Apex Legends season 11 - how good is the C.A.R SMG?

Nothing gets meta heads and battle royale fanatics excited like a new gun, and Apex Legends season 11 has brought a shiny new SMG to the table to get everyone’s mouths watering. The C.A.R SMG joins popular close range powerhouses like the R-99 and Prowler, but can it stand up next to these classics?

To find out, we jumped into the Apex Legends: Escape update and messed around with the C.A.R to figure out how useful it actually is in tense games on Storm Point. Is it the Ferrari of SMGs, or your dad’s beat up Vauxhall Astra? Let's find out!

How good is the C.A.R SMG with no attachments?

The C.A.R SMG can use both light and heavy ammo, which is a super useful trait when dealing with its base 20-round magazine and high rate of fire. In early game fights where other players are often swarming around you, you chew through ammo incredibly fast. Being able to use two ammo types helps deal with an huge issue that other SMGs usually struggle with.

Switching ammo types does require an reload-style animation which takes slightly longer than a standard reload. This means that if you’re engaged in a firefight, you can switch between ammo types without getting caught out and helpless.

As you’d expect from an SMG, the base recoil is quite high, with an upwards recoil pattern that swings to the left slightly. It’s not too difficult to control this, even without a stock or barrel stabiliser. Regardless of whether you’re aiming down sights or shooting from the hip it isn’t difficult to trash enemies’ armour.

What are the best attachments for the C.A.R in Apex Legends?

The C.A.R SMG has attachment slots open for a magazine, sight, barrel stabilizer, and stock. What’s cool about the C.A.R is you can equip either a heavy or light ammo stock and the bonus ammo capacity will apply to the gun regardless of what ammo you’re using - so you’re not forced to pick a specific ammo type later on in games. It also helps you gear up in those early scrambles where SMGs excel.

Magazine upgrades boost ammo capacity to 22 rounds with common attachments / 24 rounds with rare attachments / 27 rounds with epic and legendary attachments. It goes without saying that more rounds in your mag will help you knock down enemies without having to swap over to your other weapon.

This leads into the major weakness with the C.A.R, which is the damage per shot. The C.A.R SMG deals 13 damage per shot to the body, 20 to the head, and 10 to legs. As such, you need to hit the vast majority of shots to wipe out a fully-armoured opponent. The idea seems to be that thanks to the unique quirk of the C.A.R you’ll be able to grab upgrades and tonnes of ammo early to help overcome this flaw, but in reality you’ll likely be reloading mid-fight.

Attachments that help control recoil like barrel stabilisers and stocks also become super important for the C.A.R for the same reason. The name of the game is grabbing attachments for the C.A.R as soon as you can to avoid disaster.

The Fully Upgraded C.A.R is dope

Fully upgraded, the C.A.R SMG melts people, and it’s a versatile replacement to other SMGs like the R-99, with a faster time-to-kill than the Prowler PDW or the Volt in hectic close-up fights. The only SMG you toss it aside for is the Alternator, a monster gun that has been transformed into a drop pod weapon this season, but other than that the C.A.R will treat you right.

Pair it with an assault rifle, LMG, or sniper which shares an ammo type (to prevent from clogging up your inventory with three different types of ammunition). Alternatively, take a Wingman if you’re one of those freaks that can consistently hit headshots from miles away.

What do you think about the C.A.R? Let us know below if it’s become one of your new go-to firearms in Apex Legends. If you’re not caught up on the update, Dorrani has a video detailing the Escape update and all the juicy new features you can expect. If you haven't caught the battle pass either, we've covered all the weapon and legend skins it contains here.