Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 211: A Two-Door Bruiser for Keen Drivers

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 211: A Two-Door Bruiser for Keen Drivers

With the four-door HPG HL6 already completed, I began wondering if a high-performance two-door coupe version would be even better still - and so it was. To make that a reality, however, I had to make a lot of mechanical changes - aesthetic differentiation wouldn't be enough. So I chose to take the resulting build slightly further upmarket, into the more prestigious grand touring segment.

The first step was to give it a sleeker two-door bodyshell, using the same body set and wheelbase, but in notchback (rather than fastback) coupe configuration. That alone was insufficient to give the desired proportions, however, so I angled the windshield rake as far back as possible. Enlarging the wheel diameter by 17 inches also helped. The result was an even more athletic stance, one that was more obvious inside and out than in the donor car.

To back up the racier styling, I gave the mechanicals a once-over, and decided that it needed at least 40 more horsepower to be competitive - but I exceeded that target by 5 horsepower. Combined with 10 lb-ft of extra torque, it was enough to take it into sports car territory... in a straight line. But even with a 6-speed manual gearbox (with different ratios) and helical limited-slip differential to harness the extra power, it was clear that getting all that power to the ground safely needed a lot more work.

Keeping all of this in mind, I retained the lower ride height of the Sport package, but went one step further with stiffer spring/damper rates. However, I didn't go too far and compromise ride comfort in the process. In addition to this, uprated brakes helped cut fade to zero, while lower-profile high-performance tires and a functional aero kit yielded substantial improvements in grip - a necessity for something with more overt sporting intentions.

As for interior aesthetics, I only needed to make minor modifications, such as rescaling and moving some fixtures (a few of which were replaced by different variants within the same set). The deep purple interior accents remained, but the background interior color was mainly tan or cream instead of gray. In addition, most of the chrome-finished exterior brightwork was replaced with plastic trim. Finally, I fitted a pair of tailpipes on each side at the rear instead of the single items I used previously.

Above, from top: The HPG HL6 was already attractive enough to stand out from the crowd in its original four-door form - and this is even more true of the two-door version, especially in Sport trim.

Regarding standard equipment, very few changes had to be made, except for having adjustable adaptive dampers by default. This trades a small amount of reliability for extra sportiness and comfort - a boon in the GT market the HL6 Coupe would've competed in.

Above, from top: The interior of the HPG HL6 Coupe is marginally less practical, with one fewer seat, but has a more intimate feel - and perhaps fittingly, a sportier one in the Sport trim level.

In short, the HPG HL6 Coupe delivers a surprising amount of grace and pace for a large two-door coupe, without sacrificing too much space. To be fair, however, it wasn't my first attempt at making a grand tourer or personal luxury coupe in Automation using any of the two largest sizes of the '89 Ice Cream body set, but after looking back on it, I can proudly say that it was the best by far. The Discourse post showcasing this car can be found here if you want to find out more about it.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 210: Another Four-Door Cruiser for Keen Drivers

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 210: Another Four-Door Cruiser for Keen Drivers

The AAA Centurion 6.0 SS wasn't the only fully detailed four-door build I recently made with a Discourse challenge in mind. A few weeks before that, I started work on a more luxury-focused design, the 1992 HPG HL6 4.0 Sport, which you can find more about here - and unlike the AMS Ventnor I made a few years ago, I chose the '89 Ice Cream body set as the starting point. My choice was justified: the Ventnor, being built on the '88 Indicator body set, was too small and light for the brief, and the only other alternative, the '87 Boat body set, wasn't available in the size I wanted to use. With the base body set locked in, I commenced design and engineering work, making sure to work within the limits of the challenge, the rules of which can be found in this post.

Built on a unitary AHS steel chassis with treated steel bodywork (for better rust protection), the HL6 is an outlier among luxury sedans, thanks to its curvaceous, forward-thinking design (at a time when some real-life equivalents were far more angular by comparison) and lighter build (under 1.7 tons in some trims). The Sport package leverages this even further with slightly lower, stiffer suspension (which still retains most of the comfort found in the standard setup) and a viscous limited-slip differential. Powered by a 275-bhp 4.0-liter naturally aspirated 32-valve quad-cam V8, driving the rear wheels via a five-speed advanced automatic gearbox, the HL6 has the thrust to match its looks - and with A-arm front suspension and a multi-link rear end, it delivers a supple ride/handling balance on any road surface.

Above, from top: With its sleek, sporty ambiance, the 1992 HPG HL6 was a breath of fresh air in a segment whose offerings generally had a more stoic look and feel by comparison.

Higher-end trims came with optional air suspension (and even satellite navigation in later years), but even without them, the HL6 was an alluring alternative to the more conservative choices found in the segment. To justify this, it had a luxurious, high-quality interior and CD/cassette stereo sound system, with advanced safety features such as ABS-assisted vented disc brakes at each corner, along with traction control and variable-assist power steering.

Above: The interior of the HPG HL6 was packed with lots of standard equipment, as befitting a full-size luxury car - and offered in a wide range of color/material combinations on customer request, just like the exterior.

In short, the HL6 4.0 Sport is best described as a surprise package within its class: unexpectedly sporty to look at and drive (but in a good way), while still retaining top-tier levels of luxury, safety, technology, and convenience with minimal compromise, even in its most basic form.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 209: Centurion Reborn

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 209: Centurion Reborn

As part of yet another recent Automation Discourse challenge, I embarked on another fully detailed build, this time reusing the name of something I'd made earlier during the Kee era, almost a decade ago. This time, however, I'd only be making a specific trim for the purposes of the challenge I wanted to enter, although others may follow later.

The trim in question - the 2006 AAA Centurion 6.0 SS - is a good example of what I call a "muscle sedan", in which a four-door car has an unusually large and powerful engine slotted into it. Developing a steady 400 horsepower, its 6000cc all-alloy overhead-valve V8 also has enough mid-range torque to make overtaking a breeze, even in the lower gears. Mated to a six-speed manual transmission and helical LSD, the Centurion is quick enough off the mark (0-60 mph in <5 seconds) to keep up with (and even beat) actual sports cars on a winding road or at a permanent circuit, thanks to fully independent suspension (dual-wishbone front/multilink rear) and large vented disc brakes (345mm front discs w/4-piston calipers and 315mm rear discs w/2-piston calipers) at each corner, all set up to provide a sporty driving experience while also maintaining enough comfort for daily use.

Above, from top: The 2006 AAA Centurion 6.0 SS is the high-performance flagship of the Centurion line, and flaunts its sporty image with such cosmetic elements as a raised hood bulge (incorporating a scoop), functional fender vents, and an aerodynamics kit that incorporates real front and rear spoilers.

Built on a high-strength steel chassis with treated steel bodywork, the Centurion 6.0 SS is no stripped-out track special - with a high-quality premium interior and CD stereo sound system, complete with satellite navigation, all five occupants enjoy a surprising level of comfort for a car of this kind. Variable-ratio hydraulic power steering, combined with a full suite of driving aids (ABS plus traction/stability control, the latter of which can be toggled on or off with a button press each), and driver/passenger side airbags (front, side, rear side, knee, and curtain) make it as safe as it is wieldy in traffic. And with 18-inch alloy wheels wrapped in high-performance tires, the Centurion has the grip to match its grunt.

In building the Centurion, I invested a lot of quality points into several critical areas (especially the bottom end, fuel system, drivetrain, interior, body/trim, and suspension) to improve some of its more vital scores (such as sportiness, drivability, and comfort, all of which are crucial for a high-performance daily driver capable of seating four or even five adults). My techpool distribution (within the maximum combined cost of $50 million AMU, split between engine and trim as desired) was mostly similar to the default allocation of +5 in every area, except for +7 each for the bottom end, fuel system, interior, chassis, and gearbox, +6 for safety, and +0 for forced induction (a necessary reduction for anything with a naturally aspirated engine, since any techpool cost that would otherwise be invested there could be reallocated elsewhere).

Above: While the Centurion 6.0 is ostensibly a performance car, it doesn't skimp on safety or creature comforts inside, so you'd have no qualms about using it as a daily driver.

In short, the Centurion may have the heart and soul of a sports car under its hood, but it's still a grown-up premium offering as well, with enough usability to complement its performance - and the looks to back it up.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 208: Revitalization

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 208: Revitalization

While I wait for the Al-Rilma open alpha branch of Automation to be sufficiently stable for my liking, I've been at work reworking some of my existing builds once again, to suit my needs. I gave my favorite UE4-era design, the 1995 LVC LS60, this treatment as preparation for submission in a recent Discourse challenge. The Coupe and Spyder (both of which I've made earlier) have been revised, still sharing the same engine, but now developing 500 horsepower, in a car weighing exactly one metric ton (in coupe form - the Spyder was 10 kilograms heavier) - a formidable power-to-weight ratio by any measure. This time, though, a CS (Club Sport) variant was added, sacrificing some creature comforts to save 60kg, and adding 20 horsepower through a freer-flowing exhaust. Combined with specialized track-focused (but still street-legal) tires, it made an already hardcore hypercar even harder-edged.

Above, from left to right: The entire 1995 LVC LS60 range: Coupe, Spyder and CS.

The LS60 production run numbered just 100 (60 coupes, 30 Spyders and 10 CS models), with production spanning a 24-month period from 1995 to 1997. In that time, it had redefined what was possible when a supercar/hypercar manufacturer took the lightweight approach - razor-sharp throttle response, a stratospheric redline (10,000 rpm!) and near-instantaneous ability to change direction (all while staying under control even in extremis) combined to provide a highly visceral experience unlike anything that came before.

Aesthetically, the LS60 was also noteworthy for drawing heavily on various sports prototypes of the 1960s for inspiration, with sinuous, flowing lines and, on the coupe, a bubble-like glasshouse incorporating a wraparound rear window. However, due to its extreme exclusivity, LVC also produced another mid-engined car below it in their hierarchy - the LS35 - to serve as a replacement for the LS32 that debuted in 1990. Built on an all-aluminum platform, its exterior styling essentially condensed some of the LS60's influences into a smaller, more attainable form, but with a double-bubble roof to further differentiate it from its siblings.

To better fit into its manufacturer's canon, the LS35 had a 3.2-liter engine, in place of the LS32's 3.0-liter unit. But whereas the LS32 (itself the successor to the LS30 of 1979-89) was built on a steel spaceframe clad in wedge-shaped aluminum alloy bodywork, the LS35 had a revolutionary bonded aluminum monocoque chassis underneath its curvaceous outer shell. And while both of them had aerodynamically sculpted undertrays, the LS35 had variable-ratio hydraulic power steering as standard in place of its predecessor's unassisted setup. In addition, the LS35 sends its power to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox, whereas both the LS30 and LS32 had five-speed gearboxes instead.

Above and below: The 1990 LVC LS32 (medium red) and its restomodded Revo counterpart (bright red). The former packs 300 horsepower from its 3.0L flat-crank V8, in a 1185kg wedge with an aerodynamically sculpted undertray; the latter is a heavily modernized trim with a rebuilt billet-block version of the original engine, but with 50% more horsepower (for a total of 450) and 40kg less weight to exploit it, plus other enhancements such as a six-speed gearbox, larger-diameter wheels, and more aggressive aerodynamics as part of the Revo program.

I also made a restomodded Revo trim of the original LS32 - and could do so for the LS35 if I feel like it. But for now, I'm happily content with the lore regarding the revitalization of LVC's lore during the 1990s - a gap in its history that has thankfully been filled.

Above and below: The LVC LS35 replaced the LS32 for the 1995 model year and ditched its predecessor's wedge profile and steel spaceframe chassis for flowing, organic curves over a glued aluminum monocoque - a company first, and a necessity to minimize weight gain over successive model lines as time went on.

In short, I had a lot of fun (re)designing all three model lines, and with the base model of the LS35 now essentially complete, I feel like giving it the same treatment as the LS60 that sits above it - by adding an open-topped Spyder and a hardcore CS coupe to complement the original.