Drag racing

Drag racing (

: Kiihdytyskilpailu) is a motorsport where two drivers with their cars try to cover the straight piece of road as fast as possible. The usual distance is 1/4 mile (~402 meters). The player can drag race at the airfield, on its runway, from west to east. The impromptu drag strip even has a working professional Christmas tree.

The drag strip can be reached by turning right at the end of Kesselinperäntie, continuing along the dirt road until reaching the asphalt Rykipohjantie, then taking a left and driving forward until the airfield becomes visible.

Other residents of Alivieska can be found taking part in a friendly drag event each Friday between 6:00 and 22:00. Some of the cars and drivers may be familiar with Peräjärvi.

How to drag race[]

The Christmas tree can be found at the west end of the runway, the end closest to the entrance to the airfield. Position the vehicle between the yellow and white line on either side of the Pro-Tree, then slowly crawl to the yellow line, while looking at the tree.

First, the top pair of yellows will light up, which marks "pre-stage". Nothing will happen when stopping at the stage, this is the last step before the race starts.

After crawling forward, even more, the second pair of yellows will light up, marking "stage". Stop the car again. That means that everything is in place and the race is about to begin. Try rolling very slowly to the starting line ignoring the first lights, and only stopping when the second pair of lights light up if crawling forward keeps stalling the engine, and clutching forward keeps overshooting the line.

After a few seconds, all of the amber lights will flash, followed by the green lights flashing, which marks the start.

Accelerate the car and try to get to the finish as fast as possible. The finish line is marked with two small stone bollards on each side of the runway.

The drag time can be checked from the drag race time slip inside the organizer's tent on Fridays during the drag tuning event, otherwise, you'll need to be good at counting.

Results[]

Main article: Drag race time slip

The time slip shows the player's reaction time, times at the specific markers, and speed. The drag time measurement distances are in feet, at 60', 330', 660', 1000', and 1/4 mile (1320') points. The metric conversions are 18.3m, 100.6m, 201.2m, 304.8, and 402.3m respectively. The player's speed is given at the 660' and 1/4 mile markers.

Drag event[]

Drag-poster — Poster of drag racing event, featuring the Masser

The Friday "test-tune-time" event, between 6:00 and 22:00, comprises of multiple other Drag cars performing the ¹/₄ mile strip run for fun. This is an open tuning event where no prizes are handed out for achieving the best time, but to show up in your modified cars and test new configurations or newly installed aftermarket parts... or to check if your car drives straight.

To take part in a 1v1 with a fellow driver, drive up to your designated lane by the side of another car. If a competing car hasn't arrived yet, wait until they pull up in the other lane as this will signal the pro-tree both cars are ready. Follow the steps in the above How to drag race section and you'll be away in no time.

Since this is a community event, there are no rules for what vehicle one may bring. Any player drivable vehicle can be taken to the drag strip to get a time marked.

How to win[]

Previously, winning in the drag race was easy thanks to a bug with an accelerating handbrake. But since this bug was fixed, winning has become impossible. Masser and Covina will always be faster. However, it is still possible to claim a 3rd place with a time of around 15.2 seconds and get "Greased rust" achievement. Here is a guide on how to show a good result with your Satsuma:

Buy and install these parts: racing carburators, racing radiator, racing exhaust, steel headers, N2O kit, tachometer, bucket seat, rally suspension kit and get set of wheels with slick tires.
Set final gear ratio for 3.900, because your acceleration is limited by tire traction, not a torque. Also remove roll cage if it was installed, it is heavy.
Replace all damageable engine parts with a new ones at the Fleetari repair shop, except oil pan and block. Also replace oil filter and spark plugs.
Press "2", take screwdriver and scroll up each of the four carburetor bolts 60 times or more. Then scroll down exactly 30 times. It will set your fuel mixture to 13.2. After race you can scroll up each bolt 5 times to return to normal 14.5 mixture.
Loosen the distributor screw, then press "1" and scroll down until it stops turning. Then scroll up exactly 42 times. Then tighten the distributor screw. It will set distributor timing to 11.6, so it can handle N2O. After race you can scroll it down 15 times to set timing 14.6 for driving with gasoline.
Take screwdriver and scroll up every knob on rally suspension to the limit. Then scroll down B front 1 time, R front 5 times, B rear 5 times. This is a good setup for rally, but it is also suitable for drag racing.
Scroll up N2O bottle valve to the limit (17 or more times to close it), then scroll it down 11 times to set it for 1000 psi. Bottle should be full before race.
Perform extreme weight reduction, remove everything that not related to race. All body parts, both bumpers, all grills, all fenders, all covers, radio and antennas, all audio parts and rear panel, all lights including marker lights, extinguisher and its holder, all mud flaps, all seats, muffler. Remove all items from trunk. You need only driver's bucket seat, tachometer and N2O switch.
This step of weight reduction requires a save editor and may be considered cheating. Set "player" "playerweight" for 55 kg. Set "fueltank" "fueltanklevel" for 12 liters out of 36 possible. Set "racingradiator", "racingradiatorwater" to 5 liters out of 7 possible.

Now Satsuma is ready for drag racing. But a good time also requires a good start.

Drive to the airfield on Friday morning. Opponents always spawn in the same position when you approach this place.
Immediately go to the right lane, stopping before the white line. Then drive beyond the yellow line.
Then drive back behind the white line and really slowly drive forward again.
As the front wheels approach the yellow line, first one and then two white lights come on. Stop right there or you will get red light and will be disqualified.
Now wait for your opponent in neutral with the running engine.
When your opponent is about to get the white lights too, hold down the spacebar (it is a handbrake button) and shift into the 1st gear.
Next, maintain the revs at around 3500 rpm by pressing "W" for short periods and wait for the opponent's two white lights.
Now the tricky part. The opponent's white lights are actually "get ready!" lights. And yellow and green lights appear almost simultaneously, so you should be ready to start right at yellow lights, ignoring the green one.
As soon as the yellow lights come on, release the spacebar and press the "W" down at the same time.
If the revs were correct, the slippering will quickly stop and you will start to gain speed. Shift to 2nd gear at 7000 rpm and press "T" to turn N2O on for further acceleration.
Switch to 3rd gear at 7800rpm and then to 4th at 7800rpm too, finishing at around 155 km/h.
Release "W" and disable N2O switch as soon as you crossed two white columns.

With this guide, after a few attempts you will start getting stable time below 17 seconds.