Introducing the Opal Ascent 8x8! This 40 foot beast can tackle any terrain, from the steep mountains of Snowstone to the difficult island path between Bandit and Yeager. Not only that, but its amphibious feature allows it to travel between islands easily. The Ascent has many off-road features that help it tackle any terrain:

Rotating half-axle suspension: This suspension design, most commonly seen on any TATRA, allows for high travel, strength, and responsiveness. Its durability allows the Ascent to take large falls with no damage to the suspension. Its responsiveness shows its ability to complete the Wright obstacle course easily, while still being strong enough to hold up to 16,000 lbs in additional weight.

Proportional Throttle System (Pitch): In order to maintain realism the engine only has around 1000 horsepower. This prevents the vehicle from going too fast on flat ground which would cause the vehicle to become unstable and flip on its side. However, as the Ascent climbs a hill, it will continue to maintain speed and easily climb up the hill, as the engine increases its power proportional to the steepness of the hill. This feature allows the Ascent to climb steep slopes while still having semi-realistic performance.

Double wheels: If you look closely, you will notice the Ascent has 16 wheels rather than 8 (excluding the gear), as there is two wheels inside of each other, a street wheel and a tractor wheel. This allows for more traction and control without increasing the traction of the wheel directly (which causes issues quickly). Although double wheels can have some weird physics and appearances (some wheels appear to be spinning and shaking when the vehicle is stationary) it makes up for it with the drastic increase in performance.

Landing Gear (gear): Note the Ascent has two smaller wheels in the very front of the vehicle. I noticed that when trying to dock and then drive it up a cliff or go from a flat surface to a cliff the "hull" of the vehicle began to scrape against the cliff, making it harder to ascend. Putting these landing gear here prevented the scraping and made such a transition more flush and much easier to execute. The landing gear also helps the vehicle catch a lip or curb to pull it up, such as when pulling the vehicle up along the curb at Water Takeoff. The landing gear can be disabled for aesthetic purposes or when in the water by activating LandingGear.

Gyro System (AG1): The Ascent's gyro system is one of the most important features in the Ascent as is useful for many things. Using the gyro system is best for if you don't care as much about realistic performance as this type of system would likely be impossible to replicate in a real vehicle.

First, the gyro acts as a self-righting feature. A quick press of AG1 and release once the vehicle is righted will make the vehicle upright. This self righting feature is also useful when landing in water, as it is best to activate AG1 beforehand to land in the water perfectly flat.

Second, the gyro controls the vehicle in amphibious mode. The vehicle features four large tanks to provide bouyancy, while a 5x power J15 (throttle input) provides propulsion at speeds of around 30mph. Note this J15 can also be useful for propelling the vehicle when the wheels are unable to grip, such as in the last 3 obstacles in the Wright plugin or up a very steep hill. Instead of an extendable rudder (which I tested and found ineffective) it uses the gyro system to steer in water (Yaw). This means that AG1 must be on while in the water at all times.

Lastly, the gyro can be used to help balance and push the vehicle around. Using VTOL with gyro mode on will tilt the vehicle forward or back. It is hard to explain all of the uses of this and it is more intuitive rather than a specific sequence. In general, you should move your VTOL stick in the direction that your vehicle is pointing or should point, or if either the front or back wheels are getting less grip you should tilt it in that way. Note that in general, having gyro mode on when climbing terrain will result in less grip, even if the VTOL stick is handled well, so I recommend only using it if you get stuck.

8 wheel steering (AG2): This steering system allows for a tighter turn radius and additional control, especially for the rear wheels. Here is the full list of steering options:

AG2: Off
Roll, 2 wheel steer
Yaw, 2 wheel steer
AG2: On
Roll, 4 wheel steer
Yaw, crab steer

Harpoon Winch (AG5): Normally with a winch the driver would exit the vehicle to carry the winch to somewhere it could hook on. However, our driver is a crash dummy permanently attached to a chair, so winches in SP are effectively useless for practical functions. That is why I put the harpoon winch on the Ascent- on the press of AG5, the double magnet is launched out from the front of the vehicle as an attempt to latch on to a metal object a couple yards away. It isn't very effective, but it is better than just a simple winch.

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CONTROL SUMMARY
If the controls do not make sense, read the above.

Pitch: Drive
Throttle: Boat Drive (also useful on land)
Roll/yaw: 2 wheel steer

AG1: Gyro system
-Yaw: Turn (as a boat)
- VTOL: Pitch control

AG2: 8 wheel steer system
-Roll: 4 wheel steer
-Yaw: Crab steer

AG3: Lights

AG5: Harpoon Winch
-Trim: (activates forward for a few seconds) Prep winch
-Fire Ag5
-Trim: Pull winch in/out

AG6: FT windshield wipers (Why it has windshield wipers but no windshield? Nobody knows)
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Sorry for the long desc everyone, there's a lot to cover in this vehicle!
Decided to combine the coming soon here as well because why not:
Coming soon:
*Opal WEH: *(weapon electric hybrid) Insanely fast slow-mo grand prix racer, as low as 7 seconds! The physics is complete but I wanted to put a body on it and couldn't decide what, plz put a comment if you have any suggestions.

Opal Avalanche: Another floating axle build that will be similar to my T-7010 challenge entry. For the RC nerds out there, it would have a body similar to the Deadbolt on the SCX10 as the inspiration.
A new Opal sports car or muscle car: May or may not be a replica but probably not, this would likely be a long term project with super high detail using some new concepts. I'm thinking of something along the lines of a Chiron, but I'm not sure, also leave a comment if you would want this or have any suggestions.

I know I haven't been posting a lot but hopefully all of this will be done within a few months of time allows, especially taking time for the sportscar. Thank you guys for your patience and I hope you enjoy!