Deadline extension of 48 hours! Get your cars in!
スベ・コペン・スポーツ / Sube Kopen Sport
Ending the 90s in style and getting ready for the next decade!
The Sube Kopen Sport is a kei sports car, with a big heart from Sapporo. People always tend to go for the need for speed, the adrenaline rush, something that can give you a big time but then at the end of the day is done with it... the kopen changes that by being simple yet fantastic.
While being a small car and quite lightweight, you won't find issues with the comfort, you read that right! You get good bucket seats, a CD radio and a very eye catching interior, what more could you ask?
Let me guess the next question you have... peformance. Sadly it's limited by 63hp and a tiny engine of 660cc... and... a turbo...! A SOHC 16v Inline 4 engine saving your day by 9 seconds flat, but wait, it doesn't drink much as well, but wait again... it also comes with a 5 speed manual made by Jetrag, and specially tuned for this car.
Now now, let's get to work and get in for the time of your life!
4 Likes
For accessibility, here is the english Ver. Though I recommend translating the JP Ver. (w/ google translate camera)
*Details
Although the car didnt look as good as I wanted due to body/design constraints, I am decently satisfied with the end result.
The design is meant to appeal to a wide japanese consumer market. From adolescent teenagers looking to impress schoolmates to middle aged office workers looking to have a bit of fun and escape.
I believe the car achieves this by designing the car to strike a balance between uniqueness and conformity. As the brief states “even non-sports car enjoyers can enjoy”, ergonomics was thoroughly thought out and measured. Therefore, I chose to stick with a high roof spacious cabin to appeal to all instead of a sportier looking low cut supercar body which in my opinion may deter more buyers just by appearance either from judgement from others or their own especially in japanese society. The car was designed to not stick out too much in traffic, in the school parking lot, in the office parking garage, or on the side of the street in front of the grocery store, and still look comfortably on the track.
Speaking of the track. The handling is not as muted as regular passenger cars but is tuned at the precipice of stability. This is to easily lose grip when flat out yet still be easily controlled by beginners. For more experienced drivers or those who seek a wilder characteristic, the suspension is easily tuned at the most basic of tuning shops.
Further tuning is encouraged by design as the engine bay can comfortably seat a larger engine. Although coming with an Inline 3 cylinder, the bay was made to fit a medium to large inline 4 up to 2000-2400 CCs with large double overhead cams. Further more factory testing has shown capability of fitting smaller displacement V6’s (2500 CCs). The ability to mount turbo chargers afterwards was expected to be limited, and further testing was not done under budgetary constraints, however engineers expressed that it was not impossible and awaits the consumers explorations.
This was very fun and perhaps a little too much work but I thank the host for the challenge and wishes everyone good luck.
Lastly but certainly not least I would like to sincerely thank @GAlexZilla for designing the fictional brochure.
15 Likes
Entries are closed! Judging in progress! 
Expect the first round of reviews to be out in less than 5 days!
6 Likes
Gotta be honest, it’s kinda hilarious seeing imperial measurements poking out through all the Japanese text :^)
4 Likes
It’s my first challenge, but I’m looking forward to the evaluation. Even if it is disastrous, I hope it will make me laugh.
5 Likes
August 1. A warm day in Matsuyama. Our designers and engineers of Sube sat an outdoor cafe, sipping on some tea.
“Yum,” said Ari.
“Delicious,” said Arata.
These were two of some of the highest ranking employees of Sube Automotive Corp… And today they had on file the proposals of 27 different designs for their new car, all compiled in the latest version of Microsoft Excel. Let’s see what they think.
The first car. Ari opens up the Manila folder all the photos were in.
“Sheesh”
“Not a looker from the front, but DEAR GOD!”
“This rear is atrocious!”
“Yikes, I can’t stand looking at it for another nanosecond!”
“Not too much to be said about this one, the style is better, but it doesn’t meet our requirements for looking cool.”
“Ah, this one shows promise. OH GOD NO!”
Arata crumbles the photo and eats it. Yum
“We’re getting better. The front definitely needs some more styling and depth.”
“Certainly, and the vent is a good touch too. I see promise in this designer.”
“This one’s a looker, the front just adds up together and is completed by the diffuser. Nice, but…”
“Nooooooo!!! Just add something to the rear! Anything! Too much empty space! The lack of depth around the taillights is atrocious!” He jumps up screaming, and takes the photo and swallows it whole, before sinking back to his chair, sobbing. “So much potential…”
“Aww, this one looks cute! It looks friendly. I love the cute little bat. A bit more depth would have added much.”
Arata’s eyes begin to glow again at seeing the design. “Yes! We can work with this!”
“Let’s see where it stands… Oof. Near the bottom. It did well in comfort and reliability, fell short everywhere else. A more powerful engine would have helped a lot.”
“The front could definitely have used some more styling. Some depth would help.”
“The stats certainly are impressive. It’s pretty comfortable, and would have significant prestige. It’s among the highest in terms of ease to drive. It has a high fun factor, but so does everyone else. A really good car, but is beat by a few others.”
Phew. That took a little bit of time to go through all the cars. About 367 seconds, but who’s counting. Arata is.
“Time for the arcade. We will reconvene tomorrow.”
12 Likes
omg noooo, the lore is ruined
4 Likes
(20 bucks!?)
Ah yes, the normal human activities of sitting at an outside cafe, sipping tea, and printing pictures of kei cars.
3 Likes
And eating the pictures. Yum.
3 Likes
Honestly I really like your car front design.
I guess I shouldn’t be inspired by Smarts 
2 Likes
Oh man, that Sunrise is cute though ahhh! >_<
1 Like
I actually thought the sunrise nailed the look. The lights are very late 90s early 00s
1 Like
Sube Rocket 660
Ah back outside another cafe. Breakfast. Today, our friends Arata and Ari are having taiyaki!
“The Rocket! It's got an aggressive looking shape. It's pretty agile too.
"I wouldn't mind driving around in one of these! Gotta go fast!"
“Perhaps unfortunately for the Rocket, our Sube customers do like a comfortable ride too. The springs definitely help with sportiness, but lowers the comfort.
"Would've loved to see some more detailing on the front too. Also an interesting choice with the mismatched tires."
Scarab MY99 Reflex MR 1TEN
“Wow! This one's a real looker. Anybody, including the rich folk, would love to be seen in this!"
"Definitely. It's got cool written all over it. The stuff for posters and advertisements. The design alone would sell in the tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands.
“And it's got the performance to match. Super quick, very agile, and even RWD! This thing would be an absolute ruckus to drive!"
"So let's give this a test drive already!"
“Err.. This one actually didn't make it past the first round. You see..."
"I'm seeing..."
“Performance is the only thing it's got going for it. Our analysis shows it'd be hard to drive, and also... this is by far the most uncomfortable ride I've ever seen."
Ari showed her coworker the numbers.
"Great Hachiman! It's like sitting on a cactus!"
Sube Ke-1
"Well it looks alright. I'd say its design is average."
“I'd say. It's pretty sporty, and also pretty comfortable."
"But it's hard to drive, and is average everywhere else. A good attempt."
Sube Groove Hardtop
"Ooh, Groove. I like that, sounds groovy. And it looks like groovy too!"
“Well designed for sure. It's got some good stats too."
Arata picks up the Spreadsheet calculations. "Wow! It's the most reliable out of all the cars! Sube could use that reputation for reliability. And it's prestigeous. This could sell well."
“Well engineered and well designed. This could definitely sell."
Pleiades R3 Variation S
“Wow, look at this one! It looks like it can go fast."
“It's got a sporty feel to it for sure, but it's uncomfortable. Average all around."
Sube Relax GTT
“Aww look. How cute! This is just adorable!"
“Very relaxing for sure. I feel like drinking a pina colada at the beach in Haiti!"
“You could definitely have a good time driving this in Haiti. It's easy to drive, and comfortable too."
“A good car for sure, but not what we're looking for. It's not sporty at all compared to the rest, especially with the shape, cute as it is."
Hachidori GT-K
“Here we have among the sportiest of the bunch! Fun to drive, and can corner very well. It's aura of prestige would help Sube for sure."
“The design though, it will be tough with aa front like that."
“But look how fast it is!"
“Its acceleration is only average, maybe because its afr is super high. Our analysts say that with a rich mix, its acceleration increases and it has a significant boost to fun factor. But alas."
“Yawn, that was some good taiyaki! I'm pooped! Let's continue tomorrow." Arata sure does eat quickly. Maybe next him he'll order one of these 'all-you-can-eat noodle' challenges.
5 Likes
The “tommorow” is a week later 
anticipation is killing me
Ah, looks like my risky strategy of submitting something different from the rest didnt pay off 
Nooo! I not want another week to turn me! teary cringe face from meme