The newest update to Assetto Corsa EVO brings us to a new continent, with new cars and a new track leading a raft of changes and additions to the sim.
Check out their latest video on YouTube showing what’s released with V0.8!
New Modern Machines
KTM
Possibly best-known for their motorcycles that have been at the forefront of two-wheeled racing from Barcelona and Brno to Dakar, this Austrian manufacturer is also a very capable manufacturer of things with four wheels. And now, in Assetto Corsa EVO, you can enjoy two of their finest machines that you may have previously sampled in Assetto Corsa Competizione.
First up is the KTM X-Bow GT2. With aggressive aerodynamics and a sleek design, this canopy-covered version of the open-top road car won its class in the Nürburgring 24 Hours back in 2024. Powered by a five-cylinder mid-mounted engine, why not get up to speed with the fearsome Nordschleife and see if you can match their feat in AC EVO right away?
The X-Bow GT4 features less complex aerodynamics than the GT2, looking more like the road-going X-Bow than its bigger brother. But, underneath, the two are still based on the same racing pedigree and finely-balanced machinery that brings the Austrian brand so much success on two wheels. Finely-balanced, finely-tuned, and grip for days in places that you wouldn’t expect a GT4 to excel.
Volkswagen
Volkswagen’s latest addition to AC EVO is a popular top-of-the-line weapon for the tracks on offer. The Golf 8 R joins an impressive lineup that already features the VW Golf 8 GTI.
Souped up to over 300hp, and with a four-wheel-drive layout compared to the GTI’s front-wheel-drive layout, the VW Golf 8 R is an all-weather everyday machine. You can send it over kerbs both wet and dry, and it places itself quite competitively amongst the modern and classic road-going machines.
A Legendary Circuit Joins AC EVO
The Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit joins the service in this latest update, meaning that Assetto Corsa EVO’s track roster now spans 5 continents!
The former host of the South African Grand Prix presents unique opportunities and unique challenges for sim racers everywhere. From the heavy downhill braking into Crowthorne at the bottom of the track to the uphill hairpin of Leeukop at the top, you wind around hills and ride over kerbs including the deceptively tricky Cheetah that ends the lap.
VR Overhaul
Fans of Assetto Corsa EVO have been waiting for the promised overhauls and updates to VR for the previous few updates. Version 0.8 introduces a range of changes that are aimed at continuing to optimise the user experience and improve accessibility for a variety of machines.
The biggest changes revolve around the introduction of foveated rendering and OpenXR integration. The former means that rendering will be more-focused around where your eye is looking on supported hardware rather than trying to render the entire scene constantly. The latter means that there aren’t essentially two versions of the same render running at once as the one “copy” will run through both the game’s own client and OpenXR.
What this means for the average VR player is greater stability, less dropped frames, and the ability to run higher VR settings without compromising as much on performance. This will benefit people who don’t constantly update their hardware, as you won’t feel like you need your next GPU to be built around various benchmark tests for different specific settings.
One Subscription For All
Unlimited Setups, AI Coaching, Telemetry Data, Leaderboards, Never Lift and now Video Analysis - all in Delta for Le Mans Ultimate, iRacing, ACC and AC Evo. Everything you need to win and get faster as a driver in one subscription.
Other New Updates
After a popular addition to EVO in the 0.7 update, User Generated Content gets a popular boost in 0.8. Not only can you bring custom-created cars into the multiplayer sphere, but external livery creation support means that you can bring in custom liveries like you can in Kunos’ previous releases of Assetto Corsa and Assetto Corsa Competizione. An SHA verification layer means that you can be sure that everyone is driving what they are claiming to as well, so no cheating!
Enhancing the multiplayer experience even further, with various bugs and glitches being patched out and remedied in the update. These should mean that you experience fewer glitches and crashes when racing online, whilst server-side updates on admin commands should mean a more streamlined experience as well.
Graphical updates elsewhere in the sim should mean better optimisation for different hardware. Dynamic VRAM Management means that more memory is made available by freeing up resources that don’t need to be streamed such as numbers and decals, whilst visual fidelity updates increase immersion around the finer details of the car such as the wipers and the windshield, as well as pieces of track furniture like the trees.
- Pro Setups Available for Daily Races
- Engineered for Weekly Racing Series
- Updated Weekly to Match the Schedule
- All in Coach Dave Delta for ACEVO.GG
What’s Next?
We’ve still got opportunities for an update or two before the fabled 1.0 release of Assetto Corsa EVO. Expect more updates to the rosters, as well as continued innovations and enhancements for user-based content and general performance. Fans will still be anticipating the fabled Nürburgring free roam as well.
Final Thoughts
Assetto Corsa EVO is continuing to go from strength to strength as it finds its footing. The original Assetto Corsa redefined the sim racing genre and, whilst that makes it one of the toughest acts out there to follow, Kunos are continuing to strive towards a new gold standard with Assetto Corsa EVO.
