This is 2017 and you received a brand new android smartphone. Let’s find the best car racing games.

And it’s not that easy to find the best Android car racing games. Just type « cars » or « racing » on the Google Play and you’ll find yourself with tons of car racing games for Android. You’ll be surprised but a lot of them have 4 stars rating, and obviously some car racing games are better than the others. So I decided to have a look to find what is the top 5 car racing games on Android.

The way I have tested them is pretty easy. To find the best free car game on Android, I just gave them a couple of minutes playing, which I consider enough time to draw my attention. Then if the game was good, I would give it a go and even record a quick video to give you an idea of the game and why I think it deserves its rank in the best car racing on Android.

I’ve tried a bunch of them, from the oldest (Real Racing 3, GT racing 2,..) to most recent titles (Asphalt Xtreme) and unknown (Speed car, Extreme car driving). So I would say  I have a pretty good overview of the free racing games on Android.

So here my top 5 (well actually 6, but that’s a Need for Speed too). You can navigate using the menu below.

Real Racing 3

I previously installed Real Racing 3 when it goes released by Firemonkey in 2013. I use to play a lot, competing with friends over time trial. However, like for most of the games, I got bored and stopped playing.

I was quite surprised when I reinstalled it for the test. First, all my data had been saved in the cloud so I began playing where I left. Then RR3 had received a couple of updates: New cars, new tracks, new championship, new events,…

At first it was a bit too much. This is one thing I reproach most of mobile games; they throw at your face a lot of Info and I don’t know where to go.

Anyway, Real Racing 3 is for me THE best free racing simulation on Android.

Pro

• Tons of cars and brands (from Renault to Ferrari)
• Nice graphics
• Smooth control. The interior view is amazing to drive
• Driving Assistance (I had to set Braking Assistance to max at first as I had tested Need for Speed No Limits which doesn’t have a brake button..)
• You can race against 12 AI players which give fun races
• A lot of events and championships.
• Special Events when you can drive prestigious cars

Cons

• Real Racing 3 is free on Android, so as you can expect, there are In app purchases
• Cars quickly need servicing and you have to wait quite a long time before you can run again with the same car
• Nice cars and upgraded can be expensive
• Car delivery takes time. When you buy a new car on Real Racing 3, you have to wait for the delivery of the car, which can take 4h. You can reduce the time by watching video or spend your coins.

Need for Speed: No Limits

I started playing Need For Speed: No Limits as I was looking for a racing game on Android but more arcade than Real Racing 3. I came across Need for Speed No Limits. The game has been released in September 2015, so not quite old but not the most recent racing game either and the game has been download more than 50M times so quite a safe bet. However, Need for Speed: No Limits won’t appeal to everybody as it is definitively oriented arcade and reaching the maximum speed (there is not brake button).

Basically, you are just a new pilot in town trying to climb to the top. The game is divided in chapters that offers different types of races (Jump, Boost, Finish 1st,..) and you will eventually reach a boss. Obviously, each race become more and more difficult so you need to buy a new car (by collecting blueprint available by winning race or for coins). They are a bunch of cars to collect and a lot upgrades available so you can really have fun tuning your cars. However, this racing game is to oriented arcade for me and doesn’t really add a challenge as most of the races last less than 60 seconds and does not require much skills (straight road, no need to brake,..). If you have  a car powerful enough, you win, if you don’t you loose and you just need to do another race, win a part, upgrade you car and try again.

Pros

• Fair amount of cars available
• A lot of upgrade/parts/tuning available for your cars. Can be addictive
• You don’t have to wait much between refills (you have 10 tanks available and each race consume 1 or 2 tanks)
• A lot of free stuff to upgrade your cars
• The game load very quickly
• short race so Need for Speed: No Limits is great for a quick race

Cons

• No much skills needed
• Race, win, race, loose, upgrade, race, win,…
• Too easy
•  Paint for car too expensive

Need for Speed: Most wanted

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is another free car racing game had been released in 2012 and developed by FireMonkey. Somewhat, I find it better than Need for Speed: No Limits that got released 3 years after. I think graphics are better and this is a much more challenging racing game. In No Limits, I almost never loose, on Most Wanted, I had to replay races a couple of times, either because opponents were better, cops are « real » cops in a sense that you either take them down or they take you down, either by smashing your car, droping harrow or busting you.

In Need for Speed: Most Wanted, you compete to be the best and the most wanted racer. For each race that you win, you collect SP points that make you climb the ranking. You just have too pick race in the map and win to receive the points, as well as money that let new buy news cars. There is good selection of cars to play with.

In terms of gameplay, I find it quite challenging as the only « playable » way is by tilting your phone which I hate. Hopefully, Need for Speed: Most Wanted officially support the MOGA Controller which makes it easier and funnier.

Pros

• Good graphics
• More Challenging
• No wait between races (no need to refuel or wait for any car delivery

Cons

• No Multiplayer
• No real story mode, you just race for racing more or less. ( I like a good story!)
• Not much customization (you can only change the paint, you apply upgrade before the race, and it lasts only during that race. Those are mainly power ups)

Asphal Xtreme

Hopefully, Gameloft has more car racing games in its sleeves! Asphalt Xtreme is a fairly new racing game release in October 27 2016 on Android and IOS.  Asphalt Xtreme is a smartphone version of Colin McRae Dirt Rally. You drive across various tracks in forest, Egypt, catacombs, Thailand,… on buggies, rally cars, SUV, muscle cars, pick ups, trucks of monster trucks with the objective of finishing first. The track always offers various shortcuts, nitro and jumps so it has a big potential of replayability.

And the end of each race you receive stars that let you unlock new events as well as tokens and coins to buy and customize new cars.

The tuning bit is not the most developed in Asphalt Xtreme but you will play it mainly for the fun as it one of the rare racing game on Android that gives so much fun.

Asphalt Xtreme also offers a real multiplayer where you can race against 8 players in Classic and Infected mode (you are Infected by nitro when you touch an infected car or drive over a nitro. This is basically a nitro race !). Each victory will grant you coins to spend into your car or to buy new cars.

Pros

• Very fun game
• Speed sensation
• Tracks seem open thanks to various roads and shortcuts.
• Good choice of cars
• Real multiplayer

Cons

• Ads… Again, I’m not against ads but this is freemium so we have to pay to get more coins and also are getting a more than frequent full screen as
• Tuning not really developed. You are just buying pieces for the sake of buying them, but knowing really what it is that you are buying.
• Not a lot of tracks

Asphalt 8

Asphalt 8 from Gameloft is also one of the great car racing games. The game has been released in 2013 on IOS and Android and propose to drive nice cars from Dodge, Audi to Ferrari on a bunch of various track from Nevada to Tokyo.

The concept is not new but Gameloft copied what worked very well and we have a Burnout on smartphone. Graphics are great and you really enjoy getting through the race by taken shortcuts, jumping, using your nitro and drifting to finish at the 1st position.

To make it easier, Gameloft offers various control option from tilting your phone to the one I like most, but missing from a bunch of racing games that I spoke about above: the classic tap left/right to turn right or left. Easy and efficient. And you can also custom the position of nitro and brakes to make it even more comfortable.

Pros

• Nice graphics (you should play Tokyo by night under the rain)
• Good selection of cars
• Real Multiplayer
• You can tune and upgrade you cars
• Speed sensation

Cons

• Can be too arcade (jumps are not necessarily for me, but that’s just my opinion)
• Not enough cars on the road. But I guess this is more a platform limitation

Colin McRae Rally

Colin McRae Rally is a rally simulation on Android edited by Codemasters. The Android version is taking its content from the very popular Colin McRae Rally 2 released in 2000.

And it is truly a great, if not the best rally game on Android. From the moment I started playing, all the old sensations came back and I could play instantly driving in Australia, Greece, Corsica,…

The first car you get to play is the Ford Focus and then you unlock new cars such as the Subaru Impreza or the Lancia Stratos when you finish championship.For those who use to play Colin McRae Rally 2, this game is a must have. You will have the same fun playing. For the newbies, this is a must have too !

Another thing that I like about Colin McRae Rally is the controls, as it is pretty rare to find the buttons brake, acceleration, left and right of the screen without having to tilt your phone. And it works pretty well.

Pros

• Back to the good old days
• Great controls (shame that you can’t find the same in other racing games)
• Variety of rally ( Australia, Greece, Corsica, Kenya, Finland, Italy,…)

Cons

• Some weird car physics on some jumps
• Not enough cars !!
• Bit old graphics
• When a new Colin McRae Rally on mobile !

This was my top 5 free car racing games on Android. Let me know if you want to add more racing games to this top.