Clan Drivers Club

[Claudio Davey]

Alot of you have already expressed a preference for one of the two clans in TDUSC: the Streets and the Sharps. Whether it's for personal reasons or the kind of cars, clothes or music you like, you are already leaning in a particular direction! Each clan defends and promotes its own vision of luxury and passion for cars.

With its stunning landscapes, Hong Kong Island is the ideal setting for a battle for influence between the two clans. Even though you don't have to ally yourself with either of the two clans, helping one of them come out on top will help you achieve your objectives faster and unlock exclusive clan rewards.

Entering the Solar Crown competition means you will want to acquire new cars throughout the event. This could be because you want something more prestigious, with higher performance or a car better suited to a certain challenge. There are lots of ways you can acquire them:

While enjoying a relaxing drive around the streets of Hong Kong Island, chilling out to your favourite music station, you suddenly hear the deep roar of an engine behind you. A visibly fired-up player seems to be goading you. They flash their high beams, confirming their intentions. You only have the bare minimum of information: name, clan, car, Performance Rating and the amount of Solar Coins at stake. That's all it takes for a clash of egos to spill over. There's no way you'll let this player from the opposing clan provoke you and win a duel. Once the challenge has been accepted, you start a head-to-head race along a unique route that is randomly created and depends on your location on the island.

Each player has already configured their betting profile and the amount they are ready to stake for each challenge. Once the Instant Challenge has been started, the goal is to cross the line before the other player and win the pot! If the player you beat is from the rival clan, your Influence in your clan increases, and you help with your clan's ultimate aim of ruling over the island.

Instant Challenges are a fast and exciting way of competing against other players, with no limits on vehicle or Performance Ratings: they are 100% improvised and organized between players. They can also be disabled if you're not into that sort of thing. Once turned off, other players can no longer challenge you, but you will have less Influence within your clan.

Some of you got the chance to try out Hot Heads mode and the first Lifestyle Battle Instant Challenge during Closed Playtest #2. It was a sneak peek and an initial chance to take on the best players in the Solar Crown!

In TDUSC, you can take part in different types of races to increase your Reputation in the Solar Crown competition. As you've seen through the different Solar Club Letters, the stories in Test Drive involve many players. That's also what we're aiming for with the races.

This means all the races are primarily multiplayer events, so you will face other players in each of them. If there aren't enough players in an event, AI drivers will fill out the starting grid. Each Solar Crown race has certain restrictions on participation. The restrictions may involve the car category, year, make, a specific model, type of transmission allowed (FWD, RWD, 4WD), type of engine (thermal, hybrid, electric) and, finally, the car's PR (Performance Rating). Each race always has at least one restriction, but there can be as many as three (e.g. Supercar, max year 2010, FWD).

The purpose of the Solar Crown is to bring together the world's most influential drivers and also to determine who are the very best. That's why Radiant has decided to set up a competition within the Solar Crown.

Starting from level 20, various races are randomly selected in the different districts of Hong Kong Island to become Solar Crown competition races. Why are they randomly selected? Quite simply because being the best driver in the Solar Crown means more than being the best driver in your favourite car. You have to be the best in every car in your garage. In the Solar Crown, the most well-rounded drivers are rewarded and celebrated.

By participating in these races, your position in the leagues changes according to where you finish in the races. Drivers can move up from Bronze to Diamond and reach the upper echelons of the Solar Court, which includes the best drivers from the Solar Crown. The best of this elite becomes the Solar King/Queen at the end of each season, becoming the new face of the Solar Crown.

Participants are rewarded according to how high they place in the leagues. Members of the Solar Court, and the Solar King/Queen, receive an exclusive new car. At the end of the season, participants' positions in the leagues are reset for the next competition.

In Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, the experience is based on realistically depicting what it's like to drive the most prestigious cars on the planet. We also wanted to convey this in the racing experience by motivating players to push their vehicles to the limit.

It's important to think about how to optimize your car to maximize your chances of winning. But don't worry, you don't need to be an expert in mechanics to get results. In TDUSC, car optimization is both satisfying and accessible!

Whether you're a beginner who just wants to enjoy stress-free driving without risk of an accident, or an expert with extensive road experience, the driving assists help you achieve your objectives through a range of essential settings:

To help you become familiar with the different settings, you can use one of the three available presets: Novice, Intermediate or Expert. These presets automatically change the settings to match your preferences. Adjusting these settings also determines how many Solar Coins you earn from activities on Hong Kong Island: the less you rely on driving assists, the greater the rewards.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown aims to be realistic, while also being fun and accessible. We feel players should have sufficient scope to make modifications that have a real and visible impact on the car, and the process should not leave the player feeling lost in a host of ultra-precise adjustments that often have a negligible impact.

As mentioned when we talked about Workshops in Solar Letter #1, you can upgrade your cars with mechanical modifications. This is sometimes essential to meet the entry conditions for certain races. Some modifications directly affect your car's performance: intake, exhaust, brakes, transmission, aerodynamics, cooling, etc.; whereas others have more of an impact on the car's behaviour in certain racing conditions: close or wide gear ratio, tire choice depending on the surface, suspensions, and so on.

With Driving Modes, you can refine the settings for your cars. More experienced players can customize and set up their own modes, which will affect (in a simplified way) speed, stability, handling and braking. Each vehicle has a Stock (factory) preset and three further presets from among the following:

A few weeks ago, we gave over 5,000 players the chance to try out the TDUSC experience for a short time in Playtest #2. As well as once again noting your enthusiasm for the game, for which we thank you, it was a major step in the development process, allowing us to test game features and certain technical aspects on a large scale. The playtest allowed us to test the different types of servers and identify areas for improvement so we can ensure you get the best possible multiplayer experience.

We'd like to confirm that there will be a new Closed Playtest in the coming weeks. It will be open to even more people and regions. Those who took part in Playtests #1 and #2 will automatically be invited to join. The playtest will be subject to the same strict rules of confidentiality (streaming, captures and sharing are not allowed). If you haven't yet done so, you can register for the TDU Newsletter at If you've already completed the Playtest registration form (sent by email), there's no need to send in a new one even if you haven't been selected yet.

We hope this (long) Solar Club Letter has given you significant insight into the experience that awaits you in TDUSC, especially those of you who enjoy the competitive aspect. So, are you a Street or Sharp? Cruiser or Racer?

When restaurant magnate Danny Meyer came to Singapore, members of Straits Clan, the country's newest private club, had the very special opportunity to have breakfast and dialogue intimately with the founder of Shake Shack and Union Square Hospitality Group.

This is merely one of the perks of taking on membership at the hospitality project managed by The Lo & Behold Group, in conjunction with Members Only Hospitality. Straits Clan is housed in a 1970s Singapore-inspired, 22,000 square-foot historic conservation building designed by Takenouchi Webb and situated on the site of former New Majestic Hotel on Bukit Pasoh Road, once known as the Street of Clans. (The club derives its name from the clan associations of 19th-century Singapore, where in a city of immigrants, individuals sought comfort and kinship in their clans. Over time, they became catalysts for social change, championing causes in education, infrastructure and commerce.)

Our members have access to several clubs all around the world, including Hearthouse in Munich, Kitchen Collective in Napa, CUB in Sydney, The Stack in Cape Town, and Saint James Club in Paris. These clubs are premised on exclusive quality experiences as well as a diverse community, extending the membership experience for our members. (*For the full list of sister clubs, click here.)

Our community and content are very distinctive. It was important for us to build a sustainable product premised on a member experience that would go beyond trend and novelty. Hence, we designed a different experience across four floors that made for a seamless transition from day to night under one roof, to ensure that members would easily return to the space daily. Our interior designer, Takenouchi Webb, also thoughtfully designed a clubhouse incorporating textures and materials that are distinctly Asian for a sense of familiarity and comfort.

3a8082e126