Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 267: Learning (and Taming) the Lynx

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 267: Learning (and Taming) the Lynx

After finishing the HPG HL1, I turned my attention to something else - and this time, I turned the clock forward by 20 years, from 1975 to 1995. It couldn't, however, have been more different from the HL1 in that it was front-engined, rear-drive, and built on an all-aluminum unitary platform instead of a fiberglass-clad steel spaceframe. Its engine also has double the cylinder count, nearly four times as much power, over three-and-a-half times more torque, and more than three times as much displacement. And its transmission has 50% more gears to boot - the fact that it's hooked up to a helical limited-slip differential instead of one filled with a clutch pack or a viscous coupling also helps.

Yet even with having advanced safety equipment and a premium interior/sound system (complete with an AM/FM radio and a CD + cassette tape player), the use of an all-alloy body/chassis results in a kerb weight of 1,285 kilograms - a little over two-thirds more than the HL1. It could've been worse, though: earlier test mules, with their fully (or mainly) steel bodies and chassis, weighed exactly 1.5 metric tons - half as much again as the diminutive HL1. The Lynx, by comparison, is a much larger car (4.5m long by 1.84m wide on a 2.53m wheelbase for the Lynx, compared to 3.65 long by 1.73m wide over a 2.15m wheelbase for the HL1), although it's still small enough for most roads, with appropriately short overhangs. Even so, the sheer amount of technology and standard equipment required for this build resuted in an all-up inflation-adjusted price of $50,000 - more than twice that of the HL1.

Above, from top: Light, agile, and seductively curvaceous, the all-aluminum Loryx Lynx combines performance, comfort, and presence in a highly tempting package.

Where the Lynx differs most from the HL1 is in its aesthetics. Instead of a crystalline overall shape that is reminiscent of a wedge dominated by straight lines, the Lynx has a more curvaceous profile dominated by ellipses (mainly in the light clusters, grille, and side profile) lending it a more organic, animalistic feel (which is most evident in its rounded rear end and low snout), hence the name - mainly due to the use of the FER_612 variant of the SHD 00s Euro Coupe 3D roof fixture mod in place of the stock turret and glasshouse, both of which had to be hidden to accommodate said fixture.

Equally fittingly, its performance is class-leading by contemporary standards (0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds, 185 mph top speed), but this is merely a consequence of its clever engineering. This also applies to its relatively softly sprung suspension (dual wishbones up front with a multilink rear), with commensurately mild damping rates. Combined with unusually thick tire sidewalls (on 245/45ZR17 tires with a 101 load index rating) and modestly-sized 17-inch forged alloy wheels with large vented disc brakes behind them, the end result not only stops and turns on a dime, but breathes with the road instead of battering it into submission, much like the HL1 did - but in a higher-end and more cutthroat segment.

In short, the Lynx took a lot of trial and error to get just right, especially in terms of exterior aesthetics and engineering, but I was eventually able to settle on a design that fulfilled every requirement of my self-imposed brief.