Why do I fall off the track in Shanghai Roadster?
You fall off the track in Shanghai Roadster when you drive over an edge with no rails, hit a rail very hard from the side, stall in a loop, or miss a landing. A crash landing ends the race too. When that happens the race is over, and you start again from the beginning. The good news: each of these has a simple fix.
What happens when you fall?
The car tumbles down toward the city while the camera stays on the track and watches. The tip line says You fell off the track! (or Crash landing! after a bad landing). After a crash landing the car breaks: the wheels fly off, small pieces bounce away, and the wreck tumbles along the track between the rails. Then a card comes up with a tip and two buttons: Race again and Tracks.
There is no put-back on the track. You start the race again from the start line, with a full tank, the full time and a car that is as good as new. A run that ended in a fall doesn't change your saved best time or medal.
The ways to fall, and how to stop them
| What happened | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Drove over a red glowing edge | Open stretches have no rails | Stay in the middle of the track there |
| Flew over a rail | You hit it very hard, at a sharp angle | Steer gently; touch rails at a shallow angle |
| Dropped out of a loop | Too slow on the way up | Come in faster, or hold Nitrogen for Stick |
| Fell short of a landing | Too slow over the jump | Match the speed board before the ramp |
| Crash landing! on a rocket jump | Landed too hard or not on the wheels | Wait for the ring, then hold Nitrogen |
| Crash landing! on a small jump | Landed on the roof or from very high | Don't steer in the air; hold Nitrogen to land |
Open stretches
Most of every track has gold rails on both sides. An open stretch is a straight with no rails. Instead, the edge is flat with a glowing red line, so you can see it is missing. Drive past that edge and the car falls straight away.
Open stretches are on Shanghai Nights, New York, Rio de Janeiro and Shanghai Sunrise. On them:
- Line up in the middle before the open part starts.
- Make small steering moves only.
- Boost is fine here, as long as you are pointing straight.
Rails: bumping is fine, slamming is not
The gold rails are your friends. A normal touch on a rail only rubs off some speed, and it turns the car back along the track. So if you drift to the side, the rail puts you straight again.
But if you hit a rail very hard and from the side, for example by turning sharply at high speed, the car jumps over it and falls. The outside wall of a banked turn is taller: it takes twice as hard a hit to go over that one. Loops, corkscrews and the stretch just after them have tall rails on both sides too.
Rubbing along the rails is slow. Driving cleanly down the middle is much faster than leaning on them.
Loops and corkscrews
Inside a loop, speed keeps you pressed onto the track. If you are too slow, the car can come off the track at the top, or even stop on the way up. If it stops, it drops off and the race ends.
- Read the board: Loop ahead: 60 km/h or more.
- If you are slower than that, the board turns orange. Hold Nitrogen in the loop: the gauge says STICK, the jets press you on, and the same press boosts you round.
- Keep your steering still in loops and corkscrews.
Jumps and rocket jumps
- Small jumps: come in at the board's speed (Jump ahead: 90 km/h or more). Let go of the steering in the air, because steering without nitrogen starts the car rolling. Hold Nitrogen as you come down.
- Rocket jumps: these must be landed softly and on the wheels. Wait for the ring to turn green (Now! Hold Nitrogen), then hold Nitrogen until you land. If your tank is empty, you can't land a rocket jump safely, which is why there is a refill gate just before each one.
- Twist jumps: the car comes off spinning. Only holding Nitrogen turns it back onto its wheels.
All the details are on the stunts page.
Steering without sliding
The car is set up so that holding a steering key all the way never makes it skid: it turns as hard as the tyres can take. But tyres only have so much grip. If you brake hard or accelerate hard while turning, there is less grip left for the turn, and you drift wide toward the rail. So brake before a turn, not in the middle of it.
On a keyboard, a quick tap moves the car a little to the side, and it stops sliding soon after you let go. So small taps are a safe way to line up for an open stretch.
Practice makes it easy
If one stunt keeps throwing you off, use Practice on the track select screen. Practice has no clock and no medals, so you can try the hard part as calmly as you like. See medals, practice and unlocking tracks.
See also
- Loops, jumps and stunts for every stunt step by step.
- Tips for new drivers for more easy habits.
- The FAQ for quick answers.
- Play Shanghai Roadster and see how far you get.
