DiRT 5 is a very complex game, with tons of tracks and cars, that have their own factors and chemistry to work together well and make fast times. In this guide, I will explain and talk about tips and tricks to be faster at the game, which will certainly help you in any race, either in Time Trail, Campaign Mode, or even Online (hopefully).
This guide will be divided into two parts: Tracks, and Cars. Let’s first talk about the tracks.
The tracks in this DiRT game have a lot of aspects that divide them into different categories. Let’s first talk about the type of tracks we have in this game. We have the lap tracks, and point-to-point tracks, which are very self-explanatory. But what about the tracks’ categories? Land Rush, Rally Raid, Stampede… do they mean anything? Yes, they do. Even though these categories are explained in Campaign Mode, I will summarize and explain them clearly, because I don’t think anyone understood James and Nolah’s speech.
Land Rush tracks tend to be the best for beginners, since these tracks are usually made of one type of terrain only. Either they are fully made of mud, snow, or a different type of surface. There are a few exceptions, like the Brazilian tracks, but they are minor. They’re usually wide, short-lengthen, with some jumps, and open, fast turns, where you can almost stay with your foot in the gas most of the u-turns, thanks to their irregular elevations or length, but that doesn’t mean that a blind corner or a chicane can appear, so always pay attention in the track. These circuits are made for any type of car. The Nepal and Norway tracks stand out of the others for being long Land Rush tracks, making them the hardest tracks. The easiest Land Rush tracks are the ones from China.
Rally Raid are the point-to-point tracks, with a mixed type of terrain, asphalt and gravel/mud. All the Rally Raid tracks of this game have a big variety of turns: to wide u-turns to blind corners, and they usually contain lots of jumps. These tracks also tend to have an irregular elevation, going up and down time to time. Kalabaka Town is the easiest Rally Raid track, with easy turns and few jumps, not having a big elevation irregularity (if you keep on the track, that’s if); however The Redeemer has a gigantic number of chicanes and blind corners that are followed with jumps right before, and it’s surface is rough and bumpy, being mostly made of asphalt. Although it is the shortest Rally Raid track, it is a difficult track. These tracks are normally made for normal cars.
Stampede tracks are also great for beginners, having almost the same characteristics as Land Rush category. However, these tracks are long, with a big elevation irregularity, that tend to be bumpy for normal cars. With that, these types of tracks are used mainly for SUVs, trucks, and buggies. Tijuca Forest and Merrick Buick stand out for being short Stampede tracks and being relatively narrow in some parts. Sandstone Valley, although it’s long, has a very hard section where it contains a high number of corners while being narrow, and both Tijuca Forest variants having very dangerous parts, making these two the hardest tracks. The easiest track is Foci Di Giovo.
Ultra Cross tracks are a little mess. They’re usually hard with faster cars, and it’s not a very good choice for beginners. They’re narrow most of the times, with various types of consecutive turns, which includes u-turns and blind corners. They contain ups and downs, with a few jumps and bumps, and a mixed terrain: gravel and asphalt. They can vary from being short or long, and the most notable example are the Greek tracks. These tracks are usually used for normal cars. Marmifera Valley is a track that doesn’t fit in this track category: it is wide and is only made of one type of surface, which is gravel. It is the easiest track of the category. However, Pineios Lake also stands out of the category, with its very irregular elevation and hard turns, with a few jumps and bumps that can mess up a player, being the hardest Ultra Cross track.
Sprint tracks are made for the exclusive Sprint car in the game, but they work for every car in the game. They’re very basic: a simple oval made of mud or ice. The ice Sprint tracks, such as Hans Sprint and East River Sprint, are the hardest, being East Mitten the easiest one. If you would like to see how the cars minimally handle and act when you’re steering, one by one, maybe East Mitten is a great choice.
Ice Breaker tracks are tracks where you drive in an icy surface, which means the car slides a lot, and you must control your speed. These are better to be left on last place, after you tried at least one track of each category. Gladly, these tracks are wide and usually short, with a small number of turns, being most of them u-turns, but that doesn’t mean blind corners or chicanes don’t appear. The tracks are also plain, with no elevation at all. Every car can be used on these tracks. Gorakshep Run and Slovær Overlook tend to be the hardest Ice Breaker tracks, since they’re the longest and contain a lot of chicanes and blind corners. Chola Lake is the easiest Ice Breaker track, and the best for beginners.
And finally, Pathfinder tracks. These types of tracks are specifically made for Pathfinder vehicles, where you must go through a rough and a very bumpy relief, climb insanely high hills or stairs, jump in normal or very inclined ramps, and even drive in rocks. You need to have a great control in the car to keep it on the track. They’re usually short, to compensate the difficulty. However, be careful to not hit the vehicle into a rock, since there are no walls protecting the rocks, and the way most of the tracks are narrow in some parts, it makes them harder. None of the tracks are easy, so determining the easiest track is almost impossible, although Dades Gorge is closer than any other track. However, West Mitten is the hardest Pathfinder track, since it is the bumpiest track, with lots of consecutive bumps and jumps to mess you up. It’s also the longest track.
There is also tips and tricks to make a faster lap in some tracks. In tracks like The Redeemer and Xiamo Run/Lijang Village, hitting a few walls gives a little acceleration boost when exiting or prevents you to stop losing much speed when braking and doing the corner normally. You can look at my runs to check the walls if you’d like. Tracks like Yulong River and Triple Stone Bridge Reverse contain shortcuts where you can shave a lot of time; however, since they’re against the rules in this page, I won’t be showing how to do them.
That’s it for the maps! A car guide will come up soon too!
