Could do the SEMA winners? TransCammer, HPA TT, HEP G37, AM Vette, AEM S2K? Not sure if they're all winners. Could also just generalize it to tuner cars and include the S2K GT1 Turbo, Aemiya RX-7, Mines R34 etc 👍
Good idea, "Tuned-Up Terrors" could be interesting but once again we have some gray area. I don't mean to rain on any parades here, I just want to consider all variables and decide on a clear direction before getting into a project (racing background man, plan it to the wire or **** blows up). Sounds awesome however it ends up being done!
Now, if we're doing that. do they specifically have to be further modified by a 3rd party company? We run into issues such as affiliated and subsidiary tuners (sell high-performance versions through the dealer network), factory performance divisions (hardcore versions of an existing base model from a factory's equivalent of a tuning garage),
We could compare the tuned cars to the base model, assuming one is in the game. On the flip side, it might work better if we did broader group comparisons. Such as mid-level sports cars where we have an S2000 Type V, Mugen S2000, SVT Mustang Cobra, some manner of Skylines, etc. Possibly another one for hot hatches. Supercars like the Callaway C12 could be pretty fun!
Are we doing street-legal only or race cars too (RE Amemiya JGTC, Sppon S2000 and Fit? Some people say front downforces equals race car, my rule has been if it was legal in its country of origin (pictures of it wearing plates is usually how I determine it) then it's a street car unless the name specifically has race car or something similar like rally car in it. Rules were lax back in the day so by that definition alone we might wind up with some race cars (see the Shelby Daytona 180mph incident, the Le Mans cars sometimes had license plates).
Questionable 3rd Party Tuners:
RUF
Gran Turismo (notably the 350Z RS and NSX LM Prototype)
Affiliated Companies:
AMG (subsidiary, Mercedes)
Autech (subsidiary, Nissan)
Mugen (independent, Honda)
Shelby (independent, Ford)
McLaren (independent, Mercedes)
Cosworth (independent, HUGE amount of performance work for Ford)
Alpine (independent pre-'74, now subsidiary, Renault)
McLaren would be the SLR and Shelby has the GT350. Without base production models, I'd hesitate to qualify their separately models (F1, Cobra, Series 1, MP4-12C, etc.) as a "tuner" version of anything. Maybe the Cobra S/C, but it was meant to be race-only and had plates stuck on to sell them (after the FIA denied homologation of the 427 model no one wanted them).
Factory Performance Divisions:
Ford SVO/SVT (had an SVO motor once, 18psi and over 300ft-lbs while getting 30mpg, not bad for a motor from 1988!
)
Chrysler SRT
BMW M
Subaru STi
Nissan NISMO
Toyota TRD
Alfa Romeo Autodelta (1961-1979)
Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sport (aka Ralliart 1983-2003)
Performance Badges (no division or 3rd party but still represent higher performance over a base model):
Chevy SS, Z28, Z06, ZR1
Ford Mustang Mach 1, Focus RS
Honda/Acura Type R, Type S (plus Zero), and Type V
Mazda RX-7 Type RZ and Spirit R (final year and very limited, RZ more common), someone else can bother with the Miata
Nissan Skyline GT-R (top performance model) along with many model-specific editions like V-Spec that denote certain modifications (read: Skylines coming out our a$$es no matter what we do)
Mitsubishi Evolution
Subaru RA/Spec C, Type R, Spec B
Volkswagen GTI and R32 (R32 is used for special AWD Golf GTI versions)
Ferrari Scuderia
Lamborghini SV (contrary to what every 12 year old seems to think, it's been used since the Miura and has always signified the final and most powerful version of a model line)
My idea: put the tuning garages against the factory race engineers. Who builds the better hot rod? We define it as either cars specifically wearing a tuner badge or a nearly-identical road-going homologation or special limited-production version of a racing vehicle (sometimes watered down a bit and other times not so much haha). Most rally cars have a commemorative or homologation edition in the game, a bunch of Skylines (V-spec N1 R32, 2000GT-B, C10 2000GT-R that took the infamous 50 races), Lancia Stratos, the old Group B cars like the RS200 are just nasty pieces of work, the Shelby Cobra S/C (these actually were the real deal FIA Group 3 cars but they didn't sell when the FIA denied homologation), BMW 2002 Turbo, Mercedes 300SL, just a huge number of cars that could be used! Oh, there should definitely be a Mitsubishi Evo, make it the Evo VI Rs because it was the best one they made (flame suit on and running for cover)
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