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The 2021 Lunar New Year Update is the 46th update of Asphalt 8: Airborne.

Announcement

Main article: 2021 Lunar New Year Update (Patch Notes)

A brand-new update is charging your way, with a fresh festival and new challenges to enjoy!

THE LUNAR FESTIVAL

Celebrate the Year of the Ox by plowing full-speed ahead in the gorgeous new BXR Bailey Blade GT1 Special Edition! And there's plenty more in store, so be sure to keep an eye out for other exciting prizes and surprises before this party's over.

NEW MODE: SPEED TRIALS

Looking for instant multiplayer action? Then look no further than Speed Trials! You'll jump inside a random race car and go head-to-head with other players. It's the fastest way to try out new cars. No upgrades, no planning, just a pure test of skill!

GET WHAT'S COMING TO YOU!

Race in Speed Trials every day to earn an avalanche of amazing rewards!

New Vehicles

The new cars will need the following cards:

Italdesign DaVinci Kit Italdesign DaVinci Kit – Last checked: Nov 15, 2022
Sale value: Fusion Coins 50
Rarity: Common (Class D)
Vehicle: Italdesign DaVinci (160 to upgrade)
Availability: Festival, Tuning section
Ferrari 599XX Evo Kit Ferrari 599XX Evo Kit – Last checked: Nov 15, 2022
Sale value: Fusion Coins 200
Rarity: Rare (Class B)
Vehicle: Ferrari 599XX Evo (160 to upgrade)
Availability: Festival
Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo Kit Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo Kit – Last checked: Nov 15, 2022
Price: Tokens 500, Sale value: Fusion Coins 200
Rarity: Rare (Class B)
Vehicle: Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo (160 to upgrade)
Availability: Festival, Tuning section
Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta Kit Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta Kit – Last checked: Nov 15, 2022
Price: Tokens 600, Sale value: Fusion Coins 250
Rarity: Epic (Class A)
Vehicle: Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta (160 to upgrade)
Availability: Tuning section, Festival Premium reward
BXR Bailey Blade GT1 Special Edition Kit BXR Bailey Blade GT1 Special Edition Kit – Last checked: Nov 15, 2022
Sale value: Fusion Coins 300
Rarity: Legendary (Class S)
Vehicle: BXR Bailey Blade GT1 Special Edition (160 to upgrade)
Availability: Festival

Game Changes

Gameplay Changes

  • New game mode: Speed Trials
  • Car Packs have been removed.
    • This means that several vehicles are now unobtainable. This includes all motorcycles ranked higher than the Ducati Monster 1200, at C1422. Nine motorcycles were exclusively obtainable from Car Packs before this update. Four motorcycles are still available for sale in the Garage; the Suzuki GSX-R750, Kawasaki Z800, KTM 1290 Super Duke R and the aforementioned Ducati Monster 1200. One additional motorcycle is event-exclusive; the Dodge Tomahawk, and another motorcycle has been permanently removed from the game for non-owners over two years ago; the Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 RR my2017.
    • This means that several decals are now unobtainable. This includes fifty-three decals that are exclusive to the Garage Kingpin Decal Pack (GKDP) (six of them were also obtainable from the Top Contender Decal Pack, which was a cheaper alternative decal pack that provided much fewer decals). Many of these decals were common for other cars but exclusive to the GKDP for certain cars (such as camos and simple stripes), however, there were also many decals that were very rare, thirty-four of them to be exact (so, nineteen exclusive decals were common for other cars).
    • Note: In the splash screen upon loading the game, the periodical tip advising players to purchase exclusive cars from Car Packs has now been replaced by a similar tip advising players to purchase exclusive cars from Offers.
  • Inventory capacity is increased by 100 slots.
  • Vehicle-specific cards for the Nissan Leaf NISMO RC, BMW M4 GTS, Aston Martin Valhalla and Bugatti Divo are now available for Wild Card (Optimal, Superb) conversion.
  • Golden Gauntlet Tickets Golden Gauntlet Tickets rewards from 7-Day Milestone Advertisements have been reduced from Golden Gauntlet Tickets 10 to Golden Gauntlet Tickets 7 in total per week.
Fused Card Fusion
Coins
Vehicle Kit Engine Tech Part
Optimal Fusion Coins 200
Prime Fusion Coins 250
Superb Fusion Coins 300
Common Fusion Coins 500
Uncommon Uncommon Fusion Coins 750
Rare Rare Rare Fusion Coins 1,000
Epic Epic Epic Fusion Coins 1,250
Legendary Legendary Legendary Fusion Coins 1,500
  • Fusing cards of optimal, prime and superb rarity (Wild Cards and Vehicle-Specific Kit Cards) now provides ten times fewer Fusion Coins Fusion Coins. Pro Kit Cards have the same sale value like before. Overview of sale values in the table to the right.
  • Fully Armed pre-2021 Lunar New Year Update a8

    The "Fully Armed" achievement before the 2021 Lunar New Year Update

    Fully Armed 2021 Lunar New Year Update a8

    The "Fully Armed" achievement after the 2021 Lunar New Year Update

    The achievement "Fully Armed", which was a feature of the game since its initial release, was modified upon the launch of the update. Originally, it required players to "fully upgrade all the vehicles". However, the definition of the achievement became unclear when more cars (and motorcycles) were added to the game in successive updates and, especially, when some of the original cars in the game were removed for non-owners due to licensing issues. Due to complaints from players (on the Gameloft Forums and elsewhere) about the nature of this achievement and whether it was achievable for new players, the achievement was changed to require players to "fully upgrade 100 vehicles", applying to any vehicles that the player might own.[1][2]
  • Gauntlet upgrade deals have been removed from the Offers section as of mid-March, 2021. The vehicle deals are still present.
  • Since March 29, there is now a US $10 offer in the Offers section for 30-day boosters (one of each of the 30-day Nitro Starter, Tuning Kit and Extra Tank).
    • This offer has allegedly existed on certain platforms prior to now, though it is new for Windows PC players.

Festivals

List of changes:

  • Kit Cards in Offers: Starting from the Exotic Rides W70's Festival, which began towards the end of the 2020 Christmas Update and ended at the beginning of this update, it is now possible to purchase kit cards for new Festival cars directly from the Offers section (once you own the car) with no purchase limits. This means that players can almost immediately acquire all of the kit cards for new Festival cars without even participating in their Festivals and in their Festival kits/coins cups.
  • Lack of Kit Cards in Standard Rewards: Kit Cards have not been rewarded in the Standard Rewards (aside from compensation rewards) in every Festival after the BXR Bailey Blade GT1 Special Edition Festival. This includes:
  • BXR Bailey Blade GT1 Special Edition Festival: The BXR Bailey Blade GT1 Special Edition's Festival has been marketed as the 2021 Lunar (New Year) Festival. It features the Bailey Blade GT1 SE as the main Festival car, themed with Year of the Ox livery, colours and accessories. Bonus cars featured in the Festival include all of the old Lunar New Year "Special Edition" cars, including the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition, Audi R8 e-tron Special Edition, TVR Sagaris Special Edition and Infiniti Project Black S Special Edition.
    • The SLK 55 AMG SE, R8 e-tron SE and Sagaris SE are all Legacy cars that have MAX+PRO upgrades, making them useful even without any upgrades (aside from the SLK 55 AMG SE). The Project Black S SE, like the Bailey Blade GT1 SE, is a Festival vehicle with good performance at full-PRO but bad performance when partially upgraded. The SLK 55 AMG SE is useless in the present day, due to its poor acceleration, handling, drifting and nitro efficiency, although it was formerly extremely overpowered in the past due to its extremely high speed in the past, which has since been nerfed drastically. The R8 e-tron SE (or "AR8SE") is highly sought after due to its dominance in Multiplayer League at ranks ranging from B1200 to its final rank of B1672, and prior to this Festival, it was not available for purchase outside of sales (the last sale occurred from January 37, 2021). The Sagaris SE is very powerful as a mid-Class A car with a unique rank, though it is not as overpowered as the R8 e-tron SE since it isn't so powerful at lower tunes.
    • The premium pass for this Festival costs US $10, and there is no Tokens Tokens option available. According to Gameloft, this is because several of the cars in this Festival have high prices in Tokens when they are temporarily on sale. None of the cars in this Festival have ever been placed permanently on sale, though the SLK 55 AMG SE and R8 e-tron SE were both formerly Blueprint vehicles.
  • Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta Festival: The Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta's Festival features five cars, including the LaFerrari Aperta itself, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, Ferrari F50, Ferrari FXX K and Ferrari 488 Pista.
    • The SF90 Stradale and FXX K are both older Festival vehicles with good performance at full-PRO but bad performance when partially upgraded. The 488 Pista has always been a decent car ever since it debuted in the game, and now that it has been buffed in late-2020, it is now an overpowered car comparable to well-known Class S kings like the Lamborghini Centenario and Koenigsegg Jesko. The 488 Pista and F50 are both Legacy cars that have MAX+PRO upgrades, making them useful even without any upgrades. The F50 was buffed in this update to have overpowered performance relative to similarly ranked cars within mid-Class C, though it is not the best possible choice at the moment since the Renault Trezor, ED Design Torq and Audi R8 e-tron Special Edition seem to still be superior at the same ranks in Multiplayer League.
    • The F50 is available for free at standard Tier 13 in this Festival, whereas the LaFerrari Aperta itself is only available at premium Tier 8. There is no compensation if the player already owns the F50. The premium pass in this Festival costs either US $15 or Tokens 3,000.
  • Pay-to-Play Festivals: The Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta is the second Festival vehicle to only be available as a premium reward in its own Festival, the first being the Dodge Tomahawk (which was shipped alongside the Morgan Aero GT, which itself was available as a standard reward in the 2020 Halloween Festival). The LaFerrari Aparta is unlocked at premium Tier 8 whereas the Tomahawk was unlocked at premium Tier 1 in its own Festival.
  • Legacy Festivals: The Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta's Festival is the second Festival to feature an old car (i.e. a car that has already debuted during a previous update) within the standard rewards, the first being the 2018 McLaren X2's Festival. The old car that is available as a standard reward in the LaFerrari Aperta's Festival is the Ferrari F50, at standard Tier 13.
    • Some players have jokingly referred to this Festival as the "Ferrari F50 Festival" since the LaFerrari Aperta itself is only available as a premium reward, at premium Tier 8.
  • Fuel costs for Festival TLEs: The Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta's Festival kits/coins cups only require 1 fuel point rather than 4, allowing players to reattempt the cups more frequently.
  • McLaren Festival: The McLaren Festival includes the reappearances of five old "Legacy" cars, all of which were McLaren F1 cars that were previously available via Championships and various other means. All five cars were originally PRO-only (with ten levels), requiring racing engines to be fully-PROed, and they were subsequently converted into Festival cars in the Fifteenth Anniversary Update. The 2018 McLaren X2 was already given its own solo Festival in late-2020, the 2018 McLaren X2 Festival, with various other Festival cars used as bonus vehicles.
    • All cars that are rewarded in the McLaren Festival can only be obtained by purchasing the Premium Pass with real money (there is no Tokens Tokens option available); the cost is US $15. Even then, the Kit Cards provided for the five cars are minimal, with the first four receiving twenty each and the last one (the X2) receiving zero kit cards. If players already own the cars, they are provided with ten kit cards for each car as compensation, so the maximum number obtainable are thirty for each of the first four cars and ten for the last one.
    • The Festival TLEs for the McLaren Festival are exclusively Festival Coins Festival Coins Cups, with no Festival Kits Cups rewarding McLaren Kit Cards available, though there is a Superb Wild Cards Festival Kits Cup at the end of the Festival. This further limits the number of relevant kit cards that can be obtained via the McLaren Festival. Wild Cards are also rewarded in this Festival, though no Fusion Coins Fusion Coins or Tokens are rewarded in the McLaren Festival, as has been the case for the past few Festivals.
    • Remarks: The McLaren Festival has been hailed by many as the worst Festival in Asphalt 8: Airborne's history, thus far. The McLaren Festival is generally useless for the vast majority of players since those who don't already own the five Legacy cars that are rewarded in the McLaren Festival will find it very challenging to overpower the numerous players who do already own these cars in the McLaren Festival TLEs, with many players already owning these cars at full-PRO. The kit cards rewarded in the McLaren Festival and the McLaren Festival TLEs are nowhere near enough to upgrade these cars to a competitive level, though additional kit cards are available for sale in Offers, so the most viable option available (for wealthier players) is to just purchase all of the kit cards directly from Offers with real money. The standard rewards in the McLaren Festival are generally not very useful, albeit not completely useless either, consisting of just parts cards, engines and tech cards of the four highest rarities (i.e. excluding the common-rarity cards), as well as one of each type of Wild Card. The rewards are only mildly worth going after if the player already owns the relevant cars at full-PRO. It is highly recommended that players of all progress levels should not invest very heavily in this Festival.
  • Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo Festival: The Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo Festival features four Legacy cars in addition to the newly-added Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo itself. Among these are the Ferrari LaFerrari, Ferrari Enzo Ferrari, Ferrari F60 America and Ferrari 812 Superfast. This Festival features more Legacy cars with MAX+PRO upgrades than any other Festival to date, with four in total.
    • The F60 America and the 812 Superfast are both relatively recent additions to the game from 2019, with good performance by default. Meanwhile, the LaFerrari and Enzo Ferrari are both relatively early additions to the game, both of which had relatively poor performance until they were buffed on March 5, 2021. This marks the first Festival that has featured more than one recently-buffed car. This Festival also marks the latest reappearance of the unpurchaseable Enzo Ferrari, which was last purchaseable on September 9, 2020, during a temporary sale.
    • This Festival features the most Festival TLEs of any Festival to date, with nine in total. Though, the last one is a Prime Wild Cards Festival Kits Cup, and it isn't relevant to the 488 Challenge Evo itself. The 488 Challenge Evo is available from its Festival both at premium Tier 1 and standard Tier 15, exactly like the Exotic Rides W70 in its own Festival. No compensation is provided if the player already owns the LaFerrari and Enzo Ferrari. It is likely that a compensation of kit cards for the 488 Challenge Evo is provided as compensation at standard Tier 15 if the premium pass has been purchased. The premium pass can be purchased for US $15, and there is no Tokens Tokens option available.
    • Remarks: The 488 Challenge Evo Festival is decent if the player is willing to spend real money on it. Progressing through the 488 Challenge Evo Festival is cheaper and easier than progressing through the preceding McLaren Festival, with a higher payout as well. All of the cars rewarded in the Festival are useful, and every car aside from the 488 Challenge Evo itself has MAX+PRO upgrades, making them useful even without any upgrades.
  • Brand-themed Festivals: The Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta Festival, McLaren Festival and Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo Festival are the first ever purely brand-themed Festivals. The Koenigsegg Agera RS Festival was also mildly brand-themed since it featured the Koenigsegg Jesko as a bonus vehicle, though there were also other non-Koenigsegg bonus vehicles as well.
  • Italdesign DaVinci Festival: The Italdesign DaVinci Festival features four Festival vehicles (including one ULTIMATE motorcycle) in addition to the newly-added Italdesign DaVinci itself. Among these are the Dodge Tomahawk (ULTIMATE motorcycle), Drako GTE, Chevrolet Corvette C7 ZR1 and Lamborghini Sián FKP 37. There are no Legacy cars rewarded in this Festival.
    • This Festival marks the first reappearances of the Tomahawk, Drako GTE, Corvette C7 ZR1 and Sián FKP 37 in an in-game event. The Tomahawk has never been placed on sale in the Garage, though it was placed on sale in the Offers section for US $120 in the past. The Drako GTE, Corvette C7 ZR1 and Sián FKP 37 are all currently purchasable in the Garage. The Sián FKP 37 was recently given away to a single player at full-PRO in the Saint Patrick's Day Facebook Contest, as detailed elsewhere in this article.
    • This Festival requires Festival Coins 2,350 for Tier 25 instead of Festival Coins 1,550. The number of Festival Coins Festival Coins Packs rewarded from Festival TLEs has increased. The number of Festival Coins Festival Coins provided in Festival Offers has increased, in exchange for fewer Fusion Coins Fusion Coins and fewer Credits Credits. The premium pass for this Festival costs US $15, and there is no Tokens Tokens option available.
    • Remarks: This Festival is generally not very worthwhile even if one purchases the premium pass since the Drako GTE and Corvette C7 ZR1 are both major barriers to progressing through the Festival if the player doesn't already own both vehicles with substantial levels of upgrades (having the Sián FKP 37 with substantial upgrades is less important). The only worthwhile reason to participate in this Festival, aside from acquiring Kit Cards for the DaVinci itself, is in order to acquire the Dodge Tomahawk, which is being sold for a rather low price in this Festival (this is the lowest price that the Tomahawk has ever been sold at, as of April 2021). The DaVinci can be acquired for free in this Festival, though the player needs to pay money in order to acquire a sufficient number of Kit Cards for the DaVinci from this Festival and its Festival TLEs.
  • Changes to Festival Offer Payouts: Starting with the Italdesign DaVinci Festival, Festival Offers now provide more Festival Coins Festival Coins, fewer Fusion Coins Fusion Coins and fewer Credits Credits. The purchase prices of the offers have remained the same. Gameloft is now marketing these bundles with the slogan "Buy Fusion Coins... ...and get bonus content as a gift!". The additional VIP Points VIP Points that have always been provided in these offers are now more prominently advertised.
    • First Exponential Offer
      • Before = Festival Coins 25 + Fusion Coins 40,000 + Credits 40,000 (+ VIP Points 200)
      • After = Festival Coins 36 + Fusion Coins 36,000 + Credits 36,000 (+ VIP Points 200)
    • Cheap Daily Offer
      • Before = Festival Coins 12 + Fusion Coins 45,000 (+ VIP Points 100)
      • After = Festival Coins 18 + Fusion Coins 18,000 (+ VIP Points 100)
    • Note: The same advertising scheme is now being used for the Kit Card Offers and some other various limited-time offers. One other such offer is the "Special Currency Bundle" that was on sale in early-March, which advertised Fusion Coins (alongside VIP Points) as the main reward and Credits as a bonus reward.
  • Increased Festival Coin Requirements and Payouts: The Italdesign DaVinci Festival has introduced a new Festival Coins Festival Coins and Festival Quests scheme wherein Festival Coins 2,350 are required to reach Tier 25, an increase of Festival Coins 800 compared to the previous standard amount of Festival Coins 1,550. To somewhat compensate for this, Festival Quests now seem to be more numerous; for example, some days now have multiple Gauntlet-themed quests, whereas there was previously only one Gauntlet-themed quest per day. Additionally, Festival Coins Festival Coins Cups (TLEs) now reward substantially more Festival Coins Festival Coins Packs than they did previously (roughly 100 more). Also, as seen in the above section, Festival Offers now provide additional Festival Coins.

Vehicles

Launch
  • Eight cars had their final ranks reshuffled to approximately D1230, nearby to the Mazda Furai. Two of the cars were originally higher up in Class D, five of the cars were originally in Class C and one of the cars was originally in Class A. All of the cars retained the same stock ranks that they had previously, aside from the Chevrolet Corvette C3, which was converted to ULTIMATE status.
    • BMW M3 Sedan
      • MAX + PRO rank decreased from D1322 to D1228
      • Fully upgraded top speed decreased from 314.2 km/h to 292.0 km/h
      • Fully upgraded nitro speed decreased from 35.4 km/h to 32.5 km/h
      • Fully upgraded acceleration has been improved
      • Drift radius has been adjusted
      • New price: Tokens 400
      • Nitro efficiency changed from 10/15/20 to 5.5/9.5/13
    • BMW M1
      • MAX + PRO rank decreased from C1436 to D1228
      • Fully upgraded top speed decreased from 342.9 km/h to 292.2 km/h
      • Fully upgraded nitro speed decreased from 36.9 km/h to 32.5 km/h
      • Fully upgraded acceleration has been improved
      • Drift radius has been adjusted
      • New price: Credits 25,000
      • Nitro efficiency changed from 10/15/20 to 6/10/13.5
    • Infiniti FX50
      • MAX + PRO rank decreased from C1403 to D1229
      • Fully upgraded top speed decreased from 334.8 km/h to 292.3 km/h
      • Fully upgraded nitro speed decreased from 36.4 km/h to 32.5 km/h
      • Fully upgraded acceleration has been improved
      • Drift radius has been adjusted
      • New price: Credits 25,500
      • Nitro efficiency changed from 6/12/16 to 4.5/8.5/11.5
    • Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG
      • MAX + PRO rank decreased from C1452 to D1229
      • Fully upgraded top speed decreased from 344.8 km/h to 292.3 km/h
      • Fully upgraded nitro speed decreased from 39.4 km/h to 32.5 km/h
      • Fully upgraded acceleration has been improved
      • Drift radius has been adjusted
      • New price: Tokens 500
      • Nitro efficiency changed from 8/13/18 to 5.5/9.5/13
    • Chevrolet Corvette C3
      • MAX + PRO rank decreased from A1753 to D1229
      • Fully upgraded top speed decreased from 418.4 km/h to 300.1 km/h
      • Fully upgraded nitro speed decreased from 46.0 km/h to 24.9 km/h
      • Fully upgraded acceleration has been improved
      • Drift radius has been adjusted
      • Converted to ULTIMATE status
      • New price: Credits 1,000,000
      • Nitro efficiency changed from 6/12/16 to 5.5/9.5/13.5
    • Honda S2000
      • MAX + PRO rank decreased from D1329 to D1230
      • Fully upgraded top speed decreased from 315.5 km/h to 292.6 km/h
      • Fully upgraded nitro speed decreased from 35.9 km/h to 32.5 km/h
      • Fully upgraded acceleration has been improved
      • Drift radius has been adjusted
      • New price: Credits 25,000
      • Nitro efficiency changed from 5/10/15 to 6.5/10.5/14
    • Acura NSX 2005
      • MAX + PRO rank decreased from C1441 to D1230
      • Fully upgraded top speed decreased from 344.0 km/h to 292.5 km/h
      • Fully upgraded nitro speed decreased from 37.3 km/h to 32.5 km/h
      • Fully upgraded acceleration has been improved
      • Drift radius has been adjusted
      • New price: Tokens 550
      • Nitro eficiency changed from 9/14/18 to 5.5/9.5/13.5
    • Honda Civic Type R
      • MAX + PRO rank decreased from C1531 to D1230
      • Fully upgraded top speed decreased from 364.8 km/h to 292.5 km/h
      • Fully upgraded nitro speed decreased from 40.4 km/h to 32.5 km/h
      • Fully upgraded acceleration has been improved
      • Drift radius has been adjusted
      • New price: Fusion Coins 90,000
      • Nitro efficiency changed from 5/9/12 to 6/10/13.5
        • Note: Upgrade costs were reduced for all of these cars, where applicable (i.e. excluding the Corvette C3).
  • The eight aforementioned cars had their performance statistics adjusted in order to improve their competitiveness in Multiplayer. Their real statistics are listed below, alongside the real statistics of other nearby vehicles:
    • Note: The Honda Civic Type-R and Honda S2000 both had either some or all of their three nitro efficiency values nerfed, though the S2000's level 3 nitro efficiency was buffed.
Vehicle Brand Vehicle Model Vehicle Type Upgrade Status Vehicle Ranks: Stock, Middle, Final Final Total Top Speed Nitro StarterTuning Kit Final Raw Top Speed Nitro StarterTuning Kit Final Launch Acceleration Nitro StarterTuning Kit Nitro Efficiency
Renault CLIO R.S. 200 EDC Sport Hatchback MAXPRO 95110981235 336.2 km/h • 208.8 mph 303.0 km/h • 188.2 mph 2.4s 9/13.5/17.5
Nissan Leaf Nismo RC Electric Racing Hatchback PRO 1013 • N/A • 1232 335.5 km/h • 208.5 mph 301.9 km/h • 187.6 mph 2.5s 7/10/13.5
Honda Civic Type-R Sport Hatchback MAXPRO 109611681230 334.7 km/h • 207.9 mph 301.2 km/h • 187.1 mph 2.5s 6/10/13.5
Honda S2000 Sport Softtop Convertible MAXPRO 102611331230 334.9 km/h • 208.0 mph 301.4 km/h • 187.2 mph 2.5s 6.5/10.5/14
Mazda Furai Racing Coupe ULTIMATE 1230 • N/A • 1230 334.9 km/h • 208.0 mph 298.8 km/h • 185.6 mph 2.5s 7/11/15.5
Acura NSX (2005) Sport Coupe MAXPRO 110111701230 334.7 km/h • 207.9 mph 301.2 km/h • 187.1 mph 2.5s 6/9.5/13.5
Chevrolet Corvette C3 Retro Sport Hardtop Convertible ULTIMATE 1229 • N/A • 1229 334.7 km/h • 207.8 mph 309.1 km/h • 191.9 mph 2.4s 5.5/9.5/13.5
Infiniti FX50 Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) MAXPRO 108511621229 334.6 km/h • 207.8 mph 301.1 km/h • 187.0 mph 2.2s 4.5/8.5/11.5
Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Sport Hardtop Convertible MAXPRO 102611321229 334.6 km/h • 207.8 mph 301.1 km/h • 187.0 mph 2.4s 5.5/9.5/13
BMW M1 Retro Sport Coupe MAXPRO 106911531228 334.3 km/h • 207.7 mph 300.9 km/h • 186.9 mph 2.4s 6/10/13.5
BMW M3 Sedan Sport Sedan MAXPRO 102611321228 334.2 km/h • 207.6 mph 300.8 km/h • 186.8 mph 2.4s 5.5/9.5/13
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive Electric Grand Tourer (Sport Coupe) MAXPRO 102611701226 333.6 km/h • 207.1 mph 300.5 km/h • 186.6 mph 4.1s 7/11.5/16
Kawasaki Z800 Motorcycle MAX 956 • N/A • 1223 330.1 km/h • 204.9 mph 295.9 km/h • 183.7 mph 2.7s 6/10.5/15.5
February 23

On February 23, the following car has been rebalanced:

  • Ferrari F50
    • MAX + PRO rank decreased from B1632 to C1500
    • Fully upgraded top speed decreased from 389.8 km/h to 357.4 km/h
    • Fully upgraded nitro speed decreased from 42.4 km/h to 39.7 km/h
    • Fully upgraded acceleration has been improved
    • Drift radius has been adjusted
    • Upgrade prices were lowered by roughly 25%, in line with other cars near its new rank.
    • The F50's acceleration was buffed substantially, though its nitro efficiency was either only improved slightly or not at all. Mastery rewards were also reduced to match the F50's new rank classification.
March 5

On March 5, the following cars have been rebalanced:

(Note: The changes didn't appear on Windows PC until around March 9.)

  • Ferrari LaFerrari:
    • MAX + PRO rank increased from B1664 to B1680
    • Fully upgraded top speed increased from 396.9 km/h to 400.5 km/h
    • Fully upgraded nitro speed increased from 43.8 km/h to 44.5 km/h
    • Fully upgraded acceleration has been improved
    • Drift radius has been adjusted
      • The LaFerrari's maximum total top speed was buffed slightly and its acceleration was also buffed slightly. The displayed acceleration was worsened despite the real acceleration being buffed. The displayed handling statistic was also changed slightly with no noticeable real change.
      • The upgrade prices for the car have been increased so it can match with the cars in its rank.
      • Note1: The LaFerrari has an unusual cosmetic error wherein its white paint option cannot be selected unless a decal that has white paint as an option is equipped. There is no known reason for this issue, especially given that the Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta (which is the open-top version of the LaFerrari) can have white paint selected as normal, so there is clearly no licensing issue at play here. This paint issue has existed for several years.
      • Note2: The LaFerrari is a bonus vehicle in the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo's Festival.
  • Acura NSX GT3 Evo:
    • MAX + PRO rank decreased from B1685 to B1682
    • Fully upgraded top speed decreased from 401.6 km/h to 401.1 km/h
    • Fully upgraded acceleration has been improved
    • Drift radius has been adjusted
      • The NSX GT3 Evo's maximum total top speed was nerfed slightly and its acceleration was nerfed significantly. The displayed acceleration was improved despite the real acceleration being nerfed. The displayed handling statistic was also changed slightly with no noticeable real change.
  • Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport:
    • MAX + PRO rank decreased from B1688 to B1682
    • Fully upgraded top speed decreased from 402.5 km/h to 401.1 km/h
    • Fully upgraded nitro speed decreased from 44.7 km/h to 44.6 km/h
    • Fully upgraded acceleration has been improved
    • Drift radius has been adjusted
      • The 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport's maximum total top speed was nerfed slightly and its acceleration was nerfed significantly. The displayed acceleration was improved despite the real acceleration being nerfed. The displayed handling statistic was also changed slightly with no noticeable real change.
  • Ferrari Enzo Ferrari:
    • MAX + PRO rank decreased from A1790 to A1769
    • Fully upgraded top speed decreased from 427.3 km/h to 421.9 km/h
    • Fully upgraded nitro speed decreased from 47.0 km/h to 46.9 km/h
    • Fully upgraded acceleration has been improved
    • Drift radius has been adjusted
      • The Enzo Ferrari's maximum total top speed was nerfed from high-end Class A to mid-Class A levels, though its acceleration was buffed substantially and its nitro efficiency was also buffed slightly.
      • Note1: The Enzo Ferrari is not available for purchase. The reason is that it was originally a Blueprints-buildable car, and when Blueprints were discontinued in late-2019, the Enzo Ferrari never became permanently available for purchase with a currency. Despite this, the Enzo Ferrari was temporarily placed on sale for Tokens Tokens many times throughout 2020, having last been on sale on September 9, 2020.
      • Note2: The Enzo Ferrari is a bonus vehicle in the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo's Festival.
Speed Trials

At the time of writing, March 18, 2021, the Nissan Leaf Nismo RC (D1232) is now available as an option in Speed Trials at approximately D1230, alongside the nine other cars that were previously already available.

Technical Changes

  • Since February 9, 2021, Windows players can now watch fifteen Daily Milestone Ads rather than just ten, as has long been standard for other platforms such as IOS and Android.
    • Daily Ads had been temporarily removed the day before, on February 8, 2021, likely so that the subsequent fix could be implemented.
  • According to the Asphalt 8: Airborne YouTuber "Cars On!", graphics for Windows were improved in this update. The graphics had apparently been worsened several months earlier but have now been restored to their former quality.
  • As of around March 15, 2021, it is now impossible to watch the regular Daily Ads alongside Milestone Ads on Windows PC and Android. This was previously possible through a bug. As the game was loading, the Milestone Ads would take a while to appear, whereas the regular Daily Ads would appear briefly before being overridden by the Milestone Ads. So, if the player clicked on the regular Daily Ads before the Milestone Ads appeared, usually during a timeframe of around one second, then they would be able to watch the regular Daily Ads. Later on, they could exit the regular Daily Ads and then subsequently watch the Milestone Ads as well, for a total of thirty (two times fifteen) or twenty (two times ten) ads.

Cosmetic Changes

A8 v5
5.6 pre 5.6
Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 Kit a8 Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 Kit (pre 5.6.0) a8
Current Previous
1 billion downloads billboard 1 a8 Asphalt billboard 1 a8
  • On April 12, billboards that previously advertised Asphalt 9: Legends and Asphalt 8 were replaced to now show "1 billion downloads celebration".

Exclusive Vehicles

2021 CN LNY Sale Feb 12 cropped a8

Lunar New Year sale

2021 Valentine's Day Sale a8

Valentine's Day Sale

Events

  1. Lunar Festival (February 12 - 22, 2021)
  2. Coldsnap 3 Multiplayer Season (February 25 - March 22, 2021)
  3. Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta Festival (February 26 - March 8, 2021)
  4. McLaren Festival (March 8 - 18, 2021)
  5. Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo Festival (March 19 - 29, 2021)
  6. Spring Fling 5 Multiplayer Season (March 25 - April 4, 2021)
  7. Italdesign DaVinci Festival (March 29 - April 8, 2021)
  8. Bloom 3 Multiplayer Season (April 6 - 11, 2021)
  9. Ferrari 599XX Evo Festival (April 9 - 19, 2021)

Gifts

Valuable Player

  • On February 12, 2021, all players were rewarded with Fusion Coins Fusion Coins and VIP Points VIP Points for playing the game. The minimum rewards were Fusion Coins 50,000 and VIP Points 500 and the maximum rewards were Fusion Coins 300,000 and VIP Points 3,000 depending on the number of years that a player has played the game.
  • "Almost 1 year with Asphalt 8... Thanks for your loyalty and involvement!"
    • The players who have played the game for a year received:
      • Fusion Coins 50,000
      • VIP Points 500
  • "More than 2 years with Asphalt 8... Thanks for your loyalty and involvement!"
    • The players who have played the game for more than two years received:
      • Fusion Coins 200,000
      • VIP Points 2,000
  • "More than 3 years with Asphalt 8... Thanks for your loyalty and involvement!"
    • The players who have played the game for three years or more received:
      • Fusion Coins 300,000
      • VIP Points 3,000
  • On February 15, 2021, all players received a compensation for receiving the Valuable Player gifts without a clear message. It was made clear on the official Discord channel of Asphalt 8: Airborne that the Total Play Time (in hours and minutes) in the game account is the literal time spent in the game, regardless of the date of registration. All gifts were sent based on this data. The compensation included:
  • Bug: All Windows PC players only received the minimum rewards, regardless of the number of years that they had played the game. IOS players were generally not affected. Android players were variably affected or not affected.

Lunar New Year YouTuber Promo Codes

Throughout the months of February and March, in celebration of the Lunar New Year, several YouTubers posted single-use promo codes in their YouTube video descriptions that could be used to acquire rewards in-game by an infinite number of players over a limited time period. Each of the rewards provided by the promo codes consisted of either:

  1. 1x 30-Min Double Credits 30-Min Double Credits + 1x 30-Min Nitro Starter 30-Min Nitro Starter + 1x 30-Min Tuning Kit 30-Min Tuning Kit + 1x 30-Min Extra Tank 30-Min Extra Tank
  2. Credits 90,000 + Fusion Coins 90,000[3]

The promo codes were not accessible by all Windows PC players, and these players did not receive any compensation for the lost rewards. The rewards were only available for players using the platforms IOS or Android.

The YouTubers involved in the promotion included Aguila Negra, Asphalt89, Cars On!, RpM Darua, Super G. Black and tsssssststststs[sic].[3]

Saint Patrick's Day Facebook Contest

Lamborghini Sian FB(1) a8

Promo image for the Saint Patrick's Day Facebook Contest, including an image of a green Lamborghini Sián FKP 37

On the official "Asphalt" page on Facebook, Gameloft held a global contest for Saint Patrick's Day (an Irish public holiday) from March 17 (11:00AM GMT) to March 21 (11:59 PM GMT).[4] The contest involved players sharing an in-game screenshot of any car that they owned with green paint applied, and only a single reward was given to the winner of the contest, consisting of a full-PRO Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 (S1861), valued by Gameloft at approximately US $2054. The winner was determined by random selection. Each player could only make one entry. In order to enter, players had to follow the Asphalt Facebook page if they hadn't done so already, "like" the Facebook Contest post on the Asphalt Facebook page and post their submission in the comments section of the post with the hashtag "#A8Contest". Gameloft released a virtual legal document listing all of the parameters of the contest, including the fact that contestants had to be over the age of 13 (i.e. not a child), as well as the fact that players from certain countries or other smaller jurisdictions were legally not allowed to enter the contest.[5] The winner of the contest was Laura D.[4]

Countries or regions from which players could not enter the contest included:

  • Africa - Sudan
  • Americas - Brazil, Cuba and Quebec (Canadian province)
  • Asia-Pacific - Malaysia, Myanmar (formerly Burma) and North Korea
  • Europe - Belgium, Italy, Norway and Spain
  • Middle East - Syria and Iran
  • Oceania - Australia[5]

Note: The Facebook page "Asphalt" only serves Asphalt 8: Airborne, whereas Asphalt 9: Legends has its own Facebook page titled "Asphalt 9: Legends".

Bugs / Glitches

  • As of February 5, the time of writing, the handling statistics of the 2018 McLaren X2 and McLaren MP4-31 have seemingly been changed, though it is not clear whether these changes are intentional or are just bugs. No note was made of this particular issue in the patch notes, though players had been complaining of frequent skidding with these cars for months, and it seems that the skidding has also been reduced as a result of the handling changes.
  • As of February 6, the time of writing, the transformation animation in Tag Racing and Gauntlet isn't being displayed properly, even with extreme effects enabled. Instead of first transforming into the melted metal car body that is usually shown during the animation, the player's car just briefly becomes invisible when transforming into another car.
    • This bug was fixed partway through this update at an unknown time. The time of writing is March 22, 2021.
  • As of February 6, the time of writing, it has been observed that races in Speed Trials contribute towards the player's Multiplayer League statistics in the "Info" section.[6]
  • The following bugs/glitches still persist from the preceding updates:
    • Loss of profile data: Since the Seventh Anniversary Update, several players have reported losing owned vehicles and upgrades while others have had their profiles be completely lost.
      • Contacting Customer Care and providing the Gameloft ID will let them give restored data.
    • Data-loading crashes: On Windows PC, the game frequently crashes when data is loading, such as due to watching ads and due to Gauntlet mode's regular data updates. The issue with Gauntlet crashes has persisted ever since Gauntlet debuted in late-October of 2020, in the 2020 Halloween Update.
    • Ads, boosters and upgrades don't load: On Android, the player often has to click on ads, boosters and upgrades multiple times in order to get them to work, and this problem has persisted since at least late-December of 2020, during the 2020 Christmas Update, and probably since even earlier than that. Meanwhile, the problem has now become commonplace on Windows PC ever since the formula for watching ads was changed on February 9, 2021.
    • Festival Quests, Daily Tasks, TLE runs, Gauntlet challenges and MP leagues don't sync properly: As of April 6, the time of writing, various issues with data-syncing still occur occasionally throughout the different areas of the game. Festival Quests sometimes don't register after you've successfully completed the described task. Daily Tasks sometimes don't register either, or if they do, you can't collect the rewards immediately. Time-Limited Event runs can sometimes get erased if an error occurs whilst you are trying to record a new run, for example. Gauntlet challenges can sometimes not sync properly both in terms of the rating points and in terms of the Gauntlet daily rewards. In the former case, this can result in absurd amounts of extra rating points being granted to the challenger, at the detriment of the defender, whereas, in the latter case, this can result in rating points being gained/lost and Gauntlet Tickets Gauntlet Tickets being consumed without the Gauntlet daily rewards being granted to the challenger. Leagues in Multiplayer League can sometimes be falsely assigned to a player if they achieve an "equals sign (=)" too many times (which occurs whenever a player comes third in a race, or during free MP races). This always involves the player dropping from a higher league to a lower league even though their rating points haven't changed. Usually, this issue is fixed by re-syncing MP data, though it can occasionally result in the player being locked within a lower league, regardless of their level of rating points.
    • Gauntlet Tickets lost due to syncing issues: In normal Gauntlet gameplay, Gauntlet Tickets Gauntlet Tickets are consumed when the player enters a challenge or defence, regardless of whether the race is completed. However, if the player's game crashes, this also results in the loss of a ticket. As of April 6, the time of writing, sometimes, the player's game doesn't actually crash and instead has a very brief syncing issue at the moment that they have entered the race, and two or more tickets can be consumed simultaneously for a single challenge or defence attempt, which is detrimental both for attaining additional rating points and for attaining the Gauntlet daily rewards.
    • Wrong brands displayed in the Offers section: Occasionally, the wrong brand can be displayed for a car in the Offers section. This apparently occurred around April 6, when the Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 was allegedly displayed as a Ferrari on its Kit Cards in an offer, though this particular problem has seemingly been fixed, as of April 8. Meanwhile, the "Champion League Pack" Gauntlet deal, which contains the Zenvo TS1 GT 10th Anniversary Edition, still currently displays that car as an Aston Martin, as of April 8.
    • Dodge Tomahawk lacks a transparent ghost a8

      The Dodge Tomahawk lacks a transparent ghost model.

      Dodge Tomahawk lacks a transparent ghost model: The Dodge Tomahawk, presumably alongside all other motorcycles, does not have a proper transparent ghost model, likely because it is not supposed to have the ghost option enabled. However, due to what seems to be another bug, the Tomahawk can be driven in a single race in Career Mode, the "Dodge" race in Season 4: Elite. When racing against the Tomahawk ghost here, it can be seen that the Tomahawk ghost just looks like a normal Tomahawk.
  • The BXR Bailey Blade GT1 Special Edition, which debuted in this update, is missing some components on its in-game model, specifically some pieces of its front grill, which have been referred to by some players on the Gameloft Forums as "fins". As proof that this is some kind of error, the components are featured on the BXR Bailey Blade GT1, the car which the Bailey Blade GT1 SE is entirely based upon, within the same game. Furthermore, all of the promotional images for the Bailey Blade GT1 SE both within the game and within Gameloft's social media promotional campaigns have shown the components to be present, despite their absence from the in-game model. Some players on the Gameloft Forums have theorized that the fins may have been omitted in order to avoid licensing fees, whereas others have jokingly suggested that they will become available as premium downloadable content in the future.[7]
  • Since March 30, the Nissan Leaf Nismo RC does not have any preset boosters in Speed Trials. This is certainly a bug since all of the other cars still have preset boosters.

Post-update screen

Trailer

Trivia

References

Updates for Asphalt 8: Airborne
2013 Original Release (v1.0.0) • Free to Play Update (v1.1.0)
2014 Daily Bonus Update (v1.2.0) • The Great Wall Update (v1.3.0)
Fuel Events Update (v1.4.0) • Dubai Update (v1.5.0)
San Diego Harbor Update (v1.6.0) • Winter Update (v1.7.0)
2015 Decals Update (v1.8.0) • More Than 300 Decals Update (v1.8.1)
Tenerife Update (v1.9.0) • Car Mastery Update (v2.0.0)
Research & Development Update (v2.1.0) • Santa's Gift Update (v2.2.0)
2016 Lunar New Year Update (v2.3.0) • Elite Cars Update (v2.4.0)
Enduro Update (v2.5.0) • Rio de Janeiro Update (v2.6.0)
Multiplayer League Update (v2.7.0) • Championship Update (v2.8.0)
2017 Lunar New Year 2017 Update (v2.9.0) • Car Blueprints Update (v3.0.0)
Porsche Update (v3.1.0) • Motorcycles Update (v3.2.0)
Munich Update (v3.3.0) • Hot Wheels Update (v3.4.0)
2018 Fall Out Boy Update (v3.5.0) • 2018 Spring Update (v3.6.0)
Asphalt Moments Update (v3.7.0) • Fifth Anniversary Update (v3.8.0)
Halloween Update (v3.9.0) • Holiday Update (v4.0.0)
2019 Fast Lane Update (v4.1.0) • 2019 Spring Update (v4.2.0)
Showdown Update (v4.3.0) • Sixth Anniversary Mini Update (v4.4.0)
Sixth Anniversary Update (v4.5.0) • 2019 Halloween Update (v4.6.0)
2019 Holiday Update (v4.7.0)
2020 2020 Lunar New Year Update (v4.8.0) • 2020 Spring Update (v4.9.0)
Formula E Update (v4.9.1) • Fifteenth Anniversary Update (v5.0.0)
Wild Cards Update (v5.1.0) • 2020 Summer Update (v5.2.0)
Seventh Anniversary Update (v5.3.0) • 2020 Halloween Update (v5.4.0)
2020 Christmas Update (v5.5.0)
2021 2021 Lunar New Year Update (v5.6.0) • 2021 Spring Update (v5.7.0)
2021 Summer Update (v5.8.0) • Eighth Anniversary Update (v5.9.0)
2021 Holiday Update (v6.0.0) • 2021 Christmas Update (v6.1.0)
2022 2022 Lunar New Year Update (v6.2.0) • Neon Season Update (v6.3.0)
Ninth Anniversary Update (v6.4.0) • Gangstar Season Update (v6.5.0)
Golden Season Update (v6.6.0) • Golden Season Mini Update (v6.7.0)
Hot Winter Season Update (v6.8.0)
2023 2023 Lunar New Year Update (v6.9.0) • Garage Life Season Update (v7.0.0)
2023 Spring Update (v7.1.0) • 2023 Summer Update (v7.2.0)
Tenth Anniversary Update (v7.3.0) • 2023 Halloween Update (v7.4.0)
2023 Holiday Update (v7.5.0)
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