NFSU: I beat the boss with zero upgrades — and this was the first part I bought

In the previous post, I took on the first boss in Need for Speed Underground with the Civic locked at zero — no upgrades, no tuning, just the factory car against an already modified rival. The challenge demanded perfect execution because there was no car left over to make up for a single mistake.

Did I beat the time? Yes, but not on the first try. And the video showing the actual attempts — with none of the near-misses cut out — is even more tense than the final result suggests.

Three attempts, zero patience

The first clip documents exactly that: three back-to-back attempts against the boss's time, still with the 100% stock Civic. No power chip, no performance tires — every blown corner cost dearly, because there was no engine headroom to claw back after a small mistake. The difference between getting through and starting over came down entirely to braking at the right point and holding a clean line through every corner.

After the win: which part goes in first?

With the boss beaten, it was time for the part every Underground player has been waiting for since the first race: opening the tuning screen for the very first time. The question sounds simple — tires, transmission, engine, suspension — but the right order changes how the car behaves in the races that follow, and there's no obvious answer when you don't yet know which track is coming next.

Instead of deciding alone, the choice became a poll for subscribers: which part would you buy first on a car straight off the factory floor?

If you haven't seen the original challenge yet, it's worth watching the post about beating NFSU's first boss with no upgrades at all before this follow-up. And for anyone who prefers the other extreme — the whole game finished with nothing but a Civic, tuning unlocked from the start — there's the post about finishing NFS Underground in the car of my dreams.