Race Cars

Where to find it

Main tab → Quick Settings → Race Cars checkbox. In multiplayer the toggle is hidden under Show Advanced Settings and marked experimental.

Race Mode Light — how Race Cars look in normal traffic

A Race Car spawns into traffic in Race Mode Light. It is still part of the civilian fleet, but it behaves distinctly enough that a sharp-eyed player can pick it out from a cruise. In this state a Race Car:

• Drives slightly faster than the surrounding traffic.
• Changes lanes on its own to work its way forward through the fleet — not just when tailgated or flashed.
• Occasionally plays rev patterns, briefly flaring the engine to announce itself.
• Flashes its high-beams at the player when the player is close.
• Honks twice, shortly, at the player when the player is near.
• Produces exhaust effects — smoke, sparks, flame puffs — from the tailpipe.

None of these behaviours is a race by itself. They are the car advertising that it is a Race Car and inviting you to engage. If you ignore the invitation the car eventually moves on and you keep cruising.

How to trigger a full race

Drive close to a Race Car and press the horn three times. That is the signal to switch the car from Race Mode Light into the full Race Mode. From that moment the car changes how it drives:

• It pushes toward its per-car top speed — a predefined maximum set individually for each car type, not a global cap.
• It continues to use autonomous lane changes to pass civilian traffic, and now it uses them to stay near and ahead of you.
• It still watches other traffic and will dodge slower cars, brake if the road ahead is completely blocked, and re-attack when the line clears.

The race has no finish line and no end condition. You can stay in race mode with the racer for as long as you like — until you pull away far enough that it gives up, until another event takes priority, or until you simply stop.

From one racer to a Racing Train

The most interesting thing about Race Cars is what happens during a running race. Additional Race Cars keep spawning into traffic like normal, and they start in Race Mode Light. When a racer already in full Race Mode drives past one of those new Light racers, the Light racer is promoted to full Race Mode automatically. It joins the ongoing race.

In practice this means you only need to trigger the first racer. As the race keeps going, more Race Cars naturally get caught up in it whenever the current pack sweeps past them. Over time a one-on-one duel grows into a moving pack of multiple racers flowing with you — a Racing Train that the world produces on its own without any further input from you.

Races coexist with police chases

Race mode does not block any other traffic features. Police chases can start during an ongoing race — exactly the way they would start during any normal drive, via speeding, revving next to a police car, damaging traffic in view, or phone call. Once the chase is active, you are being raced and chased at the same time: the racers keep competing with you while the police try to stop you.

How the pool of potential racers is built

Race Cars are not a separate list. Any car in your active car list that fits a sporty profile is eligible to spawn as a Race Car. The curation happens through the Car List Editor:

• A utility-only list (trucks, vans) will produce very few Race Cars.
• A JDM or tuner-heavy list produces visible racers often.
• Chance values in the Car List Editor shape who actually shows up. Push sport coupes higher and expect more duels.

There is no dedicated slider for “more Race Cars”. Raising Traffic Density raises both normal cars and Race Cars in lockstep.

Automatic traffic thinning during a race

When a Race Car locks onto you and the two of you are close, the tool reduces the active traffic cap to roughly half of the road’s physical capacity. The reasoning is identical to chases: a duel at speed only works if the rest of the road gives you both room. Civilian traffic is not removed, it is just not replenished as aggressively, so the effect is a gradual thinning rather than a sudden purge.

When the race ends — you pull away far enough, or the racer simply falls out of the engagement zone — the cap is restored. You do not need to do anything.

Interaction with other features

• Car List Editor. Curate the list to shape what kind of racers you meet.
• Police Chases. Run in parallel — you can be raced and chased simultaneously.
• Deformation Physics. Strongly recommended — racers crash at high speed and the drama needs crumple to land.
• Traffic Density. Higher density produces more Race Cars in absolute terms. Low density may mean you go minutes without meeting one.
• Ambient Audio / Traffic Sound. Rev patterns, engine flares and honks all come through the Traffic Sound layer.

Troubleshooting

No one ever races me

Check your active car list — it may have no sporty models enabled. Also make sure Race Cars is on in Quick Settings.

I pressed the horn three times and nothing happened

You have to be close enough to the Race Car for it to count, and press the horn three distinct times in quick succession. Short taps work better than a single long press.

The race never ends

That is by design. Full Race Mode has no finish. To end it, pull away far enough that the racer disengages.

More and more racers keep joining

That is the Racing Train. Every Race Car the current pack passes gets promoted into the race. Normal traffic density eventually tapers the effect on its own.

Race Cars toggle is missing in multiplayer

Enable Show Advanced Settings. The feature is experimental online and therefore tucked away.