the price’s surprisingly similiar to mine… is this gonna be like that other challenge again? where i beat you only by 0.05 points?
i didn’t even look at the weight dist. i think somewhere near 60:40 would be ideal for a truck.
also, for me, when you have opened up the option of AlSi blocks, alumunium are just not worth it anymore.
it’s the same reliability as alu, only slightly more expensive, but even lighter, less friction = more efficient = lower running cost.
I don’t know whether the price differential changes per years, as I’m under the impression that newer technology starts out with a penalty then becomes more cost-effective as it becomes more established. I never paid any attention to the difference between AlSi and Alu in 2011 as opposed to 2015.
So I just tried it out and funnily enough, when the math is done, there seems to be almost no difference to all the stats! The car’s slightly cheaper and a couple of the stats move up by 0.1, down by 0.1 or so. And I save 20 bucks a year.
Conclusion: I should have used a bigger engine that was AlSi, but the difference at this stage wasn’t huge.
and the advantage grows…
really, no reason not to.
but i stuck to iron blocks because it’s cheap, relatively efficient, and it’s still more reliable.
my engine got a reliability rating of 81.8
That’s pretty impressive, wait, you’re not using a turbo, that’s why. Whack a turbo on, get a big spike in torque, reliability drops to like 74ish.
not really. if im using turbo for eco purposes, im sticking to below 7psi. maybe it’ll drop to 78-79
Huh. Must be a tech slider thing (I hardly used any in the engine). If I turn the boost off completely I’d get 76. VVL penalises it a bit. I’m also running undersquare to avoid any stroke penalties. Nothing else apart from tech sliders will change anything. On the plus side, service costs are pretty low, most of the running costs from this thing are fuel, insurance and rego etc.
i will try it out later. and report back here
Contrary to what I normally build I think mine is going to be one of the if not THE most expensive… But it will certainly be different 
Wasn’t there that one time you built a luxury car that might as well have been made from solid gold, Blasters?
Yes And I am still proud of that one!!
EDIT: I even think my Pike Peak entry was a bit…luxurious as well.
let me guess… your sales price is more than $45k?
so i tried it. it’s just not worth it at all for me.
i got the engine up to 33.81% efficiency. but with extra turbos, it weighs more, to the point it’s offsetting the benefit of the turbo.
and as i expected, with +3 quality slider on the turbo, the reliability only drops to 79.1. peak power increased about 10hp. but torque was up by 80ish Nm. but the power bank is peaky now. starting from idle is rises high to the peak torque, and then a gentle but sure torque drops.
but drivability drops about 7 points, sportiness up by about 1 and a half, utility drops, offroading drops, env ressistance drops a bit, prices go up, running cost goes up (even when the AFR is at 15:1 now). nope. just nope. maybe if i intended to make it with a turbo in mind from the start. but not ‘bolt-on’ turbo.
$59k and some change… Honestly though I can NOT compete with these trucks being produced so I went a slightly different way of thinking. I dont care if I win or lose, just wanna have fun and read the blurb I get, and as Strop said here is the blurb I got for my other overpriced entry “Desert Motors Escalante - Gold-plated everything. Avoid rough neighborhoods. And dragons.” I had a “vision” of what I wanted to build and made it work, it would be a fun truck to drive though
Y’all are making this get exciting for me.
Also, in challenge news:
[size=150]Today is the last day I can guarantee you that your entry will be reviewed and that feedback will be given before the deadline.[/size] I will be traveling this week to get back to Richmond and to take care of some IRL business that needs to be done. It will not delay reviews or scores being posted, but I scheduled the end of this challenge to coincide with the end of my travels.
lol. might as well post the truck here right now?
Oh man I don’t know about this anymore, seems like competition is going to be pretty stiff. I think have may be priced just a tad too high, but my favorite premium seats are included so at least I got that going for me. I’m happy with my truck. Perhaps its more geared for those who call themselves “agricultural engineers” or “agronomists” rather than “farmer” or “cultivator”, but no matter which way you slice it its a very nice and capable truck (that probably only falls short in fuel economy).
tbh. fuel economy is not valued that highly here. but i got a decently high MPG as a side effect of trying to lower the running cost.
And that was on purpose. My grandfather had a 1998 Silverado 1500 that we inherited. It had about 40,000 miles in 2014. They were all farm and dirt road miles though (so it was more like 400,000 highway miles). Fuel economy means alot when you can use it, but if you’re towing, or hauling, or idling, or moving in low gears, fuel economy just doesn’t really matter since the ratings we are used to IRL come from the companies trying to gear their trucks and program their computers to optimize where the various testing agencies look.
Well, since we’re all sharing…
My truck makes 345hp @ 6,200 rpm and 345 ft-lb @ 3,500rpm (18.38% efficiency) and it gets 9.9 mpg.
I think I’m the only one using old technology: an overbored pushrod V8 with no VVL, no VVT and no DI. Steel body (ladder chassis) and iron block and heads. Like the old gods of farming would wanted.
^wow, how big is the engine? like 6 liters+? (does pushrod even have VVT?) and im guessing at least multi point injection?
although im with you with the full iron block and heads 
also, since this is a truck, i think torque is more important, especially for low speed.
[quote=“koolkei”]^wow, how big is the engine? like 6 liters+? (does pushrod even have VVT?) and im guessing at least multi point injection?
although im with you with the full iron block and heads
also, since this is a truck, i think torque is more important, especially for low speed.[/quote]
5.5 liters with MPFI and MOHV, like any regular 2011 truck 
MOHV does have VVT, but not VVL. But in this particular engine the VVT does nothing… it increases hp by 1 and that’s it. There’s no any other gain or benefit from using that.
IRL torque would be beneficial in a truck, but the game only uses the torque curve for hp calculations and drivability.