Homologation 1984 Group Automation [Final 5 Review]

[Lordred]

A score metric of nearly 1, not bad not bad. Competitive field though, that was still literally only a mid-field finish. AND not even the most powerful car What happened, Armada!?

But hands down the quickest car, now that makes me pleased. If only I could do that AND get into the reviews...

Fastest on Pikes gets ya a Pint sized review.

[strop]

Yessssss! The future of my (historical anomaly) British car company depends on revving up its cult following of die-hards and quirky kooks!

[JasonPoland]

16/25

Praise the Arceus, that's my best place ever. Victory dance time!!!

[BeforeLifer]

I should be doing that two since I possibly have won the first ever Competition that I have entered lol. Also, that gif is awesome.

[Lordred]

First of the pint sized reviews.

The 1984 Armada EVO RC.



For our first pint sized review, we have the fastest car up the International Pikes Peak hill climb, which the Armada EVO RC did in a stunning 11 minutes and 23 seconds, for those of you who are more picky about their units, the last segment was eightyfour hundredths of a second rounding out a ripe 11:23.84 that's quick by any standard. Powered by an all aluminum V8 displacing the better part of 2.8 liters, which Armada claims to have drawn inspiration from some 'rival' they decided to adorn the cylinder heads with not one, but two lavishly lobed camshafts. The result of which gives us a light car with a galloping 289(net) horses, and it only just starts there. Applying said ponies to the ground results in a ¼ mile time of only 14.1 seconds and it just keeps on going, all the way to the better part of 240km/h. Once you get it into the corners, it switches tactics on trying to kill the driver from sinking you in your seat, to trying to rip you out of it. This was definitely the fastest car of our tests, but scoring very low in our economy tests it wont make the best daily driver.

Owners of the EVO RC will not be disappointed, for this is not a car, it is a rocket in the guise of a four wheeled vehicle.



Next pint sized review soon.

[Lordred]

Second pint sized review.

The 1984 SMC Outland.


For our second pint sized review, we have the car which set the top speed record in our competition. The SMC Outland, obtaining a top speed of 263.5km/h on our test track. The power plant in this is a 90 degree V8 which is just within the confines of the 2800cc limit placed by Group Automation. Fitted with twin cams and twin carbs. The power just keeps coming on your climb to the 7200 rpm redline where you eventually reach 259hp(net), we thought it had more, but it turns out there is an ignition cut off once you ask for more, assumingly for reliability reasons.

Lacking any advanced aerodynamic additions the Outland feels like you could take off and fly as you approach its top speed, but what really left us scratching our head is that there are no external door handles to speak off. We reached out to SMC motors on this. They sent us a stick with a hoop on it, and a letter.

“The lack of external door handles is no mistake, our goal was to make the fastest car in its class and so we opted to eliminate the door handles to help shave the coefficient of drag as low as possible. Please use the supplied item to reach the interior door handles through the rear hatch, or leave the windows down enough to open from the outside.”

While we are in awe at how dedicated to the craft SMC is, we expect not everyone would feel the same way, it is indeed a fun car with an appropriate level of soothing V8 rumble, however it feels very niche. That said, our test drivers reported that it was one of the better behaved vehicles on the dirt only being beat out by the Charon 828RX.



More to come

[VicVictory]

Nice work. Looking forward to the rest of them!

[Shaded009]

Because door handles are for casuals!




And people who remember to put them on >_>

[Lordred]

Third pint sized review.

The 1984 Daiki Acceleration


For our third pint sized review, we have the Daiki Acceleration. While it does in fact do that, it doesn't do that quite as quickly as the name would lead you to belive, with a naught to one-hundred in a rather middle of the pack 6.8 seconds the Daiki is already in trouble of living up to its name. It certainly has the power plant to do so, a meaty twenty-eight-hundred cubic centimeter I6 brandishing 284hp(net), but its tall gearing and inadequate traction prevents it from upholding its namesake.

But all is not lost, perhaps the name Acceleration has to do with the thrill of coming out of a corner and romping on the throttle, the pass over from neutral to over steer which is on the edge of sanity. Yes the Daiki might just live up to its name once you start peel it around a bend, yes it makes sense now. The name Acceleration isn't just about going fast in a straight line, it is about the rush gained from carving up the roads. Just don't carve up the roads too far from home, as air filters are optional.

[strop]

Rocket in the guise of a four wheeled vehicle, the sporty die hards will be pleased! Armada will live on yet!

[BeforeLifer]

How many more pint sizes are you doing? I want to know what position I'm in :D:D

[Lordred]

How many more pint sizes are you doing? I want to know what position I'm in :D:D

There will be a few more. Then the Last 5 with longer reviews.

[Lordred]

For the Best Offroad/Highest Power/"I didn't like those tires anyways" award: The 1984 Lightstar Charon



For our fourth pint sized review, we have the Lightstar Charon. This one confused us, when we opened the shipping container from Lightstar, we had sworn they had sent us the full blown race car. Aggressive knobby tires, a mostly barren interior, the only tale tell that this was in fact the road version is that it came with a full carpet, some sound deadening, and lacked a full roll cage. With a truly angry 2.8l engine delivering devastating 311hp(net), the Charon commanded, neigh, demanded you to drive it side ways on the dirt, control was retained at all times thanks to the expertly tuned suspension and progressive steering linkage which reduced steering input based on vehicle speed, which was wisely not based on drive line speed, but the wheel speed average by having the the ABS sensors perform double duty.

The truth be told we spent more time acting like hooligans while driving the Charon than anything else. While we commend Lightstar for developing a unapologetic rally car, we feel they could have had a much better performing sports car if they not focused to heavily on off-road performance.

[Lordred]

Best on Road: The 1984 GSI Invader



For our fifth pint sized review, we present the GSI Invader which was one of our more road focused cars of the lot. It is clear that GSI wanted the car to have enough travel in the suspension to pass the off road sections of the test, having relatively soft spring rates and an adequate ground clearance. But that is all that they wanted it to do on the dirt section, for linking the wheels from side to side are massive anti-roll bars ensuring body roll is kept to a minimum. This translates to a fairly flat ride with steering response just a hair over what is input. To help ensure all 234hp stays connected to the ground, GSI left the rear tires square whilst utilizing a geared LSD, which the gave a marvelous result when one applies the throttle. The Invader was clearly designed with off-road as an after thought, but that's just fine in our book. Its high reliability, low purchases cost and light financial costs make it an excellent choice.

[Lordred]

The Winner of the Easiest to Drive and the Safest car award goes to the 1984 Mercusa Xenon



Four our sixth pint review, we have the Mercusa Xenon all the way from Australia. When we accepted delivery of it at the docks with a name like 'Xenon' we were expecting a sporty looking something or the other which while standing still would look like it was traveling at the speed of light. What we were not expecting was a utilitarian car which looked out of place for a Group Automation homologation car. That said, the car was driven around like a fool would. It was then we started to come to grips with what Mercusa had sent us. It was exceptionally safe, no amount of jerking on the wheel at high speed would cause the car to misbehave, why one could be going at a full clip, jam the wheel over 90 degrees, and the Xenon would begrudgingly abide as though you had just asked a stubborn maid to clean the toilet. Despite its weight disadvantage, the Xenon had more in-store for us. Once you sucked up your pride and trudged your way out to the dirt, the massive turbo lag on this V8 didn't matter anymore. It was just simply point and go, keep the hammer down and watch the dust trails in the rear view mirror as you sailed down the road most trucks would blush on.

While not threatening the definition of sport, the Xenon is still a bag of Aussie fun to have.