a. General

Need for Speed Underground demo details, TJ upgrade choices for drag races, and how to get pearlescent paint colors.

Demos: The demo for Need for Speed Underground is available from the official site (www.needforspeed.com) and is approximately 220MB. It allows you to use the Nissan 350Z for one-lap Circuit Races and Drag Races.

TJ's Upgrades for Drag Races: When TJ offers a unique performance upgrade after a challenge, you'll see a selection screen. Focus on parts that increase Acceleration or Top Speed, as Handling is not crucial for drag races in Need for Speed Underground due to simplified lane-changing mechanics. Specifically, choose drivetrain and turbo performance upgrades. Afterward, select either nitrous or weight reduction for handling. Good handling is not required in drag races.

Bonus Car Multipliers: It is not possible to adjust the performance or style point multipliers for bonus cars like Eddie's Skyline, nor can you apply visual upgrades to them.

Blown Engines in Drag Races: To prevent engine blowouts during drag races, you must manually shift gears, even if auto-shifting is selected in the options menu. On PC, use the 'Ins' key to shift up and the 'Del' key to shift down, or alternatively use 'A' and 'Z'. On PS2, use R2 to shift up and L2 to shift down.

Drag Race Records: Achieving times under 18 seconds in drag races is generally not possible without cheating, an excellent car, a perfect run, or assistance from an opponent ramming your rear bumper for a slight speed boost. Online cheating is common, making it difficult to confirm the validity of extremely fast records.

Pearlescent and Metallic Paint: To access pearlescent and metallic paint colors, navigate to the base paint menu and click the left or right symbol next to the gloss paint text.

Unique Vinyls: Samantha's Custom Vinyl No. 5, which features flames, can be acquired by completing Challenge 68. This vinyl is part of a set of nine unique vinyls. For the car's appearance, use a metallic base paint (the sixth color from the left, second row out of three).

Screenshots: To capture screenshots, press the 'Print Screen' key on your keyboard. Then, ALT-TAB or quit to the desktop and open Paint. Select 'Edit' and then 'Paste'. Choose 'Yes' when asked to enlarge the bitmap.

Number of Challenges: There are 112 challenges in Underground Mode, though the indicator typically shows 111. This count does not include the initial race before the first challenge (1/111), leading to an arguable total of 113 races.

Initiation Race: The last race is often displayed as 112/111. The additional race you might encounter is the initiation race before challenge 1/111. Completing this race allows you to choose one of the five starting cars for Underground Mode and begin the first proper challenge (1/111).

Police Presence: Need for Speed Underground does not feature any police pursuing players for speeding.

Best Car for Drift Races: The Miata is the best choice for drift races among the initial five cars. However, it is not ideal for drag races as its engine can blow too easily.

Style Points: Style points can be earned through various actions: Drafting, Hang Time, Powerslide, Clean Section (+50), Clean Lap (+200), Clean Race (+500), Near Miss (+100), Shortcut (+100), Head Start (+100), Lead Lap (+100), Victory (+500), NOS Purge (+150), and 360s (+200). Hitting traffic results in negative points. You can earn 360 style points a maximum of three times per race (200 x 3). Victory and Clean Race points are awarded once per race. Other points are multiplied by the number of successful attempts. Shortcut points are awarded once per unique shortcut used in a race.

NOS Purge Bonus: To perform a NOS Purge and gain 150 style points, fully rev your engine during the countdown and hold it, then tap the NOS button just before the counter reaches 0. Smoke will emit from the sides of your car, indicating a successful purge. This bonus is worth 150 points and is not multiplied, so it can only be done once per race. It requires a light tap of the NOS button and does not consume NOS.