Yeah and RMW belongs to me, I did a search and no one has used that before.
1 Like
To add to all thatā¦ @abg7
Please for the love of God stop telling people that their car looks like a real car or something, because, chances are THEYāRE MEANT TO LOOK/EMULATE THEM. NO F*CKIN SHIT MY NINE-50 LOOKS LIKE A V12 VANTAGE, THAT WAS THE INTENTION. If I went to your thread and said hey nice Trans Am/Viper/ Corvette or Gee that obvious Viper parody reminds me of a Dodge Viper in that they both have big engines and RWD, wouldnāt you get annoyed too?
4 Likes
I know I would get mad if my muscle cars were compared to other cars I donāt like.
Itās not about being compared to cars you donāt like. Itās about cluttering the thread with completely inane comparisons that serve no purpose and are very obvious.
Like this dude rolls into the Saminda thread and says āOh gee this company really reminds me of Honda for some reasonā Like no fuckin shit m8. Or say you built a car inspired by a Plymouth Cuda, OHH THAT CAR REALLY REMINDS ME OF A PLYMOUTH CUDA. Like sure call it a nice car, impressive car, ask a few questions, make a few critiques but donāt be restate the obvious.
3 Likes
I know Iāve already posted the Gunslinger here before, but that one doesnāt have the second version.
Iām putting up for review the Storm Gunslinger GTX Turbo. This is the car that attempted to address the most worrying parts about the original GT while at the same time attempting to improve upon the design.
Iād also be open to someone comparing it in a mid-engine-roundup between the GT, the GTX Turbo, and any other mid engine cars they want to do.
Madrias - Storm Gunslinger.zip (121.9 KB)
Keep in mind, the Gunslinger was designed to be an inexpensive sports car at its core, and that while the original GT is still the flawed car reviewed before, the GTX Turbo took some of those considerations in mind to make a more balanced, less lethal car, although the price did have to go up a little.
3 Likes
After a long absence, I present my first true open beta design: the DMA Libeccio, a small and light sports coupe.
ahertono - DMA Libeccio.zip (30.8 KB)
Ok so I have put designs here before but hereās hoping that some off you like the DSD Saratoga
So here are two models (100% markup as per strop) the Turbo and the R road legal trackcar.
neither have had my ālets try and beat strop on Green Hellā tune so there is alot of room for further mods etc I would really appreciate a review before I make all Saratoga models available to the Community
juliusgraham5485 - DSD SARATOGA EAR.zip (62.1 KB)
1 Like
#Storm Duke
a.k.a. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde pimp a Volvo
Storm Automotive has had a few weird phases. The Storm Duke is undoubtedly the product of one of them. One could say that there was precedent for certain companies in other countries to inject cutting edge technology into solid, staid vehicles just because that was their ethos of uncompromising innovation. In this case, the extremes that Storm went through in this pursuit was more the throes of a multiple personality disorder.
By all appearances the quintessential Storm design: blocky, bullish but no bullshit in unassuming wagon guise, save for the conspicuous cutaway hood. That extra venting raised a few eyebrows, and what was under the hood would certainly have raised far more: this particular trim was called āTwin Snailā for a reason. And my, what large twin snails they were, in pretty much race-spec size with no boost restriction, crammed into the engine bay alongside a rather-not-unsubstantial 6L V8 boasting the latest in EFI. It was a rather imposing piece of kit for sure, even more imposing the peak output figure of 749bhp @ 6300rpm. Thatās between twice and three times as much power as any other contemporary supercar from the Espirit Turbo to the Countach LP500 and then some. Not to mention that this power gets fed through a manual 5 speed (then again, could it ever be anything else?) And all four wheels.
Then for another change of pace, back to the interior and one sinks into the padded leather seats with multi-adjustment. The windows are electric, and is that one of those newfangled cassette tape decks embedded into the woodgrain dash? True to Storm style this car is no frills in the quality of the materials it uses, but the materials it uses, boy. It would be nice enough just sitting in the car with the engine off, and frankly, the notion of turning that engine on is quite scary, because it seems impossible to know what to expect.
But a car is there to be driven. Turn the key and the engine barks to life with a lopey burble. Prod the gas and the revs climb a little sluggishly, no doubt the product of having to spool such large turbos. Well, canāt be all that bad, right? So into gear the car goes (the throw is heavy but fine, but the clutch is hella finnicky what with the clutch plates needing to be rated for 900Nm) and lumbering onto the straightest road we can find, immediately it is apparent that 300Nm at the low revs isnāt all that much when it comes to shifting a good 1850kg. Itās not intolerable, but itās obvious from the vibrations and that discontented grumble that itās far from where the engine wants to be. Finally on a straight road, itās time to plant the foot down. And wait. And wait some more.
At the point when yours truly was starting to consider making a joke about Twin Snail really referring to the carās performance, the turbos finished spooling. The acceleration kicked in like a wrecking ball to the teeth and suddenly the DC4 CB TTC-MPEF, fuck itās bouncing off the rev limiter, whereās second? Grab second, and this time the wait is only very short before the turbos do their thing again, rinse and repeat and it becomes immediately apparent that this luxury barge is pure evil at heart. With more boost than a Group B rally car, lifting off the throttle sets off a cacophony of hissing and burbling, clutching in and out causes the car to lurch. And the handling, oh god the handling. The tyres are sports rubber, capable of handling this brickās unholy top speed of close to 300km/h, but not even the firm suspension with minimal body roll can mitigate the sheer lack of rubber this vehicle requires to change directions. The tyres shriek in protest with every tug of the wheel at speed, and the AWD pulls it back straight again. This is a pure ballistic missile, ready for war, and itās after oil. Lots of it.
As a cruel footnote to this story, the author of this review was so intoxicated by the ludicrous experience of staring death in the face blurred by speed lines, that about ten minutes later, the car ground to a halt, having run out of fuel. The economy figure isnāt so good. In fact, itās probably worse than any car ever produced in the USā heyday of Muscle. All I can say to that is, at least it has a cat. And come to think of it, at least the car ran out of fuel before the tyres blew, because a 180mph blowout wouldnāt have beenā¦ good.
One can ponder the absurdities of thisā¦ thingā¦ during the long walk home. The engine is high grade munitions that belongs in a race car. The car is a luxury wagon. The two just donāt match, and one has to wonder why Storm ever thought that they did. The truth is, they didnāt. What they had, was a breakdown in communication.
Storm Duke: Iām not sure what the hell itās meant to be, but itās only good for one thing, and thatās going illegally fast in a straight line. Preferably from a rolling start. Itād possibly give the folks at NASCAR a run for their money, if only it had the rubber for it!
Next up: The DSD Saratoga
3 Likes
Well, what it did do was teach the teams that communication isā¦ important.
As for the review, letās just say I had a grin on my face the instant you mentioned the turbo-lag and the eternal wait for glory before the bomb dropped.
Here is the Bell BPM Compact full range, some trims only show up in the trim selection menu due to a bug, the reviews on this will help me to build the BPM-2 CUV properly
CadillacDave - BPM Compact.zip (213.0 KB)
2 Likes
Well, itās time for another āWeek with a Random Carā Review, and this time, we have something unusual.
At first, I was annoyed to find this little micro SUV parked on my lawn, butā¦ Iāll admit, despite not really liking the whole SUV and Crossover movement in general, this one didnāt look too bad. A bit of āhatchback on stiltsā but not oversize.
So, Bell Automotive had sent me a BPM Compact to review, the 130 trim with a sequential. With the striking blue paint, itās not bad looking, and the deceptively simple looks hide what it truly is.
What is the BPM 130? Fun. Okay, sure, thereās tons of cars that are more fun, but this thing seats four and handles well for a small SUV. Itāll get to 60 miles per hour in 8.9 seconds, it can, and will, get to 116 MPH (and donāt ask how I know. Officially, I took it to a track. Unofficially, that track may have been an empty interstate highwayā¦) and it has just a hint of sport to the exhaust while doing so.
That sporty feeling is entirely thanks to the almost 130 horsepower 1.2 liter inline 4. Itāll buzz up to 8600 RPM, drawing air through a performance air filter. She runs on premium unleaded, which could be expensive in the United States, butā¦ itās decently fuel efficient. The engine uses both variable valve lift and timing to maximize fuel efficiency, and a boldly strong compression ratio.
And tuners, rejoice, because thereās some room left in this engine. As nothing felt stressed during the run, even when I knocked on the rev limiter a few times, Iām sure this reliable little engine could spin a bit faster still, and with some aftermarket parts, you could certainly make more power. It seems that the intake manifold is just a hint too restrictive, which is fine for this little FWD eco-box, but you could probably get some serious power without too much struggle. It also appears thereās room to bore and stroke out the engine if you really wanted to get serious.
And on the exhaust side of the engine is the reason for the sporty snarl from the I4. Tubular headers, keeping things less expensive, a 2 inch exhaust diameter, high-flow catalytic converter, a straight-through performance muffler, and a reverse flow muffler provide a high-flow exhaust thatās just quiet enough not to be obnoxious while still providing a touch of noise if you really lay into it.
Which is where I have to mention acceleration. This is a front wheel drive vehicle, and Bell is making the BPM 130 push power through a dual-clutch 6 speed sequential box, a geared limited slip differential, and out through the 17 inch alloy rims wrapped in medium compound tires. If you turn traction control off and whack the throttle, she will burn the tires through first, and probably part of second. I didnāt dare try, because I didnāt want to have to buy new tires for this city car on stilts.
Also, if it wasnāt for ABS, Iām pretty certain you could bolt a roll-cage to the exterior of this micro-car, nail the brakes, and do front flips. This thing is massively over-braked. Iām not saying that you could stop a truck with these brakes, but the last time I saw brakes this powerful was in the Nine-50. And the race compound brake pads mean these things bite hard when you hit the brakes. I think a few times, I pressed the brake pedal like I would do in my trusty old Storm Swift, and I felt the rear wheels come off the ground. Or the back end would slither around because the ABS was struggling to make sense of the wheels locking up under the brutal power of 3 piston rear brakes.
With a fully-clad undertray, the BPM 130 gets a 29 MPG in my mileage test. Now, granted, Iām driving the more powerful 130, and Iām using US MPG instead of UK MPG, and 29 isnāt all that bad. But again, Bellās gone through all this trouble to give us way-too-powerful race-grade brakes and yet didnāt spend the money on cooling flaps, where they couldāve gained almost a full extra mile-per-gallon. The money saved by going single-piston rear calipers couldāve paid for the cooling flaps, and wouldāve made the micro SUV a little better overall.
Interior is 4 sporty bucket seats with a standard-grade infotainment package. Sport seats are nice, butā¦ I canāt help but feel theyāre an artifact of trying to make the BPM 130 something it isnāt. This is a city car thatās a bit uppity, that someone filled the chassis with helium to make it float on the suspension. Yet, Iām seeing sporty stuff thrown at it as if sport seats can make something a sports car. Iāll agree that the quality and ease of use of the infotainment system is spot on, but would have been better placed alongside standard cloth or premium leather seats, instead of these racing buckets. At least the small size isnāt a sign of it being a coffin with an advanced safety package designed to keep you from exploding the instant you touched a feather.
And then thereās the suspension, which puts you on standard rate springs, gas mono-tube dampers, and gives you semi-active swaybars. Combined with a ride height set low enough on soft enough springs to make sure every bump transfers straight from the wheels, through the shock absorber, into the bump stop, through the frame, up the thinly-padded racing seat, and directly into your spine.
Now keep in mind that I had to drive this thing for a week, as per my contract. And my place of business has not one, not two, not even three, but five speedbumps in the parking lot. I swerve for gravel in this thing, because it will beat the living tar out of you on a long drive.
Now, I get it. Itās supposed to be a sporty city car crossover thing. It gets parts of it right. DCT, small size, sport seats, growly engine are all sporty things. A good entertainment center, seating for four, and excellent crash test ratings are all crossover things. Decent fuel efficiency, small wheelbase, and FWD are city car things. But theyāre mixed in with things that donāt seem to make sense. Why are the brakes powerful enough to stop a dump truck? Why does the suspension transfer every bump straight to my spine? Why didnāt Bellās design teams talk to each other and see what the others were doing?
Admittedly, thereās far worse cars on the roads. A Bell BPM Compact 130 isnāt exactly a bad car, and if you drive in an area with perfectly manicured lawns, roads that are always maintained, and where other drivers arenāt morons, then itās a city car for you. If you live in a city where people want to brake-check the little car, or where the roads have more potholes than pavement, Iād suggest looking elsewhere.
Pros:
Small and agile
Great infotainment system
Good safety
Somewhat fun to drive for what it is.
Fuel efficient enough to not kill your wallet right away.
Double-clutch gearbox for maximum fun.
Engineās ready for modifications out of the box.
Neutrals:
Couldāve been more fuel efficient with only a couple minor modifications.
Burns premium, not regular.
Front wheel drive isnāt the best platform for anything sporty.
Cons:
Massively overbraked, causing a real risk of accidents if you have an ABS failure.
Unnecessary āsportā hardware in what would have been otherwise a nice city car.
Rough ride caused by suspension setup.
Not overly quick for all the āsportā hardware itās packing.
Summary:
While I was annoyed at first about the Bell BPM Compact 130, it grew on me over the week. Sure, I feared anything more than a tiny pebble on the road and I couldnāt get used to the brakes, but by the end of the week, I found myself driving it like a front-wheel-drive street-rally car. That is to say, I was driving it like a moron, but using everything it could do right as a way to get around. Lots of traffic? Use the small size and nimble handling to duck and weave. Shitty parking spaces? Park between two cars and make a parking wedge. And Iāll admit, for what it is, itās not bad. A little less than $20,500 gets you this car as tested, and youāll probably have fun with it.
I know I sounded harsh, but I have to give the BPM Compact 130 a 5/10. It was decidedly average in all ways, with ups and downs in all categories. Would I recommend it? Maybe, if you planned to modify to start with. Otherwise, thereās other city cars that will do better, thereās other sports cars thatād do better, and thereās other crossovers thatād do better. But this tries to do it all.
(Apologies to CadillacDave in advance if itās found to be too harsh, but, I tried to be fair with it. There were a few problems, but the overall idea is cool enough to be worth some points.)
4 Likes
Thanks for reviewing the city car crossover sports thing, I was aiming for a very very very very niche market with this car, this car was a bit of a wild card from our design team after they got a bit jealous of Volkswagens plans to release a sporty UP!, that never happened but we went through with it anyway and well this is the undeniably quirky result, Iām glad you did enjoy it in the end and it is a fun little car to push, I wouldnāt recommend having it as a daily though
1 Like
I was bored, found myself with an abundance of time and a desire to review something. Figured Iād load up this thread and pick something that wasnāt designed to be a supercar.
Also, keep in mind that Iām American, so Iāve got a very American mindset on āsportyā cars. That said, itād be fun if there was one other car in the garage for your daily. Save the bottom buster for when youāre not having to drive over speedbumps and can enjoy letting all of the 130 horsepower out.
And yeah, niche market cars are hard to pull off. I felt it only fair to review it as someone mostly impartial but left unknowing as to who the city crossover was meant to be for.
2 Likes
Is there an open slot for submission of a car?
Always. That was kinda the premise of this thread, from what I remember. Everyone submits 'em, everyone reviews 'em. Doesnāt have to be in order, just whenever you feel like depositing a car or reviewing one, go right ahead if itās in this thread.
3 Likes
What mods does it use?
Uhh Razyx strip headlights and taillightsā¦ donāt know. Iāll get back to you in a little while.
Could I have links to their workshop pages please?
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=690540073&searchtext=
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=467570374&searchtext=
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=695759373&searchtext=
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=624371985&searchtext=
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=693909471&searchtext=
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=605971133&searchtext=
thatās all I remember for now, but I know there are more @Dorifto_Dorito