QFC57 - Exit Suburbia
Hudson Valley, New York, April 2008
45-year-old Sara Martin has recently just hit 20 years with the marketing firm she works for, and with that momentous achievement, she recieved a large bonus. Now that her only son is going off to college, she’s ready to shed the frumpy and humdrum skin of her current minivan, and use her bonus to get something that’s more stylish and more her.
Rules
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Only entries made on the stable version of the game will be accepted. Any entries made on the open alpha will be binned.
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Trim/Variant Year - 2008
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$35,000 autobucks maximum
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4-door sedans/liftbacks and wagons only, however sedan bodies listed as coupes and liftbacks listed as hatchbacks are allowed, if you’re not sure, just ask.
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Wheelbase between 2.6 to 2.9m, standard rounding rules apply.
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5 full (2 front, 3 rear only) seats required.
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At least standard 00s safety.
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Radial tires are required, and must end in 5. Race tires (including semi-slicks) are not allowed.
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a 3-way catalytic converter (either kind) and at least one muffler is required.
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95 RON/91 AKI fuel maximum. You may use a lower grade fuel, though it offers no benefit.
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No V16s, no race parts.
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No amount of positive downforce on the graphs on the aerodynamics page is allowed.
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Your car must achieve WES 9 or better.
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Interiors are not required, and will not be judged.
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Advanced trim settings are allowed- however, you are not allowed to make the car look like something that it isn’t using them.
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Legacy car bodies (it should say “Legacy Car Bodies” in the mod name) are not allowed.
Techpool
All entrants are allowed 55M in total techpool budget. This is the sum of the total car and engine techpool values, as shown in the above screenshot.
If you’ve had trouble with techpool exporting incorrectly in the past, you may include a screenshot of your techpool values in the same DM as your submission- I will then compare the in-game numbers to the numbers listed in the screenshot, and will edit them if necessary. However, if you do not send a screenshot of your techpool values and they end up incorrect- or if the values in your included screenshot are also wrong, you will be binned.
Negative techpool is not allowed.
Priorities
Design
A big part of Sara’s motivation to get a new car is her desire to move on from the minivan lifestyle she’s had to live the last few years. She’s looking for a car that’s stylish and premium, and anything not fitting with those ideas won’t be considered.
Realism
OOC- I’m looking for a car that could feasibly exist and that meets basic road legality (think third brake lights, functional front and rear lighting, etc). Some cheesefest entry with a little tiny engine that’s designed to focus only on one or two key stats at the expense of all the others will not be considered, and will be binned. All results are final.
Drivability
Sara has been driving for a long time, and she’s familiar with both automatics and manuals, but she’s also at the point in her life where she just wants a car that can get her where she needs to go compliantly and with little fuss.
Comfort
Sara is okay with something that isn’t as comfortable as her old minivan, but she also isn’t interested nor looking for a car that feels punishing to drive either.
Prestige
Sara wants a car that’s prestigious and premium, things she didn’t feel with her minivan. Anything that doesn’t fit that image doesn’t work for her, and it isn’t what she wants.
Reliability
As this will be Sara’s only car, she doesn’t want something that’s too fussy or in and out of the shop all the time.
Sportiness
Sara is looking to move up from the tedium of driving her minivan, but at her age she isn’t looking for a full-blown sports car either. As long as it offers acceptable daily acceleration and a moderately more interesting driving experience than the minivan, Sara is happy.
Practicality
While it’ll just be Sara and her husband James using the car most of the time, they still want something that they and their friends can pack all of their stuff in for daytrips and getaways, in addition to the usual day-to-day stuff like grocery runs.
Safety
Sara is a good driver, but the world is unpredictable, and she wants a car that makes her feel safe and secure, regardless of what’s going on around her.
Service Costs
While Sara isn’t expecting to pay as little to service her new car as she did with her minivan, she also doesn’t want to be paying an arm and a leg for every little thing either.
Value
Sara has earmarked her entire bonus for this new car and has no issue spending it all, but if she comes across two cars that offer a similarly enticing package, but one is cheaper, she’ll likely lean towards the cheaper option.
Fuel Economy
While Sara’s day to day commute is pretty short and she doesn’t do much other driving during the week, she still wants a car that doesn’t drink fuel for when she and her husband go on longer trips outside of town.
Inspirations
Audi A4 3.2 Quattro (265hp, 6AT, 5.7s 0-60)
BMW 335i (300hp, 6AT, 5.1s 0-60)
Mercedes-Benz C350 Sport (268hp, 7AT, 6.0s 0-60)
Acura TL Type-S (286hp, 5AT, 6.4s 0-60)
Lexus IS350 (306hp, 6AT, 5.6s 0-60)
Saab 9-3 Aero 2.8T (250hp, 6AT, 6.9s 0-60)
Infiniti G37 (330hp, 7AT, 5.2s 0-60)
Cadillac CTS (304hp, 6AT, 6.5s 0-60)
Volvo S80 T6 (281hp, 6AT, 6.6s 0-60)
VW CC 3.6 4motion (280hp, 6DCT, 5.6s 0-60)
Submissions
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Submissions will open on Sunday, April 20th, 2025 at 11:59pm PST.
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Submissions will then 2 weeks later, on Sunday, May 4th, 2025 at 11:59pm PST.
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The naming scheme is QFC57- (your username here) for the car model and engine family boxes. Trim and variant are free.
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To submit, please post at least one picture of your car here in the challenge thread, then DM your .car file and optionally a screenshot of your techpool distribution to me (@vero94773) over the forums only. Submissions over Discord will not be accepted. Ads in the thread may be posted up to 12 hours after submissions close.
Changelog
- Submissions deadline extended from Wednesday, April 30th, 2025 to Sunday, May 4th, 2025.
