Automobilista 2: Sebring Teaser Released, Includes Alpine

Automobilista-2-Sebring-Update-1.6.jpg
Image: Reiza Studios
Automobilista 2 update v1.6 is eagerly awaited by sim racers. A new teaser shows Sebring for the first time, as well as the Alpine A424 LMDh.

Reiza Studios are hard at work. Their initial "Road To v1.6" dev update was intended to have a second part to follow soon - which then turned to two further parts. Neither of them have been released yet as the team behind Automobilista 2 prioritize working on the sim itself rather than the dev updates.

However, the news that Reiza had struck a licensing deal with Alpine made headlines in early August, as did a preview of content to be included in the big v1.6 update. This did not reveal everything, of course, and only Road Atlanta had been officially confirmed to be joining the sim to expand the IMSA calendar.


First Sebring Shot​

A new forum post by Reiza Founder and Lead Developer Renato Simioni now includes Sebring for the first time. The iconic venue of the 12 Hours of Sebring is, of course, part of the IMSA calendar and looks set to be part of the 1.6 update. The track's main straight and pit building are shown at night, with fireworks on display in the night sky - most likely a new feature as well.

On track, two Porsche 963s can be seen roaring past the pit building, accompanied by an Alpine A424 in between them. The LMDh Hypercar may not be racing in IMSA, but thanks to the shot, it would appear that it is en route for the incoming update as well.

As Reiza does not give deadlines for releases anymore, summer 2024 has been mentioned as a broad release window. Depending on your definition, summer is close to ending in September. But as always, patience is needed, especially with the amount of work that goes into the update.

Either way, Simioni's forum post also mentions that it "won't be long for fireworks" - whether that means the next part of the dev update, the v1.6 update itself, or even both remains to be seen.

What are you looking forward to the most in Automobilista 2 update v1.6? Let us know in the comments below or join the discussion in our forums!
About author
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

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Premium
Having played 1.6 I think its easily the biggest update they have done. As for "gamechanger"...dunno, but I can't play 1.5 now its just so different. When 1.5 came out I thought it was excellent, but the feel of the cars in 1.6 and the reduction in the behaviour that people complain about is significant.
 
When 1.5 came out I thought it was excellent, but the feel of the cars in 1.6 and the reduction in the behaviour that people complain about is significant.
Strange. I have no access to 1.6 yet but i drive allot the Brazilian Stock Cars. The 2024 Edition has already the 1.6 upgrade is this right??
Because the only big difference that i feel with them is - the tires wear out much faster, so you´re loosing grip much earlier. In fact with 1.5 i could end a sprint race without notice big tire wear at all. So yes it´s a improvement, no question, but a game changer ? Let´s wait and see.
Beside that the cars feels for me exact the same as the 2022 or 23`versions.
 
Premium
Strange. I have no access to 1.6 yet but i drive allot the Brazilian Stock Cars. The 2024 Edition has already the 1.6 upgrade is this right??
Because the only big difference that i feel with them is - the tires wear out much faster, so you´re loosing grip much earlier. In fact with 1.5 i could end a sprint race without notice big tire wear at all. So yes it´s a improvement, no question, but a game changer ? Let´s wait and see.
Beside that the cars feels for me exact the same as the 2022 or 23`versions.

Ah, you don't have 1.6, I failed at reading. OK, well there have been further changes since 1.5 even to the stock cars. But maybe you won't be able to tell the difference. I don't want to use the "game changer" thing it's over used. If you hate AMS2 now you will probably still hate it whatever they do. But I've been surprised how much the changes have made me feel about it and about 1.5.
 
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Premium
just like the simcade physics getting fixed in the 'next' update?
Ah,I knew it wouldn't be long before the playground insults started. What is it about AMS2 that triggers you guys? Forza is "simcade" whatever the hell that is, so is GT7. AMS2 is a proper sim, you just don't like it. And iRacing has another tyre mode/physics change on the horizon, so I guess that makes it simcade as well, because they should all get it right first time...
 
Ah,I knew it wouldn't be long before the playground insults started. What is it about AMS2 that triggers you guys? Forza is "simcade" whatever the hell that is, so is GT7. AMS2 is a proper sim, you just don't like it. And iRacing has another tyre mode/physics change on the horizon, so I guess that makes it simcade as well, because they should all get it right first time...
Its the inherited physics from PC2, where there is no feel for what the car is doing, the rear end is sliding around like a drifting sim rather than a racing sim. The handling is inconsistent from one corner to the next let alone lap to the next, and the car goes from no-grip understeer on corner entry to sudden mid-corner massive grip and oversteer on the way out. You can even see it in youtube videos, its so apparent. I had a lot of hopes for this game and was a big supporter, and the original physics updates were doing well towards addressing this, then suddenly the last 2 updates have taken it back towards the original problem again. I was holding lots of hope until 1.4 came out, then they went even further wrong with 1.5 and I uninstalled it. I'll be fair and probably reinstall it once 1.6 is released to try it out but I'm not so hopeful anymore.

And it has a brilliant weather system in it, but AI that totally ignore it.

Honestly, Reiza is actually so talented as a group that I wish they'd ditch this engine and create their own game from scratch. If you read their updates, a lot of the time is spent just trying to beat this game engine physics into submission.
 
Is Sebring pretty popular? Maybe I should compare all the PC versions of it one day in a new Lap In Time video heh... there's at least 10 games of note with it (and a few using junky Unity assets)
 
I can't play 1.5 now its just so different. The feel of the cars in 1.6 and the reduction in the behaviour that people complain about is significant.

Now just imagine those who spent years complaining about the way S397 did the same thing with rF2 until their own turn around in tyre development 2-3 years ago felt...?

Reiza were close to fixing the FFB issues and getting on top of a tyre code that had made Dave K look good since it's implementation into the Madness engine by SMS, after fixing the diffs and announcing that they had a fix for the questionable elements of the SETA with their promising 1.48 preview tyres that just needed less grip... Then took out almost any reason to do a lot of set up work, with no rolling resistence and no thermal issues in very forgiving tyres... Which intensified the discussions like the one in this thread...

I do hope they can make the slick tyres behave more like slick tyres that feel on top of the road as well as make set ups matter again with the thermal upgrades to bring it closer to the other tyre models in sim racing... But I feel a lot of people bought into the forgiving nature and easy set up nature of 1.5 so Reiza can't really go too far down the simulation path without suffering backlash from people who were happy with 1.5... So I don't feel it'll change the mind of anyone who thinks that LMU allows too much yaw or a long time fan of AMS1/GSCE (which falls into that same category) who has stuck to AMS1...

Finding that balance is a bit of a challenge these days, as developers found the pot of gold that is the casual fan of motorsports happy to run on defaults... Who doesn't care what temp the tyre is running at as long as they don't spin... Or doesn't care when the caster does the exact opposite of what it does in real life like in ACC... Whilst the hardcore sim racers that got them there are going "what happened to sim racing?"...
 
we cannot talk about the Beta.. (FightClub ref) . as mentioned above I'd check expectations, its iterative at best, not game changing. But. Its constantly iterative at Reize and and each iteration is a nice leap.
 
Premium
yes , yes , Sebring Race Way.....here i am waiting al long time for ...love the track ....and Road Atlanta...and a lot more...can,t wait to get the 1.6 update .....Ams2 Rocks:thumbsup::thumbsdown:
 
Is 1.6 going to be game changer, probably not. Will I like it better than 1.5, maybe, maybe not. I enjoyed 1.5, most likely 1.6 will be enjoyable as well.
AMS2 is not my reference and preferred SIM, but it is part of my played SIM, Reiza does a fantastic job supporting it, making it, by a country mile, the best SM engine iteration. So, I will gladly support Reiza efforts by adding Sebring, which for once is not just a conversion from previous SM games, but a brand new track, to my AMS2.
I fully understand both side, those who love AMS2, as there is a lot to love and those who think it is not on par with other simulating titles. At the end of the day, it does not matter which side we are, what is important is to recognize how fortunate we are to have access to Reiza work and the few other developers like them, who support and enriched, this hobby of ours.
 
Having played 1.6 I think its easily the biggest update they have done. As for "gamechanger"...dunno, but I can't play 1.5 now its just so different. When 1.5 came out I thought it was excellent, but the feel of the cars in 1.6 and the reduction in the behaviour that people complain about is significant.
I think I'm gonna redownload ams2 ( for the 4th 5th time I can't remember) just because of your comment
Never enjoyed the previous "game changer" updates, only 1.5 but not that much
 
Is 1.6 going to be game changer, probably not. Will I like it better than 1.5, maybe, maybe not. I enjoyed 1.5, most likely 1.6 will be enjoyable as well.
AMS2 is not my reference and preferred SIM, but it is part of my played SIM, Reiza does a fantastic job supporting it, making it, by a country mile, the best SM engine iteration. So, I will gladly support Reiza efforts by adding Sebring, which for once is not just a conversion from previous SM games, but a brand new track, to my AMS2.
I fully understand both side, those who love AMS2, as there is a lot to love and those who think it is not on par with other simulating titles. At the end of the day, it does not matter which side we are, what is important is to recognize how fortunate we are to have access to Reiza work and the few other developers like them, who support and enriched, this hobby of ours.
A good take. Honestly I cannot make a single statement about this. Personally, I believe that 1.6 is an improvement, the overall driving is "tighter" without stopping being AMS2, but I didn't feel it was such a big jump, specially compared to the best cars of current live release. We could say it's more cohesive across the board.

Yet other people I know at the Paddock Club talk about having to completely alter their driving approach, as many things they did before don't work anymore. So clearly, YMMV. Maybe it's because my style is not spectacular, even when I think I'm hustling it does not look like I'm working much. But then, since 1.5 at least I've never been beaten in an online race by a driver whose style was wilder than mine; they were always as smooth, or much smoother (like when I got my ass handed to me by a pro esports driver).

One thing for sure: when you get on a hairy situation where the grip relaxes a bit too much and the car gets away from you, you have less time to save it, you have to be more precise to do it, and the time loss is usually much larger.

Make of all of this what you will :)
 

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