Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 125: David and Goliath

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 125: David and Goliath

I recently took some time to remake or reimagine some of my old builds from previous versions of Automation, and after sinking several hours into each one, here are the results:

A pair of genuine modern classic performance cars I made in Automation for true-blue enthusiasts - take your pick.

Both of the cars shown above are 2-seat sports cars powered by naturally aspirated engines, and are built on a glued aluminum chassis and aluminum alloy bodywork, in addition to sending their power to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox and a geared limited-slip differential, but that's where the similarities end. The car on the left (with a model/trim year of 1995) is as much of a grand tourer as it is a sports car. to that end, it is powered by a relatively under-stressed all-alloy, dual-overhead-cam, 32-valve V8 up front displacing 5.0 liters and developing 400 horsepower, and has a full luxury interior/CD player combination. Even with its weight-saving aluminum construction, its luxury trimmings bump up its weight to 1,300 kg, but at least that weight is distributed evenly across both the front and rear. The result is something that's as usable as it is fast, but nowhere near as raw as the next car shown here.

In complete contrast, the car on the right (with a model/trim year of 2000) is a track-ready roadster powered by a mid-mounted 2.0-liter straight-four (again, with dual overhead cams per bank and 4 valves per cylinder) developing only 220 horsepower, and comes with a pared-back sports interior and a standard mid-range CD player. Thanks to an extreme weight reduction strategy (where the weight optimization slider is set to its lightest), it only weighs 875 kilograms, but much of this was accomplished by omitting all driver aids and the power steering system. The result is a far purer driving experience, with little thought given to everyday usability - but for purists, that may be enough.

Overall, I felt satisfied with the final results of both builds, especially in terms of design and engineering, and would like to make still more fully detailed cars in Automation, regardless of the era and type of vehicle.