Le Mans Ultimate Hypercars – The Definitive Guide

If you want endurance racing, you look to the World Endurance Championship. If you want the pinnacle of endurance racing, you look to the Hypercar class.

Le Mans Ultimate does an incredible job of bringing all of this to life, with all of the real teams, liveries, and drivers from the 2023, 2024 and 2025 seasons of the World Endurance Championships.

They have offline WEC Race Weekends for you to create and participate in, they have Online Championships for you to test yourself against the best in class, and they have fixed daily racing schedules for you to have some fun with.

The hypercar class is also the most complex class in the World Endurance Championship, so let’s break it all down for you with this handy guide.

The Hypercar Class

Hypercar is the premier class in the World Endurance Championship. It was introduced to the series for the 2021 season, taking over from LMP1, which had headed the championship since its inception in 2012. 

As the prestigious Audi and Porsche pulled out of LMP1 in 2016 and 2017, respectively, entries to Le Mans’s top class slowly dwindled, forcing the FIA and ACO to build a more affordable category that aligned closely with manufacturers’ road-going platforms. Thus, Hypercar was born.

The Hypercar class marks a new era of convergence in prototype racing, made up of cars built to either the LMH or LMDh regulations that can run in the American IMSA championship alongside the WEC. 

Sim racers have come to know and love LMDh cars such as the Porsche 963 and Cadillac V-Series.R from iRacing and Automobilista 2, which feature official IMSA licensing, but the cars currently exclusive to the World Endurance Championship have yet to be seen in the virtual world – until Le Mans Ultimate’s. 

Now you get to experience every single Hypercar from the 2023, 2024 and 2025 season, as Le Mans Ultimate brings the World Endurance Championship to life. Yes, you can drive the Vanwall 680 or Glickenhaus SCG007 from 2023, or the latest and greatest Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH from 2025, with everything in between!

LMH & LMDh Differences

When the initial blueprints for the Hypercar class were being drawn up, a golden opportunity for performance unification was presented as IMSA planned to update its premier category, DPi, at a similar time. 

It was announced at the beginning of 2020 that a trans-Atlantic collaboration would allow the informally named DPi 2.0 class, now branded as Le Mans Daytona h (LMDh), to race in the WEC alongside LMH cars with a BoP, signifying a new era of convergence in top-flight endurance racing.

So, history lesson out of the way, let’s dive into the key technical differences between the two rule sets:

• LMDh cars must use spec hybrid systems that deliver power through only the rear axle
• LMH cars are not mandated to feature electrification. If they do have a hybrid system, electric power must be delivered through the front wheels at a speed set by BoP
• LMDh monocoques and suspension must be from Oreca, Dallara, Ligier or Multimatic, whilst LMH offers much more freedom, albeit at an increased cost

But what does that mean for you? The most notable difference between the LMDh cars and the LMH cars in Le Mans Ultimate comes from their powertrains. 

You will need to manage the usage of your electrical power differently when swapping between the two different rulesets, as HY cars like Cadillac and Porsche LMDhs feature 50KW batteries, whilst the hybrid LMH cars have comparatively huge 200KW systems. 

On the flip side, you will feel the differences in their two-wheel and four-wheel deployment styles, whilst the combustion-only LMH cars will offer a different experience on throttle and in strategy altogether.

Virtual Energy with Hypercars

This brings us to what is likely the most important aspect of the Hypercar class, that being the electric motor maps and energy deployment systems that Hypercars rely on, and how they impact the LMDh and LMH cars in several different ways to ensure maximum performance.

Specifically, Coach Dave Academy teamed up with Alen Terzic – an rF2 pro now on LMU – who has helped us by supplying all his technical know-how with Hypercars, to explain exactly how the electric motor maps work in Le Mans Ultimate.

There is so much technical know-how that is useful; we’ve created its very own tutorial blog you can read here.

The Hypercars in Le Mans Ultimate

All the hypercars in Le Mans Ultimate are represented and segmented by the season they were involved in the World Endurance Championship. Each of the 2023, 2024 and 2025 seasons has Hypercars unique to that year, with different variations of aero packages, liveries, teams, driver line-ups, and race numbers.

LMH cars, such as the history-making Ferrari 499P that won the 2023, 2024, and 2025 24 hours of Le Mans, are featured, along with the 2024 Championship-leading Porsche 963 LMDh cars. Both are particular highlights of the class, both of which handle just as good as they look. Below you can see where they all line up:

2023 WEC Season:

• Cadillac V-series.R
• Ferrari 499P
• Glickenhaus SCG007
• Peugeot 9X8 2023 – No Wing
• Porsche 963
• Toyota GR010
• Vanwall 680

2024 WEC Season:

• Alpine A424
• BMW M Hybrid V8
• Cadillac V-Series.R
• Ferrari 499P
• Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6
• Lamborghini SC63
• Peugeot 9X8 2024 – Wing
• Porsche 963
• Toyota GR010

2025 WEC Season:

• Alpine A424
• Aston Martin Valkyrie
• BMW M Hybrid V8
• Cadillac V-Series.R
• Ferrari 449P
• Peugeot 9X8 2025
• Porsche 963
• Toyota GR010

Let’s look into the 2025 runners and riders in more detail to see how they stack up against each other:

Alpine A424 

Car	Ruleset	Engine	Hybrid?	Exclusive to LMU?	Setups
Alpine A424	LMDh	3.4-litre V6 Turbo	Yes	Yes	Link

After the team unveiled the Alpine A424 ahead of the centenary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023 and boasting a formidable line-up of drivers, the French manufacturer made a return to top-flight endurance racing in 2024 with a two-team entry into the World Endurance Championship. 

Having won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979, they have one goal in mind: to repeat the feat in the modern era. The 2024 campaign was a positive return; aside from the double DNF at Le Mans, they have managed to find themselves on the podium to be the best newcomer of the series. 

In the manufacturer’s championship, they finished fourth overall, edging out the likes of the BMWs, Lamborghinis, Cadillacs and Peugeots, although they were almost 100 points away from the podium spots.

In 2025, Alpine have managed to bag two podium finishes so far and things are looking up, although they haven’t been as consistent. They sit 6th in the manufacturer standings right now.

Aston Martin Valkyrie

Car	Ruleset	Engine	Hybrid?	Exclusive to LMU?	Setups
Aston Martin Valkyrie	LMH	6.5 litre V12	No	Yes	Link

The Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR- LMH marks the British marque’s return to top-class endurance racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for 2025. Based on the radical road-going Valkyrie hypercar, the LMH version is developed in collaboration with Heart of Racing and engineered by Aston Martin Performance Technologies.

The project revives Aston Martin’s ambitions after its previous Valkyrie-based Hypercar program was paused in 2020. Re-entering competition in 2025, the Valkyrie AMR-LMH features a naturally aspirated V12 engine, adapted for endurance racing, and competes against other factory-backed entries in the Hypercar class.

While both cars have successfully completed every race since Qatar, the pace and competitiveness are still to be found with P12 in the 2025 24 Hours Le Mans, the highest finishing position so far. The Valkyrie LMH aims to reestablish Aston Martin as a top contender on the world stage of endurance racing.

BMW M Hybrid V8

Car	Ruleset	Engine	Hybrid?	Exclusive to LMU?	Setups
BMW M Hybrid V8	LMDh	4.0-litre twin-turbo V8	Yes	No	Link

The BMW M Hybrid V8 was another that rejoined the grid in 2024 and was also the first 2024 Hypercar to be included in Le Mans Ultimate for free. 

BMW are previous winners of Le Mans, with the German outfit taking overall victory in the 1999 season. Fast forward 25 years, and BMW returned with two BMW M Hybrids entries in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship season, carried over into the 2025 season.

The 2024 campaign hadn’t been the best with a season best result being 6th place, until Fuji, where the team finally found themselves on the podium, sealing a second place finish behind Porsche before ending the season with a 5th place finish at Bahrain.

2025 started much stronger with a 4th place finish in the opener before a podium in round 2. Although they dropped back off the pace and have had poor results in the season since. Maybe they can refind their form towards the final rounds.

Cadillac V-Series.R

Car	Ruleset	Engine	Hybrid?	Exclusive to LMU?	Setups
Cadillac V-Series.R	LMDh	5.5-litre naturally aspirated V8	Yes	No	Link

Perfectly representing what an American-made prototype should look and sound like, the Cadillac V-Series.R is a striking entry to the Hypercar class. 

It was one of only two LMDh cars on the 2023 WEC grid, before Alpine, BMW and Lamborghini joined the party, although unlike Stuttgart’s 963, it utilises a Dallara-built chassis.

However, what really sets it apart is its huge 5.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine, the largest displacement of any Hypercar, that produces a soul-shaking roar that sim racers simply fall in love with. And rightly so. That was until Aston came into the picture with its 6.5-litre V12.

The V-Series.R didn’t taste victory in either 2023 or 2024 in the WEC but claimed a podium with Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook at the 2023 24 hours of Le Mans. Across the pond, it won the IMSA title with Wheelen Engineering Racing, proving its potential.

2025 is a different story, however, with an upwards spiral from the opening round that culminated in them taking a top 5 in Spa and a top 4 at Le Mans, before taking a 1-2 finish at Interlagos last time out, lapping the entire field apart from the final podium finisher.

Ferrari 499P

Car	Ruleset	Engine	Hybrid?	Exclusive to LMU?	Setups
Ferrari 499P	LMH	3.0-litre twin turbo V6	Yes	Yes	Link

Now we move on to the star attraction of the class, the Ferrari 499P.

Whilst the Ferrari 499P is only three years old, its name is already etched into the history books, having taken Ferrari to its first Le Mans win in half a century as the marque returned to top-flight endurance racing, and doing the triple by winning the 23, 24 and 25 24 Hours of Le Mans.. 

Incredibly, all three of Ferrari’s Hypercars are now winners, with the #50, #51 and #83 all taking victory one after the other.

They are also leading the 2025 manufacturers standings with three rounds to go and they are looking comfortable out front. This year is going to be historic for them.

Peugeot 9X8 2024

Car	Ruleset	Engine	Hybrid?	Exclusive to LMU?	Setups
Peugeot 9X8 2024	LMH	2.6-litre twin turbo V6	Yes	Yes	Link

Peugeot is not new to the World Endurance Championship, and now, neither is their newest challenger. After they realised the 2023 car was limited in its development curve, they had to change their tune and introduce a whole new concept. They said goodbye to the wingless Hypercar and introduced a new beast. 

The 2024 campaign had been openly addressed as a testing season to gather data ready for a full challenge in 2025. They still managed to get a season-best result of 4th place at Fuji, with a number of other top ten results through the year. 

2025 hasn’t quite gone to plan, however, with the Peugeot 9X8 struggling. They’ve finished 9th, 9th, 11th, 11th, before they took home the 6th and 7th spots at Interlagos for their best result of the year.

Porsche 963

Car	Ruleset	Engine	Hybrid?	Exclusive to LMU?	Setups
Porsche 963	LMDh	4.6-litre twin turbo V8	Yes	No	Link

The Porsche 963 needs no real introduction to sim racers, but if you’re new to Hypercar, here’s what you need to know.

The 963 is built to the LMDh ruleset, running a Multimatic chassis mated with a twin-turbo V8 taken from the road-going Porsche 918 Spyder. Its debut season was rocky, struggling with tyre wear, reliability and occasional instability – made apparent by multiple offs for Porsche Penske Motorsport during the 2023 24 hours of Daytona.

However, the 2024 season was a different kettle of fish. Porsche won outright at Qatar, Spa and Fuji, finished on the podium at Imola and Sao Paolo and just missed out on a podium at the 24 hours of Le Mans (finished 1 second behind Ferrari in a gigantic battle over the 24-hour race) to see them lead the overall championship. They just came up short, however, with Toyota pipping them to the post by 2 points.

They’ve been a little left behind in 2025, with the rise of other challengers, and they only sit 3rd in the manufacturers’ standings because of their gigantic points haul at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which, without it, they’d be a lowly 5th or 6th in the standings.

Toyota GR010

Car	Ruleset	Engine	Hybrid?	Exclusive to LMU?	Setups
Toyota GR010 Hybrid	LMH	3.5-litre twin turbo V6	Yes	Yes	Link

Toyota has a recent history of dominance in the WEC, winning the inaugural season of Hypercar in 2021, before scoring a second successive championship in 2022, all of which followed two years of unstoppable form in LMP1.

After running the GR010 for two WEC campaigns, Toyota made a series of upgrades to their mighty LMH car for the 2023 season, with it winning six of the seven rounds, losing only the 24 hours of Le Mans to Ferrari. 

In 2024, with a number of new teams entering and a number of current teams stepping up, they sat second in the overall standings heading into the final round but prevailed once again to become the 2024 WEC champions.

In 2025, Ferrari, Cadillac and Porsche have stepped up, and they see themselves in their lowest position of 4th since the LMP1s were eradicated, even with being consistently inside the top 5 at every round.

Final Thoughts

Whilst Le Mans Ultimate likes to keep up with the current WEC season, they ensure all Hypercars have a home in the game, by keeping them open options for such things as special events and daily racing.

This means you can enjoy whatever Hypercar, from any of the three years, in any race you want to enter. They also keep the BOP as up-to-date and fair as possible, which means even the oldest Hypercars can keep up with the latest and greatest hits. Then it all comes down to preferences.

We love the Hypercar class in LMU. We think they have nailed everything about them, from the sounds to the cockpits, to the intricacies of the tyre model and how they all handle. Every one of them has their own individual qualities.