IIIII H H RRRR AAA I H H R R A A I HHHHH RRRRR AAAAA I H H R R A A IIIII H H R R A A DDDD RRRR AAA GGGGG RRRR AAA CCCCC IIIII NN N GGGGG D D R R A A G R R A A C I N N N G D D RRRRR AAAAA G GGG RRRRR AAAAA C I N N N G GGG D D R R A A G G R R A A C I N N N G G DDDD R R A A GGGGG R R A A CCCCC IIIII N NN GGGGG GGGGG AAA MM MM EEEEE GGGGG U U IIIII DDDD EEEEE G A A M M M E G U U I D D E G GGG AAAAA M M EEEE G GGG U U I D D EEEE G G A A M M E G G U U I D D E GGGGG A A M M EEEEE GGGGG UUUUU IIIII DDDD EEEEE IHRA DRAG RACING: GAME GUIDE by Jamie Stafford/Wolf Feather FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM Initial Version Completed: September 4, 2002 FINAL VERSION Completed: September 21, 2002 ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== JOIN THE FEATHERGUIDES E-MAIL LIST: To be the first to know when my new and updated guides are released, join the FeatherGuides E-mail List. Go to http://www.coollist.com/group.cgi?l=featherguides for information about the list and to subscribe for free. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== CONTENTS Spacing Permissions Introduction Getting Started Shop Tracks Career General Tips Contact Information ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== SPACING For optimum readability, this game guide should be viewed/printed using a monowidth font, such as Courier. Check for font setting by making sure the numbers and letters below line up: 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ============================================== PERMISSIONS Permission is hereby granted for a user to download and/or print out a copy of this driving guide for personal use. However, due to the extreme length, printing this driving guide may not be such a good idea. This driving guide may only be posted on: FeatherGuides, GameFAQs.com, f1gamers.com, Games Domain, PSXCodez.com, Cheatcc.com, gamesover.com, Absolute-PlayStation.com, RedCoupe, InsidePS2Games.com, CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat Empire, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru, cheatingplanet.com, RobsGaming.com, neoseeker.com, ps2fantasy.com, and vgstrategies.com. Please contact me for permission to post elsewhere on the Internet. Should anyone wish to translate this driving guide into other languages, please contact me for permission(s) and provide me with a copy when complete. Remember: Plagiarism in ANY form is NOT tolerated!!!!! ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== INTRODUCTION For a game which retails for only $9.99 new (in the States), this is a damn good game :-) On the other hand, it can get rather repetitive - after all, races are only five to ten seconds in length, and it sometimes takes longer to load a new screen than it does to complete a race. On the other hand, IHRA Drag Racing features nearly thirty cars in six car classes, along with both Quick Race mode and career mode (comprised of all other race modes). There are numerous parts which can be purchased to modify cars for optimum performance. The CPU-controlled vehicles can and sometimes do make mistakes, which can include ramming the rear of the player's car!!!!! For those who have poor hand-eye coordination, this is probably not a good game to play, as a pristine launch when the lights on the 'Christmas Tree' turn green is imperative for the lowest possible race times; poor hand-eye coordination will simply result in A LOT of frustration. Also, getting started can be quite slow (even slower than getting started in the Gran Turismo series), but once a good second car has been purchased, things should progress relatively quickly in a player's career. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== GETTING STARTED When each game begins, enjoy the opening title movie (which is a bit long compared to other racing games' opening title movies). Once the game has been loaded for the first time, a player starts with $10,000 and a default car. However, before any racing begins, it is best to go to the Options menu and make changes to the controller to the player's liking. The only buttons which are truly necessary in this game are accelerator, brake, and turbo (the D-pad's left and right buttons are used for steering by default); if a player wishes to use manual transmission, these buttons should be customized as well. Once desired controller changes have been made, save to a memory card and go back to the main menu. The main menu presents several options; of interest now is Race. In the Race menu, select Quick Race. This will cause the CPU to randomly select a track, the player's car, and the competition's car - and the two cars selected will often not even be in the same class. Winning in Quick Race only results in winning $300, but the money is not necessarily important at the moment. What IS important here is to become familiar with the actual racing in this game, specifically getting one's hand-eye coordination timed just right; the game manual suggests pressing the accelerator when the lights on the 'Christmas Tree' turn yellow, but each player has an individual preference, so this is the time to find that preference before entering a career. Should a player win a race, a Winner movie will play, then the screen will show that the player has won $300. While this may seem rather worthless, keep racing in Quick Race mode for at least twenty races. This will help a player's timing to become more or less instinctual, and any money won ($300 per win in Quick Race mode) is added to the player's starting money. This can be very important for buying parts at the start of a career to gain an advantage over the competition from the start of the career. ============================================== SHOP When ready, head to the Shop to peruse the available cars and parts. For convenience, I have listed all the available cars here, in case players wish to buy a particular car from the outset (if enough money has been won in Quick Race mode - although this will be a slow way to win money) or later in the career. The car (Chassis) selection screen includes other information: drag coefficient, total weight, and frontal area. This list is sorted by car class: Class Car Name or Driver Name Price --------- ----------------------- ------- Classic 32 Ford Coupe $27,000 Classic 41 Willys $25,000 Funny Car Dale Brand $40,000 Funny Car Jimmy Rector $40,000 Funny Car Mark Thomas $40,000 Funny Car Scott Weney $40,000 Funny Car Von Smith $40,000 Pro Mod Al Billes $30,000 Pro Mod Fred Hahn $33,000 Pro Mod Glen May $33,000 Pro Mod Pat Moore $35,000 Pro Mod Shannon Jenkins $35,000 Pro Mod Tommy Gray $33,000 Pro Mod Troy Critchley $30,000 Pro Stock Chris Holibrook $37,000 Pro Stock Floyd Cheek $37,000 Pro Stock John Montecalvo $37,000 Pro Stock Tom Lee $37,000 Stock 68 Mustang $25,000 Stock 69 AMX $20,000 Stock 72 Camaro $20,000 Stock 73 Trans Am $20,000 Stock 98 Trans Am $25,000 Top Fuel Bruce Litton $40,000 Top Fuel Danny Dunn $40,000 Top Fuel Don Lampus $40,000 Top Fuel Jim Bailey $40,000 For those concerned about prices, here is a quick-glance list sorted by car price: Price Class Car Name or Driver Name ----- --------- ----------------------- $20,000 Stock 69 AMX $20,000 Stock 72 Camaro $20,000 Stock 73 Trans Am $25,000 Classic 41 Willys $25,000 Stock 68 Mustang $25,000 Stock 98 Trans Am $27,000 Classic 32 Ford Coupe $30,000 Pro Mod Al Billes $30,000 Pro Mod Troy Critchley $33,000 Pro Mod Fred Hahn $33,000 Pro Mod Glen May $33,000 Pro Mod Tommy Gray $35,000 Pro Mod Pat Moore $35,000 Pro Mod Shannon Jenkins $37,000 Pro Stock Chris Holibrook $37,000 Pro Stock Floyd Cheek $37,000 Pro Stock John Montecalvo $37,000 Pro Stock Tom Lee $40,000 Funny Car Dale Brand $40,000 Funny Car Jimmy Rector $40,000 Funny Car Mark Thomas $40,000 Funny Car Scott Weney $40,000 Funny Car Von Smith $40,000 Top Fuel Bruce Litton $40,000 Top Fuel Danny Dunn $40,000 Top Fuel Don Lampus $40,000 Top Fuel Jim Bailey The Engine screen is absolutely LOADED with choices. Here, an engine can be customized on six levels, from the engine block to the heads to the intake to the exhaust to the crank shaft to the type/grade of fuel to be used. Buying the least expensive of all these options at once will cost $11,400 (the equivalent of thirty-eight wins in Quick Race mode); buying the most expensive of all these options will cost $56,900 (or 190 wins in Quick Race mode) - simply pocket change!!! Tires come in fifteen varieties and are purchased PER AXLE, with $200 the bare minimum purchase to get the least expensive tires (Street 27x8.9) for all four wheels. The most expensive tires are the Drag DOT 33x22.5 tires, at $1220 PER AXLE ($2440 total, or eighty-two wins in Quick Race mode). Transmission is the fourth and final selection in the Shop. Here, there are two separate purchases which can be made: Transmission (with each transmission type providing different settings for each gear) and Final Set (which affects all gears). The cost range is $1200 to $4390 (147 wins in Quick Race mode) for Transmission, and $1000 to $1730 (fifty-eight wins in Quick Race mode) for Final Set. Note that when selecting from the Transmission options, those gears with '0.000' listed as gear settings are not available. For example, the HP Custom 4s A ($4390) only has four gears; '0.000' is listed for both fifth and six gears. For those interested in buying one of the most expensive cars and all the most expensive parts for that car, the total cost is $116,860!!! Given that players have $10,000 to begin the game, and that only $300 is granted per win in Quick Race mode, a player wanting to have enough money to buy all this at the start of a career would need to win 357 times in Quick Race mode!!!!! Obviously, such a tactic is only suggested for those who are TRUE drag racing fans!!! Perhaps most important to remember is that in the Shop, THERE IS NO CONFIRMATION BEFORE MAKING A PURCHASE. This means that even if a player accidentally presses a directional button and make an unintended change, the player is automatically forced to take that equipment when leaving Shop. Therefore, it is important to note how much money is on hand BEFORE entering Shop, just in case. ============================================== TRACKS Unfortunately, only six tracks are available in IHRA Drag Racing; Grand Bend is located in Canada, while the rest are American tracks. These are: Name Location ------------ -------- Mid-Michigan Stanton, MI Cordova Cordova, IL Grand Bend Grand Bend, ONT Red River Guillan, LA Rockingham Rockingham, NC Maryland Bud's Creek, MD To customize a season, these six track can be added to the season column in any order; by changing columns, tracks can be removed. This allows a player to only compete at tracks which the player finds most favorable or where the most success has been attained. Also, adding tracks to the Season column will change 'Single Event' to 'Single Season' in the Race menu; in this case, each track will be used in the order presented in the Season column, and each track will host the equivalent of a Single Event. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== CAREER When ready, a player can tackle a career. Whereas Quick Race mode only awards money for wins and does not subtract money for damages, other race modes WILL take away a player's cash should the car need to be repaired. Note that repairs often cost $1000; four Quick Race mode wins are required to recuperate the cost of these repairs. Single Race awards $1000 per win. If using the default car, do not plan on winning much; it would be far better to stick to Quick Race mode to win enough cash to buy a Stock Class car (prices here start at $20,000) to be better able to compete. Single Event is rather interesting, in that the player has the option to watch EVERY race in an event, or skip those races (individually) in which the player is not a participant. Once in a race, everything operates as standard. Should the player lose a race, the option is given to skip out of the remaining races in all brackets, or to keep going and watch other races (and still have the option to skip individual races). Single Season is a season's worth of Single Events. In the Tracks screen, players can choose which tracks can be used in a season, as well as the order of those tracks within the season. Once tracks are listed in Tracks' Season column, then 'Single Events' will change to 'Single Season' in the Race menu. Multiplayer modes allow for two players to race simultaneously. Each player must use a different memory card for save data, with Player 1 using Memory Card Slot 1, and Player 2 using Memory Card Slot 2. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== GENERAL TIPS For those interested in buying one of the most expensive cars and all the most expensive parts for that car, the total cost is $116,860!!! Given that players have $10,000 to begin the game, and that only $300 is granted per win in Quick Race mode, a player wanting to have enough money to buy all this at the start of a career would need to win 357 times in Quick Race mode!!!!! Obviously, such a tactic is only suggested for those who are TRUE drag racing fans!!! In many racing games, there is no 'penalty' or problem if a player simply presses and holds the accelerator button until a race begins. However, in IHRA Drag Racing, doing so will mean jumping the start, and the player will be forced to again prestage and stage. This is NOT as easily as the CPU makes it appear when auto-staging!!!!! If the prestage and stage cannot be completed fast enough, the player is disqualified. At the start of a race, many cars tend to lift the front end high into the air. While this certainly looks great, this slows the car's acceleration, due to the shift in the center of gravity toward the rear of the car, as well as the much wider aerodynamic profile causing aerodynamic friction to slow the car. While some front-end lifting is to be expected, this can be reduced by using the Turbo as quickly as possible at the start of a race. However, Turbo cannot simply be used for an entire run down the track, or else the car will overheat and the engine will be damaged - or the car could potentially catch fire. Once the car is in motion down the track, it is imperative to keep the car in the assigned lane. Touching or crossing the center line, or even brushing the barrier, will result in disqualification. Even worse, the car could incur damage, which must then be repaired. Probably because each race is so short (under ten seconds), IHRA Drag Racing does not support using the Start button to pause... so there is no point in trying it. However, after a race, pressing the Start button is the only way to leave the race results screen and return to the main menu; IHRA Drag Racing does NOT use the X button for this (even though this is standard procedure in most PlayStation/PSOne games). Before beginning a career, it may be a good idea to have at least $3,000 of 'extra cash' on hand after making any initial purchases a player desires. This way, should a car become damaged, the player definitely has the money on hand to make repairs. CPU-controlled cars will sometimes make mistakes. If the opponent is in the lead when a mistake is made, the player may be able to catch up and make a pass before the Finish Line by using the Turbo. However, if the opponent is trailing the player, it is possible that the player will be rammed from behind, so it is important to ALWAYS be prepared to take evasive action, even if the player is believed to be far in the lead. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== CONTACT INFORMATION For questions, rants, raves, comments of appreciation, etc., or to be added to my e-mail list for updates to this driving guide, please contact me at: FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM; also, if you have enjoyed this guide and feel that it has been helpful to you, I would certainly appreciate a small donation via PayPal (http://www.paypal.com/) using the above e-mail address. To find the latest version of this and all my other PSX/PS2 game guides, please visit FeatherGuides (http://www.angelcities.com/members/feathersites/). The latest version will always be posted at FeatherGuides, while other Web sites may lag behind by several days in their regularly-scheduled posting updates. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== ======================================================================= Wolf Feather Jamie Stafford ======================================================================= Just as there are many parts needed to make a human a human, there's a remarkable number of things needed to make an individual what they are. - Major Kusanagi, _Ghost in the Shell_ ======================================================================= What isn't remembered never happened. - _Serial Experiments Lain_ =======================================================================