Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 19: How To Have Fun With 35 Grand, Part 1
Recently, Automationeers like us have reached a consensus that a post-markup price of $35,000 is the threshold at which a car can no longer be considered affordable. With this in mind, the creators of CSR have launched a new challenge which aims to discover how this modest budget can be utilized. Specifically, any cars entered in this highly open competition would require a trim year between 2013 and 2018 (as well as being currently on sale), have between 2 and 5 seats, not be a delivery or cargo vehicle (it was agreed beforehand that the car had to be competitive in at least one of several performance segments), and retail for between $17000 and $25000 without markups. In addition, it had to record a standing-start lap around either the Green Hell or Airfield Track faster than 8:30 and 1:25, respectively, and require premium unleaded petrol at most.
For the sake of sensibility, production units and engineering time for the engine and trim were all capped at 100 each, except for trim production units, which were raised to 150. The regulations also stipulated a maximum tyre profile of 35 at zero (in other words, normal) quality, a safety rating of >45 and a loudness rating of <60, as well as a maximum fuel consumption figure of <14L/100km, and no fiberglass bodywork, thus ensuring that each entry would have some semblance of civility in daily driving conditions. Also, each user could send only one car per company, and the presence of any sort of lore for the latter was highly recommended, though not actually required. Finally, all cars would undergo extensive road and track testing at a variety of venues.
Having read the rules and double-checked them, I set about building an entry. Contrary to expectations, I put light weight ahead of raw power, and to that end built a small mid-engined sports coupe with an all-alloy structure and engine. The resulting car, the Albury CMS-20, was powered by the most common performance car powerplant of the current era - a turbocharged 2.0-litre straight-four. However, it had been fettled and fine-tuned to deliver 300 horsepower, sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox and a limited-slip differential.
Given that Albury Motors, which has a performance car heritage stretching for a half-century, is an Australian manufacturer best known for front-engined, rear-drive, V8-powered muscle cars, the CMS-20 was a pleasant surprise. Lore-wise, however, it was a logical decision considering that, by 2017, it had been several years since its predecessor was axed. But I was not content with entering just one car, and I had to change my approach for my other entry. Ironically, it would turn out to be very similar in ethos to the rear-drive V8 beasts Albury is best known for.
Thus the Harris Nimrod 5.0 Coupe, assembled in Northamptonshire, England, was born, and it couldn't be more different from the Albury. With a normally-aspirated V8 up front driving the rear wheels (again via a six-speed manual gearbox and a limited-slip differential) it had a more brutish character, but with four seats and a suitably sized trunk. It was also heavier, but had 50% more power.
Having read the rules and double-checked them, I set about building an entry. Contrary to expectations, I put light weight ahead of raw power, and to that end built a small mid-engined sports coupe with an all-alloy structure and engine. The resulting car, the Albury CMS-20, was powered by the most common performance car powerplant of the current era - a turbocharged 2.0-litre straight-four. However, it had been fettled and fine-tuned to deliver 300 horsepower, sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox and a limited-slip differential.
Albury CMS-20T: An Australian Lightweight with a Turbo Punch
Given that Albury Motors, which has a performance car heritage stretching for a half-century, is an Australian manufacturer best known for front-engined, rear-drive, V8-powered muscle cars, the CMS-20 was a pleasant surprise. Lore-wise, however, it was a logical decision considering that, by 2017, it had been several years since its predecessor was axed. But I was not content with entering just one car, and I had to change my approach for my other entry. Ironically, it would turn out to be very similar in ethos to the rear-drive V8 beasts Albury is best known for.
Thus the Harris Nimrod 5.0 Coupe, assembled in Northamptonshire, England, was born, and it couldn't be more different from the Albury. With a normally-aspirated V8 up front driving the rear wheels (again via a six-speed manual gearbox and a limited-slip differential) it had a more brutish character, but with four seats and a suitably sized trunk. It was also heavier, but had 50% more power.
Harris Nimrod 5.0 Coupe: Big, Bold, British and Brutally Fast
The most surprising thing about it was that it could reach an incredibly high top speed, considering its weight - it could reach over 190 mph given enough room. And while the Albury was more than 25% cheaper than the Harris, it was nowhere near as practical. As such, unlike the Harris, it was strictly a weekend track toy rather than a daily driver. Nevertheless, they were designed to be highly effective in their intended roles.
With the description of the contest and my entrants for it out of the way, all that was left to do was simply wait for the test results... But they have been delayed for long enough to make me create a new post for those. In the meantime, stay tuned...
UPDATE: As planned, Part 2 of this post will be delayed until further notice due to unforeseen delays in the judging for the entries. It has not been cancelled yet, however.
With the description of the contest and my entrants for it out of the way, all that was left to do was simply wait for the test results... But they have been delayed for long enough to make me create a new post for those. In the meantime, stay tuned...
UPDATE: As planned, Part 2 of this post will be delayed until further notice due to unforeseen delays in the judging for the entries. It has not been cancelled yet, however.
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