How to Drive in PUBG: The Complete Vehicle Guide

Are you the type of person who flips cars? Do you drive around aimlessly, never quite sure where you are going, always indecisive behind the wheel?

Then welcome to dweebh's PUBG driving school, where I'm going to transform you from that scared, frail and indecisive noob into a lean, mean driving machine.

Vehicles are a pivotal tool in PUBG, so driving is a skill every player needs. Nobody likes being the guy who gets their squad wiped because they flipped a car, crashed, or drove straight into a full team. Some of that is inevitable. But this guide aims to give you enough knowledge to feel confident behind the wheel, so your friends feel relief instead of fear when you take the driver's seat.

I hope you are taking notes, because there will be a test at the end. You'll need to answer 2 out of 3 questions correctly to earn your PUBG driver's license.

PUBG Vehicle Keybinds

Let's cover the basics first.

Keybinds Worth Changing

If you like to hang out of the vehicle to look around, rebinding your aim key to CTRL is a nice alternative to the default.

Seat swapping is the big one though. The default Ctrl + 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 is slow and awkward under pressure. Since you won't be leaning or going prone while driving, those keys are free real estate. Rebind your seat swaps to Q, E and X and you'll be able to change seats without ever taking your hand off the movement keys.

Don't Be Afraid to Drive

Before any of the mechanical stuff, there is a mindset to establish.

Are you the type of person who, when everyone piles into a vehicle spamming F, sees a steering wheel in your character's hands and immediately swaps seats? If that's you, I get it. Driving carries a lot of responsibility. One wrong crash, one bad route, or one flipped car at the worst possible moment and everyone dies. Nothing feels worse.

But that fear comes from a lack of experience. So after reading this, take what you learn and take the initiative. Force yourself to drive. Give the friend who always drives a break, because maybe he wants to shoot too. And if that one friend who always drives gets knocked and killed, who are you going to rely on then?

Just remember to learn from your mistakes.

Basic PUBG Driving Tips

Auto Acceleration

I'll shamefully admit this took me way too long to learn. Just like auto-run, pressing the + / = key enables auto acceleration, so you don't even need to hold W while driving.

Pressing W cancels the auto acceleration. Yeah, 4000 hours in and I can't believe I never knew about this one.

Using Boost Properly

Holding shift to use a car's boost is great for squeezing out extra km/h, but it can lead to excessive spinouts across certain terrain. Sand on Miramar, ice and snow on Vikendi, even grass on Erangel all affect your level of traction depending on the vehicle you're in.

So learning when to boost, and when not to, is important for avoiding spinouts and loss of traction.

Don't hold boost:

• When you're mid air and about to land. Wait to press shift until the tires hit the ground.
• When driving a Pickup, Mirado or Dune Buggy uphill or through hilly terrain, especially on Miramar. Since sand gives the least amount of traction, it's better to just hold W and leave shift alone through bumpy terrain.

How to Recover From a Spinout

There are two other good ways to avoid a spinout. First, letting off the gas temporarily will most of the time let the car regain traction.

Second, you can use the E-brake to counter swerving. If your car is swerving off to the left, tap or hold your E-brake while turning the car in the opposite direction.

Always Set Your E-Brake

When parking on a hill or even a slight slant, hold the E-brake until the car comes to a complete stop.

Nothing is worse than your team deciding to rotate, going to the car icon on the map, and finding out the car rolled from Stalber all the way down to Lipovka.

Beware of Bumps

PUBG's landscape is full of small divots and bumps that, if not respected, can send your car completely vertical or start you rolling, giving everyone in the squad car sickness.

When approaching any small bump or hill, let off the gas and give a slight pump of the brakes before you go over it. This lets your car maintain traction and dramatically reduces the chance of flipping or crashing.

How to Do a Drive By in PUBG

Performing a drive by is simple once your keybinds are sorted.

First, change your seat swap binds: Q for the rear driver side, E for the passenger seat, then X, mouse 4 or mouse 5 to get back into the driver seat. Use whatever works best for you.

Then simply drive, and don't let go of W. Swap seats, aim and fire. Never let go of W during a drive by, otherwise your car will come to a screeching halt. When you're done, press your assigned keybind to get back in the driver seat.

Know Your Destination

You should never drive aimlessly. Always have a destination in mind before you even get in the vehicle. Pre-planning your next rotation and your approach removes the stress of deciding while driving.

So pick a spot, talk it through with your team, draw a line and go.

Make sure to take your surroundings into consideration as well: where fights were happening, where other teams are, and the likelihood of your spot already being taken.

Once you have your spot and the team is rolling, try to avoid compounds and stay clear of active fights so you actually reach your destination.

If your destination gets compromised, one passenger should be the one coming up with an alternative route and destination. The driver should never be opening the map while driving, because driving distracted will literally get you killed in this game.

Approaching Compounds

Driving up on a compound is a gamble, especially mid to late game. Nothing is worse than pulling in haphazardly and getting murdered by a whole team because nobody was paying attention. So here are some best practices you should implement as the driver when approaching a set of buildings.

Scope It Out

If time allows, circle the compound before getting close enough for your team to get shot. Ask your passengers to look and scope it out, watching for any sign of a team that's either active or full blown ratting. This has saved my friends and me countless times, because we learned the hard way.

Compound Blind Sides

When pulling up to a set of buildings where you're uncertain whether a team is holding it, the best practice is to roll up to the blind side of the compound.

The blind side is generally the side with the fewest viewpoints and angles. If there is a team holding that position, they have very little visibility, which lets your team take space and fight comfortably.

Blind sides are incredibly useful when you have to crash a team sitting in a compound and you have no choice but to fight for positioning.

Going Quiet

Rolling quietly into a compound is another great way to sneak up on a team, or to take positioning without tipping off neighboring squads.

Once you have enough momentum, kill the engine by pressing Z, then coast using only A and D to steer.

While rolling quietly, the only way to apply the brakes is the space bar, your E-brake. Avoid pressing W, because that starts the engine back up and ruins the element of surprise.

How to Park Your Car Safely

Part of being a responsible driver is keeping your car safe.

A half done parking job leaves your car exposed to nearby teams, making it easy for them to pop your tires, which disables most vehicles and leaves you stranded on foot.

There are some best practices for parking that you may not be taking advantage of.

Buildings like flat tops, brick buildings and various warehouses have enough space to park a car comfortably inside. Before you get out of the vehicle, make a habit of reversing the car into a safe spot and out of view of other players.

Buildings without a garage are a different story. There, your best bet is to park right up against the building, or tucked away against a neighboring wall, keeping those tires safe. For added measure, you can drop a foldable shield in front of the exposed tires for an extra layer of protection.

Always back the car in, so when you're ready to rotate or need to leave in a hurry, the car is already facing forward and ready to go.

Don't be one of those driving school flunkies who leaves the car out in the open, telegraphing to everyone nearby that your team is here, and then loses the tires because of a lazy parking job.

A good driver always thinks ahead and keeps the team's next safe rotation front of mind.

Being a Good Passenger

A good driver is nothing without a calm and collected passenger. There should always be one passenger acting as the copilot, making smart decisions on the fly so the driver can focus on driving and nothing else.

Some tips for being a good passenger:

1. A good passenger is the one drawing the path on the map, giving the driver a clear line to follow that avoids compounds and potential teams. Drivers should never be opening a map while driving.
2. In duos, if your teammate is good at swapping seats, it's usually a courtesy to leave the passenger or rear seat open, just in case they want to get in on the action when shooting at a team.
3. When you're getting shot at, try to avoid hanging out of the vehicle. Cars offer excellent protection from bullets, so it's often wiser to keep your head down instead of trying to challenge.
4. This one is for the whole team, not just passengers: think ahead. Before leaving your landing spot, toss as much ammo and as many heals in the trunk as possible. Use the repair kit to grab a couple of spare tires while you're at it.

The PUBG Driver's Test

Alright kiddos, if you've made it this far it's time for your official dweebh's driving school driver's test. I hope you were taking notes.

If you got 2 out of 3 correct, congratulations. You've earned your official PUBG driver's license. You are now a certified PUBG automobile professional, ready to drive your team to victory.

Final Thoughts

Driving well in PUBG isn't one big skill, it's a stack of small habits: binds that let you swap seats without thinking, knowing when to lay off the boost, a destination picked before the engine starts, a blind side approach instead of a blind one, and a parking job that keeps the car alive for the next rotation.

Start with the two that cost your squad the most games: rebind your seat swaps, and stop driving without a destination. Those alone will make you noticeably better this session. Everything else layers on top from there.

Now stop swapping out of the driver's seat and go drive.