Need for Speed Heat Equipment Guide: Best Equipment Ranked

Q: What is the difference between Bank and Rep?

Bank is money, earned from Speedhunters Showdown events in the daytime with no police involved. Rep is your level, earned from illicit street racing at night. Bank buys cars and parts, Rep decides which cars and parts are available to buy, so you need both.

Q: What happens when I get busted?

You lose all the Rep you are carrying that has not been banked at a garage or safe house, and you pay a fine out of your Bank. Bank you already hold is otherwise safe, which is why Rep is the risky currency and the reason to end a high Heat night early.

Q: What is the fastest car in Need for Speed Heat?

The Koenigsegg Regera. It reaches the 400 rating ceiling with top marks in power and top speed, unlocks at Rep level 50 and costs 1,227,500 Bank. For circuits with lots of corners a lighter car such as the McLaren P1 is often the better race weapon.

Q: What is the best drift car?

The Mazda RX-7 Spirit R from 2002 holds the drift records. Build it with Speedcross suspension and differential, fit drag tires, then use Live Tuning to raise steering sensitivity and drop downforce.

Q: How many districts does Palm City have?

Eighteen, including Downtown Palm City, Port Murphy, Fort Callahan, Eden Shores, Sandino Ranches, Rockville, Westside, Cloudbank and Palm City Raceway. Between them they hold 435 locations needed for 100 percent completion.

Complete Need for Speed Heat equipment guide. Every equipment option ranked with stats, best builds, and how to get them.

EarlyGuides Editorial Team

Researched and editorially reviewed. Updated August 12, 2026.

Need for Speed Heat is Ghost Games' November 2019 entry, set in Palm City, a fictional Florida sprawl split into 18 districts holding 435 collectible and challenge locations. The day belongs to the Speedhunters Showdown, where sanctioned events pay Bank and the police stay home. The night belongs to illicit street racing, where you earn Rep and Lieutenant Frank Mercer's police force tries to take it off you before you reach a garage.

Your choice of equipment defines your damage output and playstyle. This guide ranks every major option, explains what makes each one strong, and tells you which builds they pair best with.

Equipment Rankings

Equipment	Tier	Best For	Notes
Engine Swap	S	Older or cheaper chassis you want to push past their stock rating ceiling.	Some cars simply cannot reach the top of the 100 to 400 rating scale on their factory block.
Nitrous	A	Police escapes and corner exits, where a rating number does not matter and a second of extra speed does.	An engine part that adds air and fuel for an instant power spike.
Speedcross Suspension	A	Drift Trials and Off-Road Races, and the standard first purchase for any Speedcross-branded build.	The off-road and drift leaning suspension line.
Drag Tires	B	Drift builds paired with Speedcross suspension and differential.	Counterintuitive on a drift car and still what the fastest drifters run, because the reduced lateral grip lets a car hold an angle instead of snapping back to straight.
Live Tuning	B	Anyone running a single car through mixed events instead of maintaining four separate builds.	Not a purchase at all.

S-Tier: Engine Swap

Some cars simply cannot reach the top of the 100 to 400 rating scale on their factory block. Swapping the engine resets what part tiers the car can accept, and it is a Bank cost rather than a Rep unlock.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	S
Best For	Older or cheaper chassis you want to push past their stock rating ceiling.
Key Mechanic	Day and night switch
Recommended Build	Day Racer (Speedhunters Showdown)

How to get it: Available from mid-game onward. See our walkthrough for the exact progression point.

Best builds using Engine Swap: Pairs naturally with Day Racer (Speedhunters Showdown) thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

A-Tier: Nitrous

An engine part that adds air and fuel for an instant power spike. Its rating is displayed separately and does not feed into the overall 100 to 400 number, so a nitrous upgrade never shows up as a rating increase.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	A
Best For	Police escapes and corner exits, where a rating number does not matter and a second of extra speed does.
Key Mechanic	Bank and Rep as separate currencies
Recommended Build	Night Racer (Rep and Heat)

How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.

Best builds using Nitrous: Pairs naturally with Night Racer (Rep and Heat) thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

A-Tier: Speedcross Suspension

The off-road and drift leaning suspension line. Paired with a Speedcross differential it drags the handling profile away from road grip, which is exactly what a drift build or a cross-country build wants.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	A
Best For	Drift Trials and Off-Road Races, and the standard first purchase for any Speedcross-branded build.
Key Mechanic	Heat level and getting busted
Recommended Build	Grip Road Build

How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.

Best builds using Speedcross Suspension: Pairs naturally with Grip Road Build thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

B-Tier: Drag Tires

Counterintuitive on a drift car and still what the fastest drifters run, because the reduced lateral grip lets a car hold an angle instead of snapping back to straight.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	B
Best For	Drift builds paired with Speedcross suspension and differential.
Key Mechanic	Performance parts and the handling profile
Recommended Build	Drift Build

How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.

Best builds using Drag Tires: Pairs naturally with Drift Build thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

B-Tier: Live Tuning

Not a purchase at all. Opened from the phone with right on the d-pad or numpad 6, it changes downforce and steering sensitivity mid-session, so one car can be re-aimed between a circuit and a drift zone without visiting a garage.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	B
Best For	Anyone running a single car through mixed events instead of maintaining four separate builds.
Key Mechanic	Live Tuning
Recommended Build	Off-Road Build

How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.

Best builds using Live Tuning: Pairs naturally with Off-Road Build thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

Equipment Progression Path

The order you should acquire equipment as you progress:

Starting gear → Enough to clear Downtown Palm City
Nitrous → Your first real upgrade, available early
Speedcross Suspension → Mid-game upgrade with good scaling
Engine Swap → Best-in-slot, aim for this by late game
Upgrade to max → The power spike from max upgrades is enormous

Equipment Tips

Always upgrade your primary equipment before diversifying. One strong option beats three mediocre ones.
Match your equipment to your build's stat priorities for maximum scaling.
Rep is not yours until you park at a garage or safe house. Every point you are carrying at Heat 4 or 5 disappears the moment you are busted, along with a Bank fine, so the correct night is a short one that ends deliberately.
Check our tier list for how equipment rankings affect overall build effectiveness.

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