The Complete Guide to Engine Mapping in Assetto Corsa Competizione
Engine maps are a crucial part of your performance out on track, but it often goes overlooked. So, here’s everything you need to know about engine mapping in ACC.
Assetto Corsa Competizione (ACC) is a racing simulator that attempts to reproduce the experience of racing GT cars on various tracks in wet and dry conditions. This allows us, regular folks, to get some understanding of what it’s like to race those cars without spending a fortune and without worrying about getting into dangerous crashes.
Part of creating this type of simulation is to include as many real-world features as possible to create the highest level of immersion. Real GT cars have controls on the steering wheel to adjust fuel usage, engine performance, throttle maps etc. and ACC actually has these settings available for you to map to your steering wheel and to use while driving.
What is an engine map?
An engine map is essentially a table of data that is used to tell the engine what to do in certain situations. Meaning if the engine is running at 5000 RPM, then the fuel injection needs to supply a certain amount of fuel. However, this can change depending on how fast or slow the throttle can change position as well as a variety of other factors.
Simply put, an onboard computer controls the engine’s performance based on preset data. Since this data can be changed and stored, the car manufacturer can allow certain presets to be made available to the driver to adjust while driving. This then makes it easy for the driver to choose between a high-performance mode that can use more fuel but result in faster lap times or a lower-performance mode to use for fuel saving or better drivability in wet weather conditions.
What is a throttle map?
Generally, when you apply the throttle in sim racing or a real car, you would assume that 30% of throttle movement will result in 30% per cent of engine performance. However, this isn’t ideal in certain situations depending on how powerful the car’s engine is or if the track conditions are wet.
Typically in wet conditions, wheelspin out of slow corners is an issue that a driver has to manage with careful throttle control. A non-linear throttle map means you could apply 30% throttle and get maybe 10% engine performance. This allows the driver to have better control at low speeds in typically wet conditions to minimise loss of traction.
It must be noted, though, that the cars in ACC have Traction Control (TC) as standard, just like the real GT cars they are modelled after, so the issue of low-speed lack of traction isn’t such a problem if you manage the TC settings correctly. The setups provided by Coach Dave Academy already have the various engine maps, TC and ABS optimally set for wet and dry conditions. Since there are so many modes to choose from, with some being only subtly different from others, the Coach Dave Setups will save you a lot of time in finding the perfect modes for qualifying, the race and the odd time when the track is wet.
Final Thoughts
The following tables represent all of the engine maps for all of the GT3 cars in ACC. However, some vehicles have more or fewer modes depending on the manufacturer. This doesn’t necessarily mean that cars with more modes are faster than cars with fewer modes. It just means that some cars have more granular control of the various engine modes, but due to the way ACC balances the performance of the cars, it more or less works out to all of the cars having similar performances.
We suggest that you experiment with the various modes to understand better what they do and to be prepared to use them when needed. Having these settings mapped to your steering wheel will make it so much easier when you need to fuel save or when the weather changes and you need to adjust for low grip weather conditions.
Managing the maps for your GT3 car in ACC won’t make a huge difference in performance, but it will ensure that you will always be ready for any surprises the race may throw at you.
Aston Martin (V12 and V8 GT3)
Dry Weather Maps
1
Fastest mode with high fuel usage
2
Slightly slower mode with normal fuel usage and very aggressive throttle map
3
Slightly slower mode with normal fuel usage and a progressive throttle map
4
Slowest dry weather mode race mode, lowest fuel consumption with a progressive throttle map
Wet Weather Maps
5
Similar to dry 2 & 3 map, normal fuel consumption with slightly progressive throttle map
6
A bit slower, less fuel consumption and progressive wet throttle map
7
Identical to 6 with more progressive throttle map
Pace Car Map
8
Very slow map and low fuel usage for Pace Car situations
Audi R8 (GT3 and GT3 EVO)
Dry Weather Maps
1
Fastest high fuel usage
2 and 3
A bit slower, normal fuel usage 2 different throttle maps
4
Slowest, less fuel usage, same throttle map as level 3
Wet Weather Maps
5
Fast map, normal fuel usage with slightly wet throttle map
6 and 7
A bit slower map with less fuel usage and 2 different wet throttle maps
Pace Car Map
8
Very slow map and low usage for Pace Car situations
Bentley Continental GT3 (2016 and 2018)
Dry Weather Maps
1
Fastest with high fuel usage
2 and 3
A bit slower, normal fuel usage with 2 different throttle maps
4
Slowest, less fuel usage, same throttle map as level 3
Wet Weather Maps
5
Fast map, normal fuel usage with slightly wet throttle map
6 and 7
A bit slower map with less fuel usage and 2 different wet throttle maps
Pace Car Map
8
Very slow map and low fuel usage for Pace Car situations
AI Coaching that actually works
Don't get lost in the data, instantly unlock lap time using our new real-time Auto Insights coaching. Elevate your braking, apex, and exit performance in record time.
If you buy something from a Coach Dave link, we may earn a commission.
This post was written by
Vinodh Moodley
Vinodh Moodley is a writer who’s been covering mainly tech news and sim racing on various websites since 2013. He has a passion for technology, engineering and, of course, motorsport. Vinodh has been involved in sim racing both online and offline for over 20 years. He has won two iRacing Grand Prix Series divisional championships, along with race wins in several other iRacing categories. Vinodh has raced the majority of racing sims but specialises in iRacing and Assetto Corsa Competizione. Vinodh is also highly experienced in PC building as well as sim racing hardware. This includes the design and construction of sim racing hardware like steering wheels and sim rigs, as well as the installation and setup of off-the-shelf Logitech and Fanatec equipment.
Subscribe to the Coach Dave. Join tens of thousands of subscribers who get the best of sim racing in their inbox every day.
Do You Know How to Get Faster?
Remove the mystery of racing telemetry data with Auto Insights in Delta 4.0, our turn-by-turn AI coaching & analysis app. Improve YOUR braking, cornering & throttle management with Auto Insights (AI)
We use cookies to enhance your experience by storing information on your device. Allowing cookies helps us understand your browsing preferences on this site.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.