The Highway Patrol Challenge [Reviews]

This is a mod friendly challenge. However, only mods currently on the Steam Workshop may be used.

[size=150]The Highway Patrol Challenge[/size]
United States of America 1978: the Californian Highway Patrol is looking to replace its older fleet of patrol cars. Your company has shown interest in building/adapting a new line of cars suited for police duties, specifically focused on highway patrol. The previous patrol cars, which are still in use, have shown to be too unreliable and too slow to keep up with more modern high performance cars. Furthermore, the US federal government has issued new environment and safety standards that all patrol cars must pass, similar to the restrictions set to the entire consumer car industry.

Therefore, the Californian Highway Patrol has issued a number of restrictions for all manufacturers’ looking to obtain the lucrative order. The cars must run no longer run on the old leaded fuels and switch to the newer regular fuel (RON 91). Also the car must be large enough to allow for no less than 5 seats and have 4 doors. In addition, the car must have a catalytic converter to meet the new environmental standards and be reasonable economy wise. Furthermore, maintenance wise the car must be relatively easy/cheap to maintain. It must have the same tire width in the front and rear and have hard compound tires to allow more mileage for every set of tires.

Performance wise the new patrol cars must have enough power and speed to keep pace and overtake cars during hot pursuit and have enough momentum to ram any fugitive off the road if required. Highway patrol officers spend a lot of time in their cars, so it should provide sufficient comfort and good drivability. As the state is willing to pay a limited amount of money for every car, your engineers estimate that you need to keep below 8000 money units in order to keep a viable profit margin for this contract.

[size=150]Rules/Restrictions[/size]

  • Year is 1978
  • Maximum Total cost of 8000 money units
  • No polymer body panels (too weak for ramming)
  • No negative quality on car body or chassis
  • Minimum car weight of 1300kg
  • Must have at least 4 doors
  • Must use “Regular Fuel” (RON 91)
  • Engine exhaust must have a catalytic converter
  • Engine exhaust must have 2 mufflers
  • Have 5 seats, no more no less
  • Safety value of at least 30
  • Hard compound tires
  • Same tire width in front and rear
  • Must have “Basic 8-track” entertainment (Simulates Police Radio)
  • Acceleration from 0-100 km/h must be equal or below 12 seconds
  • Top speed must be greater than 190 km/h (118 mph)

[size=150]Scoring system[/size]
Similar as in the Out of Africa challenge I will score which entry performs best by determining for various parameters (like drivability, comfort, fuel economy etc.) how much each entry stands out. This will be based on a normal (Gaussian) distribution, in other words all entries will be averaged and compared against each other. Some parameters weigh heavier in the overall score than others. Each of the parameters will get a score between 0-1 depending on how much it stands out from the crowd. The car/company that scores overall the most points wins the challenge. The top 3 will be reviewed by the highway patrol inspector.

[size=150]Scoring parameters[/size]
High weight:

  • Drivability
  • Durability (Durability = reliability + environmental resistance)

Medium weight:

  • Comfort
  • Sportiness
  • Maintenance costs (lower is better)
  • Fuel Economy in US MPG (higher is better)
  • Safety

Low weight:

  •   Off-road
    
  • Utility
  • Prestige

Not weighted:

  • Total cost (you already get a non-negotiable fixed amount for every car)

[size=150]Submitting a car[/size]
Please PM me your exported files and name your car in game as follows:
HPC78-[username]-Model
HPC78-[username]-Engine
The model trim and engine variant may be named as you like.
Within the PM, please specify company name, car model name and nationality.

[size=150]Deadline[/size]
The challenge will be closed when 20 entries have been accepted or after 7th of August 22:00 CET.
No revisions are allowed after acceptance. Only 1 car may be submitted per participant. Failure to meet any of the restrictions will be allowed to undergo 1 revision.

I wish you all the best of luck and have fun!

[size=150]Accepted Entries [20/20][/size]

  • Astana Senator Police Special (reference car)
  • Reeve509: LMT PO97, UK
  • KrispyDoughnut: Simon Buster 442, USA
  • Horus: Horus Bison Mk.I, Russia
  • HighOctaneLove: Bogliq California Patrol Car, Moldova
  • Richard117: VPNL P112, Netherlands
  • Kampfzerstorer: Battalion Gloucester Mayhem 3.8, Singapore
  • NormanVauxhall: ZM Danzig Patrol, Italy
  • Woarlord: Volksauto Exekutive, Germany
  • Strop: Armada Feltram Cruiser, UK
  • maxpayne3000: Merrick Crusader III Cop Pak, USA
  • Der Bayer: BAM G3800 PRC, Germany
  • Leonardo9613: Baltazar Basil Magnum Interceptor, Brazil
  • KLinardo: Boss Motorsports Police Interceptor, USA
  • Hubbels: Dovre Lerk Police Edition, Norway
  • Dgafak87:Daven Mulholland P91 Interceptor, USA
  • Lordred: LHE: Orbital Mk II P33, USA
  • earincon198: Ignis Stella Contender, Colombia
  • Gooles: Motasan Caribou, Canada
  • nerd: Rado Ordures V8, USA
  • VMO: Montes Police Interceptor, Spain

Pending revision:

Rejected (too many revisions):
Doctornarfy: Shromet Dragon, unknown (costs over 8000 MU and too light)
harizvet1: Infinity Motor E65 PE, UK (.lua errors)

Does this need to be a car from our actual car companies or can I make one up?

Make one up, nothing in the rules that says it has to be premade and shown in the showroom.

Is there any particular reason for those limitations or did you pull the, out of nowhere? I can understand the ban on polymer and the hard compound tyres. But why so they have to be limited to 195s? Why those precise numbers for acceleration and top speed? Would a 9.7s car be too slow, really? Also, why bother with a minimum weight?

Just wondering because I’m not a fan of seemingly arbitrary hard limits.

[quote=“Leonardo9613”]Is there any particular reason for those limitations or did you pull the, out of nowhere? I can understand the ban on polymer and the hard compound tyres. But why so they have to be limited to 195s? Why those precise numbers for acceleration and top speed? Would a 9.7s car be too slow, really? Also, why bother with a minimum weight?

Just wondering because I’m not a fan of seemingly arbitrary hard limits.[/quote]

Well the acceleration is there for a purpose. Your car is supposed to be going fast enough to keep up with faster cars on the road. I agree that 9.5 seconds is a bit arbitrary, but it is there to force people to at least put a decent engine in it :wink:.

Ok, so if it helps you feel a bit more comfortable, I can adjust it upwards to 10 seconds. That’s a nice rounded number.

The weight minimum is to make sure the car weights a bit more than an average car of the era. Hence it will be better for ramming purposes, if you catch my drift. Or do you think it is too heavy?

The max tire width is there to prevent absurd wide tires. But, maybe that restriction is also a bit too particular. Ok, will remove it, but I do think that having the same width of tires in the front and rear should remain, if only for logistical purposes.

Of course, you can make one up. No problems with that.

[quote=“Leonardo9613”]Is there any particular reason for those limitations or did you pull the, out of nowhere? I can understand the ban on polymer and the hard compound tyres. But why so they have to be limited to 195s? Why those precise numbers for acceleration and top speed? Would a 9.7s car be too slow, really? Also, why bother with a minimum weight?

Just wondering because I’m not a fan of seemingly arbitrary hard limits.[/quote]

Here is where I will justify / argue for change on a few things.

Because in 1978 the cars used by cops:
Weighed 1774-2114kg
Had a 0-100km time between: 11.6-13.7s
Appropriate tire sizes would be up to 215-225 with a 70-80 profile

So I argue we open up the 0-100 a little more. But the new tire rules sound fine to me.

[quote=“Lordred”]

[quote=“Leonardo9613”]Is there any particular reason for those limitations or did you pull the, out of nowhere? I can understand the ban on polymer and the hard compound tyres. But why so they have to be limited to 195s? Why those precise numbers for acceleration and top speed? Would a 9.7s car be too slow, really? Also, why bother with a minimum weight?

Just wondering because I’m not a fan of seemingly arbitrary hard limits.[/quote]

Here is where I will justify / argue for change on a few things.

Because in 1978 the cars used by cops:
Weighed 1774-2114kg
Had a 0-100km time between: 11.6-13.7s
Appropriate tire sizes would be up to 215-225 with a 70-80 profile

So I argue we open up the 0-100 a little more. But the new tire rules sound fine to me.[/quote]

Ok, where did you get that data btw? I’m willing to open it a bit more for the 0-100, but I feel it is not really that difficult to get below 10s currently. Ok, let’s put the limit on 12 seconds, but that is the last adjustment for the 0-100 km/h time. 12 seconds should be totally fine to aim for and reach with a somewhat stronger engine. Also these are not regular police cars, but Highway patrol cars :wink:

The problem for me is meeting that whopping 65 reliability requirement.It is extremely difficult, since using a carburetor incurs a massive penalty.

Use only one carb, OHV, lower cam profile, standard intake, lower RPMs and a bit of tech in the fuel system will help a lot.

Yes it might be better to make it 55 reliability to widen the options a bit.

Ok, sounds fair. Reliability is a value that is taken into account anyway for the score. I will remove the reliability restrictions completely. Btw in my test car. I had not a huge issue in getting above 65, but it does indeed limit the options too much I think.

[quote=“Leonardo9613”]Is there any particular reason for those limitations or did you pull the, out of nowhere? I can understand the ban on polymer and the hard compound tyres. But why so they have to be limited to 195s? Why those precise numbers for acceleration and top speed? Would a 9.7s car be too slow, really? Also, why bother with a minimum weight?

Just wondering because I’m not a fan of seemingly arbitrary hard limits.[/quote]

Leo, it is important to have a minimum weight because the police have to be able to pit manuver the giant boats on the road. :laughing: :laughing:
The other limits are kinda arbitrary though.

Presenting the 1978 Bogliq Bastion Patrol Car!!! :smiley:




I hope the selectors at the CHP can see past Bogliq’s European origins and select the Bastion as their next patrol car! :sunglasses: :sunglasses: :sunglasses:

Somehow I can only picture a Big Chevy B body car for this challenge. For my entry I’m gonna make something similar to the Buick T Type, whether or not it will completely flop… Well we’ll see XD

Aw man, I thought I was limited to 195 tire width. I wish I could revise my car now.

Send you a PM. You may revise, because the rules yesterday were a bit chaotic. I believe the storm has cleared now, so on these grounds I will allow you to revise 1 time.

After submitting the Bastion PC, top executives at the American HQ for Bogliq Automotive were arrested by the FBI on charges of “supporting Communism” and were made to revise the Californian Highway Patrol Car submission…

Upon agreement to submit a less un-American vehicle and to start an American manufacturing subsiduary to appease the FBI, Bogliq Automotive is proud to present…

The 1978 Bogliq California Patrol Car!!! :sunglasses: :sunglasses: :sunglasses:



Another question: Are we allowed to use higher levels than basic 8 track, e.g. standard 8 track? Or must it remain basic 8 track?

Must remain basic-8. There is no need to spoil the officers. They are there for work. The basic radio simulates a simple police radio. :wink:

Darn it High Octane, that’s exactly the style I was going to go for, now I’ll just have to choose something else.