SP Rock Basher

So happy with the this new vehicle and map combination! Now I don't have to be sad that my Subaru can't make it through the SoCal wilderness since I can crawl the rocks from the comfort of my computer desk

 

Where is everybody? Come on guys, let's liven the Rockbasher thread up a bit! The Rockbasher deserves more attention! Even its YT views are the fewest amongst the 6 official videos uploaded for the 0.27!

 

It is perfect, what we want to say ?

 

It's perfect, can't disagree on that. But for some reason, I feel like this doesn't reflect on its views!

 

In truth, it's an excellent vehicle but lacks details (notably that it has no functional buttons which is a shame). In itself the vehicle is an excellent crawler but it is quite complicated to drive at high speed while being quite fragile. In my opinion this is what makes it less popular.

 

I don’t agree with it being fragile, the Rock Basher (not sure if that’s the name, I mean the fast version for racing) is actually so durable, I hardly ever manage to break it. It is not only amazing at high speeds, jumping over sand dunes but also good at crawling. Amazing vehicle from the devs once again

 

I brake it many time, probably a skill issue xD, but yes it's the best crawler and it is good for others.

 

Tbh, I don't really agree that it's fragile. Quite the contrary I should say. It should have functional buttons though, and this also goes to the Class 5 Piccobuggies.

 

I guess with the first European heavyweight, the first trophy truck, the first amphibious vehicle, and a Picco-based buggy, the Rockbasher kinda got squeezed out of the picture. All the other four have something (or multiple things) to be "fanatical" about, whereas this is just...a buggy that can go off-road. Then again, the Stambecco really has been the star of this update - with how many mods are already coming out or being made for it, it's likely going to have a similar impact on the modding scene as the Sunburst, D-Series, or Hopper have had.

Thankfully, I've taken all three versions of the Rockbasher around Hirochi Raceway and measured the thing - I just kinda forgot to post about it earlier.

Both the IFS and SFA versions have bodies that are 1.76 m wide, 1.6 m high, and 3.84 m long. However, the SFA's wheelbase is 3.12 m, while the IFS's wheelbase is 2.84 m. The IFS and SFA have separate front subframes and a shared mainframe, which is quite similar to, say, the Pigeon and Wigeon's 3-wheeled and 4-wheeled versions - where the 4-wheelers get a special front subframe that's connected to the mainframe. Quite an interesting re-use of techniques there.

Around Hirochi (Medium, 2 laps, forward, no rolling start), the SFA versions proved to be...not nearly as much of a handful as I thought they would be. The regular Rockbouncer was actually quite easy to drive for an off-roader never meant to go on the track. I think I was pushing the Rock Racer a bit too hard, though, or maybe I just wasn't used to the IFS after driving the SFA versions first. Either way, I had to take about 10-15 attempts on the IFS - whereas it only took me one or maybe two attempts to get a solid run out of the SFAs.

What worked quite well for me was basically treating this as a drift car - throwing it around the corners and flooring it through to the next straight. It still worked plenty well racing normally, though - it just wasn't quite as fast around a lot of the turns for me.

Spoiler: Hotlaps

Rockbouncer (N2O)


Rockbouncer


Rock Racer

 

And the Dunekicker has the new V8 sound because it has the Bastion V8s.
But I think the Rockbasher is also very interesting. It's as small as the Crawler/Gecko/Rock Racer Hoppers (a fact which you confirmed), it's the only mid-engined car for this level of seriousness of off-roading (besides the Scintilla Off-Road, which of course doesn't have these absolute units of shocks) and it's also much more maneuverable than the D-Series Crawler/Prerunner/Rock Racer/Superpig versions.
Wow, didn't expect it to be this good on the track. I expected it to be very wild. Although I thought the IFS would be easier to drive than the SFA.
And the inspiration from the Pigeon and Wigeon in terms of front suspension usage is a very interesting thing!

 

Yeah, I didn't expect it to be as good, either - it can carry 70-75 mph (112-120 km/h) through the first turn at Hirochi, which is up there with some of the sportier configs. Why, the Rockbasher might be the fastest new vehicle around a racetrack - but I haven't yet been able to get the Extreme Piccobuggy or the faster Dunekickers around Hirochi yet.

It's fairly common for the trucks to use a basic frame that's then modified slightly, but yeah, AFAIK, the Wigeon/Pigeon and Rockbasher are the only vehicles to have significant chassis modifications from the front between similar versions, instead of simply modifying the rear like on, say, the D-Series.

Overall, I really like this little thing - it's so useful for just getting out there and exploring around, and it's probably going to be fantastic in career mode, especially in the Adventurer and Motorsport branches.

 

It's bonkers how fast it is really, it has no business to go this fast

 

I seem to have a few of issues with the rock basher, mostly with the tires getting stuck in or on the front control arms, which in turn will break the front driveshaft. Even going slow, if the front axle is flexing and i turn the wheels it will get stuck and mess with the alignment.

 

Exactly! And with enough added Nitrous, Stage-Block or Supercharged torque (or all of them combined), it's even fast when accelerating on 3rd gear from a standstill! It's a mad little machine!

 

Heard it can get up to 1800 horses, that's just madness

 

I can confirm that - when I was racing around Hirochi in the faster Rockbashers, I tended to keep their transmissions in third, since that would prevent them from spinning out and they have enough torque and power to accelerate quickly enough, anyway. It's probably faster to downshift them into second on slower corners, but I'm not sure about that.

That kind of power's been getting a lot more common lately - the Scintilla's 5.0L V10 can get to almost 2,000 hp without any NOS and still be plenty reliable.

 

Yep, that's the 6.9 Gavril V8 for ya!
--- Post updated ---

Yep, it's more preferred to leave it to 4WD and put Race LSDs front and back for using it on the track!
Exactly, we have come to a point where we can enjoy 2000hp and not care about much! The Bastion was the first car to go that way, with the beastly (and great-sounding) 6.5 V8 being able to handle about 1800hp with the UHD Long Block and the Twin-Turbos maxed out in boost! It's nuts!

 

del

 

You must be talking about the Dunekicker here because I noticed the front face of the racing seatback. The Rockbasher has a special Y-shaped intake for both NA and Supercharged applications.