Radio-controlled cars are miniature model cars, vans, buses, trucks or buggies that can be controlled from a distance using a specialized transmitter or remote. The term "RC" has been used to mean both "remote controlled" and "radio controlled". "Remote controlled" includes vehicles that are controlled by radio waves, infrared waves or a physical wire connection.
Suspension is the system of tires, tire air, springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels and allows relative motion between the two. Suspension systems must support both road holding/handling and ride quality, which are at odds with each other. The tuning of suspensions involves finding the right compromise. It is important for the suspension to keep the road wheel in contact with the road surface as much as possible, because all the road or ground forces acting on the vehicle do so through the contact patches of the tires. The suspension also protects the vehicle itself and any cargo or luggage from damage and wear. The design of front and rear suspension of a car may be different.
Automobile handling and vehicle handling are descriptions of the way a wheeled vehicle responds and reacts to the inputs of a driver, as well as how it moves along a track or road. It is commonly judged by how a vehicle performs particularly during cornering, acceleration, and braking as well as on the vehicle's directional stability when moving in steady state condition.
Car tuning is the modification of a car to optimise it for a different set of performance requirements from those it was originally designed to meet. Most commonly this is higher engine performance and dynamic handling characteristics but cars may also be altered to provide better fuel economy, or smoother response. The goal when tuning is the improvement of a vehicle's overall performance in response to the user's needs. Often, tuning is done at the expense of emissions performance, component reliability and occupant comfort.
In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lane which runs parallel to the start/finish straightaway of the track and is connected to it at each end. Along this lane is a row of garages outside which the work is done in a pit box. Pit stop work is carried out by the pit crew of up to twenty mechanics, depending on the series regulations, while the driver often waits in the vehicle.
Stunt Car Racer is a racing video game developed by Geoff Crammond. It was published in 1989 by MicroProse, under their MicroStyle and MicroPlay labels in the United Kingdom and in the United States, respectively. The game pits two racers on an elevated track on which they race in a head-to-head competition, with ramps they must correctly drive off as the main obstacle.
The Lotus series consists of three racing computer games based around the Lotus brand: Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge, Lotus Turbo Challenge 2, and Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge. Published between 1990 and 1992 by Gremlin Graphics, the games gained very favourable reviews upon release. Original Amiga versions of the games were created by Shaun Southern and Andrew Morris of Magnetic Fields, and then ported by other individuals to several other computers and game consoles.
The six main types of motorcycles are generally recognized as standard, cruiser, touring, sports, off-road, and dual-purpose. Sport touring is sometimes recognized as a seventh category or integrated with the touring category.
RoadBlasters is a combat racing video game released in arcades by Atari Games in 1987. In RoadBlasters, the player must navigate an armed sports car through 50 different rally races, getting to the finish line before running out of fuel.
Badlands is a 1989 arcade video game published by Atari Games. It was ported by Domark under the Tengen label to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. The game is a re-themed version of Atari's previous racing games Super Sprint and Championship Sprint with the addition of vehicular combat. Badlands is set in the aftermath of a nuclear war and races around abandoned wastelands with many hazards. Three gun-equipped cars race around a track to win prizes.
Turbo Esprit is a video game published by Durell Software in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC. The game was very detailed and advanced for its time, featuring car indicator lights, pedestrians, traffic lights, and a view of the car's interior controls. Turbo Esprit was the first free-roaming driving game, and has been cited as a major influence on the later Grand Theft Auto series.
The Duel: Test Drive II is a 1989 racing video game developed by Distinctive Software and published by Accolade for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple IIGS, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Sega Genesis and SNES.
Top Gear 3000, later released in Japan as The Planet's Champ: TG3000, is a racing video game developed by Gremlin Interactive and published by Kemco for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third game in the original Top Gear trilogy, and the last in the series to be developed by Gremlin. 3000 heavily resembles the previous Top Gear 2, but is set in the distant future.
Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver is a racing video game developed by Semi Logic Entertainments and published by Mattel Media for Microsoft Windows. It is based on the Hot Wheels toy franchise, and was released on October 15, 1998. A Game Boy Color version, developed by Lucky Chicken Games, was released in 2000.
The 7 post shaker is a piece of test equipment used to perform technical analysis on race cars. By applying shaking forces the shaker can emulate banking loads, lateral load transfer, longitudinal weight transfer and ride height sensitive downforce to emulate specific racetracks.
The following is a glossary of terminology used in motorsport, along with explanations of their meanings.
F-1 Spirit is a series of Formula One-based racing video games developed and published by Konami starting on the MSX in 1987.
Ballast is dense material used as a weight to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship, submarine, or other floating structure that holds water is called a ballast tank. Water should move in and out from the ballast tank to balance the ship. In a vessel that travels on the water, the ballast will remain below the water level, to counteract the effects of weight above the water level. The ballast may be redistributed in the vessel or disposed of altogether to change its effects on the movement of the vessel.
Pitstop is a 1983 racing video game developed and published by Epyx for the Atari 8-bit family, ColecoVision, Coleco Adam, and Commodore 64. A sequel, Pitstop II, was released in 1984.
The Fury is a racing video game. It was developed by Creative Reality and published by Martech Games. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum in 1988. The box art was illustrated by Rodney Matthews.
