Guides: Need for Speed Carbon Guide & Walkthrough (PC)

Basics |

Driving School

Events

The most important thing to learn before hitting the road is how to use the game's physics to your advantage. This is not your usual powersliding Daytona USA affair, nor is it the uber-sim struggle to control your car that is TOCA. Need for Speed: Carbon gives you a pretty stable control, but there's not a lot of drift to it.

The key to maintaining speed is to learn the best lines to handle turns, since you can't slide to turn on a dime. To make a sharp left, for example, you'd want to go to the right side of the road first, giving yourself room to cut across.
To handle a hairpin you want to stay to the outside wall as you come into the turn, and then cut across the inside of the turn, and back to the outside along the other side. Don't make your turns sharp; use your inertia to your advantage. In an S-curve, hug the insides of the bends so that your car can take a straighter path. It's all about finding room, and knowing just how much to slow down so you can still make a turn with what you have,

NOS and Speedbreaker

You'll have two special tools to help you as you race. Nitros should be pretty familiar to you if you play a lot of arcade-style racers. You can hit your Nitro for a burst of extra speed. It'll drain a meter the longer your hold it. Your meter will refill as you drive at high speeds. Ration it properly. Use it to get rolling again after mistakes, and on straightaways where you can really hit those high speeds.

Speedbreaker is a slow-motion bullet-time effect that can be useful in certain situations, but should be used sparingly. When Speedbreaker is activated time will slow down, and you'll be able to steer your car on a dime. It won't, however, change your inertia, and using Speedbreaker to round sharp turns may cost you time in the end. Use it to save your ass and keep from missing turns at the last second, but don't become too dependent on it. Like the nitros, it also drains a bar that refills as your drive, and can be rationed.

Crew

You'll also be able to bring along a wingman in most of your races. Each crew member will have two skills, one to help you during races, and one to help you after the race has ended. In-race skills are activated as you race and also depend on a bar that need to be refilled, just like nitros and speed breaker. The in-race skills are as follows:

Blockers: These guys are good to have a spot behind you. They'll sacrifice their position to seriously screw up anyone behind you. Try to use them in narrow passes for the best results.
Drafters: These guys can get in front of you and, when activated, leave a slipstream for you to gain some momentum and slingshot ahead.
Scouts: These guys will find every back alley and narrow shortcut for you to help you find the best patch to victory. They're probably the least useful as you shouldn't have too much trouble finding short cuts on your own, and if you do, you'll find them marked in this guide.

In addition to these skills, each crew member will have one of three garage skills. A crew member does not have to be active to take advantage of these skills as long as you have hired him/her:

• Fixer: Can lower the heat on your car.
• Fabricator: Can Autosculpt kits for you car.
• Mechanic: Lowers prices on parts and cars.