Porsche March Indy
| Porsche March Indy | |
 | |
| Designer: | Original car |
|---|---|
| Released: | 1990 |
| Game version: | All |
| Engine specs: | DOHC V-8 Turbo, 2649cc |
| Torque peak at: | not verified |
| Max horsepower (est.): | 700HP |
| Transmission: | 5-speed |
| 0-60mph: | 2.6s |
| 0-100mph: | 5.0s |
| Half mile: | 15.05s |
| Flat track top speed: | 216mph |
| Real top speed : | 245mph |
| Performance data refers to BB 1.1 version unless the car is for 1.0 versions only. | |
The Porsche March Indy is one of the eleven cars originally included in Stunts and is, far and away, the most popular, well-known and employed Stunts car. While it could be roughly classified as one of the "race cars", alongside with P962 and Jaguar, the Indy has a feature set well removed from the IMSA car traits. It has the best acceleration in the game by a wide margin (specially in the first four gears), and, although the flat-track top speed is actually quite similar to the IMSA cars', it is able to reach 245mph through the use of jumps. Coupled to the excellent straight-line performance, the Indy has the best cornering grip from the original cars. The combination of these two factors make the Indy stand in a league of its own when it comes to hotlap challenges or competition racing, and confer to its handling an unmatched vertiginous, yet still reasonable, feel. To top it off, the Indy has a notorious flexible powergear, relatively easy to reach once in fifth gear (at about 160mph ~= 8000rpm on ordinary jumps, or at almost any speed when through a loop) and considerably more manageable than usual due to the excellent grip. As could be expected, Indy's powergear is a key factor in determining its driving technique in most contexts.
Being the fastest of the original cars, having the best handling and arguably being the most exciting of them, it is no wonder why the Indy achieved such popularity. Casual racers tend to use it almost exclusively, and in fact early Stunts competitions restricted themselves to it, or alternatively allowed for all original cars with no limitations on car choice, effectively making the races Indy-only (The legendary Kalpen Competition, whose first season was held in 1998, is maybe the most famous example of that). Such was the focus of the racing community on Indy during those initial years that, as early as 1998, there was already an Indy-based custom car developed for official competition usage with the sole purpose of putting Indy drivers in Stunts 1.0 and 1.1 in equal footing, the 4D Contest Car. The rejection of such Indy-centric culture was one of the driving forces for the creation of ZakStunts in 2001, which pioneered the usage of all cars through a contest season. That fact would justify Indy's claim to fame even if had vanished from competition racing entirely from them on. Naturally, that was not the case. Contemporary competitions, and even entire rule sets were developed around Indy (the IRC rules originated from the Indy Racing Cup competition, which was an attempt to bring Stunts racing closer to regular motorsport rules), and to this day it is a common (even if by no means unanimous) perception that Indycar racing continues to be the pinnacle of all competition and driving technique.
External Links
Full story on the Porsche March Indy at 8W (forix.autosport.com), split in eight parts
