RV Loco is a car exclusive to the PlayStation version and Dreamcast versions of Re-Volt, and optionally integrated into newer builds of RVGL.
Performance
RV Loco is a Glow-fueled car with an FWD transmission, classified under the Semi-Pro rating. While having a body styling identical to Cougar, the two share different parameters.
RV Loco's biggest advantage is easily its top speed. Reaching at a maximum speed of 46 mph (74 kph), the vehicle is easily the fastest car in Re-Volt, outclassing its visual counterpart by a fair amount. Its speed is also a huge outlier in its class, with Pest Control being the second fastest car in the Semi-Pro class only reaching a top speed of 41 mph (66 kph). RV Loco's remarkable speed allows it to travel across straightaways at a ridiculous rate.
While having the trait of being the fastest car in the game and not even being in the Pro rating may seem extraordinary, unfortunately RV Loco is plagued with plenty of major flaws that severely impacts on its overall performance. The vehicle has a poor acceleration stat of 4.6 m/s², and while this is certainly better than Pest Control, is outclassed by all other cars in the Semi-Pro class. The low acceleration causes the car to take an excessively long time to be able to reach its top speed, and with many of the Re-Volt tracks having more corners rather than long straightaways, reaching the top speed for RV Loco is almost impossible. The stat also impacts on the car's ability to climb inclines and ramps in the game, with cars such as Adeon able to climb steep hills much faster than RV Loco despite Adeon's top speed being decent at best.
Its biggest flaw however, lies in many aspects of the car's handling. The vehicle has a dreadful turning radius, always requiring the player to slow down when undertaking corners. This, combined with the car's awful acceleration, gives issues when exiting corners. Most of the straightaways in the tracks are too short before ending in another corner, with exasperates the vehicle's problems. While the car has good traction thanks to its FWD drivetrain, it also plays a part of the vehicle's turning radius, with a majority of FWD cars having understeer at times.
RV Loco also has a poor stability, having a high tendency to flip, even when reaching its high speed, or under the effect of the Battery. This effect can be compared to Panga TC, however since RV Loco has the addition of the poor turning radius, it is much worse. The stability problems also correlate to the fact that making collisions with walls at high speeds will almost always force the car to flip, requiring the player to flip back or even reposition the car, wasting further precious time.
Overall, while RV Loco holds the record of being the fastest car in the game, this trait is overshadowed because of its handling and acceleration flaws. These disadvantages are so severe that the vehicle is extremely difficult to control, let being able to do well with it in the first place. This ultimately, makes RV Loco outclassed in overall performance in almost every situation. To address this problem, and in an attempt to make the car more viable, Huki has buffed RV Loco for its appearance in RVGL, which included heightening the center of mass to increase stability, and reduced its top speed slightly to make the car more manageable.[1]
Additional Information
- The player needs to beat the challenge times of Gold Cup tracks in Time Trial mode to unlock this car.
- RV Loco's top speed in the mode Junior RC is 30 mph (49 kph).
- The box art shows a different paint job for the car, with a lighter pink tone. PS1's RV Loco uses this tone.
- 'Loco' is Spanish for 'crazy', which alludes to the vehicle's insane parameters.
