PARTS GUIDE =========== There are 6 parts that can be upgraded. Some parts have more levels of upgrade than others. Comparisons are compared to the basic version of each part. FRAME: The frame determines the manoeuvrability of the bike. IRON CRADLE: $1200. DOUBLE CRADLE: $2000. ALUMINIUM DOUBLE CRADLE: $8000. ALUMINIUM SPACE: $128000. TITANIUM SPACE: $500000. TITANIUM MONOCOQUE: $8000000. ENGINE: The engine determines the acceleration of the bike. OHC NORMAL: $600. basic acceleration DOHC NORMAL: $2000. 33% better acceleration DOHC V4: $8000. 100% better acceleration TURBO V4: $32000. 100% better acceleration, turbo power to 324 km/h CERAMIC TURBO: $512000. 166% better acceleration, turbo power to 324 km/h TWIN TURBO: $8192000. 166% better acceleration, turbo power to 324 km/h (better turbo?) BRAKE: The brakes determine the deceleration of the bike. DRUM: $400. basic braking DISC: $1500. 15% better braking VENTILATED DISC: $6000. 30% better braking DOUBLE DISC: $24000. 45% better braking ANTI-SKID: $90000. 50% better braking MUFFLER: Rids engine of exhaust, increasing acceleration. NORMAL: $300. basic muffler COL: $1500. 8.3% better acceleration (on basic engine) WORKS ORIGINAL: $6000. 16.7% better acceleration (on basic engine) PRIVATE ORIGINAL: $90000. 25.0% better acceleration (on basic engine) OIL: Lubricates engine, increasing acceleration. REGULAR: $100. basic oil MANUAL: $200. 8.3% better acceleration (on basic engine) TOP: $3200. 16.7% better acceleration (on basic engine) PRIVATE ORIGINAL: $14000. 25.0% better acceleration (on basic engine) TYRE: Determine the grip and rate of slipping when cornering. NORMAL: $300. RADIAL: $400. HIGH PERFORMANCE: $1500. SLICK: $6000. ORIGINAL SLICK: $24000. Notes about parts ----------------- * frames Changing to a lighter frame only changes manoeuvrability; it does not lead to better acceleration. Manoeuvrability principally governs how quickly you can change direction. After six crashes with stationary objects, the frame will break. Colliding with riders causes minor frame damage, but will decreases the above number. This number is the same regardless of the frame. Improving the mechanic does not allow more crashes before the frame breaks. * engines Acceleration comparisons were based on 0-200 kph times. Acceleration drops off at higher speeds. Better engines get smaller acceleration increases from oil and muffler upgrades. The 25% increase from PRIVATE ORIGINAL oil on the basic OHC NORMAL engine is reduced to 12% on the DOHC V4 engine, and 9% on the CERAMIC TURBO engine. However, since those engines are faster, there is some compounding of acceleration increases. * brake These offer consistent performance increases until the top brakes (ANTI-SKID) for unknown reasons. * muffler Also damaged by collisions and can fall off. Without a muffler your speed is limited but you are not forced to retire. Acceleration increases are also less pronounced for faster engines, but less so than with oil. * oil Oil upgrades offer very cheap improvements to acceleration. Manual oil is a real bargain. * tyre Tyres make no difference to deceleration under braking. They only affect skidding. This determines how sharp a corner you can turn before skidding to the edge of the road. Radial tyres are a real bargain, making a big difference to grip. * mechanic As mentioned under frames, mechanics do not appear to affect durability considerably, but only frames were actually tested. * advice (see walkthrough for more information) Engine and frame upgrades are very expensive; mufflers, oil and tyres are comparatively cheap. Once you hit the DOHC V4 engine ($8000), it is better to upgrade oil and mufflers than engine, unless you're rolling in cash. Similarly, after ALUMINIUM DOUBLE CRADLE ($8000), the frames get crazy expensive and it is wiser to invest in tyres and brakes. PASSWORD CHEATS =============== For original mode, providing maximum money, full bike spec, top mechanic: 0FF3F546F30504 FFOSLPIMFJPGNU Level 1 0FF3F546F30514 FFOSLPIMFJHSSU Level 2 0FF3F546F30524 FFOSLPIMFJPOFT Level 3 0FF3F546F30534 FFOSLPIMFJHKKT Level 4 0FF3F546F30544 FFOSLPIMFJQFNW Level 5 0FF3F546F30554 FFOSLPIMFJIRSW Level 6 0FF3F546F30564 FFOSLPIMFJQNFV Level 7 WALKTHROUGH =========== General racing principles apply. Try to hit the apex of your corners properly. Try to always stay on the track. You lose lots of speed by leaving it, and risk crashing. Try braking before hitting the corner, rather than only braking once you've lost grip. The art to controlling the bike is tapping the direction buttons to control the extent that you steer. Avoid colliding with competitors. It damages your bike and you'll lose speed. Although you have a rival, they put out fixed lap times and you don't encounter them on the track, so you cannot cause your rival to crash out. On each stage (/level/course), you'll need 5 wins to advance to the next one. Level 1. -------- With fresh parts and no crashes, you can hit 1'30"00 on the first lap with no bike upgrades, and perhaps 1'26"00 on lap two, for a total time around 2'55"00 to 3'00"00. Your rival will be hitting something awful like 3'40"00, so don't spend money on upgrades. There are few competitors, so you should be able to avoid hitting them. It is worth braking hard to do so, since lap times are unimportant. Each crash will set you back 10 to 12 seconds on lap time, so do go slow to avoid crashing! You should be able to do progress to Level 2 without replacing parts. Level 2. -------- If you try to race on level 2 without repairing parts, your engine will probably burn up. Replacing everything with no upgrades is one option. You'll see a welcome return to decent performance for only half your cash. It is possible but challenging to win with these parts. In particular, a right-hand corner near the end of each lap is very sharp and has obstacles just off the track. With basic tyres and frame it seems to be luck whether you fall off here, unless you hit the brakes pretty early and nail that apex. You can make your life easier by spending an extra $100 on both your tyres and oil. An engine or frame upgrade are expensive and not needed. Beware that your tyres will wear out faster on this course. Pay attention to replace them after a few races. If you crash once per lap you might find your rival winning the race. 1'34"00 on lap one and 1'30"00 on lap two are decent times that will see you win by around 0'30"00. Level 3. -------- This track has long sweeping corners, with a middle section of four corners alternating in direction. You need to put in lap times faster than ~1'30"00 to beat your rival on this 3-lap course. With the first upgrade to tyres and oil you can just scrape this, but a single crash and you'll lose. Now's the time to invest with the 13000-14000 cash you should have. If you don't yet have the first oil upgrade, get that as it is the best investment in the game in terms of cost- benefit ratio. Upgrade tyres to RADIAL if you haven't, and take the first upgrades to engine and frame. Those alternating corners justify the frame upgrade, which doesn't really cost much extra. With these upgrades you should be hitting 1'25"00 lap times without crashing, just enough to win. Taking the second engine upgrade (DOHC V4) instead is a viable choice, since a single win on Level 3 nets you $10k, which is more than the cost of that engine. However, upgrading your tyres to HIGH PERFORMANCE is a much better investment and will shave a few seconds off your lap time for considerably less money. If you upgraded tyres and oil part way through Level 2, they'll need replacing part way through Level 3 anyway, else they'll force you to retire. For only 15% performance increase, the brakes upgrade probably isn't worth it yet, but once you have chalked up a win or two, and if the brakes and muffler need replacing, you could upgrade by one step each to make life easier. With the first frame, engine, oil and muffler upgrade, and the second tyre upgrade, you can now hit 1'20"00 lap times (with a slower first lap of about 1'28"00). Maintain this level of bike and save your cash to finish Level 3 with a cool $50k in the bank. Level 4. -------- This track has short, sharp corners. You simply can't win with the bike spec of last level, which by now will have seen a lot of wear, too. Time to splash that cash and upgrade! You can spend about $25k to get the second upgrade to the frame (ALU DOUBLE), engine (DOHC V4), and oil (TOP). The first upgrade to brake (DISC) and muffler (COL) are fine. Go for the third tyre upgrade (SLICK), as this is still relatively cheap but allows you to hit those sharp corners fast. You should still try hard to avoid collisions. You should comfortably hit 1'29"00 on lap one and maybe 1'22"00 on subsequent laps, allowing you to win with one collision. Do not take the third engine upgrade to the V4 TURBO, because it doesn't offer better acceleration and there are very few sections where you can hit 280 kph to go turbo. Pro tip: with your SLICK tyres you can take most of the short sharp corners at full speed if you hit the apex nicely, but beware of competitors in your racing line! Level 5. -------- This track has four laps and more of the long-and-sweeping type of corners. There are plenty of stretches where you can reach the 280 kph needed to go turbo, but the bike build from the previous level is actually solid enough to win without turbo or other upgrades here. Prize money for a win increases from $30k to $130k, so if the engine needs replacing and your cash reserves are burning a hole in your pocket, grab the turbo and have fun. With the turbo engine you can put in laps of 1'15"00, but you'll find yourself replacing the frame and muffler more often, as with greater speeds come inevitably more collisions. Level 6. -------- This one is a night race and has five laps which your rival will do in about 1'17"00 each. With very good racing you can manage this with the bike from Level 5 with the turbo engine, but better brakes are advisable for avoiding collisions. The next engine upgrade is a bit out of reach until you win once on this level, so perhaps go with some better oil for a little more acceleration. You can also afford a frame upgrade now, but do beware of crashing if you go for ALU SPACE as it is not cheap to replace! So a good configuration is ALU SPACE, TURBO V4, DOUBLE DISC, WORKS ORIGINAL, PRIVATE ORIGINAL, ORIGINAL SLICK. Lap times of better than 1'05"00 are achievable with this spec, though the average lap might come out at around 1'09"00 due to collision avoidance. Pro tip: since you need to be at 280 kph to go turbo, you'll want to maximise your exit speed from the corners. Brake early, accelerate through the corner and be sure to hit the apex. Level 7. -------- This course has six laps and is an easier track than the last. It is easy to put in laps that are several seconds faster than your rival with the bike build from Level 6, but the challenge is to finish a race without braking your frame. Braking hard to avoid competitors is often necessary, as they are all over the track on this level. So which parts should you upgrade? If you're having trouble avoiding competitors, a better frame and brakes would help, but beware that the TITANIUM SPACE costs $500k and you'll probably need to replace it every race. If your lap times are suffering because you are braking to avoid competitors all the time, then the engine upgrade is worthwhile. You get $2m for a win now, so buy what you like :)