History Series / Hyperdrive2019

* RidiculouslyDifficultRoute: During the knockout rounds, contestants can either return to the start by driving through Walk on Water a second time or balance their cars on a pair of rails and slide past the obstacle. The latter is much faster, but comes at the risk of underbody damage, with one driver losing a radiator in the process.

-> Mike Hill: My man's got all the talent in the world, but he just couldn't catch a break.

** The competition itself becomes this in the later knockout rounds, with the new course layouts focusing more on car control and the organizers raising the severity of the penalties.

[[caption-width-right:350:"This is the most spectacular car competition on Earth..." Photo source:Netflix]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"This is the most spectacular car competition on Earth..."]]

* LoopholeAbuse: Drivers are supposed to hit the cardboard targets with the side or tail of their car while drifting, but several drivers decided to simply reverse into them. The grand prize for loophole abuse goes to driver Omar Salaymeh, who decided to hit the targets by opening the driver's door when passing next to them. Of course, this strategy was useless when the target was not to his left, so he still failed to make it to the knockouts.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Axel François states he doesn't want to finish in the top three and automatically advance through the qualifiers because he's having so much fun driving the course. He ends up driving through every qualifying round, every knockout round and two-head to-head eliminator races. At the end of the season, the announcers state he has indeed driven more than any other competitor.

[[caption-width-right:350:This is the most spectacular car competition on Earth...]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Track is hot. Track is hot...]]

* RidiculouslyDangerousRoute: During the knockout rounds, contestants can either return to the start by driving through Walk on Water a second time or balance their cars on a pair of rails and slide past the obstacle. The latter is much faster, but comes at the risk of underbody damage, with one driver losing a radiator in the process.

* RecycledINSPACE: The show can be described as American Ninja Warrior with cars.
* RedBaron: "The Baby-Faced Assassin" Diego Higa, "The Sheriff" Joao Barion, "The Sensei of Drifting" Atsushi Taniguchi.
* ThatOneLevel: "Walk on Water" is a car killer. The obstacle revolves around driving through shallow water at speed while using your headlights to find the fastest section of road. Many contestants have hydrolocked their engines (filling the cylinders with water) or short circuited their electrical systems by going too fast through this section.
** Many of the contestants openly hate the Leveler, with Fielding Shredder straight up calling it bullshit.
* WomenDrivers: Openly defied, as the female drivers featured in the series are also professionals and perfectly capable of giving the guys a run for their money. The most notable is Corinna Graff, the only one of them who got to the finale, outlasting her husband Alex in the process.

** Fielding Shredder wrecks out of the second eliminator, but comes back via a last chance qualifier [[spoiler: to finish ''third'']]

TheAllegedCar: Axel François' BMW powered Nissan 240sx gets put through the ringer during the competition. He almost drowns it his first time out, then his shift lever pops off, then it starts burning oil, but it ultimately makes it through the final (before catching fire in the pits).

* AceCustom / CoolCar: The drivers bring in their custom cars for the competition, which include a wide array of Mustangs, Nissans, and even ''a Lamborghini''.

Asian Drivers: Defied by Atsushi Taniguchi, who is an instructor at a drifting school in Japan.

** Fielding Shredder's driving style is described as "Checkers or Wreckers" and gains him time when it works out, but it also produces unforced errors.

* BadassDriver: Pretty much a given, considering this is a show about drifting featuring professional drivers facing a number of challenging tests of speed and skill. Standouts include the incredibly fast Diego Higa, the precise Atsushi Taniguchi and the DrivesLikeCrazy Fielding Shredder.

** Fielding Shredder wrecks out of the second eliminator, but comes back via a last chance qualifier [[spoiler: to finish ''third'']] and Axel François fights through malfunction after malfunction to [[spoiler: finish behind pro drifter Diego Higa]].

* ThatOneLevel: "Walk on Water" is a car killer. The obstacle revolves around driving through shallow water at speed while using your headlights to find the raised section of road. Many contestants have hydrolocked their engines (filling the cylinders with water) or short circuited their electrical systems by going too fast through this section.
** Many of the contestants openly hate the Leveler, with Fielding Shredder calling it "bullshit".

* AwesomeButImpractical: Jordan Martin's Lamborghini. It looks incredibly cool, but as the commentators repeatedly point out, it's not a car designed for drifting, and it shows when Martin struggles with the accuracy challenges.

* BadassDriver: Pretty much a given, considering this is a show about drifting featuring professional drivers facing a number of challenging tests of speed and skill.
* BoringButPractical: Brittany Williams's Nissan [=350Z=] is the least modified car in the competition, but it's also the one whose engine is least exposed, allowing her to go faster than most in the dreaded Walk on Water challenge.
* {{Determinator}}: Corinna Graff suffered the scariest accident in the entire series when she couldn't run away from the Water Cannon in time and all the water got dumped on her car's roof. She was taken to the hospital, and when she was cleared, she returned and finished the course,[[note]]As a result of her accident, the Water Cannon was removed from the course for all drivers out of safety concerns.[[/note]] advancing to the next knockout round.
* LoopholeAbuse: It's illegal to hit the targets with the front of the car, but nothing was said about the side... so driver Omar Salaymeh decided to hit targets by opening the driver's seat door when passing next to them. Of course, this strategy was useless when the target was not to his left, so he still failed to make it to the knockouts.

** Starting in the first knockout, the Leveler. Instead of being a test of bravery like in the qualifiers (contestants had to go as close to the edge as they can), the contestants now had 2 minutes to balance the leveler to almost 180 degrees and keep it there for 10 seconds. There was also an indicator notifying the spotters where the balance point is (which was 4 strips wide). As the tournament went on, the obstacle received more and more upgrades that only served to make it harder:
*** In the second knockout, the time limit was reduced to 90 seconds, and the balance point was narrowed to 3 strips. Plus, there's a 30-second penalty for failing the obstacle.

* WomenDrivers: Openly defied, as the female drivers featured in the series are also professional and perfectly capable of giving the guys a run for their money. The most notable is Corinna Graff, the only one of them who got to the finale, outlasting her husband Alex in the process.

* LoopholeAbuse: It's illegal to hit the targets with the front of the car, but nothing was said about the side... so driver Omar decided to hit targets by opening the driver's seat door when passing next to them. Of course, this strategy was useless when the target was not to his left, so he still failed to make it to the knockouts.

* CoolCar: The drivers bring in their custom cars for the competition, which include a wide array of Mustangs, Nissans, and even ''a Lamborghini''.

* Nintendo Hard:

*** In the semifinal round, contestants had to do the obstacle on the other side, affecting their feel for the obstacle, so to speak. There was also an instance where contestant [spoiler: Alex Graff] initially went the wrong way.

*** In the semifinal round, contestants had to do the obstacle on the other side, affecting their feel for the obstacle, so to speak. There was also an instance where contestant [spoiler:Alex Graff] initially went the wrong way.

* WomenDrivers: Openly defied, as the female drivers featured in the series are also professional and perfectly capable of giving the guys a run for their money (most notably, Corinna Graff outlasted her husband Alex).

* {{Determinator}}: Corinna Graff suffered the most horrifying accident in the entire series when she couldn't run away from the Water Cannon in time and all the water got dumped on her car's roof. She was taken to the hospital, and when she was cleared, she returned and finished the course,[[note]]As a result of her accident, the Water Cannon was removed from the course for all drivers out of safety concerns.[[/note]] advancing to the next knockout round.

* CoolCar: The drivers bring in their custom cars for the competition, which include a wide array of Mustangs, Nissans, and even ''a Lamborghini''.