For the first time, Le Mans Ultimate goes GT3 racing in its December update - or LMGT3, to be precise. But there is a lot more in the update than the new cars.
Sim racing loves GT3 cars – a fact that is hard to argue with considering that most modern sims feature the class in one way or another. With its December 10 update, Le Mans Ultimate is now one of them, adding four cars of the 2024 LMGT3 grid to the sim. That is not all, however.
The game is a heaven for the Hypercar fans among the sportscar enthusiasts, of course, but for the full 2024 grid, a whole class was missing so far: GT3. Or LMGT3, to be precise – and the added “LM” is not just a fancy set of letters to reflect the Le Mans connection of the World Endurance Championship. Three of the cars arrive in a pack with Interlagos as a new track for £13.99 GBP / €16.99 / $17.99 USD.
When we had a chat with Studio 397 ahead of the update’s release, they told us that James Baldwin found the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo – which he drove in real life as well – a bit too slow for his liking. However, his experience was in a GT World Challenge-spec car, so even the pros can be caught out by the subtle differences.
Anyway, on to the new cars. The first batch of LMGT3s consists of the McLaren, which is free DLC for all players, the BMW M4 LMGT3, the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R, and the Ferrari 296 LMGT3. With the introduction of the class, ABS is also making its debut in LMU, as no other class in the sim uses the system.
And in our experience, this is true – you can indeed lock up a little bit this way, especially if there are bumps in the braking zone. Trying to get right to the threshold of the ABS kicking in, but not over it, is more effective. What helps is that you can clearly feel the vibration of the ABS in the Force Feedback – a well-designed effect that clearly communicates when you are going over the aforementioned threshold. Definitely something we need to try on an Active Pedal soon, too!
Each of the four LMGT3 cars features the system, but that does not mean they feel the same to drive. Far from it, actually. We found the cars to be nicely nuanced, especially the Ferrari, Corvette and McLaren as all of them feature a mid-engine layout.
The Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R appears to be the trickiest of the three mid-engined LMGT3s in Le Mans Ultimate, but allowed for quite fast lap times. Image: Motorsport Games / Studio 397
That leaves the BMW. The only front-engined car in the pack, it feels vastly different. Kind of slow, actually, as it is a fair bit bigger, too. When we first tested it, we were off the times of the other three cars by about two seconds, but that soon was a different story.
Due to its layout, the BMW allows a fair bit more turn-in under braking, and once you figured out how to use this to your advantage, lap times will come way down. The M4 may not be the fastest in a straight line, but it makes up for this in the turns.
In general, the LMGT3 cars in Le Mans Ultimate feel excellent and very "alive", for the lack of a better word. If you are skeptic about GT3 cars, these might change your opinion as they are very well modeled when it comes to their driving experience. Should you enjoy GT3s already, definitely give the LMU versions a closer look - they are great fun to chuck around the corners.
Interlagos, meanwhile, is once again very well done. Like when Studio 397 released Imola and COTA, the quality and detail level of the track is on par with the other circuits in LMU. The AI also works well at the track – at least we have not been punted off by a Hypercar when testing the LMGT3s. Instead, the higher class made predictable, albeit sometimes risky, moves to go past.
The feel of the characteristic Interlagos bumps and on the kerbs is nice and detailed, and we feel like Interlagos will become a favorite among LMU players fairly quickly. Unfortunately, it is not possible to carry on straight at the Senna S to get onto the remains of the old layout of the track that is still mostly in place. Oh well.
Exit kerbs like this one on the outside of Curva do Sol can mean a track limits warning or penalty quite quickly if you are not careful. Image: Motorsport Games / Studio 397
There is more to the new LMU update than the content, of course. First and foremost, new ways to race online are introduced, including – finally – hosted servers. Time for league organizers everywhere to breathe a sigh of relief! The dedicated servers will be available via the RaceControl system, which also runs certain online aspects of rFactor 2.
Similar to iRacing, hosted servers need to be rented, and they start at €0.38 per hour. Depending on the server size, this price will increase, but only the server host will need to pay this.
Image: Motorsport Games / Studio 397
There seems to be a misconception that LMU’s entire online multiplayer will only be available via this subscription, but that is not actually the case. Everything that you could race online before, so daily and weekly races as well as special events, will remain free. You also don’t need a subscription to race on a hosted server.
What RaceControl Pro adds is online championships that you can sign up for, sort of like an official league. This is also planned to be used to qualify for Le Mans Virtual once the series happens. These championships will run for six weeks, after which they take a one-week break until a new championship starts. Four series are planned to run at once, and players will have to choose and lock in their car for the full season prior to its start.
Additionally, there is one more tier in the subscription model, called RaceControl Pro+. This comes with the same benefits as the normal Pro subscription, but also unlocks ALL Studio 397 content across both Le Mans Ultimate and rFactor 2 for the duration of the subscription.
RaceControl Pro costs either €3,50 / £3.00 / $4.00 per month, or €42 / £36 / $48 per year. Pro+ is set to cost €6.50 / £5.50 / $7.00 per month or €78 / £64 / $84 per year.
For one, the VR crowd will be pleased to learn that their favorite way to race has received some attention. Certain button bindings like one to recenter your view have been added, as have options for HUD, Menu and World Scale.
Le Mans Ultimate can be launched in VR natively as of the update, so no need for the +VR command in the launch options. While the VR portion is still not a fully-released feature, it works pretty well now – surprisingly so, as we found out.
OpenXR Toolkit, for instance, worked immediately after copying the necessary file to the LMU root folder, and even with no in-game graphics options turned down, a night session at Le Mans was at a stable 90 FPS in most places with some image scaling and fixed foveated rendering applied via the Toolkit on Turbo Mode. Even on the main straight, this only fell to 70-80 FPS using an RTX 4080, so everything points to a relatively resource-friendly VR experience. And LMU does look pretty clean in VR, it has to be said!
In addition to this, a new spectator mode is introduced, and it even comes with an overlay that matches the graphics of real WEC broadcasts. According to Studio 397, this is also supposed to communicate outside of the sim, so you could use it as a streaming overlay in software like OBS.
Loads of bug fixes are also part of the December update, and there are way too many of them to name them all in detail. Feel free to check out the changelog below!
Quite a lot of stuff to keep you busy in LMU over the holidays, then – and not just that! With RaceRoom’s Super Tourers, iRacing’s Season 1 2025 release and the recently updated Automobilista 2, there should be plenty of racing for everyone to close out 2024.
What are your impressions of the new Le Mans Ultimate update? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our LMU forum!
Sim racing loves GT3 cars – a fact that is hard to argue with considering that most modern sims feature the class in one way or another. With its December 10 update, Le Mans Ultimate is now one of them, adding four cars of the 2024 LMGT3 grid to the sim. That is not all, however.
The game is a heaven for the Hypercar fans among the sportscar enthusiasts, of course, but for the full 2024 grid, a whole class was missing so far: GT3. Or LMGT3, to be precise – and the added “LM” is not just a fancy set of letters to reflect the Le Mans connection of the World Endurance Championship. Three of the cars arrive in a pack with Interlagos as a new track for £13.99 GBP / €16.99 / $17.99 USD.
LMGT3 - Not Quite Your Usual GT3
Compared to “regular” GT3s, LMGT3 cars look and sound the same, and they are for the most part – but not in every aspect. LMGT3s have to run torque sensors, so their torque output is slightly below that of the standard-issue GT3. A few aerodynamic tweaks also alter their behavior slightly.When we had a chat with Studio 397 ahead of the update’s release, they told us that James Baldwin found the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo – which he drove in real life as well – a bit too slow for his liking. However, his experience was in a GT World Challenge-spec car, so even the pros can be caught out by the subtle differences.
Anyway, on to the new cars. The first batch of LMGT3s consists of the McLaren, which is free DLC for all players, the BMW M4 LMGT3, the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R, and the Ferrari 296 LMGT3. With the introduction of the class, ABS is also making its debut in LMU, as no other class in the sim uses the system.
ABS With Impressive Detail
In a preview trailer, Motorsport Games CEO Stephen Hood went into a bit more detail regarding the ABS systems, which operate at the same frequency as the ones in the real LMGT3 cars. This means that they will have a slight reaction time, so mindlessly stomping on the brakes ahead of a turn should not be the way to go.And in our experience, this is true – you can indeed lock up a little bit this way, especially if there are bumps in the braking zone. Trying to get right to the threshold of the ABS kicking in, but not over it, is more effective. What helps is that you can clearly feel the vibration of the ABS in the Force Feedback – a well-designed effect that clearly communicates when you are going over the aforementioned threshold. Definitely something we need to try on an Active Pedal soon, too!
Each of the four LMGT3 cars features the system, but that does not mean they feel the same to drive. Far from it, actually. We found the cars to be nicely nuanced, especially the Ferrari, Corvette and McLaren as all of them feature a mid-engine layout.
The Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R appears to be the trickiest of the three mid-engined LMGT3s in Le Mans Ultimate, but allowed for quite fast lap times. Image: Motorsport Games / Studio 397
Le Mans Ultimate LMGT3 Handling
In our experience, the Ferrari is the most stable of the three mid-engine contenders, while the Corvette is the most lively and agile, but probably the hardest to drive as a result. The McLaren sits somewhere in between, which makes it a good choice to give to players as free DLC.That leaves the BMW. The only front-engined car in the pack, it feels vastly different. Kind of slow, actually, as it is a fair bit bigger, too. When we first tested it, we were off the times of the other three cars by about two seconds, but that soon was a different story.
Due to its layout, the BMW allows a fair bit more turn-in under braking, and once you figured out how to use this to your advantage, lap times will come way down. The M4 may not be the fastest in a straight line, but it makes up for this in the turns.
In general, the LMGT3 cars in Le Mans Ultimate feel excellent and very "alive", for the lack of a better word. If you are skeptic about GT3 cars, these might change your opinion as they are very well modeled when it comes to their driving experience. Should you enjoy GT3s already, definitely give the LMU versions a closer look - they are great fun to chuck around the corners.
Olá, Interlagos!
Speaking of corners: A fresh set of those also arrive in the update, namely in the shape of the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos. The Brazilian Grand Prix venue made its return to the WEC calendar after ten years in 2024, and it is the penultimate 2024 track that was still missing from Le Mans Ultimate. The Losail International Circuit in Qatar is set to join the line-up in the Q1 2025 update, then.Interlagos, meanwhile, is once again very well done. Like when Studio 397 released Imola and COTA, the quality and detail level of the track is on par with the other circuits in LMU. The AI also works well at the track – at least we have not been punted off by a Hypercar when testing the LMGT3s. Instead, the higher class made predictable, albeit sometimes risky, moves to go past.
The feel of the characteristic Interlagos bumps and on the kerbs is nice and detailed, and we feel like Interlagos will become a favorite among LMU players fairly quickly. Unfortunately, it is not possible to carry on straight at the Senna S to get onto the remains of the old layout of the track that is still mostly in place. Oh well.
Exit kerbs like this one on the outside of Curva do Sol can mean a track limits warning or penalty quite quickly if you are not careful. Image: Motorsport Games / Studio 397
Tricky Track Limits
That said, it is very important to be careful when using the exit kerbs in particular. They are very wide in most corners, and it is easy to get slapped with a track limits warning or invalid lap if you use too much of them, as inviting as they may seem.There is more to the new LMU update than the content, of course. First and foremost, new ways to race online are introduced, including – finally – hosted servers. Time for league organizers everywhere to breathe a sigh of relief! The dedicated servers will be available via the RaceControl system, which also runs certain online aspects of rFactor 2.
Similar to iRacing, hosted servers need to be rented, and they start at €0.38 per hour. Depending on the server size, this price will increase, but only the server host will need to pay this.
Image: Motorsport Games / Studio 397
Online Subscriptions & Hosted Servers
This brings us to the elephant in the room: The online subscription. A recent poll on our website showed that the vast majority of our community are against subscription models of any kind in sim racing, but the good news is: You do not need RaceControl Pro, as it is called, to race online.There seems to be a misconception that LMU’s entire online multiplayer will only be available via this subscription, but that is not actually the case. Everything that you could race online before, so daily and weekly races as well as special events, will remain free. You also don’t need a subscription to race on a hosted server.
What RaceControl Pro adds is online championships that you can sign up for, sort of like an official league. This is also planned to be used to qualify for Le Mans Virtual once the series happens. These championships will run for six weeks, after which they take a one-week break until a new championship starts. Four series are planned to run at once, and players will have to choose and lock in their car for the full season prior to its start.
Additionally, there is one more tier in the subscription model, called RaceControl Pro+. This comes with the same benefits as the normal Pro subscription, but also unlocks ALL Studio 397 content across both Le Mans Ultimate and rFactor 2 for the duration of the subscription.
RaceControl Pro costs either €3,50 / £3.00 / $4.00 per month, or €42 / £36 / $48 per year. Pro+ is set to cost €6.50 / £5.50 / $7.00 per month or €78 / £64 / $84 per year.
VR Improvement: Surprisingly Smooth
With that out of the way, there are also a couple of smaller changes that players are likely to appreciate.For one, the VR crowd will be pleased to learn that their favorite way to race has received some attention. Certain button bindings like one to recenter your view have been added, as have options for HUD, Menu and World Scale.
Le Mans Ultimate can be launched in VR natively as of the update, so no need for the +VR command in the launch options. While the VR portion is still not a fully-released feature, it works pretty well now – surprisingly so, as we found out.
OpenXR Toolkit, for instance, worked immediately after copying the necessary file to the LMU root folder, and even with no in-game graphics options turned down, a night session at Le Mans was at a stable 90 FPS in most places with some image scaling and fixed foveated rendering applied via the Toolkit on Turbo Mode. Even on the main straight, this only fell to 70-80 FPS using an RTX 4080, so everything points to a relatively resource-friendly VR experience. And LMU does look pretty clean in VR, it has to be said!
A Long List Of Further Changes
Furthermore, a few changes to the tire and aerodynamic models arrived. Locking the tires in general is not as easy anymore, which is most noticeable in anything but an LMGT3 car, of course. More grip at higher speeds plus a slightly more humane drop-off also change the driving feel a bit – for the better, we find, as LMU had a tendency to lose grip very suddenly in some instances.In addition to this, a new spectator mode is introduced, and it even comes with an overlay that matches the graphics of real WEC broadcasts. According to Studio 397, this is also supposed to communicate outside of the sim, so you could use it as a streaming overlay in software like OBS.
Loads of bug fixes are also part of the December update, and there are way too many of them to name them all in detail. Feel free to check out the changelog below!
Quite a lot of stuff to keep you busy in LMU over the holidays, then – and not just that! With RaceRoom’s Super Tourers, iRacing’s Season 1 2025 release and the recently updated Automobilista 2, there should be plenty of racing for everyone to close out 2024.
What are your impressions of the new Le Mans Ultimate update? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our LMU forum!
