Need for Speed Update Adds Hot Rods, Drag Racing, Manual Transmission, and More

The next update for EA's new Need for Speed is coming soon--and it's a big one. The March 3 update introduces hot rods, manual transmission, and drag racing, among other things.

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There will be two new hot rods when the update arrives this week, the first of which is a 1932 car that comes with four bodykits. These bodykits are soft top, coupe, sedan, and pickup. The other hot rod is the Aaron Beck "BeckKustons F132." It sounds like a beast.

"When you take the shell from a Ford 1932, gently massage it into a fierce Formula One style chassis and strap in a high performance NASCAR engine, this is what you get," developer Ghost Games said.

The studio also mentioned that both hot rods can be fully customized like the game's other cars, with players able to tweak the hood, lights, grille, exhausts, and bumpers.

As for manual transmission, this feature is already available for the PC version of Need for Speed and now finally comes to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. However, players will need to wait a little, as it's apparently not in this update, but is instead coming "as early as next week."

Below is more of what's coming to Need for Speed in the free update and further into the future (descriptions written by Ghost):

Drag Racing events: There will be five new Drag events for you to take part in; Neck to Neck, The Perfect Shifts, Drag the Town, Pedal to the Metal and Speed Tunnel.

The Warehouse (coming next week): Your garage will receive an upgrade that will allow you to store an additional five cars, perfect for those eyeing up a new ride and no excuse now not to take a Hot Rod for a fun-filled spin around Ventura bay.

Wrap Editor Improvements: One of the most common bits of feedback we’ve received about the Wrap Editor is that you would like a coordinates system allowing you to position decals with a lot more accuracy. This information will now be shown in a panel below the selected decal in the edit decal menu and will update in real time when the decal is transformed.

Writing on your car also becomes even easier as we introduce Text Decals 2.0 and selectable fonts. Simply select your desired font and a popup will appear where you’ll be prompted to input your desired text.

Additionally, Ghost said that animations inside the Editor are being improved with the following updates:

• Animation indicating when a decal has been added to a vehicle
• Improved animation to indicate more clearly the selected decal on a vehicle
• Speed up info text animation when showing an action happening

The March 3 Need for Speed update also includes three new Trophies/Achievements. Head to the Need for Speed website to see a full rundown of the patch.

This update, like those before it and the ones to follow, is free.

"All of the content that we're going to give you--a pretty substantial amount in the future--is going to be free. That's what players deserve," creative director Craig Sullivan said.