1. I initially preferred the acceleration and speed upgrades only for my chariot/horse teams. This combined with the Auriga cornering skill made for a winning combination. Later I added one quality upgrade to the chariot (helps a lot to avoid having your chariot fall apart all the time) and the endurance upgrades to the horses.
2. Corresponding with the above, I preferred more open, long race tracks and avoided the short, narrow ones which may be better suited to an offensive/heavier chariot philosophy.
3. If your Auriga has any initial advantage, bet heavy and you can get a big payoff.
4. If circumstances are clearly not in your favour and you are unable to compete for the podium, it is best to simply finish the race without damaging the team. You get some money and will not have to pay to put things back together again.
5. Whip and whip often. If you want to win, you will need to spill some blood. Contrary to the manual, and unless I am way far ahead, I will whip every straight stretch at least once.
6. The AI auriga's are a mix of very good and very poor. You can learn a lot from how they compete. I know I learned a couple interesting things on how to take corners aggressively, something to keep in your back pocket when needed. Always protect yourself when adjacent or surrounded by the AI aurigas. Probably because I preferred the lighter, faster chariots, I was always a target of crashing and lacerations.
7. Auriga upgrades seem to occur very infrequently. I only kept one initial auriga and it took almost until the end before he got his third upgrade. I did not see one with 4 upgrades. I hired a few with two upgrades and even then only one got a third.
Now back to the races!
) Shocked and sheepish, it was time to call it a night.
