September 1994 - Don, an employee in his late-20s, works at the Los Angeles branch of a burgeoning Silicon Valley tech firm. A few years of hard work have paid off handsomely for him; he has just received a promotion, and with it, a pay raise. To reflect his new position, he has chosen to finally trade in his aging compact for a mid-sized executive sedan - a sizable upgrade. However, he has a limited budget at his disposal, and intends to make the most of it. His priorities are therefore as follows:
Major priorities
Drivability - This will be his new daily driver, so the easier it is to drive, the better.
Comfort - Long commutes are to be expected, so a more comfortable ride and interior are expected.
Styling - In general, if it looks right, it is right. In fact, Don’s styling preferences tend toward a modern, contemporary look, rather than anything retro and/or overly futuristic.
Moderate priorities
Reliability - The less often his car breaks down, the more satisfied Don will be.
Safety - Don doesn’t want to be killed or maimed in a crash.
Value - If a cheaper car can do the same job as a more expensive one, it will get the nod.
Prestige - He wants to get noticed by his colleagues for the right reasons, but not to the point that he overshadows the higher-ups.
Minor priorities
Sportiness - He’s not looking for a sports car, but it shouldn’t be a bore-fest to drive.
Running costs - It may be a more upmarket car than what he has now, but there’s a limit to his monthly motoring budget.
Practicality - Don occasionally needs to carry some stuff in the trunk every now and then.
Rules and requirements
Trim and variant year 1994 (model and/or family year can be older).
Tech pool limit: 30 (10 for engine, 20 for car); maximum of 5 points in any one category. These points must be added to a base tech pool value of 0.
Must be a 4-door sedan (not a wagon, coupe, convertible, van, or SUV) with 5 full-size seats (2 in front row and 3 in second row). Note that although 2-door sedans will be treated as coupes (which excludes them from consideration), 4-door coupes will be treated as sedans and are thus eligible. No hatchbacks allowed, either (although liftbacks will be treated as sedans).
Wheelbase must be between exactly 2.50 and 2.70 meters inclusive.
Maximum approximate price of $25,000 AMU (as shown in detailed stats).
3-way catalytic converter required.
Fuel type: 95 RON premium unleaded.
No race parts (intake/headers), carburetors, or V16 engines.
Maximum loudness of 35.
RWD, FWD and AWD are allowed (no 4x4).
Tires must not be cross-ply, semi-slick, and/or off-road (chunky or all-terrain); tire width number must also end in 5 (not 0).
At least standard 90s safety required.
Minimum environmental resistance of 30.
Advanced trim settings can be used, but in moderation.
Do not use any of the bodies from the Legacy Car Bodies mod pack (I don’t have that on my end).
Do not use anything that would reduce production efficiency in any way (fiberglass, aluminum and carbon-fiber panels/chassis fall into this category, as do luxury and hand-made interiors).
A detailed interior will not be required or judged, but you may make one if you wish.
Notes
Don’s current car has a manual transmission, and as such he is familiar with driving stick, but he is not afraid to try out an automatic.
Don also prefers RWD for his next car, but is not averse to FWD or AWD.
Be sensible and realistic - min-maxing will lead to a bin. That means no meme cars!
For this class and era of car, forced induction was generally much rarer compared to today; back then, naturally aspirated engines were the norm.
Don mostly prefers deep, metallic colors in rich jewel tones such as red, green, blue and purple, although he will accept any color as long as it suits the car’s exterior styling.
Round opens for submissions on Wednesday, February 16th, 2023 at 12:00 am UTC and closes on Wednesday, February 23rd, 2023 at 12:00 am UTC. Submissions must be sent to me via DM on the forums (not Discord) with the following naming scheme:
Model/family name: QFC19 - your forum user name
Trim/variant name: name of your car/engine
Rules are subject to change until the round opens; if you wish to ask questions before then, please let me know.
Since I own a 94 LHS in real life, I am interessed in recreating it.
However, due to the few time I have, it’s a job for the Primus Legacy, a car you already know from our little duel.
Given the $25k price cap, and the modest wheelbase limits, a lesser trim level would be more realistic if you were to submit that Primus of yours.
Also, I originally wanted a wheelbase range of 2.55-2.65m, but changed it to 2.5m-2.7m to allow for more diversity in body set choices.
And since the Primus Legacy in question is a full-fledged luxury car, not a mere premium car, I am considering a ban on the use of anything that reduces production efficiency in any way.
Update: The ban on parts reducing production efficiency is in place. I have also added a new rule regarding interiors - please see the OP for these changes.
So how are you defining sedans, by the game’s classification or just the number of doors? There are two door sedans and four door coupes available in the era, I believe.
I’m basing my classification on the number of doors - a 4-door coupe still counts as a sedan and is thus eligible, but a 2-door sedan should be considered a coupe and would therefore be rejected.
I didn’t get much traction when I asked on #challenges but if anyone wants to engineer a car and I’ll do the design, send me a message on discord. Bit busy with LHC and potentially csr for a full car
First time posting and trying to compete in a challenge, so this is new to me. Does the techpool require you to set everything to 0 points then add the allowed techpool, or can you leave it at +5 and add techpool to that?
Does this include partial aluminium panels or just parts that say they reduce production efficiency? I don’t see any tag on it that says so for partial aluminium.
Full aluminum panels cannot be used, since they reduce production efficiency, but partial aluminum panels (which do not reduce production efficiency) can.
The newest Euro sport sedan coming to the USA is the all-new Merit.
The Astrona is dead, long live the Merit! Our sporty midsize sedan brings old Astrona values to it’s new name:
Attractive styling
precise handling even at high speeds
many luxury features at no extra cost
great economy.
The Merit comes in the following trim levels:
Classic
Comfort
Sport
Elegance
Avance
The Elegance trim offers a luxury-car-like interior and is exclusively available for the V6 engines. Compared to the similar Avance, it has a less aggressive front bumper, no rear spoiler and a softer suspension setup. A perfect choice for those who want a sporty car, but not a sports car.
The Elegance models include the famous POIC (Primus Onboard Information Center) in its second generation, known from our flagship Legacy. A feature no other car in it’s class can offer.
See the whole legacy of the Merit, from left to right:
1960 Astrona 2400, 1968 Astrona 2400, 1978 Astrona 260 GLX, 1985 Astrona 200 GLS, 1994 Merit 300 Avance.
and yep, I doubt any IP Vagant buyer would consider buying a Merit and vice versa, it’s actually nice to have cars differing so much from each other in a challenge
Powered by a 234hp 3.8L V6, this larger mid-sizer gets 18.1mpg. 0-60 in 7.51 seconds with a top speed of 155mph. The concave hood is meant to bounce air off the windsheild wipers.
