Entries should have closed by now, but I only just realized that there are still a few users who have posted ads without accompanying entries, so I will make one final extension to the deadline, which is now 11:59PM EST (UTC-5) on Wednesday, June 16th, 2022. No further submissions will be accepted after that.
Vega Gaucho CS 5.8L V8
The Gaucho entered its fourth generation in 1996 as Vega entered a performance revival with its competitors. But as news of a fifth-gen update was on the horizon, the brand created a more performance-oriented version to serve as the fourth-gen’s swansong. And so came out the Gaucho CS, the final distillation of what made Vega a big name in automotive performance for the masses.
Underneath the new styling features, which include revised bodywork, large hood vent, front and rear spoilers, and new bumpers, Vega has shoehorned a 5.8L naturally-aspirated V8 making 368 hp, featuring pushrods with variable valve timing to improve both economy and power. This engine would later be carried over to the fifth-gen in 2006.
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Oh good, I thought it was 4pm not 4am so mine would have been trash lol
I didn’t want to extend the deadline at all originally, but circumstances forced my hand - a major update borked some of the entries I had received up to that point, and I decided to give everyone some more time to account for this. Besides, the turnout for this QFC has only picked up in the past few hours or so, but I won’t be extending the deadline any further- I feel that whatever time the potential entrants have right now is enough for them to create an entry.
Arion Cygnus 500I 2006
Flamboyant British Muscle.
Shown in Racing Red
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Produced from 2003 to 2009, the 4th generation Arion Cygnus came with a two trim levels; the standard 350I powered by a 4 litre inline 6 and the top trim: 500I, a 500hp V8 RWD 2+2 monster.
With forged internals, quad camshaft, direct injection and Arion’s “AEGIS” augmented electromagnetic valve technology, paired to a partial aluminium body with clad undertray and improved aero sleekness, it was possible to achieve 42.9mpg (UK) in a test run. Though being limited to 155mph for regulations, according to rumours, it would exceed 200mph given a long enough straightaway.
The Cygnus is a high class Muscle-GT car, with luxuries as standard: electronic differential, premium leather interior paired with touchscreen satnav and ESC.
RRP: $75,000 ($48,000 Automation units) ((US Market version shown)).
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The 2005 Arlington Foxhound SR364
All automakers aspire to be glamorous, desirable, and emblematic of coolness. Arlington has always been in the sweet spot: occupying a market position which combined a mass-sports and entry-level-luxury image (Think a blend of Pontiac and Oldsmobile: and yes, that is the definitive description of what Arlington is meant to be) it was able to produce many cars that had a high enough production value to be memorable and cool, yet a low enough list price for lots of people to experience that bad-boy aura.
The Arlington Foxhound - the 1980s successor to Arlington’s traditional muscle cars - is a prime example, being a car that combined the roguish charm of a pony car and actual precision handling. While several performance variants had been made throughout the years, the third generation’s SR364 was perhaps the most spectacular. It was a limited-production track pack built to go top-to-toe with dedicated sports cars, and had the technology to deliver.
The 24-valve V8 was punched out to 364 cubic inches (6 liters) by means of an extra-long 4-inch stroke.The already solid suspension setup from that generation of Foxhound (transverse leaf-sprung wishbone front, coil-sprung multilink rear) was beefed up with higher-rate springs and magnetic active dampers, a downforce-inducing underbody was fitted, and the electronic speed limiter was removed; the tires are a staggered setup of 265mm-width up front and 295-mm in the rear. The resulting 480-horsepower beast hits 62 in 4 seconds and doesn’t stop accelerating until you hit 184 miles an hour. This final, staggering naturally-aspirated SR offering (They started supercharging them after) has a long-tube, minimally muffled exhaust setup and a twin-throttle-body tuned-port induction system, ensuring that at the 7000 RPM redline, both the bone-chilling whistle of the engine intake and the fell howl of its exhaust are carried far and wide.
RED RED RED RED RED! Also a trip computer screen that doubled as navigation - controlled from a literal phone keypad!
This example is equipped with the Technology Package, which adds a primitive navigation system and electronic stability control. It makes the car far more daily drivable and convenient, though it can’t really hide the hellbeast that it is. As specced, it went for AM$44,300.
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Honestly I’m not a fan of the design (though the interior is nicely detailed), but the all the tech and specs are really impressive. Good job.
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4AM BST on your end equates to 12AM EDT on my end (I forgot to account for daylight savings - silly me!), which is not too far away. I am still expecting a last-minute entry or two before then.
As for the reviews, I plan to keep them to just one sentence each - two if I have to, but no more than that.
Submissions are closed!
Expect the reviews and results to follow shortly.
Note: I will not be extending the deadline any further - the day specified in my earlier extension post is a typo, since Wednesday on the East Coast is Thursday in the Asia-Pacific region.
Also, I have received 17 entries - more than twice as many as the previous host did in QFC2.
8 Likes
QFC3 Reviews and Results
Who makes the best mid-2000s pony car? Let’s find out!
@Fayeding_Spray - CTZN Hunter R3 CL - Looks like an M3 on the outside, and has the heart of a proper muscle car on the inside, with speed and handling to match, but comfort is on the low side for a $50k car, and its lack of brake cooling leads to considerable fade.
@BannedByAndroid - Galvin Bayview GT410 Premium - This one looks and drives more like a typical pony car, with superior performance where it counts; however, it deserves taller gearing, and is less comfortable even than the Hunter.
@karhgath - Regal Nomad GT-R - Now this thing looks and feels racier than your typical pony car, if only because it uses a different body than what you’d usually expect - but why on earth does it look like it has a huge underbite with that protruding lower bumper?!
@Lanson - Contester Five-Six - Props to whoever made an early-90s luxo-coupe body look great as a mid-00s pony car, because this is actually one of the better all-around entries in this intense company, despite its quirks.
@SenseiB12 - Fukuro Umada - What’s a half-assed Eclipse rip-off doing here? Actually, this one’s quite competitive stat-wise, but untreated steel panels and a low engine cooling factor really hold it back.
@Maverick74 - Markley Palomino SST - After the Umada, this looks like a real pony car - an old-school one, in fact, with its iron-block pushrod V8 and live-axle rear. Unfortunately, this Palomino doesn’t have enough horses in its corral - 300 bhp is barely adequate here.
@ErenWithPizza - Cey Destrier - On paper, it has the pace and presence to be competitive, but it needs staggered tires front to back (by about 20-30mm) to avoid excess oversteer, and a glued aluminum chassis seems like overkill on a pony car.
@S_U_C_C_U_L_E_N_T - Mayflower Onizuka Z8 - Its styling may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think it looks cool, and with its 500-bhp pushrod V8, it’s one of the quicker cars here. It’s a riot in the corners, too, and with its sub-$40k price tag, it’s a real bargain.
@Arn38fr - Watson Ariesa GT - This one seems familiar… Not really, because this is the enthusiast spec. Another great all-rounder - my only gripe is that it needs a better entertainment system and tires.
@kaybee - Cornell Motors Cherubin Concept - A more extroverted exterior than the Ariesa, and as fast as it should be, but the oversteer bias (again, due to insufficient tire stagger) is worrying, and its heavy brake fade (thanks to solid disc brakes) is a deal-breaker.
@Bbestdu28 - BMA Nerva Oeil Vert - Looks as much futuristic as retro, especially from the rear, with a decent turn of speed, but an all-iron engine smacks of min-maxing (while adding weight to boot), and an electronic LSD seems unnecessary at this price point.
@noid5454 - Kennaugh Karratha - Sadly this one is all bark and no bite. It looks intimidating, and its engine is decent, but the lack of traction control leads to excessive wheelspin off the line, and comfort levels are quite poor due to overly stiff springs.
@TheYugo45GV - King Sicario 440 - This one is way overbudget due to being overengineered throughout, so I can’t consider it. A shame considering its 600-horsepower engine and imposing styling - but its overly soft suspension would have ruled it out anyway.
@MusketsGoBoom - Vega Gaucho CS 5.8L V8 - Every time I see one of these, I think “4th-gen GM F-Body” - this is what it could have looked (and felt) like if GM kept on making it. Power is decent, but its >6 degrees of body roll is excessive for any performance car.
@ldub0775 - Takahashi Rocket 474 - This thing lives up to its name by rivaling the Regal for the title of “sportiest among the pack”. It looks way better, too, but its proportions don’t match those of a typical pony car - this is more of a true sports car.
@Aruna - Cygnus 500I - More futuristic than retro at first glance, and with 500 bhp under its long hood, it’s not short of grunt, but just like the gaudy Gaucho, it suffers from excess body roll (over 6 degrees), which saps the driver’s confidence.
@Texaslav - Arlington Foxhound SR364 - It reminds me of the older New Edge Mustangs, but with a lot more power. Also handles well, but that exhaust (which has only one muffler) is quite loud, and it could do with an inch or two of extra wheel diameter to help the looks. Still a top contender, though.
Final Results - Top 5
5th: @ldub0775 - The Takahashi Rocket looks cool and feels every inch as fast as it is, but a true sports car is not quite what I want right now.
4th: @Texaslav - I knew the Foxhound would be good, but not this good. If only it weren’t so loud that I’d develop tinnitus within minutes.
3rd: @S_U_C_C_U_L_E_N_T - Mayflower really delivered on their value-for-money equation, but I’d rather spend a little bit more for something more capable.
2nd: @Arn38fr - This is an Ariesa, but not exactly as I know it. It’s a great all-rounder - it just needs some better tires to match its power.
1st: @Lanson - FMC have risen to the top of the pony car heap with the Contester Five-Six. It’s the best package overall, and I can’t seem to find much that’s wrong with it.
Many thanks to all who entered - I hope you enjoyed this latest incarnation of the Quick Fire Challenge!
11 Likes
I want to say something, given the results. This is aimed at @Lanson most of all, given that he won the challenge and, thus, hosting rights. It applies to everyone though.
Lanson: I know you like testing your cars in Beam. I know it’s how you like to play the game, I know it’s how you like to do things.
Do not include Beam in QFC. Do not open Beam when you are judging cars. Do not do it.
Why? Two reasons.
First of all, QFC is supposed to be accessible. Expecting everyone to have another game which costs similar amounts to Automation, and the computer to run it well and a gamepad/wheel to get decent results and the driving skill to know what they’re doing? It flies directly in the face of that. Add in the time it takes to test multiple buiulds of your car, and it makes the “quick accessible one-week challenge” a lot slower and less accessible.
Second of all, consider your time. This round got 17 cars, let’s say you spend 5 minutes testing each one out. That’s 90 minutes of just testing in Beam, not even including the writing part. For QFC1, meanwhile, it was like 1-2 minutes per car, if that. Adding beam will at least triple how long it takes to judge, and probably more.
TLDR: QFC is not and should never be a challenge that includes Beam. To Lanson, and to all future hosts, please do not include Beam as a judged component. If you want to do it after, as “bonus content” once judging is finished and winners have been decided, go ahead, that’s your choice - but please don’t do it as something that matters in the championship.
13 Likes
Quite right. Judging in QFC has been based mainly on objective stats in Automation, with some subjective criteria thrown in for good measure - Beam testing plays no part in that and should be nothing more than an optional extra at the end of a round. Then again, I don’t have Beam (yet).
Speaking of judging, did any of the top five opt in or out of judging in DMs?
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I have not heard from them yet regarding their ability to host QFC4.
First off, Thanks!
Second, all points provided will be reviewed and I’ll honor the QFC original intent. I agree, Beam shouldn’t be part of it, at least the judging perspective. Also Beam is very useful for finding the edge of a car (in the end, does it plow corners or snap-oversteer?) and useful in finding out how a particular combination of things really handles, assuming all else equal. No, for this round, we’ll use the Tracking Sheet system, and do it by the numbers.
I’ll provide full specs tonight-tomorrowish but so far I’m thinking about what can we do for 3-row crossovers, vans, and SUV’s. I just bought a (used) MDX so I’d like to see what the community would make if given the same basic criteria. Thoughts on this as our QFC4?
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Personally, I’m all for it. I’ve been wanting to see a 3-row round of a challenge for a while.
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Ok I’ll do some research on how many bodies can do 3-row (assuming +2 as an option for row 3 minimum) and we’ll head that direction. It will be a “loose” challenge to allow a wide range, but I’ll be more specific soon.
As for the era in which it will be set… I’m expecting it to be late-2010s (or 2020).
Yikes, from driving it in Beam I had no idea it had a high body roll of 6.3, it felt perfect lol
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