Understanding City Car Driving 2 City Car Driving How To Start Car Issues

I’ve been playing City Car Driving 2 for a while now, and I’ll be honest—getting the car to actually start and move was one of the most frustrating hurdles I faced when I first booted it up. The game bills itself as a realistic driving simulator, and it doesn’t hold your hand. If you’re coming from arcade racers, the sheer number of steps to just get the engine running can feel overwhelming. I’ve seen threads where people press every key on their keyboard and still hear nothing but silence. After hours of testing with my Logitech G29 wheel and a basic keyboard setup, I cracked the code. Here’s what I learned, step by step.

Proven Fixes for City Car Driving 2 City Car Driving How to Start Car

I’ll walk you through the exact sequence I use every time now. These fixes worked for me on both keyboard and wheel setups.

1. Fasten your seatbelt (B key): I know it sounds silly, but City Car Driving 2 won’t let you start the engine unless you’re buckled in. I sat there for ten minutes pressing E (the engine start key) before I realized I hadn’t pressed B. It’s a safety feature built into the simulation. Press B once and you’ll see the seatbelt icon appear on the HUD.
2. Engage the parking brake (Spacebar): This one tripped me up too. The parking brake must be toggled OFF before the car will move. Press Spacebar to release it. You’ll hear a click and the brake indicator should disappear. If you’re using a wheel, map this to a button on the wheel—I use the right paddle shifter for convenience.
3. Press the brake pedal, then start the engine (E key): This was the big “aha” moment for me. In real automatic cars, you can’t shift into gear without pressing the brake. City Car Driving 2 simulates this perfectly. I was hammering the E key with no luck until I held the brake pedal down (or pressed the S key on keyboard) and then pressed E. The engine roared to life immediately. If you’re on a wheel, make sure your brake pedal is calibrated—I had to adjust the deadzone in the control settings to get it to register 100%.
4. Shift into Drive (D key or 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0): For automatic transmission cars, press D to shift into Drive. For manual, press 1 for first gear. The game’s default mapping uses the number row for gears, but I found that you need to be in Neutral (N) first. I press N, then D. If you’re using a wheel shifter, make sure it’s mapped correctly in the control settings—mine defaulted to a weird configuration and I had to remap it manually.
5. Apply gas (Up Arrow or accelerator pedal): Once the car is in gear and the brake is released, press the Up Arrow (or your wheel’s gas pedal) gently. The car should start rolling. If it revs but doesn’t move, double-check that the parking brake is off and you’re in the correct gear. I once spent ten minutes revving in Park (P) because I forgot to shift into Drive.

If you’re still having trouble after these steps, I recommend reinstalling the game. Make sure you have a legitimate copy—I grabbed my City Car Driving 2 PC Game Key from a trusted source and never had activation issues. A fresh install cleared up a weird input detection bug I had with my G29.

City Car Driving 2 How to Start Car Fix Checklist

Here’s a quick bullet-point recap I keep on my second monitor when teaching friends:

• Seatbelt on? Press B.
• Parking brake off? Press Spacebar.
• Brake pressed? Hold S (keyboard) or press brake pedal.
• Engine started? Press E while holding brake.
• In the right gear? Press D (auto) or 1 (manual).
• Gas applied? Press Up Arrow or accelerator pedal.

If the car revs but doesn’t move, check your transmission type in the settings. I accidentally had manual selected while driving an automatic car once—that caused the exact “revving but no movement” issue.

City Car Driving 2 Minimum System Requirements

I also noticed some performance issues that made the car feel unresponsive. Make sure your rig meets these specs (I run on a desktop with a GTX 1060 and it’s smooth):

• OS: Windows 7 SP1 / 8 / 8.1 / 10 (64 Bit only)
• Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core 3.2 GHz / AMD Athlon II X4 3.1 GHz
• Memory: 4 GB RAM (I recommend 8 GB for smoother operation)
• Graphics: AMD Radeon R7 240 / nVidia GeForce GT 740 or better
• DirectX: Version 11
• Storage: 10 GB available space
• Sound Card: Any DirectX-compatible sound card
• VR Support: SteamVR or Oculus PC. Keyboard or gamepad required.
• Warning: The game’s developers note that correct operation on laptops and integrated video cards is not guaranteed. I tried it on my old laptop with an Intel i3 and integrated graphics—it crashed constantly. A dedicated gaming PC is strongly recommended.

If you’re still stuck after all this, consider upgrading your hardware. For a verified copy that works without DRM headaches, pick up a City Car Driving 2 PC Game Key—it saved me from a dodgy key I bought elsewhere that wouldn’t even launch.