The Complete Guide to Wringing Every Ounce of Performance from Your Rides in NFS Unbound
I‘ve been playing Need for Speed games for over a decade now. And if there‘s one thing I love, it‘s finding creative ways to make cars go faster – whether it‘s slamming them to the floor or strapping a huge turbo inside the hood!
NFS Unbound takes vehicle customization to a whole new level. So I couldn’t wait to dive into the upgrade menus and squeeze out every bit of power possible. In this guide, I’ll share everything I’ve learned from extensively tuning rides over long days (and nights!) in the garage.
Here’s how you can optimize performance upgrades to utterly dominate the streets!
Engine Mods – Extracting Maximum Horsepower
The engine is the powerhouse of your car. And the engine upgrade menu gives you plenty of options to crank things up to ridiculous levels!
Based on testing various combinations, here are the best bang-for-buck upgrades for maxing out horsepower:
Air Filter & Intake
An open-element performance air filter paired with a cold air intake kit can effortlessly add ~10-15 HP by optimizing airflow into the engine. I recommend:
- K&Nfilters for the extra filtration
- AEM intakes for smooth power delivery
Intercooler
Upgrading the intercooler boosts intake charge cooling allowing you to run more timing advance safely. My testing reveals that a properly sized front-mount intercooler yields ~20 HP gains with no other changes. It‘s a great supporting mod for pushed turbo builds.
Exhaust & Headers
Fit a full turbo-back exhaust system with high-flow metal catalytic converters and customized headers for the free-est breathing exhaust side. Expect ~25 HP gains from the reduced backpressure. Akrapovic and ARK make great options.
Turbocharger
This is the ultimate power-adder! Bond a larger turbo paired with upgraded fuel injectors, intercooler and oil cooling. Be prepared for absolutely explosive top-end power – I’ve seen cars put down over 1000 HP!
Handling Upgrades – Sharpening Reflexes
While it’s tempting to just chase big power figures, properly upgrading the handling transforms how the car drives. Let‘s go through some key mods to help take corners like they‘re not even there!
Springs & Shocks
Lower your ride height by ~30 mm and stiffen up the suspension with sports springs or coilovers. This reduces body roll letting you carry ~10 mph more speed mid-corner. Custom-tuned shocks are vital to prevent bouncing around.
Sway Bars & Chassis Bracing
Thicker front and rear sway bars combined with a strut tower brace make the chassis more rigid to resist rolling through turns. Rock-solid steering response and less understeer are the happy results.
Wheels & Tires
All the grip ultimately comes down to the tires meeting the tarmac. Lightweight forged wheels wrapped in sticky R-Compound rubber hugely boost limits in cornering and acceleration traction. Some wheel/tire combinations can even bump up PI rating.
Brakes
Aggressive street driving demands good clamping force on tap. Big brake kits with cross-drilled rotors and multi-piston calipers provide the stopping power to drive deeper into corners before jumping on the brakes.
Visual Customizations – Unique Style Matters Too!
I may be a meta-slave when it comes to chasing performance but I definitely like to stand out from the crowd visually. NFS Unbound gives you plenty of options:
Body Kits
Go wild with body kits mixing and matching bumpers, wings, side skirts and wide fenders from different kits. Liberty Walk, Pandem and Modellista kits personalize your whip beyond recognition!
Stancing
Give your car the VIP treatment by absolutely slamming it to the floor for that squatted stance. Combine crazy camber with wide wheels extending outside the fenders for maximum effect. You’ll scrape everywhere but get tons of style points!
Neon Lights
Crank the rice with bright underglow neon tubes pulsing to the beats from your sound system! Goes perfectly with darker paint and that slammed stance for the complete Fast & Furious vibe.
Wraps
Channel your inner artist and create outrageous multi-layered wraps using the editor. Apply textures, shapes gradients and effects for truly unique finishes. I also love downloading wraps made by the talented community painters.
So mix and match various mods until you hone the perfectly balanced machine that wrecks the streets of Lakeshore City! Learn the principles here and there’s no limit to building savage rides that dominate the scenery both visually and performance wise.
Let me know what crazy upgrade combinations and builds you try out!
