Hotshot Tales, Part 18: The King of the Hotshots

Hotshot Tales, Part 18: The King of the Hotshots

Having already explained the worst car in Hotshot Racing and how you can win a race with it even on the most challenging tracks, I'll now show you the best car the game has to offer. And after two and a half years of experience, I have found the answer: Marcus's Speed-class car, the Carbon, is by far the best car in the game. But the stat sheet only tells part of the story on why this car is overpowered.

Above: The Carbon may be the fastest car in the game (over 220 mph without boosting, and 260 mph when doing so), but stats alone don't tell the whole story.

When I first tried out this car, it wasn't just its speed that shocked me; it was its surprisingly controllable handling (contradicting its low drift stat) that propelled it to the top of my list. Specifically, its body roll in corners is minimal, which gives it a stable feel while drifting. This ensures you'll be less reliant on the Brake Tap Drift technique (which I'd described in the previous post in this series) than you usually would; thus yielding higher cornering speeds; sometimes, you won't even need to brake at all while drifting, allowing you to use just the steering inputs to stay in control. Best of all, you won't even need to downshift at all when entering tight corners.

To prove a point, I tried entering the Carbon in the same type of event (7 laps at Surf City on Expert) that tripped me up so many times in the Eagle. Unsurprisingly, I didn't just win on my first attempt, I did so handily.

Above, from top: Thanks to the Carbon's unparalleled speed and surprisingly good handling, I was able to win this 7-lap race at Surf City on Expert on my first attempt (and by over 12 seconds, to boot!), whereas my first win at the same track over the same distance in the same class using Mike's Eagle was much closer, with a margin of victory measured in tenths of a second at most.

In fact, my extensive testing with the Carbon has confirmed that it is undoubtedly the best car to use on any track across all modes and speed classes. Unsurprisingly, anyone who chooses Marcus in local or online multiplayer is best served with one of these, although there are a few cars that come close to matching its overall effectiveness. Finally, I have found its speed to be a boon in Drive or Explode, where it is necessary to remain above a steadily increasing speed threshold just to avoid elimination, while its handling helps it avoid barrels more easily in Barrel Barrage.

In short, the Carbon isn't just the fastest car in the game, it's also the best one overall, period. It should be your first choice in high-level play (unless an opponent already chose Marcus in a multiplayer match), and if the game had an Ultimate Grand Prix spanning all 20 tracks, it would be the best car for anyone to use in such a long, grueling championship.