PIRAN FIREFLY 500

Zedd - my idealised version of the first car that made me buy a poster, the Datsun Z series (aka Fairlady).

Visually, it's all my favourite features from the 240Z, 260Z and 280Z, with some bodykit parts and low-profile tyres (snippet of my reference images below).

The car's specs and major geometry are closest to the 280Z, with a V6 Turbo borrowed from the later (Nissan) 300ZX.

Done so far:

- Suspension
- Wheel size / position / tyres
- Mass arrangement
- Engine specs
- Default set (Cruise)

(It might just be a slab with wheels, but it's a slab that behaves as I want it to! No mean feat for me )

To do:

- Modelling (skinnable)
- Engine sound
- Aerodynamics
- Other sets (Race/Drift/Derby)

Interesting!

Seeing the engine as a block in the editor there: Were you able to adjust the mass of the engine? That's a question that came up in another thread …

EDIT: Also, please kindly consider ditching the turbo V6 and swapping in this: https://www.lfs.net/forum/post/1973107#post1973107

The engine weight is done automatically in the editor from the engine size/type - this one comes out at 150kg, but those engines are somewhere around 225kg. I couldn't see anywhere to adjust the engine weight itself (I may have missed it), but I've used the black mass-distribution bars to add weight in the engine area to compensate. (I used four side-to-side members top/bottom/front/back to adjust F/R balance and COG height to match the specs, but starting with a very chunky bottom-front for the extra engine weight).

That other engine looks and sounds good, but I don't want to go too far with the modifications or stray too far from common Z mods - taking a newer engine from a later model in the same series seems more authentic to me. There's a lot of 280s out there with 300 engines

Thanks for the explanation.
I really hopw it is/will be possible to adjust the engine mass exactly.

Sorry for my ignorance, but do the black mass bars affect deformation in any way? I suppose not, right?


EDIT:
I hope you are not insinuating that the TC24-B1Z is expensive???
You can order one here for under 50 grand:
https://www.greenline.jp/catal ... carcode=S30&fromlink=

I don't think the bars affect deformation - only the suspension components and the bodywork get mangled. I appreciate it would be easier to bundle up the weight with the engine file for others, but the workaround is easy enough that it's not a show-stopper.

I'm not going by cost on anything

put the VG30DET_Sound in the= LFS>Data>engine Folder
put the VG30DETT in the Modeler>Data>engine Folder and then you can load them both in the modeler the engine it self and then the sound under transmission/audio

That's awesome, thank you!

It goes through the gears much more naturally now, and the sound is amazing. Top job

I will add a before-and-after vid with the next update.

(I might turn the turbo sounds down a little - just personal preference, but I can hear the looping in the sample a bit too much at that mix)

Of course, make sense too, old 240z less turbo noise IMO too.
Im glad you liked it!
If you want any changes or any more engine request just let me know

Yeah the engine felt pretty good just the right amount of power and the right amount of turbo pressure it was linear power band

Is the Devil Z that got published this one?
Its' stunningly beautiful
https://www.lfs.net/files/vehmods/FE5CF2

Wait, it's another one? So we'll have two 240Z's already

Yeah, the Devil Z is another Z altogether... but you can't have too many Zs!

Slow, but steady progress on this one continues with more setup tuning, and a start to the modelling proper

So, I've spent more hours than I can count on the modelling, more hours than that on the building, setups and test-driving beforehand, and more hours still just enjoying it around the roads of Westhill... not least the sound of the engine, it really growls and roars! We're not worthy, martin18

Some quick progress/testing (potato quality, sorry) clips (excuse the lumpy bits: I'm not done refining the bits that are there xD)

As you can see, it's more 240 at the rear, more 280 at the front, but neither exactly - my own take on the series rather than a replica.











Edit: Some hybrids action. The set was a bit stiff for offroad, but

In the hands of a pro!

Thank you Dlocky

The letter Z has was harmless when I started this mod, but now a new name is required. I didn't want to go with 'fairlady' either (too old boys' club). I've settled on the name Firefly.

Slowly, slowly filling in gaps and adding details.

First pass submitted for testing!

Still plenty more to do, but there's enough there it can be driven online now. (I spend more time driving it than building it, it will be nice to have some non-AI company )

Some parts from LFS cars used as is: seats, rear mirror, gearstick
Some parts modified from LFS cars: wing mirrors, steering wheel,
Some textures from LFS cars used: leather

To-do:
- Mesh smoothing (quite a few lumpy bits to fix)
- Skinable (after mesh fix)
- More interior detail (+ better texturing)
- Better body-kit arches (more detail + better fit)

Lookin' hot

Thanks Ibta!

Feedback consensus on discord is fairly solid in that the wheels are too big and too low-profile (you guys missed the 80s? ), and that body-kit arches are no good if the wheels aren't flush to them. Fair enough - I was trying to keep the stock arches as an option but it's too much compromise visually.

So, I'm thinking of putting the kit-arches in all the configs and moving slightly smaller wheels out to fit them flush... but I'm worried about the stability. (By that I mean it's got just the right amount, IMHO, of "roll danger" and I don't want to remove too much.)

I've also been driving this a lot at TBO spec (22/23% res), and with the wheels/handling of the 300 changing I'm now thinking of making a smaller-engined version that is TBO-spec with no/small restriction - that one could have the stock arches and the current wheel track.

I will experiment

--

I've also got (much longer term) plans for a 500 version, around GTR-spec (ref pics attached). Rolling over is a problem on slicks, so that one will be more rocket bunny style, and can have all the arches and wheel-track it can handle visually

Get rid of the no flare config… Flare only
Push out the wheels further out and use smaller rims no more than a 15 maybe 16 if you want but that’s it give it more sidewall on tires!
Car is too fast for wheel track and tire width

Thanks all for the feedback (here, discord and online).

I've been experimenting a lot over the weekend with 17, 16 and 15 inch rims, and it's clear I have been trying to get too much from one car. So, I have finally decided in favour of the split: the 300 will be as before with changes listed below, and a new 200 will be TBO-spec engine, with 16" tyres in the original placement (no arches/flare in any config) and reduced rear tyre width.

The idea being that the 200 is the late 70s/early 80s base car, and the 300 is what happened when someone got hold of one in the late 80s and gave it the works. The 200 is feeling great, but needs a few set tweaks before it's ready.

For the 300, the wheels are now 15" and flush with the flare. Visually it's working, but the grip has taken a huge hit with all that sidewall - much more than the gain made from increasing the track. I'm still working on that with tyre widths, setups and suspension tweaks. It seemed much easier to work with at 16", so if all else fails I will go back to that size.

Nearly there with the new wheels...

The 200 and 300, as Angel & Demon:

New wheels are here!

The 300 is updated with smaller rims, more tyre profile, wider track and some suspension and setup tweaks to fit.

The 200 (TBO spec, new wheels & tyres but no change to track) is now submitted for initial review

Both have a few tweaks to the mesh since the last version, but mostly that is still to-do.

Develpment plan for both (simultaneously) will be:

- (Any Fixes)
- Mesh finish/smooth
- Skinable
- More interior detail

I just wanted to say a big thank you for these two cars (200&240). I really enjoy driving them . I hope that we will soon have a finalized version with beautiful skins.

Awesome, thanks

I can't promise it'll be soon (lots to do and little time to do it), but they will definitely be skinable eventually. I won't stop till they are

Hey there!
CESAV's League Round 10 (May, 1. AS3) will be featuring this beauty
https://www.cesav.es/index.php?pid=12&idTemp=178&idRace=951

There is no skin map, apparently, nor LODs. If you have the time to put some work on this it would be much appreciated

Awesome news I will definitely be there for that one. (Mondays are awkward for me, but I'm hoping to manage at least one other event before then too).

I have been working on the skin mapping recently, making good progress so far. LODs are all there. I won't make any changes to tyres/engine/suspension/etc before the race, so it will drive the same as it does now

Excellent!

The 200 is now skinnable!



Attached are a default monochrome JPEG, and a layered PSD (zipped) with all the components used to make the default skins that come with the mod.

Outstanding job!
Thanks

A real pro job with this PSD file. Too few mods have good working skin models and lods.
It's cool that an upcoming scheduled event motivated you to finalize your skin templates.

Thanks again for this great car.

Hi Racon,
I tried this car again last night and couldn't drive it with the G27
The steering wheel slams too hard when braking. I don't remember that it did with the G25, or not as strong.
This is the only car in the game that I have this problem with my settings, and the steering wheel force is not set very hard.
Do you have a solution?
Thanks

The default sets have very strong brakes, so it doesn't take much to get the ABS shaking - if you reduce them so that the ABS only just kicks in, that should help.

I changed the setup as you said and adapted my steering wheel settings. It's better. But the direction remains strangely “notched”. I will try to improve that. Thanks for your reply .

Quick update to the development plan: Several attempts at smoothing the problem areas in the mesh have failed spectacularly, so it's time to bite the bullet and start out with blender, I think. If I can't fix the door outline that way, I'll just draw the $%*%& thing into the skin That pushes the mesh-smoothing part of the project to the longer term as I don't have much free time, but it will be worth it in the end.

I've added a GT-compatible 100 to the line-up, with an NA inline 4 and more basic styling (smaller bonnet vents, rear bumper, and the much requested exhaust at the back ). It seems to sit nicely between the XFG and XRG performance-wise, but is subject to tweaks with online testing. (test)

The 200 is staying as is, except mesh smoothing.

The 300 I'm still not happy with the tyres, there's just too much sidewall for that car. I will go back a step with that one soon, but much testing is needed as I want it to be the last physics change on that car.

To follow is the GTR-compatible 500. It'll be compatible in terms of performance but the lore is that it's a street car rather than a 'proper' race car. Reference images attached.

Fantastic news.

I hope that the mirrors of the GTR-compatible 500 will be placed as on the reference images.

Haha, I really, really hate fender mirrors

If it's possible to do them as a config option, I will do them for the 500

I don't find the fender mirrors very attractive, but it's very practical for visibility

If you could do that, that would be really cool , especially for the 500 !

Hi Racon,

I tested your version 100 compatible GT. What I'm about to say surprises me, but I think it's the best. (normally, I get bored quite quickly with "small" cars with suspensions like trouser suspenders ).

Road holding is very healthy. The car does exactly what you want and reacts as expected. It's very pleasant to drive. There is (in my opinion) a very good relationship between handling and engine power. Unlike many small cars from LFS, it stays hooked to the road without excessive wheelspin. The interior and exterior engine sounds are very good.
Congratulation !

Remarks:
Hard braking is always a little strange behind the wheel. But you don't brake much with this kind of car .
It seems that your tachometer is not yet correctly calibrated (red zone).

I'm really looking forward to seeing the sequel.

Well, that was superfun
Thanks for coming!

You guys put on a great event, and that track choice was perfect. I learned a lot about setting it up for racing and I loved every minute of it. I will be rearranging the default sets soon to include the set I used for the race, which was based on your setup

It's a quite a thing to be sat on the grid surrounded by a large field of your car... and facing a tricky chicane for T1, too. The practice races helped a lot, but I still managed to leave space on the track for an echo several times

Avraham: The fender mirrors test was successful, so the 500 has them available as a config option

This is great news. Thank you very much Racon

Look, it's not too awful.

The 500 is now up for review, complete with fender mirrors and the meanest-looking low spoiler you've ever seen It's a how-far-can-you-push-a-street-mod-before-it's-just-a-race-car mod



The 300 has new wheels and is nearly ready with skin support - update soon! (it's the last wheel change! Yes, they're a bit extreme, but it's just too much car for a more 'proper' sidewall height. There's no point having 50% more power than the 200 if you're not able to lay it down nicely. You were all right about the sidewalls for the 200 and I took it further for the 100... but this one just needs less to feel right).

That's mostly wraps for the Firefly series. Other than fixes, the next updates will be after I'm sufficiently familiar with blender to be able to re-topo the parts of my model that goraud doesn't want to play ball with, and then some general upgrades to the interiors.

Looking fwd to trying the 500 out, though not a fan of the wheels, looking a bit too cartoonishly big to my eyes

Attached is a universal PSD skin kit for all the Firefly models (all parts are aligned across all models).

Includes base layers, blackmasks, guidelines and various layers used to create the default skins.

Quote from johneysvk :

Looking fwd to trying the 500 out, though not a fan of the wheels, looking a bit too cartoonishly big to my eyes

The low camera and fish-eye FOV in that video exaggerates them but yeah, they're not quite right yet. I've had a few goes at it, and will again. Rest assured they are better than when I first traced them out from the photo

I tested the new 300 last night. Fantastic !

Superb car . I must admit that I was also surprised by the very contemporary look of the rims and the low profile tires. When I see this car, I think of the legendary American races of the early 70s... But these tires are very efficient, and the driving is pleasant. The car remains playful and surprisingly docile. It is very successful.

Racon, you have given us one of the most charismatic mods I have tried so far. I'm a long way from having tried them all. I have already had 3 or 4 very nice surprises. But your 300 outclasses them all in its result (precision? finish? I don't know how to say that? but it's great ). I also greatly appreciate the attention to detail and the perfect skin template. It's very professional.

Thank you very much, I eagerly await the sequel.

Updated the wheels of the 300 and 500 (visual changes only!) - they look better I think, but I'm still not quite there. The outer rim now has a centre bulge, the spokes/blades are moved further back from the outer edge and don't go quite so far towards the inner, and the sidewalls look less extreme even though the tyre itself is unchanged.

On the 300, I have also swapped the order of the first two default setups to allow more ride height in custom setups. Now 180cm of travel available.

With many thanks to Trespasser for helping with race setup and suggestions

Are you planning on making a sparring partner for this car at some point?
Love the mod, I just wish there were more cars to race it with.

I'm a long way from any new mods - I have 6 that all need varying amounts of finishing up, I have to catch up

As for balance:

The 100 is balanced to XRG and XFG, comes out somewhere between the two.

The 200 is just above TBO, we use 5% res on DD to balance it. Rony has it in RandomCar also, but uses 80kg and no res instead to balance. (It's very light, doing it with weight instead of res lessens the tyre advantage as well as matching the speed.)

The 300 is well matched to iiiiil's COQUETTE Z5. The Z5 has slicks available and the 300 doesn't so you need to watch that, but they match well when on the same tyres. We also have the FRAUD 040 and AM PHOENIX in that class, but those are both 4-speed boxes and that's enough disadvantage for them to get eaten alive on tracks where the speed varies a lot.

The 500 is balanced to GTR class. (I say balanced but I'm pretty incompetent at driving anything involving downforce so I dare say this one probably needs some work )

I've attached our class guide graphics for each.

Firefly 100 anyone?

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