Treated steel is just too expensive and advanced for 1986 - with a +8 chassis techpool setting, it costs a whopping $3600, and besides, the fact that environmental resistance is not a judging criterion at all in this QFC makes it pointless to use. That explains why my entry was cut early on.
I was honestly expecting my car to make it to the finals, but in hindsight my bargain bin premium approach with a medieval engine might not have been ideal for this challenge, despite being in line with Salon lore.
Great reviews from our host, and I wish luck for the contenders that made it to the finals!
The V8 was a laugh, but it was expensive, and everything else being that way too I can see why for fleet things it’s not a great idea. Good luck to the rest!
I guess I did the same mistake. I will check how much cheaper I could have made it. Maybe a power steering would have become viable.
You could have used the money saved to invest in a hydraulic rack-and-pinion power steering setup, while also upgrading and rebalancing the brakes to be more suited for taxi duties, and soften the suspension just enough to provide a far more comfortable ride without losing too much drivability.
The brakes themselves are totally fine. 0 brake fade in normal driving, 0.6 on the rear in sports and 4.4 in Utility, but its not a truck. The brakes go beyond grip limit no problem. The problem is the stopping distance of nearly 60m, but only way to fix this would be a lighter car or more expensive tyres. Medium tyres also improve braking distance by only 1 meter, so choosing the biggest available capacity comes with this downside. Maybe goin full eastern block lore and use fibre glass to simulate the Duroplast Panels.
50m from 60 to 0 mph is fine, but nearly 60m is too much. Also, fiberglass bodywork wouldn’t make sense on a mass-produced fleet-spec car for various reasons.
Oh boy, the reliability meta has moved on. I guess the Nostrum’s reliability will still be considered Italian compared to some competitors 
Maybe I need a rewatch (or several) but what is this a reference to?
It’s reference to an early scene in Die Hard where McClane, barefoot, tries to put on the shoe of a dead shooter. The shoe is too small, and McClane later injures his feet due to not having shoes.
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It should be kept in mind that tyre grip isn’t what it used to be anymore after the update (read: more realistic now). 60 metres isn’t great by any means, but not the disaster it used to be.
To be fair, in this case, we were building cars with little reason to put on unreliable options.
But I guess you’re right. The $45M of techpool given to the contestants in this challenge was about equivalent to almost double that in the pre-Patch 6 days, and as a result the use of quality was… Copious.
You’d be surprised on the latter count. Fiberglass was the body material for the early (read:real) Saturn cars, the first-generation GM people carriers, and the first three (?) generations of Renault Espace.
Moreover, treated steel is not actually something that a sedan would use. The regular “steel” material for body panels implies the industry standard for rust protection at a given time; treated steel has a special rustproofing coating meant to protect against offroad conditions.
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Was to be expected that the looks were too polarizing, even I hated it. But at least I gave a closer to full sized rear engine sedan a go engineering wise it hopefully wasn’t dead last at everything. I’d be curious if it had any strong points within this field.
QFC37 - FINALS
6th Place: Viverna Nostrum @Ludvig
Out of all entries here, the Viverna is the most advanced one. A peculiar midsize sedan with a continuously-variable transmission and a 16v four-cylinder engine with actual headers, it absolutely dominates when it comes to fuel economy and performance. Its wide, high-quality tires make it the best-handling vehicle in the final six. The reason the Nostrum is at the bottom of the finals is that all those things cost money and are liable to break more often - leaving this elongated Italian underwater in the two most important judging priorities. It’s a great taxi if you’re willing to shell out for one, and most municipalities won’t be.
5th Place: Bushido Regent @GetWrekt01 & @Falling_Comet
The Regent seemingly addresses the Nostrum’s failings: it’s somewhat cheaper and somewhat more reliable, while still being fast (courtesy of a mighty 160hp five-cylinder!), economical and trendy-looking. That said, the Regent lacks gives up comfort, size and handling to the Nostrum, and so ends up only marginally better on balance. If it were to just have a bit more size and substance to it, it would have ended up higher on the list.
4th Place: DCMW Marqaba @moroza
This most peculiar entry, derived from a true luxury sedan, surprises with its own fuel economy “per size”. That advantage comes courtesy of a hyper-undersquare straight-six (4.45-inch stroke!) which probably had to be finagled under the hood at a 45-degree angle - but oh well, it’s been done before. It’s the second-most dependable car in this comparo, behind only the Cardinal, but maintenance is the most expensive of the finalist crop as well. The Dalluhan car’s price is the second-highest of the finalists, too, and combined with poor comfort and middling handling, it grounds the lofty contraption to fourth place.
3rd Place: Tarquini Voglia @Danicoptero
The only front-driver left on the table dazzles with its value proposition, offering more rear legroom than the Bushido Regent, multi-point injection, and independent rear suspension in the same package for AM$10,000 - the third-lowest price in the competition and the lowest overall in the finals. Of course, it’s a bit of a poisoned chalice when it’s also the least prestigious and second-least comfortable car in the running, and far from the most reliable. The Voglia’s biggest strength is its lack of crippling weaknesses, but even then, it’s just not enough to grasp gold or silver.
2nd Place: Caplan Cardinal @donutsnail
About the only thing that breaks on the Cardinal is the layering on its front fascia. This huge American barge is powered by a straight-six with about the same power output as that of the DCMW, but with twice the fuel consumption - a natural consequence of said consumption all happening via a single carburetor barrel. Along with the ladder construction, this allows the Cardinal to be bigger, more comfortable and easier to service than the DCMW while also being a lot cheaper - which is why it’s ahead of both that vehicle and the Voglia. Weaknesses include the aforementioned economy and poor drivability and maneuverability - again, shades of the DCMW there. The best of the “playing the extremes” cars, it falls only to one exceptional all-rounder.
1st Place: IP Icarus @Knugcab
The Icarus is much like the Tarquini in its lack of crippling weaknesses. Just a bump larger than something like the Regent, this monolith of a car is priced similarly to the Caplan instead, and has similar comfort - courtesy of a similar automatic gearbox - and ease of service. With two less cylinders than the Caplan and an extra carburetor barrel, it’s a lot more economical - and while it doesn’t have that car’s nuke-proof reliability, it’s also significantly easier to drive and less tedious to move around. The Icarus strikes just the right kind of balance for a modern taxi: Simple but presentable, spacious but maneuverable (enough), comfortable but economical, and all for a good price. Everybody, behold your winner.
So ends QFC37. The order of finalists is present to determine a host (Knugcab just posted an ARM lol), I will provide an overall order if none of the six opt to take up the task. Thank you all for taking part! And now, for some fun facts:
There were 19 entries overall.
Of these:
4 people went for a bare steel chassis. Though this was not scored, none made it to the finals.
5 people, two of them finalists, had a solid axle. 9, including the winner, went STA.
17 had five seats, while just 2 had six.
Just 5 entries were FWD, with three longitudinal and two transverse.
9 had manual transmissions; 7 - automatic; 2 - advauto; 1 - CVT.
4 entries had limited-slip differentials. What for, pray tell?
Just 4 people went for standard springs - those were buffed, you know!
One goofy goober ended up with a hydropneumatic suspension!
12 people went for hard-compound rubber, and the remainder picked medium.
10 entries had 4 cylinders, 2 had 5, 6 had 6 (ha!) and, well, Riley had 8.
Only 3 entries came with a carburetor - with two of them on top, was that a hit or what?
We had 16 iron blocks in the competition. It was probably the right choice.
Out of the 3 remaining cars, one went for AlSi Light. That… Was not the right choice.
10 people had a compression ratio above 11 - which is 10 more than there should have been.
14 people went above and beyond and managed a WES rating above 6. One went to 10.
Just 2 entries went for premium gasoline. It was not the deciding factor.
Of the 6 finalists, the Bushido Regent alone was not blue. What’s up with that!?
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I would love to host QFC, but between judging WWB and college stuff I don’t have the time.
So I’m passing it to @moroza
I’ll have an answer within a day or so.
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There seems more interest and availability further down the line, so @falling_comet and @GetWrekt01 - have at it.
We’re taking it. Expect something in a day or 3.
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