2005, somewhere in the state of Denmark.
A danish family of four needs a new wagon. The dad, Palle, has taken up his childhood hobby of reading car magazines to catch up on what’s what over the weekend. His uncle “borrowed” and crashed their Volvo 850 while drunk driving. Only one of them survived, and it wasn’t the Volvo. Stuck with just a Starlet for the time being, they all eager to get a cool car that haul them & their stuff to soccer practice, the Alps and everything in between. They don’t fly for holidays, only drive, so it will see some miles.
Their maximum budget is $22,000 AMU.
Car taxes are notoriously high in Denmark - progressively increasing % of the car price; 22,000 roughly represents 50,000£/$ (finger maths)
Major Priorities 
Design - Must look “good” will probably warrant some late night discussions, but I’ll spare you the details
Drivability - Needs to be handy and predictable
Comfort - Potholes shouldn’t feel like stepping on Legos.
Moderate Priorities
Safety - Think of the children!
Costs - Fuel conomy should be high and service costs low. Saving on purchase price is good too, but less important as they aim for quality and low-ish long-term costs.
Reliability - Breakdowns are a bad time and ain’t nobody got time for that.
Sportiness - It’s good if driving it is enjoyable, and there is some highway performance for occasionally extensive Autobahn use - for “safety reasons” of course.
Minor Priorities
Realism - 2005 is 18 years ago, and your car should have plausible looks and engineering (see inspirations), including sensible use of advanced trim settings.
Environmental resistance - Rotten cars are always a downer.
Offroad - The tallest mountain within day-trip radius is…drumroll…170 meters. That said, they do like adventure.
Prestige - It’s nice if the neighbors don’t talk shit about it, and even better if the seethe with envy, but the parents pretend to not care.
Practicality & Utility - Important in the sense they are getting a wagon…but not a Hiace. These stats are pretty whack anyway.
Techpool
+5 in all categories car & engine, as is the default for new models.
If you for some reason have less, I don’t care. If you have more, well, I have a dumpster fire to feed.
Rules
- Trim and variant years must all be set to 2005; Model and Family up to you.
- Wheelbase should be between 2.60m and 2.90m (rounded - 2.55-2.94 exact = 100.59-176 inches).
- Wagon body only
- Must have 5 seats (more isn’t illegal, just…pointless.)
- …and 5 doors; no shooting breaks.
- 95RON/90AKI regular Unleaded or 98RON/93AKI super. 98RON gives a 10% fuel economy penalty (as it’s more expensive); no bonus for less RON. AFAIK ethanol fuels weren’t widely available at the time, so avoid them.
- A 3-way catalytic converter of any kind is mandatory.
- ESC mandatory (IRL not before 2009, but expected at this price level)
- Maximum loudness of 40.
- Maximum Trim Emissions of 200 as seen in the details tab, as well as in its own column on the Car Manager list
- No “racing parts” (fiberglass panels, carbon, racing intake/headers, semi-slick tires, etc.).
- Tires must be radial, with widths not divisible by 10 (i.e., the last digit must be 5, not 0).
- Meme builds? Only if dank.
Submissions
Submissions open on Wednesday, March 29th, 2023 at 12:00 am UTC
Submissions close on Wednesday, April 5th, 2023 at 12:00 am UTC.
Send via forum DM; keep all DM comms in the same thread. I’ll use the last submitted file.
If you suspect your exporter is messing with your brakes/oversteer values, you may attach an image of how it looks on your end with the submission
Naming scheme:
Model and family name: QFC22 - username
Trim and variant name: name of your car/engine.
Notes/FAQ
- Opening for other body tapas was considered, and discarded to keep things simple as per QFC guidelines.
This is before SUVs ruined everything - 4 to 6 cylinders would be the common choice.
- No bias for/against turbos or FWD/RWD/AWD.
- Performance is welcome (the parents have a history of hooning), but they aren’t looking for a STi/M/RS/AMG. Cars in this class usually had a range of 110-230 hp; it’s probably a good idea to stay away from the extremes. Sure, there are more powerful options for many of the examples, but see first sentence.
- The family is relatively well off, and while there is no minimum budget, they are willing to spend (close to) the max budget for a better car.
- Gearbox type - they are familiar and comfortable with both types. Their sons will eventually want to learn driving; being able to drive stick is mandatory for this, but the Starlet is manual too so not a big deal.
- Interiors will not be required or judged. They are allowed however, and the audience likes it.
- The family as a whole likes all colors; don’t worry about it. Consider not using black as it generally conceals lines etc.
- the taxes are to my knowledge up to 180% of car value; dealership price wars meant buying a car in Denmark and importing it to your own country and tax scheme could actually save money at some point.
Changelog
26.03:
Inspirations
Wagon mandatory
Techpool
Emissions
ESC
Some clarity adjustments
Realism
27.03
Wagon rule
Minor post quality upgrades
** 29.03**
Clariefied fuel
added trim settings to realism
added Freedom units
Good luck have fun
