automationgame.com

First off to make this clear this is not officially a challenge yet, just an idea I have had recently.

The Premise:
Since Minivans are pretty much the anti-christ to car enthusiasts, I decided to change that by asking the community to develop a Minivan that isn't totally sleep inducing. To give the whole ordeal something of a context, lets imagine someone had the glorious idea of a production based Minivan racing series, using a Group A esque set of rules. This obviously means that there need to be both a Homologation version and a Race version of the Vehicle in question. Which leads leads me nicely to:

The Rules (under construction, will be fleshed out if you guys show sufficient interest):
- Tech year is 2012
- Vehicles require a Minivan-esque body (for added variety Van & SUV bodies are eligible as well, a full list of eligible bodies will be determined later on)
- Age of the body is irrelevant
- Players may base their entries on already existing models.

- Homologation version and Race version must be visually identical (excluding colour)

- Engines must be from the same family, homologation has to use a street legal exhaust etc.
- Number and layout of cylinders, displacement, head type, fuel system and aspiration are unrestricted (keep it somewhat realistic please)
- No CNC parts
- Output of the Race version may not exceed 400hp, Homologation version is unrestricted
- All engine layouts and drivetrains are eligible and must be identical between Homologation and Race
- Max tire width for Homologation special is 255mm on all four wheels, Race can have 265mm
- Max rim size for the race version is 19", wheel must be made from aluminium
- No use of quality sliders for wheels
- Homologation and Race must use the same brake disks and calipers, race may use more aggressive brake pads
- No fully clad and downforce undertrays
- No active aero
- Homologation has to use 6 seats minimum and all driver assists except launch control
- Race must use Sport interior with -15 quality, NO driver assists and advanced safety
- Homologation may use any type of springs, dampers and sway bars
- Race version is not allowed to use any active suspension components whatsoever.
- Minimum safety requirement: 50


The Judging Process:
The race version will only be judged by its laptime around a nondescript track. Much more interesting will be the Homologation special, which will not only be judged by its performance (acceleration, handling etc.) but also Practicality, Utility, Safety, Comfort, Drivability, Fuel economy and Running costs in descending order.
As a bonus I'll probably do a beauty contest in which I let the public decide which contestant is the best looking and least embarrassing. It will be weighted seperately and added to the final score.

I want to emphasize that it is still undecided if I actually do this and that the rule set and judging process are still in need of tweaking. Feedback is very much welcome and wanted.
Thanks for your time.

I'd throw a van into it. Sure I could find a way to make my personal favorite type of car into a non-sleep-inducing, fire-spitting, screaming nightmare. I've toyed around with the idea of some interesting racing vans, and minivans that wouldn't be a bore to drive.

You will absolutely need to clarify this, because it is the single most vaguest thing about any tournament. Given you said 'No use of quality sliders' in the previous point about the homologation version, is this to mean that you can't use tech sliders for the interior tabs either?

If so, that bugs me because the tech sliders in the interior etc. tab actually can play a large role in finetuning the balance of your car, but also, imposing a blanket restriction like that doesn't reflect any kind of realistic reasoning. It'd be better to specify some specific limitations that better simulate real conditions, for example:

• Safety of both homologation and race version must be 40 or greater (i.e. legal for sale in Fruinia)
• Race version should use sports seats of tech at least 0 (or something like that, this kind of limitation is ok because there's no cost limit on the race version, otherwise I wouldn't even limit this because sports seats are expensive)

If greater safety is still important, make it a weighted component of scoring. For the most part, safety plays an important role in most, if not all the market tabs.

By 2012 VVL is common-use so to arbitrarily exclude this tech makes no sense.

Allowing differences between the homologation car such as different gearboxes also doesn't make sense as the purpose of the homologation car is to ratify a specification that cannot be deviated from. This is why a minimum build count was specified and why a number of otherwise un-interesting cars became collectible; they're rare road legal racers without slicks and add road legal interior and exhaust.

So, for the comp the two cars would be identical in brakes, engine, gearbox, suspension etc. but the road car would be de-tuned, suspension softened, a better interior installed, and a street legal exhaust installed.

I would prepare something for this competition; we need more "left-field" competitions!

Save yourself a lot of headache by amending these


To this

Changed a few of the rules, let me know if there are still some stupid ones.

Are there now any tech slider restrictions on safety, or a minimum requirement?

Not yet, first I'll have to build a test vehicle to get a vague idea of what is what.

For the race suspension settings, are semi active and adaptive allowed?

Adaptive yes, semi active no

This challenge looks properly interesting, but may I ask why driveability is so far down in the order for the judging of the homologation model? Wouldn't it be easier to weigh these stats? (next to performance if you don't want to use sportiness for that)

can both versions use Hydropneumatic suspension?

I have a 400 hp 1450 Kg monster capable of 295 km/h (used the big mpv body)

No.
On that note, I might need to develop a BoP system for that body.

then how it's supposed to be?

because I use Hydro all all my luxury builds

wait.... im having difficulty differentiating wagons vs minivans.....

and minivans vs full sized vans....