The Vehicle Proving Grounds

We all know how fast each tank goes with each chassis. There are counter-arguments that the Vanguard accelerates slow, so its top speed doesn't count.

Others claim the Prowler doesn't benefit much from Racer upgrades, while some say the Magrider doesn't have a significant boost in mobility compared to the other two even though it should, or that it out right sucks when it comes to moving around...

Then there are legends of the Mag having a disadvantage of shells being pulled by gravity more than the other two MBT's, leading to an unfair fight at longer ranges...

Lots to check, so I decided to put vehicles in PS 2 to a few tests to see how they perform.

The Proving Grounds are obviously in VR, as that's the only place a new character can unlock everything, and where the same terrain is always available, regardless of the situation on the front.



Test 1:
Acceleration.

This test starts off with the flat bridge to check acceleration (marked with the Green Arrow). Each tank was tested with stock and Racer chassis (the 3rd level - the only one available).

I recorded each run, so I'll be counting frames to get my measurements.

Results:

Racer 3 Vanguard - Top speed of 66 km/h in 7.6 seconds, just a few frames before the hill began. 0-50 in 3.8 seconds.
Stock Vanguard - Top speed of 55 in 8.7 s. 0-50 in 6.9 seconds.

Racer 3 Prowler - Top speed of 69 km/h in 6.1 seconds. 0-50 in 2.6 seconds.
Stock Prowler - Top speed of 58 km/h after 7.5 seconds. I was quite sure it could reach 60, but the bridge ended... 0-50 in 4.6 seconds.

Racer 3 Magrider - Top speed of 65 km/h in 4.8 seconds. 0-50 in 1.9 seconds.
Stock Magrider - Top speed of 50 km/h, achieves it in 6 seconds flat.

So in tight terrain, or when performing quick dashes from cover to cover, the V is by far the slowest.
The stock V becomes faster than a stock Mag after 7 seconds of full throttle driving in a straight line on flat land.

The Prowler falls in between in terms of acceleration, but has the best top end.

The Mag seems to benefit most out of Racer Chassis - 0-50 in a 3x shorter time, top speed increased by 30%, compared to the V's 20% and the P's 19%.

Test 2:
Hill climbing.

Each tank was to drive up the hill just West of the bridge to see just how well it can maintain its speed during a progressively steeper climb, this was done just after the acceleration test, so each one began with full speed.
The slope comes in 2 grades, so I'll give the minimum speed of the slightly uphill part, and the minimum speed on the steep part. The highest point where the test ends is near the Purple Arrow, however the steepest part is between the two big boulders.

Racer 3 Vanguard - 50/46 km/h.
Stock V - 38/24 km/h.
Slow with Racer, nearly rolls backwards when stock.

Racer 3 Prowler - 55/51 km/h.
Stock Prowler - 40/35 km/h.
Once again, in the middle.

Racer 3 Mag - 64/53 km/h.
Stock Mag - 46; then 35.
The Mag does accelerate a bit on the slope, it suffers only from going from flat land to uphill.
However, once it got to the steep part, it suddenly forgot about the concept of speed.

On slight slopes the Magrider is by far the fastest, on steep hills it's comparable to the Prowler.
The Vanguard without Racer Chassis would not have the momentum to push itself up even a small obstacle should there be one on the hill.

The results may vary a bit, as there's another variable here - my control input.
I hope it does give an idea of what works and what doesn't.

Test 3:
Ballistics.

Does the Magrider have more shell drop than the other tanks, or is this related only to a lower shell velocity?

To find out, I armed each one with HE/VPC, because they share the same velocity of 175 m/s, then I equipped all tanks with 2x zoom, drove 300 meters away from the Scythe (the target marked with the Blue Arrow, and my location with the Yellow 'X'), and fired...

Here's how high I had to aim to score a hit:







Lo and behold, all have to have the Scythe right between the 2nd and 3rd big notch; on the 2.5 one.
Thus given the same shell velocity, the ballistics are identical.

Test 4:
Barricade.

Are the anti-vehicle barricades as found by the West entrance (Red Arrow) to the facility really tank traps?

Yes, and no.

The Vanguard gets across, both ways.

The Prowler gets across, but... It can't reverse straight across, because the hull sticks out behind the tracks, so it just bumps into it.

I also had the Magrider scratch its belly on those when I had the stock suspension, like a ship running aground. Upgrading does increase the ride height, with Racer it floated right above the barricade.

Now - what else should I do a comparative test of?
Sundies vs tanks?
Harassers vs Flashes?
What sort of obstacles, what characteristics?

Post ideas and I'll see what I can do.

I agree most people in vanguards should be called Vs.

Nice research. I always like it when people present hard evidence to dispel some commonly-held beliefs about the game, like the Magrider's extra drop.

I'm not sure if it's fair to compare a wheeled vehicle like the Sunderer to a tank, but running the same tests for every vehicle with different chassis could still prove useful. I'm interested in how each of the wheeled vehicles climb hills compared to each other.

Should do precision tests on turret rotation and hull rotation speeds.


Mildly curious as to what speed the other two are going by the time the stock Vanguard gets out of first gear (16KPH), which is like the first 4 seconds of driving.

The Magrider can go even faster if you move diagonally, using both forward and strafing, gains between 2-7 extra max kp/h, dunno how it affects acceleration. Racer gets less benefit from this technique than stock Magrider. Rival should get highest boost this way, but i havent verified that.

This trick can help tremendously while going up some very steep cliffs.

great thread! thanks for this info. spectre is right though. i use max racer on my mag and pressing w+a or w+d makes it go like 4-5kph faster, so it's comparable to a prowler with racer. but the disadvantage for the mag is that your gun doesnt point towards the enemy and you cant really see straight where you're heading. a fair tradeoff for a bit faster speed imo

Don't forget the reverse agility difference between inverted and not inverted reverse steering for Tanks in the options menu. The Vanguard basically gains a free Rival chassis this way. Or did they actually fix the thing I keep reporting since April 2013?

Edit. nope, still in. You gain more agility, or better said the old agility back for reverse steering if you enable "Invert Reverse Steering for Tanks" under the General Options menu. It works on all tracked Vehicles.

I do so enjoy Bengal's vehicle threads.

I personnaly think the Magrider has the most advantage. Even tho it throws less lead downrange it's mobility and aiming ability are vastly superior. I almost never take out a prowler as without a second gunner it has no real advantage over a lightning. Anyone trying to drive and shoot a regualar tracked tank will notice every bump in the road make holding your sight picture impossible. You get stuck constantly on areas to steep to climb that any soldier can walk right up, that are gullys that you slide down into, or rock out cropping you bang into while trying to hold that sight picture.
Try driving a Mag in VR and immediatlely you notice the bumbs do NOT effect the sight picture and you can float over gullys bumps in the roads and as long as you are facing the opponent (no turret turning) you can shoot AND HIT your opponent much easier. Hits are the ONLY thing that counts so even tho you can fire less often than a Prowler or with less power than a Prowler or Vangard, you can HIT more as your moving target is difficult to hit. Now maybe for vastly experienced tankers that is not true but most that play are less experienced so.... the nooby tanker will do much better in a Mag than another MBT IMHO. Mag routinely get into impossible to get places where no tank i can spawn could ever get. They sit on cliffs shooting down into a spawn room where my lightning would just slide down immediately at that angle, to be annilated at the bottom in front of the spawn room.

This one is easy, I'll count frames again.

Test 5:
First gear, and a short dash forward.

Stock V - 16 km/h, shifts to second in 2.8 seconds after starting to move.
Racer 3 Vanguard - 16 km/h, 1.7 sec to the shift. In 2.8 sec after starting this tank gets the speed of 39 km/h.

Stock P - 35 km/h after 2.8 seconds, first gear ends at 18 km/h, but it shifts quickly.
Racer P - 53 km/h after 2.8 seconds. First gear as with stock version.

Racer Mag - No gearbox, in 2.8 seconds it's going 59 km/h.
Stock Mag - in 2.8 sec it's moving at 42 km/h

So the Mag's unconventional suspension gets it to pull away in this test as well. In fact the stock M is quicker in the 2.8 second dash than the Racer 3 Vanguard.
The Racer chassis on the Vanguard really shines in this test, as the quick shifting gearbox makes it a totally different tank.
The Prowler is once again in the middle in the acceleration department, however it's closer to 1st place than to 3rd.

Further tests tomorrow. I'll do the Lightning, Sundy and Harasser on the same obstacles. Then I'll see what's next.

Mind doing the Flash too? If only to have done everything you can pull from a vehicle terminal.

Average speed on bumpy terrain.

Keep in mind the Gear shift still can be easily bypassed and no one seems to care.
The Vanguard benefits the most of it, Lighting and Sunderer a bit, Prowler only has 1 fast gear shift and Magrider has none at all.

Nice tests, but I smell Vanguard bias.

Test gear popping vs normal acceleration for Prowler and Vanguard (stock and racer 3) and then compare to the Magrider.

What does the bias matter if the truth is apparent?
That they would not be judge based on their biases, but on the content of their message.

This I was just thinking that! With a forced gear shift I can get my racer 3 vanguard to top speed in like 3.5 seconds. It seriously cuts down on the acceleration time.

This is probably the most useful thread I have seen in gameplay discussion in a long time. +1

Just wanted to comment that; there was never any argument with tank ballistics with HE shells. we KNOW that the velocity is what effects it... do the same test with AP shells, and then do different distances; eg

AP at a target, 400, 500, and 600M away.. and compare the increase in aim height change.
((300 is WAY to close

I think his point was that Magrider AP travels at the same arc as Lighting AP (both have same velo.)