Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 45: Ready, Set, Tow
Now that I am back home again after a brief vacation, I can finally give you a rundown of the latest CSR round to have concluded fully. For those of you expecting another utility-themed round, you are most definitely right. The premise of CSR77 is that somewhere in Europe (specifically, southern Germany), someone is looking for a vehicle which they can use as a tow rig capable of carrying their highly tuned race car all the way to Sweden, where an outlaw road race will soon be held. That tow rig had to be a panel van, truck, wagon (estate for those of you who prefer to use European motoring terms), SUV or people mover, with at least three seats and four doors (if the seats were arranged in two rows and the front seat was not a bench). And, as usual, it also had to be street-legal (catalytic converter + 1 muffler, no race intake/exhaust or semi-slick tires); on top of that, it had to use a body which became available from 1995 onwards.
The customer's priorities were quite clear-cut this time around. In addition to costing no more than $17,000 without markups, it had to be sufficiently comfortable, easy to drive, and reliable for its role as a tow rig, while also being cheap to service and highly economical (for its kind - 12 litres/100 km was the absolute maximum). Most importantly of all, utility, load capacity, cargo volume, and towing capacity were paramount, with minimum values of 30, 500 kg (plus 300 kg for every 1000 litres of cargo space), 1000 kg, and 1400 kg respectively. After double-checking the rules, I finally went ahead and started work on my entry for this round.
Thus the MUD Teton was born. After some deliberation, I settled on a single-cab version with a premium interior and a bench seat, having previously decided that a dual-cab version with a standard interior would not be as effective. The Teton's construction was very conventional: a galvanized steel ladder frame with a leaf-sprung live rear axle and treated steel bodywork, but no 4x4 system, lockable differential or off-road tires, in keeping with the on-road spirit of the round.
Over the next few days I grew increasingly confident, as other users built and submitted their entries. It soon became clear, though, that some of the users believed that the client's needs would be best served with something other than a truck, and decided on submitting passenger cars instead. However, I stuck to my original idea of a 4x2 single-cab truck, having decided that it would indeed be the right type of vehicle for the job.
This time there were 21 entrants, which meant that the field for this round had actually increased in size compared to the previous one. However, as before, only six entrants would still be in contention for overall victory after the first phase of judging. The other 15 were eliminated for a variety of reasons; some were too large to be practical, while others were too heavily focused on utility to be sufficiently comfortable and/or drivable for daily use. There were even a few entries which suffered from the exact opposite problem - inadequate utility - and were also passed over without a second thought.
This left only six entries for the host to judge in the final review phase. My Teton 4x2 would go up against the somewhat generic Shromet Parvus, the relatively stylish Vikstrom C9 2.5 AWD, the butch FM Outback, the boxy Hawker Nemesis and the odd-looking but surprisingly capable WorkMateAir. Again, though, I could manage no better than fifth - an inevitable consequence of focusing too heavy on utility to the detriment of comfort and drivability for the second round in a row. It did, however, beat the FM Outback, which was far cheaper but even less comfortable. As for the Vikstrom, its lack of cargo capacity and high running costs ensured that it only finished fourth, ahead of the Teton but behind the Parvus.
In the end, the WorkMateAir claimed a narrow victory over its closest rival, the Hawker Nemesis, simply by being the best all-rounder of the six finalists. And so, after a sluggish start, CSR77 finally reached the satisfactory conclusion it deserved. However, given that this round was the second one in a row to have a utility theme, it was generally agreed that the next round would focus instead on passenger cars instead of trucks, SUVs or vans. That, however, is for another post. Until then, see you next time!
Thus the MUD Teton was born. After some deliberation, I settled on a single-cab version with a premium interior and a bench seat, having previously decided that a dual-cab version with a standard interior would not be as effective. The Teton's construction was very conventional: a galvanized steel ladder frame with a leaf-sprung live rear axle and treated steel bodywork, but no 4x4 system, lockable differential or off-road tires, in keeping with the on-road spirit of the round.
The MUD Teton as originally submitted for CSR77, in 4x2 Premium guise.
Over the next few days I grew increasingly confident, as other users built and submitted their entries. It soon became clear, though, that some of the users believed that the client's needs would be best served with something other than a truck, and decided on submitting passenger cars instead. However, I stuck to my original idea of a 4x2 single-cab truck, having decided that it would indeed be the right type of vehicle for the job.
This time there were 21 entrants, which meant that the field for this round had actually increased in size compared to the previous one. However, as before, only six entrants would still be in contention for overall victory after the first phase of judging. The other 15 were eliminated for a variety of reasons; some were too large to be practical, while others were too heavily focused on utility to be sufficiently comfortable and/or drivable for daily use. There were even a few entries which suffered from the exact opposite problem - inadequate utility - and were also passed over without a second thought.
Above, from top: four of the top five entries in CSR77 (Vikstrom C9, Hawker Nemesis, Shromet Parvus and WorkMateAir)
This left only six entries for the host to judge in the final review phase. My Teton 4x2 would go up against the somewhat generic Shromet Parvus, the relatively stylish Vikstrom C9 2.5 AWD, the butch FM Outback, the boxy Hawker Nemesis and the odd-looking but surprisingly capable WorkMateAir. Again, though, I could manage no better than fifth - an inevitable consequence of focusing too heavy on utility to the detriment of comfort and drivability for the second round in a row. It did, however, beat the FM Outback, which was far cheaper but even less comfortable. As for the Vikstrom, its lack of cargo capacity and high running costs ensured that it only finished fourth, ahead of the Teton but behind the Parvus.
In the end, the WorkMateAir claimed a narrow victory over its closest rival, the Hawker Nemesis, simply by being the best all-rounder of the six finalists. And so, after a sluggish start, CSR77 finally reached the satisfactory conclusion it deserved. However, given that this round was the second one in a row to have a utility theme, it was generally agreed that the next round would focus instead on passenger cars instead of trucks, SUVs or vans. That, however, is for another post. Until then, see you next time!
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