Today Kunos released the latest DLC for Assetto Corsa Competizione. Alongside a plethora of new content, there were also some BOP changes amongst existing cars, as well as some physics tweaks regarding high speed damping and a seemingly fairly large “silent” update to the Honda NSX EVO. So what does this mean for Coach Dave Academy customers going forward and what is the plan from our side?
Well to begin with, let’s first tackle the new content in the game and what we are planning to release, first up…..
Brand New GT3
- Audi R8 GT3 EVO 2
The new Audi EVO 2 has arrived in ACC with a brand new aerodynamic package which focuses much more on reducing the pitch sensitivity of the car.
Less emphasis is placed on the downforce produced by the floor, with a brand new overbody package including new rear wing implemented. On the electronic front, new TC and ABS systems are in place along with new damping/suspension tweaks.
We will be producing a full GTWC/BGT bundle package for the car with accompanying data for all 19 tracks in the sim, as we have with all other GT3 cars before it.
Single Make Cars
- Porsche 992 Cup
- BMW M2 CS
- Lamborghini Super Trofeo EVO 2
- Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO
Having had the chance to test the single make cars during the Kunos media event extensively, our plan with the single make cars is a little different to the GT3 cars. Let’s delve into why exactly.
There are two categories of single make cars with this update, two road going related cars and two competition cars. Let’s look at the two more road related cars first.
BMW M2 CS
This heavy and cumbersome car shares a lot of its architecture with the road car. A lot slower than even the GT4 cars, setup changes are extremely numb on the car with no major differences in balance and behaviour from track to track. This makes it ideal for close racing as once you land on a good setup you can take it to almost every track out there.
Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO
This is a very, very unwieldy beast. Nearly 700hp on tap and barely any downforce makes for an entertaining drive. The sophisticated TC system and E-Diff do their best to keep the car under control but it’s a fantastic drift machine. This car really does very little to change outside of damping and so it really is a case of learning to live with its traits.
What about the hardcore cars?
Porsche 992 GT3 Cup
What an absolute riot of a car, having spent a lot of time in the old car personally racing in leagues, this new car does feel extremely different.
A lot more front downforce allows you to set the aero balance much more neutral to avoid that feeling of sacrificing pitch sensitivity. Like the real world car, the level of adjustment is almost non-existent. Suspension, damping, differential and bump stops are all fixed with the only driver-influenced setup changes being the ARBs, ride heights and toe/camber changes.
Lamborghini Super Trofeo EVO 2
An extremely fast car in a straight line like the Ferrari, however possessing more downforce, it drives a lot closer to a GT3 than the latter. However the chassis is rather prehistoric in behaviour and you can feel that when driving with understeer being the overriding balance trait. Like the BMW M2, due to the chassis shortcomings setup changes don’t seem to have much impact on the car outside of nullifying that understeer.
So what are we making for these cars?
So because of their individual characteristics or general numbness to setup changes, we have decided to alter how the bundles will be for the new cars. They will include:
- 6 setups in total
- A high downforce variant, a medium downforce variant and a low downforce variant in qualifying and race trim.
- Motec data for each track running the nominated setup for that track
We will allocate the setups we feel is best to each of the 19 tracks in the sim and then do a motec reference lap time on that setup. That setup will then have the correct reference pressures for each track. Tracks like Paul Ricard and Monza will be nominated for the low downforce variant, others like Spa and Imola a medium downforce variant, and others like Barcelona and Hungaroring the high downforce variant.
What about the current CDA3 schedule though?
So, as has been noticed, the Honda NSX EVO GT3 has undergone some rather radical changes to the underpinnings and mechanical side of the car. This looks to be the 2022 EVO 2 upgrade which is all mechanics rather than visual. Why this was missed from the patch notes I do not know but it has meant that all existing Honda setups are simply not compatible with the changes. It is now a completely different beast.
So what does that mean? Well we have already started work on the Nissan and we will continue to work on the car to get that done. We will then go BACK to the Honda and start from the ground up with the reference values that we now have for a lot of the setup parameters.
I apologise for the delay, it is something that is completely out of our control, but it does mean that its scheduled release tomorrow is also cancelled. Instead BMW M4 wet setups WILL be released in their place.
What is the plan going forward?
From tomorrow onwards the teams will split up and focus on their own projects. To start:
- Team 1: Nissan CDA3 release, followed by reworked Honda CDA3 release bundles.
- Team 2: Audi R8 GT3 EVO 2 release full bundle.
- Team 3: Single make bundle packages as mentioned above
For the next 2-3 weeks that means that a variety of content will be released and drip fed to customers from all 3 teams. Once all content is finished, the final bundles will be released as planned.
Once we have finished there, we will then turn our attention back to testing the CDA3 setups that have already been released to see how the damping changes have affected the setups. We will then REWORK through the original release schedule and produce updates for all of the existing CDA3 releases.
Overall this new DLC package looks to be extremely entertaining and we will continue to work hard on producing as much content as we can, that includes finishing the existing CDA3 projects and then moving on to updates for them. I hope this answers all your questions and if you have any other questions related to this topic, feel free to ask in the discord.
Thank you.
