This guide works as an overview of the general speedrunning knowledge of the game, as well as for advanced techniques that are used in this game to go faster.
[Windowed vs. Fullscreen] Playing in Windowed mode has a substantial difference compared to playing in Fullscreen: Loading Times are faster. If you're using the GOG or Steam version of the game, you can play the game in windowed mode. To do so, just press Alt + Enter once you launched the game. This will only be useful to reduce your RTA, since an autosplitter is soon to be implemented and runs will be timed in IGT anyway.
[Controls and Input Devices] The input device you're using influences a lot how fast you can go. By default, there's no difference between Controller and Keyboard in terms of handling, because they all behave in the same way, by smoothing the steering inputs. But if you're using a controller, you have the option to set up the controller as a Steering Wheel. This gives you the advantage of being able to steer instantly in a specific direction and with the desired angle, completely removing smoothing. This works with a real steering wheel as well, if you feel comfortable in using one for this game. Using an input device as a Steering Wheel also allows you to set up the deadzone for it, which could be helpful for keeping a neutral position when needed. For Keyboard users, an alternative to get around this issue is to either use a software like x360ce, or an analog keyboard (Example: Wooting Two HE).
[Transmission] In this game you can choose between Automatic and Manual transmission. Manual is to be preferred over Automatic, because the way the game automatically shifts gear based on your speed is not optimal, and will cost you several seconds. Using Manual transmission also allows you to initialize drifts during a turn, which I'll explain further in this guide.
[Perfect Start] To achieve a perfect start, you need to fully accelerate during the countdown. As soon as the announcer says "Go!", shift into first gear. When the speedometer reached the red bars area, shift into second gear. From there onwards, listen to the engine sound and look at the speedometer bar to judge when shifting is necessary.
[Drifting] Drifting allows you to close corners better and with higher top speeds by losing your rear while still keeping control of the front, allowing you to go faster. To initialize a drift, the best technique is to shift down your gear before a turn. To keep the drift stable, you need to accelerate on and off based on how much you're losing your rear, while keeping in mind the racing line. Accelerate too much and you'll completely lose control of the car, usually ending up flying outside of the track. Accelerate too little, and your speed will drop quicker, losing precious time. Although it's situational, you can also trigger a drift by shifting up instead of shifting down.
[Air Time] Managing air time in this game is crucial to achieve faster times. When you're leaving the road into a jump, your speed momentum will be kept for the entire duration of it. Generally, you need to understand if keeping your previous top speed before a jump is better than trying to accelerate earlier by landing earlier on the ground. The first jump in The Pole is an example where landing earlier on the ground by letting go of the accelerator is faster, due to the leap being short and due to the road being a downwards slope, allowing you to achieve a faster speed by staying on the ground. The big jump in Metro City Medium is an example where landing as far as you can is faster, since it's slower to slow down and stick to the road due to the leap being long.
[Flying Start] It is possible to do a flying start on the first lap by going backwards on the track and respawning by gaining enough space to reach the top speed before crossing the finish line to trigger the first lap. This is only possible in Time Trial mode.
[Respawn Abuse] When you get off the track, the game will respawn you back on track. This can be exploited by willingly getting off the track in specific spots, usually where there is a tight turn, to get respawned on track facing the turn you need to take. This is faster only on specific turns of a few tracks and could also be used to skip portions of a track by tricking the course completion tracker into thinking you're into a further section of the track right before getting respawned. Red Planet is the best environment that works as an example for this having the most exploitable spots for this technique to work.
[Out of Bounds] It's possible to get out of bounds on a track without being automatically respawned by the game on track, allowing you to complete laps way quicker than normal. Bantaris already made a well detailed guide about exploiting OoB, which you can find here
[Early Race Finish] It's possible to finish a race in Arcade or Championship mode before crossing the finish line at the last lap. First method consists into killing all your opponents. This is very unlikely to happen, but on some tracks it could happen that the CPU hit each other with powerups or hit walls unwillingly, highly reducing the number of opponents. If you have no more opponents, you automatically win. Another method is to take yourself out of the race by willingly destroying your vehicle. This ends the race earlier, but it's only allowed in the Any% category.
