Assetto Corsa | Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO Talk 'n' Drive

[Paul Jeffrey]

A new car coming to Assetto Corsa in 2020, and it's a Ferrari? Sounds like a good opportunity to dust off the racing gloves and take it out for a spin if you ask me...

• Testing the upcoming Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO.
• New car coming to Assetto Corsa as part of Hublot Ferrari Esport Series.
• Car will be made freely available to players who register for the series.

Yes, unbelievably we've had two new manufacturer supported high profile car releases for Assetto Corsa in the last couple of weeks, firstly with the stunning KTM X-Bow GT4 that dropped on July 26th, and now the recent news that Ferrari plan to release their 488 Challenge EVO race car as part of an upcoming new official esport series.

Frankly, I'm delighted to see new and high quality content in Assetto Corsa, as it has served as a great opportunity to reacquaint myself with the simulation after a significant period of time away, and helps to breathe new life into a title that continues to be expanded in impressive ways by the modding community.

So, an official Ferrari in a legendary sim... that just cries out for a video don't you think? Here is my thoughts and impressions from the upcoming Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO in Assetto Corsa:

The Ferrari Hublot Esport Series is set to begin in September 2020 for both Professional and Amateur sim racers, with registrations for the series open to EU residents over the age of 18 from August 7th. Those players who register for the series will receive this new Ferrari, along with a selection of custom liveries that will be used throughout the duration of the championship.

The 488 Challenge EVO is as the name suggests, and evolution of the already well established one make series racer - having been revealed to the world at the end of 2019 and set to take centre stage for the 2020 racing season. Benefiting from increased aerodynamic performance, more power, extra grip and improved safety features alongside the more aggressive styling characteristics over its predecessor, the car absolutely looks on point in both real and virtual environments - but what does it feel like to drive? Well, check out the video within this article to find out!



Assetto Corsa is available now on both PC and console.

Got questions about AC? Want to check out the latest mods? Worry not, we've got just the place for you - the Assetto Corsa sub forum here at RaceDepartment. Head over, say hello and enjoy the wonders of our exceptional community.

 

[fatal4you]

Well someone's right, now this thread is complete
View attachment 397810
Such a surprise that someone praised RF2's weakest point as "more realistic". Can anyone explain why people need this: https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/rf2-remove-tint-reshade-preset.21398/
View attachment 397823

The Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO for rF2 is also much better as everything else.

 

[Johnr777]

The Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO for rF2 is also much better as everything else.

You mean the GTE? Different car

 

[fatal4you]

You mean the GTE? Different car

No the Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO 2020 released by Ferarri recently - much better on rF2.

 

[Johnr777]

No the Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO 2020 released by Ferarri recently - much better on rF2.

Are you sure? can you post a link to it? or news about it?

 

[Feint]

I made some screenshots of this gorgeous car here:

Jon Hillenbrand

Explore Jon Hillenbrand’s 4,266 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

https://flic.kr/p/2jws4oz

https://flic.kr/p/2jwoLKx

https://flic.kr/p/2jwoLy5

https://flic.kr/p/2jwtcva

 

[fatal4you]

I made some screenshots of this gorgeous car here:

Jon Hillenbrand

Explore Jon Hillenbrand’s 4,266 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

Rendering tech has trueley come a long way. Looks almost real.

 

[Feint]

Rendering tech has trueley come a long way. Looks almost real.

Yeah, and this is just a showroom in Content Manager. Wish I had a dedicated rendering program.

https://flic.kr/p/2jwtcPr

 

[Ben Lee]

The brakes don’t seem to glow for me? I presume that will get updated along with the exhaust flames?

 

[Feint]

Looks like the exhaust is just placed wrong. I fixed it by entering the following into the flames.ini file. To find that file, first unpack the data file in Content Manager. Then rename data.acd to anything else so it isn't accessed by the game. I renamed mine to "data.acd.bak". Then enter the data folder, find the file named flames.ini and edit it in Notepad. Enter the following:

[HEADER]
EDIT_MODE=0
INTENSITY=60.0
EDIT_BIG=1
EDIT_STATE=2
BURN_FUEL_MULT=11
FLASH_THRESHOLD=6

[FLAME_0]
POSITION=-0.356,0.390,-2.07
DIRECTION=0,0.2,-1
VSIZE_START=0.15
VSIZE_END=0.05
SIZE_MULT=0.9
IS_LEFT=0
LSIZE=0.3
GROUP=0

[FLAME_1]
POSITION=0.356,0.390,-2.07
DIRECTION=0,0.2,-1
VSIZE_START=0.1
VSIZE_END=0.075
SIZE_MULT=0.9
IS_LEFT=1
LSIZE=0.3
GROUP=1

 

[AmazingReflex]

Looks like the official practice servers are now setup for this. The Discord channel announced them yesterday.

I think the first qualifying session is first week in September at Spa.

I have put a few hours into this at Spa and only got down to 2:28.3 but I have been close to a 2:27.5 but messed up near the end of the lap.

I downloaded some setups others have posted but found them way too much oversteer to handle so I went back to base setup and tweaked from there to my liking.

I have tried to achieve better turn-in without so much oversteer as to be uncontrollable. I think I need to stiffen the front a bit now to make it more stable through Eau Rouge as I can't keep the throttle on as much as the fastest guys without my car bouncing around so much.

The fastest guys seem to be doing 2:22 to 2:23. How is this possible? Beyond me I think.

 

[graveltrap]

The fast guys laps are are crazy, I'd very much like to see a video clip of one! My lines are reasonable enough (24.8 at Spa now) , I just loose a tenth or two per corner, trouble is over 19 turns that soon adds up to a couple of seconds

 

[AmazingReflex]

 

[graveltrap]

Fantastic lap, shame that it wouldn't count as exceeded track limits, but looks it has given me a couple of things to try!

[edit]Well the inspiration helped, now down to a 2:24.25 23.9 maybe possible if I can hold my nerve...[/edit]

 

[fatal4you]

Videos like that and from graveltrap are super helpful. I'm currently at 2.29.6-something and seem I shift down to much sometimes. For example, in the last S-curve im in first, but shoudl be in second gear. So much too learn ... but still fun.

 

[fatal4you]

Also makes me wonder, what are the offical track settings (ambient temp etc) for the competition?

 

[graveltrap]

It's written in the regulations, 20 degrees ambient from memory... I am assuming the track will be optimum for hotlap qualifying, but for racing it will start as 98% with some carry over between sessions.

I went for a look in the discord, but the links to the regulations seem to have disappeared...

Might be an idea to jump into an official practice server for a look see.

 

[Ben Lee]

Managed a 2:24.900 at Spa. I could go a bit faster, missed a couple of apexes but this car punishes mistakes quite harshly I feel. Too fast into a corner and you pay so dearly.

 

[graveltrap]

I don't really believe it but a 2:23.888 for a new PB. Used MS gamebar to "capture that" and my video editing skills are none existent at this time of night, but this lap made me happy

Pretty hefty abuse of the track limits at Blanchimont, but the game allows it

Pigeon cam from the replay, always a helpful thing to watch back to see the errors and abuse!

 

[happy_racer]

Guys, CM&CSP is the way to go, you get a config with pbr and a proper black roll cage.

 

[fatal4you]

Guys, CM&CSP is the way to go, you get a config with pbr and a proper black roll cage.

Yeah, you should definitively install ESXi on your vBlock and get that nice vShadow for your VMs.