Gameplay

I can hold a tune

Tuning is kept to a minimum in Leadfoot - you can play quite well on the stock settings. However, if you're the kind of micromanaging maniac who loves to mix it up, you can choose to tune your ride to your specs. Toe-in, camber, overall wheel diameter, tire pressure and damper adjustments are just some of the things you can worry about if you want. Mess up, and your car's handling gets pooched. Fine-tune it like the dirt dog you are (well, wanna be), and you'll shave a second or two off your lap times.

Oh wow I'm that far behind already!

Spin around the track

Compared to some sims, there aren't that many areas to tune, but the adjustments are 'real world' and do make sense. Some negative camber can help in turns, and if you're ever on a track that has only left turns, or only right turns, you can really use camber to your advantage by tilting your tires all in the same direction.

Powerslide

d'oh

Even seemingly unrelated changes have an effect. Increase wheel size and tire pressure to the maximum (resulting in huge tires), and you'll effectively lower your overall drive ratio - acceleration will be hurt but top speed in a gear is increased. Do the opposite, and you get to accelerate quickly but your top speed is hampered. Definitely a nice touch.

d'oh again!

Let off the throttle, stop climbing the wall, fool

How do we play?

At least in the Quick Race games, there is a fair bit of adjustment available. Enemy AI has settings from 0 (Molasses in Sibera) to 100 (I Love the Cocaine), in increments of 1 point at a time. You can have anywhere from 1 to 15 fellow racers on the track, with up to 99 laps available. Damage can be realistic, arcade, or totally disabled. You can also click an option to track tire wear, if that level of realism pleases you.

With enough tuning, you can race anything from a quick, 3 lap all-out romp around the block to a 90 lap endurance race where surviving is more important than holding the lead the first 40 laps. Even with Arcade damage settings, it is very possible to get your car black flagged (disqualified) because of damage.