Vehicle damages and its repairs | Basic information NfS Rivals Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
Cars in Need for Speed Rivals are not indestructible but it is also not like this, that a vehicle controlled by you will be annihilated in one powerful crash with another vehicle or obstacle. So do not worry if you suddenly fall down into an abyss during the race or head-bump with another civilian vehicle (a short crush cut-scene), because if your car's energy bar is not completely empty (bottom right corner, next to the speedometer), after a moment you'll continue the ride and lose only precious seconds, slightly reducing your chances to win the current race or get out of the pursuit.
An important role here is played by your car's durability factor (Durability), as it determines how much damage the given machine is able to take, before it is good only for scrap. Police vehicles are generally more durable that cars used by racers, but a lot depends also on the car type and its upgrades. More details can be found in proper guide chapter.
When you are close to total and irreversible destruction of the car you control, you'll be informed about it with a critical damage message. In addition the energy bar in the lower right corner will get red. This is the moment, when you have to watch out, because each successive greater crash will result in end of the fun. What does it mean? The loss of all gathered speedpoints (SP) since the last visit in the hideout/mobile command post. But this is not all, because if you are in the middle of the race, it will be canceled automatically without possibility of ending it and immediately restarting it.
The best way to "regenerate" the energy bar of the controlled car, is getting through repair shops located in the game world (example is shown on the attached screen). It also involves simultaneous refill of purchased pursuit technologies (more on Pursuit Tech can be found in chapters on both career modes). This means that you do not have to cancel the current race, being able to accumulate points in a given session.
It is worth mentioning that visiting repair shops is free of charge and you can return there whenever you want. In an emergency it is also good to use EasyDrive navigation, because one of its functionalities is to automatically map the route to the nearest repair shop.
Besides visiting repair shops, the energy bar is refilled when you visit a hideout/mobile command post, but be careful not to being hit at the last moment when trying to park at the given gateway spot.