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- outsider819
This is a long one, the TLDR here is I did this as an exercise for myself with no intention of ever posting about it, other than with a few folks, I'm doing so now to encourage you to do the same. if you feel a game represents what driving should feel like better than others, you're right, but try to step back and take an objective look at least, you may surprise yourself.
All right, we've all asked it, I see it argued all the time on here (which is the real reason I'm posting this at all), which of these games is the most accurate representation of driving an actual race car? Well, first up, when people use the word physics (the word itself makes my skin crawl nowadays), they mean different things. There's many components to this in a game, there's the control implementation, how it feels to drive on your wheel or gamepad or what have you. There's the graphical representation, what you see on screen. And then there's the vehicle dynamics, which itself is made up of several different component parts such as the tire model, suspension and engine models, and how they interact with each other and are represented through the interfaces we have to work with. And everyone has preferences of which order is most important to them.
So, basically, a while back on the Youtube, I saw a video of a racer named Marc Miller doing a lap around Laguna Seca in a 2016 Porsche GT4 Clubsport. And then the lightbulb went off. Know what track is in almost every game? And what car has at least some version of in most of those those games? Well, here we go...
So, what can we see here? Well, obviously, the car is quite stiff and has an extremely positive front end. He's chasing the front with the rear through all stages of the corner. This one is running on Continental slicks, slightly harder and with less grip than the factory Michelins but with a more gradual falloff. This can all be confirmed by reading some reviews, here are a couple of them:
And then it was off to various forums and online groups to learn as much as possible about the car. Turns out, Porsche owners are a talkative and helpful bunch! So, I cribbed a real life setup as best I could using numbers from the various sources. I was a bit surprised how few games could actually get to the exact numbers I was looking for. Shocks were the tough part as the shock manufacturers aren't going to tell you anything, and even if they did, their numbers aren't going to correlate to anything in game, so I adjusted those as necessary along with differential, brake settings, etc.
And then we learn as much as we can about Laguna Seca, a track I would love to drive but have not, sadly. Axis of Oversteer has an excellent guide to it, though (and several other tracks, actually).
blog.axisofoversteer.com
So, we can see, pre-repave, Laguna was quite the handful to drive. Might explain some of the corrections we saw in the video. Although Assetto Corsa does indeed have a grip level option, most of these games feel like "The surface of the track is made of graywacke aggregate, shipped from Bayston Hill quarry in Shropshire, England. The surface material is highly acclaimed by circuit bosses and Formula 1 drivers for the high level of grip it offers, and by Bernie Ecclestone for the kickback money." Long story short, I don't think any of them do a great job here, although some games do a better job than others with "green" tracks, track temps, etc.
So, I set out with every game that I could to find out. The original project I had in mind was to test the cars and wheels as they were stock, then throw my setup on them, and then see what had to be done to make things as they should be. And I did a lot of that but in the end I only recorded some laps with the universal real-life setup. In all of these, I turned all assists off, which is not how the real car runs but I felt it was the fairest way to do it as some games definitely have better implementation of thing like traction control and such than others, and in some games I couldn't get the rear to step out at all with it on.
Games in order of appearance, with some notes:
Assetto Corsa (PC)
Assetto Corsa Competizione (Xbox Series X)
Automobilista 2
Forza Motorsport (XSX) This one started as a 2018 718 GTS modified with race tires to the correct width but not the correct wheel size, race suspension, and weight and power brought as close as I could get to the Clubsport MR
iRacing
Project Cars2 (XSX)
Projects cars 3 (XSX)
Raceroom Racing Experience
RFactor 2 Both the car and the track are community mods, the track unfortunately seems a few generations old, but made by someone with some familiarity with the facility if not the actual data to work with.
Apologies for quality, I don't really make videos so I really had no idea what I was doing. My wheel is a Logitech g920, a better wheel might make a difference with a lot of these but we can only work with what we have, plus I refuse to spend more on a game wheel than a day at the track with one of my actual vehicles. And yes, I know, I'm really pretty bad at racing games to begin with, I suck and am slow, you can do it better and faster and make a better video. So, like I said in the video, you should, I'd watch it.
So, what did I really think of all of these? I'll never tell. That's up to you to go find out for yourself. I will say all of them had high points and low points, some surprised me in unexpected ways and leave it at that.
All right, we've all asked it, I see it argued all the time on here (which is the real reason I'm posting this at all), which of these games is the most accurate representation of driving an actual race car? Well, first up, when people use the word physics (the word itself makes my skin crawl nowadays), they mean different things. There's many components to this in a game, there's the control implementation, how it feels to drive on your wheel or gamepad or what have you. There's the graphical representation, what you see on screen. And then there's the vehicle dynamics, which itself is made up of several different component parts such as the tire model, suspension and engine models, and how they interact with each other and are represented through the interfaces we have to work with. And everyone has preferences of which order is most important to them.
So, basically, a while back on the Youtube, I saw a video of a racer named Marc Miller doing a lap around Laguna Seca in a 2016 Porsche GT4 Clubsport. And then the lightbulb went off. Know what track is in almost every game? And what car has at least some version of in most of those those games? Well, here we go...
So, what can we see here? Well, obviously, the car is quite stiff and has an extremely positive front end. He's chasing the front with the rear through all stages of the corner. This one is running on Continental slicks, slightly harder and with less grip than the factory Michelins but with a more gradual falloff. This can all be confirmed by reading some reviews, here are a couple of them:
And then it was off to various forums and online groups to learn as much as possible about the car. Turns out, Porsche owners are a talkative and helpful bunch! So, I cribbed a real life setup as best I could using numbers from the various sources. I was a bit surprised how few games could actually get to the exact numbers I was looking for. Shocks were the tough part as the shock manufacturers aren't going to tell you anything, and even if they did, their numbers aren't going to correlate to anything in game, so I adjusted those as necessary along with differential, brake settings, etc.
And then we learn as much as we can about Laguna Seca, a track I would love to drive but have not, sadly. Axis of Oversteer has an excellent guide to it, though (and several other tracks, actually).
How to Drive FASTER: Laguna Seca
Axis of Oversteer: Speed Rules. Number 1 for Racing, Motorsport and car enthusiasts across the globe!
So, I set out with every game that I could to find out. The original project I had in mind was to test the cars and wheels as they were stock, then throw my setup on them, and then see what had to be done to make things as they should be. And I did a lot of that but in the end I only recorded some laps with the universal real-life setup. In all of these, I turned all assists off, which is not how the real car runs but I felt it was the fairest way to do it as some games definitely have better implementation of thing like traction control and such than others, and in some games I couldn't get the rear to step out at all with it on.
Games in order of appearance, with some notes:
Assetto Corsa (PC)
Assetto Corsa Competizione (Xbox Series X)
Automobilista 2
Forza Motorsport (XSX) This one started as a 2018 718 GTS modified with race tires to the correct width but not the correct wheel size, race suspension, and weight and power brought as close as I could get to the Clubsport MR
iRacing
Project Cars2 (XSX)
Projects cars 3 (XSX)
Raceroom Racing Experience
RFactor 2 Both the car and the track are community mods, the track unfortunately seems a few generations old, but made by someone with some familiarity with the facility if not the actual data to work with.
Apologies for quality, I don't really make videos so I really had no idea what I was doing. My wheel is a Logitech g920, a better wheel might make a difference with a lot of these but we can only work with what we have, plus I refuse to spend more on a game wheel than a day at the track with one of my actual vehicles. And yes, I know, I'm really pretty bad at racing games to begin with, I suck and am slow, you can do it better and faster and make a better video. So, like I said in the video, you should, I'd watch it.
So, what did I really think of all of these? I'll never tell. That's up to you to go find out for yourself. I will say all of them had high points and low points, some surprised me in unexpected ways and leave it at that.
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