Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 257: One-Ton Wonder

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 257: One-Ton Wonder

With the Parana P600 and LVC LS60 under my belt, I decided to ask myself a question that I had been thinking about for months: what if I could combine the former's styling with the latter's engine, in a smaller platform? Right from the outset, the first problem that I wanted to deal with was the car's physical size. Both of those builds were quite large, with a width of around 2.0 meters and a wheelbase of over 2.6 meters. This made them heavier than I had intended to be; even the latter weighed 1.1 metric tons, and while this was 160 kilograms less than the P600, it still seemed a bit too much for me. So, I decided to apply the lessons I learned from both cars to create the Macale Imperia - revisiting a Kee-era manufacturer name, but reimagined for Al-Rilma with a nameplate last used on a now-deprecated build from the pre-Ellisbury UE4 days, and made possible in this latest game build due to nearly everything made prior to the Ellisbury update being rendered non-canon.

Above, from top: In response to any criticism that the Parana P600 and the LVC LS60 were too large and heavy, I decided to combine the best attributes of both in the 1995 Macale Imperia - a smaller, lighter car than either, combining the former's styling with the latter's lightweight interior and smaller, higher-revving engine, complete with a 10,000 rpm redline.

Although built on the '88 Copy Cat like the P600, with very similar styling, the Imperia uses the smaller 2.53m wheelbase variant in fastback configuration instead of any of the larger 2.64m wheelbase variants. This results in an even lighter curb weight (exactly 1000kg), giving it a 500bhp/ton power-to-weight ratio in its final form, and thus making it even more eager to get up and go from a standstill or dance around corners, especially with modestly sized 305/35ZR18 rear tires and a 42.5%/57.5% front/rear weight distribution. While it retains the full carbon-fiber body/chassis and manually adjustable four-wheel inboard A-arm suspension of its inspirations, its size (or lack thereof) is its greatest asset, being 200mm narrower, and thus making it less unwieldy in confined spaces. Finally, its suspension. though relatively softly sprung by default, can be set up to be stiffer if necessary.

In short, the Macale Imperia is the ultimate embodiment of what I think an ideal supercar should be: relatively small and light, with a great naturally aspirated engine hooked up to an equally stimulating (preferably manual) transmission driving the rear wheels, and just the right amount of electronic intervention (or even none at all) to keep things in check.