R.C. Pro-Am II/any%

Money route and upgrades

Cash flow

The following spreadsheet shows the cash flow in the videos in this guide (the total might not always correspond to what's shown at the end of the videos though, because of videos having been replaced). There are too many things factoring in how much you're able to collect, so this is just an example of how much money is possible to get. There is room for getting even more money, both through better RNG, but also by going out of the way to collect more money items. However, these routes already take into account some favorable RNG, so it's not going to be easy to be on a better pace in an actual attempt (not taking into account the start boost bonuess). Since the last purchase is Mega after race 21, the money after that point is irrelevant.

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Comments:

You could get 2 start boosts in the first four races and still afford the Silver motor. However, that would require not using the nitros in race 3 and 4.
In practice, you probably need a few more start boosts in order to afford the Mega motor.
There is a kind of back-up strat in race 18, where you can collect four dollar markers (worth 1000$ in total) instead of taking a zipper. Having the Mega motor in race 22 doesn't save that much time though. Around 1.5 secs can be expected. So slightly more than what's lost by skipping the zipper.

Considerations about the upgrades

Q: Is the red motor really needed when it's only used for 3 races?
A: Yes, it saves roughly 10 seconds. The 2k saved by not buying red would not allow any of the other upgrades to be bought earlier (except for Skinny, but red saves more time than Skinny anyways). The red motor makes the money management much more tight though.

Q: The black motor is only 2k more expensive than red, couldn't it have been used?
A: Correct, the black motor is pretty performant in relation to its price. In that case Skinny would be bought after race 1 and Black after race 2. However, it would delay buying the remaining equipment (Silver, Scoopers and Mega) by one race. While race 3 and 4 would benefit from the black motor, that's not enough to outweigh delaying all the other purchases.

Q: What about the other motors then?
A: Gold and Hyper only give marginal advantages over Silver, while greatly delaying the Mega purchase.

Q: What about the other tires?
A: The test that was done showed that the difference between the tires isn't very big. However, the Scoopers are relatively cheap (15k), so even though they might not give a huge advantage, they don't delay Mega more than one or two races compared with Dynafit or Nooblies, respectively. It's assumed that this delay is offset by having Scoopers throughout the game instead of driving with inferior tires for a big part of the game. The Nooblies are notably less performing than the Scoopers and would clearly lose time. The Dynafits are closer in performance, but it's still difficult to see how that would be a good option. This hasn't been fully investigated though.

Q: Why go for Scoopers and then Mega and not the other way around?
A: This has been tested. Mega can be bought after race 17 and Scoopers after race 21. It was around five seconds slower overall though.

Q: And how about swapping Skinny tires and the red motor?
A: The only difference would be in race 2, which would be with Skinny instead of the red motor. This was tested to be around 2.5-3 sec slower though (which is, by the way, in good correspondence with the test that was made for one lap of race 6).

Q: Are any of the other purchases worth it?
A: The guns are somewhat useful in a casual playthrough, but don't save any time at all and are therefore essentially useless in a speedrun. One of the guns has an odd quirk that could be worth mentioning. The "buckshot" makes the other cars drop dollar bags. It's not efficient enough to really be of any use though.
Of the other items, nitros could be worth considering. You get three nitros, but they are 5 menu steps away in the shop, so it's difficult to see how that would make it worthwhile other than if this gives additional advantages during the race. One possibility could for example have been in race 35, but even with these additional nitros, you're not going to be first to the nitros on the track without also relying on the other cars driving poorly. So the answer seems to be 'no, other than by a costly trade of time for safety'.

Races

Race 01

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2djgbhaAnk
If the blue car is second from the right on the starting line, it will always (?) collect the middle dollar item. If the blue car is in the right-most position, it "often" collects the dollar item. Otherwise, that dollar item is almost always free to collect during the second lap.
The dollar sign next to the zippers is awkwardly located and difficult to include in the route without incurring time losses.

Race 02

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWnoHK7Ms9U
The last dollar bag right before the finish line is random. There is maybe a 50% chance it's there.

Race 03

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFk4S7llZxU
The area around the two zippers is good for using the nitro since there are no items and you should be ahead of the competition at that point. So lag creation shouldn't be an issue.
On the right, you should always first collect the innermost star. Perhaps every third time or so, the middle star will then be there for the second lap. There is also a very small chance that the upper dollar item before the finish line won't be collected during the first lap. So it's best to collect the lower one on the first lap and then see it as a bonus if the dollar item can be collected during lap 2.

Race 04

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmKJDEj4tEQ
If you have 4800 going into this race, you're on pace assuming you can get a start boost (otherwise 5300). It's possible to collect more money than what's shown here, but it either relies on luck or by passing right between two of the stars at the U-turn and collect them both.

Race 05

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGvvrKB5ET8

Race 06

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q19gdMrWuxI
It's possible to get enough letters to upgrade the car already after this race, but that's really exceptional. The letter below the zippers on the right side of the track seems to most often be O, but can occasionally be I (or, even more occasionally (?), M or A). The other cars will always go for it, so you need to decide on the first lap if it's worth skipping a zipper for.

Race 07

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CipJ6IZQHq8
The letter here is fairly often one of the lower ones (M or I), so it's worth making the detour for it since you'll anyways can catch the zippers.

Race 08

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj6SFTyQTp4

For the sake of completeness, the bonus stage "Tug-O-Truck":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7VwIgWqkEc
You have to tap A and B consecutively to win. There are certainly many ways to do this, but one method that works fairly well is the following:
- Hold the left side of the controller between thighs.
- One of the left fingers right above B.
- One of the right fingers above A.
If you now mash A, the controller will be pushed back a little against the thigh and then bounce back up, so your left finger will automatically push B without even moving. This way you can create a sort of alternate mashing of A and B.

Race 09

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOumvumsnkk
More realistically, this is the race where you'll get your first upgraded car.

Race 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBWnLD19TvU
There are so many nitros here that you can won't be able to use them all, so just activate a new one as soon as you can.

Race 11

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pW_m3r-4A4

Race 12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTJ__n5SVow
It's fairly important to collect the missiles. Otherwise it will almost certainly lead to time losses due to additional lag, dodging and (often) getting hit by a missile.

Race 13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDMFhoq8UVU

Race 14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzjBmXt9FNs
There is an excellent chance here to upgrade the car for a second time, but you're likely to struggle with an O or an A.

Race 15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkSF0KYorgE
If you didn't already upgrade, here is another good chance for getting the second upgrade. If you still haven't gotten the right letters after this race, it might start to get complicated, since the the earlier letters, which are the ones you're likely to miss, seem to not be as frequent later in the game (as opposed to how the later letters are less frequent at the beginning of the game).
The green car will most of the time collect the bombs right before the finish line. If that's the case, some time will be lost due to dodging and/or crashing. Most of the track can be spent outside the green car's line, but it often drops bombs around the zippers, so it might be worth immediately move to side after connecting with the zippers.

Race 16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX7gsnsiz3g

For the sake of completeness, this is a video of the bonus game drag race. Just like the "Tug-O-Truck", push A and B alternately.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DS5gCWifTs

Race 17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpyHPTCRrrk
It happens fairly frequently that you're shot right at the beginning without any chance to dodge (other than hugging the wall and avoiding the zippers).
By using a nitro in the bump section, you can jump over it completely, but it will create so much lag that it's slower than the nitro use shown here.

Race 18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MTDvAbv6fw
The row of dollar items can be collected by skipping the zipper on one of the laps. This might mean the difference between affording the Mega after race 21 or not, so could be worth considering if your money count is right at the limit.
By driving along the very edge of the track, you're not slowed down as much when collecting the ammo item as you would have driving straight through the mud.

Race 19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QECGyQEWBWA

Race 20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSRe13vDjjg

Race 21

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqVgJggvF24
Sometimes the green (or blue, if it's in front of you) will collect one (or both, but that's rarer) of the nitros on the second stretch. In that case, use the nitros you have on the big bump sections as that's where you'll otherwise lose most time.
The dollar item on the left side is often picked up by the other cars and should therefore not be relied too heavily upon when trying to get above 50k.
It's worth noting that if you don't use the third nitro at the jump on top of the track, you'll collect another dollar sign (but slowing down also increases the risk of one of the other cars overtaking you).

Race 22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hE0EP7K2Kk
If you don't have Mega, you need to use a nitro when going over the jumps or you'll crash into the bombs. This creates a lot of lag though, especially on the first lap, so it should be avoided if you have Mega.

Race 23

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0x5qOyZFOM
The airplane acts differently on lap 1 and 3.
On lap 1, you can completely avoid it by hugging the right side of the track and it won't go after you.
On lap 3, it will always come after you, but it's still possible to escape by hugging the right side and use the nitro between the first and second gun bursts. There is also a different pattern, where the airplane waits much longer before the first gun burst. The same strat can be used though. Activate the nitro at around the same spot and you should make it through without getting hit.

Race 24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdHWVKOR24o

For the sake of completion, another "Tug-O-Truck". It seems to be pretty much identical to the first one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzVQ6gKDbv4

Race 25

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxMS5SYPgN0
Identical with race 1

Race 26

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6XjOb8CeZQ
Identical with race 10. This time around, it's however not sure you'll be able to get as many nitros. The race can also be expected to be tighter, which means more objects on screen and more lag. Therefore consider avoiding nitros from the top of the track (the stretch with colored nitros) until the right side, especially on the first lap. For the second lap, most of the items should hopefully be collected, so nitros should again be possible to use without creating too much lag.

For the sake of completion, the second drag race. The other cars, especially the yellow one, is faster here. It's really of no importance though since there is no interaction between the cars and money is no issue at this point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUgxsjPhCIs

Race 31

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSriFMRFsUM
Identical with race 3

Race 32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OeGyA76nNo
Identical with race 12.
This is one of the tougher races though. If you see a chance to sneak ahead one of the first cars on the first lap, you can try to use the nitro and grab the bombs before the finish line. Just keep dropping bombs and the car behind should run into them.
Another strat is to keep the nitro until the end and try to squeeze past a car on the final stretch. If you're on fourth place and the car right in front of you have the missiles, this is probably the safer strat.

Race 33

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Uk2V2JQW-E
Identical with race 21

Race 34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U23tCW4suB8
Identical with race 4.
The green car will always try to collect the roll-cage and likely become a bother from that point until it wears off on the right hand side of lap 2. It might require you to slow down especially around the U-turn or you risk start spinning and crash into the wall.. If you're fast enough, you can beat get to the roll-cage first though, which is probably worth it since you can then proceed at full speed.

Race 35

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r9LrnnEVeo
Identical with race 13.
One of the more difficult races. If you're good/lucky enough to get a start boost, you can try to collect the nitro in the middle of the first stretch, which then helps you to get two nitros on the right hand side of the track. If that's not the case, there should still be one nitro for you on the right hand side if you hug the left wall (seen from someone watching the screen). The yellow car is the one going for the nitro as well. Sometimes, a start boost is not enough and occasionally the yellow car misses the nitro and you can collect it even without a start boost.
By using the nitro at the zippers, you can usually sneak past one of the cars before the finish line if you haven't made any big mistakes until then.

Race 36

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnvsdjHv4Ac
Identical with race 22