NFSU2 drag racing: when to shift

What the mode actually asks you to do

The NFS wiki's drag page and the Wikipedia mode note agree: a drag race is point to point, the game steers, and you shift by hand while moving between lanes. I am not adding a clutch step the pages do not describe.

How to read the shift lamp

The wiki names four colors. White means the shift was short. Blue means good. Green means perfect. Red means over-rev. Over-rev raises engine temperature. At the top of that gauge the engine fails and the race is forfeited.

Courses have at least four lanes. Traffic, barriers and construction can wreck the car. Keeping the revs under the redline is also how the wiki says the engine cools.

I am not publishing one RPM number for every car. The same page treats shift points as car-specific, and a second source does not give a universal table.

Where the strips are

Named places on that page include Bayview Bridge, Tunnel Construction, Train Yard and Airport Runway. Named courses include Airport Freeway, Central Station, Coastal Express, North Freeway, Runway 9, Runway 15, South Runway and Switching Yard. That list is one source.