i’m not expecting the social credit mobile to do very well but it’s worth a shot
When’s Next QFC happening?
When this one is done (should not be too many days away) and the winner or whoever will host the next time has taken the new one up.
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PART 2C - THE MODERN ONES (2010 AND ONWARDS).
ANKE: Do you think that it will be worth it to spend the money on something newer, after all?
ROBERT: It depends. Sure, you will probably get something reliable and with all the benefits of a modern car. But on the other hand, probably the same money will give you something less fancy. As with the earlier cars, it highly depends on what you are getting.
ANKE: How can a 2012 CYD OTTO 3 CABRIO sell for only $10359, for example? @quiz
ROBERT: Chinese.
ANKE: Oh.
ROBERT: A rather bland experience. But it is easy on the fuel and easy to drive. Rather boring, though. Also, not an ounce of comfort, surprisingly expensive to service. Maybe better safety and reliability than in an older car, but not impressive for 2012.
ANKE: Well, I thought it looked bland, seems that it was more than skin deep then. $14 720 for a 2017 LLUD ELENE is a rather huge jump in price. @the-chowi
ANKE: Yes, it looks chic and cool, maybe a little bit too supercar-aggressive for me, though?
ROBERT: It pretty much is an enthusiast vehicle. Fast, but a bit expensive to service and kind of a struggle to drive. It should be said, though, that reliability and fuel economy could make you think that it is a Toyota Yaris or something. So kind of a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
ANKE: Only a little more expensive, $14784, is a 2012 AIRMAN LIGHTNING ES6. @nightwave
ANKE: yawn
ROBERT: Sure, not an exciting looking car. Almost as boring to drive as it is to look at, too. A tank when it comes to safety, but also when it comes to fuel economy…nah, it is not that bad, but a modern car should really be better on the fuel than this one is. Low on comfort, but reliable and easy to drive. For its rather high price not very impressive.
ANKE: The most expensive car is the 2015 SIERRA GRAWLER BSR @happyfireballman and @Vento
ANKE: Yet another one that looks a bit too aggressive and supercar-like to me, and besides, not as good looking as the Llud.
ROBERT: Despite not being into the looks, and the most expensive car we have been looking at this far, it could be worth giving it a chance. Extremely easy to drive, yet being almost as fun to drive as the Norðwagen, feels like a hard equation but they did succeed. Almost unkillable, very safe, fast and economical on fuel. Though, the economy is somewhat questionable due to the service costs and purchase price.
ANKE: Wow, I have sure got a lot of cars to think over now…
CARS GOING FURTHER:
2015 SIERRA GRAWLER BSR - @happyfireballman and @Vento
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PART 3 - FINALS
(Yes, all the test drives was done with all the safety measures needed under a pandemic, blah blah, not writing up a huge story that you won’t read anyway, because this is QFC after all, and it has already taken too long for a QFC IMO. Oh, well.)
A first look at the 2015 SIERRA GRAWLER BSR (@happyfireballman / @Vento ) surprised her in the not-the-most-pleasant way, for that budget on a modern car, she would at least have expected a manually retractable softtop, not an awkward removable rag. Also, a cool looking car, but as she had thought, not really had the “soul” she was looking for, hard to define, easy to feel. A test drive revealed that it surely was quick…ish, but it still was doubtful if the performance could match the looks. It was very easy to toss around with its all wheel drive and almost neutral handling, but she understood what her brother had said about the comfort. It was like a steamroller on its hard, low suspension. All modern doo-dads made it easy to drive, though. Overall, like her brother said, a solid choice, with question marks for the comfort, and a question mark for the service costs. It was also the mest expensive of them.
The 1991 CAVALIERE NOBILE STALLONE SPIDER (@Happyhungryhippo ) clearly was from another world, another time. But once again a bit disappointing that it had the same cheap solution on the top as the Sierra, on something that once was seen as an exclusive-ish exotic. Overall, it felt more like a cruiser than the Sierra Grawler, that said as something positive. Not the same sharp handling as the Sierra, sure, but she was not going to try to win Formula 1 with it. It felt slightly faster, and the ride was far from as back-breaking, despite a rather hard suspension tune even here. It was an older car, you could feel it, expect performance and comfort maybe an objectively worse car than the Sierra overall, but they were worlds apart and never competitors. This would be cheaper and its quirks gave it charm.
Looking at the 1998 HALVSON PERFORMA SPORT 2.0 (@lotto77 ), it felt more normal after a quirky exotic and a wannabe supercar. It had an usual retractable softtop but other than that didn’t really look as upmarket, despite being more expensive than the Cavaliere. Inside, it was a bit like the Cavaliere, though, fancy for its time but not overly special. It actually drove rather well, her brother’s warnings felt a bit over-exaggerated, and it had a rather comfortable suspension tune, yet cornered well. Maybe not really as sharp to drive with its softer springs, but performance wise it was up to the task.
She would never think that she would fall in love with the aesthetics of a Norðwagen, but here she was. Staring at the 1999 NORÐWAGEN LOKI STK-6x2 (@moroza ) it was clearly the best looking car she had seen this far. If an ordinary Norðwagen was some obscure old man doing satanic sacrificial rituals in a secret room in a hidden basement, this was the coolest kid on the block wearing the best Halloween outfit while going for trick or treat, she thought. And driving it, she fell in love with it. Sure, she was not looking specifically for an outright sports car but this…this was one. It would corner like if it was on rails, take away like a fighter yet…eh, all the clichés. Yet it didn’t need to be treated with some special care, it could be driven like any car. The interior was nice and still up to its job, not the most outright fancy one in the world, but well, should it really be in this class? Comfort wise, though, it was closer to the Sierra than to the Cavaliere or Halvson. But generally it left a positive impression.
Finally, going from four sports cars to judge a 2003 COLORE SPORT SPIRALE AZURE 1800 GT-A (@z2bbgr ) was maybe feeling a bit strange. She knew that it was objectively a sensible choice, though, spare for that they had their share of reliability problems. And she had nothing bad to say about its appearance. Some of its features actually did surprise her like very supportive sports bucket seats and an automatically retracting softtop that did disappear under an elegant cover. Despite its automatic transmission it was fun to drive, sure, it was slower than the other cars, but quick enough. It was also easy to toss around - until a point. At higher speeds she got a bit surprised by the happy tail and slowed it down a bit. Eh. Since when did she start to drive like a maniac?
After thinking things over, she finally made her decision.
RESULTS
The winner is @Moroza and the 1999 NORÐWAGEN LOKI STK-6x2!
Also, yes, I know this QFC has a different format than my last one, that’s due to a different form of car shopping this time. Also, being QFC a lot of judging was done by a spreadsheet, and since honestly speaking, lots of cars were scoring VERY closely, especially mid-range, I haven’t bothered with ranking the cars any further than this, because it would be quite pointless anyway.
A proof of that may be that Moroza actually went from not being in the finals to winning the challenge, after I corrected my mistake in only one stat, albeit a rather remarkable jump in an important one, but still. That’s why I kind of feel bad about it.
Now, let’s move on and see what can be cooked up for QFC36!
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Yay congrats to the winner, a great job!
I’m happy with third place, happyfireballman did an amazing job with the design 
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nice job Vento by outsourcing the design part was a good idea, your engineering seems to be top notch.
haha thanks, but all the credit for the design goes to happyfireballman
My first proper win was nice, but reading this made my day.
QFC36 will be up by this weekend.
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I had to write at least something remotely interesting in an utterly boring QFC.