Sector 8

Sector 8 is a fictional race track in the Asphalt series.

Asphalt 8: Airborne[]

Overview[]

“	Race in an exciting new location arriving from another dimension. The most difficult and challenging Asphalt level ever created launches this update.	”
In-game description

Sector 8 is designed as a futuristic race track set above the Atlantic Ocean, similar to many tracks from the WipEout futuristic racing series. Sector 8 features a largely blue/cyan/orange hexagonal motif combined with square and octagonal motifs.

Standard version[]

Sector 8 has two variants:

Sector 8		The regular track.
Sector 8 Reverse		The reverse variant of the regular track.

On the Reverse version, the half-loop is blocked off by a vortex that teleports players onto the downwards spiral curve that goes behind the half-loop. At the end of this spiral curve is a ramp that can take players onto the small floating platform that players land on after taking the first vortex in Sector 8.
Where the tunnels start in Sector 8 is also where the tunnels end in Sector 8 Reverse. At the end of each of these tunnels is a wide ramp; either one leads back to the main path.
The ramp at the path behind the main quarter-pipe-like structure is relocated closer towards the starting/finish line.

The race starts at a futuristic grandstands-like structure, with the track weaving up and down for a brief period of time. After that, the track splits into three parts:

On the left path, racers drive through a series of platform ramp jumps in a slightly similar fashion to Khara Descent from Wipeout Pure.
The middle path is a tall quarter-pipe structure that is heavily tilted and has nitro bottles.
The right path goes behind the quarter-pipe, starting off with a 15° diagonal right turn and a 15° diagonal left turn, after which it goes up and back down, with a sharp barrel roll ramp located at the end. It is highly recommended not to take that ramp, as more often than not, the player's car can land with an incomplete barrel roll, resulting in a wreck. Nitro power-ups can also be found here. At the end of this path, the track takes another 15° diagonal left turn to merge with the other paths.

The three paths eventually merge into one and the track enters a 225° banked upwards curve to the right. Once its banking angle changes to 0°, the track enters a bottleneck, with a blue nitro power-up on the right and an orange nitro power-up on the left. At the end of this section of track, there are two barrel roll ramps that lead into two pipe tunnels in another structure on both sides.

In a similar fashion to some tracks from Wipeout series, such as Sinucit, the two pipe tunnels in Sector 8 are identical in layout, albeit with different nitro power-up placements for each. Both paths have three turns, two in one direction and one in the opposite direction.

The end of the tunnel drops down to a wider section that has two paths. Either side of the track has a barrel roll ramp that leads to a vortex, either of which teleports racers to an exit vortex ahead and onto a small rectangular platform, allowing racers to get ahead more quickly. Staying on the platform is flanked by "SECTOR 8" small walls and pillars, as well as a ramp on the end of the platform. After the ramp, the track diverges into two paths again: on the left is a half-loop, which is the shortcut; and on the right is a upwards spiral curve to the left, with a ramp that leads to another vortex, teleporting racers to the other side of the curve (up where the half-loop ends). Both paths merge back into one here.

The track takes a 45° turn to the right and runs through a series of dips, with one side having a gentle downwards slope and the other being a flat section of track that flies above said downwards slopes and from where racers can perform Flat Spins. On the third dip, though, the right side is a flat platform that is narrow and sometimes dangerous to fly off from due to the risk of crashing into a wall ahead. After the dips, the track takes another 45° turn to the right before entering Sector 8's most infamous section: its 495° ending downwards spiral helix. At the start of this helix, a quarter-pipe-like section can be seen. Clearing this curve requires drifting, and careless racers may plow into either the half-pipe section and lose a lot of speed or crash into the orange hexagonal guardrails and wreck. After clearing the 495° ending curve, racers sprint down and onto the finish line for either another lap or the end of the race.

Sector 8 appears to have been inspired by Airship Fortress from Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart 7. Sector 8 also takes inspiration from Hot Wheels tracks due to having sharply-banked curves.

Hot Wheels Update version[]

Upon the release of the Hot Wheels Update, the track surfaces of Sector 8 were re-painted in a special orange color to celebrate the Championship Events that featured the track. This version of the track has a few notable differences to the blue version of Sector 8, some of which include :

Sector 8 (Main and Sub Goals) :

The Start Line is located on the large platform just after the two pipe tunnels
The vortex is absent on the upwards spiral curve to the left, if the player opts to go this way instead of using the half-loop they will just go straight around the curve
- This is not recommended since the Main and Sub Goals are time-limited and the half-loop is a more efficient route

The Finish Line is located about ¼ of the way down the 495° helix spiral going downwards

Sector 8 Reverse (Main and Sub Goals) :

The Start Line is located just at the top of the 495° helix spiral going upwards
The Finish Line is located in front of the two pipe tunnels

Grand Finale :

This race takes place on a slightly altered variant of the regular Sector 8 track.

The Start / Finish Line is in the normal location
Both of the pipe tunnels have vortices inside them, which teleport racers straight to the large platform on the other side of the pipe tunnels
The vortex is absent on the upwards spiral curve to the left, if the player opts to go this way instead of using the half-loop they will just go straight around the curve
- This is not recommended since the Main and Sub Goals are time-limited and the half-loop is a more efficient route

In place of the Finish Line from the Main and Sub Goals is a vortex which teleports racers straight to the end of the 495° helix spiral

The special orange Sector 8 variant made a return for the Hot Wheels Cup which took place from March 15-19, 2018.

Here, it is configured much like the regular blue Sector 8 only with the moving obstacles, lasers and traps enabled, but it lacks the shortcut pipe tunnel vortices and the 495° helix spiral vortex. The shortcut vortices on either side of the large platform (following the pipe tunnels) and the vortex that is found on the upwards spiral curve to the left have also been removed.

The following vehicles have their banners depicted in Sector 8:

Recommendations[]

Cars with superb handling and excellent top speed, especially in drifts, are highly recommended here. In this case, cars like the Ariel Atom V8, Renault Alpine Celebration, McLaren MP4/8, McLaren Mercedes MP4-25, and Lamborghini Centenario LP 770-4 can excel with their superb handling and performance capabilities.
It is highly recommended to steer clear of using cars with wide drifting radii (e.g. Devel Sixteen Prototype, nanoFlowcell QUANT FE, 2010 Bentley Continental Supersports, Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition, etc.), as depending on the user, these cars are very unlikely to clear Sector 8's 495° ending helix without hitting the guardrails or the quarter pipe-like structure at the beginning of the helix.
Take the platform ramp-jump path near where the track normally starts. Air time here is vital to gaining speed and nitro.
At the end of the 225° banked curve (on Sector 8 only), try to fly off on the left side to gain speed, air time, and nitro. Make sure to land back on the track, though, as hitting the arches at the bottleneck counts as a wreck. This trick only works with fast cars.
In the tunnels, it is possible to take advantage of possible air time opportunities to gain speed in them.

Glitches[]

Sector 8 was infamous for a glitch where if the player made a 180° turn on the quarterpipe ramp and flew off of it, they would immediately finish the race in first place. Some players were banned for using this glitch and the glitch was fixed in the Decals Update.

Sector 8, in Tag Racing, has a version without portals. The AI has not changed, though, leading to some AI racers jumping off the track into the ocean.

Trivia[]

Sector 8 is the only Time-Released Track to have only two derivatives and the least number of derivatives than any other Time-Released Track in the game (along with San Diego Harbor).
The "8" in Sector 8's name may allude to Asphalt 8: Airborne being the eighth title in the Asphalt series.
There are no variations in time of day on this track, regardless of whether the variant is regular or reverse.
Regardless of the number of racers, Sector 8 never has traffic, like with French Guiana. This is because Sector 8 is a futuristic race track set over an ocean, presumably the Atlantic Ocean, as shown in below trivia point.
Sector 8 is the only track where City Havocs are not feasible, as there are no public properties in the way.
Sector 8 is named "bermuda" in the game data files, which further indicates that Sector 8 may be set above the Bermuda Triangle (which is a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean, where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances), where the real-life island of Bermuda is located in.
Sector 8 is the only track with track portions that have the player go vertical and upside down on the main path. Tokyo has a pipeline on which the player can optionally go upside down.
Sector 8 has obstacles like poles on the tunnels, lasers in the pipes, and walls that move in and out but only appear in Time-Limited Events and in some cases, the Research & Development events.
Prior to the Hot Wheels Update, Sector 8 was the only track that wasn't used by any car for its banner background.
- It is also so far the only track, alongside Area 51, that isn't featured in any of the collections' banners.
Until the Research & Development Update, Sector 8 wasn't selectable in Quick Solo Race.
In the Rio de Janeiro Update, the lightning graphic effects on the track were erroneously removed, then restored during the Multiplayer League Update.

Gallery[]

Sector 8 bug w12 cup 14sec by Team VIA

Race tracks in Asphalt 8: Airborne
Original tracks	Nevada • Iceland • Tokyo • French Guiana • London • Barcelona • Alps • Venice • Azure Coast
Time-released tracks	The Great Wall¹ • Dubai² • San Diego Harbor³ • Sector 8⁴ • Tenerife⁵ • Area 51⁶ • Rio de Janeiro⁷ • Patagonia⁸ • Munich Subway⁹ • Transylvania¹⁰ • Orbital Loop¹¹ • Terra 9¹²
1. The Great Wall Update, 2. Dubai Update, 3. San Diego Harbor Update, 4. Winter Update, 5. Tenerife Update, 6. Santa's Gift Update, 7. Rio de Janeiro Update, 8. Lunar New Year 2017 Update, 9. Munich Update, 10. Holiday Update, 11. Sixth Anniversary Update, 12. Seventh Anniversary Update