As if rFactor 2 hasn't had enough surprise releases this year, here's a big (little) one! If you like your wheelbase as short as it can come and your front wheels driving, then look no further than the original Austin Cooper S Mini!
The Mini comes as part of the 2022 Q3 August Content Drop for rFactor 2 by S397.
This charismatic little car made famous in films like 'The Italian Job' and 'Magical Mystery Tour' by the Beatles, became an icon of British fashion in the 60's.
Not only that, it proved its racing ability thanks to Paddy Hopkirk's win in the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally.
With its short wheelbase and low centre of gravity it could take on much more powerful cars such as Mustangs and Chevrolet's. I must say from personal experience it really is quite a sight to see these tiny cars nimbly zip past huge muscle cars with ease through the corners of a race track!
And it doesn't end there!
S397 have also stated that they plan to introduce the modern JCW cup car to the simulation as well in a future quarterly release, so drivers will get to experience how far the car has come in its modern variant!There's more?
This mighty Mini will be made available as part of the upcoming 2022 Q3 Content Drop for rFactor 2. The car will be available within the rFactor 2 Steam Store as both a standalone item, and part of a wider pack, the details of which will be revealed closer to release.Does this mean we will see some more historic track partners from the FIA Group 2 Historic series, such as some of the above mentioned muscles cars? Or maybe new tracks from the British calendar such as Snetterton or even Knockhill?
What would you like to see? Let us know in the comments!
What does this mean for future development of technical aspects of the sim?
With this car (and another just announced) being manual H pattern gearbox type cars, does this mean we will see some overall advances in gearbox simulation?S397 recently added the shift protection feature to several of the more modern cars such as the GTE's, however, when it comes to older manual gearbox's they are lagging behind other sims that have extensive gearbox and damage modelling. These sims will punish you for mis-shifts, or a bad heal and toe technique, to the point where you can actually loose gears and burn out clutches.
Would you like to see more development in this area, do you think it would work well with currently available hardware, or would you rather them wait until advances are made in these peripherals?
Let us know what you think in the comments!
