Details You May Have Missed In The Assetto Corsa EVO Trailer

Details You May Have Missed in the Assetto Corsa Evo trailer.jpg
Images: Kunos Simulazioni / 505 Games
After a first glimpse of the upcoming Assetto Corsa EVO, there are several details you may not have noticed. Here are just some of the ones we spotted!

Sim racing fans rejoice: Assetto Corsa EVO is speeding onto Steam Early Access on 16 January, 2025. The direct follow-up to the acclaimed Assetto Corsa looks set to raise the bar for racing simulations again, with an announcement trailer giving us a first glimpse of gameplay footage.

While information on the highly-anticipated racing simulation is still limited, there are plenty of hidden details in the trailer you may have missed.


New Cars​

Assetto Corsa EVO Hyundai Ioniq 5.jpg


When the Steam Page went live in April, we were treated to screenshots showing close-ups of immaculately detailed cars, from the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTAm to the Alpine A110. Now, the reveal trailer has showcased several new cars in motion for the first time.

While a few thoroughbred race cars like the Mercedes-AMG GT2 and Porsche 911 GT3 Cup are shown, there is an emphasis on production road cars. This suggests that Assetto Corsa EVO will return the series to its roots with an eclectic car roster after Competizione focused exclusively on GT racers.

New cars highlighted in the trailer include the track-focused BMW M4 CSL, the Ferrari 296 GTB hybrid supercar, the McLaren 765LT, a three-wheeled Morgan Super-3, and a classic Mini Cooper. Kunos Simulazioni’s close relationship with Ferrari has resulted in the Ferrari Daytona SP3 appearing for the first time in a PC racing simulation, while a Ferrari F40 Competizione is also shown in an official screenshot – the Competizione variant of the iconic F40 is rarely seen in racing games.

Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 N hot hatch is also thrown around corners towards the end of the trailer, confirming that production electric cars will feature in Assetto Corsa EVO – a series first outside of mods. It will be joined by the Alpine A290 electric concept, first shown in early screenshots. It will be interesting to see if Kunos replicate the IONIQ 5 N's various functions such as driving modes and sound settings.

Assetto Corsa EVO trailer toy cars.jpg


A shot of scale model cars displayed on a shelf at the trailer's beginning may also offer more clues: several historic race cars are shown, such as the Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI and Lotus 49 from the original Assetto Corsa. Look closely, and you can also see a Tyrrell P34 model, teasing that the six-wheeled Formula 1 car could be coming to Assetto Corsa EVO.

From modern hypercars to classic sports cars and quirky three-wheelers, it's clear that Assetto Corsa EVO will celebrate different aspects of car culture. However, Japanese cars were notably absent in the trailer. Iconic models like the Toyota Supra MKIV and Mazda RX-7 will hopefully return from the first game, along with new additions like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and Subaru Impreza rally legends, but we will have to wait until Kunos releases an official car list.

Free Roam?​

Assetto Corsa EVO free roam.jpg


While several iconic circuits such as the Nürburgring Nordschleife have already been confirmed, the trailer gave a brief glimpse of Imola, Brands Hatch and another track - a viewer of our live stream spotted a Panasonic banner, which may be from Fuji or another Japanese track.

And then there was a big surprise: public roads. Open roads are nothing new in Assetto Corsa. Fans of the original game will remember driving along the winding country roads of the USA’s Black Cat Country, and there are plenty of Assetto Corsa mods that allow you to enjoy some open-world cruising.

However, what is surprising here is that the BMW traffic car driving on the opposite side of the road in the trailer. This may suggest that Assetto Corsa EVO will have free-roaming elements on open road courses, possibly inspired by the myriad of mods created for the original game. While nothing is confirmed yet, this will be uncharted territory for Kunos, which has focused exclusively on track-based racers throughout its history.

The country road appears to be based on an actual road near the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Comparing photos from Google Maps, the location in the trailer looks nearly identical, from the placement of the cobble stones to the angle of the guardrail.

If open roads are coming, it will be an exciting and unexpected new direction for the series. Assetto Corsa EVO’s state-of-the-art physics would provide a far more realistic open-road driving experience than Forza Horizon 5, The Crew Motorfest, and Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, broadening the appeal of sim racing to more casual players.

Realistic Reflections​

Assetto Corsa EVO ray tracing reflections.jpg

Whereas Assetto Corsa Competizione runs on Unreal Engine 4, Assetto Corsa EVO will be powered by an in-house engine like the original. The results are striking, judging from the trailer. Early gameplay footage showcases 24-hour race cycles, realistic lighting and cloud formations, and impressive weather effects, with rain droplets gathering on windows and water flowing along the track.

We also noticed a lack of water spray effects, but the gameplay is not representative of the final game, so this should be added in a later build. This confirms that rain will be available from the start when the final game launches, although it remains to be seen if wet weather racing will be in the initial early access build. Racing in the rain was only possible with mods in the original Assetto Corsa, but was a staple feature of the Assetto Corsa Competizione spin-off.

Another shot towards the end of the trailer shows an Alpine A110 appearing in reflections on a Lotus Emira’s rear bodywork during an intense battle. This could mean that Assetto Corsa EVO will boast ray-tracing reflections during races like Gran Turismo 7 on PS5 Pro – but you may need a powerful PC to take advantage of these effects.

Customisable Drivers?​

Assetto Corsa EVO driver.jpg

While the cars are the stars of the Assetto Corsa EVO trailer, the drivers also get some attention. Drivers are shown wearing licensed Bell helmets, while another shot shows a driver picking up a pair of OMP racing gloves. In another shot, a driver sits inside a luxurious Mercedes interior, wearing a casual jacket and turning the wheel with no gloves.

We also get a closeup of a driver’s shoes working the pedals in a slick animation. This focus on licensed clothing suggests that Assetto Corsa EVO may feature customisable drivers, adding a new level of personalisation to the series.

This, of course, opens up more room for speculation. For example, Kunos could use this element to further monetise the game or introduce season passes, similar to the F1 series or Forza. Clothing options are now common in major racing franchises, so we will not be surprised if Assetto Corsa Evo joins this trend.


Did you notice any new details in the Assetto Corsa EVO trailer? Let us know in the comments below or join the discussion in the forum.
About author
Martin Bigg
Arcade racing addict. Can usually be found causing carnage in Wreckfest and still craving a new Driver and Burnout game. Car movie nerd.

Comments

I watched Jimmers impressions of a trailer. I liked when he put an impression that there could be proper implementation of rain racing lines, when looking at the scene where Alpine slips off. He knows, I know it could be a wishful thinking. I really wish also. I would love uncompromised quality simulations that is not just about "woooohoo". I worry a lot, too much, that Kunos once again just won't have balls to do it. And balls it would take, I probably also wouldn't want to cut my profits in half due to principally fixing on to hardcore simulation features working actually as hard as they do IRL. Cutting balls off is more profitable.
I think your worry is unfounded - KS have got to the point where ACE is one of the most highly anticipated racing sims/games ever, and they did so by providing hardcore driving/racing simulators, from AC to ACC (nobody @ me with "my favorite racing sim is more realistic than AC/ACC". KS products are inarguably upper tier in terms of realistic driving/racing physics of all current sims whether you like them or not). Increasing the complexity and realism will never dissuade people who actually loves sims, rather the opposite. Racing is challenging IRL but overall driving a car IRL, even on the edge, is really not difficult. So a sim that more accurately represents realistic driving shouldn't scare people off, except maybe 12yr old gamers who just want to grief and wreck. Speculating, but with the proper options/setting, it should be relatively easy to select your desired realism level to make everybody happy. Let's hope KS can pull it off :thumbsup:
 
I think your worry is unfounded - KS have got to the point where ACE is one of the most highly anticipated racing sims/games ever, and they did so by providing hardcore driving/racing simulators, from AC to ACC (nobody @ me with "my favorite racing sim is more realistic than AC/ACC". KS products are inarguably upper tier in terms of realistic driving/racing physics of all current sims whether you like them or not). Increasing the complexity and realism will never dissuade people who actually loves sims, rather the opposite. Racing is challenging IRL but overall driving a car IRL, even on the edge, is really not difficult. So a sim that more accurately represents realistic driving shouldn't scare people off, except maybe 12yr old gamers who just want to grief and wreck. Speculating, but with the proper options/setting, it should be relatively easy to select your desired realism level to make everybody happy. Let's hope KS can pull it off :thumbsup:

Anticipated? Yes, maybe too much, and the fact that Kunos are no longer an independent studio making their own creative decisions doesn't go to well with that. Big companies (like the one they're part of now) are interested in maximizing income to make shareholders happy, and that's done by targeting the largest common denominator, not some hardcore niche. I honestly don't know where you pulled the "driving on the edge is not that difficult statement" unless you've raced anything competitively and are able to hit consistent, top 10% lap times. If what you say was true, we would see a Senna or a Loeb a bit more often. And the only people that are scared of a good sim are those who confuse it with Forza or Project Cars. There are quite a few mods here on rd to make vanilla AC cars "more drivable, thus realistic" (like the Sesto Elemento). My bet is that they come from people who share your idea. And I'd also bet that most of them haven't even driven a kart on the edge, consistently. If Digital Bros decide to target EVO into a product to make everybody happy (money), they'll pretty much lose touch with the AC community.
 
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I think your worry is unfounded - KS have got to the point where ACE is one of the most highly anticipated racing sims/games ever, and they did so by providing hardcore driving/racing simulators, from AC to ACC (nobody @ me with "my favorite racing sim is more realistic than AC/ACC". KS products are inarguably upper tier in terms of realistic driving/racing physics of all current sims whether you like them or not). Increasing the complexity and realism will never dissuade people who actually loves sims, rather the opposite. Racing is challenging IRL but overall driving a car IRL, even on the edge, is really not difficult. So a sim that more accurately represents realistic driving shouldn't scare people off, except maybe 12yr old gamers who just want to grief and wreck. Speculating, but with the proper options/setting, it should be relatively easy to select your desired realism level to make everybody happy. Let's hope KS can pull it off :thumbsup:

I have all the best wishes and for everything negative and pessimistic I hope to be wrong. But we will see. But will we see. Not everyone is capable to see things.

The wet racing line is perfect example of it. Open up some wet racing videos, and you can see how much of an effect viscous hydroplaning on rubbered/smooth polished surfaces can have. Sometimes the difference of grip levels is literally massive, at least double, to the point that you can let your car slide across slippery patch of rubbered smooth wet tarmac, and car confidently grips up on the outside of racing line firmly with confidence.

Can you honestly say, people really know that and are looking for it ? Could you say that people are looking for twitchy wet realistic driving physics ? I do, but I know most guys don't like twitchy car behavior. To me it also appears that realistic car behavior is not that difficult, even at the limit. However, what is really difficult is to balance the car at the limit and just a little over it in a way that would be actually fast. You can also say that driving on the edge is never difficult to all the people who has ever experienced significant oversteer with grippy car at high speed, and were fraction of a second too late to steer back or mismanaged throttle, and the might tank slapper sent them right into the -50.000euros from their bank account or dollars or whatever. Of course it is not something that should happen in every turn. But it is something that guarantee will happen during first laps with high performance car to someone who is low skilled, not concentrated enough and doesn't respect the car, and it might happen in a lap that is 5s off pace anyway... I mean reality is full of examples. For car to handle well and be perceived as truly easy, the driver needs to be good, well concentrated, respect the car, understand and anticipate stuff even before it happens. AND THEN still, a guy will just damn loose his Lambo in wet while leading SPA endurance race, because tank slapper sends him off at Eau Rouge.

Yes cars are not that difficult IRL, even over the limit. But there has to be adequate skill, respect, knowledge, anticipation and concentration. We may also discuss about what makes a car this difficult. Sure we can have a car in sim that is hard NOT to overdrive, but is easier at overdriving, slipery sliding everywhere early not twitchy just a bit annoying how it doesn't seem to keep static grip. We might also have a car that is easy not to overdrive and hard while overdriving - twitchy, builds up lots of grip and then it falls fast, then build back up fast. Practice shows people likes and deal better with cars that has slower dynamics, goes up less and falls down less and slower. Again, must look at least a little into real life footage to get some notion whats up with what, and do it with max attention. Not many can observe, sadly.

I am afraid people love the simulations, just up to a point... well most people. I too say, lets hope ACE will pull it all off in best way. But it already happened with ACC, they had absolutely astonishing physics during earliest stage, maybe not day one, but in first weeks already. It just was not up to a spec. of average AC enjoyer, too twitchy, FFB was too much direct and not helpful enough, they said FFB was too damped because static grip was higher and their hands were too slow, AC1 has specific paradigm and AC fan looks for "Kunos quality". It is subtle the way it is just gently off from what I consider as maximum realism (even besides series of lacking simulated effects), but these subtle differences makes giant difference in how car works and the ways they need to be driven. There are plenty of cars in AC though, I think best were earlier ones, after first bonus pack they started going a little away, but also depending on car....

If people were truly about what is realistic, we would see all claimed simulations approaching towards more and more similar handling model. But people are all over the place about what is reality for them. Dragons, Horses, Unicorns and Alpacas, but they all visually looks like Horse - thats simulation games.
 
and the fact that Kunos are no longer an independent studio making their own creative decisions doesn't go to well with that.

of course feel free to ignore and don't believe what I say but I can assure you KS always had 100% creative control.. Digital Bros is the "perfect" parent/publisher company as they are very very very "hands off" plus KS managed to be very lucrative with AC so the smartest decision is to let creative control there.
We experienced Digital Bros' approach to things during the console port of AC1 and that convinced us that moving into their family was the right thing to do because it would allow us to do the things we wanted to do, with more budget and the same freedom.
 
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of course feel free to ignore and don't believe what I say but I can assure you KS always had 100% creative control.. Digital Bros is the "perfect" parent/publisher company as they are very very very "hands off" plus KS managed to be very lucrative with AC so the smartest decision is to let creative control there.
We experienced Digital Bros' approach to things during the console port of AC1 and that convinced us that moving into their family was the right thing to do because it would allow us to do the things we wanted to do, with more budget and the same freedom.
Lord kunos himself is here, I love you !
 
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of course feel free to ignore and don't believe what I say but I can assure you KS always had 100% creative control.. Digital Bros is the "perfect" parent/publisher company as they are very very very "hands off" plus KS managed to be very lucrative with AC so the smartest decision is to let creative control there.
We experienced Digital Bros' approach to things during the console port of AC1 and that convinced us that moving into their family was the right thing to do because it would allow us to do the things we wanted to do, with more budget and the same freedom.

Good to hear your case is one of the exceptions, Stefano. That's actually a ray of hope I wasn't expecting, knowing how good studios' work evolves after being taken over by a parent company, generally speaking. What also gives me a good vibe is seeing that you guys have kept close to the community, and thus know what AC's fanbase expect from EVO. Good to see companies mature enough to leave creators the choice they need to make this a win win for all the parties involved: them, you, us.

Godspeed!
 
Premium
of course feel free to ignore and don't believe what I say but I can assure you KS always had 100% creative control.. Digital Bros is the "perfect" parent/publisher company as they are very very very "hands off" plus KS managed to be very lucrative with AC so the smartest decision is to let creative control there.
We experienced Digital Bros' approach to things during the console port of AC1 and that convinced us that moving into their family was the right thing to do because it would allow us to do the things we wanted to do, with more budget and the same freedom.
It's really nice that even though you're gone you still love Kunos, AC and its fans so much.
THANK YOU
 

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