Am I late? Well… like the true secret villain arriving after the battle seemed to be over, behold: The Aquila MX200!
With a mid-engine 2.0L 4 cylinder DOHC motor making 180 horsepower, it’s ready to do whatever cars do in this tv show!
And a limited slip diff! (Ooh! Aah!)
Earth Angel, Kamurocho, Tokyo.
Friday, 16th July 1982
“Another one?” Mama asked, eyeing the director’s now-empty whiskey glass.
“Maybe later, mama.” the director replied. “I gotta concentrate on finding a new car for my show.”
“Your little crime drama?” she scoffed, “I told you that you should’ve gone for something with a roof for a show as dangerous as yours.”
“Oh, shut up.” the director said, “I’m not far into my search and I’ve already run into two roadblocks…”
“…first was that Zephorus TRZ I found on the classifieds. From what I’ve heard, it’s a car with performance that backs up it muscular looks. I gotta say, I love the way it looks. But when I tried to call the dealer, no one picked up. And when I went to the place, it was just an empty lot. I guess that some things are all the more beautiful because they are unattainable.”
(Binned because of naming convention. A shame really, since the design was one of my favourites.)
“The second was the Galena Mk.1 1.8 SE. I went to the dealer just yesterday, but when I asked them about the engine they said that they knew nothing about it. Why? Why are you even selling something that you have no information of? Why is my luck so bad? Mama, pour me another one please.”
“Okay, okay.”
(Binned because of engine naming convention, not to mention the comically small V6 and styling that could be better.)
“I’m not an expert on cars, but have you perhaps heard of the Aquila NX200?” Mama asked.
“Bah!” the director scoffed, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”
(Please submit your entry in a more timely fashion next time. Also, yellow plates go on kei cars only.)
“I think you’ve had enough for tonight.” Mama said, looking concerningly at how red the director is after his 6th glass. “I’ll call a taxi for you.”
“Yeah yeah whatever.” the director said, “I’ll see you next time, hopefully when I finally have some cars to talk about.”
You should note that my submission is not of Japanese or even Asian origin - it is a Western import, hence its door-mounted (and not wing/fender-mounted) mirrors.
1982 Royale Kunai
By 1981, the higher ups in the company had taken notice of the Japanese car market, a foray more nuanced compared to the British Isles and greater Europe with the displacement taxes, along with the popular (and competitive) coupes and hatchbacks coming from the Land of the Rising Sun. Royale decided to put more effort in exporting a car to Japan, and selected the Dagger to be at the forefront. By 1982, the car was about ready to go on sale, relabeled as the Royal Kunai to better appeal to the culture.
One notable addition was to the top trim level, the JPE (Japanese Performance Edition). Rather than a V6, Royale opted to drop in a top-level inline 4 engine, specifically the 18D4ET from the Group B division, at the same specs as their Group B homologation car. While it wouldn’t have the on-stage power, it was still a solid 189bhp, and even with a more premium interior, the Royale Kunai would still come in a little over 1100kg, making the final product at least quick, nimble, and yet still comfortable and practical.
Hopefully…
Curse you, time zones!
Featuring very creative and cohesive writing
Houshou Studios, Nerima, Tokyo.
Monday, July 19th 1982
The director pulled up to the office in his 1967 Hinode Mahkota. Opening his office door, he finds the owner of the studio, Marilyn, sitting on his chair.
“Ahoy!” she says, donning her eyepatch as usual. “How’s your search going?”
“Ah, it’s you.” the director shrugged, “I gave up looking after just two cars, so I let my subordinate do the rest of the work.”
“Oh really? You sure do love telling your employees to do all the dirty work, huh?”
“They’re my subordinates, ma’am. And who are you to talk? You literally own a movie studio and a shipping company. I’ve seen how pushy you are when directing those gravure films-”
“OI!” Marilyn exclaimed.
“Good morning, sir!” the subordinate arrives, interrupting Marylin, “I’ve gotten information on the cars as you requested!”
“Right then, let’s get to it!”
The director and his subordinate took sat in front of Marilyn, pulling out a file containing his findings.
“Oi, don’t ignore me like that!” Marilyn exclaimed while being ignored by the director and his subordinate.
“First up is the Hakaru Presage.” the subordinate said.
“Oh, that looks sick! It’s perfect for our show!” the director remarked, examining the photograph closely.
“True, but right now Hakaru is recalling the Presage and other models in their lineup with the 3.0l engine due to issues with valve float. I don’t think that the car would be ready by the time we start filming so maybe we can use it for Part 3 instead.”
“Right… Next please!”
(Despite being one of the best designed cars in this round, the engine suffers from valve float. The engineering was alright, but it had low sportiness. For those reasons, it’s out.)
“Next up is the F&S Rattler Sport.”
“It looks rather… meh.”
“Indeed it is. The rest of the car, in regards to the performance, reliability, etc. are also quite… average. Nothing really makes it stand out from the rest.”
“I see. Next!”
(The engineering is alright, but the styling could be better. Besides that, there isn’t much to make this car stand out from the competition. For those reasons, it’s out.)
“Next up is the GSI Bosu Express.”
“No, just no.”
“I knew you’d say that. Its performance is quite mediocre and it’s also very expensive to service.”
“Even if it was good to drive I won’t go for it… The proportions are awkward and I don’t want it in my detective show. Next!”
(The stats overall were below average, and the car had the highest service cost in the entire competition. The dull styling doesn’t help either. For those reasons, it’s out.)
“…”
“What is it?”
“I think we can just skip this one sir, this one is hard to drive, expensive to service, and is very thirsty. It looks alright but it’s not up to your standards.”
“Alright then, next!”
(To be frank, but everything about this car is just bad. First up is the styling which could be better, followed by the terminal oversteer, brake fade, fuel economy, and service costs. Peak power is also at the redline. For those reasons, it’s out.)
“Next is the Valiant Royale Turbo.”
“This seems like a rather interesting kei car. It certainly looks bigger than average and a turbocharged 3995cc engine sounds a whole lot bigger than 550cc.”
“Indeed. It is decently quick but it’s quite unreliable and thirsty. And I’m personally not a big fan of how it looks, either.”
“I agree. Next!”
(The interior is absolutely wonderful. However, the low reliability and fuel efficiency make this car unviable for the production team, not to mention the dull styling. For those reasons, it’s out. Also, yellow plates belong on kei cars.)
“Next up is the IP Ocelot.”
“Oh, I like this one. It looks very classy but also quite brawny. Why don’t we go for this one?”
“Well, I’ve heard that it breaks down quite a lot and that repairs can be quite expensive. I can’t deny that it looks nice, though.”
“Yeah, but a car that breaks down often would just be a headache for us during filming… Although maybe I should buy one for myself.”
“Save that for later.” Marilyn interrupted, “Now, show us the next car.”
(The styling is good overall and I like where you are going with this, although it could use some improvements to fully realize whatever concept you may have had in mind when designing this. However, the car was the least reliable among the competition and is also quite expensive to service. For those reasons, it’s out.)
“The last car for today is the Royale Kunai JPE.”
“That doesn’t look very ‘royale’ to me, nor does it look as sharp as a kunai.”
“True, but it does have relatively good performance. But again, it’s not the most reliable car and I’m sure that there are just better options out there.”
(The engineering was alright. However, the choice to use ITBs on a turbocharged engine is unrealistic. Styling and reliability could be better too)
“…”
“Right… So what are those ‘better options?’” the director asked.
“Well, I haven’t managed to find anything besides what I’ve compiled in the file, sir.” the subirdinate said nervously.
“Really? Well that’s not very professional of you. Maybe I should replace you with someone that can actually do the job well!”
“Oh, cut him some slack will ya?” Marilyn said, “Why don’t you give him another week or so? He should be able to find a better car for your show.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” the director said, “Now go find some more cars for me. And give me something that we can actually use this time.”
“Yes, sir!” the subordinate said before leaving the room in a hurry.
“When he comes back next week with the cars I’m coming to see them too.” Marilyn said, “Your show is my show, after all.”
Marilyn eyes the director, who was still sitting across her.
“Now get back to work!” Marilyn exclaimed.
“Not when you’re sitting on my chair.”
“Your chair is my chair!” Marilyn pouted, before standing up and leaving the office, closing the door before her.
The director went back to his seat and went back to doing his job, waiting for his subordinate’s findings.
To be continued
What do you mean “unreliable expensive nightmare” 
That would never happen to an early 80s car with lots of tech crammed into it! 
Less sour review than I expected TBH 
Considering I forgot door handles that was a good review.
So for those of you who got nailed on service costs, how much were your service costs actually? I’m surprised it came up so much. I wonder if I would have got knocked for that too (if I wasn’t late) since I’m sitting at 1471 with my mid-engine staggered sport tire nonsense.
I question some of this stuff as well, but what was told to me before was that there is a median number. So no matter how good you feel your particular numbers are, it’s based off the group.
I’ll check my numbers and report back later.
So does the driveability, Sportiness, and cornering rating in the middle not mean anything? The driveability rating in the middle says 85.1 but yet on the right says 35.4
All those green boxes dont mean anything for the whole car to be “bad”? Im just asking because when I see all green I think I’m doing good…
The car has 222hp from a 90 degree 350, that seems pretty macho to me. Peak power at redline yea, but the torque curve is broad peaking @3500rpm. Thats bad too? Just asking.
I kinda feel like its on par for American pony car standards in 1982. I might be wrong though.
Its definitely ugly, Ill give you that…it was a pain designing, although I did have a lot of fun doing the C-pillar.
Terminal oversteer: Im glad you brought that up. I tried for a good half hour trying to get rid of that warning. The best I could get was BOTH terminal oversteer warning telling me to ADD rear grip, yet at the SAME TIME I got the rear tire too wide warning saying to DECREASE rear grip.
Damned if you do, Damned if you dont I guess.
There’s a good reason why the power peak sits on the redline - the cheap hypereutectic cast pistons can’t take any more than that! You should have gone with forged pistons, tuned the engine for 95 RON, and extended the redline by a reasonable amount (but not to the point that the pistons become overstressed) to fully unlock the engine’s potential.
And to combat unwanted oversteer, remember this tip I gave when I hosted CSR 137:
Also note that the suggestion to increase or decrease front or rear tire width (due to it being either too wide or narrow for their load) is just that - a suggestion - and does not need to be followed all the time (it shows up as a blue marker in the list of warnings). However, oversteer warnings (which show up as yellow) definitely should be fixed in order to make your design workable.
And regarding brake fade: Although it can be caused by undersized brake rotors or the use of less advanced types, as well as overly comfort-biased pads, more often it’s a result of using too little brake cooling. For high-performance cars in particular, it’s not a good idea to deprive the brakes of cooling airflow. Last but not least, a quick look at the suspension tab also reveals that you used standard springs, not progressive-rate springs - most cars use the latter because they confer a gain in drivability, comfort and load capacity that more than outweighs the loss in sportiness compared to standard springs.
About the peak power, you can also decrease top end quality by a few step to give you a 2-300rpm cushion.
To be honest I don’t get why terminal oversteer is banned since every real life car before ESC came tended to oversteer for Moose test for example but that’s how it’s dealt with by the community.
So does the driveability, Sportiness, and cornering rating in the middle not mean anything? The driveability rating in the middle says 85.1 but yet on the right says 35.4
When I judged the cars I look at the drivability and sportiness on the right menu, since the stats there take into account the steering graph in the middle, assists, etc. In that respect, you car was below average but nothing too bad.
All those green boxes dont mean anything for the whole car to be “bad”? Im just asking because when I see all green I think I’m doing good…
The green boxes represents the market. Green boxes with high numbers in it don’t necessarily mean a good car because they’re very easy to cheese. Hence, CSR and other competitions such as this generally don’t use markets as a scoring metric.
The car has 222hp from a 90 degree 350, that seems pretty macho to me. Peak power at redline yea, but the torque curve is broad peaking @3500rpm. Thats bad too? Just asking.
There’s no problem with the peak torque being at 3500rpm. However, peak power at redline is bad and you could use forged pistons next time as abg suggested, especially since you were already using forged conrods. And again as abg said, tune the engine to 95 RON since running 91 RON in this competition would give you no benefits.
Its definitely ugly, Ill give you that…it was a pain designing, although I did have a lot of fun doing the C-pillar.
Even if most of the car was meh at best, I did like what you did with the C-pillar. Maybe I should’ve mentioned that in the review.
And as for the terminal oversteer and brake fade, follow abg’s advice. Older cars do tend to experience “terminal oversteer” more than newer cars since they have less assists, but the other submissions don’t have any issue with terminal oversteer so that puts your car on a disadvantage in that regard.
Thank you guys for that info as I will definitely implement that into the current car and see what results I get.
Much appreciated FRFR!!!
May the best car win!!
Also, since I rarely ever use staggered wheel sizes, oversteer usually means the wheels are too wide in general (in my case at least). Just a to for more pedestrian cars.
Those numbers you see on the steering graph are percentage multipliers. 85% drivability is pretty bad, it means that 35.4 number on the left is after a penalty. If you had 100% drivability on the steering graph it would be 41.6 instead! For a sports car you usually want to aim for 100% sportiness and at least over 90% drivability.
Those are your scores compared to computer-generated/NPC cars, where 100 means you’re equal and say, 200 means you’re twice as good. But remember, those cars are crap! Any human-designed car tends to be much better than those cars right now. The market numbers don’t matter unless you’re playing campaign, and even then they’re going away in the next update. These numbers can tell if you’re moving in the right direction, but it’s possible to make some awful decisions which any person would balk at, and still have a high score.
For a sports car (or any car in Automation) peak power at redline means your redline is too low! In this case part of the reason is you used hypereutectic cast pistons, which hurt your redline in exchange for improved emissions… but nobody in Japan in the 80’s is even thinking about emissions for a sports car, so that’s a bad choice.
Imagine if you were driving this car: As soon as you hit maximum power, the engine bounces off the limiter and you have to shift. You’ll spend most of your time making less power.
This is true. You can usually do better in Automation but it’s reasonable. However if this is all the power you are making you should aim to get more than 11 miles per gallon.
The in-game warnings do a poor job of explaining the tradeoffs you are making here. First, a terminal oversteer graph like this is bad, it means the car likes to go into an UN-RECOVERABLE spin, not just that it tends towards oversteer.
There are a lot of things you can do to move the car more towards understeer, and I usually try them in this order:
Make the front camber more positive, and the rear camber more negative. This is easy and costs nothing! You have -0.5 in the front and 0.0 in the rear, which is a setup that increases oversteer! Something like 0 in the front and -1 in the rear could be reasonable for this car.
Decrease the rear roll bar, increase the front rollbar. Just keep an eye on your body roll angle, it depends on the total of both. You want body roll around 3-5 degrees for a sports car.
Increase front springs, decrease rear springs. Try not to get them too far apart though.This has a small effect only.
Make the front and rear tires both narrower. This reduces cornering G, but it’s often a reasonable choice. Don’t do this if you’re making lots of wheelspin though.
Make the rear tires wider than the front tires. This is usually only a good choice for rear engine cars, but it’s the most extreme option you have. It comes with a 1.5x tire cost penalty because of the different sizes.
In short, there’s a lot of easy fixes here. The fastest way to learn about some good car design tips is to watch videos, IMO. Killrob (lead game dev for automation!) has some let’s play videos of older versions campaign, if that sounds interesting.
IIRC, I think that the game takes the increased tyre wear into account with increased camber angles, so your tradeoff there is service costs.
All I wanna know is what an ITB is.
I need this info while Im designing lol. Im sure most know this info but to me right now this is invaluable.
With every new car comes something new that I’ve learned from playing this game or just in general.
I’m soakin in this information like a sponge and will be back for the next challenge READY!!
Thankyou @SenseiB12
