Automotive Consumer Review: OOC

[The City State Rhydin]

Aims of Automotive Consumer Review
- To promote interest in the automotive market on GE&T
- To encourage and foster competitiveness between rival brands
- To encourage extensive development and detail in all products

This OOC thread has been placed in GE&T for relevance, but the actual reviews will be posted to a dedicated thread in the Nationstates forum.

I will only be reviewing participating companies vehicles; you will need to sign up here to be eligible to take part in this RP. When you're car has been earmarked for a review or comparison, you will be told in advance as to what model and what competitors if applicable. From there, you will choose the subjective advantages and disadvantages of your car which will be used to write the review.

For the purpose of ACR, this review is mostly for urban vehicles, and or affordable to moderately priced vehicles. Whilst supercars are amazing, and there are some quite brilliant automotive designers on GE&T, they shouldnt be all that the automotive industry is about.

If you are interested in being a non-partial journalist apart of this effort. Please telegram. Those of you who are interested in this, please be aware that you cannot write articles about your own vehicles, be it on your mainstay or a puppet account. This is to ensure fairness across the board as it were. Samples of your writing are required before any consideration is to be made.

Thus vehicle types will be limited to the following model types:
(This identification process for vehicles is from SICA Industry Standard categories)

Credit to the former nation of Scalietti for this form.
To begin with, cars only compete against others that they have a chance against and not against benchmarks like VL's Monteluci or VR's Forza who compete with each other. This ensures fairness.

At a glance, each car is judged against a set criterea which is set against every car. This is an in-character based review point to give an idea of how a vehicle is rated by a journalist.

1) Sales Price
I can never imagine myself buying a $30,000 vehicle. I know you should never say never, but the idea of spending that much literally gives me a small panic attack. Keeping that in mind, I will probably be looking for a brand new car that is $20,000 or less or a used car that is $10,000 or less. I am only willing to raise those limits for a hybrid like a Toyota Prius.

2) Gas Mileage
Other than price, gas mileage is the biggest deciding factor when I buy a car. Again, I hate car stuff and errands, so stopping for gas every 2-3 days would drive me insane. My Aveo only makes 27-30 miles per gallon, but I can still usually get by on one fill-up a week.

3) Dependability/Durability
I need a car that will reliably get me from point A to point B every time for years and years. I do not enjoy big spending like car purchases and rather not think about it for AT LEAST 7 years – preferably 10 – but I set the bar lower for my own sanity’s sake. Taking this into account, Toyota, Acura, Honda, and the most recent Hyundai models come to mind. The friends and family we know that own those makes are extremely happy with their cars.

4) Interior Room
I don’t need much head room or leg room, but I would like my 5’11″ brother to fit comfortably as well. I also need enough room in the back for a medium sized dog cage since I take our pups to the majority of their vet visits.

Meeting requirements in the "very good" column will earn your car five points while the "good" column is worth four and so on until the "poor" column which is worth one point. This gives your car a total score out of twenty.

5) Overall Look
I don’t think I need something sleek and perfect with a convertible top, but I also refuse to drive something that makes me laugh (in a bad way). For example, please do not take offense if this is your car, but all of those square-looking things on wheels are not up my alley. I don’t want to drive a box.

1. Performance (1 pts)
2. Style (1 pts)
2. Reliability (1 pts)
4. Driving pleasure (16 pts)
5. Safety (1 pts)
6. Quality (1 pts)
7. Comfort (1 pts)
8. Features (1 pts)
9. MPG (1 pts)
10. Luxury (1 pts)

In the case that two or more cars receive an identical score, these two cars are judged directly against each other overall to determine the higher ranked car. The higher ranked car earns an extra 0.2 for the score.

This gives cars a score out of 10 ranging from 5 to 9. It is possible for a car to get above or below these values however these are in exceptional circumstances and would probably mean an unfairly matched comparison or a single vehicle test.

RP Bonus

The distance in integers between the average score and a certain car determines it's RP bonus. Average score - car score is a negative value, the car receives a positive bonus and vice versa.

A larger RP bonus means that a cars disadvantages will be written as though they are more minor issues while it's advantages will be written about as defining factors. Smaller RP bonuses means your advantages will be written as though they count for less while your disadvantages will be written about more strongly.

Generally speaking, the system is designed to be set out that the RP bonus will count for barely anything and advantages, disadvantages will be written about virtually equally. I bet many of you didn't even know one existed.

Note that the RP bonus only applies to the "IC driving the car" advantages and disadvantages which you give me. It does NOT apply to the "OOC looking at the write up" advantages and disadvantages which a journalist picks out.

Once all the rankings and bonuses are done, a journalist can then get to work with the journalism side of things.

So that is, in a nutshell, how this works. If anyone has questions/comments/doubtful points, please feel free to raise them.

I realize this will be subjective to the persons involved but, as it may come up down the road.

1. ‘Do Not Want’
Everything about this vehicle is bad to such a degree that it doesn't even become good in its badness.
2. ‘Awful’
Still awful, but has at least one thing that is done well, like one decent aspect of the vehicle is done well. Be it fuel economy, handling, etc. You would never ever want to drive this vehicle again however.
3. ‘Bad’
Bad, but you agree that driving this vehicle wasnt as bad as it could have been. While it does get some things right, it fails miserably in other areas, so much that while it's a step above worse vehicles, it should be under no circumstances confused with being a good vehicle.
4. ‘Nice Try, But No Cigar’
Still bad, but is ‘almost there’. Either it has some good parts that are ruined by bad parts, or it stays at a constant level of “it had promise but couldnt live up to it's hype”. You still would never want to drive it again.
5. ‘Meh’
The threshold for ‘OK’. It's not good, not bad, just acceptable. This vehicle is either an equal mix of good and bad parts, or is just so forgettable that each time someone mentions the brand or model, you need to read up on it or see a picture to remember what it is.
6. ‘Not Bad’
It has some aspects that lift it above mediocrity and make it quite enjoyable to drive, but it either never becomes really good, or if it does, it still has some bad parts that drag it down. You would only drive it again spontaneously if it were a long time ago since you had done so. You would only recommend this to someone if they're really into the model type, but you would still warn them that it's not that good. You would never buy it, but if someone would give it to you, you wouldn't bother selling it unless you need to make room or are in desperate need to gain a few bucks.
7. ‘Good’
This vehicle is really worth buying and you would drive it again spontaneously, but not too often. It's just not that good that you would say to your friends that they would really miss out on something if they didn't drive it as well. It's very enjoyable despite some noticeably uninteresting design or another, or other negative points that you'll always remember when thinking about this vehicle.
8. ‘Very good’
This is the kind of vehicle that you could drive again several times, even though it is clearly not perfect. There are still some minuses about this vehicle, but the rest is good enough to almost forget those. You would recommend it to friends unless you know it's not their cup of tea. You would be prepared to pay the normal price in the dealership, or buy it immediately if it's used.
9. ‘Excellent’
It's almost perfect. You could drive this vehicle again almost an unlimited number of times. It still has something significant you don't like, therefore you don't give it an outright 10. You would recommend this vehicle to your friends even if you know they don't like the model type, maybe it could change their mind. .
10. ‘Perfect’
You could drive this vehicle until eternity without ever getting bored by it. With each drive, you discover something new or see something in a different light. Something about the vehicle gives you a thrill that hasnt been tarnished or dulled. This vehicle has nothing in it that is less than good. If there's anything that is not perfect, it is greatly compensated for by something else that is stunningly brilliant in design. You would recommend this vehicle to everyone, even total strangers.

BUDGET - BT
MIDDLE MARKET - MD
SPORT - ST

(This may be changed in the future)

Hopefully this will bring about some of the newer corporations to the forefront, while many of the established market holders as well.

Reviews
Vehicle Reviews

Date: Jan 17, 2012
Author: Jan Dia'Nal
Nation: The City State Rhydin

Vehicle to be Reviewed: Hukum Ouno 1.4I Sport
Company of Origin: Beyazgunes Automotive
Website (Storefront): Beyazgunes Automotive
Nation: Astholm

Date: Jan 22, 2012
Author: Franc Beaulevoir
Nation: Jungastia

Vehicle to be Reviewed: Pantheon Nyjah Hybrid Saloon
Company of Origin: Pantheon Automotive
Website (Storefront): Pantheon Automotive
Nation: Machina Haruspex

Date: Feb 01, 2012
Author: Lt. Cdr. Aleksander Klarerberg, Hectanian Naval Racing team.
Nation: Hectane

Vehicle to be Reviewed: Audemars Touring Superleggera TZ3
Company of Origin: Audemars Touring Automotive
Website (Storefront): Audemars Touring Automotive
Nation: Monte Mare

Date: Feb 19, 2012
Author: Jan Dia'Nal
Nation: The City State Rhydin

Vehicle to be Reviewed: AEGIS UE Terunt MST Decker
Company of Origin: AEGIS UE
Website (Storefront): AEGIS UE
Nation: The Order of Takhisis

Date: Feb 20, 2012
Author: Jan Dia'Nal
For: Automotive Consumer Review

Vehicle to be Reviewed: CMI build Ford GT40 Mk.II
Company of Origin: Clear Mountain Industries
Website (Storefront): Clear Mountain Industries
Nation: Hectane

Date: December, 31, 2012
Author: Lt.Cdr. Aleksander Klarerberg, Hectanian Naval Racing Team
For: Automotive Consumer Review

Vehicle to be Reviewed: Caltara 2.5tdi
Company of Origin: Diamond Star Automotive
Website (Storefront): Diamond Star Automotive
Nation: Aurora Confederacy

Code: Select all

[b]Full Company Name:[/b]
[b]Website (storefront link)[/b]
[b]Vehicle submitting?[/b]

[The City State Rhydin]

Reviews are up, and we welcome any established vehicle manufacturer's request for reviews.

[The City State Rhydin]

Now taking requests for vehicle reviews, and or interested parties that wish to be journalists.

[Astholm]

Full Company Name: Beyazgunes Automotive
Website (storefront link) viewtopic.php?p=8245188
Vehicle submitting? Hukum Lineara [all versions]

[Monte Mare]

Full Company Name: Audemars Touring Automotive
Website (storefront link) viewtopic.php?f=6&t=145954
Vehicle submitting? Audemars Touring TZ3 Superleggera

[Machina Haruspex]

Nice review of the Nyjah. I wasnt sure how well it would be recieved and I can see I need to do some work a bit.

[Hectane]

Full Company Name: Clear Mountain Industries; Sport Automotive Division
Website (storefront link)http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=107455
Vehicle submitting? CMI build Ford GT40 Mk.II

Sport type/Supercar

Sports Car/
Full Company Name: Clear Mountain Industries; Automotive Racing Division
Website (storefront link)http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=107455
Vehicle submitting? CMI Mustang Mk.VIII

[Hectane]

I also hereby offer my services as an automotive journalist. Should I just write a review, or is there an actual process to this?

[The City State Rhydin]

Those wishing to be journalists, as Hectane so posted, please send samples of your writing. In the flavor of those reviews already posted, this is what we seek from those wishing to be reviewers of vehicles. Reviewers must be impartial, thus if you are a vehicle manufacturer, no comparision to your own vehicles etc can be made. It's strictly regulated to the vehicle you are performing a review of.

[Aurora Confederacy]

Full Company Name: Diamond Star
Website (storefront link) Diamond Star store
Vehicle submitting? DS Mjolnir truck

[Aurora Confederacy]

Full Company Name: Diamond Star
Website (storefront link) Diamond Star store
Vehicle submitting? Diamond Star Kvasir 6x2 tag axle tractor-trailer

[The City State Rhydin]

Thus vehicle types for review are limited to the following model types:
(This identification process for vehicles is from SICA Industry Standard categories)

BUDGET - BT
MIDDLE MARKET - MD
SPORT - ST

The following vehicles from Diamond Star do not fall into these catagories. As such we cannot offer reviews of your suggested vehicles at this time.

[Aurora Confederacy]

Sorry about the truck submissions, however Diamond Star do produce currently two cars, the Mistral sports car and the Tambora sedan.

The Tambora is no more expensive than a Ford Fusion / Mondeo, putting it into the Mid price catagory
The Mistral is the high tech sports car.

Full Company Name: Diamond Star
Website (storefront link) Diamond Star non commercial products
Vehicle submitting? Diamond Star Mistral (ST) and Tambora MD

[Machina Haruspex]

I will be posting a luxury SUV in a week or so and would like a review. I'll post or edit this message with proper linking and all that as the ACR que line is growing.

[The Order of Takhisis]

To Whom it may concern,

Thankyou for the splendid review of the AEGIS UE Terunt MST Decker. It was a good read and the rating was unexpected. I know there isnt much call as of yet for vehicles like this, but hopefully this will help our business.

[Ionicus]

Full Company Name: Axios Technological Industries
Website (storefront link) viewtopic.php?f=6&t=62348
Vehicle submitting? XC-45
[Notes?] I got a lot of old stuff might wanna CTRL-F XC-45

[The City State Rhydin]

OOC: Pardon the slump.

We'll be getting back up and running, please submit requests and we will handle them as soon as we can.

[Hectane]

I'm currently re-vamping the CMI Automotive storefront, so I'll request reviews soon.

[Aurora Confederacy]

are you doing trucks yet?

Full Company Name: Diamond Star Automotive
Website (storefront link) www.diamondstar.ice
Vehicle submitting? Caltara 2.5tdi bluetec 5-speed synchrotec

however I would like you to review the Diamond Star Caltara (click on the pic)

[Hectane]

I'll do the Caltara, if it's ok. I think the car it's based on is in forza 4...
Might be a few days, I'm waiting on something in the mail for my race wheel.

[Aurora Confederacy]

I'll do the Caltara, if it's ok. I think the car it's based on is in forza 4...
Might be a few days, I'm waiting on something in the mail for my race wheel.

sure

[Aurora Confederacy]

thanks for the review hectane, DS will be openning up the tuning on the engines in 2013 and working to address the suspension to make the ride more comfortable.

now what about 18 wheelers?

[Hectane]

YAY! I really liked the premise of sleeve valves. Now if you made like a Rolls-Royce competitor with one...

Also, either the

CMI XC-70 S/C 391 (With all the options)

or

CMI Phantom Mk.II Griffon, with coach building by CMI

is up for review. Or any of the cars on the main CMI page, if they tickle your fancy. have fun, and if you need more info, please telegram me ASAP.

[Aurora Confederacy]

i heard about the sleeve valve engines when reading about the hawker typhoon and bristol beaufighter, and when the beaufighter got called whispering death, its for good reasons, they are QUIET, seriously quiet, so i factored that idea in and used it on Diamond Star.

technically they were superior to poppet valve engines, generating potentially higher power than regular engines, (in the case of the Centaurus and hercules radials, almost twice the power and a little over half the displacement, due to a higher compression ratio, so I kept the power to modern levels and tuned to what i found on regular engines to make them not quite so lulzy. they were however during the second world war they were finicky buggers, but thats what you got for being a top spec top tech (for the day) engine.

Thing is i wanted something torquey, I could have gone the wankel route but that would give me the power performance, but at a price, 8,000rpm! I personally could not take a car that high into the rev band so went the sleeve valve route. For the interior, I looked at Lexus and Jaguar for features, the intellikey USB key i dont think has been done by anyone but how do you program a car with inbuilt satnav? you plug a hand held satnav system into a PC, so why not plug your ignition key into a PC to do the same job, and whilst at it, link the multitainment system into it. hey presto, Intelli-key, quite simply intelligent key.

As for the rolls royce beater, I have the Tambora, that neds an update though but its more S-class with a hint of GTR about it 6 litre engine, over 800bhp and equally high torque. I will later on update that model and submit it for review. oh there would be a reason for the hard ride on the Caltara, RUN-FLAT tyres.

now on the subject of luxury cars.... click on the pic to view the Tambora

The Diamond Star Tambora. 6.0 litre V12 Rival to the Merc S-class.

Model being tested: Tambora FTR 6.0 Synchrotec. ($60,000)

[The City State Rhydin]

Newest review made available on the OP. Thank you Hectane.