Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 159: A Birthday Gift

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 159: A Birthday Gift

In anticipation of my 31st birthday, I revisited Automation and decided to start work on a build that would serve as a spiritual successor to the Imperia I had made in an earlier, obsolete version of the game. After a few hours of work, I came up with this: the LVC LS60. This was a pure vanity project, given that it wasn't intended to be a challenge entry (and may never even become one), but I remain proud of it nonetheless.

Above and below: The LVC LS60 is distinguished by its simple yet beautiful design, achieved by careful adjustment of morphing zones and well-planned fixture placement, including the body molding at the rear, which has been shaped to resemble a spoiler.

As I was designing its exterior, I deliberately styled the LS60 to resemble various sports prototypes of the 1960s, hence the elliptical grille, front vents, and headlight lenses. In addition, I placed a body molding fixture at the upper edge of the rear bodywork to resemble a ducktail spoiler (especially since it relies on lip/diffuser fixtures and an aerodynamic undertray to generate downforce), and used cutout patch fixtures to extend the rear glass so that it resembled a wraparound rear window. Finally, the air intakes are placed on the rear fenders, behind the doors, for a cleaner side profile.

The interior of the LS60 is very luxurious, and is finished to the highest standards using genuine high-quality wood, leather, and metal trim.

The interior is no less impressive - I put a lot of effort into it, and it showed. In particular, I used a circular air vent fixture to make the chrome rings on the dials, with the leftmost ring housing the fuel, oil, and temperature gauges. A CD player with a high-quality stereo sound system comes as standard, although the steering lacks power assistance to save weight and improve road feel.

All of this exquisite design would be for naught, however, without thoughtful engineering, and so I gave the LS60 a carbon-fiber composite body and chassis with pushrod-actuated suspension front and rear. Underneath its wraparound rear window sits a 6.0-liter all-alloy naturally aspirated V12 developing 660 horsepower and 475 foot-pounds of torque, sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox and a mechanical limited-slip differential. Moreover, the brakes are large vented discs (375mm front, 345mm rear) gripped by 6-piston calipers up front and 4-piston calipers at the rear. The front and rear tires (high-performance, as usual), wrapped around 18-inch forged alloy wheels, have widths of 245m and 325mm, respectively. Finally, the suspension is tuned for performance on both road and track, with progressive springs, mono-tube dampers, and passive sway bars.

Six examples of the LVC LS60, each finished in a different exterior and interior color combination.

The LVC LS60 is capable of over 225 mph and can reach 60 mph in just 3.3 seconds from a standing start, but to avoid excess oversteer, I had to shift the weight as far forward as the game would allow.  This, however, is virtually mandatory for all mid-engined builds due to quirks in how weight distribution is calculated. And even with the default tech pool settings (+5 on all engine and trim areas), it still costs $79,000 AMU in-game - in real life it would carry a high six-figure or even seven-figure price tag. Even so, I felt that developing the LS60 was well worth the time and effort.

That concludes my summary of one of my recent Automation builds - and don't forget to wish me a happy birthday as well! Here's to many more years of Automationeering, with loads of thrills and spills along the way.