TMCC16: Sensible Speed

[S_U_C_C_U_L_E_N_T]

Previous round: TMCC15: Malaise Vigilante

Premise: TV and Movie Car Challenge

TMCC16: Sensible Speed

Go Go Drive! (Japanese: ゴ・ゴ・ドライブ！) is an automotive video magazine founded in 1984. The program is focused on car reviews and consumer advice, along with vehicle maintenance, coverage of automotive events, and the beloved races around Tsukuba Circuit which form a part of the car reviews. Go Go Drive! is produced by Houshou Studios and is distributed on home video in addition to being aired on television.

For the July 1996 issue, Go Go Drive! is planning to review mid-size sporty station wagons to find out which is best. They are not looking for full-on sports cars with a large boot, but rather a family car with sporting characteristics that the viewers (and the market) would tend towards.

Thus, your task is to create a car that can satisfy these demands and hopefully be chosen as the best sports wagon in the market (circa 1996).

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Rules:

Trim

• Model year ≤1996
• Trim year 1996
• Auto/adv. auto only
• Max Price: $38000
• Max trim ET: 135
• Min. wheelbase: 2.6m (rounded to the nearest 0.1m)
• Max. wheelbase: 2.8m (rounded to the nearest 0.1m)
• No semi slick tyres
• Must have at least 5 seats
• Must be an estate/wagon
• An interior is not mandatory but will greatly boost your score
• Interior must be RHD if the car is Japanese

Engine

• Family year ≤1996
• Variant year 1996
• Max engine ET: 140
• Maximum loudness: 35
• At least one muffler required
• Catalytic converter required
• Unleaded fuel only
• 98 RON/93 AKI maximum. Japanese fuel is either regular or super with no in-between. You can tune for lower grade fuel but it offers no competitive benefits.
• No V16s

Naming Convention

• Model/engine family name: TMCC16-(your forum username)
• Trim name: name of your car
• Variant name: name of your engine

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Priorities

Looks/Aesthetics

A bit of design flair and panache go a long way, obviously. No one wants to buy an ugly car unless it’s old and it has gained some kinda cult following. The same goes for the interior. Also please paint the license plate black plastic. It’s not mandatory but it would be greatly appreciated.

Drivability

Yes it’s a sports wagon. But in the end, it’s a family car and so it must be easy to drive. For this reason, manual transmissions are banned and LHD interiors will be placed at a severe disadvantage.

Comfort

Again, it’s a family car. Whoever buys one may occasionally want to do some sporty driving but they don’t want to rattle their bones to dust on their way to work.

Sportiness

Something that can pull and turn better than the average wagon is great but it’s not like the car needs to beat lap times at the Nurburgring or do 1.5g on the skidpad. Again, don’t sacrifice too much comfort and drivability for the sake of sportiness.

Practicality

It’s a wagon, so it has to be more practical than a sedan. It has to fit a typical family’s groceries and also camping equipment for the occasional weekend geteway. Just make sure that the car has adequate cargo volume and load capacity.

Safety

You wouldn’t want your car to disintegrate after bumping into a shopping cart now, won’t you?

Running Costs

Running costs include the reliability, service costs, fuel economy, and annual taxes payable for the car. A sports wagon might need more maintenance than a regular one, but it should still be a dependable family vehicle. For taxes, I will only take engine displacement tax into account. The bigger the engine, the more you pay. There’s a reason why most Japanese cars in Inspirations tab have engines no larger than 2.0l or 2.5l. Details on tax are available in the drop-down menu.

Japanese Tax Brackets

Japanese Engine Displacement Tax Brackets, in JPY

Japanese Engine Displacement Tax Brackets, in AMU (Automation Money)

Displacement	Annual Tax (in AMU, assuming that 1JPY = 0.01339AMU)
under 1-litre	395.01
1.0-litre ≤ 1.5-litres	461.96
1.5-litres ≤ 2.0-litres	528.91
2.0-litres ≤ 2.5-litres	602.55
2.5-litres ≤ 3.0-litres	682.89
3.0-litres ≤ 3.5-litres	776.62
3.5-litres ≤ 4.0-litres	890.44
4.0-litres ≤ 4.5-litres	1,024.34
4.5-litres ≤ 6.0-litres	1,178.32
Over 6-litres	1,486.29

Price

Cheaper is better but don’t make it cheap.

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Notes

• CSR realism is expected. If anything is too min-maxxed or out of the scope, it will be binned. Be sensible, like the title of this round.
• Value is important. If a $28,000 car can do the same job as a $38,000 car, the production team will obviously go for the cheaper car.
• This round will be run on the LCV4.2 open alpha

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Inspirations

Gallery

VOLVO vs LEGACY vs STAGEA vs LEGNUM - Best MOTORing "Sports Wagon, Which is Best?"

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Submissions

• Submissions will open on Saturday, 19th February at 0.00 SGT (UTC+8). The rules will be open to deliberation and subject to change until then.

• Submissions will close on Sunday, 13th March at 0.00 SGT (UTC+8).

• Due to the unstable state of 4.2, resubmissions will be allowed should there be an update that tampers with the cars’ stats. If no such updates happen, however, there will be no resubmissions.

Good luck, have fun, and may the best car win.

[WangMaster_420]

Would wagons smaller in nature (a la Impreza Wagon or Audi RS2) be in the spirit of the competition or would they be considered too small for the challenge?
Edit: had a brain fart, put sedan instead of wagon

[S_U_C_C_U_L_E_N_T]

Unfortunately, yes. I’m looking for mid-sized wagons this time, so something like a Legacy wagon or an A6 Avant would be better for the challenge

I will clarify this on the post and change the inspirations a little bit

[WangMaster_420]

Aright thanks. I’ll still do the challenge, I’m just gonna do something else

[Maverick74]

“Must have at least 5”
Seems you’re missing a word for this rule, I’m guessing it’s seats?

[S_U_C_C_U_L_E_N_T]

I refuse to elaborate any further.

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Yeah it’s the seats. I’ll change that.

[abg7]

Are tax brackets’ boundaries determined to the nearest 1000 cc? Especially since I suspect that a car powered by a 2000cc engine, for example, will fall into the third-lowest tax bracket, but if its engine displacement is, say, 2001cc, it would go into the tax bracket immediately above it.

And what about a minimum wheelbase limit? Would that make sense? If you ever choose to implement one in the rule set, a lower limit of 2.5m or so would make the most sense. At any rate, the maximum wheelbase of 2.8m means that the largest cars you will accept will be E-segment sized.

As for engine and drivetrain configuration: are there any engine and/or drivetrain types that the film crew prefer over others, or do they have no specific preferences in that regard?

[Knugcab]

How about license plates? The amount of them is quite limited, the only japanese ones are yellow, and IIRC, the last japanese round they were not recommended since I think yellow ones were kei-car specific or something?

[BG004130]

Wasn’t it prestigious to have a LHD car in Japan?

I think it’s obvious that the pic is from a japanese auction and where the steering wheel is.
My point is, it wasn’t that big of a problem for them.I wouldn’t deduct points on that.

[Texaslav]

That’s a collectible grand tourer couple, though, not a somewhat-sporty wagon for everyday use. We’re making something that’s actually going to be used, not a curiosity.

Speaking of, I have a question on just how sporty we’re talking here. Are VR4s and Legacy GT-B types the only meta or can a lazier setup get by fine?

[BG004130]

You mean like this 328i Touring?

Description

“This is a walk around and test drive of a 1999 BMW E36 328i Touring Motorsport Edition purchased recently from the Japanese Car Auction for export.”

[RAZR]

Even with 2 mufflers at highest dampening stats I couldn’t get the loudness below 50, so I think the 35 limit is a hard one to reach.

[ldub0775]

sounds like you picked a performance intake. they do that now

[BG004130]

Now that’s what you call “on the edge”

How are these stats? My first autotragic in 4.2

[S_U_C_C_U_L_E_N_T]

Are tax brackets’ boundaries determined to the nearest 1000 cc? Especially since I suspect that a car powered by a 2000cc engine, for example, will fall into the third-lowest tax bracket, but if its engine displacement is, say, 2001cc, it would go into the tax bracket immediately above it.

The boundaries are determined in “Running Costs” under the 2-star priority list. And yes, if your engine is 2001cc, it will go to the tax bracket above the 1.5l - 2.0l category and will thus be forced to pay higher taxes.

And what about a minimum wheelbase limit? Would that make sense? If you ever choose to implement one in the rule set, a lower limit of 2.5m or so would make the most sense. At any rate, the maximum wheelbase of 2.8m means that the largest cars you will accept will be E-segment sized.

I will consider implementing a lower limit for the wheelbase, maybe something like 2.6m to keep the entrants within the mid-size range.

As for engine and drivetrain configuration: are there any engine and/or drivetrain types that the film crew prefer over others, or do they have no specific preferences in that regard?

There is no particular preference for drivetrain. You could go AWD if you want, but that would increase running costs which could hurt the car’s ranking. The goal here is to find a wagon that is sporty but practical and reliable.

How about license plates? The amount of them is quite limited, the only japanese ones are yellow, and IIRC, the last japanese round they were not recommended since I think yellow ones were kei-car specific or something?

Yes, the yellow plates are kei-specific but they can always be changed to the normal green-on-white plate.

Wasn’t it prestigious to have a LHD car in Japan?

What Texaslav said. LHD is prestigious (which is why it would work in TMCC12) but I’m looking for sensible family sport wagons this round, and LHD simply would not work here.

Speaking of, I have a question on just how sporty we’re talking here. Are VR4s and Legacy GT-B types the only meta or can a lazier setup get by fine?

A lazier setup can get by fine because cars like the VR4 and Legacy would have to sacrifice a lot of reliability, fuel economy, and service costs thanks to AWD and their high power output. Again, try to find a good balance between performance, comfort, and economy for this round.

How are these stats? My first autotragic in 4.2

The stats look good but your reliability is quite low, and your service and purchase costs are high too. Value and practicality is important for this challenge, not just all-out sportiness.

Also, the 328i could work for this challenge, although it would be on the smaller side.

[S_U_C_C_U_L_E_N_T]

Updates

The changes are as follows:

• Added gearbox requirement (must be auto/adv. auto)
• Added minimum wheelbase requirement (2.6m, rounded to the nearest 0.1m)
• Please paint the license plate black plastic when submitting your car. This is clarified under Looks/Aesthetics.
• Added Audi A6 Avant to the list of inspirations

Thank you for understanding. Good luck and have fun!

[Texaslav]

I’d like to field a motion to increase max loudness. My car makes it in under 35 fine, but all performance intakes in 4.2 raise your noise level to over 40.

Now, this is probably not the meta for this round, but the performance intake noise level is basically total proof that 35 is not the maximum “acceptable”, “street-legal” or “not stressful” level - and thus 35 max noise shouldn’t be a thing.

[S_U_C_C_U_L_E_N_T]

That is a good point. However, I want the cars submitted to be subtle and sensible. Something like a BMW 535i instead of an M5. Even if it’s legal, I don’t want the cars to be too loud because in the end of the day, it’s a family car and not a sports car

[Knugcab]

One interesting thing is the Volvo 850 pictured. The 1991-93 models had a special intake manifold. Since the Honda Legend and BMW E34 were the cars used as “targets” during the development, they wanted a “sporty” intake sound and put a lot of engineering into getting the right note. Customers complained that it was noisy and a motoring magazine did a comparison with a dB meter, conclusion? During acceleration on full throttle, a 1968 Volvo Duett was quieter than a new 850. 1994 it got a quiet and boring manifold. Customers happy.

[Hilbert]

Are more MPV like cars, such as the Toyota Picnic

Or Hyundai Santamo

Allowed?