In contrast to Dirt 2 , in this installment there are other playing modes than career available, e.g. a single race. But the career is still the heart of the game; here the player tunes his car, participates in races and earns experience points, which are used to unlock new cars. There are six different race modes to solve during the career; e.g. regular races and "trailblazer" (no passenger available). Two of those are newly introduced: drift tournaments and Gymkhana, which are basically confined areas with a lot of stunt opportunities - the goal is to perform as many as possible in a limited time. Additionally every mode has special tricky bonus goals which reward more experience when fulfilled.