Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 56: Fun In the Alps Redux

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 56: Fun in the Alps Redux

Last week's visit to Italy highlighted the importance of having less than 248 horsepower on tap. I am mentioning this exact figure for a reason: beyond this level of power, owners of any car registered there will be subject to extremely heavy annual taxes, much greater than anywhere else in Europe. However, quite a lot of today's performance cars have so much more power than this, to the point that their full potential is very difficult (if not impossible) to fully exploit on public roads. It had me thinking about making a true driver's car for modern times with modest levels of power, below the 248-bhp threshold. 

After a short period of deliberation, I realized that I already had one lying around: the Morton Sparrow. No, it's not the version I submitted for CSR78 - that trim, with 300 horsepower from its 2.0-litre turbo inline-four, would not be considered - but a detuned version with just 240 horsepower or so. I haven't actually made this less powerful trim yet, though, but considering that it may well be obsoleted in the Lite Campaign V3, I am now unsure as to whether I actually want to do so.

The Morton Sparrow in 300-horsepower guise, as submitted for CSR78. Since the rest of the car is basically spot-on, a 240-horsepower version of this model would be ideal for the Italian market (with its punitive taxes for anything with over 248 bhp) - or anywhere else for that matter.

Even with the drop in power, all of the Sparrow's other virtues - affordable price, light weight, small size, a well-balanced chassis, and a stout drivetrain - would be mostly preserved. As such, it would still be an ideal choice for tackling the narrow, twisting roads commonly found in Europe - but the reduced output would make its limits more approachable, especially at lower speeds. Moreover, with skillful tuning, the resulting car would end up being more economical as well. In short, it's the answer to a question I hadn't asked until now: "What if I made a version of my beloved Morton Sparrow better suited to the Italian market?"

That question, by the way, brings back memories of CSR36, which actually did feature the 248-bhp upper limit as an explicit requirement. As such, entering a variant of the Sparrow in a UE4-based redux of that particular round, detuned accordingly to meet requirements, would be a no-brainer. In that case, I would be confident of a good result - but with CSR currently on hold pending the public roll-out of the latest update, and the next round confirmed not to be about sports cars, it seems unlikely that I will enter the Sparrow in another CSR again.