@TheUltimateD00M Looks like a Stagea lol
Well, I did say it was probably faster than @Der_Bayerās hot hatch (which was a pretty quick machine) but then my guy wasnāt the drag racer. Thatās @koolkeiās character.
But we might actually put in a run down of relevant comparitive stats in the final summary. So you can see how your big pink dragster did. 
2 Likes
dibs on biggest engine 
3 cars to go and one is a mineā¦get it mine?
Anyway HYPE HYPE HĆPE
2 Likes
First Order Automotiveās entry hasnāt been seen yet eitherā¦
Canāt believe Iām in the top 3!!!
Scans police frequencies for abandoned yellow POS with FOA on the log sheet
1 Like
sorry to bursts your seed, but itās not ordered by the ranking. itās by whoās car i received first. so donāt get up too much yet.
so thereās 12 cars left. seems like my partner is busier than expected? but he really is fast at typing though. so sorry about the delay(again).
so. thereās more HYPE?!
2 Likes
still waiting for final result, any chance gonna be releases tonight?
@Bobloblaw - 1986 Petoskey Gran Romero
Well, what do we have here? If it isnāt a vehicle from Petoskey Motors. Not just anyone but something from their long-standing Gran Romero lineup. However, this one is a special 4wd version! Clearly they were trying to take on the AMC Eagle because besides the addition or a 4wd system the Gran Romero looked just like every other one Iād seen all over the place from my trips to the States, taxis, patrol car and family wagons you name it there was a variant of the Gran Romero to do it.
The design was essentially unchanged since the first one rolled off the production line in 1980. Itās pure American classic with a big huge body and chrome grill and quad square headlights. Unfortunately, we seem to have gotten a model in a very unappetizing greenish colour. At the back, it was just like any other Gran Romero with those tailgate mounted taillights. Overall it was nice looking enough but it did look rather out of place sitting on the site compared to most of the other designs.
Even that little BAM hatchback looked more at home thanks to its rally styling. This though seemed more at home in suburban USA or serving as taxi or patrol car. Iām not sure what the board of KRK Corp. think if we got something like this for our job. But that said I donāt mind a big olā roadmaster like this but it has to be in the right context and here out at our site it seemed way too out of place. But letās check the interior first and give it a spin first. Alright, so we have as very classic and basic US style interior. Six seats in big flat bench setup with lushing of imitation woodgrain plastics.
In the beige and fake wood style dash is a basic eight track and all the safety gear is pretty standard stuff. The big olā steering wheel is thankfully power assisted. Starting it up itās all bog standard classic USA nice stuff with a four-speed auto column shifter. Itās running on standard road tyres but does have locking hubsā¦manual ones and an off road skid tray. So overall itās fairly good off roadā¦well it would be if it didnāt have such poor clearance and massive overhangs. Still, for a big old US family wagon, itās very good. As I got back I was glad to get a chance to drive a piece of American history but for our purpose, I think it probably needs to stay in the past. Still, maybe Saolek had a different opinion.
This is a wagon. A big one and itās based of their lineup from 1980.
corrosion resistant ladder chassis and panels. normal stuff. going with the coil sprung rear suspension again.
195 wide hard tires on 15" rims. a big solid disc single piston on the front. and drums on the rear. but Iām super sure that a single piston wonāt do the job on the front tires.
the engine family is even older than our current truck, dating from 1962. although, the particular trim is from 1980. so the design is a bit dated and is still being manufactured with technology from back then. thatās quite the limitation. itās a 5L OHV V8 highly oversquared, making 166 horses. even with an engine this big, theyāre only putting a single 2 barrel carb on it. and set it to a very lean mixture. and being a dated engine, cast log header. itās really not the best engine in the world or the newest, but it should do the job okay.
going inside, 6 basic seats, with an 8 track player, has power steering but no ABS. safety features are pretty standard stuff. nothing lacking, but nothing fancy. but it does have an auto gearbox.
driving it, itās a bit hard to drive, even with power steering itās still a bit heavy. and that front brakes that isnāt doing much also isnāt helping.
fuel figures are 5.78km/l, which is a bit below average, and maintenance cost of $3190 is above average, for a car that is mostly unremarkable, is not favourable. personally, I would have to say no to this one
@TR8R - 1986 First Order Automation Centurion
Now for something more offroad looking. Again we have yellow vehicle although which seemed well set up for 4x4ing. The First Order Automation Centurion is a bit of mouthful of a name but unlike anything yet, it comes with a twin cab design with factory mounted full-length roof racks and roof mounted spare tire. On the side, we have modern large door handles and nice chrome fuel filler cap. The front features a massive bull bar and quad front mounted spotlights.
Someone at First Order really likes headlights as if the extra spotlights werenāt enough the angular grill is fitted with traditional main circular headlights fitted inside along with an extra set of quad lights in the centre of the grill below the main lights are chromed oval-shaped indicators. Iām not sure but I think ten main headlights is getting a bit much and the central grill mounted oneās kind of give the vehicles the menacing look like a mouth full of teeth.
At the rear, you have a pretty basic design with chrome rectangular taillights and separate vertical mounted indicators and reverse lights. Stepping inside I find itās actually a pretty nice place! Six seats but in a well laid out interior with proper adjustments and nice sculpted plastics even some fairly nice noise insulation. Plenty of safety features with headrest, three point belts, airbags, ABS, power steering the works.
Looking at the full array of instruments I notice itās a quality sound system with a modern cassette. Starting it up itās a nice and quite V6 which puts the power down via a five-speed box. Full 4x4 equipment although it misses out on proper off-road tyres instead opting for long life road tyres. Despite that, itās very capable off-road and the nice interior makes it a joy to drive. Overall Iāll admit Iām not mad on the looks but I donāt dislike them either. Besides itās got a very nice interior and from my view performs in a very respectable manner in just about all areas. Let see what Saolek thinks of it.
Iām seeing a pattern here. thereās a lot of YELLOW in this lineup of competitorā¦ still better than PINK, or OVERBEARING ORANGE I guess
anyway. monocoque chassis and panels both out of corrosion resistant steel. the usual suspension option, as is the best option. moving on the tires areā¦ WAITā¦ MONOCOQUE? well if they dared to go the monocoque road, it better be good. okay, this time, itās real, letās move on. 215 wide hard tires on 15" rims. the brakes are full solid disc all around. single piston both front and rear? Iām sure the rear has plenty, but the front is a bit dodgy.
under the bonnet itās a 3L V6 with 4 valves SOHC making a respectable 157hp, but, itās at the redline. itās a square engine, so I have to suspect that itās rev limited because of durability reasons. and it wonāt have the same amount of torque lower down the rev range. the fuel is delivered via a twin of 2 barrel carbs. why isnāt it just a single 4 barrel, is out of my understanding.
going inside. itās actually pretty nice 6 standard feature seats and a cassette player that isnāt crap. power steering, ABS, advanced safety shizzle whizzle. but still a 5-speed manual.
around the facility. itās up there as one of the easier one to drive
comfort is also one of the better ones too. but the cargo space is a bit lacking. and itās a monocoque, so the towing capability is a bit lower
7km/l is a bit above average, but $3203 is certainly move than the average. itās slightly under budget, though. so this one gets into the āto be seen laterā list for now
@Doctor Narfy - 1986 Shromet Parvus
Now for something completely differentā¦Well if you thought a blindingly pink pimp mobile, sporty hot hatch or that americano wagon were odd choices to our request they have nothing on this one. The Shromet Parvus is a very daring vehicle at least as a response to our requirements. The chaps at Shromet donāt believe in reading the rules too closely although I suppose we did cock things up somewhat when we faxed them off to the firms. But nonetheless, we did at least expect to find only 4x4 or AWD vehicles. But not here, instead we have little white panel van with rear wheel drive setup! Shromet had a clever trump card and it was a big value proposition as this was by far the cheapest vehicle on offer. So Iām sure thatād make more than a few of those bean counters at KRK Corp. HQ happy.
But the low price did cost us a few rather essential things like all wheel drive or four wheel drive but Shromet assured us they were a and I quote āREAL utility vehicle!ā Well, letās at a look at it properly. Itās a fairly unassuming vehicle compared to what weāve seen so far. No bright colours or fancy spotlights. At the front you have a basic but modern body coloured grill and rounded square headlights integrated with indicators. Below that you have numberplate and chromed fog lights. At the rear, you have square all in one taillight. Emblazoned proudly across the back in chrome text is the company name SHORMET. Below that you have only hints at the sporting potential that lays under the hood. Here you have rounded opening with number plate mounting and whatās that a huge twin chromed exhaust! What exactly is under the hood?
Whoa, itās a big nearly six litre V8! I got take this thing for a spin. So when I opened up the design I found out there are only two seats and very basic ones. The interior seems well built with a mix of plastic and metal surfaces itās pretty basic but gets the job done. There is only an eight track system in the dash but I did notice it comes with ABS and even has power steering which you wouldnāt think a little van like this would need but itās a nice addition anyway. I noticed despite the lack of seats the back of the van is rather cavernous and I suppose we could just sit in there or many get the company to install some extra commando style ones.
Starting it up Iām surprised to be met with a six litre V8 somehow crammed into this thing which is connected to three on the tree manual with manual locking hubs, off road tyres and skid plate butā¦no 4x4 system. Itās pretty punchy and rather quick but it has the worse clearance of any vehicle here and nearly got bogged down just driving about spinning the tyres in all the unpaved roads around here. The folks at Shromet have given us a very impressive value proposition but unless all our journeys suddenly switch to paved roads this little van just isnāt going to cut it. Now off to Saolek for his view.
Not this. a mini minivan. a novel approach to our request. thereās not 1 but they send 3 of these small things.
they say more is better. we could replace 3 of our trucks with 4 of these. but we will have to see if this approach works.
plain steel ladder chassis and panels. well, thereās a bad start. we donāt like rust. and itās a rear wheel drive only. no 4x4 drivetrain. chasing that low weight I see. legit choice actually
the tires are 165 wide offroad on 12" rim. fittingly small tires on a small car, but itās the cheap ones. it has advanced vented disc with 2 pistons on the front, and solid discs with single pistons on the rear. this is a bit ahead of the time but works really well. though on closer inspection, the callipers look a bit rough.
okay opening up the hood is aWOW!.. how big is that again? it says here itās a 5.9L OHV V8. this seems to be a sleeper car. packing 164hp, that a lower peak power, but more importantly, it has higher peak torque that ours, on 2000RPM. on a car this light. itās really gonna be a heck of a punchy car, isnāt it? it says here, it also has forged piston. but itās being fed with 3 single barrel restrictive eco carb. Iām pretty sure a well tuned single 4 barrel carb would do the job better, and more efficiently, and be more responsive.
slipping inside, is, as expected. thereās only space for 2 passengers on basic seats, and an 8 track player. does have power steering and ABS, though. and the safety features are neither lacking nor too advanced.
(it has been clarified earlier, that the 5 seat rule is what is expected of cars in this class, but you are welcomed to have less, but with a penalty)
and oh. I just noticedā¦ only a 3-speed manual? I havenāt seen that in a while. thatās usual for budget cars inā¦ the 50s? does this car have a gearbox taken from a model that old? well, if itās really going cheap, itās not really a surprise, and itās relatively light
okay, itās light, it has huge torque, it should be a heck of a thing to drive. and after a round of driving around the facility. the answer is YES! although, not exactly as I expected. while the engine is big and powerful, that single barrel carbs make the engine super slow to response to the throttle. that, up to a point, helps to make it more controllable, but still, slow response means it canāt push out more power when demanded as soon as possible. And also, this one is the only 1 out of 2 cars Iāve tested so far that got a little bit of trouble travelling through the muddy and soft ground part.
so. fuel figures, 7.74km/l. a year of maintenance $2533. does this approach work? well. Iād say, itās a good idea, just the execution is lacking. I also kinda felt this car somehow switched their engine with the NMC Bushranger. that engine fits here more, and this engine fits in there more.
so what about their claim of 4 of these can replace 3 of ours. well while the upfront cost is certainly significantly less, at only $9130 for each one of these. the yearly maintenance is at $2533 is far from enough to make it worth it, or rather, far too much. thereās already a truck that offered $2300 a year. for this approach to work, it needs to get to $1800 a year or less. because at that point, 4 of this car could have the same maintenance cost as 3 of normal trucks.
so sadly. this one is a no from me.
@oppositelock - 1986 GSI Fulda
Alright hereās a something that looks more promising. The GSI Fulda. Coloured in a matt green is looks like something straight from the army! Which isnāt too surprising given the company brief states this thing has been āair-dropped behind communist linesā and itās probably the only vehicle here with EMP resistance and Machine gun mounting points. Cool, stuff weāre not Rambo so itās of little interest to the KRK Corp. beancounters although the suggested fleet discounts certainly would make them happy. Letās take a closer look at this thing.
How to describe itā¦ itās very utilitarian. Which isnāt a bad thing at all itās got a nice protective and stylish black strip along the body and modern heavy duty black door handles. A hood bulge and subtle vented cooling. Up front, you have separate circular quad headlights and circular indicators below them and a rounded indication for mounting some extra military kit I can only imagine. Above that you have simple rectangular blacked out the grill.
At the rear, you have circular indicators and taillights along with high mounted reversing lights? They are a bunch of extra black indications which must be for military purposes. On the tailgate, you have a spot for number plate and badge above that. Letās see what the interior is likeā¦well not what youād expect from a military vehicle. Sure it has six seats and a rubbish sound system. But itās actually made from a reasonable quality with some insulation and plastics and hard wearing cloth materials covering everything.
I was expecting to find another basic mix of metal and few cheap plastics. It even has power steering! Safety is all up to the modern standard with three-point seat belts and front head rests on the seats. Starting it up itās another V8 mated to a four-speed manual box and if you get your gears right itās properly quick! Off Road performance is up to the military standard although itās odd to see the lack of protective skid plates or even proper 4x4 tyres still it handled everything our trails around here had to throw at it. Overall itās a very competitive package and I would be interested to see Saolek take on this one.
This one is a bit of something from reading the spec sheets. Whether itās something good or bad, or just plain unpredictable Iāll have to see.
Galvanised steel ladder chassis, itās heavy, but then paired with the lighter partial aluminium body panels. it doesnāt really fit right. also, partial aluminium is the first Iāve seen in this lineup. I donāt really know why it isnāt more commonly used, as itās lighter, barely any cost difference to corrosion resistant steel. and itās aluminium, it doesnāt rust. yet itās a rare sight.
again with the super wide tires 245 wide tires on big 16" rims. it has full vented disc all around the 4 tires, and the setup seems to be pretty robust.
Under the hood, i found a pretty big V8 OHV engine but actually turns out to be significantly bigger on the inside because itās a highly under squared engine. 6.4L. forged pistons and I beam steel, but the cast iron crankshaft still seems to be enough. fed by a single 4 barrel carb. a simple and effective setup. the built quality seems meh. not bad, but not the best. nothing really seems to stand out from this engine. except maybe, itās just REEKS power. 258HP, and about 235hp on the wheel. Iām pretty sure thatās the most powerful engine so far. and also have the most torque.
Going inside. 6 standard feature seats, an 8 track player. has power steering, and the usual safety stuff. except for the better interior, there isnāt much to write home about. 4-speed manual. and they say it could go up to 220km/h. well, being able to do that speed and being brave enough to do that speed on a vehicle this big an high is another thing. although it does suggest that the power that it has. monstrous. this thing would be a dynamite on the drag stints.
Moving on, like literally move the car because itās time for the test drive. driving it, itās meh not the easiest one to drive, nor is it the hardest, but itās tolerable. the comfort, though, itās down there with one of the worse ones despite having pretty good seats. I wonder why, though?
6.06km/l is the price for all that power that it has. though the cost per year is still about the average, so itās still more than acceptable, considering the oodles of power that it has. the cargo space, though, itās curiously small-ish. and the towing weight ratio is also curiously, a bit low. I have to suspect itās not because of the engine because it sure has enough. but rather something with the chassis design? I donāt know, though, I canāt figure out why.
So, how is it on the scoring sheet? itāsā¦ okay. The overall build quality is quite good. But thereāre a bit of unexplainable things that are not in our taste. so this one goes into the āletās seeā list
@Puffster - 1986 ABR Husky XT
Here we have another offroad wagon! This one looks nice in a maroon colour. The ABR Husky XT reminds me of a bit of a VC Holden Commodore wagon (not a bad thing just makes it easier to hoon) up front with an integrated indicator and headlight setup and big chromed checkered grill. But here you got a big factory mounted winch placed on the grill.
Below that you have bull bar protecting the number plate and extra fog lights. Along the side, you have those protective plastic black strips and chromed door handles and chromed door and window trim. Extras include a chrome roof racks and high mounted extra quad spotlights. At the back, you have an all in one black striped tailgate mounted tail lights and number plate. Below that you have a towbar and itās running on very modern four spoke rims and large wheels. Inside I found something I was expecting from the military truckā¦itās a basic combo of painted metal and plastic and itās pretty poorly put together at that.
Five comfortable seats without adjustment options and surprisingly no seat belts sightā¦In fact, safety doesnāt appear to be a word that ABR have heard of and that doesnāt really inspire much confidence. At least in that flat black plastic dash, I see a really crappy eight track system. Starting it up Iām met with a monstrous 8.8L V8 with a turbo which is mated to ancient and totally rubbish two-speed manual box. Getting out of our lot it kind of feels like the steering wheel has power assist although seems a bit over-boosted and floaty which makes the 0-100 km/h times absolutely mental! This thing is really really scary fast.
So I thought Iād check out the off road performance insteadā¦Well, the manual locking hubs are there although takes a bit to lock them in and itās actually an AWD system not 4x4. It has chunky off road tyres but no protection underneath. Clearance isnāt very good and I actually think our current truck was more capable and really it might even be safer at least I felt safer in it. Getting back I was glad to be out of that deathtrap. I really liked the exterior and thought it held promise but clearly the blokes at ABR have an obsession with speed that they are willing to forgo and indeed hold in contempt the safety of the driver and unlucky passengers. But that said I know that speed demon Saolek might just like it.
Another one of these wagons. and this one is coloured shit broAHEM dark wood bark brown. yes, wood bark brown.
Looks like this is gonna be one of those shorter noted cars. the overall build quality looks quite bad, I can even see a spot where the paint is a little bit chipped there. on a new car. and then thereāre the plain steel ladder chassis and body panels. the rust is real. though the drive train is actually an AWD
The tires are 185 wide offroad tires on 15" rims. and the brakes are solids on the front and drums on the rear. but theyāre not exactly properly made. and doesnāt seem like a very good setup.
Opening up the hood. Opening my eyes as wide as possible, and rechecking the spec sheet that Iām not misreading this. āweleh, iki wong edhanā (woah, these guys are nuts). an 8.8L OHV V8 with twin turbo. Forged internals. Well, surely it needs it. but itās all being fed through twin single barrel carbs. and then thereās the performance intake. this isnāt an engine for road useā¦ this is an engine for a race car, a drag race car. though, why they used forged H-beam conrods instead of I-Beam Steel and upping the rev limit a bit is a bit of a mystery. but could you really ask someone that made and put this thing into a wagon to make sane decisions? and surely. the power is just as insane peak power is 376 horses, but whatās mind boggling is the amount of torque. 854 Nm. That is nearing 3x the amount of some engine used in the other cars.
Inside, 5 basic seats, and what seems to be a refurbished 8 track player and they put safety out the window. YEAH! WEIGHT SAVINGS. Gearbox itās an old 2-speed autoā¦waitā¦ MANUALā¦2 speed manual.
Okay, thatās it. Iām sorry, but Iām too scared to drive this thing. I know we usually disregarded safety, but thatās because we feel like weāre always in control, even when sometimes we donāt. and with this car, thereāre so many dodgy things, and I fear that the power is gonna overwhelm me too the point I lose control easily. Iām really sorry, but Iām not putting my life on the line just for a test drive. especially not when the nearest hospital is 30 minutes away with our carās throttle pinned to the ground, and breaking every single speed limit rules existed in the area. donāt ask me how I know this.
the fuel economy is abysmal, running cost is stratospheric, and itās playing catch up with rust. sorry, but no. Just no.
@John Waldock - 1986 JHW Phalanx
Another white 4x4 this time with another twin cab set up. It was the JHW Phalanx, which looked nice enough but at the same time, it looked extremely familiar and hardly stood out from the crowd. Up front, you have the all in one indicator and headlight modern design matched simply with a body coloured crosshair grill and centrally mounted badge.
It had a large body coloured roof racks and at the rear, it featured an all in one rounded tail light setup along with centrally rear mounted badge and small mounting position for the number plate. Itās here where the tailgate latch must be the location I assume. The door handles are modern simple black plastic design. Opening them reveals another pretty spartan and relatively unassuming interior. Although itās actually pretty nicely put together, unlike that Husky XT. You have five seats which are pretty basic but do have some very limited adjustment options, no sound system at all which is a bit of bummer.
Thankfully though the chaps a JHW realise safety is a thing and as such it has proper three point belts, front headrests and even seems to be an ABS light on the otherwise basic instrument cluster. Starting it up reveals a massive 9.1L V12 mated to a four-speed manual box. Itās spritely enough but nothing near as blindly terrifyingly quick as the Husky. But itās fairly nicely sorted for off roading with 4x4 tyres, manual locking hubs although no protective skid plate.
But it looks like the JHW engineers have mostly been able to put the important driveshaft materials out of the way so it probably doesnāt need one anyway. Overall itās pretty competent machine but lacks a certain visual charm to stand out from the crowd and the interesting choice of a V12 doesnāt wow in the performance side of things either. So, in the end, there is nothing too much wrong with this truck but It didnāt grab me but maybe Saolek felt differently?
Hey. Hereās another bonkers entry. Letās just get on to it. Plain steel ladder chassis and body panels. RUST. But selling it at $11550, Iām super sure they could have fit better rust resistant material, except maybe if they only took an existing design and didnāt want to bother changing the base car much. Only RWD.
The tires are 215mm offroad tires on 14" rims. Brakes are a good 2 piston calliper on solid disc on the front, but questionable drum brakes on the rear.
Okay here comes the bonkers part. A 9.2L v12 engine is packed in here. Its build quality are nice, especially for a v12. It packs 289 horses and has nearly double the torque of ours. Well, the capacity is more than double oursā¦ itās being fed by a single 4 barrel carb. I donāt know how a single carb could supply an engine this big properly. But apparently it does, but I have to suspect itās on the limit of it, though. Now hereās the questionable part. Sure itās a huge undersquared 9.2L engine, but itās distributed to 12 pistons going up and down very slowly. Itās making power at the rev limit, meaning thereās a lot more that itās hiding more power.
But the thing limiting the revs are the bottom end parts. They used heavy duty cast piston and conrods. they are doing way more harm and are actually not doing anything good at all. Iām pretty sure forged parts much better. Heck, even standard cast parts are still better. The exhaust headers are also long tubular headers, adding even more unnecessary cost and complexity to an already complex v12 engine. So, the engine is good, the build quality is good for a v12. But itās tuned all wrong, and using all the wrong parts. Itās like a lion living in a zoo. Itās supposed to be magnificent, but it will never be able to show itās magnificence. Thatās enough ranting about the engine.
Moving inside is a nicely made 5 seats. Itās basic feature seats, but I can see this interior could last for a while. But no audio. Does have power steering and ABS. The gearbox is a classic 4 speed, and thatās frankly enough, especially with this engine.
Letās go around the facility. itā¦ drives not as good as I thought it would, I suspect half of that probably would be because of the rear brakes, and most of the other half is the gearbox gearing. Itās a bit shorter than we like em.
So, it has potential, but untapped potential, and we have to go through quite a bit to tap it. 5.31km/l fuel economy, most likely rust prone, costs $3369 a year. Even if the overall car is built really well, itās just not as good as we expect it to be. This one, with a heavy heart, Iāll have to say no.
One final post to goā¦
(assuming itāll fit in one post)
9 Likes
Come on mate, you guys even have an orange logo. 
1 Like
Well my character liked it 
@Denta Iām going to make a push for it. But at the latest, we should be finished up by tomorrow.
2 Likes
Well, to be fair, I knew I could not impress your character with the interior, so I went for just not actively antagonising him with it, and focusing on styling instead.
Yet again both you and @koolkei have been brutally honest about each car, and even more so regarding their shortcomings. I can feel your disappointment after reading some of the verdicts in the latest round of reviewsā¦ 
Never actually realised thisā¦one for the TR8R knowledge base! 
Well thatās better than we were expecting. 
1 Like
I still feel totally confident to ens up at the back of the pack, awesome writeups
@Darkshine5 - 1986 Razorback Boar
Now here was a very interesting design. The 1986 Razorback Boar certainly stood out from the crowd with a bright yellow paint job officially called āCaterpillar yellowā huge pile of parts hanging off the body. One might charitably call it a very rough and ready design with all the rugged protective parts, spotlights, bull bars, winch and the works of extras you need to survive the dangerous wilderness. But to my eye, it looks very much like the design was hastily brought together from a mismatch of parts that Razorback had available.
Looking at the specs I can see it does seem to be a vehicle produced by a smaller company from various parts as they could find them. It had an Aussie build bull bars, the gearbox was from a Ford and engine from a Mercedes. In short, it was essentially a kit car. Razorback claims this approach is good because they use āthe best parts from various manufacturersā to create an āeconomical workhorse thatā¦every mechanic can work oneā Well Iām sure that last bit will make Saolek happy but the Razorback people didnāt take as much care when it came to presentation. Altogether the design didnāt look super professional it looked more like one of those 4x4s youād see kitted up with all the extra aftermarket 4x4ing parts put on it. Quite simply I donāt see how it would fit with the professional corporate structure of our company.
But letās take a closer look at it first. Unlike many of the competitors, the Boar is a two-door setup with a black fibreglass removable roof, which is neat. Large black modern door handles and huge protective bars along the side that placed where they would fit rather than in any attempt at style. In a safety focused move Razorback has added an about twelve extra round indicators along the bottom side of the vehicle just to make sure that people know you are going to make a turn. I fear this will all be broken by the time theyāve finished working on some of the trails we drive.
Up front, you have an overload of parts. The extra indicators continue around the windscreen with four extra ones. The bonnet features a chrome roof rack with a centrally mounted spare tyre. In front of this are large quad spotlights. Then you have a large bull bar and centrally mounted winch. Behind all that you have a quite classic and simple front end with chromed circular headlights and chrome oval-shaped indicators. In the centre is a plastic checkered black grill.
At the rear, you have another spare wheel, towbar and further six mini indicators along with the main chromed indicators and taillights and separate reversing lights on the tailgate. I canāt help but feel that the more is more philosophy one the exterior took away from quite a nice design once you pair things down to the basics. But letās check out the interiorā¦looks pretty basic and kinda like a parts bins. You have five basic seats, no entertainment system or really anywhere to put one. Safety is pretty standard stuff like front headrests and three-point seat belts. Starting it up that nice Merc V8 purrs away. itās mated to a four-speed box which I managed to get me to 100 km/h in under ten seconds so not too bad.
About the middle of the pack and itās got good throws to the box and quality manual locking hubs too. Itās a proper 4x4 despite the lack of skid plate itās got 4x4 tyres and perform very nicely in fact it was one of best off-roaders tested. Very capable machine. The ride isnāt that good but it does have power steering and the smaller body did make it quite easy to get around. Overall I was pretty good little 4x4. But from my point of view, it lacked the professional brand recognition ability to support the parts I would expect for our company. I wonder how Saolek got on?
okay, this one. I wonāt comment much about the design, but I want to comment on this part. putting the spare wheel on the hood is not unheard of, but putting a rack on the hoodā¦ how are you supposed to look ahead when you put some stuff on it? I want whatever kind of alcohol the designer was consuming while designing this car.
okay, letās start. galvanised steel ladder chassis, and plain steel body panel, coil sprung rear suspension.
the tires are staggered 195 on the front and 215 on the rear, and theyāre offroad tires. I donāt know why theyāre staggered, Iām pretty sure making the front tires the same size as the rear is much better. oh well, thatās just a tire change away, but still a little bit of some extra work and cost. full solid discs all around, in fact, I think itās all using the same parts, the same size. 275mm diameter discs with single piston calliper. enough for the back, shaky for the front
the powerplant, is finally back to a sensible level of 5.45L V8 with 2 valves SOHCā¦ but I thought the point of using SOHC was to get more valves per cylinder? Anyway, it has forged piston. itās fed by twin 2 barrel carb andā¦ it drinks 80 octane fuel!! one of only the very few that went with this fuel flexibility. But in a sense, itās pretty similar to the engine in the very first car that I reviewed, the one in the Diamond Industrial
so, opening the door and sitting on the driver seat. Thereās 5 basic seats inside here, no audio, has power steering but no ABS, standard safety stuff. It has a 4-speed auto gearbox. Nothing bad, but nothing remarkable either.
Time for the test drive. Itās, again, another okay car to drive. But I blame that on the too small staggered tires on the front, and the lack of gripping power on the front brakes, otherwise it drives actually not bad. Except that, the seats are practically no different than a park bench.
So, 5.06km/l but itās really flexible with any fuel, $4285, high, but remember that it can drink any fuel, so still within the tolerable range. But itās a bit rust prone, the engine build quality isnāt really the best, not the worse, but still not satisfactory. There also some quirkiness with the setup that needs to be tended to that shouldnāt really be there when it just comes out of the factory.
So Iām sorry, but itās a no from me.
@KLinardo - 1986 Boss Manager
Well, here we have the Boss Manager. A large and in charge design, it sits confidently in a bold blue colour. The overall design is similar enough to the rest of the designs but upfront it takes a modern look with vertical mounted rounded square headlights and indicators design. Below that is a rounded rectangular fog light. The grill is a massive square design with centrally mounted badge and number plate below that.
Where the Manager sets itself apart is with a very aggressive bulged hood and twin nostril intakes suggesting some gutsy performance under the hood. The raised roof features a factory standard set of four spotlights. Along the side, you have an extra side indicator setup up front and circular turn signal along the rear part of the front panel. Door handles are modern body coloured design.
At the rear we have spare wheel centrally mounted and number plate below that. Nice body coloured strip tail lights with an indicator, reversing lights and taillights all in one. An extra centrally mounted safety brake lights are placed on the roof to warn any tall vehicles. Looking inside it hasnāt got the inside youād expect for your boss! Itās a very basic affair with five simple seats no headrests and only lap belts, basic old eight track in the boxy plastic dash. Starting it up itās a loud Ford 351 V8 with a nice sound. Itās mated to four-speed auto which gives around the middle of pack performance.
Offroad itās alright although oddly has no locking differentials or low gears just open diffs. 4x4 tyres but no skid plates so overall itās not as capable as our current ride but otherwise, itās fairly comfortable itās not really a stand out there because of the fairly basic seats. I wanted to like the Boss Manager from itās large and confident exterior but overall it wasnāt really a stand out in any area. So itās going to have to be a no from me. Maybe Saolek will like it better?
holy grill, thatās a lot of open area.ahem disregard that.
corrosion resistant steel ladder chassis and panels. as is the best, and how we prefer it to be. although partial aluminium is also an option, since itās slightly cheaper and lighter. this one does have a 4x4 drivetrain.
a wide 245 offroad tires, on really big 16" rims. these tires are a just a bit too wide really. the brakes are, itās one of these again. same size disc on the front and rear. but 2 pistons on the front, and a single one on the rear. if the brake size were big enough, it wouldnāt be much of a problem. but itās only 250mm in diameter. it should be enough for the rear, but itās far from enough for the front.
the engine is one of the few that drinks any fuel available. itās a 5.8L V8 OHV making a very nice 205 horses. but the peak torque is a bit higher in the rev range. it has full forged internals, although I think, except for the forged piston, I donāt see any much point on the forged crankshaft and conrod. itās being fed by aā¦, sorry, 2 4barrel carbs.
going inside, 5 basic seats, a cheap 8 track player, and some basic safety features. nothing extraordinary is in here. oh, also, it does have a Power steering, but no ABS. the gearbox is a 4-speed auto.
driving it around, itās as expected, not that good. Iām certain that the brakes and the tires are the main culprits. the tires we could easily replace, but the brake systems arenāt as easy, and the comfort, isnāt worse, but itās definitely below the average.
the fuel economy is 5.1km/l and running cost of $4344 a year itās just about average.
overall, the car really doesnāt have much appeal, and have itās downside too. but itās enough to make it into the āletās seeā list. i guess
@rcracer11m - 1986 Mott Works Wraith
Well, here we have another orange design. Itās the Mott Works Wraith. A modern take on the classic formula. This is another ute setup with an extra space cab design. It looks ready for action with a huge chrome bull bar, chrome roof racks, and chromed factory fitted quad roof mounted spotlights. The bonnet even has extra venting bulges which look great although I donāt know what their purpose is.
The front is a modern all in one indicator and rounded squarish headlight setup. Below that are big intake vents and the main grill is a dual split setup. Along the side chunky modern body coloured door handles with an awesome suicide door setup. This thing looked expensive and really nice so far I can see myself driving this with my stylish mullet and wayfarers.
But coming to the rear the design is very spartan, itās almost as if the Mott Works team ran out of money by the time they came to designing the rear of the vehicle. All you have are two all in one vertically mounted black plastic tail lights with indicators on top and reversing lights at the back. Nice but very plainā¦hopefully they spend a bit more on the insideā¦Well, looks like they did itās a nice looking interior with six cloth seats with adjustment for the driver, no headrests though and only lap belts. Although in the nicely sculpted plastic dash instrument cluster there is a ABS light! There is also a fairly basic eight trackā¦quality isnāt very good and the knobs feel like they are going to break off when I touch them so letās leave it off. Starting it up there is a quite throaty V8 rumble which is very nice and not intrusive either thanks to the reasonable sound insulation.
Itās mated with a five-speed box and together it gives this thing a real kick! Impressive performance and with the power steering itās pretty easy to drive. Itās a proper 4x4 so it handled our roads alright but nothing outstanding itās got the manual locking hubs to handles stuff but itās let down by the long life road tyres. It misses out on a skid tray but well engineered and placed underside components along with a healthy ground clearance means I didnāt encounter any issues. Overall, I liked the exterior despite the cost cutting at the rear and the interior and powertrain were all rather good besides a few minor quality issues on the inside. Let see what Saolek though.
this one doesnāt have anything that sticks out too much at first glance. but maybe that is for the better since it would hide the surprises better.
corrosion resistant steel ladder chassis and panels, but itās only an RWD truck, the offroad capabilities will need to be watched out for.
the tires are 205 wide hard road tires on HUGE 17" rims. the brakes are pretty robust, no, overpowered. single piston solid disc on the rear, normal 280mm size. 350mm with 3 pistons on the front. that would be a big help when carrying overweight stuff.
now. the boom-boom machine. itās a 4 valves SOHC 4L V8. that revs to 6000RPM. fed by an SPFI system. now this is what they call a modern engine. but of course, that means, the camshaft count has doubled, the number of rocker arms too, and just about everything in the valvetrain has doubled. all while not offering the maintenance lesson. just the super thick manual book again. anyway. thanks to the modern marvels, it makes 200hp while having a super wide power band with the peak torque quite low in the rev range, which means it has power everywhere. though, the complex long tubular headers really does help too. in the end, it achieves 19% efficiency, I didnāt really put too much attention on this part, so I donāt remember exactly, Iām pretty sure this is one of the best ones, if not actually the best one, while still delivering ample power and not to forget the build quality. while complex, it does look like itās going to last for a while before it needs a major repair.
going inside, I can see where they cut the corners now. the interiors are standard with 6 seats, although, itās really not the best of quality. and so is with the 8 track player. at least, it still has power steering and ABS. the safety features are, eh, basic, but more than enough.
driving around it around feels, nice, itās certainly up there as one of the better ones to drive. while the comfort is, well, acceptable. and though itās only a rear wheel drive, it does hold up its ground on the off-road ground. itās enough to drive this mostly flat ground, well, as flat a non-paved surface can be.
the towing rating is plenty, the cargo space is big (well, of course, itās a pickup truck) the overall build quality is not bad. even when making 200 horses, itās getting 7.63km/l and the yearly maintenance costs $2525, far below the average.
Soo, itās an easy like since thereāre no real inherent problems right? not really, donāt forget itās a highly complex engine and weāre left alone trying to maintain it without much knowledge or experience with it. but the car itself is really good, so I think, this one may just be a worth it the risk to take. āitās shouldnāt be THAT hard to maintain right?ā - Famous Last Words, Saolek, 1986
3 Likes
@phale - 1986 Adenine Exceed
The Adenine Exceed was well advertised with a bold claim that we can have it all with this very flash work wagon. I especially liked their tagline that this āAdenine Exceed. Exceed expectations.ā Well from the outside things were looking very positive. Our model came in a nice cream colour. This thing looked super modern and sat on massive wheels with some really sexy rims on them. The whole car had those integrated black plastic protective strips.
Up front, you have a nice little push bar which protected the indicators. Above that you have black edged very modern light moulds that fit traditional quad circular designs within them. The main grill was a thick checkered body coloured design that said it was really for anything we could throw at it. Along the side, you have very elegant indicator design that flows into the ultra modern black door handles that link up at the back to a stylish little black strip that leads us to the tail end. Here the line ends on the modern taillights which mould with the tailgate and are of the ubiquitous but uniquely styled all in one design. An extra safety centrally mounted brake light is added. Below that we have number plate holding mount which I believe houses the latch for the tailgate. At the bottom, you have a nice towbar.
Overall it looks pretty darn good. I wasnāt sure I could talk anyone at the head office about replacing our trusty 4x4 with an AWD wagon but looking at this our bosses might just agree this looks like the future! So now I really want to take this thing for a spin letās check out the inside! Well, itās easy to see where the money was spentā¦itās pretty basic in here. Five hard and coarse cloth seats without headrests and only lap belts. There doesnāt seem to be very much adjustment at all.
On the simple plastic dashboard, there is no sound system or even a spot for where one would go. Only a simple array of instruments and warning lights, including a light for ABS so the engineers at Adenine didnāt completely forget about safety after all. Starting it up itās a turbo inline six, mated with an automatic four-speed box which gives fairly impressive performance not as fast as some of the crazy machines weāve driven but still just breaking into the sub-nine second mark. The simple air bagless steering wheel is power assisted and this thing actually handles quite well.
Off Road performance is achieved via an AWD system with a 50/50 power distribution. It comes with manual locking differentials, but itās only running on road tyres and it misses out on a skid tray. Clearance isnāt too bad and we never found anything it couldnāt handles but our current truck was probably still better in the rough stuff. Maybe if we switched it to some decent 4x4 tyres it would be okay. Overall itās an impressive looking machine and if you believe the promotional figures itās very cheap to run and operate which will interest the company. The Interior is a bit of let down but itās certainly not a dealbreaker here. Now for a final word from Saolek.
Itās another one of those wagons again. hope this one fares better. this one looks really modern, like a bit ahead of its time really, but thatās not my part to comment on that. so why did I comment on that? damn brain.
Plain steel ladder chassis and panels. off to a bad start. by now, you should have known how I despise rust. this one have an AWD drivetrain instead of a 4x4.
Tires are a bit thin at 185 wide hard tires on huge 17" rims. and the brakesā¦ this is a bit of a nutjob. huge 350mm single piston calliper solid disc brakes, yet the rear is using a VENTED disc single piston. whatever sorcery they have going there, if they are confident enough to go with that setup, it mustāve workedā¦ I think
Next up is the suck-squeeze-bang-blow metal pumper. this one is another super modern engine, and one out of the only 2 inline 6 competitors. an undersquared 2.9L with 4 valves SOHC setup, boosted, literally with a turbo. down and inside, forged piston and I-beam steel, I think itās to cope up with the extra strain from the turbo, so itās well suited here. the fuel system is using the more complex MPFI system. and coupled to a nicely done exhaust system. now, although it makes the same amount of power as our engine @ 172HP, the torque, even though itās already propped up, is still making significantly less, albeit, at a much more stable and wider range. the peak torque that it lacks is made up by the range of peak torque it has. it gets up to about 265Nm on 1800RPM, and only gets up to 273Nm at 3900RPM, thatās almost half of the rev range.
Although this is an extremely complex engine, especially with the turbo, they do offer the EFI maintenance training course, and it looks really well built, though, as always, with so much moving parts, something is bound to go wrong, but maybe not that soon.
Closing the hood again I just noticed, this is one of the cars that has panel gaps wider than a girlās cleavage. though not as attractive, obviously. moving on to the interior, 5 basic seats, no audio, does have Power Steering and ABS, no fancy safety features, itās as basic as you can get. it has a 4-speed auto gearbox installed. nothing to write home about here.
Letās just take it around. now, Iāve learned to so far that these smaller turbo engine likes to be revved a bit higher than the naturally aspirated counterpart, so I have to keep that in mind while Iām driving. so to my surprise, itās extremely easy to drive, much much easier than I expected of a car with a turbo, it honestly blew my mind a bit. itās certainly one of the best handling cars so far. But the offroad capabilities are not exactly outstanding, itās enough for the job, with some possibility it gets stuck when it gets too rough, but that shouldnāt happen often. while I was driving it also felt like itās the best in comfort despite its lack of audio, well, comfortable physically. thereās another one from before that is a bit more comfortable, but that one is helped by the fact that has an audio entertainment system. this one had none. now that is a feat of itself.
And the cargo space, I never would have thought that a wagon would be able to have such a huge cargo space, it feels like itās bending spacetime continuum. like Doraemonās magic pocket (i forgot its name). how did the engineer manage this, it must have been so tedious to make it happen?
If you havenāt noticed just yet, thereās been a plethora of praise for this car from me. and then add that it drinks only 10.67km/l, thatās a rating for a hot hatch, not a wagon of this size with this capability. and then the final nail, it only needs $1968 per year to run. thatās a good $1000 lower than the competitorās average. like the name, it does exceeds my expectation. Although it still does have itās flaws. The engine is extremely complex, although it works unbelievably well, and the Achilles heel, that is, the rust is gonna seep in relatively soon.
But in the end, this car gets a full yes from me
@EnryGT5 - 1986 Seishido M100 3.4 AWD BX
I didnāt realise weād be getting an entry from a Seishido that well known Japanese manufacturer but I was certainly pleased to check out what they had on offer. Looking at the somewhat generic white 4x4 it undoubtedly looked like most of the latest designs from Japan.
Thatās not a bad thing it manages to copy all the elements from classic designs and re-appropriate them into a distinctly Japanese take on the offroader.
Very little needs to be said about sides besides a conventional modern black plastic door handles and indicators check. This high roof design has some nice looking classic rims and up front, itās a design that reminds me of the Land Cruiser. Nice and honest with a black plastic all in one mould that holds the main grill with central badging and quad circular headlights with square indicators below. Above that, you have some extra intake vents on the bonnet.
Taking a look at the rear you have a centrally mounted spare wheel and in an interesting twist, the all in one tail lights feature an elongated design in a large black plastic mould with strips of course. Itās a bit strange but inoffensive and somewhat distinctive. Overall I doubt anyone at the head offices would mind if we replaced our old heap of junk with a reliable Japanese vehicle like this Seishido M100. Our exact one has a mouthful of a name being the M100 3.4 AWD BX trim.
Stepping inside I find the Japanese brand is in good form. Itās a nice interior well set up with modern sculpted plastics everywhere and nice grey cloth touches. Five seats in a soft grey cloth with headrests and adjustments for the driver and front passenger. Safety is normal stuff three-point seat belts and such. I didnāt see any lights on the dash for ABS but it does have a sound system a fairly basic eight track but it is certainly better than nothing. The steering wheel is power assisted.
Starting it up itās a nice inline six that Seishido call the QJL12CC-340UN1-86ES I canāt make out that indecipherable engine code but itās a nice engine from the sounds of it. Itās mated with a manual five-speed box that gets it to 100 km/h in under ten seconds. Now this thing isnāt a rocket but thatās fine for me it handles great and rides really nicely.
Off road, performance is really quite good despite this traditional Land Cruiser or dare I say Bogliq Outpost looks. Itās fancy AWD system which splits power 50/50 between the front and rear. Although it does have manual locking hubs, itās running on normal road tyres so could probably do even better with proper wheels. It does miss out on the protective skid tray but it has plenty of clearance I never had any issues.
Overall itās a good all-rounder that would certainly fit with our company and I was more than happy with but its lack of standout performance could be any issue with Saolek and the other drag racers in our crew.
Okay, the second to last car for the day before the final judgement. letās get on to it.
Corrosion resistant steel ladder chassis and panels. nothing unusual here. itās an AWD system, though. Iām looking forward to test driving this one, all the AWD car so far have been great to drive cars.
Tires are 205 wide hard road tires, on 15" rims. the brakes are single piston solid disc on the front and drums on the rear. the front brakes, though, itās not really exactly comforting. it may be enough for the vehicle when itās empty, Iām not sure. but Iām pretty sure that is not sufficient when weāre filling it with stuff to the brim.
itās an undersquared 3.4L v6 with no fancy bells or whistles except for the SPFI injection system. it makes a meager 138hp, and itās rev limited, again. but then again, looking at the power graphs, while it does make peak power at redline, the torque graph is already going down significantly, so may not have much left in it anyway so they rev limit it to reduce the wear and tear on the engine. in this special case, itās justified then.
going inside, there are 5 seats, standard feature interior, some 8 track player, and power steering is installed, but no ABS. the safety features are the standard stuff, nothing tooo fancy.
Okay, the second to last car for the day before the final judgement. letās get on to it.
Corrosion resistant steel ladder chassis and panels. nothing unusual here. itās an AWD system, though. Iām looking forward to test driving this one, all the AWD car so far have been great to drive cars.
Tires are 205 wide hard road tires, on 15" rims. the brakes are single piston solid disc on the front and drums on the rear. the front brakes, though, itās not really exactly comforting. it may be enough for the vehicle when itās empty, Iām not sure. but Iām pretty sure that is not sufficient when weāre filling it with stuff to the brim.
Itās an undersquared 3.4L v6 with no fancy bells or whistles except for the SPFI injection system. it makes a meager 138hp, and itās rev limited, again. but then again, looking at the power graphs, while it does make peak power at redline, the torque graph is already going down significantly, so may not have much left in it anyway so they rev limit it to reduce the wear and tear on the engine. in this special case, itās justified then.
Going inside, there are 5 seats, standard feature interior, some 8 track player, and power steering is installed, but no ABS. the safety features are the standard stuff, 5 speed manual, nothing tooo fancy.
Letās take it around the facility. right away, I feel the lack of power, especially after experiencing the previous car with its super flat turbo power. though itās not as bad as the NMC bushranger. but even without the auto gearbox, this car is heavenly to drive, as I expected out of an AWD car. the comfort is average. the fuel economy is at 8.11km/l and cost per year are significantly below average at $2518 per year, and the overall build quality of the car is outstanding. itās still not enough to make up the lack of power. and had it have more cargo space, it may be acceptable. but at this condition, itās similar to the Bushranger, but with less everything, except, ironically, power.
So, Iām sorry, but this one gets a no from me.
@Lysambrias - 1986 G+H Engineering Titania RH
Well, who is the lucky last itās the G+H Engineering Titania RHā¦quite the name. This is another familiar looking shape this time in a nice forest green. One of the first things I notice is the flashy chromed door handles on this and the extra roof ventilation system.
Up front, we have all in one moulded headlight and indicator design although paired with extra side indicators for safety or regulation purposes. The grill is a large design bowing inwards slightly and with a big black plastic strip for the badge to sit. Below the headlights are some extra slots for cooling and below that bulged lip.
At the rear, we have a clever take on the common slot tail light design with four all in one little taillight matched with indicators on the side. Extra reversing lights are mounted on the roof on the tail and on the tailgate there is only a slot for the keys which opens the tailgate. A simple but effective piece of design works on the part of G+H Engineering. Alright, letās set inside itās another rather quite nicely appointed interior. Itās got six soft cloth seats all with full three-point belts and head rests. G+H Engineering really taking note on safety requirements. In the nicely sculpted dash, a set of instruments shows it has ABS although I donāt see any entertainment systems at all. Starting it up itās another V8 but itās missing that usual V8 burble. Itās mated to an automatic four-speed box which is about as fast as our current truck although a lot nicer and more comfortable. Off road, performance was rather good with a proper 4x4 system with locking diffs and skid tray it handled things easily. Even on the basic road tyres, it was fitted it. Overall itās another very plush and capable 4x4 that would no doubt make the beancounters at HQ happy. But I doubt it would please the Saolek and the rest of the crew.
Right. The last one for the day. Steel ladder and panels. Not the best options. It is a 4x4 though.
tires are 185 wide hard road tires on 16" rims with a bit of a camber. solid 2 piston brakes on the front and single piston on the rear, nice setup, will be plenty for the job.
The power maker is a 4.8L DAOHC V8, a square one. itās making 174HP but even though itās bigger than our engine, itās making less peak torque than ours. itās being fed by 3 single barrel eco carb, with this setup, I would doubt to argue to say that single 4 barrel is better, or any other setup is better. though it will have sucky throttle performance, as is the characteristic of engines that are using eco carbs.
Moving on inside, thereās standard feature interior with 6 seats, but no audio entertainment. the safety features are quite fancy and advanced. but itās the wrong place to put money into. 4-speed gearbox with decently wide gear spacing. and here it comes again. another one and the last one. a hydropneumatic suspension setup. should help a bit with the ride.
Strolling around the grounds, it does prove me right about the throttle response, I need to step on it gradually. but other than that, itās another heavenly car to drive. and not counting that hatchback. Iām pretty sure that this is the most comfortable car I have driven today. and it doesnāt have an audio system, now thatās a feat.
So the final verdict. the fuel economy 6.18km/l, average. running cost $3050, average. cargo space, average. the power, average. except for the safety and ease of drive, thereās nothing remarkable about the car. and the money is being put down at the wrong places. it couldāve been put into the overall build quality of both the engine and the car, itās a little bit lacking, compared to the other competitors. so this one, sadly, gets a no.
Our Picks
Saolek:
Right. Hereās the summary of the preferred car I end up with.
@abg7 - NMC Bushranger: this one barely makes it. This one is easy to drive, has one of the biggest cargo space, low maintenance cost, build quality is more than decent, low fuel consumption. But the Achilles heel, itās an inline 4 with the only 109hp thus, it does 0-60 inā¦ā¦ 13.7s. The power number is even lower than the average of the sports car of the time. While speed is not really our primary concern, it does make us doubt if it could go when we need it to haul heavy stuff+towing
@Kubboz - Cossack T4700: there is practically nothing wrong with this car except the below average cargo space. The engine is somewhat a modernised version of our own, and that is totally and perfectly fine, good even. Oh, 0-60 time? 9.2s
@rcracer11m - Mott Works Wraith: this one is a bit less capable than the Cossack in almost every way, but only slightly, and what it lacks, it picks up with some brute yet refined power. Much bigger cargo space, 6 seats, even lower maintenance cost than the Cossack. Downside? The engine is an extremely complex one, but weāre left alone in maintaining it.
@phale - Adenine Exceed: this is a wagon that takes me by surprise. Itās super easy to drive, itās super comfortable even without an audio system, itās certainly is convincing that it will be able to haul anything we could ask it to, has one of the biggest cargo space that itās mind boggling, decent enough power. While it also has an engine thatās even more complex than the Wraith, they ARE offering a class to learn how to maintain it. But of course, itās not without its drawbacks. The base platform itās made out of is very likely to rust. That complex engine is not unlikely to have little stuff, that breaks down even time to time, and the overall carās build quality isnāt as good as the others.
Now letās see what Hamishās thought on this.
Hamish:
Hereās my final summary of the preferred vehicles I end up with.
@highoctanelove Bogliq Outpost: This thing looked the part and had a pretty good interior. Would be an easy fit with the company image. While it had pretty good performance all around it had a couple of issues like small cargo space and the non-rust-resistant steel which brought it down in the end.
@rcracer11m - Mott Works Wraith: While the Wraith is a very capable vehicle and looks rather good with a very handy ute space cab design. It doesnāt quite match some of the other competitors like the T4700. Some cost cutting by Mott Works led to some issues with rear styling and those issues carried over into the interior fit bringing it down.
@Kubboz - Cossack T4700: This one was a standout in style and presentation and it matched that with outstanding class-leading 4x4 performance and all round great vehicle. However, a few minor point like comparatively low cargo space and average performance failed to win over both sides of our team.
@phale - Adenine Exceed: This was one of the last vehicles sent to us and it was one of the most surprising. As itās advertisement said itās exceeded our expectations. It wasnāt the only wagon here but it was the only one that managed to make it work. While I lament the lack of radio and rather a basic interior it is at the end of the day an upgrade over our current machine. Sure it has some faults and while itās off road performance isnāt as good as our fleet vehicle it should be more than enough to handle the mostly unpaved roads we usually travel. To be honest I probably wonāt be driving or riding in it that often so Iāll get to see than nice looking machine cruising along. As Saolek said itās got tonnes of space compared to the Cossack T4700. So, In the end, the wagon wins the day. Itās 1986 We donāt fear technology we will embrace it with the 1986 Adenine Exceed!
Welcome new fleet vehicle for KRK Corp!
Congratulations to @phale for the win and to all those who entered! This round has been quite a bit more than either @koolkei or I would of imagined! I apologise for the delays and any issues. We might try to put a more complete stats and ranking tomorrow but tonight Iāve really got to get some sleep.
13 Likes
You know. The only car that I think looks better than my car actually won this. You know, Iām perfectly fine with that.
Congratulations, @phale
3 Likes
Congratulations to @phale!
Well, I knew I wasnāt gonna win this one anyway. Seems to be about my general kind of thing these days, to keep trying, but never get anywhere. Oh well, better luck next time.