A vital aspect of the game that you will definitely need to utilize to get around most of the tracks in the game.

Holding a drift direction

While drifting, you can hold a direction of the drift for a longer amount of time before it will start fighting back.

Begin a drift and then tap the other direction you're facing repeatedly. Make sure not to tap too quickly as it may not hold as long as desired. If done correctly, your drift should hold it's direction for a much longer time.

What this can also do is charge drift boosts before approaching corners if utilized well, and if the road is wide enough to allow it.

Drift Boost times, info, etc

While drifting, you will charge drift boosts depending on how long you drift in a direction for. If you perform a drift chain, any boost that is charging will have their time reset. For example, if you chain a drift on a level 2 charge, the timer is reset back to the time needed for a level 2 charge.

The times to charge various drift boost levels are as follows:

Level 1: 1.8 Seconds
Level 2: 4.4 Seconds
Level 3: 7 Seconds

So, if you chain a drift on a level 1 charge, the timer is reset back to 1.8 seconds and charges as normal. This is universal to all possible forms in the game.

You will start charging another boost 0.5 seconds after you released your drift boost.

You can chain a drift after 0.175 seconds, any lower and you can't chain a drift. This is important if you intend to chain various drifts quickly in succession.

Drift Rolling

While drifting, you can perform a roll to gain more distance while in the air. When you approach a small jump or high jump that is high enough to perform a drift roll or more, begin a drift and tilt the stunt stick in the other direction you are facing in the drift. You will roll in the air and increase the distance you travelled in the process too.

Not only will this provide a stunt boost, but this also will let you charge drift boosts while this is happening. This is also possible to do with boat forms as well.

Drift Rolling follows the exact same timing for performing stunts normally, please see the stunts section to find out the timings.

Drift Stunt Fail Roll

This technique is similar to Drift Rolling, except instead of performing a successful Stunt Roll, you will want to intentionally fail the stunt on purpose.

This technique plays a big role in achieving low times in Time Attack and taking advantage of the track, which will be covered later on in this guide.

To perform this, prepare to perform a Drift Roll and then tap another direction as you roll. If you got it right, you will see sparks and smoke appear from your machines exhausts and you will not receive a stunt boost. The second direction you tap doesn't matter overall, it can be any direction you'd like, as long as you tap it quick enough to make it fail.

It is also possible to combine two or more rolls and then fail the next drift, below is an example of the inputs of double roll or triple roll to stunt fail:

Right > Right/Right
Right > Right > Right/Down

With practice, this will become easy to pull off consistently. Knowing where to use this is crucial to driving fast.

Stunts are useful for gaining boosts in the air, although they have a much more bigger use when it comes to the advanced techniques.

Unique Triples

While stunting in the air, getting three directions in a row will gain you a level 3 boost. However, you can combine three different directions to gain a level 4 boost. This is known as an Unique Triple, and can be performed by inputting these examples below:

Up > Down > Right
Down > Up > Left

And so on.

You can stunt in one direction more than once and can still achieve an Unique Triple. The game will recognise it as long as you input three different directions in the air overall, for example:

Left > Left > Left > Up > Right
Up > Up > Up > Down > Up > Up > Left
Down > Down > Up > Right > Right

Stunt Times

Car: 0.6 Seconds
Boat: 0.6 Seconds
Plane: 0.85 Seconds

To successfully combine stunts, you'll need to stunt later than 0.55 seconds. If you stunt any faster than that, you'll get a stunt fail. This is universal to all forms in the game regardless of how slow the stunt animation is.

Angle Rolling

A key technique in increasing the distance travelled in the air without drifting. The difficulty of this technique varies on the handling stat of your character. This is most useful for boat forms, although cars can use this too to an extent.

While in the air of a jump, tilt your boat to a slight angle, make sure you're not facing too much to the left or the right as this will be more useless than useful. Once you have set up the angle, start rolling in the other direction while maintaining the angle you have.

If performed correctly, you will cover more distance in the air without having to drift. This is useful for the starting jump of Temple Trouble for example.

Used to transform your machine into various forms to suit the track ahead of you. There are some useful techniques you can with plane rings however.

Stunt Boost Buffer

It is possible to buffer a plane stunt into a stunt boost upon transforming. First approach the transform ring and then perform a stunt in any direction you wish, as long as the stunt animation is playing as you touch the ring. Once you transform, a level 1 stunt boost should be stored and can be followed up with a stunt sequence of your own.

Gaining Height from Transform Rings

There are two ways to dramatically gain height after transforming from a Transform Ring.

The first option is to approach the Transform Ring, and then tilt the plane upwards. As you are about to touch the ring, perform a upward stunt. Your height will get carried over to the next section of the track. Some tracks can benefit a lot from this technique. If you are under boost influence, that can make this option more viable.

The second option is similar to the first, except you will want to perform a downward stunt instead. This is useful for more tighter jumps with the ground being much closer to you than usual, as the stunt will make you rise up in height upon transforming.

When you do one of these, you are also buffering a level 1 stunt boost too.

Perhaps the most important factor of going fast in this game along with stunting.

Acceleration Stat Influence

Depending on your acceleration stat, the amount of time it can take to reach maximum boost speed can vary. This also affects the boost level as well. For example:

A 1 acceleration mod with a level 5 boost can take a second or two to reach the maximum speed. The speed increase can be very shaky and can be random if the speed increases faster.

A 2 and higher acceleration mod will have almost no problem accelerating to maximum speed.

Boost Speed Drops

If you boost with a lower level boost after a higher level boost, your speed will drop down to the boosts capped speed.

Cars and Planes vary with how fast you drop in speed. Planes will lose speed in a gradual and consistent speed, while cars lose speed instantaneously.

Boosting with Boats

Boats are a rather interesting case when it comes to boosting. Unlike cars and planes, boats boost are more momentum and deacceleration based.

If you boost at level 6 for example, navigate around a corner and then release a level 1 boost, the speed that was left over after boosting or during the level 6 will be kept with the level 1 boost.

There is a possible chance that you might lose all the speed doing this. The cause of this is not yet known, but known tracks that can cause this to happen are as follows:

• Seasonal Shrines
  
• Chilly Castle
  
• Carrier Zone

Boost Stacking and when to use Boosts

The following info was provided by xEponaSWAG420x. Thanks!

“Most of you guys probably know about the different levels of boosts, if you don't, make sure to check out <eVa>Zork Nemesis's guide on Time Trials and Yokozuna sticker, it's really informative for the basics.

This next paragraph with go in-depth about the boosts properties and details and how to stack them to go faster, whether you're playing Matchmaking or Time Attack, here's how it goes:

-All the levels of boosts have an initial effect of 2.5 seconds where you can see the flame behind your vehicle.

-The higher level of boost, the slower your vehicle will decelerate back to it's original speed.

-Boosts do not "stack" per se, they multiply your speed by a certain value for their whole duration. The multiplier values are:

Level 6 - 1.32
Level 5 - 1.26
Level 4 - 1.2
Level 3 - 1.14
Level 2 - 1.09
Level 1 - 1.03

-Boost pads and Dream Valley rings give Level 1 boosts.

-Boost items gives a Level 4 boost.

-When using several boosts at the same time your deceleration will correspond to the level of boost you used last.

What does all this means about how you should manage your boosts? :

1) You should always release the most powerful boost you have LAST. The optimal way would be starting them at exactly the same time but this is not humanly possible, so go with what you see and release your boosts as close together as you can.

Example:

You have a level 3 drift and there is a boost pad(Level 1).

If you release your level 3 boost then hit the boost pad, you will get a level 4 (orange flames).

But if you hit the boost pad first, then release your level 3 drift, you will also get a level 4 (orange flames) except you will go fast for a much much longer time than the previous situation, because you will get a level 3 deceleration instead of a level 1 deceleration.

Example 2:

You have just released a level 3+ boost, there is no more flames behind your vehicle.
In front of you there is a ramp where you can do a level 1 stunt from.

Not stunting there is faster than stunting.

Simply because the deceleration you're getting from that level 3+ that finished is REALLY slow and by stunting, you cancel it back to a level 1 deceleration, so people that did not stunt, will catch up to you.

There are many situations like that where stacking boosts without a set order or priority will not make you go as fast as you can.

And if you're not going fast... you're not playing a Sonic game.”

Downhill/Uphill vs Boosts

If you're in a certain part of a track that includes boost pads on a downhill section. Try to avoid them if you can.

When you're boosting, your speed will be set to a specific cap and won't go any higher until you hit another boost pad or get a drift boost.

Avoiding the boost pads allows your machine to speed up down the hill, which is vital for scoring some low times or getting ahead in matchmaking.

You can use Drift Rolls to roll in the air onto a downhill section of a track, this is useful for charging drift boosts while speeding up downhill.

If you're facing an uphill road, you should use your boost to prevent slowing down. You can however delay the boost if you're under boost deacceleration, you can judge when to boost by keeping an eye on the “Speed lines” that appear on the edge of the screen.

Risk Boost Reservation

It is possible to reserve a risk boost and save it for the next time you reach the plane section. To do this, you will first need to earn a risk boost. Once you have done so, you will need to keep it held by continuously flipping or rolling until you reach the Transform Ring. You must make sure that you don't stunt fail the jump while transforming.

Once you approach the plane section, the risk boost should then be ready the moment you finish transforming. You can flip or roll against the floor if need be, just as long as you don't crash into any walls.

Every racer in the game has 5 stats - Speed, Acceleration, Handling, Boost, and All-Star. All of these stats have a value of 1 to 6 and, except All-Star, are based off a distribution of 12 points which directly relate to the efficacy of the racer in that area. Here is a breakdown of the stats and what they do precisely, depending on the mode of your vehicle:

Note, all these values are for Race. Arena follows separate values.

Speed:

This stat multiplies a racer's straight line zero-boost maximum speed by a factor.

For cars:

• Level 1: Speed 0.98005
  
• Level 2: Speed 0.99017
  
• Level 3: Speed 0.99997
  
• Level 4: Speed 1.01040
  
• Level 5: Speed 1.01823
  
• Level 6: Speed 1.02303

For boats:

• Level 1: Speed 0.98486
  
• Level 2: Speed 0.99241
  
• Level 3: Speed 1.00062
  
• Level 4: Speed 1.00897
  
• Level 5: Speed 1.01497
  
• Level 6: Speed 1.01835

For planes:

• Level 1: Speed 0.98605
  
• Level 2: Speed 0.99275
  
• Level 3: Speed 1.00000
  
• Level 4: Speed 1.00752
  
• Level 5: Speed 1.01697
  
• Level 6: Speed 1.02642

Acceleration:

This stat has multipliers that affect a racer's ability -

For cars:
To accelerate to a new top speed (including Boosted speeds) measured by Torque,
To slow down when no acceleration is present measured by Friction,
To accelerate while in mid-air measured by Aerodynamic Acceleration.
To reduce speed from attacks/hazards measured by Slowdown

• Level 1: Torque 1.000, Friction 0.950, Aerodynamic Acceleration 1.4000, Slowdown 0.98005
  
• Level 2: Torque 1.008, Friction 0.952, Aerodynamic Acceleration 1.4368, Slowdown 0.99017
  
• Level 3: Torque 1.064, Friction 0.966, Aerodynamic Acceleration 1.6944, Slowdown 0.99997
  
• Level 4: Torque 1.216, Friction 1.004, Aerodynamic Acceleration 2.3936, Slowdown 1.01040
  
• Level 5: Torque 1.512, Friction 1.078, Aerodynamic Acceleration 3.7552, Slowdown 1.01823
  
• Level 6: Torque 2.000, Friction 1.200, Aerodynamic Acceleration 6.0000, Slowdown 1.02303

For boats:
To slow down from sharp changes in speed (commonly from turning) measured by Drag Power,
To reduce speed from attacks/hazards measured by Slowdown.

• Level 1: Drag Power 2.00000, Slowdown 0.75180
  
• Level 2: Drag Power 1.68000, Slowdown 0.84695
  
• Level 3: Drag Power 1.01598, Slowdown 0.90588
  
• Level 4: Drag Power 0.64684, Slowdown 0.93859
  
• Level 5: Drag Power 0.48410, Slowdown 0.97456
  
• Level 6: Drag Power 0.40000, Slowdown 1.05072

For planes:
To accelerate to a new top speed measured by Thrust,
To reduce speed from attacks/hazards measured by Slowdown.

• Level 1: Thrust 0.83000, Slowdown 0.75396
  
• Level 2: Thrust 0.91872, Slowdown 0.83818
  
• Level 3: Thrust 0.99800, Slowdown 0.89927
  
• Level 4: Thrust 1.09379, Slowdown 0.93568
  
• Level 5: Thrust 1.20138, Slowdown 0.98388
  
• Level 6: Thrust 1.25000, Slowdown 1.05072

Handling:

This stat has multipliers that affect a racer's ability -
For cars:
To steer while not drifting measured by SideFriction
To steer sharply in the direction of drift measured by Steer Speed,
To steer while in the air measured by Aftertouch
To fight a drift by turning in the opposite direction to the drift (drift left then hard steer right to maintain course) measured inversely by RestoreSpeed.
Boat/Plane Stats coming soon

• Level 1: SideFriction 1.45000, Aftertouch 1.75000, RestoreSpeed 10.00000, SteerSpeed 8.00000
  
• Level 2: SideFriction 1.51000, Aftertouch 1.81708, RestoreSpeed 5.36400, SteerSpeed 6.43000
  
• Level 3: SideFriction 1.57000, Aftertouch 1.93974, RestoreSpeed 2.55200, SteerSpeed 4.86000
  
• Level 4: SideFriction 1.63000, Aftertouch 2.09857, RestoreSpeed 1.10800, SteerSpeed 3.29000
  
• Level 5: SideFriction 1.69000, Aftertouch 2.28666, RestoreSpeed 0.57600, SteerSpeed 1.72000
  
• Level 6: SideFriction 1.75000, Aftertouch 2.50000, RestoreSpeed 0.40564, SteerSpeed 0.15000

Boost:

This stat multiplies the overall speed you get from Boosting. Not affected by Speed.

For cars:

• Level 1: Boost 0.70000
  
• Level 2: Boost 0.85214
  
• Level 3: Boost 1.00427
  
• Level 4: Boost 1.16821
  
• Level 5: Boost 1.32821
  
• Level 6: Boost 1.50000

For boats:

• Level 1: Boost 0.50200
  
• Level 2: Boost 0.55102
  
• Level 3: Boost 0.62520
  
• Level 4: Boost 0.70567
  
• Level 5: Boost 0.76413
  
• Level 6: Boost 0.81000

For planes:

• Level 1: Boost 0.40000
  
• Level 2: Boost 0.56000
  
• Level 3: Boost 0.72000
  
• Level 4: Boost 0.88000
  
• Level 5: Boost 1.04000
  
• Level 6: Boost 1.20000

All-Star:

All-Stars will give your racer their flying stats with a constant level 4 Boost, which will be increased to 6 with 1 extra stack of boost. The Drift changes to have no fight back regardless of your handling stat, so you can drift in perfectly straight lines while flying. Curiously this persists after the All-Star ends, until you transform. The All-Star stat roughly corresponds to the strength of All-Star ability.
Characters with weaker All-Stars, like Shadow or Knuckles, score low while powerful homing or projectile based All-Stars, like AGES or Tails, score high. Note that some are scored incorrectly in relation to their power: AGES has by far the best All-Star in the game despite only having 4 in the stat.

Size

There's another element of individual racers that is important but not discussed - vehicle size. Very difficult to quantify, having a small vehicle can be of a significant benefit in some areas as compared to larger vehicles because the collision mesh (the 'hitbox') is tied to the size of the racer's model.
The size difference between large racers like AGES and small racers like Amigo is quite substantial and contributes greatly to the overall feel of a vehicle - they'll naturally feel snappier and easier to weave in and out of danger.

Which Stat is the best?

For Race:
Boost >>>> Acceleration >= Handling > Speed (depending on map)

For Time Trial:
Boost >>>>>>> Speed > Handling > Acceleration

Going by the stats, Boost is by far the most influential stat, offering a whopping 114.3% increase in bonus boost speed when comparing Level 1 to Level 6. A good player will be boosting more than 50% of the time easily in a race.
Speed is pathetic in comparison, offering a ~4.2% increase in top speed from Level 1 to Level 6 while in car.
Acceleration is fairly significant, offering twice the amount of overall acceleration power in Car, and allowing you to turn at greater angles without sacrificing much speed while in Boat.
Handling allows for tighter control, making it easier to dodge obstacles such as Swarms in a pinch, and other racers too.

Due to the power of Boost, any character with 6 in Boost is one of the best characters in the game.

Diving

When in plane mode tiping the nose down and putting the plane in dive mode is a very easy way to get very fast acceleration. This is useful mostly when hit on maps like carrier zone or on lap 3 of rogue's landing; If you have room to dive while drifting to regain the speed, doing so will get you back up to your maximum speed faster.

This also applies in dragon canyon's 3rd lap. The area before the transform ring back to car it is faster to take the upper route and dive downwards before the ring then taking the lower route.

Hangtime Speed Boosts

Your boost speed can differ depending how long you've been in the air. As you descend from a jump your speed will start increasing until you land. Using the angled stunt rolls in the air you can increase the hangtime and gain better boost speeds.

Wall Taps

While it is true that you'll want to avoid crashing during a race, there are some exceptions.

Some corners can allow you to grind along it and get a rather slight boost from the wall. This works best on corners that are more concave shaped. Depending on the corner, the position boost can vary.