Coastal Highway Trap 📡
Long straight along the coast, the most popular speed trap for testing top-speed builds. Deceptively simple , the road is long enough but there's a slight curve right before the trap.
Best Cars for Top Speed
This is the most popular speed trap in the game for a reason, it's basically a drag strip with an ocean view. The meta here is pure top speed, forget handling, forget cornering, you just need to go fast in a straight line. I've tested like 20 cars on this trap and fr the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolute is just broken, 300+ mph all day. But honestly, you don't need the Absolute, a well-tuned regular Jesko or Hennessey Venom F5 will clear 220 with room to spare. The key is your tune, not your car choice, any hypercar with 1400+ hp and the right gearing can 3-star this.
Ngl I spent way too long trying to make AWD work here before I realized RWD is actually faster on this specific trap. The road is straight enough that you don't need the AWD traction, and RWD has less drivetrain loss so you get more power to the wheels. Counterintuitive right? But I clocked 227 in a RWD Venom versus 221 in the AWD version, same tune otherwise. The Lotus Evija is also lowkey OP here, all that instant electric torque means you hit 220 before the radar even feels like you're trying. Don't bring anything under S2 class though, you're just wasting your time, this trap demands top end speed and nothing else matters.
Approach Strategy
So everybody thinks this trap is free because it's a straight road, and then they miss 220 by 3 mph and rage quit. I've seen it happen. The approach is simple but there's a slight rightward curve about 200 meters before the radar, and if you're not lined up correctly that curve scrubs just enough speed to fail. Start your run from the southern end of the highway where the road is perfectly straight, you get about 1200 meters of uninterrupted asphalt. That's enough for any maxed-out hypercar to hit terminal velocity.
And here's the thing, the radar is positioned slightly to the left side of the road, not dead center. I dunno why Playground Games did this but it means if you hug the right side of the road you have to make a tiny adjustment at the last second, and at 220+ that tiny adjustment costs speed. Took me like 8 attempts to figure this out. Stay on the left third of the road the whole run and you'll pass straight through the radar without any last-second steering. Also, there's a small bump in the road about 50 meters before the radar, stiffen your front suspension a bit or the car bounces and unsettles right when you need stability. Rewind cheese works here too if you miss by 1 or 2 mph, just rewind and adjust your entry angle slightly.
Common Mistakes
The biggest noob trap on Coastal Highway is bringing a stock hypercar and expecting it to work. It won't. You need a proper tune, specifically your final drive needs to let you hit peak power right around 220, not 200 or 240. I see so many people with their gearing completely wrong, topping out at 215 or shifting into 7th right before the radar and losing speed during the shift. Tune your gears man, it's 2 minutes in the upgrade menu and it's the difference between 2 stars and 3. Also, don't start your run from the gas station, I know it looks like a good landmark but there's a slight dip in the road there that scrubs your launch.
Second thing, people keep treating this like a skill test when it's actually a gear check. If your car can't hit 230+ on flat ground in free roam, it won't hit 220 through the radar. Go test your top speed on the highway first, then run the trap. And for the love of everything stop trying to use drag tires, they overheat on the long run-up and lose grip before you reach the radar. Semi-slicks or race tires, always. Also, traffic spawns near the tunnel entrance sometimes, a single AI car in the wrong lane and your run is over. Wait for a clear road or fast travel around to reset the spawns. This one is a patience test more than anything.
Weather and Road Tips
This is one of those traps where weather changes everything tbh. Dry is obviously ideal, light rain drops your top speed by maybe 5 mph which you can tune around. But heavy rain? Forget it man, the coastal section gets standing water in the drainage dips and hitting water at 200+ is basically instant spin. The coastal wind is also a factor most people ignore, a tailwind can add 3 mph, a headwind can steal 5. Check the wind direction before you start grinding, it makes a difference. Fog is the absolute worst though, you can't see the radar position and even though you know where it is, not being able to see it messes with your head and you lift early. Clear day, mid-afternoon, no wind, that's the sweet setup for 3 stars.