You’ll spend a lot of time racing in Need for Speed: Heat, whether it’s evading the cops at night or attempting to earn legit bank during the day. Many techniques like drifting will become important so it’s good to master them right away. If you have a drift-capable car, then it’s just a matter of lightly pressing the brakes when approaching a corner.
As your car drifts, you can ride it out and then drive normally as you exit the turn. The other solution is to press Square or X on PS4/Xbox One respectively. This is an option for regular vehicles and you only need to tap the button. The car will start drifting so just ride it out and straighten up once you leave the turn.
One final drifting solution is releasing the accelerator (which is R2/RT) as you enter a corner. Press it again as you navigate the corner and the drift should start. Ride it out until you’ve navigated the corner and then adjust your vehicle accordingly once you’re out.
How to Earn Reputation
There are two currencies in the game – Bank, which is the hip term for money and Rep, which is short for reputation. Bank is earned by completing races during the day and can be used to acquire different items/upgrades. Unfortunately, if you don’t have enough Rep, then shops won’t bother selling to you.
Grinding out Rep is a matter of participating in night races. Of course, since they’re illegal, the cops will quickly zero in on you. After completing a race, you’ll notice the Heat meter rising. If you keep racing, you’ll garner more attention from the police and it becomes tougher to not to get caught.
Once you’ve gotten enough Rep, locate a safe house to collect it all. The more Heat and police on your tail, the more Rep collected. If you’re caught, you lose all the Rep gathered along with some Bank. Various challenges are also on offer which provide Bank and Rep as well though the more rewarding challenges will also be more difficult.