Lombo wins BeamNG upgrade race as Alex builds 1,700 horsepower monster

Eight drivers sat at the starting line of the Carolina Motorsport Park, each idling in a vehicle that felt utterly gutless. This was the opening salvo of a ruthless BeamNG.drive upgrade race tournament, a simulation format where raw mechanical progression quickly descends into absolute chaos. The premise is brilliantly simple. Drivers compete in a series of two-lap races. At the end of each round, every competitor chooses exactly one mechanical upgrade to install on their vehicle. However, the system contains a built-in equalizer. The winner of the previous round receives zero upgrades, while the bottom two finishers earn a double upgrade to help them claw back into contention.

In this opening round, every car operated at a mere ten percent of its potential power. The grid showcased a diverse selection of machinery. Mika fielded a sleek K Series, while Lombo chose an 800 Series. The host, Alex, piloted an S Series diesel, and Euan chose a lightweight Shurocco. Further down the grid, Shadows struggled with the massive, heavy frame of a Grand Marshall. From the green flag, the lack of power made clean momentum paramount. Doors banged down the front straight, but the real challenge was simply keeping the quiet engines singing. Drivers missed gears in the silence. Alex struggled to hear his own quiet diesel engine, shifting early and losing vital momentum. Euan capitalised on the mistakes of others, driving a clean line to secure the first victory of the tournament. Mika followed in second, while Alex managed to bring his S Series home in third place.

The Rapid Ascent of the Three-Liter Straight Six

With the first round complete, the paddock buzzed with mechanical modifications. Drivers who struggled with open differentials quickly bolted in limited-slip units to tame their spinning wheels. Others went straight for larger, stickier sports tires to establish a solid footprint. Alex and Lombo, piloting highly comparable German platforms, made identical engine swaps. Both dropped the stock powerplants in favour of massive three-liter straight-six engines. Lombo opted for the high-revving petrol variant, while Alex chose the high-torque diesel equivalent. Euan, having won the previous round, sat on the grid with zero upgrades, a sitting duck in a rapidly accelerating field.

When the second race commenced, the performance gap was immediately apparent. The newly empowered straight-six engines roared down the straightaways, easily bypassing the lower-tier machinery. The race quickly transformed into an exclusive ETK-class battle at the front. Lombo, Mika, and Alex ran nose-to-tail, fighting for every inch of tarmac. However, more power brought new challenges. Drivers were still learning the limits of their modified chassis. Alex got brave under braking, entering turn one with far too much speed and running deep into the escape road. In the final corners, Alex tried to cut back under Lombo but instead delivered a hefty nudge to Lombo's rear bumper. Despite the messy contact, Lombo held his ground, crossing the line ahead of Mika and Alex, while Euan fought valiantly to finish fourth without any upgrades.

Disastrous Explosions and Failed Brakes

By race three, the pursuit of speed completely eclipsed any concern for reliability. Alex bolted a stage three ECU onto his three-liter diesel, skyrocketing his output to nearly 500 horsepower. Lombo chose a larger turbocharger to achieve similar numbers. The issue, however, was that both drivers were still running completely stock engine blocks and cooling systems. The vehicles were ticking time bombs. Within half a lap, Alex's dashboard flashed with severe over-torque warnings. The massive torque of the diesel engine began to tear the mechanical components apart.

Disaster struck on the second lap. As Alex accelerated down the back straight, his rear brakes began to fade rapidly. The heat from the spinning rear wheels, combined with an open differential, cooked the braking system. Without rear brakes to help slow the vehicle, the engine revved past its critical threshold and exploded in a cloud of thick smoke. Lombo also suffered severe engine strain but managed to limp his smoking vehicle across the line to take a dramatic victory. Mika finished second, while Euan secured third. Alex's catastrophic engine failure left him sitting in the dirt, scoring zero points and dropping him far down the championship table. To repair the damage, Alex had to use his next upgrade simply to install a heavy-duty long block, forfeiting any chance to add more performance.

A Terrifying High-Speed Thumbnail Moment

With a heavy-duty engine block finally secured, Alex could safely run his high-boost setups. In race five, he added massive 305-width rear sports tires to solve his chronic traction issues. The wider rubber worked wonders off the starting line, allowing Alex to put all 660 horsepower directly to the pavement. He surged past the competition, but the sheer speed of the grid was reaching a critical, highly dangerous threshold.

As the pack barrelled toward the tight, ninety-degree right-hander at the end of the main straight, the limits of stock braking systems were completely shattered. Multiple cars failed to slow down, colliding at high speed in a spectacular pileup that sent carbon fibre and metal flying across the track. Alex managed to navigate through the carnage, but the rest of the race was a desperate struggle against fading brakes. Euan, driving his highly modified Shurocco, hounded Alex's rear bumper. On the final lap, Alex's brakes failed completely. He had absolutely zero stopping power, forcing him to coast through the final corners. Euan snatched the victory, while Alex miraculously coasted across the line in second place, just ahead of a brake-less Mika.

The 1,700 Horsepower Cruise Missile

Entering the final double-points round, Alex knew he had no realistic chance of winning the championship through conservative driving. He decided to abandon all sanity. He upgraded his engine to a 3.2-liter straight-six, cranked the turbocharger boost to maximum, and raised the rev limiter. The result was an astronomical, terrifying 1,700 horsepower. To stop this monster, he installed carbon-ceramic front brakes, but he was forced to leave the rear brakes and differential completely stock.

This final four-lap race was pure madness. The S Series was no longer a race car; it was a cruise missile with an identity crisis. The standard rear differential could not distribute the immense power, causing the rear wheels to spin violently even in fourth gear. Shadows, driving his supercharged Grand Marshall, engaged in a spectacular duel with Alex. Shadows' car literally burst into flames on Alex's screen, racing as a terrifying rolling fireball. Alex had to brake hundreds of yards early for every corner, fighting a vehicle that constantly wanted to kick sideways and spin into the barriers. Through pure defensive driving and brute straight-line acceleration, Alex kept Shadows behind him. Lombo sailed away at the front to secure the race win and the overall tournament championship. Alex dragged his smoking, 1,700-horsepower beast across the line in second place, completing a legendary run of mechanical excess.

Final Standings and the Cost of Madness

The final points table reflected a tournament of survival of the fittest. Lombo claimed a well-deserved overall victory in his 800 Series, proving that a balance of power and handling is always faster than raw horsepower. Mika secured second place overall, finishing just six points ahead of Alex's wildly modified S Series. Euan secured a solid fourth place in his Shurocco, while Shadows finished fifth after overcoming his early gearbox issues.

Ultimately, the tournament proved that while building a 1,700-horsepower machine in BeamNG.drive is incredibly entertaining, it is a highly impractical way to win a championship. Without the supporting modifications like a high-performance rear differential and upgraded cooling, excessive power simply creates a highly volatile vehicle that is impossible to control. Yet, as Alex stood by his ruined, tire-shredded S Series at the end of the day, the sheer joy of creating such a noisy, ridiculous monster was worth every single blown engine.