Peregrine Motors VTS 1989 1.0

After over two years of sitting on it, I'm beyond thrilled to finally release perhaps the best car I've ever made: the 1989 Peregrine VTS!

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Months of work went into creating this car, during which time I continuously refined it with the help of a few people from the Automation Discord server. I love this thing, and I really think you will too. I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who gave me technical and styling advice during the VTS' creation process; this car wouldn't be anywhere near as cool as it is now. Thank you!

Now let's get to the fun stuff, shall we?

What exactly is this car?
To make a long story short, the VTS is a Japanese-inspired track toy meets grand tourer with a hint of Group C and a ton of cutting-edge tech for the time. The advanced suspension and torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive give the car a death grip on the road, while the interior uses high-quality materials and a beautiful body-color-based color scheme to give it a distinctive and enjoyable feel.

SPECS.
Engine: 450-hp twin-turbo V6
Drivetrain: Peregrine All-Claw electronic all-wheel-drive with dynamic torque vectoring
Weight: 1,381 kg/3,044 lbs
Acceleration: 4.9s 0-60 mph
Top speed: 202 mph
Braking: 3.13 s / 109 ft 62-0 mph

FEATURES.
Awe-inspiring handling. With double-wishbone suspension on all four corners, a World Endurance Championship Group C-inspired underbody, and bleeding-edge Peregrine All-Claw all-wheel drive, the 1989 Peregrine VTS provides extraordinarily grippy and precisely balanced handling. Driving it is truly second nature.

Huge power. 450 horses mated to a five-speed manual transmission means the VTS is capable of some fantastic numbers - 4.9 seconds to 60 mph, and on to a top speed of 202 mph. But numbers aren't the whole story: with its finely balanced power curve, the VTS' twin-turbo V6 provides all the power you need on the track or on your favorite backroad (Peregrine Motors does not endorse speeding on public roads!) while avoiding sudden surges of power. The result is an engine that's both powerful and easy to control.

Intricate detail. Weeks of work went into the interior - everything from crafting the aesthetics to carefully considering the ergonomics, to labeling things that you wouldn't ordinarily see. Even the lighting has been largely customized from the original Automation export to add to the experience of driving this car. The painstaking detail poured into every part results in one of the most immersive driving experiences of any Automation vehicle to date. Check the bottom of the post for detail shots!

Detail highlights:

• Race lap timer: (non-functional in Beam, sadly) Want to time your laps? Just use the keypad under the screen next to the gauge cluster to input a distance and then hit "Start." Every time you cross that distance, the lap timer will pause for 10 seconds to show you your laptime, and then save your lap. From then on, you can view your best and last laps using the buttons on the keypad.
• Cast aluminum stalks with beveled lettering
• Huge door pockets with dedicated bottle holders
• Shifter offset towards wheel for shorter shifting times
• A Peregrine badge on the passenger side of the dash
• Beautiful three-tone interior with liberal usage of body-color materials
• Sun visors that match the door card designs
• Fully lined roof
• Two dome lights and a map light between the seats for night drives where a map is needed
• Cast aluminum interior door handles
• Washer jets for the windshield
• Peregrine Race Switch Pack - ignition and starter switches near the dash-mounted keyhole for a racecar-like feel. With the car in neutral and the handbrake up, you simply insert the key, turn it to “ACC,” flip the ignition switch, and hold the starter switch until you hear the powerful twin-turbo V6 fire up.
• Traction control toggle: Want to disable traction control and get the most performance possible out of the car? Simply insert your key into the traction control keyhole before your drive and turn it to disable TCS.

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NOTES.
As of now, I consider this car complete. It was made on an old version of Automation, so most of the mods I used to create the car are now no longer available; in fact, loading the car up in the UE4.24 version of Automation reveals basically an empty husk without even headlights or taillights. As such, I'm unable to make any adjustments at all to the 3D model. If you spot any other bugs not related to the model, drop me a DM and I'll see what I can do, but I can't guarantee a fix since I'm not exactly the most advanced modder.

Note on the color. Other colors are available, but I'd highly recommend staying with the default Bathurst Blue as the interior is matched to exactly that color and may not look right with the other colors.

LORE.

Spoiler: The story

The year was 1987. The supercar wars in Europe were all the rage; Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini were all one-upping each other with some of the greatest performance cars the world had ever seen. Japan's auto industry was also on the rise, with the likes of Toyota, Honda, and Mazda all putting out cars that were well-regarded at the time and would go on to become legends in their own right.

But back home in the US, the auto industry wasn't looking so hot. Even America's highest-regarded performance models found themselves choked by reliability issues and poor performance thanks to new emissions regulations that had done serious damage to the auto industry. The US needed a lightning rod, but one didn't seem forthcoming.

The VTS' story starts in Peregrine Motors' hometown of Daytona Beach, Florida. On a visit to a local restaurant, Peregrine CEO Dave Masterton happened across a brand-new Ferrari 512TR and was instantly enraptured by the car's aura and presence. He waited outside in the January cold until the car's owner finally left the eatery and then struck up a conversation with him. As it happened, the owner had been to Europe to sample the Porsche 959 and had been enraptured by that car's performance, but had taken the Ferrari since the Porsche wasn't available in the US. A vague idea began forming in Dave's head. Thinking quickly, he introduced himself and asked to ride shotgun in the Ferrari while he asked the owner a few questions about his opinions regarding European performance cars.

That ride proved instrumental in forming the basic idea for the car that would become the VTS. The Ferrari's owner mentioned to Dave how he wished for a car that could marry the Ferrari's craftsmanship with the Porsche's technology and handling. Slowly, a picture started forming in Dave's head: a car with the most cutting-edge technology available anywhere in the world, with craftsmanship to match - but with Peregrine's distinctive design sensibilities that included liberal use of body-color interior accents. A car that could singlehandedly change the world's perception of what the American auto industry was capable of.

When Dave arrived at Peregrine's headquarters the next morning, he was disheveled and hadn't slept the entire night. Tucked into his briefcase: 24 separate concept drawings for the company's next project, all exploring hugely different ideas, but all sharing one thing in common - a low and wide sports car with a mid-mounted engine and a blend of sharp lines and smooth curves. Dave laid out his idea to the rest of the company in a joint meeting between the design and engineering arms. The vibe in the room was uncertain. Most people present just weren't sure Peregrine could pull off the task ahead of them with the much tighter environmental regulations the company was facing. But they all knew that someone somewhere had to do something to remind the world of America's leading role in the performance car world.

Initially, the VTS' development was somewhat troubled. Six months in, the design team had already come up with solid concepts for both the interior and exterior. However, the engineering department was having trouble getting the car's handling right. They'd been plagued by low downforce and a general lack of rigidity in the frame, resulting in prototypes with handling varying from "unexciting" to one that even had borderline dangerous amounts of understeer.

One thing working in the company's favor was its location in the shadow of the world-famous Daytona International Speedway. During a meeting with the CEO, one of the engineers caught a glimpse of the speedway's turn-four wall and fence and was immediately struck with an idea: what if the road car engineering team worked with Peregrine's Group C team? Surely they would have access to the technology to solve the chassis and downforce problems. And they did.

The next phase of the VTS' development involved the road car and Group C teams working directly with one another on the new project. The original steel monocoque chassis was thrown out entirely and replaced with a new design that used aluminum and carbon fiber, which resulted in a much lighter and stiffer car. For the downforce, the Group C team opted to keep the top of the car smooth as silk, but added in a race-inspired flat floor, front splitter, and rear diffuser to suck the car to the road just like a race car.

Extensive effort also went into making the engine as clean as possible while still providing world-beating power. For this, Peregrine's engineers placed special emphasis on the engine's twin turbochargers. The turbos were configured asymmetrically: rather than both turbos providing max power all the time, one would spool earlier than the other. This had two effects: one, it improved economy and emissions by reducing the engine's reliance on gasoline at normal driving speeds. Two: it avoided sudden power surges to the wheels and made the car much easier to drive hard.

When the VTS debuted, it caught the performance car world by surprise. Here was a car from a country that had been all but forgotten by sports car enthusiasts, yet the maker claimed that it could compete with the finest European models. These claims were initially dismissed... and then reviews started rolling in. "Peregrine has done it!" cried one source. "The best-handling sports car ever!" said another. And just like that, headlines started pouring in, all emphasizing one thing: The VTS had done what it set out to do and proved the US still had what it took to compete with the world's best automakers.

The VTS launched for sale on April 1st, 1989 at Peregrine's Daytona headquarters, but the celebrations weren't done yet. On April 2nd, Peregrine had a VTS at the Nurburgring to show the world, in no uncertain terms, what they could do. The VTS set a lap of 7 minutes 35.2 seconds, a record that would stand for years afterward.

To this day, the VTS is considered an absolute legend and quite possibly the greatest and most important car in Peregrine's storied history. It's regarded as a shining example of Peregrine Motors at its absolute best.

SPECIAL THANKS.
- Olivier#2601 on Discord for publishing several helpful guides and videos on how to modify files on Automation-exported cars, and for animating the steering wheel since I couldn't figure out how to
- The members of the Automation Discord server for providing their thoughts on the car's styling and how to make it more appropriate for the time.
- All the mod authors, whose wonderful work made nearly everything on the inside and the outside of the car possible.
- Camshaft Software, for providing such an amazing sandbox for designing and building dream projects like this and so many other cars here in the Automation category
- BeamNG GmbH, for giving us this fantastic driving sim to test out and enjoy our cars with
- You, for (hopefully) enjoying the car!

GALLERY.

Interior.
Most images contain text explaining the various controls and features showcased within. Click them to enlarge the picture and read the text.
















Exterior.








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