Nitrous

Nitrous is a main gameplay feature first introduced in Ridge Racer (PSP). Generally speaking, nitrous oxide (or N2O), is an oxidizing agent that will temporarily increase the horsepower of the car as it is injected into the intake manifold of the engine, providing more air and fuel mixture into the cylinders. Once it's been triggered, the vehicle will go past its speed limit temporarily for a few seconds. The only way to charge nitrous is to drift around corners. The charge speed rate depends on how sharp the corners and the speed of the drifts. Sometimes it even depends on the vehicle - not all cars have the same charging rates.

Nitrous Features[]

Ridge Racer (PSP) and Ridge Racer 2[]

Nitrous made its debut starting with Ridge Racer (PSP). Nitrous is filled by drifting, and up to three gauges at a time can be charged, but only one shot of nitrous can be used at a time. However, shots of nitrous can be used simultaneously for as long as the gauges are charged. There is also the introduction of Ultimate Charge, which is mentioned in the game's tips. Basically, nitrous charges depending on how fast you're currently going, and "Ultimate Charge" is just considered by the tips/help as charging while drifting, but while driving at a faster speed (usually using the extra speed given after using nitrous). In other words, Ultimate Charge doesn't really work how the game says it does.

Ridge Racer 6[]

Ridge Racer 6 introduced a new mechanic for Nitrous, in the form of Double and Triple Nitrous. Now, two or three boosts (referred to as "double nitrous" and "triple nitrous", respectively) can now be used at the same time, where using two or all three boosts will increase the engine power gained from using it, as well as its duration. Ultimate Charge is also entirely refined and works completely different from its "introduction" in the PSP version. Nitrous charges faster than normal when the car decelerates back to its normal speed after boosting, so fast and sharp drifts, as well as knowledge of the track layouts, are key to mastering Ultimate Charge. It's also only just temporary, whereas in PSP you could use "Ultimate Charge" at any time just by drifting through corners extra fast. Take note - different machines have different Ultimate Charging rates.

Ridge Racer 6 is also the first game in the series to take advantage of a car's boost characteristics, mainly that cars with higher engine top speeds are likely to have weaker boosts, while cars with slower engine top speeds would tend to have stronger boosts.

In the World Xplorer mode, some races change how the nitrous functions. In Reverse Charge races, nitrous can only charged while drifting during its use. In No-Nitrous races, the player can't use nitrous at all, though the AI racers can still use them despite that.

Ridge Racer 7[]

The nitrous system has had a big rework, adding many different types of nitrous and changing the nitrous system as a whole. In RR6, Ultimate Charging is not limited to corners only and you can even effectively charge on a straight road. However in RR7, Ultimate Charging is only effective around corners and drifting on a straight road gives barely any nitrous, so strategic use of the nitrous is needed here, rather than using it at any time in RR6. This affects standard charge rates as well. Certain Special Machines with stellar ultimate charge rates can still be competitive under these conditions, however.

A new type of charge rate is introduced alongside the Tag Team mode. If you twin drift alongside your partner, you can perform a special kind of charge comparable to that of Ultimate Charge.

As the player goes through races in UFRA, some events place a restriction on nitrous. Sometimes, the player must equip a certain type of nitrous in order to participate. Other times, nitrous is disabled altogether. Unlike in Ridge Racer 6, AI racers can no longer use the nitrous in no-nitrous races.

Nitrous Types[]

There are 8 types of Nitrous in Ridge Racer 7:

• Basic Type - The default nitrous, with behavior similar to the PSP games. The player can't use Double or Triple Nitrous with this type of nitrous, or use Ultimate Charge.

  

• Standard Type - Standard Nitrous is provided automatically when you upgrade your nitrous to Stage 1 by your machine's manufacturer. Allows the player to charge up to three boosts at once and use Double and Triple Nitrous. This variant features average power and capacity. It also features basic Ultimate Charge as well.

  

  

• Flex Type - Flex Nitrous is an option when you equip Consumer Tec's nitrous. The nitrous is one long gauge that requires the nitrous button to be held instead of pressed. If used for five seconds, the boost becomes more powerful than the Standard type. It features an immediate speed boost on use, enough for Ultimate Charge after finishing.

  

• Extended Type - Extended Nitrous is an option when you equip Consumer Tec's nitrous. The same amount of nitrous provided by three tanks is instead split between two larger tanks. This results in the player only being able to use Single or Double Nitrous, but a single tank will last 1.5 times longer than Standard Nitrous. Power is the same, too. This nitrous type may require the player to learn new places to activate it when planning to chain Ultimate Charges.

  

• High Type - High Nitrous is an option when you equip Consumer Tec's nitrous. Nitrous provides more power at the cost of less duration. Normal and Ultimate charging is also quicker than standard.

  

• Quad Type - Quad Nitrous adds an extra tank of nitrous to your machine when you equip General Resource's nitrous. General Resource provides Standard Nitrous, Reverse Nitrous, and Auto Nitrous. However, regardless of the option you pick, you'll still get the extra tank.
  • Alongside an extra tank, these types can also be equipped when selecting the General Resource nitrous.

    

    • Reverse Type - Returning from Ridge Racer 6 as a proper modification, Reverse Nitrous is an option when you equip General Resource's nitrous. This type of nitrous has the same characteristics as the standard nitrous; however, it can only be charged by drifting corners while using the nitrous. The recharge rate is dependent on the machine's normal charge rate. Use of Ultimate Charge is impossible.
    • Auto Type - An option given by the use of General Resource's nitrous. Similar to Regular Nitrous, but it charges on its own. Drifting and machine speed don't affect the charge rate.

The boost characteristics are present again in Ridge Racer 7, with faster cars having weaker nitrous boost, and slower cars having stronger boost.

Nitrous Modifications[]

Ridge Racer 7 introduced customizable nitrous. There are two stages of factory nitrous modifications as well as three aftermarket options. Stage 1 factory nitrous upgrades allows for double/triple boosts while Stage 2 factory nitrous upgrade adds the ability of Ultimate Charge as well as more powerful boost. Optional aftermarket options are as follows:

• Galaxian nitrous upgrade consists of three options: Normal Charge (equal to Stage 2 factory upgrade), Normal Charge U (increases Ultimate Charge accumulation rate at the cost of Normal Charge) and Normal Charge B (increases Normal Charge accumulation rate at the cost of Ultimate Charge).
• Consumer Tec nitrous upgrade consists of four options: Normal Charge (equal to Stage 2 factory upgrade), Flex Nitrous, Extended Nitrous and High Nitrous.
• General Resource nitrous upgrade adds a fourth tank with three options: Normal Charge, Reverse Charge, and Auto-Charge.

Note: Some Nitrous parts have modifications and combinations of two types.

Ridge Racer 3D[]

Ridge Racer 3D reworked Nitrous charge again in the transition from Ridge Racer 7, with ultimate charge barely working on non-sharp corners. With this change, the player can't strategically work around it via Ultimate Charge as effectively as before. Customizable nitrous returned, however, with the normal nitrous (plus Charge U and Charge B being unlocked from the start) as the default. Other variants, such as Quad, Flex, Long, Auto, and High, are to be unlocked for each machine by completing championships in the game's career mode. Notable omissions include the Basic (Stage 0) and the reverse nitrous.

Standard Nitrous and variations based off of it is mostly unchanged functionally. However, the one true reduction to one of the variants is within Flex Nitrous, as you can no longer get an immediate speed boost via activation. You'd have to hold the nitrous button for a second for the speed boost to kick in.

With many of this game's track roster not being originally designed with the triple Nitrous system in mind and the reduction to Ultimate Charge, it's nearly hard to strategize and chain ultimate charges. It's better to use a machine with good base nitrous charge and have Flex Nitrous equipped as it'll allow more leniency for how the driver uses it.

Ridge Racer Vita[]

Considering how Ridge Racer 3D's physics overhaul got reverted, the Nitrous overhaul got changed as well, reverting back to how it worked back in Ridge Racer 7. The only difference is that Special Machines can now be equipped with custom nitrous.

Nitrous customization is now done via the "Upgrade Kits" system.

Ridge Racer Slipstream[]

Ridge Racer Slipstream saw the simplification of nitrous types, now divided into three types of boost (Normal, Extended and High) and three types of charge (Normal, increased Ultimate Charge rate and Auto-Charge). Ultimate charging mechanism is also revised, so now player has to drift while boosting to initiate Ultimate Charge, similar to when reverse nitrous is equipped in the previous installments.

Gallery[]

Ridge Racer 7[]

Nitrous in action

Double Nitrous in action

Triple Nitrous in action

Flex Nitrous in action (Weak)

Flex Nitrous (Strong)

Extended Nitrous in action (Single)

Extended Nitrous in action (Double)

Trivia[]

• Nitrous throughout the series does very little to help with acceleration and only focuses more on excess speed.
• Nitrous oxide in real life isn't flammable, and does not produce vapor trails on a real car's exhaust.
  • The vapor trails depicted throughout the series resemble more of jet thrusters or even flamethrower exhausts. This is evident by the sound whenever it is triggered. In real life, however, nitrous produces a hissing sound whenever it is used.
  • Nitrous oxide only works on internal combustion engines in real life.
  • The way how nitrous oxide is depicted in the series would actually and potentially destroy the car's engine in real life. This is evident by the fact that the engine RPM goes way beyond the cars' normal redline when boosting. In games like Ridge Racer (PSP) and its sequel, the needle on the tachometer would even go beyond the tachometer itself, although this only applies to those with analogue tachometers.
• The Assoluto Pronzione and Pac-Man machines in Ridge Racer 7 are the only ones in the game to feature both auto-charge and unique nitrous types (Flex Nitrous and High Nitrous, respectively), in order to accommodate their inability to drift, let alone make contact/friction with the road, as they are anti-gravity vehicles.
• It is possible that turbine-powered vehicles such as certain iterations of the Kamata Angelus, Assoluto Pronzione and Terrazi Terrajin use jet thrusters or afterburners as their rough equivalent of nitrous.
  • The Monstrous has a traditional internal combustion engine, but uses auxiliary thrusters as means for boosting.
• Using nitrous in Ridge Racer 6 and 7 will alter the frequency of the music playing during the race. Likewise, when using triple nitrous in Ridge Racer 6, a "tunnel vision" effect will display across the entire screen and HUD. In Ridge Racer 7, a subtle distortion effect will be displayed.
• Nitrous depicted in the games show a different color of nitrous boost (as characterized by the vapor trails on the exhaust), depending on which type is installed:
  • Standard & High: Red (single), Green (double), Light Blue (triple) - note: High Nitrous uses denser particles than standard.
  • Flex: Yellow (basic), White
  • Extended: Pink (single), Purple (double)
• In the PSP series, the color of nitrous is the same as that of Triple Nitrous (light blue).
• When using triple nitrous in Ridge Racer 6 and 7, flaming trails will come out of the tires when drifting, and blue trails will come out of the tires when performing Ultimate Charge (Only in Ridge Racer 7).
• Because nitrous is recharged only by drifting (except if using Auto Type nitrous in Ridge Racer 7), this may explain why the Grip handling type was discontinued after Ridge Racer V, the last game without a nitrous mechanic. It may also explain why cars in the later games have been made slightly slower in terms of normal top speeds, compared to the cars in Ridge Racer V.
• Some special machines are reactive when using nitrous, such as the Terrazi Terrajin (with flaps opening), the Kamata Angelus and Monstrous (the car revealing secret thrusters), the Soldat Crinale (the car lighting up) and the Ridge Racer 6 version of Pac-Man's vehicle (with the chassis revolving around its axis). These cars may also even fire nitrous from different exhaust pipes as well, depending on the nitrous being used (the Danver Bass Cruiser also does this).
• The Monstrous is the only car in the series whose HUD is reactive to nitrous.
• Because the Himmel 490B in Ridge Racer 6 and 7 is an electric vehicle (with an inline-6 as a range extender), it is likely that it uses KERS or ERS (kinetic/energy recovery systems) in favor of nitrous, where kinetic energy from drifting is used to recharge the batteries.
  • However, the usual vapor trails from using nitrous are still seen coming out from the 490B's "tailpipe" despite not producing any backfire. However, the tailpipe has taillights embedded on it, which could potentially damage them if the vapor trails are said to be flammable, or if it could emit heat (which in real life, as stated above, nitrous does not emit heat, nor is it flammable).
• The New Rally-X car from Ridge Racer (PSP) and 3D is the only car in the series with unique nitrous vapor trails, being based on the smokescreen effect from the arcade game of which the car gets its namesake.
• The use of unlimited nitrous is available through unlockable cheats in Ridge Racer (PSP), Ridge Racer 2 (PSP), and Ridge Racer 6. This cheat is only possible in Single Races and Time Trials, and cannot be used in their respective career modes. The use of this cheat in Time Trials will not allow lap times to be registered or uploaded to the online leaderboards, and ghost data will not be saved.
  • In the PSP titles, the player must complete tour #18 (Thriller) in Ridge Racer (PSP) and tour #24 (R4) in Ridge Racer 2 (PSP). Just before hitting "OK" after selecting a car, hit both the Select and X button at the same time before reaching the loading screen to activate unlimited nitrous.
  • In Ridge Racer 6, the unlimited nitrous cheat must be unlocked through progressing in the Advanced Route. To activate this cheat once unlocked, press Y when selecting a car.