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7 tips to master Project CARS 2’s rallycross mode
Get the inside line and learn how to transition from tarmac to dirt with our words of wisdom.
In a bid to diversify its vehicular offerings, Slightly Mad Studios are adding the frenetic off-road racing form known as rallycross to their Project CARS 2 game mode roster. Rallycross features short dirt (or even snow) circuits in which multiple, powerful rally cars race head-to-head in a bid for that first-place podium finish. It’s exciting, fast and full of uncertainty.
Having now experienced it first-hand, we can report that what’s offered represents a major change of course from what was delivered in the original game. Rallycross is so different from traditional track racing that it’s difficult to map skills learned and mastered in one over to the other.
Don’t fret though: to help you out, we’ve put together a slate of tips aimed at helping you adjust to life on the dirt once Project CARS 2 hits your console later this year – we’ll make a rallycross master of you yet.
Forget everything you know about track racing
The most important thing to remember about rallycross is that the rules of the road do not apply. You might have wheels, a steering wheel and some pedals at your disposal, but the way you must use and combine them on dirt bears little resemblance to tearing across tarmac.
Traditional racing lines go out of the window; as do braking zones, throttle control and how you interact with any other cars in your immediate vicinity. As such, just because you’re good on the track doesn’t mean you can expect to impress on the dirt. Be prepared for a period of growing pains as you learn this new craft.
Turn before you turn
As ridiculous as it sounds, you have to have already positioned your car to exit the corner before you’ve even entered it. If you aren’t drifting sideways into a corner, with your car’s nose nudging the apex, then you’ve left it too late to achieve the best possible speed through the curve.
It’s essential to quickly get to grips with the relationship between your brakes, throttle and handbrake and in which situation you need to use each of them and/or all of them at once. Only once you’ve mastered these relationships can you accurately slide your car into corners at will – but once you’ve nailed drifting around bends at speed, you’ll be kicking up dust at your rivals and watching them in your rearview mirror in no time.
Cockpit cam remains the most immersive
© Slightly Mad Studios
Initially, don’t obsess over lap times
It’s always tempting to try and finish every lap you race in the quickest time possible, but when learning a new skill, it’s not usually best to focus on the end goal before you’ve mastered the essential foundational elements – a bit like learning how to run before you can walk.
If you’re coming to rallycross as predominantly a tarmac driver, then it’s probable that you’re going to set better opening times by using track driving techniques over rallycross ideals. In the long term that’s going to harm your top-level performance and limit your potential.
The better approach is to take things slow and learn how to drift around corners, gain control of the throttle when your car is sideways and understand the ‘feel’ of the tyres on the dirt. Once you’re comfortable, you can then focus on gently improving your speed each lap.
Avoid the dust
The loose surface of some rallycross arenas results in a major problem that you don’t tend to face when driving on the road: dust. Get too close to the car in front and the cloud that they inevitably blow up behind them immediately blinds you.
Rather than defiantly follow in your competitors’ slipstreams, then, it’s best to tail them off to one side. When tucked in to their left or right, you still get some reduced visibility due to the dust, but it’s nothing as visually destructive as it could be. As soon as you get the chance, make sure you make a dive to get level with them, remove the dust problem entirely and try to get ahead to give them a taste of their own medicine.
Avoiding dust
© Slightly Mad Studios
Be careful with the throttle
Full throttle plus a loose surface are not the best of bedfellows and you should be certain that you’ve got maximum grip and clean track ahead of you before you put your foot down in rallycross.
Throttle control is so important when to comes to pushing your car’s rear end out in order to slide quickly sideways through corners, that you could make an argument for it being the single most important core skill when driving on dirt. Simply: don't think of the throttle as being either ‘on’ or ‘off’, use all of the available nuance in between.
Embrace the sensitivity of the steering
Loose surfaces mean that even the slightest turn of the wheel typically results in severe lurches from your vehicle, a reality reinforced by the sheer amount of horsepower being forced through your tyres.
At first, these kinds of sharp reactions feel overly twitchy and difficult to control. Spend some time on the same track and in the same car, however, and you soon come to understand that the sensitivity of the steering is an advantage as opposed to a hindrance. Just as with the throttle, the key is to be gentle with your movements and not consider steering as a binary ‘turn left’ or ‘turn right’ idea. Use all the angles you can, and you’ll be sailing through the dirt with ease.
Use a wheel, if you can
The easiest way to harness a sensitive steering column in a videogame is, of course, to use a racing wheel. For certain, it’s easier to adjust to the demands of rallycross when you’ve got a wheel at your disposal: you can adjust your turning circle with much more finesse, after all.
With a wheel, you feel as though you’re a conductor of your vehicle as opposed to a warrior forcing your domination upon it. The warrior approach is still a fun and rewarding one to master, but as a conductor you get a feeling of symbiosis between you and the machine. Racing wheels are not cheap, though, so unless you’re serious about pursuing the more competitive aspects of Project CARS 2 then it might well represent an investment too far – but splash the cash, and you’ll have an advantage over your gamepad brethren that’ll have you way ahead of the pack.
