Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 11: War Wagons

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 11: War Wagons

After two straight rounds of building what were essentially street-legal track cars (especially appropriate given the context of those rounds), CSR changed tack again. This time, users were given the enviable task of building fast, sporty, yet practical daily drivers - with wagons (estate cars to those of you in Europe and elsewhere) being the preferred body style. As such, while I wasn't required to build one, I did so anyway. And once again, I decided to take full advantage of the engineering time and cost limits - now more generous than previously - by throwing in the kitchen sink when designing my entry.

Does this tick all the boxes for an enthusiast with a growing family... It sure looks like it does...

For the fourth straight round I opted for a straight-six engine up front (it isn't among my favorite engine configurations for nothing), driving the rear wheels, and as was the case during CSR39, it was normally aspirated, with an alloy block. Yet again I chose a fully independent suspension on both axles, and set it up to oversteer, just so that I could give the driver a sportier feel from behind the wheel. Again, all the fundamentals for a great driver's car were present - manual gearbox, limited-slip diff, high-performance tires, etc.

So far, so good. But as soon as one particular entrant revealed and submitted his entry, there was absolutely no chance of anyone else winning the round outright. But why? A quick look at its dyno sheet revealed the answer.

How's this for consistency?

Looking at the menu for the turbo setup, it's clear that what turned out to be the winning car had a turbocharged straight-six with a small-diameter compressor and turbine, plus a small amount of boost and a lean air/fuel ratio. This provided an extremely high level of efficiency, especially for 1995, the year in which this round was set. More importantly, with a fat, flat torque curve throughout the rev range, in-gear acceleration would have been incredibly rapid. One can only wonder how much more potent and economical it would be if it were modernized with direct fuel injection...

Get used to that rear view - you'll have little time to appreciate it...

So, to hardly anyone's surprise, the Dragotec Helios took a comfortable victory in CSR41. It was economical, fun to drive and shot through with quality. On top of that, it was still affordable, both in the short and long term. However, I could once again finish the round with my head held high, as I usually do - my entry attracted glowing praise for its sporty dynamics, especially considering that it was purely rear-wheel-drive. At the time this post was published, the theme for the next round has yet to be announced - I will be curious to find out.