Shift2 Unleashed>> Announcing The Speedhunters Pack

If you look back on the history of Need for Speed games oVER recent years, we have always made a point to become early adoptors of new forms of racing. Drifting for example, was included in Need for Speed Underground as early as 2003, well before this new scene had developed the international following it enjoys today.

The first Need for Speed game that I worked on personally, was the 2006 Need for Speed Carbon release. While I didn't have much to do with the overall vision for the game, it was interesting to note the inclusion of touge racing and drifting as a major part of the gameplay.

So at the beginning of the SHIFT2 UNLEASHED project a few of the producers asked me, 'what's new in the world of racing?'

'Is there a new style of automotive competition that should be included in the game?'

I searched my brain for the answer, scanning the many thousands of Speedhunters stories for a new type of racing that would translate into a cool new game mode.

The answer was pretty easy in the end: Standing Mile.

Mind you this is Standing Mile like you've never seen it before. It's part of a new Downloadable package for SHIFT2 UNLEASHED that we've chosen to call the Speedhunters Pack.

When designing Standing Mile for S2U, we had to rejig the competition style to be suitable for online racing. So instead of one lane, you get eight cars running in parallel, each competing for the fastest trap speed.

SMS has also gone to great lengths to include a whole new category of customization parts, allowing for the monster power figures needed to propel your speed demon to 250mph and beyond on three different one mile courses.

Traction control and automatic transmission has been disabled for Standing Mile and you really have to work to launch the car cleanly.

Choosing where to open up the throttle is part of the fun…. go to early and you will lose the car to wheel spin and will likely end up facing the wrong direction.

Trying to control 1400 bhp is a pretty wild ride!

Here's a shot of me taking the Twins Turbo Viper up past 250 mph at the new Miyatomi Standing Mile location.

The whole point of Standing Mile is to really focus on tuning and car building. Playing with your tire pressures, gear ratios and wing settings may give you that 1mph advantage over your rivals that you're looking for.

It's these small margins which will make the difference between winning and losing, all in a very quick, rinse and repeat, racing package. We hope you enjoy.

Now if SMS was going to go to the trouble to create a Standing Mile mode for SHIFT2 UNLEASHED then it also stands to reason that some straight up Drag Racing should also be on order too.

We know a lot of you guys wanted to see some 1320 action for S2U. With the release of the Speedhunters downloadable pack you can now try your hand on the 1/4 Mile.

Like Standing Mile, we've gone for 8 lane racing.

Which should lead to some fantastic multiplayer sessions no doubt!

We've also included an exact replica of Chris Rado's front wheel drive drag Scion tC.

A cockpit shot for you to check out.

I also need to thank Mike Garrett for shooting the reference photos of the Scion for the SMS car modellers.

The Speedhunters pack also includes twelve custom designed cars by the Speedhunters crew.

Most notable is this special designed Hakosuka Skyline GT-R.

We've made sure to put the widest rims possible on the car, complete with stretched tires and slammed stance.

The same treatment has also been given to this 240ZG.

Except we've chosen to go with a set of TE37Vs.

Both cars feature transplanted RB26s under the bonnet…

..and a complete set of stickers from Speedhunters, Fatlace, Touge Automotive and Precision Drift.

The cockpit also features a modern Momo steering wheel.

We've also designed a few more street cars that come with the package.

This FC is tuned up nicely for drifting…

…Whereas this V10 swapped, twin turbo Supra has been specifically set up for Standing Mile. We hope you like the omitted rear wing :)

This Skyline R32 GT-R is been specifically set up for drag racing too.

It's still a street car of sorts…

…but has a custom engine and drivetrain specific for the 1/4 mile.

The last street style car in the package is this Viper V10 powered Dodge Challenger.

We've gone for a bit of a vintage Tran Am feel with this pony car. We hope you like it!

We've also included a package of custom designed preset race cars too.

This is the Works Speedhunters Pagani Huayra.

It's our fantasy of what a Huayra race car could look like.

The Speedhunters version of the Mclaren MP4-12C.

I'm just loving the look of this Speedhunters race livery.

You'll likely find this Evo 9 an absolute joy to drive.

The AWD drivetrain allows for some semblance of predictability to the car's handling.

We've chosen to go with fairly high horsepower ratings for all the cars included in the package.

So they are all a bit insane to handle!

The Speedhunters LF-A comes complete with twin turbos strapped to its V10 power plant.

Yes!

We also thought that a special V8 swapped Mercedes 190E would get your attention.

The V8 power is a bit silly to be honest.

And it's a real challenge to get consistent laps out of the car… but it's pretty fun to peddle none-the-less.

I'm a crazy fan of the real world Mercedes SLS race car and had to include our own version in the Speedhunters package.

More information about the release can be found HERE.

Thanks all,

:Rod

ADVERTISEMENT

Comments



Comments are closed.

91 comments

by Oldest
by Best by Newest by Oldest
1

SICK!



Question: am I missing something or did NFS leave out tandem drifting in the game?

2

it looks great this game, its a shame its a bad game to drive on, its a big shame

3

wow.. well needed.

4

you need Matt Powers car's.

5

Twins Turbo Viper in a drift mode = FUCK YEAH

6

Since EA didn't reply me...why no DLC's for PC?

Why ppl who bought the game to PC can't play this fuckin cool DLC's?

I dont like consoles, i only play PC and u guys (EA) exclude us gamers of playing this?!?!?!?!

I really dont understand this kind of "racism"......but keep that way....no more EA games for me....

7

Did they let you put the Rotary engine in the AE86 for your self instead of having the NFS AE86. The Corrola is Drag Race all the time with them in them. And they are HELLA loud and annoying. Raaa!a!A!!!aaaaa Ra Ra Raaaaa!a!aaaa. *making rotary sounds with mouth *

8

Standing mile?! YOL!!! (Yawn Out Loud!) Cool- now old guys with too much money have a game... Better get started on a yachting sim you early adopter you. Let me guess, you were an early adopter of the hipster look too? Yeah, that's what they all say... "I was cool in 2003!" Well your not now.

9

Can we get a DLC that corrects the input lag please? In a driving game you shouldn't be able to change driver's view or make a "turn," take a sip of your drink then watch or inputs occur. I think this game has excellent potential and WOULD really be looking forward to DLC like this. But come on, lets patch the problems first. Make the game the great racing game it should be, fix the lag issue, THEN focus on DLC that I'd be more than willing to spend my money on.

10

Looks awesome! Its good to see Somebody paying attention to what's going on in the automotive world as well as implementing suggestions and other input from car enthusiast themselves. I do have to agree with a few earlier post in the fact that a few things are missing. Matt powers car is a must #1. Second, tandem would be nice but i do realize thats alot of time and work to get that set up the right way. The only other thing that i feel would be nice is the addition of more graphic categories in the vinyls. Give us a more options to create looks that will separate our cars from everyone else.

12

Can't wait! Hopefully PSN is working by then!

13

If Rado's Car is the only drag car in this pack that was one of the worst choices i could think of.

14

Looks cool, too bad the game is complete and utter rubbish.

15

Rod!

Fix the handling before releasing another DLC pack, did you take nothing from the last thread!!??

16

As much as I am a HUGE fan of the Gran Turismo series (car physics is second to none on console), one thing NFS has over it is a much cooler car selection. Firstly, they have the ability to change wheels on all cars which is a massive plus (That 240zg looks fantastic, and I noted the stretched rubber look on the FC Rx7).



And the KPGC10 looks utterly fantastic in stance and roll cage!



18

I might be excited about this if the game's ridiculous input delays had been fixed before release.



Or even after release, once my money's already gone,



Yeah, that sure would be nice.

19

This is nice and all, but when will the issue with steering lag in the game be addressed? I have the game, and think it's a beautiful game at that. But every time I play it, the steering just frustrates me. For shame indeed.

20

Aside from the pretty screenshots and tempting modified cars, this is just another way to grab money from customers. It's just a bunch of new features that could have been included from the beggining, and on the top of that, PC players are forgotten. Not to mention that this game feels weird.



What happened to the good Electronic Arts that made great games until "The Fast And The Furious" franchise came out? EVERYTHING after Underground hasn't been a true Need For Speed. Simplicity rules.

21

Love the GT-R and standing miles discipline.



The DLC is great but the problem is it won't come for PC user.

22

So the people who dont buy the speedhunter's pack would not get the new category of customization? BULL!!!!

23

please don't leave us pc racers out in the dry!

24

No PC version... again...

25

Where is Matt Powers V8 S14

26

Love the game too fake of drifting for me to like I did make a drift car in the race mode that was sick and felt a lot better. Might pick up the game to own when the price drops.

27

x2 for Matt Powers LS7 S14. I don't know how you won't be able to cross brands though. Just call it an L57 "special" V8 motor, and just use the same sounds as the Camaro SS or C6.R. I mean it's pretty vague with the engine descriptions anyway as far as upgrades. Loses the "geekness" of it. Would like to be able to delete certain bits of the car with the packages, like how you deleted the wing on the Supra.

28

Thats 2 updates I need to get once PSN comes online again now. Looks good tho Rod.

29

Pitty Shift 2 sucks :(

30

This pack looks cool and all, my only real request is that with the 240Z you get the choice between the standard and G noses on the car. I have an S30 and I personally hate the G nose, but can't get my car in a game without it.

31

Sadly us PC guys get left out again. I really want this DLC too

32

standing mile isnt new? ive played the almost identical thing in other games, im sure you guys dont bother playing other racing games, first you claim autolog is new and unique, then you claim standing mile is fresh and new..on top of that you insist the handling is realistic! ha!

bring back street racing and touge runs, THAT was good shit.

33

Hakosuka is amazing, can't wait for PSN to work so i can download the packs :)



But i agree, this game is a handful to drive with a controller.

34

WHEN I SAW THE MERC 190E I STARTED THINKING THIS WAS A GOOD GAME.. BTW, YOU SHOULD INCLUDE THE STOCK EVO 2 AND KLAUS LUDWIG VERSION..

35

Still waiting for the DLC to become available to PC gamers before I buy it.



Oh, and could you guys please put a Evo VI TME in the game soon? I know its a bit old, but its still a fantastic car^^

36

nice, lots of good stuff. dog the originality of the Works outfit.

37

Even though I would have preferred a wide bodied E30 with a V10 but none the less V8 190E FTMFW!!!

38

the next pack u guys should do is am ALMS gt car and have ALMS races in it with all of the old and new GT cars. just make sure they are DRIVEABLE

39

You know, i really hope you guys are working on the twitchy steering and lag issues, this game has the potential to be the funnest racing game in a LONG time, i just cant understand why the steering is SO horrible to the point the cars are undrivable! god, please, take a look at GT5's Steering "Feel" and try your hardest to come up with something similar! THANK YOU! (don't get me wrong i love the car selection and the game itself is fantastic, but i havn't played it since launch because of the steering!)

40

If only us PC players could play these cars. :( it was a mistake on Shift 1, its a mistake again.

41

The Steering Lag bug has now been patched yes.

42

The Steering Lag bug has now been patched yes.

43

This game has one of the worst car physics model i ever seen, it is sad because car list and car mods choice are excelent.

44

I'm guessing spoilers don't make a difference on this game because I had a laugh seeing the unrealistic scene where you got the Twins Turbo Viper to 250mph in the standing mile while it has that huge ridiculous spoiler on it. That spoiler would drop that things back end down and lift the front just enough to send the car airborn and kill you before you'd ever reach 230mph... let alone past 250mph. I also think that somebody should wait and see what Bob Griffiths Viper can do in the standing mile at 1,400hp (without the spoiler) in real life before claiming that it can reach 250mph in less then a mile. Example: Richard Holts Underground Racing Superleggera only did 250.1mph at 1,500whp while being a lighter vehicle thats more capable of traction. Just sayin...



Eitherway, cheers for the V8 190E thing and the standing mile. Oh and I halfway expected to see Rusty as an extra for some crazy reason.. would've been funny to see, huh?

45

Team Need For Speed got in their and missed one of their favorite/best drivers. . . Matt Powers V8 240

46

Awesome Work.



Are these screen shots PS3 or XBOX shots? Very smooth compared to the pictures I've taken in photomode on PS3.

47

we should be able to drift online just saying lol

also more of a vinyl variety

and idk if you would change this but it bugs me that the body kits are in packages. for example i want the oem lip kit for the tc without the pedestal spoiler

48

WOW... that was quick! Hell, I'm still waiting for GT5 DLC.

49

To all the folk who don't like the game / have a pathological hatred of EA, fine, we heard you the 1st, 2nd & 3rd time! Give it a reast now and go play something else. You could install the patches to minimise the lag, do some real work on your car setups and give it another shot, but it's up to you. Your clogging up the airwaves with your constant bitching though.



I've been playing proper sims since the days of Sportscar GT, GPL, LFS, etc. and I absolutely LOVE this game. It has it's faults, sure, but it's captured so much of the atmosphere surrounding a race meeting where games like Forza and GT seem to have gone out of their way to sterilise it all. I also actually like the physics: The cars do pretty much exactly what I ask them to do, they feel weighty and connected, and I'm suitably punished when I make a mistake or mistime a move on someone. I literally forgoe sleep to play it!



I also didn't make much of the buzz surrounding this DLC pack, but having seen this post it looks like it might be worth it for the Hakosuka alone!



Some constructive criticism though: The livery editor needs a comprehensive update/overhaul. It'd be worth it for EA though, as it's exactly this type of feature that will keep a game alive for a long time if done correctly. Ideally it'd be good to have some of livery importer/exporter that would allow potential artists to paint cars in something like Photoshop and then imprt them into the game. That and a blank set of the GT1/2/E cars to play with. Not sure if that's even possible though...?



In closing, excellent work, with a little further tweaking to it you could have something that will live for years.

50

YO HIT ME UP EVERYBODY LETS DRIFT! I RACE ALSO ADD ME!!!! XBOX LIVE BABY! THE ONLY WAY TO GO. Best Racing game Ever by Far If you don't Have OWN IT YOUR CHEATING YOURSELF GO GET IT AND HIT THE ONLINE. COME HOLLA!

51

...no PC version? - no money!...

52

sometimes i feel like slapping EA really hard... :( it fells racist lol.. like they are against PC users?!

53

Too bad the game is a lot worse than it looks. I sold it two days after buying it. The physics just can't compare to GT5.. at least not for us gaming wheel owners. I did everything I could to try to calibrate my wheel. But selling it and returning to GT5 turned out to be the least problematic way of resolving this issue.

54

I'm so mad with all of you @ NFS...why I have to spend 50+€ in your game and then I can't get the DLC's???...dammit I gave you money, and I want to give you more, just make me do that!!!

To all the guys who can't play the game cause of the steering etc....there's a PC patch that fixes all up, and runs fantastic...

I love this game so much, but the console exclusive DLC's are such a shame...

55

Gamers are WHACK, but that game looks like i would play it.

56

Hey RobbyLotusV8, its a VIDEO GAME!!! Are are you the Mr. Wizard of racing physics of something? Get over yourself man.

Anyway, I think it's pretty great you guys keep adding packs like this to keep things interesting. I'm loving the Z! Too bad Sony can't get their s*** together so I can download this stuff.

MiguelAE86 has a point there. Well said!

57

Speedhunters race livery is siiick!

58

When will we have access to Matt Powers' car? Or Aasbo's Scion? How about Rado's FWD Scion?

59

PC players are counting on you guys ; )

60

Amazing! I don't know what it is but the Speedhunters works livery scheme flows so well with all of the cars!

61

Again they forgot us PC players.



Aniway, why don't you put a Fiat Punto Abarth or the brazillian T-Jet? Or the two.

Beacuse they look and sounds great. You should search for some VERY different cars.



Believe in me, Brazil have a lot of fantastic cars. (I'm canadian).

62

WHY NO TANDEM DRIFTING????

63

was it just me or can you not actually lower the ride height visually in this game, tryed it witha few cars and nothing happen

64

"we've chosen to go with a set of TE37Vs."



looks to me like a set of standard 5 lug te37s :/

65

hell yeah, a wingless supra, oh my god cannot wait to download this! :D

66

I admire your cheek for ever coming on here and posting about this SHAM of a game again themost disapointing game ive ever placed in my xbox its physics are devastatingly bad particularly drifting outrun springs to mind

67

The game looks superb, I bought the 360 version, but PLEASE FIX THE HANDLING...LOOK AT SIMS like FORZA/GT3 etc, the handling in this game is not good at all, and it's impossible to drift :(

68

A DLC that introduces new features? Try fixing the problems the game already has! The physics when racing are simply apaulling! I have managed to make it slightly better with tuning and control settings but still far too light and twitchy. The other problem I have with it is the vinyl editor. The controls are far far too sensitive to create any livery accurately. The animal prints and camo are far too low resolution and when you increase the size, to recreate a Matt Powers style livery, the edges become so blurry they're barely recognizable. I personally love to create liveries and make the cars in my "garage" look wild but I've become so annoyed with the interface that most of them have no vinyls at all!

Being a huge fan of driving games (GT and Forza included) and having played NFS games since Underground on PS2 I have to say this is the first one that has let the brand down. Go and play GT5, Forza 3, NFS Underground etc. then come back and play this and tell me it's worth the £40 I paid for it! Huge disappointment!

69

Yes, it is a video game, TreyFiveOhJoe where thousands of man hours were obviousely wasted while trying to make this game as realistic as physically possible. Hey since this is a game and all.. while they're at it, why don't they make Bill Griffiths Viper fly? Since you don't think that games should follow any realistic guidelines in physics after all.

70

Nice pack, but as said before: PLEASE FIX INPUT LAG AND STUPID PHYSICS IN DRIFTMODE. Well I guess in drag mode you don't have to steer... so no problems on the input lag! ohh wait... no DLC for pc? sorry to be hating like this, but just fix the problems first.

71

goddam u guys can bitch....awesome VIDEO GAME graphics are pritty good too but the cars are amazing and just for the looks and noise id pay the little amount of money to get the packs, sick of reading these comments on this website and soooooo many sad americans just giving it the big one!

Keep up the good work guys ;)

72

can we add difrent kits on the cars?

73

Still waiting for a fix for the control issues... Until then, you get no more of my money.

74

WHERE'S THE PC RELEASE OF THIS DLC?!



I mean: seriously - I bought the PC version of the game, and now you release a DLC which was cut away from the game (yes, we did notice the videos from Speedhunters pack on our DVDs, as so we did noticed all the DLC cars) ONLY for consoles?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? We, the PC players don't want to be second grade customers - our dollars/euro/pounds/whatever weight as much as console players cash do, and we are ready to give it away to you EA and SMS, but nooo.... you in some weird way figured out that it's better to screw us and keep silent.

75

I have the PC version...which I paid the SAME PRICE for as the console versions.



Why do us PC users get left out? This is ridiculous.

76

illuminatti

77

Because PC SUCKS!!



That is all....

78

I'm canadian and after made a travel to Brazil, I discovered that they had and have some good cars.

There is a list:

Chevy Opala SS

Ford Maverick GT (V8 302)

Dodge Charger (yes. they had the Charger)

Willys Interlagos

Fiat Punto T-Jet

Lobini H1

VW SP2



I think you should take a look on some of these cars.

79

Is it possible to take off the fatlace stickers? I don't want anything to do with that.

80

Thanks for making me happy with a awesome looking DLC :) I would love to see a Ford Sierra /Cosworth in the game though :D

81

you know what my biggest problem with the game is? the fact if you touch any part of another opposing car or if they hit you, you either cannot turn for your life or you automatically do a 180 no matter how small the touch is. its rediculous and almost makes it unplayable

82

Ok ok, I give up I'm buying it.

Very nice work.

83

ummm Standing Mile is cool...but that's basically drag racing anyway. and 8-lane drag racing is feat in itself no doubt. but HELLO...you guys just talked about how you introduced drifting way before its time. Well what about GYMKAHANA! Geez that sport is where drifting was in 2003 right now! But you'd rather put in the standing mile? You guys had a jacked-up version of that in ProStreet anyway, so what would putting the actual version in your best game yet do? Nothing, quite frankly. Other than that, the special cars are awesome and I totally dig the fact that you guys are incorporating a much broader scope of cars into the game.

84

AND WHERE IS THE PC VERSION!?!?!?!?!?!

85

RobbyLotusV8: "Hey since this is a game and all.. while they're at it, why don't they make Bill Griffiths Viper fly? Since you don't think that games should follow any realistic guidelines in physics after all."

I would f***ing love that actually. Sounds cool as hell.

86

@X-kOrPiOn - Racing games in particular end up with modders doing so much extra content that it doesn't become worth it for the developers to even bother... case in point, the original Shift got mods for F1 of all things!



Otherwise though, psyched for this! Downloading asap :D

87

Rod - YOU LIED TO US.

You told us the physics were fantastic. That isn't the case, you misled your audience. The game is buggy and there is no way this hold up against Forza. Why did you call this the ultimate sim. Have you ever looked at iRacer?

.

I lost respect for you on this.

.

I'm frustrated because I bought this based on your recommendation and convinced a couple of friends to pre-order.....and it gets better, I'm on PC, so I don't get any of this content.

.

The cars do look stunning, fantastic, just wish the rest of the game was up to that standard. Car list shows Forza and GT how to do it. I still cant get over the physics given SMS' previous games as Blimey.

.

As noted in the comments, Standing Mile isn't new. I thought you knew about car culture. Gymkhana is fairly new and US style Rallycross.

.

one last thing, is it Speedhunters or SpeedHunters?

88
DimitrisTzavaras

hi,i can't put gear.please tell me how i put gear in drag!thanks!
 

89
AsconaBTzavaras

Hi,i cant put gear in drag racing.please tell me how i can put gear in drag racing!thanks

90

insert
 

91

The Speedhunters livery that is on the Huayra and other cars looks AWESOME!

OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS