I can’t send my .car due to being new to discourse, can I just send it on discord?
Yes, you can. You can also find the requirements to DM people pinned in the challenges channel in the official Automation Discord.
The Fierce Tropica…
This was rushed to hell but it’s better than nothing… it’s a CBC Quest which was 60’s choice car for middle class families and now a perfect car for government workers, police and etc… Fierce being an export brand for CBC has agreed to make a new factory to create and make the cars locally… It has a turbo 1.5L Inline 4 which gives it a 14sec 0-100kmh… 150kmh+ top speed and 30MPG! Meeting WES8 regulations as well…
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Reijka Rihana : a Swedish-designed compact for the people. The Rihana is all-new for the 1980 model year, and Reijka’s first purpose-built export for the Central/South American market; featuring robust construction, spritely handling, and an economical 1.5L engine. The premium GTX trim, specially included in the licensing agreement for El Presidente’s leisure, comes with an uprated 63hp(46kW) engine, corrosion-resistant chassis, and a locking differential to tackle rough dirt roads. All offered at the trim price of $22,200.
Engineering by @Ritz
Reijka. Passion, grace, spirit.
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i have my submission ready but since im new to discourse, i cant put the .car file in dms, how else could i go about submitting?
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just comment on a few post, respond to people and youll be good to go in no time.
Welcome to the page im also pretty new here
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Bigger is better.
© 1980 Audax Corporation
So, you want a car. Maybe it’s your first. Maybe it’s a replacement for an old ride in need of retirement. Maybe you want something newer and better.
Maybe you need something practical and robust. Or you want comfort and presence.
You don’t need to choose between economy and extravagance. You just need to choose Serena.
The Audax Serena, coming soon to your export market, is known far and wide as a lavish, luxurious cruiser even in its most basic of forms, one that dares not compromise factors such as comfort, safety, and versatility. Seating for up to six, your choice between various powerplants and transmissions, and a nice array of colors in both paint and upholstery. Every Serena is special, but why not make one your own?
It's a lot for the price. Even we're not sure how it's as affordable as it is for all that.
Bigger is better when you can bundle everything a Serena has to offer. Why not live large?
Go ahead. You deserve it.
The Serena shown here (Select trim, 3.5L engine, manual transmission) is offered as a baseline spec.
Bigger is better when you can bundle everything a Serena has to offer. Why not live large?
Go ahead. You deserve it.
The Serena shown here (Select trim, 3.5L engine, manual transmission) is offered as a baseline spec.
© 1980 Audax Corporation
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love this cute little goober by the way
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You can send me the file on Discord, or you can read the forums a bunch to get permission to send DMs - the rules are 5 topics, 30 posts and 10 minutes.
Also, the submission window is closed, so it’s just a couple of last stragglers I’m waiting for files from. I’ll still let you submit given that you had that issue with being able to DM folks.
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i can send dms, just not attachments and files in said dms. but its alright, theres a good chance it will take me a while to unlock that, ill just put pictures in the automation discord you can move on without me
Resuki Sanda 1400E '80
The Resuki Sanda, initially introduced in the 1960s to Japan, has become widely known for being a comfortable, stylish, reliable, and engaging car on some trims for a reasonable price. Now, it Tropico’s turn to experience what the Resuki Sanda has to offer!
Given the request for what kind of car was wanted and what was currently in production, the current generation of the Sanda, introduced in '76, was chosen. The USDM chassis was selected to comply with the request of sealed beams, paired with the updated JDM 1.4L SOHC boxer engine to balance cost, emissions, and power.
Given the demands, the base trim level was chosen to keep cost low, coming in at just $13,500. But cheap doesn’t mean bare-bones, it still comes with a 4 speaker AM/FM 8 track radio and standard cloth interior. While it doesn’t have fully independent suspension, it tuned to be both comfortable, easy to drive, and nimble. The 1.4L boxer engine delivers 61.4hp & 108.8nm to rear wheels, propelling the Resuki Sanda from 0 to 100 in 14.8s. On top of that, it remains fuel efficient at 7.1L/100km while complying with WES 5 emission standards. And with a low estimated yearly service cost of just $593, it’s a car for everyone!
Again, all for just $13,500!
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Howdy all, just a slight update on judging - it’s progressing steadily behind the scenes, I just misjudged how much is involved in these reviews.
I’m writing about 200 words for each advisor for each car. There’s 19 cars, so… Feel free to do the maths on how much that is. Issue is, I want to make sure I’ve looked through all the cars before posting, to be able to make sure that there’s good threads up and down through them. It might take another one or two weeks to have reviews posted, but they’re progressing pretty well!
Just wanted to make sure to set expectations a little.
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Ooof. That’s some hefty amount of work.
If I lived in Tropico and saw one of these in black with hopped up tires and engine pull up outside, I’d be looking to flee.
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Reminds me of a slightly customized Datsun 510…nice.
Was going for a Fiat/Lada mix, but thanks!
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any updates on this?
There’s been a slight hiccup, but reviews should be up by the weekend. I did say 1-2 weeks in that last update for a reason.
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Reviews – The Advisors
So… As you read these reviews, you may notice that my comment of writing 200 words or so for each reviewer didn’t exactly pan out. What’s up with that?
Well, I got about halfway through, then I realised something. I had written the same review three or four times or maybe more, for several of the reviewers, because of how the challenge was structured. How many ways are there to review, oh… Sportiness below 2, lateral G’s between 0.6 and 0.65, top speed between about 140 and 160, and an 0-60 time of about 6-7 seconds? Those figures are in no way invented, they actually exist for four entries. A lot of folks submitted cars devoid of any appeal to Penultimo or Alexander Acton, because of course they did, I practically invited them to. I got through one car, skipped Penultimo, got to the other one and got up to Penultimo, and just gave up. This came, oh, about halfway through reviews. When I looked back at what I wrote, I noticed a steady drop in quality as I ran out of ideas and wrote the same thing over and over. I wrote a lot in that document, but a lot of it wasn’t very good, and most reviews required a bunch of additional work to go back and actually finish what I wrote - most reviews had at least one or two sections to be finished or aspects to be fleshed out.
So, revised version: We get a brief report card listing rankings from everyone, and a broad, combined review. The report card will have a letter grade listing what each reviewer thinks, ranging from A to F.
- A: This car is the absolute favourite of the reviewer. This grade is reserved for 1-3 entries per reviewer.
- B: The reviewer likes this car and gave it a favourable review.
- C: The reviewer is ambivalent. They don’t love it, but they won’t recommend against it.
- D: The reviewer mildly dislikes this car, and slightly recommended against it.
- F: The reviewer hated this car, and it had some big show-stoppers. It’s got a massive dealbreaker. This is reserved for the very worst cars.
Cars which will proceed to the next phase for direct review by El Presidente have been noted.
Industrias Mechanical de Tropico Tucano
by @kyuzo
- Juan Pedro: F
- Homero Revoluto: F
- Alexander Acton: F
- Kofi Willow: F
- Penultimo: F
Oof, we start it out with a bang. The Tucano is an abject failure, and I had to look at the .car file to make sure it wasn’t corrupted. It wasn’t. This car was submitted with a lot of things set to the default. Brakes, suspension, tyres, gearing, every engine tab… If there’s a numeric input you can move, the Tucano hasn’t. It only hits WES2 and is incredibly loud, it has almost no sportiness and absolute zero comfort. The engine is incredibly rough, which tanks reliability. It can’t go offroad, and the weird brake tuning (poor balance and too much braking, oof!) and terminal oversteer kill the drivability. There is something for everyone to hate here. Don’t even get me started on the exterior, which has just 15 fixtures. The interior has 16, but it’s still not great. It is bereft of any real effort. Please try harder.
Vob Bamra 4.0
by @bananafishy
- Juan Pedro: F
- Homero Revoluto: F
- Alexander Acton: F
- Kofi Willow: F
- Penultimo: B
Ah, another car with some rough results, this is an entry that ended up falling foul of the “materials cost vs total cost” distinction, but it really isn’t great. The Vob Bamra makes a couple of really expensive decisions – maxing out the lightness on the “Optimise Weight” slider, for instance. To balance the costs, it slides a bunch of the quality sliders really far down. That leads to an incredibly unreliable package just about everywhere. An uber-stressed supercharger, an unreliable carburettor, a gearbox that snaps if you look at it funny, highly optimistic assumptions about the quality of 95 RON fuel and the impact of that weight slider. It fails WES1 despite a catalytic converter. It’s uncomfortable, it’s unsafe, it’s undrivable, it fails almost every stat.
It’s the sportiest entry though, because it’s the most powerful of them all. It’s the fastest too, and it’s got the best handling. Oh yeah, it also uses rally tyres intended for race cars. I didn’t specify that race parts are banned, but those tyres kill the comfort, the drivability, the service costs, so many parts of the car. It does look the part as a sports car, so it does sorta well with Penultimo, but that’s small comfort for the car, of course, much as the car is for its occupants.
A.C.M. Overseer
by @Izuna
- Juan Pedro: C
- Homero Revoluto: C
- Alexander Acton: D
- Kofi Willow: C
- Penultimo: D
Oof. The A.C.M. Overseer should have been a bit of a slam dunk for Juan Pedro, and it’s sorta passable for the others. It’s a little bit middling for a lot of the reviews, nothing really standing out. Lacklustre drivability and comfort, but pretty decent service costs, reasonable total costs. It looks really good, it looks really nice, a real solid classic offroader. It’s got the chops to match, a real offroader with solid ground clearance, a manual locker and a full-fat 4x4 system, it can go just about everywhere…
When it’s working. Ay, there’s the rub. Besides the massive negative quality on the Vob Bamra, it has the lowest reliability. Part of that is the diff, but it’s also the engine design. When you combine penalties for mixing an iron block and an aluminium head, an overall lack of smoothness and especially a mechanical fuel injection system, the reliability really suffers. The fact that said reliability comes from a complicated fuel system hurts it even more with Juan Pedro. If it had used a carburettor, it would have done a lot better and probably bagged an A.
Oh, if you notice one of the cars in the image having an extra spare wheel towards the back, that’s because the extra wheel feature glitched out and gets mirrored a bunch even though it shouldn’t. It also breaks the photo scene a bunch, either it or the Vob Bamra - mind if I make a report to the devs and include the .car?
McNamara National Compañera
by Nocturne over on Discord
- Juan Pedro: B
- Homero Revoluto: B
- Alexander Acton: C
- Kofi Willow: A
- Penultimo: D
This car, the Compañera, hits WES9. That’s really impressive, especially with a carburettor and pushrods! It does the best for all of the pollutants measured, well in front of the others.. While two others hit WES8, the Compañera is unique in hitting WES9. How? How do pushrods and a carb get such good emissions results? I can hardly believe it, it’s wild! It’s somewhere between the two WES8 entries in fuel economy, but is ahead of them for noise. The aesthetics aren’t to Kofi’s liking, but the numbers don’t lie, and they spell victory for the Compañera with Kofi. Drivability is not too far off the average, but top-tier safety and a squared-off, geometric design do well with Homero. High-tier reliability and a simple design help it with Juan Pedro, and it just about gets over the line with Alexander Acton. It’s not the sportiest, but it’s a really good overall package.
Needless to say, the Compañera will be making its way to El Presidente’s desk for deeper review.
Vita Escolar Sunrise
by @NathBit
- Juan Pedro: D
- Homero Revoluto: D
- Alexander Acton: D
- Kofi Willow: C
- Penultimo: B
Let’s count the anachronisms, shall we? Kei cars did not allow 660cc engines until 1990, meaning that this isn’t a kei car. The Castrol logo with the name outside the circle would not appear until 2001. The grille used is modern, as are the headlights. The rear diffuser feels too modern as well, as do the mirror-mounted headlights. Lastly, the seats are too modern. In short – the car feels like a 2000s model grafted onto a body from 1965.
That’s not why the grades suck though. The Escolar is butt-ugly, the front feels crowded and it looks like a mole rat. There’s no lineflow or harmony between parts across the front and back. It just doesn’t work. The looks knock it down in the grades a fair bit, in all honesty. The car is relatively prestigious thanks to the power it makes from the turbocharger, but that prestige is held back a little by the low size – and the comfort suffers too, it’s hard to fit four full seats and a removable top in such a small space. It might’ve gotten a C with Acton if it didn’t look like, well, like it does. It’s got solid emissions and good fuel economy, but a lot of noise – from the intake side rather than exhaust, interestingly. It’s on the borderline between C and D for Kofi. It’s sporty enough for Penultimo thanks to that turbocharged power, but lacklustre offroad, high costs, unreliable performance intakes and complexity are the final nails in the coffin. If it looked good, it might’ve been able to progress because I have a soft spot for kei-ish cars. As it is? I just can’t have a real strong positive opinion.
Resuki Sanda 1400E
by @Repti
- Juan Pedro: C
- Homero Revoluto: A
- Alexander Acton: C
- Kofi Willow: C
- Penultimo: C
The Resuki Sanda is a real appliance of a car, it feels and looks like a refrigerator, right down to the white paint on it. It’s not unfinished or ugly, it’s just bland and boring, like a refrigerator. There is nothing really wrong about that, and the stats, well… They’re mostly as interesting as that refrigerator, mostly. For Penultimo and Alexander, it’s pretty average in all categories. For Juan and Kofi, it’s got some weaknesses (offroad, loudness), but some strengths (reliability, simplicity, fuel economy) and it all ends up as a bit of a wash. These four reviews were all so boring, so bland and repetitive, that I made this out of desperation.
This is part of why I changed formats. The Sanda’s reviews were padded out by a running gag that it made everyone fall asleep. It’s a goddamn refrigerator on wheels.
Of course, there’s that great big “A” standing out in the grades. That’s because refrigerators are boring, but people still need somewhere to store their food… And boy howdy, the Sanda is a great place to store your food. Or a great way to get from A to B. Whatever. It’s nicely driveable and pretty safe, and it’s really cheap. Yes, it’s boring, but if your goal is to make something for mass consumption, something to help the masses get cars? It’s a great practical choice.
It’s making its way to El Presidente’s desk. Just gotta hope he doesn’t fall asleep from it.
F-Wagon
By Entermon over on Discord
- Juan Pedro: D
- Homero Revoluto: D
- Alexander Acton: D
- Kofi Willow: D
- Penultimo: D
The F-Wagon has something for everyone. Something to hate, that is. The worst offroad of any entry, and also an underpowered engine that has issues getting up slopes like the Old Circuit on Narnilla sinks it for Juan Pedro. The safety is messed up, too, using -9 quality and advanced safety which makes it second worst, behind only the Vob Bamra. It fails the safety standards in the western countries of the Automation game world, and that kills it with Homero Revoluto. It’s got a basic interior and firm, uncomfortable suspension that give it pretty bad comfort and no redeeming features for Alexander Acton. It only passes WES4 and doesn’t make up for that in noise or economy, hence the D from Kofi. Sportiness is average, but the hard numbers aren’t fall behind. It’s also boring and uninteresting aesthetically, another refrigerator but it doesn’t quite click the way the Sanda does. Not ugly or unfinished, but it doesn’t do anything for me, not even in the “this sure is an car” way the Sanda does. It doesn’t really have a selling point in the stats, it’s consistently below average and gets a consistently below average score.
Mara Ranger 2.0 KEL
by @AndiD
- Juan Pedro: A
- Homero Revoluto: A
- Alexander Acton: C
- Kofi Willow: C
- Penultimo: D
Review 8: how to recognise different types of car from quite a long way away.
Number 1: The Large
The Large
The… Large
Okay, that’s quite enough of that, this review is getting rather silly. The Mara Ranger 2.0 KEL is a big brute of a car, it definitely exhibits the sort of brutalism I mentioned in Homero’s preferences. Despite its size, it’s somehow remarkably easy to drive, and it’s reasonably safe too. It’s just a little more expensive than the Sanda, and that’s how it cruises to an A from Homero. It’s got solid offroad chops thanks to how it’s designed, the best results without a full-fat 4X4 system. Thing is, that full system usually adds complexity and points to failure, so it’s a really solid option for Juan Pedro too. It’s not getting anywhere quickly, of course, it’s a big heavy thing and that hurts it with Penultimo. Comfort and prestige hover around the middle of things, a little good but without the class and elegance Alexander is looking for. It’s one of the entries that hits WES8, but it’s pulled down by that brutish styling, the fuel economy impacts of its weight and a noisy engine so it only gets a C from Willow.
The Mara Ranger 2.0 KEL makes its way to El Presidente’s desk with two glowing reviews.
Pittsburgh Callahan CS
by @Rise_Comics
- Juan Pedro: D
- Homero Revoluto: D
- Alexander Acton: B
- Kofi Willow: C
- Penultimo: B
The Pittsburgh Callahan needs a slight explanation and deep dive for one of its grades – the one from Kofi. In theory, it hits WES7 with good, solid noise and good fuel economy… In theory. See, it only really does well in specific conditions, when it’s mixing low RPMs and low throttle. If you floor it, the numbers end up about as bad as the worst of the entries and it belches unburnt fuel. It doesn’t do that in the lab, but it ends up doing it in the real world. If I just looked at the WES level, sure, it’d do well, but if I holistically evaluate emissions? It’s not good at all. So I’ve taken a little bit off of the grade for emissions, and that sees it here.
Why is it like that? Well, the engine has two modes. In that low RPM, low throttle range, the supercharger does nothing and the car has reasonable results. Once the supercharger engages and gets running, it all goes to hell in a handbasket. At low or high RPMs, it has to dump fuel to keep running – and not all of that fuel can burn properly, overwhelming the catalytic converter. There’s a butter zone in the middle, but if the engine didn’t have so much fuel in the cylinder, it would see a massive amount of NOx due to the massive pressure in the cylinders. Centrifugal superchargers are just hard to tune, I guess, you’d need to change a few different parameters.
Supercharger, eh? Yeah, that’s not going to do well with Juan Pedro, is it? This thing is real complex, with a centrifugal supercharger, electronic injection and hydraulic steering, plenty to go wrong. The offroad isn’t great either. The car somehow manages to make its way to an acceptable enough reliability, largely because it costs a bunch of money and uses a bunch of quality. It’s among the most expensive, with big service costs. The drivability is lacking too, and it has certain undesirable characteristics like a lack of overlap between the gears, wheelspin right up to 80 km/h, slightly overpowered brakes and such – so it fails for Homero too, despite coming in second for safety. It’s sporty and quick, but lacks cornering, braking and handling thanks to hard tyres. It’s got some prestige and comfort, but even that has a black eye thanks to the basic speakers on the 8-track. The looks are nice and a little sporty and the trim around the car is rather nice, although I’m not too sure about the grille – it looks like a set of massive nostrils.
BOVOS Lamara
- Juan Pedro: D
- Homero Revoluto: B
- Alexander Acton: C
- Kofi Willow: D
- Penultimo: C
The BOVOS Lamara was where I gave up on the old review format – the previous cars all had stuff under the old format, and this is where I changed. You can sorta see why, look how samish the reviews have been for Alexander and Penultimo. The Lamara initially looked like it might have been down Acton’s alley, with its classic sixties style… But unfortunately, it’s got the interior of a classic sixties sedan, lacking a headliner and having a pretty average AM radio – no 8-track slot. The stats are around the middle, the looks give it a C grade – the trim being reminiscent of the neoclassics of the sixties and seventies is nice. It chews through fuel and only hits WES4, which gets it a D grade. Poor offroad and 91 RON fuel harm its stock with Juan, which makes for the second D grade. It’s got a front bench seat though, and it’s been fully modelled. The car is easy to drive and fairly affordable, which all adds up to a singular B grade. I like it, but it falls just a little too much.
Cinque Fenwick Adventure
by @Musicman27
- Juan Pedro: C
- Homero Revoluto: D
- Alexander Acton: B
- Kofi Willow: D
- Penultimo: D
The Cinque Fenwick Adventure comes second in terms of offroad, but that comes with a cost. It throws just about everything at the car – 9 seats, standard interior and premium 8-track, hydraulic steering, really advanced, refined safety, a 4X4 system and manual locker. That makes it the most expensive of any car, and gives it a pretty bad reliability score as well. 91 RON fuel ends up being the final nail in the coffin for Juan, it can’t lift itself to positive despite that massive offroad score. For Homero, well, it’s got a pretty modern design and those nine seats, but that’s the only saving grace. It’s somehow large enough and has accommodating enough suspension to overcome the inherent comfort issues with the massive size. 1980 is just about the right time where it looks premium and forward-looking, I think, and it’s rather fetching, so why doesn’t it get an A? Well, two entries are a solid B+, and there’s two solid A’s, and I just can’t put anything up over the top here. Rather unfortunately, your massive budget doesn’t buy you a muffler, so it’s incredibly loud. It’s got poor fuel economy too, an unremarkable engine and high weight will do that, so there’s a second D. That massive weight ruins any aspirations of sportiness or performance, for a third D.
Reijka Rihana 2+2 GTX
- Juan Pedro: C
- Homero Revoluto: C
- Alexander Acton: B
- Kofi Willow: C
- Penultimo: B
Juan Pedro’s review for the Reijka Rihana is about the same as the Fenwick, just a little bit less extreme. It’s smaller and strips out a few features, it’s not as unreliable, but opting for RWD instead of 4X4 means it doesn’t excel as much as the Fenwick does. Sure, it’s great with one element, but it’s bad with the rest, so it’s just fine. It’s a bit of the opposite for Homero – it’s got solid drivability and safety thanks to some sensible investments, but that comes with an upfront cost. It’s just fine, it balances out a fair bit. It’s solidly average for all the criteria reviewed by Kofi Willow, nothing remarkable there. It ranks towards the top of the safety and drivability standings, but it’s held back pretty far for Homero by the high cost and service, so it’s only a C. A sport interior is a really nice way to gain some extra prestige, and does pretty well for comfort too. This is the other B+, and maybe some really premium aesthetics would have helped push it over the edge. It feels too small to be super prestigious, especially the grille not quite working. At least it’s pretty sporty, which gets it a second B. It just doesn’t quite have that it factor.
Chèvre Panier - 5 Door
- Juan Pedro: B
- Homero Revoluto: A
- Alexander Acton: D
- Kofi Willow: B
- Penultimo: C
Let’s come back down from the expensive end to one of the cheaper entries, the Panier is a basic little nugget. It does really well in three of the four categories for Homero. Basic 60s safety sees it a little lacking in terms of position, the actual score is fairly close to the bulk of the entries. The asymmetric modern grille is a nice touch that gets it over the line for Homero, it does pretty nice overall for him. Being cheap, reliable and solid offroad scores points with Juan Pedro. Not enough for a massive A, but still pretty solid overall. A basic interior and basic AM radio hurt the comfort and prestige enough to land right down the bottom of Acton’s reviews, but 4.9 isn’t so awful that the car suffers from it. It only hits WES5, but it’s got pretty solid fuel economy and it runs nice and quiet, so that helps it with Kofi. The light weight helps with cornering and braking, but a little 1.1 litre inline 3 isn’t winning any awards for sportiness.
The Chèvre Panier will be personally reviewed by El Presidente
Fierce Tropica
by @AKA_NOBUDDY
- Juan Pedro: C
- Homero Revoluto: C
- Alexander Acton: C
- Kofi Willow: B
- Penultimo: D
The Fierce Tropica delivers consistently below average results, it’s right on the borderline between C and D for a lot of folks. Drivability, safety and purchase price aren’t great, but not bad enough to lose a grade. Offroad is solid and reliability is average, but a turbo isn’t great for Juan’s grade, and that holds it to a C. Comfort and prestige are a little low, but not enough to pull it down. That turbo helps it hit WES7 and stay whisper quiet. Somehow, the presence of a turbo doesn’t buy rapid acceleration, a high top speed or solid sportiness. I can’t blame the skinny hard tyres for the lacklustre acceleration, as there’s no wheelspin. That’s partially because of the tall first gear, but still, not great. There’s not all that much to write home about here, really, it’s just consistently “meh”. There’s not that much to say, I guess.
Sedo Caria 2.0 E
by @Hshan
- Juan Pedro: C
- Homero Revoluto: B
- Alexander Acton: B
- Kofi Willow: B
- Penultimo: C
The Sedo Caria 2.0 E is the safest car in the challenge, bar none. It doesn’t even use advanced safety or massive safety quality to do that, and it’s not that heavy either – it’s just got a pretty big footprint, and it combines that with a transverse engine, a monocoque and fairly regular engineering, and that’s enough. It’s solidly drivable too, with help from FWD and some good, solid engineering. If it didn’t cost 18 grand, it’d be in the competition for an A from Homero. Comfort and prestige are somehow both towards the top despite only using a standard interior, which is really impressive and linked to all the space from that footprint. This is a car that doesn’t employ too many features, but employs them really well, punching above its cost a bit, and that’s how it gets positive reviews from both Homero and Alexander, something I didn’t think was possible. Looking modern and premium at the same time helps, the car is cohesive and looks pretty good. Offroad is just about passable, reliability is average and it all ends up as a wash for Juan – similarly, sportiness and performance numbers are towards the middle, so there’s not a lot there for Penultimo besides a sporty spoiler. It’s the other car to hit WES8, with impressive fuel economy. Only having one muffler and not nailing Kofi’s aesthetic preferences holds it back from an A there, but still – it’s a real impressive grade card.
The Sedo Caria doesn’t have a real glowing review from anyone, but it’s enough to make it to El Presidente.
Kováč Nováček - Horolezecký Batoh
by @Aruna
- Juan Pedro: A
- Homero Revoluto: B
- Alexander Acton: D
- Kofi Willow: C
- Penultimo: C
The… Let’s go Batoh, it’s the only word without accents in it. The Batoh is bumping up against an A from Homero, but safety holds it back. The 3 A’s for Homero were all sub-14k, with at least 27 safety and at least 54 drivability. The Batoh hits 14,100, out-does all 3 A’s for drivability… But only hits 23.9 safety, the fourth worst. It’s a real shame, it just can’t do it for him. It sure can do it for Juan, though, with a manual locker and the best reliability in the entire competition. The only real complexity is the 5-speed gearbox, which is used to deliver fairly short gears for offroading – Juan can’t complain, really. It’s rugged and has the aesthetics to match the offroad credibility, a big thick bullbar at the front. The basic interior and small engine don’t help at all with Acton, lacking comfort and prestige. It’s on the border of another D from Penultimo, but braking and cornering well just about saves it. On the flip side, it’s on the border of a B from Kofi by being quiet and sipping fuel… But lacking a catalytic converter means it only hits WES5, and has some really atrocious results when you floor it. The tests don’t, but that’s not great. The Czechoslovak flag in the grill is a nice touch, too, a little subtle element to include.
Another car for El Presidente to look at personally.
ADAZ 72245
by @moroza
- Juan Pedro: C
- Homero Revoluto: D
- Alexander Acton: A
- Kofi Willow: D
- Penultimo: A
The ADAZ 72245 is in a bit of a grey area. Can you expose that much of the roof without realistically incurring some of the penalties from being a convertible? The chassis would need some extra reinforcements, which brings with it extra weight, the roof wouldn’t insulate noise as well, you get the idea. Funnily enough… It could’ve been an actual convertible without changing the reviews that much. It’d lose a little bit of sportiness, but it has such a massive lead there that it doesn’t matter. It’d corner a little slower, but again, the only entry that betters it is on race tyres. That’s just about true for acceleration, although it occasionally trades places with the Pittsburgh Callahan. It would somehow gain top speed, because the version is a coupe and automatically has less drag… Point is, I tested it as a genuine convertible, and nothing changed. I picked the hardtop version because it’s not all cloth, but I’m satisfied enough to write this review.
As mentioned, the ADAZ ranks right around the top on all of Penultimo’s checklist, if not right at the top, and it doesn’t have anything to disqualify it at all, no massive awful drawbacks. It’s also nice and comfortable thanks to a fairly large size, only having 4 seats and a generally premium feel. Its speed and power buys it plenty of prestige, and looking the part as a premium sports not-technically-coupe is a big plus for Acton and Penultimo. The issue is that it only hits WES4, with noise and economy that really aren’t great. Maybe if it was submitted as a genuine convertible I’d be on the edge of a C, but it wasn’t. It also costs 25 grand, with merely average drivability. Safety is solid, mainly due to size (grumble grumble), and those 4 seats ends up being the final nail for Juan. Great reliability and average offroad (courtesy of a skidtray) get it over the line with Juan, although the cost is potentially a sticking point for him too.
The ADAZ does a-dance right to El Presidente’s office.
Audax Serena (Export) Select 3.5
- Juan Pedro: B
- Homero Revoluto: D
- Alexander Acton: A
- Kofi Willow: C
- Penultimo: C
And now for something completely different
Review 18: how to recognise different types of car from quite a long way away.
Number 1: The Large
The Large
The… Large
The Serena haunts my dreams. Uh, I mean, the Serena is a great big American boat. It’s the highest footprint here, by a fair margin. It’s also the heaviest. If it didn’t have a ladder chassis, that and the advanced safety would make it the safest. Issue with all that bulk is that it makes the car a bit of a pig to drive, especially without power steering, and it costs a pretty penny too. Couple in how shamelessly it wears classic American excess, and it gets a D from Homero… But this wasn’t made for Homero, was it? The space inside, the premium and well-made interior, the 3.75 litres of inline six heft… It speaks to Alexander Acton, especially with those looks. This is a car with substance, this is a car that folks can really aspire to, a proper premium sedan. That displacement gives it enough speed to pacify Penultimo – and big wide tyres help you get up to that speed and back down, avoiding being a total boat. Of course, that all comes with a fair bit of fuel consumption and noise. Emissions are average, and the lack of any awful untested regions and the older styling just about helps it pass with Kofi. The wide tyres and excess of torque help it muster up rather solid offroad, and the whole thing is reliable enough that Juan might consider one if his imaginary corn does especially well this year.
The Serena (Export) has been Exported to El Presidente’s binder of cars to review.
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Woot, another ass-backwards growing market to assist with the mobility of. Happy to have it score as well as it did.
Edit: as for sportiness, there does exist a concept that positions the engine behind the front seat powering the rear wheels, with said engine made from two of the I3s smashed together a la Frankenstein’s Monster…