''The Open Racing Car Simulator'' (or simply ''TORCS'' as an abbreviation) is an open-source RacingGame, which as the title implies, is intended to be a simulation of racing cars. Stable Windows versions were first released in 2005.

TORCS' main draw is the ability to program new [[VideoGameAI AI drivers]] from scratch from the ground up, as shown by the activity on the TORCS Racing Board [[http://www.berniw.org/trb/]], a forum allowing AI programmers to compete against each other in various races using the game as a medium.

!!Tropes relevant to TORCS:

* ArtificialStupidity : The "Inferno" AI drivers before version 1.3 have a really bad tendency to go way too fast through corners, and have ''worse'' collision detection abilities the faster they go. Overlaps with DrivesLikeCrazy.
** The "BT"[[note]](short for Berniw's Tutorial - Berniw being the nickname for Bernhard Wymann, TORCS project lead)[[/note]] AI drivers will almost invariably stick to the middle of the road, causing them to be far slower than the "proper" Berniw AI drivers.
* BrandX : In all releases after 1.2.4 - all of the car names are simply things like "car2-trb1". Additionally, after 1.3.2, numerous cars sport sponsorship from "Software Engineering".
* CriticalExistenceFailure : Played straight. A car comes to a halt and is lifted away from the track if it suffers more than 10,000 damage.
* DrivingStick : The player can choose between auto and manual transmissions.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin : The title, duh.
* GameMod: Being an open-sourced game, ''TORCS'' allows a wide range of mods from cars, tracks, graphics to even physics. This also results in many forks, one being the below-mentioned ''Speed Dreams''.
* HitPoints : Every car has 10,000 of 'em.
* WronskiFeint : Easy to pull off against Inferno AI drivers in 1.2.4 and before, mainly because of their habit of going into corners way too hot.

''Speed Dreams'' (started off as TORCS-NG) is a "fork" of the TORCS project, which aims to be an improved "game". Notable features include several new classes of cars, improved AI, and improved graphics.

Much of the TORCS content is forwards-compatible with Speed Dreams given some changes to fit some of the new additions, but the basic architecture is practically identical.

!!Tropes relevant to Speed Dreams:
In addition to the above, plus...

* AlliterativeName : A few of the AI drivers. Ami Akechi, Kaito Kinoshita, and May/Mai Maeda.
* ArtificialStupidity : Despite being faster than Simplix-type AI drivers, the USR-type AI drivers have a really bad tendency to cut corners even when it's unsafe (such as when passing) or impossible (into a wall).
* AuthorAvatar : The development team members are some of the AI opponents.
* BlandNameProduct: Like in TORCS, cars also have their names changed. However, unlike TORCS, the names are more "namey" (for example, car2-trb1 in TORCS is a Boxer TRB-RS in Speed Dreams).
* BrandX : Many cars are sponsored by "Freio" brand brakes.
** [[BilingualBonus Freio means "brakes" in Portuguese.]]
* ButNotTooForeign : [=TRB1=]-class AI driver Marcelo Takeda, a Japanese-Brazilian driver.
* CoolCar : Despite being bland-name replacements for actual cars, the majority of models are based on pretty cool cars (the Archer R-9 is based off of the Aston-Martin [=DBR9=] as an example)
* GratuitousJapanese:
** AI drivers Yuuki Kyousou and Yukie Tsuchigami.
** The Boxer [=TRB1=] cars driven by the USR AI drivers are littered with catchphrases of various anime characters on the right-hand side.
* IdolSinger: Yukie Tsuchigami, according to file data in the drivers' directory.
* {{Itasha}}: Sort of. In 1.4 there were a few anime-style liveries for the Cavallo 570S1, but these were cut from the 2.0 release.
* MultinationalTeam : The development team. To a lesser extent, some of the AI teams.
* ShoutOut : Particularly prominent in the Longday Series [=GT1=] skins.
** Nearly all of the cars have tire sidewalls referring to the Leek Spin meme.
** The Archer R-9 has two skins which directly reference Key Visual Arts' visual novels: a Gulf Racing-lookalike titled [[VisualNovel/{{Kanon}} "Uguu"]] and a Jet Alliance lookalike with a title sponsor called [[VisualNovel/{{CLANNAD}} Dango Alliance]].
** If you look closely, all of the drivers are using [[Franchise/TouhouProject Yuyu Co.]] brand seat belts and helmets.
*** Additionally, a few cars have "Turn 9 Studios" decals on them - most likely a friendly jab at Turn 10 Studios, developers of ''[[VideoGame/{{Forza}} Forza Motorsport]]''.
** The "telemachi" skin for the Zentek Z7-R is a completely non-subtle reference to [[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha Nanoha]].
** [[VideoGame/DreamCClub Dreamer's Club]], a sponsor for one of the Toro R-GT AI driver liveries, is a nod at Dream C Club.
** Some of the billboards on various tracks mention [[VideoGame/TheIdolmaster Amami]]-branded tires.
*** Continuing on the Idolmaster theme, the livery for USR AI drivers using the Zentek [=Z7-R=] is sponsored by 76''3'' Productions... which also doubles as a Touhou reference. [[note]](7-6-3, or "Namusan", part of a Buddhist chant, is also sometimes attributed to Byakuren Hijiri in the fandom.)[[/note]]
** Trackside billboards on Espie and Brondehach mention [[Franchise/FinalFantasy Kupo]] brand brakes. Several cars also sport sponsorship decals from this company.
** [=NetKar=] also gets shouted out, in the form of an AI driver - Stefano Kudos (referencing the creator of [=NetKar=], Stefano "Kunos" Casillo).
** TORCS itself gets a shout-out in the form of a track name - "Espie" is named after a founder of the TORCS project, a Frenchman named Eric Espie. To top it off, the track takes place in France. To emphasize the TORCS reference even further, it's a remake of a track from TORCS.
* StealthPun: Emma Pergusa and Sophia de la Sarthe, girls named after real-world circuits (Enna-Pergusa and Circuit de la Sarthe, respectively). DummiedOut of the 2.0 release since they drove the Cavallo 570S1 mentioned above.
* ThoseWackyNazis: Some of the few downloadable AI drivers in ''Speed Dreams'' are named after real-life racing drivers of pre-[[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII WWII]] Grand Prix, like Rudolf Caracciola and Bernd Rosemeyer of UsefulNotes/NaziGermany. Their racing cars are also downloadable.