QFC41 - A Replacement for Displacement? (Completed)

QFC41 - A Replacement for Displacement?

Essentially my answer to the question, “What if QFC1 were set in the same year as QFC2?”

This is what Denny’s been dreaming of ever since graduation - the feel of razor-sharp handling and quick acceleration experienced by any driver at the upcoming Long Beach Grand Prix, but on a modest budget.

Background

Long Beach, CA, May 1975

Denny, a 23-year-old college student, has just earned his Bachelor’s degree at USC. Having driven his parents’ Honda Civic for the past few years, he’s decided to treat himself to a new car as a graduation gift. and not just any car, but a sports car for weekend drives and track days at Riverside, to make him feel as if he’s racing in the upcoming Long Beach Grand Prix. There’s just one problem: the oil crisis. It may have officially ended a year ago with the lifting of OPEC’s embargo on oil exports, but it’s still fresh in his memory (and those of many others), so he won’t want his new ride to use more fuel than it should - thus forcing him to shelve his dream of driving any of the muscle and pony cars he lusted after in his teenage years, for now. He’s also a bit short on cash, and so wants as much bang for his buck as he can. With these in mind, his priorities and requirements for a small, light and cheap sports car are as follows:

Rules
  • Trim and variant year: 1975 (model and/or family years may be older).
  • Body style: Coupe only (must not be a convertible - a coupe made to look like one will count as a convertible - and Denny’s parents explicitly told him not to buy anything with an open top, for now). Note that hatchbacks with fastback shapes and 2-door sedans will count as coupes, but 3-door wagon/estate body styles won’t.
  • Minimum of 2 seats in front row; maximum of 4 seats (a 2+2 configuration counts as a 4-seater).
  • Maximum wheelbase of 2.5m (after rounding to the nearest 0.1m).
  • 91 RON regular unleaded only; a catalytic converter, though not required, is recommended (an exhaust reactor counts as the latter), given that the Clean Air Act came into force a few years ago.
  • Minimum standard 70s safety (to reflect contemporary Federal regulations).
  • Minimum emissions standard of WES 5.
  • Minimum fuel economy of 20 mpg (US).
  • No V16 engines (I don’t have the DLC yet).
  • Must be road-legal (i.e., headlights, taillights, brake lights, indicators, reverse lights, side markers, fuel filler cap, door handles, wipers, and wing mirrors must all be present). On that note…
  • Headlights must be of the sealed-beam variety - two or four each of circular or rectangular units at the front. Although covered headlights were not yet legal in 1975, I will not be enforcing this rule, nor will I require an exact size requirement, in keeping with the spirit of the QFC.
  • A fully detailed interior will not be required or judged, although you may make one for your entry if you like.
  • Radial tires only, preferably with a diameter ending in 5 (TRX tires, which have a diameter ending in 0, may be used, but with a penalty).
  • No race/off-road parts of any kind.
  • Minimum top speed of 100 mph; maximum 0-60 mph time of 14 seconds (to keep up with traffic, even though the national speed limit is now 55 mph).
  • No legacy/open wheel bodies (I don’t have the former and have no plans to download those yet).
  • Default techpool settings (+5 in all areas) required.
  • Maximum price of $15,000 AMU. I wanted this to be only $12k AMU, but had to increase it by 25% due to user demand.
  • Advanced trim settings may be used, but sensibly and in moderation.
Priorities

Major priorities :star: :star: :star:

  • Drivability - This is Denny’s first time owning a sports car, or indeed any high-performance car, so it shouldn’t be too much of a handful for him.
  • Sportiness - Even with limited power outputs, it should be a blast to drive on winding roads and at the track.
  • Styling - In general, f it looks right, it is right.
  • Value for money - Denny will prefer a cheaper car (in terms of both purchase and service costs) if it can do the same as a more expensive one, but he’s not afraid to use all of his budget if doing so yields the best possible choice available to him.

Moderate priorities :star: :star:

  • Prestige - Denny wants to seek out a car from a brand with a good reputation, instead of anything that’s an unknown quantity.
  • Comfort - It may not be his daily driver, but Denny’s new car shouldn’t be too difficult to live with on a daily basis.
  • Fuel economy - Denny would normally take anything as long as its economy figure is above the minimum threshold, but the more fuel saved, the better.
  • Safety - With legislation tightening in recent years, Denny would rather not be in a crash at all, but he still wants to be sure that he can walk away in the event of an accident.

Minor priorities :star:

  • Practicality - This new car won’t necessarily be used for everyday duties, but a little extra luggage space would be appreciated.
  • Reliability - Sports cars of the 1970s were definitely not as reliable as those of today; even so, it’ll be a boon if Denny’s new car starts up first time, every time.
  • Environmental resistance - Living in a dry climate after growing up in a wetter, more temperate one has made Denny aware of the benefits of adequate corrosion protection; it may not be absolutely essential to him, but it’s still nice to have.
Inspirations

Although not all of the cars shown here were offered as fixed-roof coupes, you may use them as aesthetic inspiration for your builds.

Datsun 260Z

Triumph TR7

FIAT X1/9

Porsche 914

MG MGB

Lotus Elan

Ford/Mercury Capri

Alfa Romeo Spider

Changelog
  • 8:36pm, February 25th, 2024 (UTC+7): Further clarified what is a coupe and what isn’t. Also corrected the submission period, before which the ruleset may be subject to change.

  • 8:30 am, February 26th, 2024 (UTC+7): Minimum 0-60 mph time increased to 14 seconds. Also increased maximum price to $15,000 AMU to allow for more upmarket stuff.

  • 1:00 pm, February 26th, 2024 (UTC+7): Catalytic converter now merely recommended instead of being outright required, due to the possibility of WES 5 compatibility even without them being fitted.

*12:00 am, February 27th, 2024 (UTC+7): Sealed-beam headlights are required - exact shape stated in OP, but no specific size requirements due to this being a QFC. Also added notes on resubmissions.

  • 7:00 am, February 27th, 2024 (UTC+7): Opened the round for submissions.

Submission Guidelines

  • Model and family names: QFC41 - your forum username
  • Trim and variant names: free
  • Submissions will open on Tuesday, February 27th, 2024 at 7:00 am (UTC +7) and close on Tuesday, March 5th, 2024 at 7:00 am (UTC+7). Rules discussion will continue until submissions open
  • All submissions must be sent through Discourse (not Discord) via forum DM.
  • You must post an ad on this thread showing at least one picture of your entry within 24 hours of the submission deadline.
  • No resubmissions will be accepted, except in the case of rule violations and game updates.

Good luck, and have fun!

6 Likes

Is a body classified as a hatchback and not coupé OK as long as it has a fastback shape and not looks like for example a VW Golf?

3 Likes

And to build on it, what if it looks more coupe-like but the game says it’s a 2 door sedan?

the 26th and 4th are mondays?

Also to add a second question there is a mid engined coupe variant of the mobula that is clearly a targa but the game doesn’t class it as a convertible. Is this fine to be used since it has no convertible penalty and the roof can just be painted body colour

Not that this is my challenge but to me it sounds sane. Targas and T-tops were after all something that started to appear since there was concerns raised about the safety of convertibles, which is what I guess is what makes a convertible unviable here.

Can we go with the body thumbnail wheelbase instead? Or slightly increase the rounding?

After careful deliberation, I have chosen to treat fastback hatchbacks as coupes…

…in addition to assuming that a 2-door sedan also counts as a coupe.

That variant of the Mobula is indeed a coupe, not a convertible, but it does have a roof which can be colored separately from the rest of the body. You are free to use it, though.

It’s not the wheelbase shown in the thumbnail that matters, but the one shown in the tooltip when you move your cursor over it. The rounding rule, however, is unchanged - a body whose wheelbase is 2.55m or more will not be eligible, but one whose wheelbase is 2.54m or less will be.

4 Likes

1975 Cavaliere Nobile Tempesta

The more elegant and well-equipped cousin of the Yamaguchi GTO since 1971.
Japanese value and reliability. Italian style and performance. The best out of both worlds has been combined in this project.

The Tempesta offers enough extra features and more power to set itself apart from the budget fun Yamaguchi clone. This is not a foul compromise. This is a real Italian car that won´t spend more time in the shop than on the road. Visit your local dealer to find out about the new facelifted model.

Cavaliere Nobile. Cuore e mente.



5 Likes

Hey abg7, could it be considered that the performance figures be relaxed a bit? A 10 second 0-60 pretty fast for this era. Out of the cars listed in the inspirations, only the Z was capable of that, and only barely. Most of these sporty cars were in the 12-14 second range.

Does the emmisions standard mean Engine Emmisions standard as im testing a few things and am getting WES 6 On the engine but the car says 0. Also, can we maybe have the cost bumped to 14-15,000? itll make making premium-ish stuff easier

The trim emissions always says 0 as the state is now AFAIK.

1 Like

Good idea. I’ll loosen things up a bit in terms of acceleration and price. Also, to check your emissions compatibility level, just go to the engine tab and it should show up there - if it’s compatible with WES 5 or later, you’re good to go.

1 Like

If we reach WES 5 without emissions equipment, do we still need emission equipment?

Originally, I wanted emissions controls to still be fitted due to the fact that, by 1975, catalytic converters had become a mandatory US-market fitment. However, I will still recommend their use, although a vehicle that’s conpatible with WES5 or later will remain eligible, regardless of whether or not it was fitted with a catalytic converter of some sort.

Catalytic converters were not mandatory if the vehicle passed the standards without one, as seen in the Honda Civic CVCC, but if these are the rules for this challenge I will not fight.

Oh I’m glad that’s been asked as I managed it with no cat

I’m working on a car that has an engine rated at WES 6 in the engine screen, but the car is apparently WES 0 according to the Detail Stats screen. What causes this? Sorry if this is a basic question but I haven’t submitted a challenge car since the new emissions system was introduced.

Yeah, that’s a known and consistent bug. As long as your engine is rated as WES 5 or higher in the engine screen (as installed in your car - installing it in a different vehicle will change exact emissions outputs), the host ought to green-light your car.

Almost forgot - in keeping with the era in which this QFC is set, you need to use either rectangular or circular sealed-beam headlights, with one or two of each per side. However, I will not be enforcing exact size requirements or the absence of a glass cover, and will assume that they are automatically fitted to any and all cars with pop-up headlights.

For more information about sealed-beam headlights, and how and when they had to be fitted, click the link below:

Also, as of an hour and a half ago, *submissions are now open.

1 Like

‘Efficiency’ meets ‘not even fun to drive’. Your shitbox awaits

Presented by Horsche

3 Likes