43's Truck Stop: The Three-Speed Transmission

[43Supporter]

Originally Posted by swordtart

If you have a car that can go at 200, you really want a dedicated driver to stay shiny side up. He can fire off the DWs, and he can plan that around his acceleration and deceleration (since he'll probably be putting them on auto).

Most of my 200+-MPH cars are dedicated racing machines, but see below.

Originally Posted by swordtart

I couldn't make a luxury with a Thundercat plant that had a top speed of only 180.

Look at _ADQ 4/1_'s adventure "Midwest Passage"; the "police interceptor" in there is a TS-180 Luxury using a T-cat plant. (In my files, I have a writeup for the ARFs at the truck stop ambush using a similar design.)

Admittedly: Most arenas are *far* too small to need a 200-MPH top end; 90 is about the practical upper-limit (which is why, in my days with NOVA, anything much past Div. 20 was powered by a turbo-150cid engine, and anything below that used a PP just powerful enough to move the car). This was before HTMs came along, though; so it was always pretty obvious who had what acceleration anyway, and the question was moot.

[swordtart]

Sorry my brain futzed.

I was using the CWVD and hadn't noticed that the chassis type was set to light.

A maxed out Lux with and off the shelf TC plant does indeed have a top speed of 200.

Flippin' puters ;(

[juris]

Electrics make the best racers, especially with HT motors on the low end of the speed curve. I used to hate HT motors and thought they were broken, but then I realized gas engines were even more broken ;)

Still, if you see a thundercat in anything besides a pickup it's got a CA frame...

[43Supporter]

Originally Posted by swordtart

I was using the CWVD and hadn't noticed that the chassis type was set to light.

A maxed out Lux with and off the shelf TC plant does indeed have a top speed of 200.

Eh -- it happens to the best of us. Try to imagine having been doing this for so long, one can't remember what the most-recent ruling was. :)

Originally Posted by juris

Electrics make the best racers, especially with HT motors on the low end of the speed curve. I used to hate HT motors and thought they were broken, but then I realized gas engines were even more broken ;)

It depends on the track -- I have a track design, the "Beaverton Switchback", which is tailor-made for gasburners; I think the longest straight on it is 4".... (This is the track where I scored a victory without actually being in the race -- I warned the rest of NOVA "you'll need acceleration and braking, not top speed"; naturally, they ignored me, and every one of them crashed before completing even one lap....)

Originally Posted by juris

Still, if you see a thundercat in anything besides a pickup it's got a CA frame...

Not the case -- my T-cat-powered racers are all conventional frames; CA costs too much, esp. when it was ruled "one uses the full-CA-frame cost to figure chassis and suspension costs". Also: See my remarks on "Midwest Passage" earlier in this thread.

[kjamma4]

Originally Posted by 43Supporter

and every one of them crashed before completing even one lap

Yep. I've seen a last place driver win in Formula De by virtue of all others crashing.

[43Supporter]

Originally Posted by kjamma4

Yep. I've seen a last place driver win in Formula De by virtue of all others crashing.

Ancient Racing Maxim: "To finish first, first one must finish."

Even in _CW_, this is the case -- NOVA never did figure out how I was able to beat them quite so thoroughly; one reason was: I never went storming headlong into a fight. Instead, I'd wait a couple turns, let them beat the dog out of each other, then swoop in and finish them off.

[kjamma4]

Originally Posted by 43Supporter

Instead, I'd wait a couple turns, let them beat the dog out of each other, then swoop in and finish them off.

LIONS AND VULTURES:Tournament Car Design, 2nd Edition. ADQ 9/1 p.11

You were a vulture before vultures were cool!

[43Supporter]

Originally Posted by kjamma4

LIONS AND VULTURES:Tournament Car Design, 2nd Edition. ADQ 9/1 p.11

You were a vulture before vultures were cool!

_ADQ 9/1_? I pulled that strategy from _Autoduel_ -- it was then known as "killer rabbit".

I suppose since I always tried to win while taking as little damage as possible, and thus keep repair costs down, that made me a...

[sunglasses]

...VULTURE CAPITALIST.

B)

[kjamma4]

Nothing to see here - carrion.

[Magesmiley]

On my list of home-brew gadgets I had one which I called a "speed switch". For $100 it was similar to the deadman switch or damage sensor. You linked it to a component to send a firing action when you hit a particular speed.

Also... for fun and laughs, try a T-Cat in a sprint car. And yes, I did actually do that once in a game.