Driving in Project Zomboid

Walk to the driver door and press E to get in. If you have no key, open the vehicle radial with V and hotwire it; the hotwiring guide covers the skill needs and the alarm risk. Once the engine runs, the default keys below drive the car. You can rebind all of them in the options, and the full key list is on the controls page.

Gears change automatically by default, so most players never touch them. Cruise control holds a set speed while you steer, and each press of Shift with W or S changes the target by 5 (one source). Some sources say Build 42 added an optional manual gearbox with shift keys, but we could not confirm that from an official source, so check your Vehicle key bindings before relying on it.

The speedometer reads in km/h, not mph. Each car model has a top speed set in its script, and its engine rolls a quality at spawn, so two cars of the same model can feel different. A low-quality engine gives roughly 60 percent of the listed engine force and a good one gives full force. Use the vehicle list for every model and best vehicles for picks.

Heavy vehicles carry more momentum. They push through obstacles better but take longer to stop and turn. Rain, snow and patches of corpses make tires slide, and a car taken into a corner too fast on a wet road can spin or roll. No source we trust publishes braking distances for Build 42, so treat these as rules of thumb.

• Opinion: brake before a turn, not in it. Most crashes happen when you steer and brake hard at once.
• Opinion: in rain or snow, keep below about half your top speed. The weather guide explains when roads get slick.
• Worn tires, brakes and suspension make handling worse; keep them repaired with the Mechanics skill.

Running into zombies is possible, but every hit costs the car something. Bumpers, headlights and the engine wear down over time, and each impact makes noise that draws more walkers. Older player tests found that hits at low speed tended to knock zombies down with little damage, while fast head-on hits killed them but dented the hood and cracked the windshield. Those tests date from the early vehicle builds, long before Build 42, so the exact speeds are not given here.

A zombie that reaches the car will attack the windows. If a window is open or already broken, it can grab you through it. In Build 42, zombies can also crawl under parked vehicles, set by the Crawl Under Vehicle option in sandbox settings.

• Opinion: a thin line of two or three zombies on an open road is fine to clip at modest speed. A crowd that fills the road is not; the car slows, bodies pile up under the wheels and you can get stuck in the middle.
• Opinion: never drive into a horde while towing. The towing guide explains why trailers stall at corners.
• Keep rear windows intact and closed. Smashing a window to get in leaves a gap zombies can use.

Hitting a wall, tree, pole or another car at speed damages the vehicle and can injure everyone inside. The Indie Stone added player injuries from car crashes during the original vehicle builds, and crashes still hurt in Build 42. We could not find reliable Build 42 numbers for how much damage a crash does at a given speed, so this page does not list any.

In practice, a low-speed bump scuffs the bumper, while a fast crash can leave you with wounds that need bandaging. Treat crash injuries like any other wound; see first aid.

Opinion: most fatal crashes come from driving at top speed at night or in rain into a wreck you did not see. Slow down near towns, where abandoned cars block lanes and corners.

A running engine is loud, and zombies across a wide area turn toward it. The horn and a car alarm are louder still. We found no confirmed Build 42 figure for how many tiles away an engine is heard, so we do not give one. A muffler in good condition reduces engine noise, which is one reason to keep it repaired. For other noise sources, see stealth and alarms.

Headlights let you see the road, but they also make the car visible. Players report that night driving got harder after the Build 42.20 lighting changes, so dark roads now hide wrecks and zombies until they are close. The lighting guide covers how light works.

• Opinion: drive at night only on roads you already know, and well below top speed.
• Turn headlights, heater and radio off when the engine is off, or the battery drains.

Grass, dirt and forest slow every vehicle and burn more fuel than paved road. Pickups and SUVs handle rough ground better than cars and vans, but none of them are built for deep forest. If you get stuck, stop accelerating, reverse straight back along your tracks and try a firmer line. Opinion: carry a spare tire and a jack before any trip off the map's roads.

Fuel use rises with engine size and load. Large trucks drink more gas than small cars. Pumps hold a limited amount of fuel and need power or a generator to work; see the fuel guide for siphoning and pumps.

Two traits change driving. Speed Demon costs 1 point and the game describes it as "drives very fast." Sunday Driver gives back 1 point and is described as "drives very slow." The two cannot be taken together. Some older guides quote exact top-speed and acceleration changes, but one Build 42 source states there is no fixed bonus in the current game files, so the exact effect is uncertain. More on traits is on the traits and occupations page.

Always switch the engine off when you park. A running engine wastes fuel, keeps making noise and can drain the battery. You also cannot siphon fuel while the engine runs.

• Park facing out, so you can leave forward without reversing.
• Leave space around the car. A wall of parked cars is a delay, not a barrier, because some zombies crawl underneath.
• Close every window and lock the doors before walking away.

Most cars seat two or four. The six-seat Franklin Valuline is the largest common passenger vehicle. In multiplayer, any player can drive a hotwired car, so agree on who keeps the keys. For repairs and parts, see the vehicles guide, and keep your weapons and tools in order with maintenance.