- target (3 laps)
- 2:25.00
- per lap
- 48.3 s
- record
- 1:16.88
- lap length
- 478 m
- width
- 19 m
- corners
- 8
The map as the game's menu draws it, seen from above like the in-game camera. The dot is the start line.
Overview
Spiral has 8 corners, 6 right-hand and 2 left-hand, turning through 720° in total on a 478 m lap. The tightest corner has a 13 m radius. At 19 m wide it is mid-width: space for a slide, not for a wide one.
To beat the target you need an average of 48.3 s a lap. Corners swap direction, so the transitions between them decide the lap.
Corner by corner
| # | Corner | Turns | Angle | Radius | How to take it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R28 | right | 90° | 28 m | Fast sweeper. Enter with speed and a small angle; too much angle here only costs time. |
| 2 | R20 | right | 90° | 20 m | Medium. Tap in before the apex and hold a moderate angle with the throttle. |
| 3 | R13 | right | 90° | 13 m | Tight. Short handbrake tap, big steering angle, patience on the throttle. |
| 4 | Out 1 | left | 90° | 13 m | Tight. Short handbrake tap, big steering angle, patience on the throttle. |
| 5 | Out 2 | left | 90° | 18 m | Medium. Tap in before the apex and hold a moderate angle with the throttle. |
| 6 | Home | right | 90° | 24 m | Fast sweeper. Enter with speed and a small angle; too much angle here only costs time. |
| 7 | right | 90° | 24 m | Fast sweeper. Enter with speed and a small angle; too much angle here only costs time. | |
| 8 | right | 90° | 24 m | Fast sweeper. Enter with speed and a small angle; too much angle here only costs time. |
What hairpins, chicanes and sweepers are and the line through each: corner types and how to drift them.
The decreasing-radius spiral
A decreasing-radius corner is a bend that gets tighter as you go. Spiral is built around one, split into three right-handers: 28 m, then 20 m, then 13 m, each turning you through 90°. Together they wind you 270° to the right, and the straights between them shrink too, from 30 m to 12 m. Then the track unwinds the other way: a 13 m left only 12 m after the tightest right, and an 18 m left after it. The hint says it plainly: "Radii shrink corner by corner. Manage your speed."
Why it catches you out. You arrive from the longest straight on the lap (92 m), so you are at your fastest going into the widest corner. 28 m feels easy at that speed, and the habit is to carry it. But with the same grip, the speed a bend allows grows only with the square root of its radius: the 20 m right takes about 85% of the speed of the 28 m one, and the 13 m right about 68%. Every corner asks for less than the one before, and the gaps to slow down in get shorter.
The line: late apex, every time. On a decreasing-radius bend the classic mistake is the early apex. You turn in where the corner starts, clip the inside too soon, and the corner keeps tightening while the car is already running wide. Here, enter each right from the left edge (the outside), turn in later than feels natural and clip the inside in the second half of the arc. That leaves you room when the next, tighter right arrives.
Use the road, not the wall. The road is 19 m wide, so on the 13 m right the inside wall curls round on a radius of only 3.5 m, while the outside wall runs on 22.5 m. Hugging the inside there is a near pivot; a line that starts wide and cuts in late is a much rounder arc. On the 28 m right the gap is smaller in proportion (18.5 m inside, 37.5 m outside), so it is the place to carry speed, and the 13 m right is the place to give it up.
Sacrifice the exit of the tightest right. The 13 m right is followed after 12 m by a 13 m left. If you run out to the left edge on its exit, as on a normal corner, you are on the inside of that left with no room to set it up: the same trap as on Double Hairpin. Let the car run out only to the middle or right of the road, then turn in for the left from there. The second left (18 m) is wider and leads onto the 3-corner run of 24 m rights that brings you home, so get on the throttle early out of it.
How to drift it. Brake in a straight line before each right: hard at the end of the 92 m straight, a dab on the 30 m one, and once more on the 12 m one. Do not hope to slow down mid-slide. The 28 m right is a fast, shallow drift held on the throttle; at that speed the steering lock is small (about 20° at 72 km/h, falling as you go faster), so small, early inputs work better than corrections. The 13 m right is handbrake territory: a tap rotates the car because the rear keeps only about a tenth of its sideways grip with it on. As you come out of it, lift and let the tail swing the other way into the left: one transition, not two separate corners, and the score multiplier keeps climbing.
The theory behind it: corner types: decreasing-radius corners. More on carrying a slide from one bend to the next: how to link drifts.
The record
The current record on Spiral is 1:16.88 by rogerTsss, 68.1 s under the target, with 19 drivers on the board. Think you can beat it? Sign in with X in the game and your fastest run goes up under your @handle.
Tips
- Drive one clean lap first: any wall contact restarts the run, and your ghost only records runs you finish.
- Once you have a personal best, race its ghost and watch the checkpoint splits to find the corner that costs you time.
- Use the width: a wide entry lets you start the slide early and carry more speed through the apex.
- New to the technique? How to drift with a keyboard covers handbrake entry, counter-steer and linking.