a more sedate sub-model of a lively sports car. The Quartz Castella GTZ turns everything the original Castella and even the original Quartz knew on their heads. Gone is the sedate retro modern coupe and in its place is a fire breathing, high revving monster.
The first step in turning the Quartz Castella into the “Beautiful Assassin” that is the GTZ was to swap the 2.77 Liter IS28-DE inline 6 out for the much more powerful 4 Liter UR39-DSE V8 that had been developed for homologation in the GT500 segment of Super GT. This 500 hp behemoth barely fit within the engine bay of the Castella with the exhaust now being routed within the side running-boards to facilitate easier servicing. The original manual box was swapped out for a snappy 6 speed DCT that isn’t untenable in everyday driving.
The second step involved sending the testbed vehicle out to Zacspeed for an aerodynamics and handling overhaul. Using their experience in F1 as a guide, the team at Zacspeed tinkered and toiled away untill there was nothing extraneous or unnecessary left to keep the Quartz Castella GTZ from being an extreme track weapon. Wider, grippier tyres were sourced from Pirelli to tame the shear amount of power the car was putting out. The car was lowered a good 2 inches and the front air dam taken from glitzy chrome bumper to aggressive shovel feeding into an equally aggressive undertray that makes full use of ground effect aero principles. A massive touring car esque wing was added on top of a trunk extension. The rear was reworked with a massive diffuser with incorporated rain light, hinting at what Zacspeed and Hiyunzari both hoped could be accomplished. Numerous louvers were also cut in the front fenders to alleviate lift that was building there during testing and in the hood for extra cooling. When the car was turned back over to Hiyunzari, it resembled a much meaner, more aggressive and imposing specimen than what had left their workshop.
Now that they had the heart and soul of the Quartz Castella GTZ squared away, Hiyunzari set about the rest of the legalities of making it truly road legal and viable as a product. They kept the interior much the same as it was in the regular Quartz Castella except for a few key differences. Firstly, the plush seats were substituted for more supportive Zacspeed sport seats. Second, the gauge cluster was updated to reflect the astoundingly high, newly tested top speed of 215 mph. And Finally, the center console was fitted with a high tech, fully customizable display to help prospective buyers keep track of lap times and other track day diagnostics. After their testing and road legality status were solidified, Hiyunzari was finally ready to take the Quartz Castella GTZ overseas to conquer the green hell.
(TL:DR Shareholders bet that Hiyunzari couldn’t build a road going GT3 version of the Quartz Castella and Hiyunzari said hold my sake and now we have a retro modern monster.)
Specs
✦ 4 L UR39-DSE DOHC V8
✦ 501 horsepower @ 7900 RPM
✦ 355.9 Ft-Lb of torque @ 6900 RPM
✦ 1079 Kg
✦ 6 Speed DCT
✦ 17 in Advan RCIIIs with custom Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R semi slicks (245/40R17 front, 295/35R17 rear)
✦ 3.39 second 0-60
✦ 215 mph top speed
© 2009-10 Hiyunzari, 2010 Zacspeed, All Rights Reserved
It’s about time you had a thread devoted specifically to your various cars!
