PARTS GUIDE
===========
There are 6 parts that can be upgraded.
Some parts have more levels of upgrade than others.
Comparisons are compared to the basic version of each part.
FRAME: The frame determines the manoeuvrability of the bike.
IRON CRADLE: $1200.
DOUBLE CRADLE: $2000.
ALUMINIUM DOUBLE CRADLE: $8000.
ALUMINIUM SPACE: $128000.
TITANIUM SPACE: $500000.
TITANIUM MONOCOQUE: $8000000.
ENGINE: The engine determines the acceleration of the bike.
OHC NORMAL: $600. basic acceleration
DOHC NORMAL: $2000. 33% better acceleration
DOHC V4: $8000. 100% better acceleration
TURBO V4: $32000. 100% better acceleration, turbo power to 324 km/h
CERAMIC TURBO: $512000. 166% better acceleration, turbo power to 324 km/h
TWIN TURBO: $8192000. 166% better acceleration, turbo power to 324 km/h
(better turbo?)
BRAKE: The brakes determine the deceleration of the bike.
DRUM: $400. basic braking
DISC: $1500. 15% better braking
VENTILATED DISC: $6000. 30% better braking
DOUBLE DISC: $24000. 45% better braking
ANTI-SKID: $90000. 50% better braking
MUFFLER: Rids engine of exhaust, increasing acceleration.
NORMAL: $300. basic muffler
COL: $1500. 8.3% better acceleration (on basic engine)
WORKS ORIGINAL: $6000. 16.7% better acceleration (on basic engine)
PRIVATE ORIGINAL: $90000. 25.0% better acceleration (on basic engine)
TYRE: Determine the grip and rate of slipping when cornering.
NORMAL: $300.
RADIAL: $400.
HIGH PERFORMANCE: $1500.
SLICK: $6000.
ORIGINAL SLICK: $24000.
Notes about parts
-----------------
* frames
Changing to a lighter frame only changes manoeuvrability; it does not lead to
better acceleration.
Manoeuvrability principally governs how quickly you can change direction.
After six crashes with stationary objects, the frame will break.
Colliding with riders causes minor frame damage, but will decreases the above
number.
This number is the same regardless of the frame.
Improving the mechanic does not allow more crashes before the frame breaks.
* engines
Acceleration comparisons were based on 0-200 kph times. Acceleration drops off
at higher speeds.
Better engines get smaller acceleration increases from oil and muffler upgrades.
The 25% increase from PRIVATE ORIGINAL oil on the basic OHC NORMAL engine is
reduced to 12% on the
DOHC V4 engine, and 9% on the CERAMIC TURBO engine. However, since those
engines are faster, there
is some compounding of acceleration increases.
* brake
These offer consistent performance increases until the top brakes (ANTI-SKID)
for unknown reasons.
* muffler
Also damaged by collisions and can fall off.
Without a muffler your speed is limited but you are not forced to retire.
Acceleration increases are also less pronounced for faster engines, but less so
than with oil.
* oil
Oil upgrades offer very cheap improvements to acceleration. Manual oil is a
real bargain.
* tyre
Tyres make no difference to deceleration under braking. They only affect
skidding.
This determines how sharp a corner you can turn before skidding to the edge of
the road.
Radial tyres are a real bargain, making a big difference to grip.
* mechanic
As mentioned under frames, mechanics do not appear to affect durability
considerably,
but only frames were actually tested.
* advice (see walkthrough for more information)
Engine and frame upgrades are very expensive; mufflers, oil and tyres are
comparatively cheap.
Once you hit the DOHC V4 engine ($8000), it is better to upgrade oil and
mufflers than engine,
unless you're rolling in cash. Similarly, after ALUMINIUM DOUBLE CRADLE
($8000), the frames
get crazy expensive and it is wiser to invest in tyres and brakes.
PASSWORD CHEATS
===============
For original mode, providing maximum money, full bike spec, top mechanic:
General racing principles apply. Try to hit the apex of your corners properly.
Try to always stay on the track. You lose lots of speed by leaving it, and risk
crashing.
Try braking before hitting the corner, rather than only braking once you've
lost grip.
The art to controlling the bike is tapping the direction buttons to control the
extent
that you steer. Avoid colliding with competitors. It damages your bike and
you'll lose
speed. Although you have a rival, they put out fixed lap times and you don't
encounter
them on the track, so you cannot cause your rival to crash out.
On each stage (/level/course), you'll need 5 wins to advance to the next one.
Level 1.
--------
With fresh parts and no crashes, you can hit 1'30"00 on the first lap with no
bike upgrades,
and perhaps 1'26"00 on lap two, for a total time around 2'55"00 to 3'00"00.
Your rival will be hitting something awful like 3'40"00, so don't spend money
on upgrades.
There are few competitors, so you should be able to avoid hitting them.
It is worth braking hard to do so, since lap times are unimportant.
Each crash will set you back 10 to 12 seconds on lap time, so do go slow to
avoid crashing!
You should be able to do progress to Level 2 without replacing parts.
Level 2.
--------
If you try to race on level 2 without repairing parts, your engine will
probably burn up.
Replacing everything with no upgrades is one option. You'll see a welcome
return to decent
performance for only half your cash. It is possible but challenging to win with
these parts.
In particular, a right-hand corner near the end of each lap is very sharp and
has obstacles just
off the track. With basic tyres and frame it seems to be luck whether you fall
off here, unless
you hit the brakes pretty early and nail that apex. You can make your life
easier by spending an
extra $100 on both your tyres and oil. An engine or frame upgrade are expensive
and not needed.
Beware that your tyres will wear out faster on this course. Pay attention to
replace them after
a few races. If you crash once per lap you might find your rival winning the
race. 1'34"00 on lap
one and 1'30"00 on lap two are decent times that will see you win by around
0'30"00.
Level 3.
--------
This track has long sweeping corners, with a middle section of four corners
alternating in
direction. You need to put in lap times faster than ~1'30"00 to beat your rival
on this 3-lap
course. With the first upgrade to tyres and oil you can just scrape this, but a
single crash and
you'll lose. Now's the time to invest with the 13000-14000 cash you should
have. If you don't yet
have the first oil upgrade, get that as it is the best investment in the game
in terms of cost-
benefit ratio. Upgrade tyres to RADIAL if you haven't, and take the first
upgrades to engine and
frame. Those alternating corners justify the frame upgrade, which doesn't
really cost much extra.
With these upgrades you should be hitting 1'25"00 lap times without crashing,
just enough to win.
Taking the second engine upgrade (DOHC V4) instead is a viable choice, since a
single win on
Level 3 nets you $10k, which is more than the cost of that engine. However,
upgrading your tyres
to HIGH PERFORMANCE is a much better investment and will shave a few seconds
off your lap time for
considerably less money. If you upgraded tyres and oil part way through Level
2, they'll need
replacing part way through Level 3 anyway, else they'll force you to retire.
For only 15% performance increase, the brakes upgrade probably isn't worth it
yet, but once you
have chalked up a win or two, and if the brakes and muffler need replacing, you
could upgrade by
one step each to make life easier.
With the first frame, engine, oil and muffler upgrade, and the second tyre
upgrade, you can now
hit 1'20"00 lap times (with a slower first lap of about 1'28"00). Maintain this
level of bike and
save your cash to finish Level 3 with a cool $50k in the bank.
Level 4.
--------
This track has short, sharp corners. You simply can't win with the bike spec of
last level, which
by now will have seen a lot of wear, too. Time to splash that cash and upgrade!
You can spend about $25k to get the second upgrade to the frame (ALU DOUBLE),
engine (DOHC V4),
and oil (TOP). The first upgrade to brake (DISC) and muffler (COL) are fine. Go
for the third tyre
upgrade (SLICK), as this is still relatively cheap but allows you to hit those
sharp corners fast.
You should still try hard to avoid collisions. You should comfortably hit
1'29"00 on lap one and
maybe 1'22"00 on subsequent laps, allowing you to win with one collision. Do
not take the
third engine upgrade to the V4 TURBO, because it doesn't offer better
acceleration and there are
very few sections where you can hit 280 kph to go turbo. Pro tip: with your
SLICK tyres you can
take most of the short sharp corners at full speed if you hit the apex nicely,
but beware of
competitors in your racing line!
Level 5.
--------
This track has four laps and more of the long-and-sweeping type of corners.
There are plenty of
stretches where you can reach the 280 kph needed to go turbo, but the bike
build from the previous
level is actually solid enough to win without turbo or other upgrades here.
Prize money for a win
increases from $30k to $130k, so if the engine needs replacing and your cash
reserves are burning
a hole in your pocket, grab the turbo and have fun. With the turbo engine you
can put in laps of
1'15"00, but you'll find yourself replacing the frame and muffler more often,
as with greater
speeds come inevitably more collisions.
Level 6.
--------
This one is a night race and has five laps which your rival will do in about
1'17"00 each.
With very good racing you can manage this with the bike from Level 5 with the
turbo engine, but
better brakes are advisable for avoiding collisions. The next engine upgrade is
a bit out of
reach until you win once on this level, so perhaps go with some better oil for
a little more
acceleration. You can also afford a frame upgrade now, but do beware of
crashing if you go for
ALU SPACE as it is not cheap to replace! So a good configuration is ALU SPACE,
TURBO V4,
DOUBLE DISC, WORKS ORIGINAL, PRIVATE ORIGINAL, ORIGINAL SLICK. Lap times of
better than
1'05"00 are achievable with this spec, though the average lap might come out at
around 1'09"00
due to collision avoidance.
Pro tip: since you need to be at 280 kph to go turbo, you'll want to maximise
your exit speed
from the corners. Brake early, accelerate through the corner and be sure to hit
the apex.
Level 7.
--------
This course has six laps and is an easier track than the last. It is easy to
put in laps that are
several seconds faster than your rival with the bike build from Level 6, but
the challenge is to
finish a race without braking your frame. Braking hard to avoid competitors is
often necessary, as
they are all over the track on this level. So which parts should you upgrade?
If you're having
trouble avoiding competitors, a better frame and brakes would help, but beware
that the TITANIUM
SPACE costs $500k and you'll probably need to replace it every race. If your
lap times are
suffering because you are braking to avoid competitors all the time, then the
engine upgrade is
worthwhile. You get $2m for a win now, so buy what you like :)
