Loving this car very much! Hopefully the skinning thing with the panel gaps will be sorted out though, looks kinda odd as it is now.

Version 9

- modified skin regions to eliminate non-skinnable gaps.
- added sideskirt and custom rear wing to the trackday configuration (trackday config is the default from now on)
- minor tweaks in the mesh

Quote from Sponge :

Loving this car very much! Hopefully the skinning thing with the panel gaps will be sorted out though, looks kinda odd as it is now.

Awesome skin!
I just uploaded the next version a couple of minutes ago which adresses this problem.

Oh haha nice! I’ll have a look asap! Also, the new rear wing looks awesome!

Quote from Sponge :

Oh haha nice! I’ll have a look asap! Also, the new rear wing looks awesome!

Thank you so much! Please share your experience with it, it would help me a lot!

(updated the skin template aswell)

Awesome Had to slightly update my skin to fit the new template, but it looks so good now!

The driving characteristics are as you’d expect a fwd hot hatch to be Its handling is beginner friendly but takes some more to get the most performance out of it, which I like. So there’s always that bit more performance to gain and push yourself to do better.

Now I’m hoping for a ‘cup’ version, externally it looks the part already, but on the interior it could use a racing seat and digital racing dash (like some of the GT’s have) and of course a roll cage But I’d still be happy even if the ‘trackday’ version is as ‘racing’ as it’ll get

Quote from Sponge :

Awesome Had to slightly update my skin to fit the new template, but it looks so good now!

The driving characteristics are as you’d expect a fwd hot hatch to be Its handling is beginner friendly but takes some more to get the most performance out of it, which I like. So there’s always that bit more performance to gain and push yourself to do better.

Now I’m hoping for a ‘cup’ version, externally it looks the part already, but on the interior it could use a racing seat and digital racing dash (like some of the GT’s have) and of course a roll cage But I’d still be happy even if the ‘trackday’ version is as ‘racing’ as it’ll get

Fantastic image!
I'm so proud of it.
That is exactly how I intended to tune the characteristics, just as you described. Eventhough a lot of the parameters are real life datas, there can be major differences in driving feel between iterations, regardless how similar numeric parameters like COG or F/R weight destribution are.
I've already uploaded an early private version of the "cup" project in order to test it with my friend Joe87. I had to upload it as a different vehicle because of all the fundamental modifications compared to the current one. It will have all the goodies you mentioned. I have a lot of modeling to do in the interior, during that process Joe87 will be able to figure out a great baseline setup. The "trackday" interior needs some texturing aswell on the floorpanel (indentations, holes), maybe a better fabric on the seats and roof, I need to address that first.

Thank you for the updates.

Version 10

- improved COG
- tuned the overall balance accordingly

It should feel more planted now, previously it had unrealisticly high center of gravity.

The update feels great Definitely more planted and improved stability, also during braking, although it still tries to kill you if you don’t brake in a straight line haha but that’s typical fwd car behavior.
Even though it tries to kill you sometimes when not braking in a straight line, it’s still quite predictable and allows you to use it to turn the car into the corner, almost a bit like “backing in” to a corner like you’d see on a supermoto I’ve knocked off about a second off of my lap time around Westhill int.

**edit**
I did notice this little 'glitch'(?) in the side mirrors, it looks like something pokes through the mirror surface...

Quote from Sponge :

The update feels great Definitely more planted and improved stability, also during braking, although it still tries to kill you if you don’t brake in a straight line haha but that’s typical fwd car behavior.
Even though it tries to kill you sometimes when not braking in a straight line, it’s still quite predictable and allows you to use it to turn the car into the corner, almost a bit like “backing in” to a corner like you’d see on a supermoto I’ve knocked off about a second off of my lap time around Westhill int.

**edit**
I did notice this little 'glitch'(?) in the side mirrors, it looks like something pokes through the mirror surface...

I noticed that instability under braking, moving the brake balance forward a bit helps, 74% seems to be the sweetspot to maintain that turn in ability while stabilizing it. I'll change it to 74% in both default configs if you agree on that.

That glitch in mirror is a known clipping issue, there is nothing I can do about it as far as I know.

I’ll edit my setup Thanks for the tip! I really suck at setup stuff, I usually just adapt my driving style to suit the setup instead of the other way around The mirror thing isn’t really a distraction, it doesn’t bother me or anything, just noticed it and thought I’d report it.

Onboard livestream:


Hi! Just for the record, the Swirl will be featured in the RTFR-CCCC event tonight! Come see it (well, many) racing at https://www.lfs.net/forum/post/1996863#post1996863 , no signup required, though join early, the server might get full fast!

(gratulálok a modhoz, nagyon részletes lett, szép munka az autó, amivel anno a jogsit szereztem - fekete színű volt )

I'm over the Moon, thanks for showing it here! Sadly I didn't have enough time recently to participate in events, my enviroment would hardly bear my wheel's noise either.

(Köszi a dícséretet, örülök, hogy tetszik, az én oktatómé narancssárga volt )

This is excellent car to use for XFG XRG

Cup version is coming along nicely.

Quote from Tomsteel :

Cup version is coming along nicely.

Excellent news

Thanks for all of your efforts.

Dev team should credit all this (good) work... making it official in future releases? (perhaps?)

Quote from m3marte :

Excellent news

Thanks for all of your efforts.

Dev team should credit all this (good) work... making it official in future releases? (perhaps?)

It is my pleasure to see the warm welcome here, I would try to achieve my goals with it anyway but sharing makes the whole process more exciting, seeing you guys pushing it to its limits is awesome.

I don't think the devs need any external help in a form of 3d models, it shows too much similarities with the real thing aswell, which would make the licencing stuff tricky.

Thank you so much!

As SSS ZC31s owner, you did a great job. The gear ratio is the same! Also the track day setups feels a lot like mine with B14 Coilovers.

Waiting for cup version!

Quote from Biadonsky :

Thank you so much!

As SSS ZC31s owner, you did a great job. The gear ratio is the same! Also the track day setups feels a lot like mine with B14 Coilovers.

Waiting for cup version!

Thank you for your feedback, it gave me extra motivation, really appreciate it!

Quote from Tomsteel :

Thank you for your feedback, it gave me extra motivation, really appreciate it!

Thanks!

About the Cup version, imho if you want to keep realistic the car, don't go over 150 hp, because the real one needs stuff like cams/headers/intake and ECU reprog to reach this kind of power. 160 hp if you want to exagerate.
RPM max at 7800/8000 (stock pistons are forged and they can handle higher RPMS than stock)

The stock ECU can't handle powers over 160hp, and you need to replace it with an aftermarket one (for installing Rotrex kit, Turbo Kit or the rarest M19 NA kit)

If you need some informations about the real car, feel free to ask, you are doing a great job and is really nice to see this underrated FWD funny car on LFS.

Also, I leave you a short on board of mine, look also at my channel, maybe you can take inspiration for the CUP sound



EDIT:

If somebody want's some inspiration for the skin, this is the CTC ZC31s, now mounting an M19 bored up kit and ITB

Nice mod!

I've noticed 2 issues: custom skins don't work in LOD2 and LOD3 and you might want to get rid of the remnants of the badge in the front mesh or at least change the shape.

Quote from Biadonsky :

Thanks!

About the Cup version, imho if you want to keep realistic the car, don't go over 150 hp, because the real one needs stuff like cams/headers/intake and ECU reprog to reach this kind of power. 160 hp if you want to exagerate.
RPM max at 7800/8000 (stock pistons are forged and they can handle higher RPMS than stock)

The stock ECU can't handle powers over 160hp, and you need to replace it with an aftermarket one (for installing Rotrex kit, Turbo Kit or the rarest M19 NA kit)

I've come to the same conclusion about the engine details with a slightly lower rev limiter (7500rpm), but I have the temptation to raise it to about 8000.

Quote from Biadonsky :

If you need some informations about the real car, feel free to ask, you are doing a great job and is really nice to see this underrated FWD funny car on LFS.

Thank you so much, gathering information from someone this experienced is tremendous value. This little "thing" is part of my life since 2006, can't stop loving it.

Quote from johneysvk :

Nice mod!

I've noticed 2 issues: custom skins don't work in LOD2 and LOD3 and you might want to get rid of the remnants of the badge in the front mesh or at least change the shape.

Thanks for reporting them! I'm aware that the LODs are not using the skin, I didn't think it was that important since they are only used in the distance, but I'll fix it in the next update.

I purposly placed the background of the badge back, it felt empty without it. The shape is obviously showing some resemblance with the original logo, but it is just a simple geometry without any copyrighted details.