The Car Guy's Guide to Wheel Arch Angels

[skyeyemx]

(I am aware that all mods apart from Nitrous and Hydraulics are entirely cosmetic and do not affect handling in any way. This post is entirely roleplay)

 

Welcome to the Car Guy's ultimate guide on how to mod your street racer! This is the guide dedicated to maximizing your gains and reducing your drawbacks via car modding in the legendary Wheel Arch Angels.

 

Let us begin.

 

Now, before you get into modding, you've got to choose a car. Here, we'll compare all the compatible cars, and choose which one(s) are best.

 

Spoiler

 

Elegy:

Acceleration: *****

Top Speed: ****

Grip: *

Powertrain: RWD

Turning: Poor turning circle, oversteer at higher speeds

Turn Style: Drift

 

Flash

Acceleration: ***

Top Speed: ***

Grip: ****

Powertrain: FWD

Turning: Very responsive, mild understeer

Turn Style: Handbrake turn

 

Jester

Acceleration: ***

Top Speed: ***

Grip: *****

Powertrain: FWD

Turning: Fairly responsive, mild understeer

Turn Style: Mixed - Grip or Handbrake Turn

 

Stratum

Acceleration: *

Top Speed: ***

Grip: ***

Powertrain: RWD

Turning: Pretty unresponsive, and heavy turning

Turn Style: Grip

 

Sultan:
Acceleration: *****

Top Speed: ***

Grip: *****

Powertrain: 4WD

Turning: Mild understeer,

Turn Style: Handbrake turn

 

Uranus:

Acceleration: ****

Top Speed: ****

Grip: ***

Turning: Mild oversteer

Turn Style: Mixed - Grip or Drift

 

 

Now that we have our vehicles stacked up against each other, we'll pick the best few. Quite obviously, the worst of the bunch is the Stratum. Horrificly slow, I have no idea how anyone could have considered this a street racer. Ignore it. The rest all are pretty decent sports cars, though the next one to boot off the list has to be the Elegy. Sure, it's got acceleration, but that thing's handling is just pure crap. It can barely turn, so drifting is your only option if you want to keep a reasonable lap time. I suppose it does make a great dragster, though.

 

I'd say the best would be either the Sultan or the Uranus. The Sultan has absolutely amazing grip, due to being a four-wheel-drive car. It'll even make a great off-road rally car. The Uranus, on the other hand, has excellent overall performance, though a few points off stability. It'll accelerate, turn, brake, and do anything you need.

 

Now we get to the real stuff; car modding.

 

First thing's first. If you're on a limited budget, or you only want to do one mod for some reason, get a bumper. if your car is front wheel drive, use an Alien bumper, as the Alien brand tends to come with some really nice front splitter panels, giving you some nice front downforce. If you're a rearwheeler or 4WD, use an X-Flow rear bumper, as the X-Flow rear bumpers usually have some sexy rear diffusers, again giving some nice rear downforce. The advantage of a splitter plate or a diffuser (underbody aero) over overbody aero such as rear wings, is that they produce much less drag. Free downforce, I say. If you've got a full budget, I say you ought to go with both Alien front bumper, X-flow rear bumper, and whichever side skirt is closer to the ground. Also, get some Hydraulics to drop your car down, so that your underbody aero gets as much benefit as it can get. Exception: If you're building a drag racer (using an Elegy, no less), I'd say screw the Alien bumper and go for a X-flow front bumper. These have less drag, but less downforce. A dragster needs as much rear-wheel traction as possible.

 

Now to get to the spoilers. Generally, you want to use a large rear wing if your car is RWD or 4WD. Never use a rear wing on a front wheel drive car; putting downforce on the rear end lifts up your front end, giving your front wheels less traction. On a front wheel drive car, you ought to use smaller spoilers, however this is not an option at Wheel Arch Angels. : / How do you choose between rear wings? Choose the wing with a larger side panel. Larger side panels help reduce vortex generation, and thus reduce aerodynamic drag.

 

Next up, scoops. Never get a roof scoop. They're all fake. There's no room in a roof to put any air channels, and even if there was room, you'd have to pipe the air through a thin pipe into the engine up front, not at all worth the drag penalty. Roof scoops are rice. Hood scoops, however, are worth buying. Assuming their hood scoops are actually piped to the engine, it might not be a bad idea to get one. Keep in mind however, the faster you drive, the more drag it creates. Generally, having a hood scoop will improve acceleration due to more oxygen to the engine, but decrease top speed due to drag.

 

Wheels. Alright, time for the wheels. Wheels often don't really change too much, but if you're a true and pure performance nut, it may be worth looking into. If you like acceleration and general handling, use Grove wheels, as they are physically the lightest, being mostly empty space. If you like less drag and faster speeds, use Atomic wheels, as their more "filled-in" shape will create a more flat surface for air to skim past as they spin. Keep in mind though, that wheels mods normally don't affect much at all. Exception: If you're building a rally car (preferably with a Sultan), it may be worth looking into wheels with thicker tyres, as they help in absorbing bumps.

 

Paintjobs and colours: Well, these don't really do much at all to performance, but again, if you're a 100% pure car guy, you'll do some paint modding anyways. Avoid complex paintjobs. They add a tiny bit of weight and drag, because more layers of paint are used. Stick to one base colour, preferably white, as it helps reflect sun energy, making it ever so slightly cooler than dark colours, which will be ever so slightly warmer. One exception to the no paint job rule, is the Jester's Paintjob 3, which adds racing stripes. Racing stripes are placed such that the driver gets a better bearing on which direction exactly the car is painting, and this psychological effect can help you align in turns and straightaways.

Edited July 11, 2018 by skyeyemx