User blog:WENth100/Asphalt 9: Introducing Class D

Well, it appears that most of the veterans and long-time contributors remained faithful with Asphalt 8 while new players like me chose to migrate to Asphalt 9. Therefore there isn't a lot of coverage with this latest entry of the Asphalt series. I decided to be helpful for once and tell you a bit about what I've learned with this new game.

I started playing two months ago when the game was released early in Canada and got some of my friends on board, since then I have managed to collect all the D class and C class cars in the game. Today I'll simply introduce the class that all of us starts will: D class.

D class in Asphalt 9 is more or less C class in Asphalt 8, featuring entry level sports cars and muscle cars rather than just hot hatches, sports sedans, nerfed cars and non-performance cars. So for a start, we're getting ourselves some very fancy rides. But what's important is to learn which is good and which is skippable.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X
The Asphalt 9 version of the Lancer Evo is like the Dodge Dart GT in A8: it's the first car you get and becomes obsolete very quickly. While it has a decent nitro power and good handling its acceleration is the worst of its class. There's no exclusive season for it and neither does any event requires the exclusive use of this car for additional rewards. However, the Evo does have a great usage: deranking in Multiplayer.

Say you're a well equipped player with plenty of time and you find yourself in Platinum or even Legends League even before half the season has passed. With MP being the main source for reputation in A9, why not loose on purposely to lower yourself to Silver or Bronze and climb all the way back up and earn more Rep by snatching some easy 1st place wins in the process? The Evo is highly suited for this task: not only does it have 6 fuel points but also it takes merely 5 minutes to refill. So you can easily join races, quit them, repeat for 5 more times, watch an ad and continue, and quickly you'll find yourself in low ranking MP Leagues surrounded with newbies with low level cars. Have fun farming rep!

BMW Z4 LCI E89
The Z4 is not a car which I can take seriously, for me the car is more of a "pleasure car" than a serious performance car, and in the game, the states does show, besides more rapid acceleration, the Z4 has no advantage over the Lancer. But needless to say, the Z4 is far from a worthless car. First of all, it has its own season in Chapter 1, also, having 6 fuel points and a 5 min refuel time makes it a useful car when it comes to deranking. It also has a nice convertible roof.

Chevrolet Camaro LT RS V6
A V6 pony car may be something hardcore gearheads scoff at, but the Camaro LT here is one car you should not skip over, in terms of top speed the Camaro is fast for a low end D class car, acceleration is a bit lackluster but still acceptable, handling may feel a bit heavy, but the Camaro's biggest advantage is its strong yet lasting nitro. Overall the Camaro LT is very strong in the speed department, and in arcade games like Asphalt, speed matters the most., especially when you are racing in MP. Currently there are no known MP tunes suitable for the Camaro so just upgrade it as much as you can before you face off the other players. The Camaro LT also comes with the additional advantage includes easily obtainable blueprints (you can earn up to three in the Daily Car Loot TLE).

Nissan 370Z NISMO
The 370Z NISMO is not a car I would pick over the the Camaro LT, while it does sport decent acceleration and handling, the 370Z's top speed is very limited, its nitro efficient but lacks power. Another nitpick I have with the 370Z is that you cannot visually customize it (not that it's a major problem as the car looks nice at stock already). The main use for the 370Z NISMO for me is to compete in the Asia Exclusive Series in Chapter 1 and obtaining BPs for the VW XL Sport in Monday's D class event. For the first Japanese exclusive season the 370Z NISMO is notably a better choice as BPs for it are readily available in Daily Car Loot. But by the time you reach Chapter 4 you'll most likely have unlocked, or come close to unlocking, the GT-R NISMO. And that pretty much made the 370Z obsolete.

Volkswagen XL Sport Concept
The XL Sport is a car I haven't experienced much so what I can tell you is somewhat limited. The XL Sport is the prize car for the Monday D Class event so it has a reliable BP source, its main strength is top speed which is one of the highest in its class, it's quite easy to drive, and its nitro power is also decent (though its efficiency is only average). The major drawback for the XL Sport is its acceleration: the second lowest we have so far in the class. Therefore the car is more suited for tracks composed of long straights like Cairo or the Himalayas. If you already have better cars like the Challenger or the DS E-Tense, then don't bother maxing out the XL. The biggest use for it now is the Chapter 2 series where you can only use the XL Sport.

DS E-Tense
A car that's green both in and out, the DS E-Tense may have the low top speed we see often with electric cars, but it also sports blisteringly quick acceleration, further helped by its powerful yet lasting nitro. It may be overtaken by faster cars like the Camaro LT on long straight tracks but on twisty ones this car might just get an edge. The DE E-Tense was the original car rewarded by the Monday D class event but now it has been replaced by the VW XL Sport and TBH I don't know whether to be glad or annoyed by this.

The DS E-Tense has its own season: Green Machines in Chapter 2 (sure you can use the Terzo Millennio or the Nemesis RR but the former is unavailable and the latter requires multiple rare cars to obtain). It can also be used in the Future Fast season but you'll be better off with the H2 Speed.

Dodge Challenger R/T Hemi Scat Pack
This car isn't called the D class King for nothing, the Scat Pack possesses one of the most important performance elements in arcade racing games: Speed. Top speed wise the Challenger is the fastest in its class, acceleration is also considerably better compared to the other cars in its class, nitro power is above average while its efficiency is subpar. The biggest drawback the Hemi Scat Pack possesses is a trait carried over from its predecessor: handling which is as heavy and cumbersome as ever. This car can be a formidable force in multiplayer (especially on tracks where speed is dependant) and a car that players should really consider investing in.

Porsche 718 Cayman
Much like the Nissan 370Z NISMO, the Porsche 718 Cayman is a car build on handling, with responsive steering and tight drifting radius. It's nitro is also rather weak, with subpar power and average efficiency. But unlike the Nissan, the 718 Cayman favors top speed over acceleration, yet its top speed isn't exactly outstanding which is on par with the Ford Shelby's, its acceleration state is also notably lower than those of its competitors.

The 718 Cayman overall isn't a top choice for a D class car as it lacks traits that helps it stand out. It also requires more expensive and harder to come by Rare Blueprints to build up so upgrading the car will be a rather slow process.

Ford Shelby GT350-R
Somewhat similar to the Lotus Evora Sport 410 in class C, the Shelby is a car designed to rely as little on nitro as possible. It's top speed is only above average but its acceleration is one of the best in its class. And much like its IRL counterpart the GT350-R goes through corners surprisingly well. Nitro wise the Ford Shelby is surprisingly weak in this department, even weaker than that of the 370Z NISMO, it's nitro efficiency is also slightly below average.

Despite these weaknesses, the Ford Shelby GT350-R is one of the best D class cars available and when properly upgraded can propell the player easliy from Bronze to Gold League, or even Platnium, considering that you don't run into too many Ford GTs. It's also necessary to complete the D Class Master season. However, I'll still recommend the Dodge Challenger, and for many reasons. For one, the Shelby, like the 718, is a Rare car, therefore its BPs will be more expensive to purchase; secondly it requires nearly 2 million credits to fully upgrade, that's THREE TIMES as much as the Challenger needs. Thirdly, it requires 4 Epic car specific import parts to max out, and no known sources for these cards are known to exist.

End of List
And that's all there is for the list, feel free let me know in the comments below if I missed anything, share your opinions and experiences with these cars, see ya all next time!