Need for Speed: Carbon/Walkthrough

Exotic Class Walkthrough
This is a short version walkthrough for starting with the Exotic class. Written are strategies for each section of the city as well as for canyon duels and boss races, along with recommended cars.

You start with the Alfa Romeo Brera. This car is surprisingly good and it should take you through the first section of the city (Fortuna). A stock Brera will be able to win every race except the boss race, so don't upgrade until the boss race unless you really need to. Also, try to skip the drift races as they are extremely annoying and take a long time, but if you are good at them you can take a shot at them. Once you've mowed through Fortuna, you'll get a request from Wolf to challenge you for the turf. Before you go to the boss race, upgrade your car as much as you can. Tuning doesn't matter much at this point, so just leave it at the middle.

Wolf drives on a semi-easy track with a load of shortcuts. He'll try to take these as much as possible and you should too. Burn off some NOS at the beginning to gain a lead. Not much later there is a shortcut through the park right after a tight right turn off the left side. So brake a bit more during the turn and make a wide left turn at the shortcut. The only other shortcut you should consider is the one through the tunnel. The other ones you don't have to, but could take.

You won't be able to pass Wolf on the canyon, so just make a clean run and you'll win. Always keep an eye on your minimap, which goes for every single race. After you win, try to get his pink slip, it should be in the last two cards, but if not, close NFS Carbon and redo the race to try to pick out his car again.

Once you beat Wolf, Fortuna will be yours, and you can move on to either Kempton (Muscles, Angie) or Downtown (Tuners, Kenji). Do Kempton first as you aren't necessarily ready for the repetitive tight turns of Downtown. The races in Kempton are easy except for speedtraps, but if you can't do those Neville or Sal will easily win it for you. Once again, don't upgrade unless you must. Although you should upgrade before taking on Angie.

The race with Angie will be fairly easy. You can beat her in the city no problem, and you should be able to pass her in the canyon with tires set to grip, engine/transmission set to acceleration, and brakes set to rear bias. Try to get her pink slip, which should also be in last two cards.

Now downtown will be pretty easy, so mow through everything you can brutally. The race with Kenji will pose a problem, as this course has a lot of tight turns, but with the tuning shown above it shouldn't be too hard. Just be careful not to let him pass you on the inside. Don't take the shortcut in Chinatown, but take the other one. As for the canyon, you should pass him, but if not just run cleanly and you'll win. Once again try to get his pink slip, either first or second card most of the time.

Now that you've taken over most of Palmont, only Silverton is left for you to conquer. This is the hardest area of the city, as shortcuts and regular roads alike have merciless turns and your opponents all run in tier three cars. At the beginning you won't have a tier three, so you'll have to take it in your DB9. This car is your best bet, so buy every upgrade you can and tune the brakes to rear bias, which will make your car a lot more steerable. Now go to Neon mile and win both races. Now Canmor downs will be opened up. Take this area, and now you can go to the shop and buy your nice new Carrera GT, as this is one of the few good tier three exotics that is actually controllable. Even if it's one of the most expensive ones, it's worth it, as you can beat all of Silverton with this car.

Use your new Carrera GT to win all the races you can, avoid the canyon duels if you can as they are very long and tiresome but you'll have to do one against Angie if you want to avoid the drift race. Don't worry too much as with a properly tuned Carrera you can pass her easily on the first turn. Set your transmission to acceleration and your engine to horsepower, as well as brakes with rear bias. Take the inside on the first turn and you should pass her, if not wait until the long sweeping right curve and take the inside and pass her. Be careful as soon after there are two hairpin turns, just hold the lead and you'll win. Now just take the last few districts and the final duel will begin.

The last boss duel will be a long and tiring one, so get all the upgrades you can and tune it as written above. The Duel will be a four-part duel, where you have to face the previous three bosses and then take on Darius. First up is a canyon sprint, you against Angie, Wolf, and Kenji, and it will be easy. Just burn some nitrous to pass the three others in the beginning and hold the lead, although keep an eye on your minimap and be wary of Wolf as his Murciélago is the biggest threat. The second race is a circuit race, so use the same strategy as before and use as many shortcuts as you can and just run a clean race.

Now you face Darius one-on-one. First up is another two-lap circuit, so just use the same strategy as the last one and you should win. After this, the real challenge begins, where you have to face Darius alone in a canyon duel. This is the hardest race in the game, but with your Carrera, it's easier than you think. Just stay on him until the first hairpin turn and take the inside curve, hold the lead for 10 seconds and he's finished. Congratulation, you've won the game. Enjoy the cutscene and credits and go out and start with a different starting class!

Muscle Class Walkthrough
This part of the walkthrough is for those that don't like to take their finger off the gas button, and like to use nitro a lot. Below is a recommended list of cars you should be used through the game, and tips on how to beat canyon races with the car you should have.

First off, here are the cars you should get and sell through until the end of the game:
 * 1) Pick the Chevrolet Camaro SS
 * 2) Sell the Camaro for a Lotus Elise after taking over Hills Borough on any dealership available OR use the boss cars if you won their pinkslip in order to save money.
 * 3) Buy the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 after taking over Canmor Downs in Silverton.
 * 4) Don't sell the Chevy Corvette and beat Darius with this car. You can overtake him in the 1st corner of his canyon race and win after 10 seconds.
 * 5) For a New Game+ which has all cars and parts unlocked, pick the Chevrolet Camaro SS again and keep it until you have enough money to buy a Tier 3 car like the Chevy Corvette Z06 since you can skip Tier 2 cars entirely.

Here are some tips and hints on how to beat the canyon races one by one and how you should proceed through turf. Always keep your turf connected. In other words, don't go out and get an island here, then another little section in the middle of nowhere – keep it together! Also, go from Angie's turf to Wolf's turf to Kenji's Turf to Darius' turf.


 * Boss guides
 * Angie isn't too tough, but can be difficult if this is your first canyon race. If your Camaro has the power to out run her (try this like five times first) and get in front of her for 10 seconds, then do that. Otherwise, just feather the throttle around corners, and use e-brakes on 180° turns. The second unlock from the right is her pink slip 90% of the time.
 * Wolf can be a problem because his car can take these corners mighty well. Your Monaro should have higher handling and acceleration, but he has a higher top end. So try to get in front of him, take it easy on corners, and use NOS on straights.
 * Kenji will be a minor problem. Just out race him and follow the tips that this guide has told you so far.
 * Darius is a definite problem. You have to beat three racers at the same time, then Darius, then the canyon race! So, use your Corvette to just nail it in front of him, keep it slow around the first and second corners while staying in front of him, and use all your NOS after the second corner.