Harimau International are an Anti-Gravity racing team based in Malaysia. They are the racing team representing a humanitarian and environmentalist organization of the same name. As such, the team seem to be willing to introduce the "more eco-friendly AG racing", utilizing racing craft which they claim to be zero-emission.
History
Founded in 2177 in Malaysia, the Harimau International organization is a humanitarian foundation established to aid the recovery of Asian regions during the great depression of the 2170s. Expanding out with the borders of its home country in the early 2180s, the organization began its worldwide programme, and contributed to many urban regeneration projects around the world during that decade.
The profile of anti-gravity racing as a sport in which the craft emit zero emissions convinced Harimau to establish a racing team for the 2197 season of the FX300 League, with a view to promoting an environmentally friendly message on an international stage. It was, however, uncertain whether this display from Harimau was a bold move at circulating such message, or otherwise just a publicity stunt, mainly because much of the structure of the Harimau organization is unknown to the public.
Speculations suggested an intense rivalry developing between them and fellow newcomers Triakis, as the fundamental differences of their respective backgrounds would most likely translate into on-track friction. As in races, however, Harimau were doing quite well with the veteran teams in the FX300 League, only to become a decent middle member of the group. Unfortunately, the team withdrew from the competition at the end of the FX300 League to concentrate on another project – to repopulate suitable parts of the world with genetically engineered tigers.
While it was not clear whether this was yet another publicity stunt or a valiant effort to re-introduce a species that had been extinct for years, it did give good media exposure for Harimau. Ultimately, this fueled their desire to return late for the FX400 League. Their latest biofuel-powered ship appeared to be a better performer, compared to its predecessor. Even if Harimau failed to reach the lofty heights of the major teams, the organization will remain satisfied knowing that their efforts can help produce a better, cleaner world.
FX300 Background
Founded in 2177, the Harimau International organisation is a humanitarian group established to aid the recovery of Asian regions from the great depression of the 2170's. Little is known of the structure of their racing team; media speculation is that the outfit has been established in order to promote the organisation on the global stage.
Quite how the high-octane action of the FX300 League will fit with Harimau's message of global peace remains to be seen.
FX400 Background
Harimau will be another team that are arriving late to the FX400 party, having focused most of their recent energies on promoting their international campaign to repopulate suitable parts of the world with genetically engineered tigers.
While it's not clear whether this is simply a publicity stunt or a valiant attempt to re-introduce the world to an animal that has been extinct for a century and a half, it has certainly gained welcome media attention for the team.
Aside from their tiger cloning efforts, the latest Harimau bio-fuel powered craft looked to be a marked improvement upon its predecessor during pre-season testing, sporting strong top-end speed and handling, which should see them challenging for the top spots in the season ahead.
FX400 Message
Statement by Harimau PR
Continuing our efforts to reduce the impact of AG Racing on the environment, the Harimau International Racing Team will be powered by 100% bio-fuel in the FX350 and FX400 Racing Leagues.
As part of our Return of the Tiger programme – our initiative to replenish the world’s population of an animal that has been classed as extinct for over a century – our lucky fans will have the chance to meet with a real tiger at selected events during the course of the FX400 season.
Why not come and show your support for Harimau International around the world?
Harimau – a force of nature.
Appearance, Evolution & Stats
The design of the Harimau ship closely resembles that of AG Systems, though it is somewhat less frail-looking. Its livery usually consists of orange color that dominates the appearance, as well as the Harimau International logo on both sides of the single-hull structure. Having first appeared in Wipeout Pure, and in subsequent games, the designs of their ships have not varied much.
The Harimau ship is generally a good all-around performer. While it cannot withstand too much punishment, it is overall a ship with great handling and decent speed, though this aspect was less present in the Pure ship (or perhaps obscured by Triakis' use of reverse-inertia deceleration system that time).
The Pure design is kept for use in Pulse, but the HD design is a slightly different model. The Pulse and HD chassis is well balanced, and statistically similar, despite now lacking in acceleration capability. While many people consider the HD chassis to be the "inferior version" of Assegai, of which the latter shares the exact same stat values except for increased thrust, inspection of the hidden stats show Harimau in fact has slightly improved ground grip over Assegai, contributing to a less obvious "true handling" only slightly better than Assegai and slightly worse than FEISAR.
The Harimau Fury ship, however, has become another favourite ship for use thanks to the major speed enhancement, giving it more considerable top speed. On the other hand, despite a minor improvement, the lack of thrust is still an issue. At least, nonetheless, this tweaking along with the very slight edge in handling will distinguish it from Assegai.
Gallery
Trivia
- "Harimau" means "Tiger" in Malay. The tiger is Malaysia's national animal.
- In the official Wipeout Pulse website, the Harimau ship stats is erroneously displayed as identical to that of EG-X.
| Anti-Gravity Racing Teams in Wipeout |
|---|
| AG Systems • Assegai • Auricom • EG-X • FEISAR • Goteki 45 • Harimau • Icaras • Mirage • Piranha • Qirex • Triakis • Van-Über |
| Defunct/Former Teams: EG-R • G-Tech • Tigron • Xios |