Due to the Carson 500 GT's handling, this is one of the most challenging, if not the most challenging of the Burning Routes. The time is rather generous, but the car's handling requires you to drift, and is prone to flat spins, so a good starting run can turn bad quickly. On the plus side, the 500 GT has decent strength for minor same direction or even oncoming collisions, and boosts and turns quickly - if driven properly.
Strategy[]
The first part of the route goes from the start point to Lawrence Tunnel. There are two possible paths to the tunnel - the fast one shown on the map, which requires more drifting, and an easier one that is slightly slower:
- Starting at the intersection of Evans Boulevard and 3rd Street follow 3rd towards the large Paradise City sign up on the side of the hills. Use the shortcut right onto Lambert Parkway, and then drift left into the right side of Lawrence Tunnel just before the Ocean View sign. This intersection has a lot of traffic in all different directions, so be aware.
- From the starting point at Evans Boulevard and 3rd Street, take an immediate right onto Evans Boulevard (preferably into the oncoming lane), go through the next two lights (5th Street and Young Ave). As soon as drivers cross the light at Young Ave, the road veers left and becomes Franke Avenue. Take the alleyway shortcut on the left (in front of the building with the figure in the suit and MCS on it), which will put players on 7th Street before Hamilton Avenue, lined up for Lawrence Tunnel. They can either take the sidewalk on the left to avoid traffic, the jump on the right (don't hit the tree on the median), or continue down 7th toward the Lawrence Road.
In order to keep a boost chain going, players will need to take the construction ramp into oncoming traffic. When they see the red lights, the jump is right behind it. Do not drive into the red lights, for it is a wall.
If drivers took the alternate route (or drifted too soon), they can alternately go into the left side of Lawrence Tunnel against oncoming traffic, stay to the right, and take the construction ramp down to the right hand tunnel for additional boost.
When players exit the tunnel, they will be on Ross Drive. Go straight across the next 2 intersections that take you all the way to East Lake Drive, and use the dirt path near the end of Ross Drive (after Nelson Way - look for the green barrels) to save time. Drift right onto E. Lake Drive, and go through the first intersection at W. Crawford Drive. Not shown on the route map, but immediately after drivers go through the intersection, they will see a lodge and some cars parked on the left before a Crash TV billboard. Veer left past the cars and onto the path by the Marina, which will exit lined up with Cannon Pass and Frankie's Camp Ground just ahead. If players miss this turn, they should continue down East Lake Drive and drive down the dirt path about half way down the road cutting through the Waterfall Diner car park at the corner to make the right onto Cannon Pass. Go into Frankie's Camp Ground and take a left, where you will jump back onto Cannon. Watch out at the end of Cannon as it is a sharp left onto Nelson Way.
Instead of making the sharp turn onto Nelson, drivers should take the exit wide, and use the jump over the broken wooden bridge. If there's a car in same way traffic when making this turn, there is almost no way to avoid it. One final jump is needed to make the turn onto Uphill Drive easier, which can be seen right before a Billboard on the bottom of the Drive. There is one short dirt path on Uphill, which can save additional time. The finish is at the top of Uphill's winding mountain road.
- Estimate Time of Arrival (no crashes): 1:50
Alternate Routes[]
Alternatively, drivers can take a left onto Evans Boulevard from the start of the Burning Route, then a right onto Harber Street, and ultimately to the South Bay Expressway and drive on the edge of Paradise City until they reach the Wind Farm. This route has less traffic and less sharp turns, thus the chances of crashing are minimal. There are two possible shortcuts to make the Harber Street/South Bay transition easier:
- Stay on Evans until it dead-ends into Harber, then veer right and take the shortcut and jump onto Manners Avenue and then any of the next three left turns onto S. Bay, or
- Cut to the right just before you get to Harber, and go though the walkway in front of the Film Reel Building. Go through the Fish Restaurant, staying to the right, and then as you diagonally cross Manners, you will see a shortcut ahead that leads you onto the Expressway.
Note that there are two filling stations on this route, as well as several dirt path/shortcuts (including the pipeline) after passing Lone Stallion Ranch.
- Estimate Time of Arrival (no crashes): 2:05
If neither of these paths are working, then try this next route. Instead of turning onto Lawrence, go onto Newton Drive, then take a left at the next intersection. Get on the train tracks and coast down the railroad until you reach Uphill Drive where there will be a dirt path on your right that you can exits onto the Drive. Finally, travel up the road to finish line. This route has even less traffic, but requires the most drifting of the three suggested paths.
- Estimate Time of Arrival (no crashes): 2:10
Video[]
