Apparently, quite a few autoduelists have had difficulty with use of HD transmissions. I feel that this confusion has been caused because the wording of the description is not as clear as other descriptions for other gadgets. In order to help autoduelists confused about this item, especially novices and retired autoduelists that are returning to Car Wars I present a revised description of the HD transmission rules. Useful abbreviations are: PP = Power Plant, ICE = Internal Combution Engine, HDT = Heavy-Duty Transmission, miles / (hour * second) = Acceleration per turn of game play, CA = Component Armor, Heavy-Duty Transmission (CWC2, p.113; UACFH, pp.73-74)

Power plants and ICEs for cars, cycles, and trikes (boats, hovercraft, oversized vehicles, aircraft, and AFVs have their own specific rules) have two properties related to their power output. The first power property is the amount of power factors (PFs) the PPs/ICEs contain. The value of the PFs is utilized for determination of top speed and cruising speed. The second property of power output is "maximum pull," the maximum amount of weight the PP or ICE can successively move. The maximum pull value is determined by multiplying the PF value by three which gives the maximum amount of weight for the vehicle to have in order to have minimum acceleration, which is normally 5 miles / (hour * second). The HD transmission effectively doubles this maximum pull value, which is equivalent to multiplying the power factors by six. Note that only the maximum pull is affected. The amount of power factors, determined solely by the PP/ICE is NOT changed. Because of this relationship it is possible for example to have a vehicle equipped with a HD transmission to have a top speed of only 60 miles / (hour * second). Before the introduction of PlatCats and SuperCons many vehicles were equipped with medium PPs and HD transmissions. The top speeds of these vehicles were between 50 miles / (hour * second) and 60 miles / (miles * second).

Because the HD transmission is increasing the maximum pull of a PP or an ICE, the acceleration is greatly reduced. Therefore, cars equipped with HD transmissions have an acceleration of 2.5 miles / (hour * second) from 0 mi/(h*s) to 25 mi/(h*s). When the car reaches 25 mi/(h*s) the maximum acceleration increases to 5 mi/(h*s). When building a car insert the cost of the frame into a Vehicle Design Sheet followed by the cost of chassis modifications. Insert both values again into the VDS. The sum of these repeated values is the cost of the HD transmission. Designers can also include the cost of the HD transmission directly into the body cost and the chassis cost by multiplying both the body cost and the chassis cost by two.

The determination of the weight of a HD transmission is simple. Add 300 lbs. to the VDS. Note that this weight is in addition to the weight of the body. Determination of spaces for a HD transmission is also easy. Add two spaces to the VDS. Again note that this space does count against the vehicle's space limit.

Countless rulings in AutoDuel Quarterly and in Pyramid Magazine have overruled each other with regards to the compatibility of HD transmissions and ICEs. Without comparison to military equipment, the world of 1998 does have HD transmissions connected to ICEs. Therefore, SWAT makes the following statement: declaration by SWAT: Heavy-Duty transmission can be utilized with Internal Combustion Engines.

There are two reasons why HD transmissions should be utilized. The first and major reason is that when the maximum pull is increased, the HDT-equipped car can pull successively heavier car trailers and other objects with trailer hitches. Note that the trailer hitches must be installed separately from the HDT, adding to the cost and the weight of the car. Vehicles with HD transmissions do NOT have trailer hitches installed free of cost or weight.

A second but minor reason HDTs should be installed is that in some cases a PP or an ICE equipped with a HDT is lighter in weight than with a more powerful PP/ICE and may cost less than the more-powerful PP/ICE. Before PlatCats and SuperCons were presented in 2038 many cars before 2038 were built with HD transmissions and PPs with low maximum pull capacities. This action was performed to save cost and to save weight for installation of a PP. Note that this action is likely no longer necessary because PlatCats and SuperCons increase maximum pull and power factors without adding weight to the PP.

HD transmissions do not affect the amount of Power Units (PUs) contained in the PP. The amount of PUs is determined solely by the quantity of spaces occupied by the PP. The value of the PUs is the maximum capacity of the PP to use power-draining items such as lasers and electronics. The spaces of the HD transmission are not included in the calculation of PUs of the PP. Realize that ICEs are not capable of running any power-draining devices such as lasers and electronics, even "zero PF" targeting lasers. The installation of a HDT will not give PUs to an ICE. Other power sources such as laser batteries and auxiliary power plants are required by ICE-equipped vehicles in order to use power-draining gadgets.

When using component armor to protect the PP/ICE of a car that is equipped with a HDT, the spaces of the HD transmission must be included in the calculations of the CA.

For example, a vehicle with HD transmission has a super PP. The designer of the vehicle installs CA using the following calculations:

Super PP (6 spaces) + HD Transmission (2 spaces) = 8 spaces
10 points 8-space standard plastic CA
($5 * 8 spaces * 10 points plastic) = $400.
($2 lbs. * 8 spaces * 10 points plastic) = 160 lbs.
10-points 8-space plastic CA (protecting super PP and HD transmission together). $400, 160 lbs., 1 space.

With regards to the spaces occupied by the HDT, the spaces of the PP/ICE and the HDT are combined. The PP/ICE and the HDT are destroyed when all of the DP of the PP/ICE is destroyed. A final note to remember is that the HD transmission is not compatible with a ThunderCar PP, which is already a hybrid of a PP and a HD transmission but with better acceleration capability. --

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles covering military history and related topics are available at http://www.magweb.com