National Rail
The section that begins this track is a relatively easy one, if you can avoid the traffic. Take the curves down the middle at high speed, then ease off the gas a bit for the sharp right turn. The long straightaway here is a great place to use your nitrous oxide on the last lap if you're off the lead.
The dirt section here isn't quite as terrible as it is on some of the other tracks, since the walls will do a good job of keeping you oriented if you lose control. Of course, it's always best to overestimate your braking needs when heading into the dirt, so take it slow and ease your way through until you hit the pavement again. Entering the dirt at around 110 MPH, depending on your handling, should give you optimal control over the dirt and let you exit at around 125 MPH.
The highway ahead is a different highway section than the one in the Stadium course. You can either play this safe and take the right-hand lane, or go for broke and veer into the oncoming traffic. The left lane will put you in a better position for the upcoming tunnel, which has a nasty s-curve in it that will result in more than a few breathtakingly close encounters with doom, especially if you try to head through it at full speed. The best line is to head into the tunnel in the oncoming traffic lane, tap the brakes just before the turn, pass into the right-hand lane before the pillar in the middle of the curve, and take the proper traffic lane to the end of the tunnel and out onto the finish line. If you have to enter the tunnel in the right-hand lane, you'll need to hit the brakes a bit harder before you reach the curve. The shortcut just beyond the starting line that the computer players will usually take is to be avoided. The AI can sometimes maneuver through the barrels and water to gain a second, but the time advantage doesn't outweigh the relative difficulty of the path when you compare it to the simple and speedy road above.
Reverse:
You begin this race by heading through the tunnel here; the first lap will be easy enough, with the low speeds, but subsequent laps will be a bit more difficult. An optimal path, disregarding traffic, would be to enter it in the oncoming traffic lane, swing over to the right lane during the curve, then swing back out to the oncoming lanes to avoid a spin-out that's possible when you attempt to stick to the right-hand lane here. Luckily, having the tunnel at the beginning of the race lets you take the highway segment in the right-hand lane.
The dirt section here is incredibly dangerous and easy to misread. Although the turn into the dirt looks simple, the outside wall juts into your path after you reach the new surface, and if you're heading into the turn above 100 MPH, you'll usually be powerless to avoid ramming into it. Take the turn slow and steady, and save your speed for the long straightaway ahead.
The left turn at the end of the straightaway can be taken without braking if you ease off the gas and cut across the oncoming lanes to make it. As with the normal National Rail track, avoid the shortcut and jet down the road towards the finish line. Be careful not to approach the final turn too quickly, as there isn't a wall to veer you back on course if you don't turn in time; you'll pass through an invisible barrier and be reset on the track at zero speed, which will usually let someone blast past you for the win.
Market Street
The first turn here is easily taken at high speed, if you approach it from the outside and lay off the gas as you head through. Avoid the trolley that will be heading down the subsequent road, and try to make it through the shortcut on the left side of the road. If you're the first one through the cut, you may get rattled by the gates, but you should be able to regain your footing before you hit the country road that's at the heart of Market Street.
This little backroad is the narrowest section in NFS: Underground, and is the most difficult to get through without ramming into a wall or two. The shortcut here is usually not worth taking; it's far too easy to ram into the divider that leads into it, and even if you hit it cleanly, you'll usually wind up grinding the wall as you pass through. The normal road features a lengthy right turn which can be taken, depending on your car and your mods, either at full speed or with taps on the accelerator; braking shouldn't be necessary unless you had a real head of steam coming in. There's a small chicane before the exit from this section, so lay off the gas and swerve to and fro to avoid contacting the walls. If you've done all this correctly, you'll need to brake as you exit the section, so let off your excess speed and make the hard left.
There's another shortcut that cuts across the next turn, but it saves you little time due to the way you have to brake almost to a complete stop before you can turn in. It's better just to approach the turn, braking as necessary, and not worry about the Style Points. The last complex turn of the level consists of a shortcut on the left-hand side of the road that lets you take the next turn without needing to brake. This is arguably the best path to take, since although it would seem to extend the length of track you need to traverse, you'll be able to keep your top speed through the turn and up into the center of Chinatown. Alternatively, you can turn right before the shortcut and cut through the barrels before the corner for an alternate shortcut, but this will often result in a wall-slam, especially if you misjudge your exit speed.
After Chinatown, you'll hit the familiar bridge. There's one final turn here, which you can either take on the outside or attempt to cut by heading through the gas station. The gas station isn't a true shortcut in the Style Points sense of the word, and is something of a blind turn from this angle, so it's usually best just to lay off the gas and take the safer turn before slamming your pedal down and making your way to the finish line.
Reverse:
The first gas station shortcut is easily accessible here, so use it to shave a half-second off your time before hitting the bridge. The descent through Chinatown is rife with side-streets, so watch your contact with other cars; if you veer off into one of the side alleys, you'll have to reset at zero speed. If this happens, take the left-hand shortcut through the barrels; otherwise, stick to the right path and round the corner at top speed.
After the next corner, you'll be faced with the turn into the back road. The turn here is at an angle that's a bit more than ninety degrees, so don't be afraid to brake hard to avoid grinding against the wall. The shortcut through this section is as avoidable as it was on the forward version of the track; even if you avoid the walls, you'll still be forced to proceed at a slower pace than you would on the main track. Either way, you may want to brake on the turn just before the shortcut that exits the road. You'll need to have complete control of your car through the shortcut if you want to avoid slamming into the walls. After you hit the main drag here, you'll need to navigate through one final turn before the finish line.
