Dish Out Some Serious Dirt on Colin McRae: DiRT
Those track cars are for sissies.
They have wide, gently sloping raceways that let them chase each other around track. The concrete walls are lined with rubber barriers, softening the impact of a 140-mph crash. Heck, even the asphalt is dusted and ground weekly, to ensure the racers get only the smoothest possible road.
Then you have rally cars. Unpaved and uneven terrain. 100-foot drops. Muddy tracks that punish the toughest suspension and splatter the windshield. Spectators standing just a few feet away from your snarling, roaring machine as it blazes by at a hundred miles per hour.
Now that’s what REAL racing is all about. And when it comes to rally sims, the Colin McRae series offers some of the most authentic driving experiences this side of reality. The latest, DiRT, allows you to get down and dirty with several established marks like the Mitsubishi Evolution and Ford Focus Sport, without having to look up online auto insurance quotes or signing a waiver form for horrendous bodily injuries.
Here are several tips to conquer the game’s toughest terrains:
Car selection
Go for torque rather than hp/tons. Ultra high torque levels provide more boost to get out of a deep rut than horsepower figures. A good tactic is to use the second best car, as they are often easier to handle than the most powerful one in the lineup. Don’t keep on changing cars after just a few games: use each to the maximum before upgrading.
Acceleration
Only accelerate about halfway down at the beginning of a track. Once you become familiar with all tracks, go hard on the straights, indicated in your mini map, but brake well in advance before a turn. Those muddy tracks can make for a nasty sideslip at max speeds.
Cornering
Brake about five car lengths before a turn. Increase the speed carefully once you get out of the corner, as the tire tracks left by previous drivers can make your wheels lose grip from the road. In races where you face off against Rally Raid or CORR, move to the left early before an upcoming left turn, and right for a tight right turn.
Corr Rallies
These are some of the game’s most challenging modes. If the track has a bend near the starting line, wait for the other cars to pass ahead of you before accelerating. This enables you to leave the whole pile in the dust at the first corner.