Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown: New Players’ Guide

1. Firstly, have a look around!
Explore your surroundings and start to bank up some XP and cash for simply driving around. You will get an XP bonus for every % of road you discover on Hong Kong island, the XP you earn will increase by 500 every 5%. Keep an eye out for Radiant prizes too, as these can be anything from Cash, stickers, XP, or Crew XP. You may also discover wreck sites which if you find all of them, can lead to 2 classic cars, you will know you a near a wreck when you start to get a sonar ping and a new UI element guiding you to the wreck site. Listen out for when the beeping gets louder and more frequent.

Radiant Prizes are the square icons with diamonds in them that you may have already seen around the map. This game has heavy incentives on exploration, simply doing races may not always be the most effective way to level up.

2. Upgrades people, upgrades.
Upgrading your car is going to be essential to winning races – make sure you are always keeping your car in top shape by always equipping the best upgrades available to you. Worried about being over-leveled for a race? You need not worry because the game will automatically configure that car for the race and reset it back to it’s original state once the race is over. Note that the car will only scale down, not up. and cars that are above the requirement for the race from their base stats cannot be configured/downgraded to enter these events.

3. Winning isn’t everything!
As you’ll find, the AI in this game can be really challenging and in my opinion its quite a nice change of pace! I’ve played too many racing games where winning is a must and therefor really easy to come by. The payouts for getting 2nd-4th are still really strong and you can also take advantage of the first time race bonuses, difficulty bonuses as well as bonuses for beating any records you may have set prior to the race. I found it is best to try and get ahead of the AI as soon as possible to stop them creating a massive gap. Be prepared for little to no room for error and take some time practicing cornering, as this seems to be where they make up the most time. You can always block your opponent but I don’t take much pride in this.

4. Get those tasks done!
Every 5 levels, you will gain a set of secondary tasks that can be completed optionally for extra cash and XP. The rewards for these tasks also increase every 5 levels so they begin to start paying out big time later in the game but that doesn’t mean ignore them now! These tasks will net you a significant amount of cash, XP, or both and can be a big help reaching for your next milestone.

5. Rinse and repeating races is not effective!
I myself had to learn the hard way that if you repeat a race more than 5 times, the cash and XP rewards begin to decrease. THIS ALSO INCLUDES RESETS/ATTEMPTS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. This resets daily, so make sure you check the race rewards before you start the race to see what your payout will be. This can be done by hovering over the race you’d like to go to and looking at the preview of the race.

6.Have some fun FFS! Not all of us are “Driving Gods”
Unless you are going for the achievement, there is no reason to jump straight to expert level driving assists. I myself like to use manual gears, 100%ABS and 25%TC and I get an extra 20% reward increase for doing so. Don’t feel pressured to take it to the max! The AI can be challenging enough as is, no need to make it easier for them. These settings can be tweaked at any time in the menus or in your race preparation menu.

7.If you just have to be a Driving God, try this
If you really must win every single race because it is the only thing that matters to you you’ll love the AWD cars, they are what is currently being considered as the META.

8. Clan Recruiters will give you BANK!
Clan battles are constantly happening, These can be anything from winning instant challenges, performing FRIM actions, or winning clan races. After a clan war has ended, check in with your recruiter to see if your team won. You can earn big rewards just by checking in!

9. Check the Weather!
TDU:SC offers a dynamic weather system that is constantly changing and always random, keeping the streets fresh and engaging. However, Races will always have a set weather to them. So make sure to check what the weather will be and configure your car accordingly, Semi-Slick tires are worse than your regular tires when it comes to wet weather!

10.Car Setup is important man!
Once you have hit a certain level(Level 10/15??), you will have access to some car setups that modify the handling of the car, These setups can range from Sport, All Road, Dynamic, Wet, and other vehicle specific setups. At level 20, you will be able to create your own setups. It is not complex compared to games like Forza or Grand Turismo however it is still worth experimenting here and finding a setup that suits your driving style. Some setups will also make the car more effective depending on the track you are racing on. Find a style that works for you!

These next few tips aren’t as important, but equally as good to know about!

11. Loopholes for road exploration? They’ve thought about those
This tip is something I thought I’d mention just for those who think they can kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Roads you drive on while doing a race or performing a test drive DO NOT COUNT towards your overall road exploration. You will have to return to these roads in a car you own in free roam in order to discover them.

12. Not sure what car to buy? Solar Crown has some ideas..
Some races will require a specific car, such as the Porsche 911 Carrera, or the Nissan GT-R (R35). These are not required races, and you won’t be missing any extra content by not doing them. However, these can be helpful in deciding which car you should purchase next.

13.Stay Classy!
There are a total of Five car classes that you can obtain in TDUSC. These are as follows. D = Daily Driver, C = Cross Country, G = Grand Tourer, S = Supercars, and H = Hypercars. Whilst I am not a high enough level for the Hyper cars yet. I wanted to share with you some of the cars that have been especially helpful for completing/winning races.

Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR – This has been super useful once I put the short range gearbox and off-road tires on. The only challenge I face using this car is the buggy, but I always seem to catch it going down the straights.

Mini John Cooper Works GP – This is now my go-to daily driver. The front grip this car has is comparable to none. I love doing daily driver races simply to use this car. The biggest competition it faces are either the Audi TT RS, or the SLK55.

Nissan GT-R (R35) – Not to my surprise but this thing is awesome off-road. For any speed traps or any supercar races than happen to have off road sections I would highly recommend this car with a set of off-road tires on it.

14.The French Dilemma
The Achievement “French Horsepower” requires you to drive 50KM (31 Miles) in a Citroen 2CV… As much as James May likes to claim this car is for the people, I cannot think of a single person this car was for. I wanted to share a more effective way of getting this achievement done.
DON’T BOTHER DOING THIS IN EARLY-GAME. This car is seriously slow and can be a massive buzzkill compared to the hot hatches and supercars you were just driving around in. Upgrade it as soon as you can and find a good music playlist or audio book of your choosing and be prepared for a long drive along the highways. Whilst doing this achievement, I managed to complete Mapmaker (50% road discovery) and GPS Coordinator (Find all Fuel Stations, Clan HQ’s, Workshops, and Dealerships) so save these achievements for when you decide to take on the French Horsepower feat.