You have hit the nail on the head with that review. However, the CMS-16 has satnav as standard, while an Elise doesn’t, and I expect Albury to sell the cars with a markup. I should have put more effort into the rear fascia’s design, though…
As for Albury being a volume manufacturer, that only applies to anything not using a glued aluminum monocoque chassis - they’d been profitable for well over a half-century by the time the CMS-16 had been launched. Funny thing is, the engine used in the CMS-16 actually started life as an economy car engine and, for this application, was turned into a high-revving sports car powerplant. Who doesn’t love an engine with a redline of at least 9,000 rpm, especially since it’s increasingly difficult to find one on sale these days? For the record, 9,200 rpm is just 50 shy of a LaFerrari and 200 more than a 458.
Here is a car that I am working on. Working on. It is not finished, for multiple reasons. One is that I am not great at creating luxury cars so I am working on this one for a while to see what I can do. I want feedback on what I should improve. That is why I came here.
I called it the Woodley WS3.
Woodley is a Canadian luxury car manufacturer that was started in 1909, and originally made high quality metals and other materials until 1934. Woodley started to produce luxury cars and sports cars and competes with other manufacturers like Infinity, Lexus, Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, etc.
Now how about the car? I will tell you about it. The WS3 was brought to the market in 1984. A performance version was brought out in 1987. The second generation came in 1990, and a third in 1998. The sixth generation, was introduced in 2015 as a 2016 model, and runs alongside the WS2, WS4, WS5, WS6, and WS7.
Note that I have not increased the profit in the markets tab. I have done that because I want to wait until the next update which will have more competitive cars on the market. So I will give you an estimated price of around $33 950. Again, this is a car I am working on. Not finished.
Mods used (Workshop):
Raz:
Square Stripes
Square Ts
Square Is
Square Gs
el chasco:
VMO’s non-jaquar XE vent
Pyrlix:
BBS-LM-Style Rims
Plastic and Chrome stripes
Norman Vauxhall:
Exhaust and lip materials combination
Grilles and Vents materials combination
The car also has a door handle that I believe is a mod but I have been unable to find it in the workshop so I will simply post a picture here:
Just because we don’t need it wasn’t an instruction to not post screenshots! I would have thought people would consider, you know, presenting their car or something
I agree with that last edit you made. My plan is to include the CST-16 in my company thread about Albury Motors, and flesh out its backstory and development as usual.
I take a look at this car hot from reading Jeremy Clarkson’s recent column on top ten stinkers of the year, bemoaning that cars have lost their excitement, identity and whimsy beyond their purpose of being a transportation box on wheels, yet more importantly revealing the advancing age of his creaking body habitus when driving cars that are, by some accounts, too exciting. It’s not a great primer for looking at possibly the most anonymous premium sedan I’ve ever laid my eyes on. Actually, that’s somewhat unfair: when your car is as anonymous as a JHW Gulfstream, it’s not particularly easy to tell them apart, so there’s no grounds for me to declare this as the most of anything. From a first impressions point of view, the main standout feature from the quasi-classic sloping lines that most cars in this class now adopt would be that the designer forgot when to stop and to make a feature out of the bonnet. The nose slopes all the way to the tapered end. I didn’t know what to think, if more had been made of it, I might have.
The other thing I notice is that this is what appears to be quite a hefty car. For that, the wheels are tiny. I’m immediately convinced that this is not a car for driving, but a car for transportation. Jezza would be tearing out his frizzy greying hair. Yet, lo! I’m told that it has independent double wishbones on the front and a multilink rear, which in this competitive era of practical cars, usually is a buzzword for ‘see, we are keeping up with the Joneses’ but it spells some kind of potential for the driver among us, which is to say, most people who would bother to write more than a single Tweet to describe any one car. We’ll get to that later.
The powerplant sets the tune. It’s an economical 3L V6 DOHC tuned for, well. Economy, practicality, comfort. It has a decent powerband for low to midrange driving, which is to say, the stop start of traffic, slowly flowing traffic, and maybe even the occasional decently flowing traffic. It might even let you put a little boot in for getting on the freeway but it’s no plant for pushing to the rev limiter. It’s whisper quiet and bullet proof and the efficiency figures on the spec sheet are fantastic. The output figures are not. You get better on a regular basis from turbo powerplants barely half the size.
So imagine my confusion when I discover three things: 1) it’s available in manual 2) it’s AWD 3) it has a Torsen diff. At its heart, a Subaru this is not. So are we expecting the primary market to be climates with Icelandic winters? Furthermore, one must question whether the subset of consumers who are interested in buying a car like this, and the subset of consumers who are interested in rowing their own, intersect at any point whatsoever. I would wager not.
Furthermore, the six ratios are short, and closely spaced. Again this implies a certain eagerness to, you know, drive the car. And not drive it efficiently. In fact, the fuel consumption suffers quite markedly from it. In a car like this for the purpose it serves, I would expect an automatic. Or maybe, even maybe, a CVT, if it was a good one, but that’s just an idea. As it is, since at least 30% of the car is begging for it, I’m going to try and get as good as it can give, even if it runs out of puff.
With that done, I decide to read the review left earlier by Deskyx and realise that my opinion on the dynamics and characteristics of the ride and handling are exactly the same. For this car, that’s also a good thing. Not so good is that we also agree on where the main drawbacks are. The one other thing I must mention is that when turning off the driver aids, stomping the brakes produced a rather disconcerting slide as the rears locked up. Of course, most people who would think to own this as their daily wouldn’t be turning the driving aids off, but the strong rear bias will create uneven brake wear and surprise premature service requirements.
Overall, this car most reminds me of a Mazda6 GT. It’s similarly priced, it’s also similarly equipped. But it’s also a lot heavier owing to its (perhaps unnecessary) AWD system. And a lot thirstier thanks to its odd gearing (and, as I learnt later, odd amounts of also wholly unnecessary brake ventilation… the kind of thing that usually only exists on race cars). It also has a V6 which generally belongs to a performance class up where the rest of the world is moving to 4 cylinder powerplants with that kind of output. Don’t get me wrong, if this were a Mazda6 GT competitor, that kind of power is appropriate. But with a 3L V6 buyers were probably expecting something else.
Overall the car’s elements are, for the most part, competent in themselves. What the car is trying to be, and trying not to be, however, is not so clear and in real world terms, that’s where buyers will be confused. That said, with the car looking the way it is, identity isn’t foremost on its mind, nor, I suspect, the minds of any of its buyers, but in a relatively crowded segment, maybe lacking that is what will make it slip under the radar where it should excel, should it address its split personality issues.
Deskyx’s Likes and Dislikes cover everything already, so I will instead make some recommendations:
Better to use an auto gearbox
Leave it either RWD or even better, just go with FWD since as fat as it is, it’s not really a driver’s car
The game recommends 245 tyres. I would agree. You could also up the profile to 55, that wouldn’t hurt.
Go easy on the rear brakes
Higher VVL profile, to mitigate the disappointment of anaemic V6
@findRED19 has already just written a review for the 2007 CMS-16 Coupe, a fairly comprehensive one at that. I’m going to therefore take a closer look at specific elements to see just how well the car achieves its purpose of being an Elise competitor, and also examine each of the manufacturer claims.
First things first, this is indeed a surprise car from the company named after its location. Inland Australia is generally a land of utility vehicles, real offroaders and Ford vs Holden, so no surprises that Albury Motors specialised in essentially decent Ford Falcons. It was therefore understandable that one would raise eyebrows about the surprising move to make an Elise competitor, because while Ford has an illustrious list of legendary budget and small sports cars and their more recent focus of making world cars has really put them at the fore with their winning formula in the Fiesta and Focus… small mid-engined Fords? Well, there was the Mach 2… from 1967… that never made production… and then there’s the GT which is amazing but that’s not small in the least.
Anyway, Albury Motors is not Ford, but the parallels are certainly striking. As for the car itself… well, for starters, when it comes to the powerplant per price point, one might say this is a bargain, particularly for Australian car buyers where the foibles of the somewhat clunky taxation system would waft right over this pint sized model. Furthermore, when it comes to performance, the car definitely does deliver. 199bhp from its 1.6L naturally aspirated inline-4 with revised internals that rev all the way to 9200rpm is nothing to scoff at. The diff is advanced. The shifting is crisp. The ride is taut, and the handling is surefooted. It does rather decently on the track, carrying good cornering speeds and shifting directions without complaint.
So, looking at manufacturer claims: Small economy car engine tuned for maximum effectiveness, check. Stratospheric redline, check. Hardcore track car?
I wonder about that. First things first, comparing, again, to the Lotus Elise, the car’s nearly 300kg heavier. Part of that is the fancier and heftier valvetrain. The other part was the inclusion of a strangely fancy SatNav unit. In a hardcore track car. Why? Until maybe this year, inbuilt SatNav (especially in Australia), is the stuff for people who don’t know how to work a portable GPS unit, or who own an iPhone (especially an iPhone 5, good luck to you poor lost souls). It belongs in BMWs driven by people who wear suits to bed and dark glasses indoors. It, and all the speakers and climate control and all that other jazz, has no business being in a self-styled Elise competitor. It’s more reminiscient of the pork-barrelled disappointment that was the MX-5 NC, before they realised that somewhere after the NB, they fucked up and repented with the rather glorious ND.
Furthermore, the gallery will see some furious eyebrow action from purists and enthusiasts when they see this car comes with the full bevy of driving assists, and semi-active dampers AND swaybars. There’s no doubt such advanced technologies improved the ride predictability, especially over bumps and with rapidly changing forces. But it will no doubt set off raging debates over whether such interventions enhance the driving experience, or they remove the driver from the sharp bracing edge of the car’s limits, whether they are a welcome safety net, or whether they mollycoddle the driver. Perhaps the easiest way to explain it would be to ask WWCT (What Would Clarkson Think?) A younger Clarkson would probably praise the performance but criticise the driving aids. The older Clarkson would probably express relief that such grabby brakes are mitigated by ABS, but his gut wouldn’t fit behind the wheel, his knees the wheel well, and his back the seat, and he’s six foot two, so he wouldn’t fit in the car anyway.
That’s the rub of this car. Any car that tries to claim it is a “hardcore” track car and then says that it’s useable as a daily is either compromising, deluded or a flat out liar. Fortunately, Albury Motors never made any claims that they were making this car actually useable as a daily, rather, they said that this car would be fun on a back road outside of the track, and well, I’m not going to disagree with that claim, because I can think of several passes, especially ones not too distant from Albury, that this car would love to carve. But my protest is, if compromise wasn’t the intention, then why… compromise? Why incorporate extra banks of cams for lower end driving because the top end profile is so aggressive the idle would be mega lopey? Why muffle the exhaust note so aggressively? Why include suspension components that intervene in the transmission of forces from the wheels through the body? Why have power steering, TSC, ESC, ABS (well ok ABS maybe, I’ve had the displeasure of hitting a rather sudden surface and aspect change at speed in an NB and locking up while rushing towards the barrier is not the best thing ever). Maybe you can turn it off… but that just means the car isn’t hardcore. But I think my main objection is that bloody satnav. And all that weight. I’d personally be looking to slash about 200kg of junk off that.
Let’s put it this way. Today, I had the rather spine-tingling pleasure of sitting in a Renault Megane RS 275 Trophy R. Yes, that onetime King of the Ring with Akrapovic exhaust and special setup and absolutely stripped. Now, that was hardcore. As in, no radio, no aircon, no bloody satnav. Rear seats? Bitch please, the boot partition was a steel brace and a net (and the brace was actually there for body rigidity, obviously, you wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave stuff in the boot when giving it the boot.) There was no sound insulation whatsoever. Every shift was a clunk. Even releasing the goddamn handbrake, you could hear the vibrations from the rear calipers letting up reverberating through the bodywork, that’s how taut and hardcore this thing was. Every move the car made was translated directly from your hands and feet to the car and then from the wheels through the chassis and directly through the seats into your arse. I wanted to go back and buy some proper driving gloves so I could grip the cloth wheel properly. 100% engagement, 100% attention. And you know, that stuff is tiring, but that’s the whole idea. Wring you out while you’re having fun.
So that’s my big beef with this car. On the spectrum of how compromised it is from Trophy R to Elise to MX-5 NC, it’s closest to the latter and that does take the shine off it rather than adding to it. That’s not to say it’s crap, at all. In fact, it’s still very well put together for the most part. It’s just, in a segment that punishes you if you don’t put in 100%, it’s hard to hide when your car was built for 85% instead. Who would buy it? The young guy would love the price tag but the extra weight and hardcore-ness mitigating factors are a boner killer. The older mid life crisis guy would be attracted by the safety net but likely wouldn’t be able to fit let alone explore most of its potential. The cool chick (the main drive behind sales of NCs) wouldn’t see enough cool factor in this car and its agenda is still definitely track performance, and it’s a very rare subset of ladies who would spring for this.
Tell you what though. As it stands it’s still well good enough and excellent value that it’d be an attractive buy. But if I were to buy one, you can bet I’d strip it out and possibly put in a few more struts. I’d be willing to keep the driving aids, since maybe conditions are unpredictable, the weather is terrible. I’d prefer it if the power steering wasn’t there, but that’s only if I could shave the weight under 1 ton. Then it’d be a total Elise slayer.
1990 Storm Gunslinger. A rare move from Storm Automotive, placing the engine behind the driver’s seat.
Storm Automotive is an American car company, centered in Chicago, Illinois. They’re known for AWD, front-engined cars, ranging from mild to WTF?! in horsepower. Up to the 90’s can be found in my company thread here: Storm Automotive - (2016)
The car itself is a M-AWD platform, designed to be fun and sporty, yet still safe.
SymTrak is our 90’s era name for our 50/50 AWD system.
NOTE: I don’t remember exactly which mods I used in this car, but I do know I have most of the Steam Workshop mods other than VMO’s mods. I do have pictures of the car in my company thread, so if that helps anyone figure out what they need, then do, please, do so.
As for available colors, Storm Automotive has always offered it as a $500 option to get the car painted in whatever color you want.
(And yes, I know, I’m ready for the car to be eaten alive by everyone who can tune Mid Engine better than I can.)
With that in mind, I am planning an even lighter version of the CMS-16 to show in my company thread. As @strop suggested, satnav will be omitted from that variant and straight-through mufflers installed.
And don’t be surprised if I decide to review another user’s car…
This is rather interesting enough for me to come out of forum hiatus to post here.
This is the Miller K63 Concept. It is a 3 door kei car and Miller’s first step towards exporting cars to a new market. It comes with a 6 speed manual transmission sending 63 HP to the front wheels.
Here it is, my review of the Storm Gunslinger, kindly provided by @Madrias. This car, surprisingly enough, uses no quality points anywhere, leading to a sub-20k estimated price with a 10% markup. But will that cost-cutting pay off? For the record, this is my first review of another user’s car.
First impressions are promising. The wedge shape and wide wheels are fairly common for contemporary mid-engined cars. Uniquely for a mid-engined car, the exhaust pipes exit through the side sill, although I am not sure if this brings any packaging benefits. The rear end puzzles me, though; even though the taillight clusters remind me of a Corvette C4, the rear wing is not only the wrong shape, but also too tall and wide, although this would not necessarily have been the case if a different shape had been chosen for the wing. Still, this is a striking-looking car by any measure, and the bright color options certainly help in that regard.
How does it feel like to drive? Very good, actually, with a 50/50 torque split, 5-speed manual gearbox and geared LSD. The suspension tuning also makes it fairly sharp on turn-in yet stable on exit. And the large equal-sized brakes consistently bring the Gunslinger to a halt from high speeds without the slightest hint of fade. So far so good, but the engine only makes 265 bhp, which limits its top speed somewhat, although it’s not too bad, and the AWD system guarantees sub-6-second 0-60 times. At least it doesn’t have much weight to push around, since the Gunslinger has a lightweight sports interior and aluminum panels. Some comfort had been sacrificed when the former was installed, though; a premium interior would have been preferable if this vehicle were to be positioned as a daily driver.
Dynamically, the only impediment is the narrow tires (175mm up front and 205mm in the back). If they were 215s at each corner, any trace of understeer would be gone, but it wouldn’t oversteer as much either. My biggest gripe, though, is the poor engine reliability; although the V6 incorporates variable valve timing on the intake side, revs to 7500 rpm, and sounds sweet throughout the whole rev range, that high redline also causes a lot of valve float. Fuel consumption of 12.2 L/km is not as good as you’d hope, but this is a common side-effect of a highly aggressive cam profile.
Another caveat is that the combination of light weight, decent power and stable handling goads you into going faster than your skills can cope with, even though it has power steering and anti-lock brakes. From what I remember in the company thread, this was a key factor in a large number of crashes involving Gunslingers. Don’t let that put you off the thought of buying a used Gunslinger, though; just be aware to set aside some cash for fuel and make sure your skills are up to the task of handling a mid-engined car, even one with AWD. It certainly isn’t a car to dismiss.
(I’m going to do this a bit differently than most. I’ll be giving two reviews. One from my perspective, as if I had actually gotten into this car, and one from the perspective of Luke, CEO of Storm Automotive, evaluating a luxury car as a considered purchase (Storm doesn’t do luxury without power, and as a result, he’s looking for an efficient luxury car) with all the expected prejudice a car manufacturer has when looking at another car. My review is first.)
To be perfectly honest, when I first saw the Woodley WS3 sitting in my driveway for a review, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s a bold shade of dark blue, sitting on 18" rims, and from the outside, blends in with most cars on the road. There’s very little flash on the outside of the car. The back of the car is… Actually kinda plain, to be perfectly fair. But then again, Woodley claims to be a luxury manufacturer, and a plain luxury car isn’t exactly bad. It means you’re less likely to get dirty words keyed into your hood because you parked in the wrong spot.
But, a luxury car is still a luxury car, even looking plain as this one does. So, I settled into the seat and took in the view. 5 seats, really soft, plush leather seats. Leather wrapped steering wheel. Leather wrapped automatic shift handle. Touchscreen right smack-dab in the middle of the dash. Well, I’m in the car, I might as well see how that stereo sounds.
And you know, it sounds really good. I’ll give Woodley credit, they put a decent sound system in this car. There’s speakers everywhere to give the best experience, my Android phone connected instantly over bluetooth, the touchscreen controls everything so I don’t have to deal with my phone on the move, and I can even have my text messages read to me and reply with text-to-speech and speech-to-text hands-free capabilities. Heck, there’s even a very-primitive HUD on the windshield, displaying my current speed and my remaining fuel. I’ve heard this thing aced the 5-star safety ratings, and I can see why. Airbags everywhere.
So, it’s time to drive the WS3… Let’s start it up and… oh, no. Why!? Why would you use that!?
I mean, thankfully it’s very, very, very quiet, so I’ll just turn the radio on and drown out the 4-banger. The WS3 goes well enough, although I feel it’s a bit held back by the 4-cylinder. Sure, it’s turbo, quiet, makes 204 horsepower, but the car just doesn’t go. You do not buy a luxury car for speed, necessarily, but seriously, 8.6 seconds to 60? Goodbye, highway merging. Hello, traffic jam. Well, maybe it’ll get excellent mileage. It’s a 2 liter 4 cylinder engine, I can get decent mileage out of one. It’s got 7 speeds.
24.6 MPG. I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and round that up to 25 MPG. That’s not exactly good. Sure, it weighs 1811 kilograms, but… Why? You have 7 speeds, surely you could have devoted at least one to saving gas? At least it’s comfortable. For $33,950, it’s more Lexus than Mercedes, so at least that’s a saving grace. And I can’t be too harsh on it overall, because it is comfortable, and it is easy to drive. That, and there’s a reasonable amount of cargo space for a sedan. They say they have a wagon, too, but I don’t feel like experiencing the same disappointment over the engine again. 204 horsepower, turbocharged Inline 4. That is something you drop in a hot hatch or a pint-sized sports-car-on-a-budget. Not in a luxury car. If there was a V6 option, I’d take that in a heartbeat, but the I4, sorry. Maybe if the fuel efficiency was better, I could see the Turbo 4 being a reasonable alterative to the V6 or V8 that we’ve all come to expect in a luxury car.
Overall, I’d rate my Week with the Woodley WS3 as a 6/10.
On the inside, it’s a luxury car, but on the outside, sorry, Woodley, it’s just another family sedan.
Pros:
-Very comfortable
-Easy to Drive
-RWD
-Very safe
Neutral:
-A touch bland looking, though not unpleasantly so.
----End of My Review----
(Notes on the Character: Luke is an android who spent the last 16 years working, in one capacity or another, for Storm Automotive (8 years assembly management, 8 years CEO and company owner) and happens to be, well, not the nicest person in the world. He knows cars, and he’s not afraid to let others know his opinions. Currently, he’s looking to buy a luxury car, and someone has given him a point in the direction of Woodley’s WS3)
So, while looking for a luxury car, one of my employees suggested I give Woodley a quick glance. The WS3, specifically, was mentioned, as being a ‘nice, modest luxury sedan.’ I gave Woodley’s main office a call and requested a review sample for evaluation, and was pleasantly surprised that they honored the request.
A day later, the WS3 arrived. Plain, modest exterior, with a little chrome here and there. Mostly on the front. A little strip on the rear, and chrome exhaust tips finished off the chrome. Shame, really. Could have looked better with chrome door-handles, but… It’s not all that bad looking. The WS3 looks reasonably nice, although I’d hardly say it’s a luxury car from the outside. If I were to go on first impressions, I’d say it barely makes premium sedan at a glance. This is both a good and a bad thing. It’s good, because it’s the perfect luxury car if you don’t care about what others think. It’s bad if you’re driving it because you want others to know it’s luxury. I’m not overly picky, but given the choice between the Woodley or a Lexus, I’d probably take the Lexus if I had to choose based on looks alone.
Before getting inside properly, I decided to pop the hood and see what the WS3 had under the hood. First thing I really noticed from the initial touch of the car, the metal skin isn’t magnetic. A nice design choice to go with aluminum body panels. It’ll make the car a little lighter, and it won’t rust out. The chassis seems to be unibody, and it, however, is steel of some form or another. Given the 5 star safety ratings, I’d assume AHS steel. Still rather good overall.
Under the hood is a nearly-two-liter I4. Technical specifications claim 1997cc capacity, and to be fair, that’s not what I expected in my luxury car. There is a turbocharger, however, so it shows great potential. Water-to-Air intercooler, that tells me we could be making some serious power. The specification sheet claims pure aluminum top end and bottom end. Strange. AlSi probably would have been less expensive in the end. DOHC 16 valve written on the head. 4 valves per cylinder… Which makes some sense, they are claiming VVL and VVT. This could be very fuel efficient, or very powerful, or a bit of both. It’s direct-injected, throttle per cylinder, drawing through a factory-standard air box. That’ll keep the intake quiet. On the other end, it’s blowing through a high-flow 3-way catalytic and twin reverse flow mufflers. This car is as quiet as a whisper, and I suppose, given the 4-cylinder engine under the hood, Woodley decided that 4-cylinders shouldn’t be heard.
I slowly settled into the driver’s seat, feeling the suspension settling in a rather… unsettling fashion. However, as soon as I started the engine, I felt the car level out. Ride comfort controls on the touchscreen allowed me to adjust suspension firmness to my personal preference, and informed me of the health of the hydropneumatic system. Really nice handling car, for an inexpensive luxury car. A little floaty, but that comes with the territory of hydropneumatic ride control. The seven-speed automatic transmission isn’t bad, and the electronically-controlled rear differential cuts down on some of the wheel spin. The 18-inch rims fit this car nicely, and the medium-compound tires aren’t too bad. Alloy rims were chosen to hold the tires, and, to be honest, I think they’re the right choice. As much as I like magnesium, they just wouldn’t have done as nicely here.
So, my opinion on the interior of the WS3? It’s luxury grade leather everywhere on everything you either sit on or touch, with small metal knobs on the few controls that aren’t using the touchscreen. There’s nothing made of plastic visible inside this car. It’s either been wrapped in leather, or it’s metal, or it’s metal that’s wrapped in leather. The sound system seems to be above average for a luxury car, and the basic heads-up-display at the base of the windshield is appreciated when driving. The air conditioning is awesome, and can keep the interior of the car settled right around 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Everywhere I look, there’s the tell-tale cover for yet another airbag. This is, in my opinion, both a good and a bad thing. It’s good because the car is safer for the occupants in the event of a crash. However, it’s bad, because one accident means the insurance company is going to write the car off from all the airbag deployments, along with whatever actual damages were sustained.
This brings me to the driving experience of the Woodley WS3. First, it was impossible to get noticed. There’s no exhaust note, no soul from the 2-liter I4. There’s a surge about 2600 RPM and then it’s a slow slope to… nothing. 204 horsepower. What a shame. I know I like high horsepower cars, but, 200 horsepower in a car you’re claiming as ‘luxury’ status? Tell me, what is luxurious about stepping on the accelerator and waiting… and waiting… and waiting… for the car to go? This could easily be forgiven if the 7 speed auto had an overdrive gear, but instead, it’s buzzing almost 4000 RPM at 75 MPH… In 7th gear! 24.6 MPG is what it was given as a rating, and that’s shameful. I’ve seen V8’s getting better mileage.
So, it was back to those specifications to see what went wrong.
7-speed without Overdrive.
Money spent on Aluminum when AlSi may have actually saved quite a bit more money.
Money spent on Hypereutectic Cast Pistons when Cast Standards would have been fine for the same reliability ratings. The only advantage HC pistons have is their reduced emissions, but you’re using a 3-way catalytic, which does a lot better about reducing emissions.
Engine runs on Regular Unleaded (Not exactly something wrong, but if you’re buying a luxury car, Premium is in your budget.) Thereby power, or economy, was left on the table.
Timing retarded instead of compression or boost being reduced.
Money could have been saved by using a standard 3-way catalytic instead of high-flow, for a loss of 3 horsepower.
I wanted to like the Woodley WS3, but, unfortunately, no overdrive gear and an underwhelming engine means I’ll have to pass. I can afford gasoline without a problem, but I don’t like having to spend time at the gas pump if I can avoid it. I’ll keep Woodley in mind in the future, but I’m going to send the WS3 back.
Overall, I give the WS3 sedan a 43/100. Inside, it’s nice. Outside, it’s okay. Under the hood, not good. A good radio and nice seats can’t make up for not having enough power, and the fuel efficiency isn’t high enough for me to call it an eco-luxury car, and thereby be happy with the I4 and 200 horsepower. So, my quest to find a new luxury car continues…
(As you can see, Luke’s opinion is different than mine, despite similar things mentioned. Luke can’t forgive low power and poor fuel efficiency at the same time. Yes, I know, 25 MPG isn’t bad for a luxury car. However, with VVL and VVT, I raised my expectations somewhat as VVL+VVT+Turbo can be a knockout for power+economy.)
This is the SSP Nine-50. An uber-GT meant to be a challenger to the dominance of MR cars in the hypercar and supercar segment.
@strop The WS3 looks decently modern and detailed though IMO. Reflectors, vents, body cladding, chrome strips, unique taillamp shape, sure front ends a bit MKIV Golfy but there are so much more cars more lazily styled.
I guess one of the things that some of us struggle with: it takes quite a bit of time and skill to get cars looking as sculpted as the distinctive shapes of modern day. It’s doable, but you have to go above and beyond the intended use of fixtures to achieve it.
@Deskyx It’s true, as far as Automation styling goes, Speedemon did put in a good effort. I presume Madrias was thinking about real world competitors.
Certainly the WS3 feels more like the half-baked posh family sedan that it is from what I’ve seen. I’d rather buy something from Harris-Albury instead. The Woolsey’s tail reminds me of recent Audis though.
