Slithers Grand Saloon

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The Slithers Grand Saloon (also known as the Burlesque sedan) is a series of full size sedans produced by American gmod manufacturer Slithers Autoworks Ltd. from 2012 to the present day. The car was originally introduced on June 22, 2012 as the Burlesque 9.2, and has continued through 8 sucessive generations to be the flagship of Slither's lineup. The Grand Saloon has been a preview of the latest technology packed in an underwhelming and well built chassis. Currently the 8th generation model is avalable in V8 only trim but a higher end V10R model is coming to replace the 6th generation V12R.

## Burlesque Models

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**First Generation: June 2012-August 2012**

In June 16th 2012, the first of Slitheers Grand Saloon lineage, the B1-92-3EZA was unveiled to the public. It boasted a 3 speed shiftable automatic gearbox mated to a 9.2 liter diesel V12. It also made several technologies more mainstream, such as passive blind spot monitoring, a basic radio, and an anti-theift system. These cars were very large luxury sedans with heavy duty leaf spring suspensions, applytorque steering, and a very rugged powertrain.

The design was conceived in response to Jackpody's Mercedes 600-Series, but the technology fell short because this was one of Slither's first luxury cars. But build quality was impeccible, and the major components were very rugged which made these cars a very rare but desired classic. These cars had one major fault, the brakes were far from exceptional and often needed to be overboosted after manufacture, but because only 5 were built, 2 had already succombed to collisions before the recall was enacted. It was later found that the inner walls of the brake booster would explode under excessive pedal pressure and lead to brake failure.

Out of the cars that were not involved in collisions, 1 was lost due to an inexplicable engine fire. Another, which happened to be the only armored model, was lost to an attack during a parade. One car remains, which is the original car. It is rumored to be held at the manufacturer headquarters awaiting a manufacturer refit.

### **Second Generation: August 2012- Febuary 2013**

The second generation of Slithers Burlesque was a much more sucessful car. It used a trimmed version of of the B1 chassis, with aluminum subframes, an independent hydraulic suspension, an applytorque engine with a 3 speed automatic, and had all of the same tech as the first gen car. Design wise, the B1 sheetmetal was reworked to include a significant rear overhang which made the car look more imposing, the hood was flattened, and the interior was redone in a more contemporary style.

The second gen car was not much faster than the first, but it was more refined. Brakes were still an issue though, and there were several warrenty claims on the bad brake boosters that plagued early cars. A recall was issued for all B1 cars in November of 2012, and to remidy the problem, Slithers swapped the shifter modules for a brand new shiftable unit and gave owners a less restrictive exhaust. This was when the effortless speed charecteristic started to show in Slithers cars.

The second generation had a fairly sucessful production run with 760 units produced at a cost of 70000 USD each. The B1 was replaced with the B2 in early 2013 due to the B2's more compentent chassis.

### **Third & Fourth Generation: Febuary 2013- May 2013**

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The third generation brought brand new sheet metal, now using sprops throughout the body work to replace PHX. The 3 speed automatic and applytorque engine from the previous generation were dropped, and so was the traditional rear drive layout. The new car featured a locked all wheel drive system that allowed it to hit 60 from a dead stop in 4 seconds. Also new, was a 7 speed dual clutch racing gearbox with both automatic and sequencial manual shift which was an idea taken from Mr.White's Qualitiat brand, which started the Direct Shift Craze of 2013.

Additionally, the new car featured a new radio unit with 5 speaker surround sound. The middle rear seat was ditched in favor of a trimmed center console, a new steering wheel was developed, and a new gauge cluster was developed.

But 2013 was a big year for technology, the Generation 3 model was a bit behind when it came out despite being dynamically sound, well made, and decently equipped. In response to pressures from cars such as the Qualitat Monarch and the threat of a new Akare Skylord, the B2 body was rushed into an extensive mechanical refresh that yeilded a new chassis designation.

The B2 Series 2, also known as the fourth generation ditched the ugly wheel sets fitted to the gen 3. It also gained stepped taillights to make the brake lights easier to see. Some of the chrome was changed, and the gauge cluster was refreshed. Underneath, the 7 speed dual clutch became a 5 speed unit, the shifts were firmed up, and the suspension was softened slightly. The car also gained 2 speakers to enhance the surrond sound audio, and the car was given a variable throttle, and variable shift points to allow for criusing at any speed. Stopping the fourth generation car was a new Anti-Lock Braking system co-developed with Jackpody, which reduced stopping distance by 20 feet from 60 MPH. And for the first time ever, an R model was available with a wider front and rear tracks, removed speed limiter, and brakes from the Mamba R6.

The B2 chassis was largely sucessful and problem free, and many people appreciated the car's balanced handling and extremely precise and quick automatic transmission during a time when ACF automatics were slow.

The B2 chassis was an evolution of the Series 2 XS1 chassis, which underpinned the Seraph 1.9 Supercharged SUV. But the suspension was reworked to include larger control arms and the suspension was softened by reducing pressure in the hydraulic spring-dampers. Additionally, due to the B2's exterior design, the longer V8 sat further back in the engine bay than the supercharged four cylinder in the Seraph, giving the car excellent weight distribution and handling.

The B2 lived on after offocial production stopped, as a built by order car due to the shortcomings and additional price of the longer B3 Series 1 chassis. All B2 cars after April 2013 were handbuilt, along with all other subesquent grand cars, to ensure greater quality control.

5 B2 cars were also delivered with a 7.0L V12 and 5SG gearbox as a precursor to the B3 V12R.

### **Fifth Generation: May 2013- November 2013**

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Building on the sucess of the fourth generation car, the fifth generation was a move to the more upscale ultra-luxury market. The car grew from 197 inches to 208 inches, all of which was to the gain of rear seat passengers. The fifth generation started out with a 4.8L I6 to conserve the contents of its 21.1 gallon fuel tank. The 5 speed twin clutch carried over from the previous model, but a shift interlock was added to prevent drivers from jumping the car out of manual mode on downshifts. Push start was also added, and the 7 speaker audio stayed. To aid in fuel efficiency, stop/start was added, and the ABS unit allowed for safe engine off coasting.

Customers loved the car just as they loved the fourth generation car, but it wasn't the same. The B3 platform wasn't as sharp as the B2, and some owners complained that the straight six was no match for the older V8 cars. In response, Slithers offered B2 cars on a limited basis for custom order along side the B3, and sales literature distinguished them as SWB and LWB respectivly.

The long wheelbase paid major dividends to rear seat passenger comfort where the added legroom really changed the game for the Grand Saloon. The Fifth and Sixth generation cars harkened back to what the first generation car stood for, but lost touch with what many people to love the car. At this point, the 5 speed twin clutch was no longer needed, and in November 2013, it was time to kill the B2 for good, and preform critical mechanical updates to the B3 to keep it competitive.

### **Sixth Generation: November 2013- January 2014**

To fix the dynamic problems with the fifth generation car, the B3 chassis was throughly reworked. Its resemblance to the B2 was reduced with new squared off stacked taillamps to replace the horseshoe lamps on the B2 and B3-1. The front was given a more modern face, and the roof was made less regal by giving it a gentle slope back into the rear haunches.

Mechanically, there were some critical changes. The 4.8L I6 was phased out for good out of all Slithers production cars, and in its place, the old 5.7L V8 was readded. This engine came in two flavors, the base model with 225 HP, and an uprated S model with 281 HP, but the S did not offer a significant advantage over the base car. The twin clutch gearboxes were also dropped from all Slithers V8 cars, and replaced with a new 7 speed torque converter shiftable automatic. Stop/start and engine off coasting remained, but were recalibrated for finer response. The ABS system was beefed up to handle the greater speed, and a 112 MPH speed limiter was imposed across all cars.

The audio system grew to a 10 speaker twin channel unit with new hotkeys. A new display archetecture called Efficient Display replaced the fifth generation's lackluster double binnacle cluster. A check engine light was added to alert drivers to problems with ACF components, and the Ballsocket type all wheel drive was ditched in favor of an ACF based all wheel drive which added the weight lost from killing the 5SG gearbox.

New headlights were also developed, now with daytime running lights for the first time.

Additionally, a V12R model was added to the top of the range. This car featured a 7.0L V12 with 356 HP mated to the 5AUT single clutch 5 speed shiftable automatic. The V12 models also had a rear bias for the AWD system to help performance, but the suspension design was now reaching the end of its useful life and was due to be replaced by a self leveling reactive hydraulic suspension.

The sixth generation was killed after exactly 2 months of production due to poor sales, and Slithers lost on every one of the 378 sold.

### **Seventh Generation: January 2014- April 2015**

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The seventh generation sedan killed the conservative haunched style of previous cars with a clean slate design. The car's look is a love hate affair but it still retains the stately nature of previous cars while reinjecting the flair that was lost after the B2 was axed. The interior was kept simple, well laid out, and high quality. Fit and finish on the new B4 chassis was second to none, and the car was built with an unparalleled amount of equipment.

New on the B4 platform was an applytorque engine from Qualitat mated to a brand new 8 speed automatic transmission. This put power to all wheels via a ballsocket limited slip rear bias all wheel drive system. Keeping the wheels in contact with the road was a finely tuned amount of unsprung mass, and a brand new hydraulic self leveling system akin to Cadillac's Magnaride shocks. The design of the suspension arms was a carryover from the B3 platform up front, and a MrWhite style suspension in the rear, making this car one of the best riding sedans in gmod. Additionally, for the first time in the Burlesque, a setang steering rack was fitted with countersteer capeability.

In the safety corner, there was a whole host of new technologies, some of them being firsts for gmod. Active headlights which can autolevel and follow steering inputs, as well as shut off the high beams automatically to prevent blinding oncoming traffic were one of the firsts, as well as a core standard feature. Joining the active lights and the tech found in all of the previous cars was a collision mitigation system that leveraged the parking and blind spot assist sensors to prevent collision.

In addition to all of the safety tech, power windows, an electrochromic panorama roof and rear windows, built in Playx, detailed switchgear, and an odometer were all standard.

This car so far is the longest lived example of this model with a few thousand made at the extrordanary expense of $155000 USD. The reason for this is because it packed a ton of features into a very simple and elegant interior space, had stately but not too regal looks, and had some serious performance credentials.

The seventh generation car is capeable of running gm\_carconstruct in 57 seconds, does 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, and has a top speed of 127 MPH. Due to the suspension design, it is very hard to tell how fast the car is going without looking at the speedometer as the vehicle feels planted at any speed due to its weight and excellent build quality.

The B4 platform shares major components with the XS2 Seraph 5.7 such as the rear bumper, exhaust system, and front suspension, but the XS2 came after the B4 release.

Some B4 cars were upfitted with the supercharged V8 from the Slithers GTS roadster, which nearly doubled power, and pushed 0-60 times down to a fairly quick 3.2 seconds compared to the stock car's 4.4 seconds.

### **Eighth Generation: April 2015- Present**

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The eighth generation Grand Saloon is the last of the Burlesque moniker. The reason for the model's cancellation is because of development time and cost. The has gotten too expensive to properly develop, and it makes no sense to make the car at a lower standard.

The new car features a brand new look for the Burlesque, but it's already across Slithers entire lineup. It starts with a stout and imposing front grille to a long and athletic profile, to tidy rear quarters. The look is the cleanest and most sophisticated yet and is expected to age well.

The B5 platform is all new with no carry over parts. The suspension is a specially designed long forward arm setup with a similar self leveling setup to the 7th generation. The baseplate is vertical to reduce air drag. The transmission is the single clutch 8AUT unit found in other cars in Slithers range, but it sends power exclusivly to the rear wheels except for the R, where there is a slight friction ballsocket to the front to keep the car tidy in the corners.

Other changes include a new target finder based active anti collision system, power opening electrochromic moonroof, power front seats, power reclining rear seats, turn signals, adaptive criuse control, TF based parking sensors and blind spot assist, S-Matic infotainment, one touch power windows, and a new pulsation based ABS unit.

#### **Burlesque R:**

The eighth generation car saw a reintroduction of the R moniker. The new Burlesque R sedan is one of the fastest cars in gmod, capeable of doing 0-60 in 2.9 seconds and reaching speeds up to 162 MPH with drag removed from only the tires. It retains the 8 speed automatic from the stock car but with new ratios, and a friction ballsocket from the rear to the front wheels to keep the car planted without the use of fin.