Walkthrough for new players or players starting a new career. This version was made September 18, 2012. Recent changes, added cheat codes, selling prices of cars you win, revised 240SX drift setup to include stage 3 or stage 4 parts, revised stage 3 drag Camaro tuning, game bug workaround. Suggest 240SX for drift car. Summary Provide a somewhat logical sequence of cars and upgrades to buy during career mode to avoid wasting money with duplicate cars or upgrades. The initial suggested cars are: RX8 for grip, Charger R/T for drag and the 240SX you start with for drift. The 240SX, RX8, and Charger R/T are suggested because they’re unlocked from the start, they’re cheap (240SX is free) and competitive. React race days with speed events are skipped, until after Showdown 2, which unlocks the suggested 911 Turbo for speed mode. Then the remaining React race days with speed events are completed. Super Promotion race days are the first with wheelie events, where the Charger R/T is switched to wheelie mode and the suggested car for drag is the Supra. Super Promotion also has the first Texas oval event, which the RX8 can only win via a drafting strategy (described later), but by this point in career, there’s enough money to buy an alternate grip car if wanted. Cheat codes cashmoney 10000 cash reggame 10000 cash 1mi9k7e1 10000 cash l1is97a1 8000 cash w2iollo1 4000 cash 1ma9x99 2000 cash ----- 44000 total worldslongestlasting 34320 selling price - Dodge Viper itsaboutyou 18000 selling price - Audi TT (+ 5 repair markers) zerozerozero 14040 selling price - Golf GTI mitsubishigofar 13200 selling price - Mitsubishi Evolution X ----- 79560 total selling prices ------ 123560 total cash if all cheat code cars sold safetynet 5 repair markers collectorsed& collectors edition unlock, adds 4 race days Battle Machine: Challenge Willow Springs React: Challenge Autopolis II Super Promotion: Challenge Nevada II Super Promotion: Challenge Infineon needs to be re-entered each time you start game unlockallthings unlocks all events, cars, and parts use to unlock stage 4 parts adds 4 cars to garage (exit and reenter career mode) needs to be re-entered each time you start game, but will also add the 4 cars again if you sold them. Cars you win and the selling price (CE means collectors edition): 240SX $11100 - start of game Battle Machine: Cobalt SS $15120 or Honda Civic $16500 - Challenge Nevada Nissan 350Z $12610 or VW GTI $15520 - Challenge Texas Chevelle SS $15840 or Lexus IS350 $25040 - CE Challenge Willow Springs React: Pontiac GTO $20830 or Infinity G35 $16760 - Challenge Autopolis BMW M3 E46 $27420 or Toyota Supra $21380 - Challenge Ebisu Pontiac Solstice $19480 or Nissan Silvia $18800 - CE Challenge Autopolis II Super Promotion: Dodge Viper $44490 or Nissan Skyline R35 $26830 - Challenge Autobahnring Audi RS4 $53480 or Corvette Z06 $58410 - CE Challenge Nevada II Acura NSX $69980 or Porsche Cayman S $51830 - CE Challenge Infineon BMW M3 E92 $68590: Grip King Ray Krieger Mustang GT $50270: Drag Queen Karol Monroe Mazda RX-7 $52360: Drift King Aki Kimura Pontiac GTO 1965 $52490: Speed King Nate Denver Lancer Evo X $34380: Showdown King Ryo Watanabe Game bug ProStreet may stutter on a multi-core or hyperthreaded processor. The work around is to go into task manager, go to process nfs.exe, right click to set affinity, and turn cpu 0 off and back on again. If you have 8 or more "cpus", just turn off cpu's 0 through 3 and leave them off. Best cars The best (non-extender pack) stage 4 cars are: grip - Zonda (fastest), 911 turbo (most points on sector shootout); drag - Camaro SS except for some 1/2 mile tracks where it bounces and often gets totaled, Zonda; speed - 911 Turbo; drift - 240SX; wheelie - Charger R/T (easiest to drive). Keep this in mind when buying alternate cars in career mode. General tips If your game is patched, you may want to re-install the unpatched version before starting a new career, since the patch disables the unlockallthings cheat code that unlocks stage 4 parts. Complete career with the unpatched version, setup your online cars, save and backup your save file, then patch your game. There's also a SAAM patch that re-enables the cheat codes. Turn off autosave. Save from the race day menu after each good race. If damage occurs, you can quit an event, exit career mode, and then reload career and rerun the event, to avoid spending money or markers on repairs. Each of the 3 showdown days are unlocked by dominating and/or winning race days in from the hub just before the showdown day. The king hubs are unlocked by setting 10 track records in the related mode (grip, drag, drift, speed). The Ryo hub is unlocked by dominating showdown 3. Race days are normally dominated before completing all events, so continue with the race day after dominating to set all track records. Some races days auto-terminate once dominated the first time, such as challenge, showdown, and the race days just prior to a king race day. You’ll have to re-run them if you want to set all track and race day records. Under gameplay / assists, you can change the mode to casual, which slows down the AI, and turns on driving aids that slow your car a little. It’s mostly useful in sector shootouts, because the AI won’t set any of the sector checkpoints, so a player can set all 12 by increasing speed on each lap. In king mode, the assists will turn on after one or more races. Unless you want them on, go into practice mode turn them off and quit, then run another race. Grip mode - Assists make it easier to drive the cars, but slow lap times a bit. Use traction and/or stability control for rear wheel drive cars, abs for front or all wheel drive cars. Drift mode - drifting as long as possible with the car facing the same direction (left or right) accumulates more points than changing directions. Use the handbrake (if version 1.0), or the regular brake (if version 1.1), with the car sideways to extend drifts, especially when approaching the finish line to keep the car facing in the same direction. Scraping the sides of a track with the nose of a car will extend drifts also. Backing up at the start of a drift allows a car to build up speed before entering the drift course. Qualifier race Player runs and wins a Nissan 240SX for grip mode. Battle Machine Don’t upgrade the 240SX yet, save money for Charger R/T and RX8. After the first race day (challenge Chicago), is dominated, choose the Civic. Run challenge Chicago again for more money and to set remaining track records. Sell the Civic and buy a Charger R/T for drag mode. Buy stage 3 nitrous for the Charger R/T, tune nitrous +10 (far right). There are 3 standard race days with just single 1/4 mile drag races. After those, buy a stage 3 drivetrain for the 1/2 mile drag races (no tuning required). At challenge Texas, choose the 350Z (faster than GTI, although it sells for less) when the race day is dominated. Run it again for more money and to set remaining track records. Don’t upgrade 350Z, use it as is for grip races until you can buy RX8. Once you have the 350Z and $37,000 or more, sell the 350Z, buy a Mazda RX8, grip mode, and buy stage 3 nitrous. Run all race days except Nevada Highway II since it has a drift event. Switch the 240 SX to drift mode and buy a stage 3 engine, install the stage 1 drivetrain and stage 2 nitrous already owned, and tune nitrous to +8. If there’s enough cash, buy stage 3 tires for Charger R/T and stage 3 forced induction for RX8 (setups below). Run Nevada Highway II last. Autoscuplt body kits improve performance. The other parts don’t affect target time, so they’re probably just cosmetic. Charger R/T drag parts - stock: brakes, stage 2: suspension (stage 3 causes wheelies), stage 3: nitrous, drivetrain, tires, turbo, engine. The Eaton Twin Screw supercharger may be best. Tuning: shocks and springs +8, front tire +10, rear tire -10, steer +8, boost and nitrous +10, 1st gear middle, rest of gears and final +10. Will run sub 7.5 second 1/4 mile drag races. Later this car will be switched to wheelie car with different setup. Launch in green zone, use nitrous during shift into 2nd gear. Mazda RX8 grip parts - stage 3: engine, nitrous, tires, suspension, turbo, drivetrain, brakes. HKS turbo may be best. Tuning: both tire pressures -10, boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain, 1st +10, 2nd +6, 3rd +2, 4th -2, 5th -6, 6th -10, final +5. 240SX drift parts - stock: brakes, tires, suspension, stage 3: engine, turbo, nitrous, drivetrain. HKS turbo may be best. Tuning: boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain default. Showdown 1 If there’s enough cash, upgrade RX8 and/or Charger, then start race day. React Upgrade Charger, RX8, and 240SX as cash becomes available. When challenge Autopolis is dominated, choose the GTO (worth more than G35) and sell it. When challenge Ebisu is dominated, choose the Supra and keep it for now (see Super Promotion drag car). Skip all the races with speed events for now. There are enough race days without speed events to unlock showdown 2. At challenge Autopolis race day, you need more than 47,390 points to set the race day record. It's possible to set all the track records, and not end up with 47,390 points. I'm not sure if there are any other race days like this. Challenge Ebisu may have a damage bug; sometimes you'll see light damage immediately at go. If this happens, quit the race. If it's the BMW, then start a practice drift race (switches to Supra), then quit the drift practice, and restart the BMW race. If it's the Supra, start a practice race (switches to BMW), then quit the practice, and run the drift again. Setting the track record for the time attack (fastest lap) at Togue, is very difficult, and only needed if you want to set all track records. A sub 41 second lap time is required. It's easiest to do this with traction control off. If TC turns on, then quit the race, start a practice drift, quit the practice, and rerun the time attack. Showdown 2 After showdown 2, all cars are unlocked. Buy the 911 Turbo for speed mode. 911 Turbo speed. Stock parts: suspension, brakes. Stage 3 parts: engine, drivetrain, turbo, nitrous, tires. HKS turbo may be best. Stock suspension keeps car from going airborne over hills. Tuning: both tire pressures +10, boost and nitrous values +10, all gears and final 0 (middle). React speed events Return to React and complete the unfinished race days using the 911 Turbo for speed. Super Promotion Super Promotion is the first hub with wheelie events. However the only race day with a wheelie event above the initial race day, is Texas World Speedway, so you can wait until then deal with a wheelie car. The Charger R/T will be used for these wheelie events, so a new car is needed for drag racing. You'll probably want to get a new grip car as well. Challenge Nevada II (collectors edition) wheelie event - For long wheelie, launch at full throttle into 1st, normal shifts in green zone, hit nitrous when front end starts to lower. Z06 will veer left a bit, and if in left lane will bounce off rail and probably crash, so if in left lane, false start. Only use the right lane for long wheelie attempts. Challenge Infineon (collectors edition) - Go to control settings and set a control to shift directly into 3rd gear. Launch at full throttle with nitrous into 3rd gear. There's enough nitrous for the Challenger to do a full run. With stage 3 parts, the Zonda is the fastest drag car, but too costly at this point in career mode. The Supra is the next fastest drag car, followed by the Camaro SS (at stage 3). The Camaro gets the most points, closely followed by the Supra, then the Zonda. At some 1/2 mile drag tracks, the Camaro will bounce and often gets totaled, so the Supra is probably the best choice. The RX8 is fast enough to win all career events, except drafting is required for the Texas oval (explained later). The only cars faster than the RX8 are 911 Turbo, $326,650, Ford GT, $354,650, and Zonda, $966,100 (prices include upgrade to stage 3 parts). The 911 Turbo is the easiest of these to drive (you may want to turn on ABS to prevent understeer), and gives the most points. The Ford GT is only a bit faster than the 911 and more difficult to drive at high speed. The Zonda is the fastest car, but costly. Charger R/T wheelie parts: buy stage 3 suspension (required for wheelies). Other parts same as before. Stock: brakes. Stage 3: engine, drivetrain, suspension, supercharger, tires, nitrous. Use Eaton twin screw charger. Tuning: front shock compression +10, rear shock compression -10, front shock rebound -10, rear shock rebound +10, front spring +10, rear spring -10, ride height +10, front tire pressure +10, rear tire pressure -10, boost and nitrous +10, gears all 0 (middle). Supra drag parts: Stock: brakes. Stage 2: suspension. Stage 3: engine, drivetrain, turbo, tires, nitrous. HKS turbo may be best. Tuning: front tire pressure +10, rear tire pressure -10, boost and nitrous +10, all gears and final +10. Launch in green zone, use nitrous during the shift into 2nd gear. Camaro SS drag parts: All stage 3 but brakes, Eaton twin screw charger may be best, install stock suspension after tuning done. Tuning: shocks, springs, height -10, front tire pressure +10, rear tire pressure -10, boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain 1st-4th 0, 5th -10, 6th 0, final +10, install stock suspension. Tuning stage 3 suspension and then installing stock suspension instead of just using stock suspension makes Camaro about .2 to .3 seconds quicker in 1/4 mile drag. Launch at full throttle with nitrous in 5th. Use options - control to assign a button to shift directly into 5th gear. If this is an issue, use a different car. Zonda drag parts: all stage 3 but brakes, HKS turbo charger may be best. Tuning: rear shocks, springs +10 (front 0), ride height +10, front tire pressure +6, rear tire pressure +10, engine boost and nitrous +10, gear 1st -10, 2nd +9, 3rd -> 6th +10, final +10 (only 1 thru 4 used). Launch at redline, nitrous on 2nd gear shift. 911 Turbo grip parts: All stage 3, HKS turbo charger may be best. Tuning: both tire pressures -10, engine boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain default. Ford GT grip parts: All stage 3, HKS turbo charger may be best. Tuning: ride height -10 (+10 for Texas oval), front tire pressure 0, rear tire pressure -10, steering +10, engine and nitrous +10, drivetrain all gears -10, final -5. Zonda grip parts: All stage 3, HKS turbo charger may be best. Tuning: both tire pressures -10, engine boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain all gears -10, final 0. Showdown 3 Dominating this race day switches to the first Ryo race day before all events are done. You can leave the Ryo race day and run it later. You may want to redo shodown 3 to set all track records. You win Ryo's Evo X, grip mode version, it's not competitive, but might as well keep it. King hubs Dominating the next to last race day in each hub switches to the king race day before all events are done. You can leave and redo the next to last race day to set all track records, and/or save the king events for last. You win each of the king cars, with all stage 4 parts. The RX7 (drift) is the only useful car in this group, but the 240SX is better (slides farther). Now would be a good time to buy the Zonda for grip mode and other cars you want to use for online racing since there is a chance you’ll win some stage 4 parts. Camaro SS bounce issue on some 1/2 mile drag events Some 1/2 mile drag tracks like Autopolis or Infineon are bumpy near the end and can total the Camaro SS. Turn off autosave before doing the races. If you get a clean run, then false start on the remaining races or go slow, then save your game and continue. RX8 at Texas oval RX8 needs to draft at the Texas oval. Change 6th gear to -6, final to +10. Afterwards, set 6th back to -10 and final to +5. In the grip race, the RX8 needs to draft the leading AI cars and use nitrous at the end to win the race. This may take a few retries. In the time attack race, the RX8 has no chance of catching up to the AI. Instead just wait at the starting line until the AI opponents are about 3/4 the way through on the first lap, then take off, and draft the lead AI opponent car while it is doing it’s second lap. At the end of this lap, slow down a bit just before the start / finish line, then use nitrous to catch back up and draft again, then use nitrous again just before end of lap. stage 4 cars Use the unlockallthings cheat code to unlock stage 4 parts. This will also add 4 cars to you garage (once you exit and reenter career mode), which you'll probably want to sell. You can repeat this each time you run the game. If you patched your game to version 1.1, get the SAAM patch to re-enable the cheat codes. Otherwise, you’ll need to run the pre-king event race days repeatedly and hope by chance to get the stage 4 parts via markers. Buy all stage 1, 2, and 3 parts first, since duplicate parts aren't awarded. Sell all the king cars but the RX7 to avoid using them as backup cars and possibly wasting stage 4 markers. Best stage 4 cars: Grip: Zonda, 911 Turbo for points (sector shootout, time attack). Drag: Camaro SS fastest and most points on smooth tracks, but will bounce and get totaled on some 1/2 mile tracks; Zonda almost as fast and doesn't have bounce issue. Speed: 911 turbo (won't go airborne at Nevada). Drift: 240SX. Wheelie: Charger is easiest to drive. Zonda grip parts: all stage 4, full racing turbo. Tuning: both tire pressures -10, steering +10, engine boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain all gears -10, final -5. 911 Turbo grip parts: All stage 4, full racing charger may be best. Tuning: both tire pressures -10, engine boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain default. Mazda RX8 grip parts - stage 4: engine, nitrous, tires, suspension, turbo, drivetrain, brakes. full racing charger may be best. Tuning: both tire pressures -10, boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain, 1st +10, 2nd +6, 3rd +2, 4th -2, 5th -6, 6th -10, final +10. Easiest to control for some time attacks when using 4 shots of nitrous on one lap. Camaro SS drag parts: all stage 4 but brakes, use full racing turbocharger, install stock suspension after tuning done. Tuning: shocks, springs, height -10, front tire pressure +10, rear tire pressure -10, engine boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain 1st-4th 0, 5th -4, 6th +9, final +10, install stock suspension. Launch with nitrous in 5th, which is only possible if you can assign a controller button to shift into 5th. If this isn’t possible use the Zonda. Zonda drag parts: all stage 4 but brakes, use full racing turbo charger. Tuning: rear shocks, springs +10 (front 0), ride height +10, front tire pressure +6, rear tire pressure +10, engine boost and nitrous +10, gear 1st -10, 2nd +9, 3rd -> 6th +10, final +10 (only 1 thru 4 used). Launch at redline, nitrous on 2nd gear shift. Supra drag parts: Stock: brakes. Stage 2: suspension. Stage 4: engine, drivetrain, turbo, tires, nitrous. Full racing charger may be best. Tuning: front tire pressure +10, rear tire pressure -10, boost and nitrous +10, all gears and final +10. Launch in green zone, use nitrous during the shift into 2nd gear. 911 Turbo speed parts: stock suspension, brakes, rest stage 4, use full racing turbocharger. Tuning: tire pressures +10, engine boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain - gears 1-6 default, final +5. 240SX drift parts - stock: brakes, tires, suspension, stage 4: engine, turbo, nitrous, drivetrain. Full racing charger may be best. Tuning: boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain default. RX7 drift parts: stock tires, suspension, brakes, rest stage 4. Tuning: engine boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain, 1st +10, 2nd +6, 3rd +2, 4th -2, 5th -6, 6th -10, final +10. Camaro SS drift parts: stock tires, suspension, brakes, rest stage 4. Tuning: engine boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain, 1st +10, 2nd +6, 3rd +2, 4th -2, 5th -6, 6th -10, final +10. Charger wheelie parts: all stage 4 but brakes. Tuning: front shock compression +10, rear shock compression -10, front shock rebound -10, rear shock rebound +10, front spring +10, rear spring -10, ride height +10, front tire pressure +10, rear tire pressure -10, engine boost and nitrous +10, drivetrain default.