Fastest podracer in the Galaxy

I've been playing this game for a little bit more than 20 years, but I've always wondered something : who really is THE fastest podracer in the game?

Introduction

I've been playing this game for a little bit more than 20 years, but I,ve always wondered something : who is really is THE fastest podracer in the game?

I tried the most scientific approach, in other words I tried to be as close as an AI could drive fly these pods. I respected certain conditions to be as fair as possible :

• Drive as fast as possible
  
• Have all parts maxed out, fully repaired
  
• Have every podracer unlocked
  
• Use repair only when needed
  
• No turbo used, under any condition
  
• If I crash, I restarted the race
  
  
  As for the track, I wanted a track that had plenty of straights and a technical section where I could test the podracer to its limit. I had many tracks in mind, but I ultimately chosen "Baroo Coast", or Neva Kee's favorite race.
  

The Racers

First of all, I'd like to say that I'm somewhat impressed by some racers, and some of them... well, are quite disappointing.

Let's begin by listing all the podracers :

• Anakin Skywalker
  
• Teemto Pagalies
  
• Sebulba
  
• Ratts Tyerell
  
• Aldar Beedo
  
• Mawhonic
  
• Ark "Bumpy" Roose
  
• Wan Sandage
  
• Mars Guo / Jinn Reeso
  
• Ebe Endocott
  
• Dud Bolt
  
• Gasgano
  
• Clegg Holdfast
  
• Elan Mak
  
• Neva Kee
  
• Boozie Baranta
  
• Boles Roor
  
• Ody Mandrell
  
• Fud Sang
  
• Ben Quadinaros
  
• Slide Paramita
  
• Toy Dampner
  
• "Bullseye" Navior / Cy Yunga

Top 21-23

Number 23 : Aldar Beedo

Fastest lap time : 1:49.42
Fastest race time : 5:30.98
Consistency(1) : 99.0082%
I expected much more from Aldar Beedo, but the bulkiness of his Manta RamAir Mark IV Flat-Twin Turbojet is far from doing its job. Maybe Aldar Beedo should stick to his original job, like being a bounty hunter and/or assassin.

Number 22 : Dud Bolt

Fastest lap time : 1:49.42 (same as Aldar Beedo)
Fastest race time : 5:30.89
Consistency : 99.0079%
I didn't expected much from Dud Bolt, as it's a podracer I've raced no more than 5 times. It's a good thing because Dud Bolt is quite slow and the steering is quite unresponsive.

Number 21 : Ratts Tyerell

Fastest lap time : 1:49.24
Fastest race time : 5:30.71
Consistency : 99.0090%
It flew exactly how a frosting tip (get it?) would race in a intergalactic race. I guess his podracer was too large to offset his 2' 9/16" height.

Top 16-20

Number 20 : Gasgano

Fastest lap time : 1:48.31
Fastest race time : 5:27.91
Consistency : 99.0091%
I must say that I am a little bit disappointed by Gasgano, as I've always seen him as an average, fair podracer. I guess the technology present in his Ord Petrovia was not enough to steer him off the walls.

Number 19 : Boles Roor

Fastest lap time : 1:47.76
Fastest race time : 5:25.98
Consistency : 99.0083%
I really thought that Boles Roor, with his unusual engines would finish dead last, but not quite. I even wonder why you would unlock this racer so far into the game.

Number 18 : Elan Mak

Fastest lap time : 1:47.26
Fastest race time : 5:24.50
Consistency : 99.0084%
Before even beginning the race, I remember how Elan Mak's podracer handled in races : sluggish, soft, unresponsive. I am a little bit surprised that he's not in the three last positions. According to the Fandom wiki, Kam Nale bought the cheapest and oldest podracer he could find, and it shows, trust me.

Number 17 : Sebulba

Fastest lap time : 1:46.95
Fastest race time : 5:23.47
Consistency : 99.0081%
As feared as Sebulba is, I really thought that he would be way higher in this list. In the movie, he gives quite a challenge to Skywalker, but by setting this list, I discovered that he's not really a match, except for the slowest.

Number 16 : Fud Sang

Fastest lap time : 1:46.80
Fastest race time : 5:22.50
Consistency : 99.0065%
Not a podracer I really used in the past, his bulky podracer cost him a lot of time when it came to the tight portion of the circuit because he has a very wide turning radius.

Top 11-15

Number 15 : Mawhonic

Fastest lap time : 1:46.16
Fastest race time : 5:22.43
Consistency : 99.0123%
I expected Mawhonic to be with the bottom three only by the logical conclusion that if Aldar Beedo and Ratts Tyerell came from the same planet, I would expect similar results. By climbing to the 15th position, I was quite pleasantly surprised.

Number 14 : Ben Quadinaros

Fastest lap time : 1:46.54
Fastest race time : 5:21.85
Consistency : 99.0069%
I had to restart the race three times because this podracer is so fragile to sharp angles present on the tracks...

Number 13 : Boozie Baranta

Fastest lap time : 1:45.52
Fastest race time : 5:18.83
Consistency : 99.0071%
I expected Boozie Baranta to be much higher in this list, given that his track is so difficult to master.

Number 12 : Teemto Pagalies

Fastest lap time : 1:46.04
Fastest race time : 5:18.49
Consistency : 99.0012%
Unlocked fairly early in the game, he is not as fast as some podracers available from the beginning.

Number 11 : Toy Dampner

Fastest lap time : 1:45.64
Fastest race time : 5:18.28
Consistency : 99.0043%
A real average podracer. However, his turning radius is a little bit wider than you'd expect.

Top 6-10

Number 10 : Anakin Skywalker

Fastest lap time : 1:45.26
Fastest race time : 5:17.65
Consistency : 99.0059%
Available from the start, Anakin Skywalker is above average. He has a quite good turning radius, but not as much as the top three.

Number 9 : Ark "Bumpy" Roose

Fastest lap time : 1:44.40
Fastest race time : 5:15.79
Consistency : 99.0082%
I've never drove Bumpy often, so I didn't know what to expect. He's quite good regarding the dimensions of his big podracer.

Number 8 : Clegg Holdfast

Fastest lap time : 1:44.93
Fastest race time : 5:15.76
Consistency : 99.0031%
Despite his big podracer, he handles quite well and have a well-balanced machine.

Number 7 : Ody Mandrell

Fastest lap time : 1:45.11
Fastest race time : 5:15.75
Consistency : 99.0013%
It almost feels like Ody Mandrell and Clegg Holdfast are the same machine!

Number 6 : Mars Guo / Jinn Reeso

Fastest lap time : 1:44.75
Fastest race time : 5:15.18
Consistency : 99.0030%
A favorite for me, it fits where it should be. Good acceleration and speed, but could use a sharper turning radius.

Top 1-5

Number 5 : Ebe Endocott

Fastest lap time : 1:44.50
Fastest race time : 5:14.73
Consistency : 99.0039%
Usually the first podracer I use when I start a new tournament, I see Ebe Endocott be used all throughout the tournament and have many wins.

Number 4 : Wan Sandage

Fastest lap time : 1:44.66
Fastest race time : 5:14.42
Consistency : 99.0014%
This was a complete surprise for me. I thought that Wan Sandage was just an average podracer, but he can hold the top 5 pretty easily. I think it's the fastest podracer in straight line, which I didn't even know he was.

Number 3 : "Bullseye" Navior / Cy Yunga

Fastest lap time : 1:41.23
Fastest race time : 5:06.85
Consistency : 99.0103%
Preformed completely as expected, Navior has a very thight turning radius, which gave him the edge over all positions below him. You'll notice that there's a big jump in lap time, simply because with Navior, you don't really have to use the airbrakes to turn tight corners. The same can be said for the two positions above him.

Number 2 : Slide Paramita

Fastest lap time : 1:41.08
Fastest race time : 5:06.58
Consistency : 99.0109%
A complete shocker for me, but I should have expected this since in the tournament, he is always mostly a few seconds behind you, ready to overtake you if you do a mistake. What surprised me the most is the tight turning radius, which I did not expect, as I thought that with his wide stance, his turning radius would suffer a lot.

Number 1 : Neva Kee

Fastest lap time : 1:40.71
Fastest race time : 5:03.65
Consistency : 99.0050%
What can I say? I totally expected this result. Neva Kee is not the fastest, but can definitely take any corner at full speed, which gives him a huge edge over any podracer.

Notes

(1) By Consistency, I mean how consistent I was across all three laps. There's no way I could be 100% consistent across all laps, as the first lap would always be the slowest, simply because you're starting from a standing point. I calculated it by dividing the fastest lap time by the fastest race time, which is by three. The operation looks like this : (Fastest lap time / (Fastest race time / 3))

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below!

Also, just a quick disclaimer : English is not my first language, and I'm in the process of learning the hidden details of the language. Also, it's getting late, and my brain could not be in tip-top shape, and some errors might have slipped.

[A Fat, Angry Serval]

@Lucario Paw
It goes even further than that. Each pod not only has specific stats at full upgrades but also without upgrades, and these stats are actually notably different. Sebulba is mediocre with full upgrades but he's actually one of the best characters in the game in the no-upgrades category, as while his upgraded stats are below the curve, he has some of the highest non-upgraded stats in the game.

[Dr.Evil]

imma betting heavily on a sebulba , he always wins !

[Ric]

different pods are faster in different ways including through hidden stats. Mars Guo has the longest boost in the game, Bullseye has the best turning radius in the game while boosting allowing for more aggressive turns, Neva has the best acceleration in the game except I heard bumpy's is better I don't really play as bumpy ever, honestly sebulba's a bad ranking pod but has some of the best top speed before upgrades, ben quadanaros infamously has the best top speed in the game and beedo has some of the fastest boost. Stuff like that

[Azure]

These rules are great for testing, would love to see them with a boost as well. My top 3 has always been Ben, Sebulba and Mars in that order. I imagine them and Boles would get considerably higher on the list

[leal.bonilla]

Neva Kee is the fastest, indeed, but in the stories first there was Ben Quadinaros and then everyone else, including Sebulba.

[VanillaVla]

Love it! Thanks, brother!

[Mike]

ps without using boost actually these results make sense since neva kee has one of the best turning and strongest acceleration of any pods.. all of which have the same top speed, so that makes sense considering that factor sorry I only just noticed that

[Mike]

Hey Domirae, cool to see you here mate. Basically Domirae is correct by the way Polite Devil. Your rankings list may depend on your set up but also more importantly just your skill and familiarity with certain pods. For elite Players, Ben is the best pod on most tracks, as is evident by the best times. Having said that I cant completely fault your tests and you made some logical conclusions, I just suspect the results would be more random for you and again dependant on pods you are more experience with using most likely - i.e. Neva Kee by the sounds of things :)

[Domirae]

I recognize that it's hard to know exactly how good every pod is without actually speed running the game, so here's a few tips if you do ever want to redo the tests. Firstly, there's a discord for the game that you can find the invite to on speedrun.com . Secondly, there are a bunch of actual stats about the characters that you can use to calculate average speed along a straight away, which has been done to this point. Finally, if you want to understand exactly how good every character is, it is best to try and figure out the potential limit of every pod on every track, and sum those potentials. I am currently working on a mathematical way to calculate that, but of course all of this assumes top level gameplay, not just the average racer. Hopefully this helps if you decide to redo it, and good luck with everything

[V4D4RS F1ST]

Don't worry about it. I never intended to imply that you needed to do it. you don't and are free to ignore it. however, i do hope my suggestion is helpful should you return to do it.