When the career game starts you are presented with a choice of cars. Some are locked and will be available only later in the game.

Pick any vehicle you like. In the longer run it really does not matter much what vehicle you pick. There are differences in the cars. i.e. the bus is heavy and sluggish when turning and sports cars in turn are more jittery in their movements.

If unsure on what to pick go for the default Sedan car that is presented when the car selection screen opens. It is quite average in it's stats. No specific weakness or strengths in any category.

There is however one detail you need to know when choosing car: During the career you can change to another car anytime you want but the addons that you add to the car are permanent. They cannot be moved and transferred to another car.

Also note prices for tuning the car go up really quickly. It starts with cheap tunings in the hundreds of dollars at first but the final levels of tuning costs 6000-8000 dollars so if you aim to complete the game as soon as possible then you need to choose one car and stick to that.

A few words about tuning the car: All cars have horrendous capabilities in all categories in the beginning.

Generally the tunings affect the car like this: just by adding 2-3 addons per category the car is in pretty decent shape to take on races in Beginner / Intermediate if you are good enough driver.

I recommend having at least 3 levels on ALL categories before trying out Expert races. There the opposition has got so good upgrades that their max speed combined with nitro / good turning rate makes winning races quite tough because the AI only needs to bump into you and push you into a car pile-up for awhile and you have already lost the race as the lead car will get such a big lead that you cannot catch it no matter how well you drive.

All tunings at almost max (1-2 below) is enough to start trying your luck on expert. You might even find it easy most of the time however finishing up the certain levels it is recommended to have everything maxed out.



A few words about individual tunings:

Nitro: Nitro in the beginning gives your car just a little push. It is quite useless as a tool to speed away from the opposition and in the beginning it's by far mostly used to escape car crashes. However just by adding a few levels it will become a multipurpose tool (see track specific notes about nitro use).

A maxed out nitro is very useful tool however it is now also so powerful that dips and bumps become a real threat to you as your car can jump of track. You will also need to slow speed down sometimes. i usually wiggle the car a bit to reduce the speed. Do not let go of the throttle if possible. In this game letting go of the throttle is the same as breaking down with brakes. Releasing the throttle for 0.5+ seconds or more is enough to slow the car down so that it will take quite some time before acceleration of the car can raise the speed back up so keep the throttle as much down as possible and if using nitro makes your car crash then you may need to toggle the speed a bit or make more wider arc when turning thus giving you more space to fire the nitro. Just don't even think about using walls to stop your speed. It will require a lot of acceleration to recover from that. A nitro fired that ends the car hitting the wall is the same as wasting a nitro. Also hitting other cars is not that useful unless you can make the opposition spin out. You will usually need to fire away another nitro to escape the impending pile-up if you hit other cars.

Handling: As a general rule when it comes to navigating corners it is important to start turning before you pass the corner. Escpecially in the beginning you will easily win races if you come in to corners with your side in first and maybe exit with nitro. Later as Turn-rate become better you can just begin to turn at the corner and nice and precisely turn into the curve and then just accelerate out of the curve or even nitro boost your way out. I consider handling upgrade to be one of the most important ones in the beginning as cars turn very sluggishly. Using the Bus for instance without any upgrades is just plain hilarious yet quite educational. If you got the time then try it out yourself and practice tight corners with it.

Acceleration: This is a addon that is important to keep pace with others. Without this you will basically lose tracks where there are no long stretches and just tight turns back and forth. the AI cars will outrun you.

Top Speed: The least important upgrade in my opinion. It must follow on par with the others but it is not that important if your driving is ok. It is also the most costly upgrade there is. The final level upgrade costs some 8000 dollars. Just by ensuring this one stays approx the same with the others you will ensure 'good enough' speed. This upgrade is critical to tracks where there are very long stretches to drive without that much curves. (see track notes)

Here are some notes and tips regarding individual tracks.

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Island (clockwise): The watery ditch at the bottom of the track and the tight hairpins at the top are the most important sections here. hairpins will be a bit troublesome without any tuning addons however if you practice turning by starting to turn before entering the corner you will soon easily finish these hair-pins and win the AI who even at later levels is not very good at cornering these turns. The watery ditch at the bottom is the main obstacle as it sometimes makes your car fly uncontrollably into the SW or SE corner when using nitro and maybe even turn upside down.

Use nitro defensively at first i.e. save it for escaping impending pile-ups. Later when you have some nitro upgrades you should use it at the bottom of the track so that you fire the nitro right when you exit the curve so that the most powerful nitro boost is already gone by the time you drive over the ditch. Now you should just gently jump over the ditch and then turn into the incoming curve. firing nitro right before the ditch will usually end in your car hitting the dip and jumping into the air or going to far into SW or SE corner depending on track direction.

Game changes when you have very good nitro: Only fire it when you exit the SW or SE corners and preferably so that you are not too close to the inner section of the corner. Just aim your car straight over the road and fire away. Nitro will abort whatever side-sliding motion you may have going on at the moment and nitro boost just darts the car straight towards what you aim at. If an AI car is blocking you then dont fire nitro at all unless you intend to bring the AI car to spin.

Island (counter clockwise): -


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Aperture Labs (clockwise): Early this map is a breeze. Use nitro when you want.

Mid-game when the opposition become more stiffer and upgrades are a plenty the game changes. Mid-game i suggest using nitro when facing the portal. You will exit at high speed (watch the room corners around the finish line, aim straight) and slow down just nicely before the turn. Use one nitro per lap like this + maybe some extras to escape pile-ups or speed away on the opposite side of the track where there is more space.

Late-game the nature of this track changes as AI starts to wreck itself right at the first corner by launching HARD with nitros and jumping high up into the air and piling up into the NW corner! Ensure you don't end up in that pile-up or the game is lost right of the bat. Continue to dominate the race by using nitros at the right time before the portal + sparing a few nitros in case you get stuck or a pile-up is impending. Remember it is not bad if you end the race with 1-2 nitros in the tank. It is much worse though to have 0 nitros when the AI catches you up due to a mistake or they nitro right into you and cause a pile-up causing you to lose the race.

Aperture Labs (counter clockwise): Same strategy. Only thing that changes is that you should use nitro when you turn in the last corner before the finish line. With high nitro levels you will zip across the finish line into the portal and slow down just in time to start turning.

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Grand Prix (clockwise): You will recognize this map as the first 'championship' track. It is early to mid-game a very hard track to beat the AI on. Later it becomes a breeze and a quite enjoyable map as your upgrades and improving skills will make the AI lose every time. The AI can push you hard on harder levels but eventually the AI is not very good with the corners and you will win easily as long as you avoid pile-ups.

This map is all about having the upgrades. you will need Speed for the main finish line. you will need acceleration to beat the slowing down that comes when doing the corners. Handling is needed for the corners and then finally Nitro to zip past the long finish line section as fast as possible.

Use 1 nitro per lap on the main finish line but ensure you always have at least one nitro left if the AI is close. they will hit you hard and try to stop you. It is not uncommon in this map to narrowly escape AI attempts at hitting your rear with the nitro boost.

Grand Prix (counter-clockwise): -

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Downtown (clockwise): This map is available mid-game and you should have enough upgrades and skill by this time to quite easily win this map. At the beginning navigating underneath the bridge is a bit hard as you don't quite see where the road goes. Later the only obstacle you have is to navigate the tight ramp-down turn that comes just before the finish line. I suggest using a nitro here every time you wish to exit the turn. i.e. Turn hard - use nitro to exit as the AI sometimes nitroes straight into the corner and tries to take you out.

This is a most enjoyable map and not even car pile-ups are much of a problem here. Plenty of space and the turns are not that tight. Just ensure you got the upgrades in order.

Downtown (counter-clockwise): -

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Docks (clockwise): Hard map on early to mid-game. There are actually multiple points of interest in this map. First the upper section where there is fork-lift truck and containers placed so that you can hit them and stop your speed entirely. All i can say here is just learn to avoid them and don't let the AI push you into them. After that comes The S-curve that begins with the steel pillar and after maneuvering some metal containers ends up in tight corner where there is a red guard rail in the middle You will be most familiar with this guard rail as your nose is probably going to be stuck on it quite many times, mostly because the AI pushed you into it. Learn to navigate the S-section as fast as possible by turning in advance before entering the curve.
Finally when clearing the S-section hit nitro to quickly zip across the finish line and into the next lap.

Docks (counter-clockwise): Same as above with the exception being that use nitro when you clear the last curve before the finish line. try to reach the S-section and get away from the guard rail quickly before the AI hits the nitro and bumps into you making you either fly into the corner or having your nose stuck to the guard rail which can be quite a mess to escape from.

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Desert (clockwise): Early map that is very enjoyable early to mid-game. Nothing special about it. use nitro whenever you like and let the dirt fly.

Later the nature of this map changes as you now have so powerful nitro that wherever/whenever you use it is very probable that your car will jump of the track or end up on it's side due to lots of dips and bumps. Use Nitro defensively and preferably only to exit a curve fast. Don't use Nitro when crossing the finish line for instance. It is not a shame to have nitro left in the tank on this track on higher levels.

Desert (counter-clockwise): -

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Uptown (clockwise): Available mid to late game. AI is powerful on this map as there are no tight turns for the AI to get stuck on. Having the upgrades is key here. Use nitro whenever you like.

Uptown (counter clockwise): -

Vineyard (clockwise): Available mid to late game. Has many tight hairpins which makes the AI struggle and rely on using nitro to knock you into a pile. Use nitro on the finish line but then save up for escaping impending pile-ups. Also upgrade handling enough to zip through the curves. The first curve for instance is such that you dont even need to turn much. just wiggle your car a bit to clear them. the AI cannot do this so you will have a permanent advantage as long as you can keep the AI nitro users at bay.

Vineyard (counter-clockwise): -

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Airport (clockwise): You will notice this is one of the first expert tracks and as such it is a good measurement if your upgrades are up to par or not. If the AI is much much faster then just forget about it and keep driving lower class races until you can get better upgrades.

As a level there a few spots worth mentioning. The underpass, the long banana shaped curve and the final curve before the finish line. As the race begins you MUST reach the underpass first as the AI WILL use nitro here and make a horrendous pile-up. Escape the AI cars and maybe use another nitro when on the banana shaped part of the track. Finally be prepared to fire another nitro when doing the final corner next to the finish line as the AI seems to really like to hit the corner hard with nitro and bump you out.

Airport (counter-clockwise): Learn to fear that first curve left from the finish line. the AI really likes to hit this one hard with Nitro and bump you out. As for the rest of the course you should treat the underpass as an opportunity since the AI does not navigate it very well so if your upgrades are up to par and you are chasing an AI car then just hit it hard and try to spin the target car into a wall.

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Safari (clockwise): Easy track and a real nitro heaven. You should use nitro to exit any of the three major corners in the map. Plenty of space. AI can only very rarely bother you here. Use nitro aggressively. do not save any of it.

Safari (counter-clockwise): -

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Ruins (clockwise): Perhaps the most frustrating track mid to late-game. AI is able to navigate this map efficiently and use nitro to bump into you. In addition you dont really have good spots to use nitro. One such spot is the easternmost part where the track curves slightly but even there you must be careful not to hit walls. Also as your handling improves nitro can be used to launch into the S-curves at the bottom and wiggle your way past the rocks. Generaly though it's good to drive defensively and save the nitro for the AI tricks. On this map a pile-up means almost 100% certainty that you will lose the race.

Ruins (counter-clockwise): -

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Ghost Town (clockwise): Available mid to late game. Track appears simple and easy but the AI will give stiff opposition here. Top speed must be in order and nitro too as a minimum to make it here. Just aim straight across the curves. dont wiggle your car around too much as you will lose speed which is very important to keep as high as possible. Use nitro when on the rail tracks at the bottom.

Ghost Town (counter-clockwise):

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Alpine (clockwise): Available early to mid game. For me this was the first Track that was really tough as you duke it out against the fruit buggies that got good upgrades so if it's too tough you may want to drive some other tracks or grind on the easier ones for more cash first. AI is aggressive and will try to pile on you. Use Nitro aggressively to zip across the curvy area at the bottom and watch out for that big jump just after the finish line. do not nitro into that! The jump may look cool but you dont want to be too much airborne. Also clipping the sides of the track will turn your car sideways. Be prepared to hit respawn button if you see car landing all wrong.

Alpine (counter-clockwise): -

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Suburbia (clockwise): One of the easiest tracks in the game. Learn to slightly wiggle your car so that you will pass the ice-cream truck that is parked right in the middle of the road without slowing down at all. Finally use nitro to zip past the long finish line section. Rinse and repeat. The AI is unable to get past the ice cream truck fast and will also get hammered when you nitro right into them. Just watch out for AI cars turning in front of you PRIOR to wiggling past the ice-cream truck. For some reason the nitro is powerfull to push away any cars when the AI is exiting the pocket in front the truck but if they hit you before you pass the truck then it's you who takes a flying into the cul-de-sac in front of the obstacle truck and you will have to find your way out from there. Generally if you find yourself driving much in that cul-de-sac in front of the truck then you are doing something wrong. :)

Suburbia (counter clockwise): -

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Speedway (clockwise): Available mid to late game. All about the upgrades. No bumps so use nitro offensively but leave 1 in the tank if AI is close. The AI generaly dont have a chance on this map but will attempt to nitro bump into you early.

Speedway (counter-clockwise): -

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Fruit Ninja (clockwise): Fruit buggies are here and they will give stiff opposition early game. as game progresses it will become a very easy map and the buggies dont bother you much. Learn to take the corner after the bridge by just wiggling the car a bit. AI doesnt have a chance after that. Use nitro before the finish line.

Fruit Ninja (counter-clockwise): Use nitro to reach the finish line. If you got extra nitros hit the nitro button again and fly into the corner after the finish line. Just dont overdo it.

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Turnpike (clockwise): Available late game. Maxed out acceleration and speed is very good here. AI will chase you hard but pile-ups are not a problem. Use nitro on straight sections or to get away from corners. Choice is yours.

Turnpike (counter-clockwise): -

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Cliffs (clockwise): The big jump in the north section and smaller turns south combined with an aggressive AI will ruin your day easily on this map. Learn to respect that Big Jump. If you are too much airborne or clip into the sides while airborn your car will turn to it's sides and you might as well hit the respawn button before you even land down to minimize time penalty! Use nitro defensively to escape pile-ups and when you get a bit of distance to the AI use them to exit corners quickly in the southern part. Keep your trigger happy finger in check near that jump as you will ruin your race.

Cliffs (counter-clockwise): -

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Fortress (clockwise): TF2 themed map. Use nitro when you are the bottom racing towards the tunnel with tight turn. Always have nitro available when entering the southern part as this is the AI favorite pile-up area. If you are not careful you will learn to know those brown boxes at the SW corner very intimately as that is where you will end up in a big pile.

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Tarmac (clockwise): Same rules apply here as to Grand Prix. Different map but these two are definitely made from the same tree. :)
Tarmac (counter-clockwise): -