Community Question: What do you think about Assetto Corsa Competizione's Physics?

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There has been plenty of chatter over the past few days about Assetto Corsa Competizione's physics from sim racers up and down the grid. What is your stance on the matter?

The dedicated GT World Challenge racing platform, Assetto Corsa Competizione has been around since 2018, with it seemingly receiving its last bit of new content earlier this year as Kunos switches focus to Assetto Corsa Evo. The Nürburgring-Nordschleife finally got added to the game in April 2024, and the Ford Mustang GT3 followd not long afterward - even for free.

Despite the game having entered its end-of-life cycle, the community shows no signs of abandoning the title. But Kunos have been heavily reworking the physics even in the title's latter stages, and there are a few people who do not seem that happy about it.


This weekend is the final round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge Esports Series with the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, and Dáire McCormack - who won last year's IGTCE championship with Williams Esports - garnered a bit of attention on social media. In a Tweet, he went on to criticise the current state of ACC's physics and wished for the 1.7 or 1.8 patch's physics to return.

These comments caused a bit of a ripple effect, and have warranted us to ask all of you, how do you find the ACC physics? With our Racing Club regularly hosting races on the platform, many of you may be well versed in what is happening.

Pros vs. Joes: Different Perspectives​

One of the people to comment on the matter was Ricardo Claro, or Random Callsign, who pointed out in a video that someone in McCormack's position is trying to find any inherent advantage. The physics changes mean they have to completely change how they drive and set up the car, perhaps way more dramatically than most average joe sim racers.

Claro commented on the changes made in version 1.9 of ACC, stating that the game had major issues with the way cars reacted to kerbs for many years. 1.9 had seemingly rectified this, but that according to McCormack and a couple of other top level players dramatically changed the meta of driving and setup.


ACC has had a few of these major changes result in some unintentional exploits. Optimal tyre pressures for example are, as of the publishing of this article, set at 27.0 PSI in the dry and 30.8 in the wet. For a short time however, there was an exploit that meant it was optimal to completely maximise the pressure for the wet.

Now though, the 1.9 build of the game sees it to be beneficial to kill the traction control, which is not particularly true to life with GT3 cars. Subsequently, the slip angle seems to be more pronounced in corners. Claro even went as far to say that ACC's force feedback has regressed to even behind iRacing in terms of feel, with the consensus over the past few years being that iRacing's force feedback was not up to par.

That is why we want to hear from you. For those who played ACC both back when it was version 1.7 and 1.8, plus continue to do so now, what have you observed?


What do you make of the physics changes in Assetto Corsa Competizione? Let us know in the comments below or discuss this news in our ACC forum!
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Luca [OT]
Biggest sim racing esports fan in the world.

Comments

If someone has never driven the cars in question, by what criteria do they critique the accuracy of the physics? Thus it is a discussion of subjective

If someone has never driven the cars in question, by what criteria do they critique the accuracy of the physics? Thus it is a discussion of subjective impressions.
The criteria are quite simple: it either feels like you’re driving on ice or it doesn’t! It’s a game, and therefore it should be fun and challenging. Not that you’re out of control all the time.
 
I got this game on a Steam Sale in 2019, using the money I got after refunding Project Cars 2 with 115 minutes of gameplay
I think it's a shame that you refunded PC2. It may not have been the most "sim" of titles but it did play well, and back in the day it was duking it out with Assetto Corsa with the community split between the two.

It's not available now, unless you find an unused key, so I'm happy to have it in my collection, and it has great VR.
 
I think it's a shame that you refunded PC2. It may not have been the most "sim" of titles but it did play well, and back in the day it was duking it out with Assetto Corsa with the community split between the two.

It's not available now, unless you find an unused key, so I'm happy to have it in my collection, and it has great VR.
I have no regrets. I found appalling that I could launch into corners with max brake, locking up tyres, and not only the car would slow down effectively; just release the pedal a bit and yank the wheel and it would dart to the apex effortlessly. The FFB had a very irritating nervous center where it would never stabilize, and no FFB profile setting, not even the high praised ones, could fix it, and made longitudinal grip under acceleration artificially more tricky than it actually was. Mounting a kerb, even on a car that had plenty suspension travel to easily deal with it, like a Porsche 917k, would make both the physics and the FFB go broke instantly. And even the cars that supposedly were better done, like the Formula Renault 3.5, were not even remotely enjoyable to drive.

It wasn't just 115 minutes of gameplay. I spent more time outside the game, searching for all the information I could find, to make the most out of the refund window, which at least back then it was 2 hours. After having everything as recommended by most, it was still a game I did not enjoy.

Anyway, this is not a PC2 discussion.
 
not a fan of the new tc, and i still think suspension needed work, other than that it still is my favorite sim
 
Whenever someone talks about set ups in ACC it makes me sad...

All the metta hacks and backwards reactions like the casters just boggle the mind as to how Kunos went from suspension that followed conventional set up theory and many considered their suspension industry leading... To ACC...
It hasn't really changed. The AC GT3 cars were even sillier. There's not a lot fundamentally wrong with the suspension modeling itself, though. I'd argue it's more pressure/camber/aero related.
 
It hasn't really changed. The AC GT3 cars were even sillier. There's not a lot fundamentally wrong with the suspension modeling itself, though. I'd argue it's more pressure/camber/aero related.

I'd argue the main difference between the AC GT3s and the ACC versions are the upgrades in TC and ABS coding has led to less crazy set up hacks as those older driving aid codes gave more grip and with more grip more freedom of set up craziness is allowed...

Until 1.9s damper upgrade the suspension was clearly out of whack, and the tyre model whilst multipoint isn't really an upgrade over AC simply because of the narrow pressure window which isn't realistic outside of a recommendation from the tyre manufacturer...

But none of that has really got much to do with the reversal of effects on caster and the lack of any negative effects from extreme toe choices... That's more an issue with the engine not coping with what Kunos wants it to do...
 
Ok, so couldn't resist late last night to explore why the haywire and whitch hunt.
So reinstalled ACC, racing for the first time since a couple of months post 1.8 release. Now identifying a 1.10 (was ot 1.10.3?), all in - and for the first time - in VR, mapping wheel and buttons, driving out the Lambo Evo 2 at Nürburgring GP, identifying my rating numbers still there.

VR even just WiFi, i.e. non-patched, via Virtual Desktop, no quircking at all, and in fact I found the VR performance reasonable, this with my Quest2 and my RX6800XT SE and with plenty of room for optimizations, eg. patched with Oculus Dev Tool bandwidth settings, OpenComposite, OpenXR, VorpX, etc. taken into account this was just from scratch.

Setup also from scratch, and driving out the pit I for the first corners found car handling quite reasonable, however not at speed.

Then going at speed, warming up the tires this was felt too. Really don't remember my experience last time here driving ACC, but in fact quite trustworthy.

But then last corner hell broke loose - coasting was suddenly like locked mid corner. ....and then my VR headset went low on battery and switched off, game over middle of night, bed time :D

Cannot say whether my famous last secs experience was due to too rough wheel calibration, standard setup crap (I always alter at least ARB to my driving style) or whether this is the exact issue addressed here...

Will have another go later today for better judgement.
 
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I'd argue the main difference between the AC GT3s and the ACC versions are the upgrades in TC and ABS coding has led to less crazy set up hacks as those older driving aid codes gave more grip and with more grip more freedom of set up craziness is allowed...

Until 1.9s damper upgrade the suspension was clearly out of whack, and the tyre model whilst multipoint isn't really an upgrade over AC simply because of the narrow pressure window which isn't realistic outside of a recommendation from the tyre manufacturer...

But none of that has really got much to do with the reversal of effects on caster and the lack of any negative effects from extreme toe choices... That's more an issue with the engine not coping with what Kunos wants it to do...
The models are not very similar at all. Entirely different parameter values.

AC's pressure window isn't, it's completely sharp at the peak. No sim does pressure well at all.
 
Ok, so couldn't resist late last night to explore why the haywire and whitch hunt.
So reinstalled ACC, racing for the first time since a couple of months post 1.8 release. Now identifying a 1.10 (was ot 1.10.3?), all in - and for the first time - in VR, mapping wheel and buttons, driving out the Lambo Evo 2 at Nürburgring GP, identifying my rating numbers still there.

VR even just WiFi, i.e. non-patched, via Virtual Desktop, no quircking at all, and in fact I found the VR performance reasonable, this with my Quest2 and my RX6800XT SE and with plenty of room for optimizations, eg. patched with Oculus Dev Tool bandwidth settings, OpenComposite, OpenXR, VorpX, etc. taken into account this was just from scratch.

Setup also from scratch, and driving out the pit I for the first corners found car handling quite reasonable, however not at speed.

Then going at speed, warming up the tires this was felt too. Really don't remember my experience last time here driving ACC, but in fact quite trustworthy.

But then last corner hell broke loose - coasting was suddenly like locked mid corner. ....and then my VR headset went low on battery and switched off, game over middle of night, bed time :D

Cannot say whether my famous last secs experience was due to too rough wheel calibration, standard setup crap (I always alter at least ARB to my driving style) or whether this is the exact issue addressed here...

Will have another go later today for better judgement.
Had some more sim time with better judgement of the 1.10.3 release.
Mostly I'm satisfied, but with some scratches in the paint.

VR Exerience:
Still my first time racing ACC in VR (haven't raced flatscreen yet with this release, last time here was my previous time in ACC in the 1.8 release), but now finetuning VR I cannot relate to the quite extensive words here full of negative charge. Excellent to me, for my Quest 2 and my Sapphire Nitro + RX6800XT Special Edition, optimizing with OculusDebugTool, OpenComposite and OpenXR I have no issues running flawless in 1440p and full Quest2 resolution.

Sim part:
Sim part is not that bad to me.
I can relate to the tire development over time in race mode.
However, going for the limits in the corners ACC has for me the almost diametrically opposite issue compared to AMS2; ACC acts to me like a snow shovel scraping against the track surface, resulting in involuntary understeer (where AMS2's problem is oversteer due to pivot-like point rotation).

I think it is a bit difficult to come up with a setup that accommodates this, fiddling with ARB, Toe-In and so on.

If I race at 80% and just feeling the FFB response, then ACC is bulls eye, IMO.
You just can't use that for much in a sim, where it's primarily about competition and making up marginal gains.

I have now raced 5 x 30 min and I think the Lambo Evo 2 seems like something of a line dance around the tight corners. Again "too heavy" in the corners, just when I compare with my real world experiences in a track prepared street Huracan LP-610, where I can really feel the limits and you can count on the response in the tight corners.

It could also just be me being a bit "rusty" at handling the race cars correctly in this sim.

Now I can't remember my impression at all when I raced online in 1.8 and before, but this where I had close battles and something to count on (AFAIR).

Somewhat strangely, I find it easier to run qual laps with higher tire pressure, where I end up with faster times. It's a bit unconventional. But may be due to my lack of my feeling mid corner, especially in tight corners. A GT3 race car should do better, IMO.
 
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The models are not very similar at all. Entirely different parameter values.

AC's pressure window isn't, it's completely sharp at the peak. No sim does pressure well at all.

It's sharp at it's peak, but makes a lot more sense up to that peak when you're working on set up...

There's a reason why the rF2 tyre code is still held in high regard... With the right coders and audience to aim at it does the pressures better than anything else on the market...

It's just been let down by S397 making accessible tyres because they've been trying to draw in the casuals for years... And then we have the SETA which does pressures and contact patch well, just not a lot of other stuff well... There's also the Pacejka which can do everything but make you feel that you have a multi point tyre...

All of which I'd put ahead of the ACC tyre code... I'm hoping that's massively upgraded for ACE if Kunos isn't replacing it... Tyres have never really been their strong point though... Suspension was, especially in the early days...
 
It's sharp at it's peak, but makes a lot more sense up to that peak when you're working on set up...

There's a reason why the rF2 tyre code is still held in high regard... With the right coders and audience to aim at it does the pressures better than anything else on the market...

It's just been let down by S397 making accessible tyres because they've been trying to draw in the casuals for years... And then we have the SETA which does pressures and contact patch well, just not a lot of other stuff well... There's also the Pacejka which can do everything but make you feel that you have a multi point tyre...

All of which I'd put ahead of the ACC tyre code... I'm hoping that's massively upgraded for ACE if Kunos isn't replacing it... Tyres have never really been their strong point though... Suspension was, especially in the early days...
A lot of big assumptions there.
 
I just read the topic and decided to take the Porsche...which I last ran a few months back...out to SPA for a test.
The car felt very strange, with a tendency to spin much more easily.
I then switched to the Lexus and that car felt fine.
 
A lot of big assumptions there.

Nah just thorough testing, chatting with those who actually work for sportscar teams and making a firm well backed statement...

Before the suspension the magical tyre number that never exists in reality is the biggest complaint about ACCs physics... It just makes the other tyre models look good in terms of pressure management...
 
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Nah just thorough testing, chatting with those who actually work for sportscar teams and making a firm well backed statement...

Before the suspension the magical tyre number that never exists in reality is the biggest complaint about ACCs physics... It just makes the other tyre models look good in terms of pressure management...
Well, I've been doing that for well over a decade, but you'll get what I mean once you have.
 
But there is no GT3 in LMU yet.
Setting aside the differences in ABS, weight, and power. In my mind, I think the GTE are GT3s on steroids. And I don’t think the simulator is sophisticated enough to show me those big differences between the two cars. They are different, yes, but this is just a game. And apparently, a very entertaining one.
 

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