Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 195: Two Icons Revisited

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 195: Two Icons Revisited

When I finalized the specs for the 1995 LVC LS60 and its chief rival, the AMS Archangel, many months ago, I set the tech pool allocation for both of them at a total of $60 million per car; this figure represented the combined cost of engine and trim tech pool for each car. However, recent events have made me reconsider this decision, and so I decided on a 25% increase for the combined tech pool cost per car, to $75m. I then used the resulting extra headroom in the budget to invest in additional quality points throughout all trim areas, while remaining at or under my new self-imposed $100,000 AMU price cap. This ensured that both cars would have stats more befitting of a highly exclusive, ultra-low-volume hypercar of the era - one that customers would happily pay top dollar for.

Above, from top: After I reworked the 1995 LVC LS60 (blue) and its closest contemporary rival with 25% greater tech pool budgets for each, the AMS Archangel (red), both of them have performance and prestige that's even more commensurate of their enormous price tags.

While the LS60 now weighs exactly 1,000 kilograms (as I had originally planned), it also has an additional 25 horsepower to push it around (525 horsepower instead of 500), and needs just 3.6 seconds to reach 60 mph from a standstill (a 0.3 second improvement over the previous version of this build). That matches the Archangel's figure, even though that car has 50% more displacement and 150 more horsepower - albeit delivered sooner than before (7600 rpm, with a redline of 8000 rpm), and with 10% extra mass (1100 kg, which is still very light in absolute terms). But whereas the Archangel has more comfort and reliability, the LS60 counters with better drivability and sportiness, thanks to its smaller, lighter body. Other changes include increasing the downforce levels at both ends of each car to their maximum levels, and tweaking their suspension settings accordingly, along with further adjustments to their gear ratios.

In short, both the LVC LS60 and the AMS Archangel of 1995 have not had their appeal diminished one bit by the addition of tech pool and quality points - if anything, they are now even more tempting, to the point where they will draw the attention (and envy) of even the most jaded enthusiast.