The Undercut Racing Manager Engines, tyres, and fuel
The three deals you cannot manufacture — and the hotfix that stopped them all walking at once.
Sponsors pay you. Suppliers change the car. In The Undercut: Racing Manager you sign one engine, one tyre, and one fuel partner. You manufacture everything else. This page is the chequebook for those three deals, including the 0.5.4-2 summer-break bug that could make every supplier announce they were leaving at once.
Money brands sit on sponsors. The factory that wraps around a hired engine sits on car development. Day-one order sits on getting started: engine first, tyres second, fuel last.
Engine, tyres, fuel — different jobs
Engine. The part you cannot manufacture. Power, endurance, reliability, potential. The Engine department does not make this part; it owns gearbox, electronics, fuel system, and cooling. Pick the motorist for the power unit, then the department for the ancillaries. A works partnership can pay you. A client deal can cost you for a better motor. An expired works deal used to block that supplier forever; the launch notes fixed the lock.
Tyres. Performance, endurance, reliability, heat resistance. A weak tyre deal makes Soft cliffs arrive early. That is a race strategy problem you bought in the marketing office. After 0.5.4-1, puncture events were rebalanced so the generator plans a margin; a terrible tyre supplier can still put you in the puncture window on a shredder. Measure practice. Do not blame the hotfix for a cheap compound.
Fuel. One headline stat: consumption. A great fuel deal lets you swing strategy — less weight, or a longer first stint, or a Safety Car you can actually cover. A thirsty deal forces early stops and emergency DNFs. The fuel slider now means what it shows (0.5.1). Running dry is still a DNF; there is no auto-pit.
Sign one of each category. Empty slots are not a minimalist aesthetic. They are a DNF waiting for GP 2.
Partnership versus client
Cash can flow either way. Partnership pays the team. Client costs the team for better parts. Performance first, invoice second. A cheap engine that cannot race is not cheap. Marketing level improves visibility, negotiation Work Units, and supplier discounts. That is why Marketing often beats a vanity Aero buy on car development.
Brands enter, compete, and leave with the world market. 0.5.0 made partners set per-race targets. Miss them and happiness drops. An angry supplier can refuse to talk for seasons. Account-manage with Marketing Work Units if a bad weekend would poison a works deal you still need.
The summer-break walkout (0.5.4-2)
Launch week hid a career-ending glitch: at the summer break, a condition could make all engine, tyre, and fuel suppliers announce they were leaving at once. That is not a story beat. 0.5.4-2 fixes it. If it happened to you on day one, it was a bug. Update, then treat remaining walks as ordinary contract pressure, not as a scripted apocalypse. See hotfix notes.
How to choose on day one
- Filter the market by category. You need three signatures, not a catalogue binge.
- Engine: read power versus reliability. A peaky motor on a street circuit with Difficult overtaking is a quali toy that DNFs the race.
- Tyres: endurance and heat on the next calendar card. Circuits labels (tyre wear High, heat) should pick the compound supplier, not the logo.
- Fuel: consumption versus the tank. If practice says you cannot reach a one-stop, the fuel deal is part of why.
- Do not stack three angry targets. A Principal sponsor plus a works engine plus a heat-sensitive tyre is three happiness bars you can fail on the same Sunday.
During the season you cannot rebuild the factory, but you can still live with a bad deal until rollover — unless they walk. Keep a spare conversation in Marketing for the brand you would sign if the current one leaves like a normal company, not like the hotfix bug.
Weekend consequences
A puncture-prone tyre plus a long pit lane makes undercuts expensive. A thirsty fuel plus no Safety Car makes Hard-first safer. A fragile engine plus Overtake Push is how you donate a DNF. The pit strategy tool assumes the deals you already signed. Change the deal in pre-season; change the plan on Sunday.
Mods can replace supplier catalogues. A pack no longer rewrites every new career after 0.5.4, but a themed 1991 grid may still change who sells tyres. Mods is the folder warning.
Sign three deals you can satisfy. Then build the plant around the motor you hired, not the motor you wish you had. The parts tier list is what you manufacture after that.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers for pitwall decisions, scouting, and career systems.
Do I need all three suppliers?
Yes. Engine, tyres, fuel. Empty slots are how GP 2 becomes a DNF. Day-one order is on getting started.
Why did every supplier quit at once?
A 0.5.4 launch bug at the summer break. Install 0.5.4-2.
Does the Engine department buy horsepower?
No. The engine part is the supplier. The department owns gearbox, electronics, fuel system, and cooling. See car development.
Should I take a client engine deal?
If the power is worth the invoice and you can still pay sponsors targets. Performance first.