You can tune your car during races or free roam. Open the Pause Menu and choose Performance Tuning. There are seven adjustable sliders
a) Steering
- You must install a Suspension upgrade to access this tuning slider. "The steering slider lets you control how quick the steering response is. Moving the slider to the right will increase the steering quickness while moving it to the left will decrease the steering quickness. Quicker steering is usually better as long as you are able to still control your car." If you're a really good driver, you can combine quicker steering with lower ride height and more down force to take turns a lot quicker. Otherwise, leave this at default or turn it down one notch. For drag races, you will want this turned up one or two notches for quicker dodging of traffic.
b) Handling
- You must install a Suspension upgrade to access this tuning slider. "This slider allows you to tailor your car's handling to suit your driving style. If you would like your car to slide a little more, move the slider to the left. If you like your car to slide less, move the slider to the right." Leave this at default or move it right one stop unless you're really good at power sliding through turns, then move it left one or two stops.
c) Brakes
- You must install a Brake upgrade to access this tuning slider. "This slider lets you adjust the brake bias of your car towards the front or rear. Adjusting the brake bias to the front or rear will affect how much your car is able to turn while braking. Adjust the slider to the right to move the brake bias forward and adjust it to the left to move the brake bias toward the rear." Rear-wheel drive cars will want a little more brake on the front end to keep from going completely out of control in a turn. Front-wheel drive cars will want a little more brake in the rear for the same reason. All-wheel drive cars can leave the setting at neutral.
d) Ride Height
- You must install a Suspension upgrade to access this tuning slider. "This slider allows you to raise or lower your ride height. Moving the slider to the right will raise the ride height, while moving it to the left will lower the ride height. Generally, a lower ride height improves handling but can also make your car harder to control if the road is not smooth." Lowering your car will help you cornering, but is probably a bad idea considering all the off-road shortcuts and rough patches you hit during the game. You can probably leave this setting alone or move it left one notch. There's really no need to raise your ride's height.
e) Aerodynamics
- You must install a Body Kit or Spoiler upgrade to access this tuning slider. "This slider allows you to increase or decrease the overall down force on your car. Increasing the down force will help your car stick to the road but will affect your top speed. If you like your car looser and more likely to slide, try decreasing the down force." Putting a spoiler on your car and increasing the down force will definitely help you stay in control when cornering. Considering how many races require good handling over high speed, the hit to your car's top speed won't be that big a deal. For tollbooth trials and drag races, you can decrease the Down force and pick up a little bit of speed on the high end.
f) Nitrous
- You must install a Nitrous upgrade to access this tuning slider. "Adjust the slider towards the left for a longer but less powerful N2O boost. Adjust it towards the right for a more powerful boost but with less Duration." In most situations, you want to use quick boosts of nitrous to help you straighten out of a slide or get into the next gear. Set your nitrous slider a point or two right to get more grip when coming out of Power slides. For drag races, adjust it two or three points left to get longer bursts down the home stretch.
g) Turbo/Supercharger
- You must install a Turbo or Supercharger upgrade to access this tuning slider. "This slider lets you adjust the characteristics of your induction system. Move the slider to the right to shift your torque boost into a higher RPM range. You'll sacrifice boost in the lower RPM ranges but will gain more torque at the top end. This is useful for high speed tracks. Move the slider to the left to spread the torque boost across a larger range of RPM's. This is useful for tighter tracks where you need boost while accelerating out of corners." Move this slider right for tollbooth trials and drag races. Move it left for most other events, including police pursuit.
