THE CARS The game includes 16 cars, but only 8 can be enabled at a time. As far as I've seen so far, the only thing that's affected by your choice of car is the hitbox: on some tracks like Roc, where there's a jump into a tunnel, certain cars can clip through the ceiling while others will bump. Everything else appears to be purely cosmetic. I'm comfortable playing with either the Arc or the Jaero, but haven't tried with many others. The selection of what cars are enabled in game affects what the AI will be allowed to use: in races the player picks one and the AI must choose the other 7. This might have effects on their behaviour but I haven't done enough research about it for now. Car setup is where things get serious. Every car has its own settings, but they're all freely adjustable: 300 points can be distributed within 5 attributes. Top speed, brakes, grip, handling and acceleration. Top speed and acceleration are self-explanatory and are usually best kept at 100. Brakes is self-explanatory as well and, since braking is rarely done in this game, can be safely kept at 0. This leaves us with 100 points to be distributed between grip and handling. Grip determines how much the car will slide around when cornering, and how likely it will be to oversteer. Handling determines how responsive it will be to steering. I found that my favourite setting is 80 grip and 20 handling. The increased grip means that very little speed is lost in fast corners, and makes it easier to control the car's unpredictability on bumps. Low handling, however, requires some getting used to, and especially good knowledge of the tracks. Because the car will take a while to start turning, all the corners must be anticipated. I've tried distributions that are more balanced between the two, but never ended up being faster. This might just be due to my not being used to the different settings. If you feel that there's a different configuration that is consistently faster, please let me know.

MIDAIR STEERING Whenever you're jumping you will be able to steer your car in a weird way. You won't be able to turn, but shift left or right, depending on which direction you're holding. This can be very useful in some tracks that have corners after a jump, since it allows you to point your car in the direction of the apex and then recenter yourself to avoid the walls. It takes some practice to understand how it works, but once you've figured it out it will become second nature.

THE TRACKS == Beltane == A boring, straight track. There are alternative paths here and there but nothing that I've found is faster than just driving as straight as possible. Avoid the jumps.

In Championship mode, it's very easy to end up bumping front-to-front with an AI car, killing the run.

== Roc == In Time Attack mode, there's an unintended shortcut that can be taken. However, you can't just jump down the hole and get to the S/F line because the game wants you to hit all the sector lines. It just happens that the second sector line is located just after the hole, at the bottom of the jump. You can therefore slow down so you come to a stop right after hitting the line, then reverse down the hole and get back in gear to finish the lap. This saves a ridiculously small amount of time compared to finishing the lap the intended way.

In Championship mode I don't consider the shortcut worth taking, as stopping too early or too late would end up costing time. The repair area is free to use each lap, so damage isn't a major issue. For this reason, it's worth it to try to power through the AI cars and overtake as many as possible right at the start.

== Nuke == The only challenging part of this track is the jump through the tunnel towards the S/F line. I found it's better to hold the right as much as possible and use midair steering to correct the position.

In Championship mode I try to avoid repairing: you should start the race fully repaired anyway, there's a lot of space to overtake without taking damage and bonking on the walls isn't likely.

== Bank == The section with the broken bridge is faster if taken on the left side, as that reduces airtime.

In Championship mode, keeping left on the broken bridge is dangerous on Easy difficulty because your speed might not be enough to clear the gap. Keep center. Overtaking isn't as easy as on Nuke, especially on the first lap. It's better to avoid the mayhem at the start and go wide, then overtake when the field has spread out a little.

== Pompeii == The first technical track, with many bumps and tricky corners. You'll need to learn where each bump is and how your car reacts to it to succeed.

In Championship mode, this will probably be the first time you'll need to detour for repairs: bonking on the walls will probably happen, overtaking is very difficult and you'll soon find yourself having to lap the backmarkers who are only there to grief you. Unfortunately it's a long detour so at least try to avoid doing it twice.

== Canyon == Right after the start I suggest you hold the right, as the climb is much smoother there, while very bumpy on the left side.

In Championship mode, the shortcut and repair area are mutually exclusive, so taking damage here is very costly and should be avoided. Taking the shortcut can be tricky the first time because the boxes that partially block it have a considerable mass. This is especially true on Easy difficulty where you'll barely have enough speed to clear the jump. Overtaking after the first lap mayhem is pretty easy.

== Downtown == The only advice I would give for this track is to hold the right on the climb towards the first chicane since, like in Canyon, that side is way less bumpy.

In Championship mode, repairing costs way less time than it appears to do. Overtaking isn't as challenging either once you figure out the lines that the AI likes to take: at the several hairpins along the track you can either go wide if they're going tight, or the opposite, then overpower them after the apex.

== Veitland == In my opinion the hardest track in the base 16. It's like a Pompeii on steroids. Bumpy, tight unforgiving corners and a main straight that's downhill and ends up in a wall.

In Time Attack, you cannot do two fast laps one after the other, because the S/F line is immediately before a tight corner: if you're going for a fast lap you should floor it and inevitably end up slamming on the wall, but that will ruin your next lap.

In Championship mode, you will cry. First of all, instead of starting the race on the track, all the cars are packed in a small area to the side: as soon as you get a green light they will form a huge pile-up blocking the exit. Overtaking is extremely difficult and they will be weaving all around, constantly slamming into you. As if that weren't enough, just like in Pompeii, repairing involves taking a huge detour. You'll have to be extra careful.

== Plant 21 == After Veitland, this track is a breeze. The shortcut is really the only part that requires a bit of understanding. I found that the best way to go through it smoothly is by having the right speed and angle combination and aim for the left side, while still keeping clear from the wall so that the 180 in the confined space can be achieved without touching the walls inside.

In Time Attack, you won't be able to perform two fast laps one after the other: the shortcut exits right before the S/F line, but you won't be carrying much speed, while if you're coming through the normal way you should be nearly at full speed.

In Championship mode, at the start, if you don't need to repair do not overtake on the right: the pitlane entrance is just off to the side and many of the AI cars will want to go there, so you're pretty much guaranteed to be slammed into. If you carry damage from Veitland this is not a problem as you'll want to immediately steer right as well. Overtaking shouldn't be an issue since the track is mostly wide, but occasionally you might find an AI car stuck in the shortcut roundabout. At the end of the race if you're carrying enough speed you can get a free repair by heading to the pits after hitting the finish line.

== City == A tight and ugly track, with challenging blind corners but quite manageable once you've learned it properly.

In Championship mode you will have a lot of trouble overtaking: the AI rarely leaves you any room and will happily suddenly slow down when in front, and ram you when in the back. Add to that the fact that it's so short you'll quickly find yourself having to lap backmarkers, keeping out of trouble won't be easy.

== Galleria == Bumpy but wide. The only challenging part are the high speed downhill section that ends at the repair area (marked by a floating reversed red pyramid) and the shortcut. When attempting to take the shortcut you need to have the right amount of speed: too slow, you won't clear the gap and slam into the wall, losing a huge amount of time; too fast, you will end up on the upper level, forced to navigate through a maze, losing a huge amount of time. Aim for the tunnel and lift the throttle to lose just the right amount of speed.

In Championship mode, overtaking is pretty easy. The AI occasionally gets lost, so be wary of stray cars. Repairing isn't too costly.

== Burrow == Easier than it looks.

In Championship mode, the spike pit can be cleared at full speed even on Easy difficulty. Repairing requires a long detour so it's better to avoid damage. Overtaking isn't a problem after the first chicane, where usually cars bunch up on the starting lap.

== Alderon == A fast and technical track. The hardest part is the jump under the collapsed highway. The best way I found to do it is to keep on the center of the road while climbing, then as soon as you hit the peak steer left. Keep midair steering to adjust your position and land at the next corner, then immediately turn right to avoid slamming in the wall.

In Championship mode, the AI will often slow down in unexpected places, so don't follow them too closely. This is especially true at the chicane after the long tunnel, and in the shortcut tunnel. Thankfully, repairing is fast.

== Sewer == You need to have a good understanding of every part of this track, or you'll end up flying into obstacles or getting stuck in dead ends. When climbing towards the area with the big spinning fan, to avoid losing control on the bumps and hit the left wall, first hold the left side then cut across to the right on the apex. The shortcut can be tricky to get if the boxes are still there. Just like in Canyon, they have a considerable mass and will act as a wall. Once you've cleared them once, however, it's very easy to pass through. The hairpin requires you to brake hard. This can be done even with 0 brakes and 20 handling.

In Championship mode, don't try to go through the center when the race starts: avoid all the traffic by taking the right side and going up the bridge, where the repair area is located. Like in Plant 21, you can get a free repair at the end of the race if you can make it up there in time.

== Cocoon == Cocoon appears to be a difficult track, but once you've figured it out there will only be two corners left that are unpredictable. The first is the one that runs next to the spider's head: if you take this full speed you'll probably end up hitting the wall to the left, because there's a bump that sends you flying. Ease off the throttle a bit and try to keep a straight line, aiming for the left, then right before the bump turn right and aim for the tunnel. The second difficult corner is the chicane surrounded by grasshoppers. In this case if you take the wrong line or carry too much speed you'll be sent flying, usually out of bounds. The S/F line is not actually the white line, but the brown one shortly after.

In Championship mode, overtaking is very easy. Repairing is costly, but if you've learned the track well you probably won't need it.

== HQ == The roughness of the surface might look daunting at first, but there really aren't any impredictable corners in this track.

In Time Attack mode, when going for fast laps you can clear out the broken cars so that you can take a better line. In 3-lap mode, you'll have to learn where they are and drive around them.

In Championship mode, be careful because the AI will probably move the broken cars each lap and you might find them right on your path.