In a recent DiRT Rally 2.0 video, Chief Game Designer Ross Gowing revealed some details on the new and improved damage system found in the upcoming off-road racer.

Gowing explains that in DiRT Rally 2.0 you’ll be incurring repair costs throughout the stages for any damage your car receives.

This means you will need to manage your car’s damage between events as Gowing explains: “In previous games, you could hilariously stack very close to the finish line – tumble over the finish line – and there was no real consequence. The more we thought about it, the more we wanted people to take responsibility for the damage that they do to their vehicles…I’d recommend slowing down to the marshall posts!“.

Before you take on each stage you have to choose how much you want to invest in repairing your car. Can you get away with a quick fix of a component or two, or do you need to fully repair your car? These are the predicaments DiRT Rally 2.0 will through at you.

Damaging some key car components can have some cumulative effects too: “If you smash up your radiator, your engine is gonna suffer as a result because it’s not being cooled properly anymore and there’s various knock-on effects for all of our mechanical components“.

It certainly sounds as though you’ll need to be extra careful in DiRT Rally 2.0 then found previously which should add not only a new layer of strategy but also an extra level of challenge.

DiRT Rally 2.0 will release on February 26, 2019, across the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Players who purchase the Deluxe Edition can access the full title four days earlier, on February 22, 2019.

You can listen to our initial impressions on the first reveal of DiRT Rally 2.0 in our special edition podcast below.