History Main / Overdrive

* The podrace from ''[[Film/ThePhantomMenace Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace]]'' 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.
* Speaking of the ''Franchise/StarWars'' films, the ''Millennium Falcon'' is a noteworthy aversion: The reason [[PlotDrivenBreakdown her hyperdrive conks out at the worst possible time]] so often is that it's been hot-rodded six ways from Sunday and is almost permanently in the "overdrive" state, with ''very'' little margin of error between "overdrive" and [[ExplosiveOverclocking "something important just overloaded and burned out"]].

* Similarly, in ''VideoGame/FZero'' (from X onwards), you can boost whenever you want after the first lap, but doing so [[CastFromHitPoints drains your health]]. Boosting in a pit area is essentially free, but cuts down on the amount of time you can spend there to repair any other damage.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'' is a rare subversion of the "more speed always works'' aspect of the trope: Lightning [=McQueen=] gains a whole lap on Chick Hicks and The King by skipping several pit stops--then both of his rear tires blow out in the final lap, and the race ends in a three-way tie.

* When [[EvilKnockoff Metal Sonic]] falls too far behind in the race with him in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD'', he'll overclock his systems to trigger a move called the "V. Maximum Overdrive Attack", which greatly increases his speed and surrounds him in a destructive energy field. [[AllThereInTheManual Supplementary materials]] explain that this technique places enough of a strain on Metal's body that prolonged use could cause him to self-destruct.

* 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. "Slot Car Derby" returns in the second game, which also has "Filet Relay", where players dressed as penguins can mash the A button to move faster, but will wobble and fall over if they go too fast.

* Hyperthrust in ''Series/StreetHawk'', which required a planned route and clearance from MissionControl before use.

* The ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Carpathia RMS Carpathia]]'' was a transatlantic passenger steam ship that responded to the ''[[USefulNotes/RMSTitanic Titanic's]]'' distress call shortly after midnight on April 15th, 1912. Captain Arthur Henry Rostron, who had been awakened by the ship's wireless operator with news of the distress call, ordered all engineers and engine strokers out of bed and on duty in order to "make all possible speed to the ''Titanic''" before he had the chance to get dressed. He then cut power to most of the ''Carpathia's'' heating and hot water facilities, diverting nearly all of the ship's steam output into the engines. While technically rated at 15.5 knots, ''Carpathia'' had not once exceeded a top speed of 14 knots since her shakedown cruise a decade before that fateful night. Dashing through the frigid Atlantic night towards the ''Titanic'' 58 nautical miles away, dodging ice and navigating [[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/9158258/Titanic-sank-due-to-mirage-caused-by-freak-weather.html freak weather conditions]] that made the sea even more treacherous, the ''Carpathia'' reached a speed of 17.5 knots. She arrived at the last known location of the ''Titanic'' at 3:30 am on April 15th. Half an hour later, she found the first of the lifeboats. 705 of the ''Titanic's'' original 2,208 passengers were brought aboard the ''Carpathia''. No other ship would arrive in time to find survivors.

* 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]], this doesn't even take him out of Krabs' arm range.

* In ''Literature/TheLastContinent'', when Mad is being chased by the road gang in his armoured cart, he feeds the horses a mixture of oats and lizard glands, which he calls the "supercharger". At least one reasone he doesn't use it regularly is because the horses become almost impossible to ''stop'', or indeed steer. It's probably also not healthy for the horses to take it too often.

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