Car Reviewing

[Cheeseman]

Oh wow that is harsh! I thought I was harsh with the Montes Excelisor, which still managed 4 stars!

As titleguy1 is new to the team, I do check over everything before he starts writing the reviews, just to make sure there are no mistakes (and there weren't), so the stars are all as they should be. It really is a dreadful car.

To an extent though, it is OK considering the total costs, which sit just above $6,500. If it were to be entered for the small car comparison, its score would have been boosted significantly, but not enough to pull itself out of last unfortunately.

I have decided to give it a little tune over. EVERYTHING, has been improved, except reliability (which would still be 4 stars, but oh well).



Let me talk you through it all:

- Styling is kept simple. I don't like judging styling, simply because it is down to opinion, but I have made a couple of changes anyway.
- Bye, bye standard steel that will most likely rust in no time, hello better, lighter stuff that won't!
- The engine remains the same size, but still very cheap. It may have 15 bhp less, but it is quicker, thanks to better gearing, lighter chassis and better aero. It is also A LOT more efficient, boosting economy massively to almost 63 UK mpg (and I didn't make further adjustments to gearing to make it even better). This is 52.4 US mpg or 4.5 l/100 km for those who don't use what I use.
- Tyres are only marginally improved. Slightly wider and a better compound. This means the car can now corner better. 0.05G better. It may not be much, but in the spreadsheet it might be enough to push it into the fourth star.
- Brakes were small at the front (which is OK on a light car), large at the rear and 1 pistons on both. Not ideal. Fronts are now 2 pistons, and the rears are reduced in size. Braking distance has improved.
- The interior has been improved too. The negative quality sliders have been removed, and the sound insulation has been increased.
- Suspension has been set to the comfort preset. You can't get much more comfortable than that!

And there you have it, by simply adding an extra $700 to the total costs you can make a world of a difference.

[BitTwiddler]

I think a car should be reviewed on it's own merits, rather then being compared to another vehicle all the time, unless it's a head to head.

I would have said something like
It's reliability is similar to what you usually expect in this car class/these days, with a decent 4 stars to it's name.

I think we need more reviewers and possibly a public formula on how to calculate the stars so anyone can do it if they want to.

[Speedemon]

Can someone do a review on one of my cars?

[utopian201]

...
To an extent though, it is OK considering the total costs, which sit just above $6,500. If it were to be entered for the small car comparison, its score would have been boosted significantly, but not enough to pull itself out of last unfortunately.
...

So you're saying a car can get more stars or a higher rating when compared to other cars, but that rating can change when reviewed on its own...?

I think a car should be reviewed on it's own merits, rather then being compared to another vehicle all the time, unless it's a head to head.

I would have said something like
It's reliability is similar to what you usually expect in this car class/these days, with a decent 4 stars to it's name.

I think we need more reviewers and possibly a public formula on how to calculate the stars so anyone can do it if they want to.

If people are submitting their cars for review, they are by very definition putting it up for scrutiny and I think it is fair to compare it to other cars.
If people want to do their own reviews, they can start their own threads as I have; this is Cheeseman's thread, so he can (and should) basically do whatever he wants.

[Cheeseman]

I think we need more reviewers and possibly a public formula on how to calculate the stars so anyone can do it if they want to.

No need for more reviewers. Why would there be a need for more of them? TheTom is writing one, and I will most likely send another car to titleguy1 today. I might even send strop something as I only recently noticed I had a hypercar waiting to be reviewed in my PMs.

The formula will not go public. People should be able to judge by themselves whether a car is good or not, and 95% of the cars that are sent in a more than acceptable. There is no need. Also, I don't particularly want people to start using my formula and writing reviews for themselves.

Can someone do a review on one of my cars?

Send me one.

So you're saying a car can get more stars or a higher rating when compared to other cars, but that rating can change when reviewed on its own...?

Yes, for the time being. I am most likely going to wait until the tycoon aspect of the game is implemented before costs affect all reviews. Total costs is not a list price. Yes, I do use them for the comparisons, but when you get budget entries and not budget entries but no price, you need to use something in order to make up for the budget cars' almost inevitably lower scores.

[strop]

So you're saying a car can get more stars or a higher rating when compared to other cars, but that rating can change when reviewed on its own...?

This makes sense in real life. After all, for some (not all) cars, we gain a lot of relative sense of a car's worth by figuring out whether it's value for money or by comparing it to the rest of the market. Many of the high volume production car reviews are focused on whether you should buy a car OVER a competitor, and the reviews can shift a lot depending on changes to the competitor regardless of whether one model changes or not e.g. my Honda Civic would have scored far worse reviews in Australia when released in 2012 as that was an advance release due to demand (i.e. Honda, please stop making shitty Civics, can we have a good one for the first time in over a decade???), but it was sold to a South African market, so was priced inappropriately and lacked a lot of the standard features in the Australian compact/hatch market, which was largely due to the sheer dominance of the Mazda3 for the better part of the previous decade, which, IMO, largely drove the features war that has most of the driving aids, Bluetooth, cruise control, climate control and MP3 player compatibility as standard.

Point being, if my car didn't have any of those things but there was nothing to compare it to, I might say "oh well, that's how it goes" and be content with even having a car to drive to and fro. But if all the other cars have or don't have that stuff, then my mind switches to "hey, what about stuff in MY car???" That's what drove me to buy the Civic, btw: in response to the market, Honda Australia added all the features I was looking for, and slashed the price (but not enough, so I haggled it down further ).

[TheTom]

Hey guys! I’ve joined the car reviewing team too, and in my first review i’ll take a closer look at the

Necronia Agyros







This little 1.0L turbocharged hatchback is making an effort to compete with the 1.0L versions of other popular city cars like the VW Polo or the Ford Fiesta, but how does it compare to its rivals?



Performance (3 stars)
The top speed of this 1.0L turbocharged engine is adequate to its rivals, like a comparable Fiesta or Polo. The acceleration from 0-100km/h is slightly sub-par though, mainly because this car takes 4 gears to reach the 100km/h threshold. That’s why the Agyros comes with a 6-speed manual gearbox, unusual for a small car like this. Despite the 6 speeds, it doesn’t feel very sporty. A (corrosion resistant) steel chassis and the short gearing play a major role in this car’s sportiness, or rather lack thereof.

Ride Comfort (4 stars)
This is one of the Agyros’ strong points. The suspension is about as comfortable as it gets. That being said, the 17 inch rims look stylish but they also make for a very low tire profile. In addition to that, the body roll of about 7° is not going to offer your passengers the most comfortable ride in their lives, but it’s not too bad because overall this car rides decently well.

Handling (4 stars)
Instant, but kind of scary is how I would describe this car’s handling. On the one hand, it reaches 1.16g of lateral acceleration, on the other hand the chassis and the roll angle make this car feel very wobbly on the limit. Couple that with a rather quickly responding engine and a tameness value of 50.8, and you’re thankful to have not only ABS and power steering but also TCS. And all that time, weirdly enough, it doesn’t feel very sporty or connected to the driver.

Refinement (4 stars)
Another 4-star rating for the Necronia Agyros. The engine is very quiet despite the 2 inch exhaust diameter. On top of that, it offers sound insulation like you normally get in cars like a Mercedes E-class. When you start the engine, you’re going to wonder whether or not it’s actually running at first.

Equipment (3 stars)
The Necronia Agyros comes with pretty much everything you would expect from a small car like this. No surprises. That also means it doesn’t come with anything you wouldn’t have expected, but at least its interior, entertainment and safety features are on standard levels. Also, as I mentioned earlier, it comes with ABS, Power steering and TCS.

Quality (3 stars)
The Agyros is a car in which you feel at home right when you enter it. But you also get used to it pretty quickly because the interior quality is nothing to write home about.

Reliability (5 stars)
This is where the Necronia Agyros really shines. It just won’t break. It’ll stay with you for as long as you like, provided that you service it regularly.

Running Costs (2 stars)
Speaking of which, servicing the Agyros is not cheap. Despite displacing only 995cc, it’ll cost you slightly above 2000$ per year for a full-range service. In addition to that, it uses more fuel than most of today’s cars in its class, 5.98l/100km to be precise.

Safety (3 stars)
Again, no surprises here. Average safety features, slightly above average weight compared to its rivals, and sufficient driver aids.

Overall rating: 3 stars
The Necronia Emperion is a car for young and unexperienced drivers with a brave heart and wealthy parents. It’s an agile little car, and despite being kind of a handful, there are enough driving aids to help you out, and the 70hp engine probably won’t cause too many speeding tickets. And that’s good because you’ll need that money for the service and fuel bills anyway.

Pros:
- Agile
- Comfortable
- Quiet
- Reliable


Cons:
- Gearbox
- Overall sportiness
- Fuel consumption
- Service costs

[Speedemon]

It wont let me add my car picture files!

[Cheeseman]

Read the rules on the first page as to how to send a car in

[aidan7777]

Looking forward to when my luxury sports car will get reviewed.

[Speedemon]

How do I get the car files from automation?

[USDMFTW]

How do I get the car files from automation?

Documents>automation>engines
>platform

[Jakgoe]

How do I get the car files from automation?

Documents>automation>engines
>platform

No, only the Documents>Automation>Model is necessary.

[USDMFTW]

How do I get the car files from automation?

Documents>automation>engines
>platform

No, only the Documents>Automation>Model is necessary.

Model carries the engine with it as well? I could not remember if it was model or platform that the game didnt generate.

[Jakgoe]

It carries both, as of B1418.