Grand Extreme Racing

Summary

Grand Extreme Racing puts you behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car as you head to the grid against brutally competitive AI drivers (or your friend in PvP mode), as you head to the likes of legendary F1 tracks like Monza and the drifter fan-favorite street circuit, Long Beach.

Racing fans will immediately be impressed with the grip levels, and the graphics punch well above their weight for a browser game, and the AI isn’t scared to race dirty and push you to the limits.

Sparks will soon begin flying as you fight it out in wheel-to-wheel battles, late braking duels into the hairpins, and split-second slipstream overtakes on the back straight.

Alongside the full championship mode, you also get timed challenges, open practice sessions, local two-player split-screen modes, and a handful of Formula racers to upgrade and unlock.

If you’ve ever wanted to chase an F1 world championship from the comfort of your browser without needing to install anything, this is (arguably) the ultimate way to do it!

Grand Extreme Racing features

• Release date – July 6, 2022
• Difficulty – Intermediate
• Levels/environments – 10 tracks
• Number of vehicles – 5
• Vehicle customization/upgrades – Yes
• Multiplayer – Local 2-player split-screen (no online)
• Mobile – Yes
• Developer – RHM Interactive

Physics

As you’d hope from a formula racing game, the physics are super grippy. Each of the vehicles handles like it’s on rails as they cling to the tarmac, utilizing the downforce and giving you the confidence to carry massive speed through fast corners without the rear end stepping out. 

When it comes to the twisties, the weight transfer feels natural, and you’ll need to lift off and utilize the braking zones correctly rather than just mashing the pedals.

As you probably guessed, there’s no drifting here, and that’s the point. You’ll see tiny puffs of burnt rubber on aggressive cornering (especially with NOS), but the priority is clean racing lines.

If you’ve ever played any of the official F1 games on console, the handling will feel familiar. While it’s obviously not sim-rig level, for a keyboard-based browser game, you’ll notice that the cars respond with impressive precision, making it a solid pick if you’re after a quick simulator experience when you’re not at your gaming PC.

Graphics

Grand Extreme Racing looks great, especially on the ‘High’ graphics (found in the Settings menu). The car models are detailed with proper aero elements, and each track location feels like the real thing.

It sits in the upper tier of browser racing games graphically, without being as demanding as the ultimate heavyweights like Drift Hunters MAX or UNBOUNDED, allowing it to run more smoothly on mid-range devices. 

Make sure you check out the cool-looking in-car camera, as it feels super realistic once you get the hang of it, and will help you when it comes to nailing the corners.

There are no crash physics on offer here. Wall contact or rubbing with other drivers will produce sparks and kill your speed, but there’s no lasting damage. If you’re after proper browser-based destruction, Car Crash Test: Abandoned City offers BeamNG-style soft-body damage, and Deadly Descent combines similar epic crash physics with intense downhill racing.

Controls

PC/laptop/Chromebook

• W/Up arrow – Accelerate
• S/Down arrow – Brake/reverse
• A/Left arrow – Steer left
• D/Right arrow – Steer right
• Shift – Nitrous (NOS)
• Space – Emergency brake
• C – Switch camera (Two views)
• R – Reset car

Mobile/tablet (iOS/Android)

• Press the on-screen buttons.

How to play Grand Extreme Racing

Initial setup

You’ll see the main menu when you initially load the game. First, head to ‘Options’ in the bottom right to adjust your settings. You can toggle the music and sound effects on or off, and choose between ‘Low’, ‘Medium’, and ‘High’ graphics. Start on High and drop it down if things aren’t running smoothly. You can also change this in the in-game settings menu.

From the main menu, you’ll see four options: ‘Championship’, ‘Challenge’, ‘Practice’, and ‘Garage’. The first three are game modes (more on those below), while ‘Garage’ is where you’ll manage your cars.

In the garage, you’ll start with two free cars. The black car (Bell Rud – S) has slightly better specs across the board, so it’s the better choice to begin if you’re keen to get winning right away!

Three more cars are available to purchase as you earn money, and we’ll cover the full lineup below. You’ll also spot the ‘Upgrade Engine’ button and a tire selection option, along with a ‘Player 2’ toggle for setting up a second car in the split-screen multiplayer PvP mode.

Getting started

Once you’ve picked a mode and hit ‘Next’ past the garage, you’ll find yourself on the starting grid.

In the top left, the radar shows the position of the drivers and a preview of the upcoming corners. Keep an eye on this to avoid getting caught out by a blind chicane or tight hairpin. Timing splits, and your current position are in the top right, while the bottom right shows the rev gauge, speedometer, gear indicator, and the blue nitrous bar.

Your NOS tank depletes as you use it, but quickly replenishes once empty. Save it for the straights initially, and as you gain confidence, you can start using it in short bursts to blast out of the corners.

When you’re 500 metres from the finish, the game will inform you (and again at 250 metres). These are your cues to go full-attack in a sprint to the finish, so make sure you save some nitrous!

Game modes

Championship

This is the main event where you’ll race a full series of Grand Prix races across the ten track locations, competing against nine AI drivers for the world championship. After each race, points are awarded based on each driver’s finishing position. You get 25 for a win, scaling down from there, just like the real-world FIA system.

Thankful, this means you don’t need to worry about winning every race since consistent podium finishes are often enough to take the title. Each race is three laps, and the payouts are substantial – sometimes over $40,000 for a single race win, plus a massive bonus for clinching the overall championship.

The AI drivers have some amusing tongue-in-cheek names that’ll have F1 fans grinning. They race aggressively, too, and if you mess up, they’ll have absolutely no hesitation about taking the gap!

Challenge

This is a quick-fire time trial (time attack-style) mode where you need to complete a single lap within the time limit. Unlike Championship mode, there are no opponents – it’s just you against the clock.

While the payouts aren’t as large as Championship, since each challenge only takes about a minute, it’s the most efficient way to grind for cash when you’re short on time. You can also play this in two-player split-screen for some brilliant head-to-head battles against your friends.

Practice

Open practice lets you choose your track, set the number of laps (up to nine), and select an AI difficulty from ‘Easy’, ‘Medium’, ‘Hard’, or ‘Ultra’, unlike Championship, where the difficulty level ramps up gradually. There are no payouts in Practice mode – it’s purely for skill development and learning the track layouts.

If you’re looking for something that’ll push your racing game skills even further, Polytrack is arguably the best (and certainly the most popular) racing game at Drifted, where you’ll take on low-poly TrackMania-inspired quick laps across 100 unique tracks along with global leaderboards that make it seriously addictive!

Local two-player PvP

Both Challenge and Practice modes support split-screen two-player PvP mode on the same keyboard. Each player can switch cameras and reset their car independently. There’s no online multiplayer, but sharing a screen with a friend makes for some seriously fun and competitive racing – just don’t get too annoyed if you lose!

If you’d prefer to play against other players online and fancy swapping racing lines for massive sideways tandems, Drift King is the most popular online multiplayer browser drifting game. However, for die-hard 90s JDM car fans, you’ll likely prefer Drift Hunters Pro from the same team, but with a garage rammed full of iconic 90s JDM machines.

Car list

There are five cars in Grand Extreme Racing, each assigned to one of two teams. Two are free, and three require increasingly large sums of cash:

If you’re familiar with the real-world F1 grid, the names might ring a few bells. The free black car (Bell Rud) edges out the red starter (Bkluran) in every stat, making it the go-to pick at the start. As you earn cash, you’ll need to decide whether to upgrade your current car or save for the pricier machines.

If you’re after a game with a bigger car collection, Top Speed Racing 3D offers 19 vehicles alongside several fun game modes.

Track list

There’s a total of ten familiar circuits from across the globe:

• Melbourne, Australia
• Aintree, United Kingdom
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Monza, Italy
• Berlin, Germany
• Baku, Azerbaijan
• Istanbul, Turkey
• Long Beach, United States (this will undoubtedly be familiar to Formula Drift fans!)
• Beaumont, Canada

Alternatively, if you want to take a formula car somewhere completely different, Formula Traffic Racer swaps the circuit for a busy highway where you’ll need to dodge traffic, making for a fun change of scenery once you’ve enjoyed what this game has to offer!

Tuning and upgrades

Upgrade Engine

Despite being called ‘Upgrade Engine’, the upgrade options actually let you upgrade the engine, brakes, handling, and turbo.

‘Engine’ boosts both top speed and acceleration, ‘Brakes’ improve stopping power, ‘Handling’ increases the grip, and ‘Turbo’ improves the acceleration. Each upgrade has four tiers, with the costs increasing at each level. Once you hit ‘MAX’ (Level 4), your vehicle is fully upgraded, and you’ll need to purchase a faster F1 car if you want even better stats.

Engine upgrades are the most expensive, so it might be worth prioritizing the handling and brakes early on. Better grip and shorter braking distances will shave more time off your laps than raw speed while you’re initially learning the tracks (especially with the NOS at your disposal).

The main decision you’ll need to make is whether to max out your free starter car or save for the pricier vehicles further down the line.

Change Tires

The tire selection on offer adds a layer of strategy that’ll feel familiar to any F1 fan. Six compounds are available, and they’re color-coded like the real Pirelli range:

• Red (Super Soft) – free (default)
• Blue (Hard) – $8,100
• White (Medium) – $8,900
• Green (Hyper Soft) – $9,150
• Yellow (Soft) – $9,400
• Orange (Ultra Soft) – $10,300

Softer compounds will provide you with more grip (in the dry) but cost more.

If you’re looking for the most detailed tuning system in your browser, make sure you check out Force Drift Racing: Aussie Burnout, which allows you to carry out the most in-depth tuning and adjustment features of any browser game (right the way down to in-depth suspension geometry tweaks) that rivals dedicated sim racing titles.

Advanced tips and tricks

Use the radar to plan for when you’ll need to hit the brakes

The mini-map in the top left will become your best friend when you head to the more unfamiliar circuits. Although the action is fast-paced, it’s worth glancing at it before cornering to gauge how sharp it is and adjust your throttle lift/braking accordingly. A tight chicane in Baku requires a completely different approach to a sweeping bend in Melbourne.

Be sure to save some nitrous for the final stretch

When the 500-metre marker flashes up, that’s your green light to get ready to unleash everything you’ve got left. Holding onto half a tank of NOS for the final straight can be the difference between securing a podium spot and watching your rival blast past on the line.

Don’t worry about chasing the win on every race

In Championship mode, the points accumulate over the full season. Sure, you might lose out on some earnings, but finishing in second or third consistently is better than crashing into the barriers when you’re fighting it out for the lead. Race smart, keep it clean, and the championship will soon take care of itself.

Resort to the space key (e-brake) in emergencies

The e-brake isn’t in the controls (and let’s be honest, it isn’t the most likely component in an F1 car!), but it works great as a last-resort lock-up if you’ve gone into a corner too hot. Sure, it’ll scrub off some speed, but it beats slamming into the wall and watching the entire field scream past you.

Try to avoid the grass whenever possible

When you’re perfecting your apex-clipping, you’ll soon discover that the grass is super slippery and will affect your momentum. Play it safe and stick to the tarmac until you’re fully confident you can nail it.

Maximize your earnings with challenge mode

If you need cash fast, Challenge mode’s single-lap format is the quickest route. A clean lap takes about a minute and still pays out, making it far more efficient than three-lap championship races when you’re saving for upgrades.

Grand Extreme Racing FAQ