Time Attack, Ferrari F40, 5 speed MT, Tuned (higher top speed, lower grip)
Difficulty set to Very Hard - this affects the time gained at checkpoints. Very Easy gives over a 15 minute time limit to finish. Very Hard sets it to about 14 minutes 2 seconds; only about 30 people on the PS3 version have managed this (although it would be more if they had ever released it in the US on PS3).
A test recording with my new hardware; hopefully there is a glaringly obvious increase in quality compared with my old videos. This was the third take of recording; despite the sketchiness of the last few stages, I decided to roll with it.
Stage 1 - Palm Beach - The only real time to be gained here is by timing the gear changes.
Stage 2 - Bay Area - The first stage you'll actually need to drift, and even then, it's just a gear drift (shift down then up quickly).
Stage 3 - National Park - Approaching the long left hander from wide should give you the angle to take it without drifting. I turned in a bit too early, though...
Stage 4 - Water Falls - You shouldn't need to drift until the right hairpin. Delay the drift at the tunnel too, for a small amount of extra speed.
Stage 5 - Big Forest - Nothing special, just more gear drifting.
Stage 6 - Canyon - Probably the first time you'll want to brake drift (as you may have guessed, tap the brake), this was quite possibly the best run I've ever managed.
Stage 7 - Lost City - Another stage with a long swooping corner than can be taken without drifting.
Stage 8 - Casino Town - Simple enough, the first 90 degree right can be taken without drifting.
Stage 9 - Ice Scape - One of the fastest stages, when you realize you can drive off the road with no speed penalty.
Stage 10 - Jungle - More brake drifting, because I've messed this stage up so many times in the past. One of my best runs.
Stage 11 - Giant Statues - Usually not a problem, but the minute I hit record, I could not get through this stage without a scrape.
Stage 12 - Legend - The opposite of Giant Statues, I usually mess this stage up, but went through near flawlessly. Go figure.
Stage 13 - Floral Gardens - Instead of screwing up the last three corners like I occasionally do, I... somehow ran off the road at the start. I'll take that any day.
Stage 14 - Milky Way - Brake drift all the way. Can be as fast as Ice Scape... if you don't scuff the barriers at the end.
Stage 15 - Skyscrapers - F*** Times Square Hairpin. If it wasn't for that, it would've been the fastest I've ever run through this stage, and a new PB.
One final note: Sumo Digital are awesome at making racing games (although their online coding's hit-and-miss), and I can't wait to see how Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed turns out.