[3e] Race Cars, real and imagined

[Phaelen Bleux]

I did this to establish a baseline, but since I did the work, here's the design:

NASCAR Stock Car
This car is built to NASCAR standards prior to the new requirements established in 2006. It features the largest possible motor. The engine burns 23.6 gallons of gasoline per hour of routine usage. A full tank of gas costs $33.

Subassemblies: Body +3, 4 wheels +0.
Powertrain: 590-kW improved wheeled drivetrain with 590-kW improved HP gasoline engine, 2,000-kWs lead acid battery.
Fuel: 22 gallons gasoline in standard tank (Fire 11).
Occupancy: 1 NCS
Cargo: 0 cf.

Armor
All: 3/5

Equipment:
Body: Short-range radio (3-mile), video camera, airbag.

Statistics:
Size: 16'x6'x4.25' Payload: 332 lbs. Lwt.: 1.80 tons
Volume: 215 cf. Maint.: 59 hours Price: $86,583

HT: 12. HPs: 161 Body, 18 each Wheel.

gSpeed: 217 gAccel: 14 gDecel: 15 gMR: 1.25 gSR: 5
Ground Pressure High. 1/6 Off-Road speed.
Note: The racing tires take 1 HP damage per hour if not on a flat track, and 1 HP damage per minute off-road!

Design Notes:
Body is 215 cf; wheels are 22 cf. Structure is Light, Cheap (steel). It has Improved Brakes, Improved Suspension, and Racing Tires. Armor is Cheap Composite (fiberglass). Mechanical controls. Empty weight is 3,268 lbs. Design loaded weight was 3,687 lbs.; this was lowered to the historical. The engine is not turbocharged, as this is not permitted by NASCAR regulations. gSpeed uses the Extra Detail option for streamlining and drag. The doors do not open, and the car has no headlights. An airbag is included to represent the advanced seatbelt arrangement provided for the driver. The design also includes three normal passenger stations as empty space.

[Phaelen Bleux]

I thought this would be a fun and easy design. Mmm, not really easy. Most things I had to equate to something GURPSish, and I still have no idea how to make the car "leap."

Mach 5 (TL7^)

Subassemblies: Body +3, 4 wheels +0, 4 retractable skids (Button A) -1.
Powertrain: 746-kW improved wheeled drivetrain with 746-kW improved HP turbocharged gasoline engine, 2,000-kWs lead acid battery.
Fuel: 25 gallons gasoline in standard fuel tank (Fire 11).
Occupancy: 1 XRCS, 1 XRPS.
Cargo: 20 cf.

Armor
All: 3/5

Equipment:
Body: Medium range radio (30-mile), Smartwheels (TL8, Button B), two Chainsaws (Button C), Deflector Field (TL11, Button D), IR Searchlight (1-mile, Button E), Limited Life System (.25 man-days, Button F), LLTV with periscope (no magnification), Homing Robot in vehicle bay (Button G), Medium Range VLF radio (homing signal, Button H), airbags.

Statistics:
Size: 17'x6.3'x3.5' Payload: 950 lbs. Lwt.: 2.35 tons
Volume: 183 cf. Maint.: 50 hours Price: $162,647

HT: 11. HPs: 145 Body, 31 each Wheel, 5 each Skid.

gSpeed: 233 gAccel: 14 gDecel: 15 gMR: 1 gSR: 5
Ground Pressure High. 1/6 Off-Road speed.

Design Notes:
Body is 183 cf; wheels are 18 cf; skids are 9.2 cf. Structure is Light, Standard with Good streamlining. It has improved brakes and improved suspension. Armor is cheap metal. Mechanical controls. Sealed. Empty weight is 3,745 lbs. For lack of a better option, the robot is an Argus 1 aerial spybot from p. RO111.
The car is listed as having a 5,000 horsepower engine; this is ridiculous in size for TL7. A real-world mock-up of the Mach 5 featured a 385 HP motor with a top speed of 180 mph and a design weight of 4,100 lbs.; this design features an engine with an output comparable to today's formula racers. The dimensions of the car were taken from the real-world car featured in the recent movie.
The car was not built as submersible, since the passenger compartment cannot be sealed by a deflector shield alone in the GURPS system. Also, the car does not travel like a submarine but rather drives like a car underwater. Although the skids are retractable and can be used as built-in jacks to work on the car (their primary function, even in the cartoon), there is no GURPS design element to mimic the car's jumping ability.