In Star Wars: Galactic Racer, the Ramjet Field Test puts you in an experimental vehicle and has you cover a set distance with the Ramjet engaged. The target is about 70–90% of the whole course, so whether you’re dodging lava or sliding on ice, passing comes down to keeping the Ramjet on almost all the way to the finish.
Experimental vehicles handle heat well: even ones without Uncapped Cooling can run with the Ramjet on for close to 2 minutes. What actually makes you fail is crashing and time spent with your boost on gold (Afterburner), not heat. Failing doesn’t cost you a League Token, but you won’t get the rewards or Kit Points either.
How Do You Pass the Ramjet Field Test?
Before the start, the game shows the target distance and a warning for that course (such as “Avoid lava”).
While you race, the number at the top of the screen is the distance you’ve covered with the Ramjet on. Cross the finish line with that number at or above the target and you pass; finish short of it and you fail. Once you go past the target, a check mark appears in front of the number.
There’s no time limit. The result is decided when you finish the set number of laps, and if you haven’t reached the target by then, you fail.
The number only goes up while the Ramjet is on. It doesn’t go up in these cases:
- While the HUD is gold (you’re on Afterburner)
- While you’ve let go of the Ramjet
- From a crash until you’re moving again
- While you’re going the wrong way
Press R3 to Switch to Blue as Soon as You Start
Field Tests start with your boost on gold (Afterburner). If you just drive off like that, your distance stays at 0 no matter how long you go. As soon as you start, press R3 to turn the HUD blue, then fire the Ramjet with ×.
On Ramjet, you cover about 100m per second. Waste 10 seconds at the start and that alone leaves you about 1,000m short. If you switch to blue right after the start, avoid crashing and hold the Ramjet all the way to the finish, you’ll cover about 1.1 times the target. That’s all a passing run takes.
Targets Are 68–92% of the Course, Leaving 1,090–6,740m Without Ramjet
All 25 targets fall between 68% and 92% of the course length (counting every lap). The Distance without Ramjet column in the table below is all the slack you have for the gold start, crashes and going the wrong way.
The tightest is Debris Dunes (Reverse) on Jakku, at about 1,090m. That’s only around 10 seconds of Ramjet. Uncapped Cooling is one of the heat Parts fitted to experimental vehicles (more on that in the next section).
| Course and vehicle | Target | Distance without Ramjet | Uncapped Cooling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overflow Rally Skim Speeder, 4 laps, lava | 12,000m | ~1,730m | Yes |
| Moro Kehn Tunnels (Reverse) Skim Speeder, 2 laps, lava | 12,250m | ~2,290m | Yes |
| Moro Kehn Tunnels Speeder Bike, 2 laps | 11,900m | ~2,920m | Yes |
| Griffin’s Flight Speeder Bike, 2 laps, lava | 16,500m | ~3,720m | Yes |
| Geothermal Tour Landspeeder, point-to-point, lava | 12,250m | ~3,800m | Yes |
| Geothermal Tour Landspeeder, point-to-point | 10,980m | ~5,070m | Yes |
Distances are approximate, measured along the track path in the game’s data. Taking shortcuts eats into your slack a little.
Complete Ramjet Field Tests 6 times in total and you’ll unlock Smuggler’s Hope, a Favor from Soren Zaks. It lets you buy one Part at Hibi’s Shop for 50% off (up to 99% off as you level it up).
Our Favor list covers what each Favor does and the other ways to unlock them.
How Do You Keep the Ramjet On Without Overheating?
Experimental vehicles come fitted with Parts that keep Ramjet heat in check.
| Part | Effect | Experimental vehicles with it |
|---|---|---|
| Optimized Radiators III | Ramjet cooldown after use improved by 80% | All |
| Heat Reduction II–IV | Ramjet generates 10–30% less heat | All |
| Ramjet Cooling II–IV | Speed-based Ramjet cooling improved by 20–40% | All |
| Uncapped Cooling | Ramjet temperature can decrease while active | Only 12 |
That’s why experimental vehicles can keep the Ramjet on far longer than you can in a normal race. With Uncapped Cooling, the white (heat) on the gauge stops at around 50%. Even without it, the white only grows by about 5% every 10 seconds, turning pink after about a minute and a half and red at close to 2 minutes.
There’s no need to let go early like you would in a normal race. Once it turns pink, let go at some point before it hits red to cool it down.
To check which Parts are fitted, press Touchpad to open your Build.
Let Go When It Turns Red: An Explosion Stops You for Over 10 Seconds
When the gauge turns red, let go right away. On your starting vehicle (with no Parts), the white fills up about 7 seconds after you fire the Ramjet, and if you keep going in the red, it explodes within a few seconds and you crash. If you let go once it’s red, the gauge turns dark red and you can’t fire the Ramjet again for a few seconds while the heat comes down.
Turn on Auto-Deactivate Ramjet under Accessibility in the settings, and while you’re Redlining, the Ramjet shuts off automatically just before it would explode. In a Field Test, an explosion is the costliest mistake you can make, so keep this on. How heat rises and falls is explained under “What’s the difference between Ramjet and Afterburner?” in our Beginner’s Guide.
A Crash Puts You Back on Gold, Too
When you get going again after a crash, your boost is back on gold (Afterburner). If you don’t notice, you’ll drive on without adding any distance. Once you’re moving, switch back to blue with R3 first thing.
Distance covered on gold Afterburner doesn’t count. Going faster just means you use up the course sooner.
Don’t Let Go in Corners: Brake Through Them
Every time you let go of the Ramjet for a corner, you lose that much distance. Keep it on and slow down with the L2 brake to make the turn. There’s no time limit, so going slower costs you nothing.
Don’t brake on the straights, though. The Ramjet cools faster at higher speeds, so keeping it on while going slow lets heat build up more easily.
How Do You Pass the Lava Courses?
Lantaana has 6 Field Tests, and 4 of them open with the warning “Avoid lava.” Touching lava inflicts Burning, which makes Ramjet heat shoot up. While you’re Burning, heat is slow to come down even after you let go of the Ramjet.
Take the Entrance With the Glowing Guide Lamps
Where the road splits in front of a lava cave, the entrance with the glowing guide lamps is the correct route. Take any other entrance and you’ll end up driving over lava.
In the cave on the correct route, lava only flows along both sides. Stay in the middle and you won’t touch it; even with the Ramjet on all the way through, heat only rises to about 50–60%.
Staying Off the Walls Decides Pass or Fail
On lava courses, crashes make you fail more often than heat does. Take the corner just past the cave exit at Ramjet speed and you’ll hit the wall. Once you’re out of the cave, brake with L2 before the corner and then turn.
Each crash stops your distance count for over 10 seconds until you’re moving again and back on blue. The 4-lap Overflow Rally gives you about 1,730m of slack, which is under 20 seconds of Ramjet, so 2 crashes use it all up. Crash 4 times and your distance stops counting for about 70 seconds in total, leaving you about 1,800m short of the target.
How Do You Run the Acid, Ice, Shade and Mine Courses?
Besides lava, 4 other warnings can appear before the start.
Ice Courses Freeze You Almost the Whole Way
On Ando Prime’s 3 courses, 87–97% of the track is cold. You become Frozen as you race, and while Frozen you turn more slowly and slide sideways more easily. Being Frozen doesn’t affect Ramjet heat by itself.
The Speeder Bike has it hardest. When Frozen, its turning power while braking is cut in half, and its turning arc with Kinetic Burst gets much wider. Braking once you’re already in the corner won’t get you around it, so the trick is to slow down before the corner.
Each course has 4–11 Defrosters (warm spots) along it that clear Frozen. Drive through one whenever you see it.
On Acid Courses, Stay Off the Acid
Sentinel I courses show “Avoid acid.” Touching acid makes you Corroded, which disables your Ramjet. Keep touching it and you’ll crash, so pick a line that keeps you off the acid.
On Hot Courses, Keep the Ramjet On in the Shade
The War Fields on Jakku (Speeder Bike) shows “Utilize shade to keep cool.” Heat climbs easily in the sun and drops in the shade. Keep the Ramjet on through the shade without letting go, and in the sun, let go before it turns red.
On Mine Courses, Give the Mines a Wide Berth
Five courses show “Avoid Concussion Mines,” and they have 11–20 mines placed near the route. Mines blow up when you get close, and getting caught in the blast leaves you Concussed and with a System Malfunction. Swing wide around any mines as you pass.
No Warning? Watch Out for Leaving the Track and Going the Wrong Way
Six courses show only “Complete the target distance.” at the start. Among them, Debris Dunes (Reverse) and Crimson Mines (Speeder Bike) have targets at a steep 92% of the course and no Uncapped Cooling.
On Jakku’s wide stretches of sand, it’s easy to leave the track, lose your bearings and end up going the wrong way. If you leave the track and go the wrong way, your distance stops counting for about 20 seconds while you turn around and get back on blue. Debris Dunes gives you only about 10 seconds of Ramjet slack, so a single wrong-way trip means you fail.
If you end up going the wrong way, first turn until “WRONG WAY” at the top of the screen disappears, then switch the HUD to blue and fire the Ramjet again.
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