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How to Earn Cash and Compete in the Biggest Racing Event in NFS Unbound

The biggest race in NFS Unbound is called The Grand. Competing isn’t as easy as showing up to the GPS signal on your minimap or radar. You’ll need cash and lots of it. Because aside from the hefty entry fee, you’ll also need cars that can keep up with the other racers. In turn, that means buying better cars and upgrading them too.
NFS Unbound 12 photos
Photo: EA
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In the game, you have a calendar with racing events each day, and you "move time" by completing them. The biggest one is The Grand, which takes place at the end of the month. When all is said and done, the winning ticket gets $1,000,000. Not in real life, I’m afraid. However, getting in isn't that easy.

Aside from the pricey entry ticket, you'll also need cars from four different tiers for four other races in a row. You'll have to race from Sunday to Friday to keep earning money. Then on Saturday, there's a particular race called a Qualifier. It's an "Eliminator" type of race, so if you're out, you lost. You have to win a Qualifier to progress to the following week. If you don't, you restart from Friday. Remember that to enter a Qualifier, you also need cash and a good car to compete.

Aside from the ever-present street cred, of course, what's at stake is a pocket full of money, but also a Legendary Custom car. This special car is a "super tricked-out car with a unique body kit and custom wrap," as EA's blog post mentions.Now, if you do this three times in a row, on the fourth Saturday of the month, you’ll get to compete in a “souped up” Qualifier called The Grand.

NFS Unbound
Photo: EA
Hopefully, by this point, you are already rich, your cars are tuned up to the brim, and your WASD or controller skills are flawless. Though I don’t recommend playing a racing game on a keyboard, get a controller, or better yet, a steering wheel with pedals instead.

All the time you're out there winning races, your Heat gauge fills up. The higher the Heat, the more the "5-0" will come after you. Also, the difficulty of evading them will increase as your Heat gauge goes up. What happens when they inevitably bust you is that you lose cash. Less money, more problems, as they say. (Or was it the other way around?). That’s right, you can easily lose money as well. One way to avoid that is to bank your cash in special Safe Houses.

Setting aside microtransactions theories, there are more than a couple of ways to earn money in the Unbound. “Side hustles” (gotta’ love their slang) are one way of earning. Furthermore, you can engage in delivery missions, scour the city for activities or collectibles, or participate in high-risk, high-reward Night events. Another good way to get bonus cash is to challenge your rivals to a “Side Bet,” where you basically bet on yourself or against someone else specifically.

NFS Unbound
Photo: EA
Remember, while you’re doing this, the cops will often be on your tail. And this gameplay mechanic of “ditching the heat” is similar to the one in the Grand Theft Auto games. According to the official blog post, after you “give them the slip,” you can find a place to park your car, turn off the lights and the engine, and wait for the cops to lose you. It is important to note that there is absolutely no shame in lowering the game’s difficulty if you’re having a tough time with the Heat gameplay mechanics.

If you go from Normal mode to Easy, for example, you will have more retries during events, and the cops will be less likely to spot you. Once you get the hang of things, you can always bump the difficulty right back up.

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About the author: Codrin Spiridon
Codrin Spiridon profile photo

Codrin just loves American classics, from the 1940s and ‘50s, all the way to the muscle cars of the '60s and '70s. In his perfect world, we'll still see Hudsons and Road Runners roaming the streets for years to come (even in EV form, if that's what it takes to keep the aesthetic alive).
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