History Main / OverDrive

* Most modern fighter aircraft are equipped with equipment variously known as afterburners (US), reheat (Brit), or forsazh (Rus). This system dumps additional fuel into the exhaust manifold in order to burn any oxygen that was not consumed in the main stage of the engine. This can greatly (~160%) boost the thrust at the cost of extreme fuel consumption; afterburners can empty the multi-ton fuel tanks of a jet fighter in less then 5 minutes. Go really fast if you have to, but do it too long and you'd better be ready to walk home.

* In the film ''Fail Safe'' (think ''Dr. Strangelove'' played for drama) in order to catch up to a bomber with a nuke which is about to destroy Moscow a group of pursuing US fighter jets are ordered to use their afterburners to increase speed, even though everyone ''knows'' that they'll just run out of fuel early and crash in the ocean.

* Pushing one's car too hard is a central point in ''Film/FordVFerrari'', and in endurance racing in general. The Ford [=GT40=] was designed with reliability in mind so it could be pushed closer to its redline throughout thelong hours of it's races. This is emphasized at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (in the film) by Carrol Shelby defying the orders of the Ford executives, which were not to push the cars too hard. Shelby tells driver Ken Miles (via a sign): "7000+ GO LIKE HELL", or in other words, not to be afraid to push the car past 7000 rpm. Later during the race, Miles winds up in a speed battle with one of the Ferraris, both pushing their cars to the redline. The Ferrari eventually blows its engine, and Miles goes on to finish the race.

* Pushing one's car too hard is a central point in ''Film/FordVsFerrari'', and in endurance racing in general. The Ford GT40 was designed with reliability in mind so it could be pushed closer to its redline throughout thelong hours of it's races. This is emphasized at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (in the film) by Carrol Shelby defying the orders of the Ford executives, which were not to push the cars too hard. Shelby tells driver Ken Miles (via a sign): "7000+ GO LIKE HELL", or in other words, not to be afraid to push the car past 7000 rpm. Later during the race, Miles winds up in a speed battle with one of the Ferraris, both pushing their cars to the redline. The Ferrari eventually blows its engine, and Miles goes on to finish the race.

Odd as it may seem, this unexplained increase in speed can have some basis in reality. It can be simplified as a cost vs. benefit decision. If somebody has 'nothing to lose' and ''must'' be somewhere at a certain time then they have to speed up - BUT - if they push their machine too hard it will fail before they get there. If they had backed off slightly, then it could have broken down ''after'' they had arrived. In a race a driver will hold back simply because there's a notable difference between "the fastest they can drive" and "the fastest they can continuously drive without wear and tear [[PhlebotinumBreakdown completely destroying the engine halfway through the race]]". Smart drivers limit themselves to the former, and use the engine-wrecking speeds in short bursts--or for those desperate final laps.

Close to, but not to be confused with, the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' move called Overdrive (which is listed under LimitBreak).

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/SpeedRacer https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/overdrive.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Yes, that's the one for Overdrive!]]

Finally, it might be a matter of safety. Crashing and burning is not an effective way to reach a destination, and the driver may initially only be going as fast as they feel comfortable going... until they realize its not enough, and they just have to risk it.

* The podrace from ''Film/StarWars: Episode I - Film/ThePhantomMenace'' is all over this trope. Sometimes Anakin passes other racers with ease, and other times he keeps pace with Sebulba over long straightaways. It also genuinely makes zero sense that he wasn't going as fast as he could to begin with, considering how he started the race in last place due to engine failure and his freedom was on the line. Explained in the spin-off videogame: The engines can't run at full power for very long before they begin to overheat, and once their temperature passes the redline they will ''very'' quickly seize up, catch fire or otherwise fail catastrophically.

* ''VideoGame/StarWarsEpisodeIRacer'' makes the engines overheat and burst into flames if Boost Mode is not turned off before too long, which can result in your engines deteriorating [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration (which nicely explains why Anakin wasn't boosting the whole time in the film)]]. And unless you pay for the rather expensive repairs, you'll start the next race with a half-broken engine. In the sequel, ''Revenge'', your engines won't catch fire anymore, but boosting while overheated will constantly damage your engines, leaving you vulnerable to being knocked out if you hit a wall or get attacked by another racer until you take time to repair the damage.

* The ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' series has Over Boost, which allows an [[HumongousMecha Armored Core]] to move much faster than normal by consuming enormous amounts of energy. Depending on the title, it may also overheat the AC or consume [[DeflectorShields Primal Armor]], leaving you nearly defenseless

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'', where in one of his attempts to steal a Krabby Patty, Plankton shouts "You'll never catch me Krabs! Not after I shift into MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE!". [[Main/RealityEnsues Since his machine is about a foot tall]], [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments this doesn't even take him out of Krabs' arm range]].

* In James Blish's ''Literature/CitiesInFlight'' novels, the cities of the title can fly at faster-than-light speeds, but they're all equipped with a gadget called "Situation N" which can instantly teleport them away from trouble. Only thing is, it can only ever be used once per city. Why? Because if they used it more than once it would be too convenient for the author, I guess.
** This is really a ''FridgeLogic'' issue. A city's "City Fathers" AI has this "Standard Situation N" last resort action that turns loose their accumulated information store to produce some unpredictable solution, which is then wiped from memory to prevent lazy city managers or mayors from using it frivolously. (Why would it be frivolous to use it all the time? Because it's automatically wiped from memory, so that would waste their one last-resort option . . . er . . . wait a minute . . .) In this particular case (near the end of ''Earthman's Burden'') it teleported the cities involved away from an untenable situation; but the leaders didn't know in advance exactly what would happen. It's hard to think of a clearer case of ''deus ex machina''; yet Blish presents the gimmick so convincingly that it took this troper, at least, many a reading before the circularity of the reasoning dawned on him.

* During the FinalBattle of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStikers'', Fate T. Harlaown, whose fighting style is already based around her SuperSpeed, reveals the ultimate mode of her Barrier Jacket (essentially, MagicalGirl-themed PoweredArmor), the True Sonic Form, which allows her to move faster than even top-of-the-line combat cyborgs can track her. Its activation phrase even starts with an "Overdrive" command. The reason why she doesn't use it all the time, however, becomes apparent soon thereafter: with all of the Jacket's energy pumped into speed, it offers all the physical protection of a wet tissue.

** Notably the series points out some of the real life the limitations of this trope. [=AE86=] ''doesen't go faster when it's over-reving'', rather Takumi uses this to gain more flexibility when he's changing between gears.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'', where in one of his attempts to steal a Krabby Patty, Plankton shouts "You'll never catch me Krabs! Not after I shift into MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE!". [[Main/RealityEnsues Since his machine is about a foot tall]], [[Main/FunnyMoments this doesn't even take him out of Krabs' arm range]].

Odd as it may seem, this unexplained increase in speed can have some basis in reality. It can be simplified as a cost vs. benefit decision. If somebody has 'nothing to lose' and ''must'' be somewhere at a certain time then they have to speed up - BUT - if they push their machine too hard it will fail before they get there. If they had backed off slightly, then it could have broken down ''after'' they had arrived. In a race a driver will hold back simply because there's a notable difference between "the fastest they can drive" and "the fastest they can continuously drive without wear and tear [[PhlebotinumBreakdown completely destroying the engine halfway through the race]]". Smart drivers limit themselves to the latter, and use the engine-wrecking speeds in short bursts--or for those desperate final laps.

* The podrace from ''Film/StarWars: Episode I - Film/ThePhantomMenace'' is all over this trope. Sometimes Anakin passes other racers with ease, and other times he keeps pace with Sebulba over long straightaways. It also genuinely makes zero sense that he wasn't going as fast as he could to begin with, considering how he started the race in last place due to engine failure and his freedom was on the line.

* ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' has "Lubricous Speed", an even-faster-than-regular-Faster-Than-Light speed mode for Spaceball One that is used to try to catch up with the heroes. The problem is that it's so fast that it ''overshoots'' the heroes and anything not tied or nailed down inside of the ship is violently thrown around with the immense G-forces of the acceleration and instant stop.

* The ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' mini-game "Slot Car Derby" punishes players who maintain the maximum speed for too long on tight turns by making the car spin around for a second and have to accelerate from zero again. A common strategy is to ease off on the analog stick just before this happens, watching for the puffs of smoke that serve as a warning, then pump it back to maximum the very next second.

* Humans (and many other animals) can do something like this. Between adrenalin increasing blood pressure to move more oxygen and fuel to muscle cells, and muscle cells over-performing at the potential cost of both tearing themselves apart ''and'' overheating to death, normal humans can manage to lift cars and outrun sprinters under duress. The reason your average person doesn't perform like an Olympian all the time? They would die very quickly if they kept that over-performance up for longer than a few hours, at best.

* Done with a horse at the end of ''TrueGrit''. Rooster Cogburn rides a horse so hard and fast that it eventually dies just short of his destination.

* Deconstruction in the Literature/SwordOfTruth, where it turns out that your horses do have a maximum output. You can push them past that... and you'll run them into the ground. Later in the series they've become genre savvy about this, and start taking extra horses so that they can switch them out and avoid the negative aspects of this trope.

** Considering it was built from scrap parts, it [[WhatAPieceOfJunk wasn't exactly the most stable podracer around]], although it was capable of reaching very high speeds (one of the fastest in the film). Once Anakin got ahead of most of the other racers, it is likely that he did not want to strain the engines more than necessary. And considering he didn't even ''finish'' the race [[NoodleIncident the last time he tried]], he had good reason not to push it. This explanation is somewhat confirmed in ''VideoGame/StarWarsEpisodeIRacer'', where it's used as a gameplay mechanic (see Video Games).
** Podracing also requires [[PunyEarthlings inhuman]] reflexes. Though Anakin had [[AppliedPhlebotinum the Force]] going for him along with being a [[PlotArmor central character]], it's understandable he'd rather not go the full 560 mph (that's more than the length of the Empire State building every second) unless he really has to.