Laguna and Cars - More Assetto Corsa DLC Previews Released

[Paul Jeffrey]

Check out these incredible new Bonus Pack 3 preview images and video ahead of the big launch tomorrow..

Thanks to the generosity of the guys behind at Kunos Simulazioni, players of Assetto Corsa will tomorrow be getting their hands on seven new high performance road cars and a laser scanned version of the incredible Laguna Seca Raceway as free additional content, and to help celebrate the build up to this momentous occasion Kunos have just swamped the internet with a bunch of awesome looking new preview images!

Scheduled to hit the PC version of Assetto Corsa tomorrow and with console players expected to receive the content early 2018, the new cars and circuit look simply resplendent in these latest preview images, really showcasing the very best of what Assetto Corsa is able to produce graphically.

Alongside what are very strong looking visuals are seven hugely different and equally entertaining cars to drive, each featuring their own unique little nuances that make getting under the skin of the Bonus Pack 3 content a driving pleasure. From golden oldies like the Alfa 33 to a high tech concept car from Maserati, fans of performance road going machines really have a little of something to enjoy in this upcoming new pack..

Fancy taking a much closer look at the upcoming bonus pack DLC with physics developer Aristotelis Vasilakos? No worries, we have you covered!

Assetto Corsa, available now for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.



Bonus Pack 3 DLC releases for free to PC on December 20th, with console to follow shortly afterwards.

Check out the Assetto Corsa Sub Forum here at RaceDepartment for the latest news and discussions regarding the sim. We host quality League and Club Racing events, have a selection of fantastic mods to download and some of the best community conversation. Join in the discussion today.

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Looking forward to the bonus pack? Which car most strikes your fancy? Enjoy the stream? Tell us you favourite and discuss away in the comments section below!

 

[Patrik Marek]

have to admit that Laguna seems to be well done ( other then color of tarmac which I agree it's too blue) , first version of the track that I prefer to iRacing, which was my favorite (until now)

good job kunos

heh, actually Forza7 has also visually very nice version of it, especially color tones & FX, .. but the actual surface details, kerb details & textures are un-matched to Kunos

 

[ltcars]

OMG! 3 secs faster on laguna. Damn...

I know it is not a big thing, but I forget to change it a lot. And it is only one number which has to be changed in the tyres.ini, so not a big thing. No need to release all of your saved up humour on this
EDIT: If that was not sarcastic I apologize

 

[Terry Rock]

Lots of fun!
The 'green' track's surface appeared a bit 'blueish' in VR initially... with a bit of difficulty seeing the surface transition onto the track from pits...other than that....great.
Thanks Kunos.

 

[NicoB79]

There are tons of onboard videos on youtube, that show that the real Launa Seca asphalt colour is different. Kunos Laguna goes in the right direction but it should be more accurate. Its too bright and blueish as mentioned before. Im using default dark pp filter and its still too bright.

Edit: maybe its the texture pattern, the original asphalt has a more homogenous colour.

 

[protonv5]

It is obviously very sunny in that part of California and almost appears as if they got the color tone (like in the video above by Terry Rock) from a very sunny day. It looks sort of over-exposed. But it can get that bright there, so perhaps that's what's happened here. In fact one year when I was there the track had just been resurfaced making it a real jet black color. So it is indeed much darker than this release. But I'm sure Kunos will fix this.

 

[MarkR]

After a huge amount of 'testing'...no scrap that, a huge amount of fun with the Huayra BC at Laguna Seca I've figured out what really makes the difference between PCARS2 and Assetto Corsa and it's all to do with the tyres.

Here is the side by side video with both games looking glorious in 4K and Rift VR. Both car models look exquisite to me, they have that obsessive attention to detail that those expensive high-quality car models draw us in with.

One thing I did notice this time is just how much louder the PCARS2 sound is, for the money a Huayra costs I really hope it sounds a lot more like the PCARS2 version.

To get the lap times (a 1.30.1 and a 1.29.8) and handling as close to each other as possible I had to run PCARS2 on the default Hypercar Trofeo and the Assetto car on road tyres, using these settings the cars feel remarkably similar. If I put the Hypercar Trofeo tyres on the Assetto Corsa car the advantage in grip, stability, braking and handling goes massively in favour of Assetto, easily 2-3 seconds a lap faster and a car that is a handful on road tyres becomes easy to drive far more quickly.

From my experience, and I've been lucky enough to attend a couple of tyre manufacturer handling days with the same car on several brands of tyres the level of transformation of the car in Assetto Corsa seems too much. The Hypercar Trofeo tyres in AC seem to behave more like warm soft slicks. On the real cars when these track tyres like Cup 2, Trofeo, 595, R888, A048 do give tremendous grip and improved braking but get close to the limit they can get tricky and often there isn't that much feedback and they tend to snap more than less grippy tyres. In that respect the AC version of the Trofeo tyres seems a bit overpowered, they hang on forever and are super easy to correct at and around the limit. The PCARS2 Trofeo has a more real tyre feel for me with this car and track combination, but equally the PCARS2 tyres maybe don't quite have enough grip so as usual, it's pluses and minuses on both sides.

All I can say for certain is both games are a lot of fun and uncannily similar with PCARS running on Trofeos and Assetto Corsa on road tyres.

 

[protonv5]

After a huge amount of 'testing'...no scrap that, a huge amount of fun with the Huayra BC at Laguna Seca I've figured out what really makes the difference between PCARS2 and Assetto Corsa and it's all to do with the tyres.

Here is the side by side video with both games looking glorious in 4K and Rift VR. Both car models look exquisite to me, they have that obsessive attention to detail that those expensive high-quality car models draw us in with.

One thing I did notice this time is just how much louder the PCARS2 sound is, for the money a Huayra costs I really hope it sounds a lot more like the PCARS2 version.

To get the lap times (a 1.30.1 and a 1.29.8) and handling as close to each other as possible I had to run PCARS2 on the default Hypercar Trofeo and the Assetto car on road tyres, using these settings the cars feel remarkably similar. If I put the Hypercar Trofeo tyres on the Assetto Corsa car the advantage in grip, stability, braking and handling goes massively in favour of Assetto, easily 2-3 seconds a lap faster and a car that is a handful on road tyres becomes easy to drive far more quickly.

From my experience, and I've been lucky enough to attend a couple of tyre manufacturer handling days with the same car on several brands of tyres the level of transformation of the car in Assetto Corsa seems too much. The Hypercar Trofeo tyres in AC seem to behave more like warm soft slicks. On the real cars when these track tyres like Cup 2, Trofeo, 595, R888, A048 do give tremendous grip and improved braking but get close to the limit they can get tricky and often there isn't that much feedback and they tend to snap more than less grippy tyres. In that respect the AC version of the Trofeo tyres seems a bit overpowered, they hang on forever and are super easy to correct at and around the limit. The PCARS2 Trofeo has a more real tyre feel for me with this car and track combination, but equally the PCARS2 tyres maybe don't quite have enough grip so as usual, it's pluses and minuses on both sides.

All I can say for certain is both games are a lot of fun and uncannily similar with PCARS running on Trofeos and Assetto Corsa on road tyres.

Awesome comparison, thanks. As I said in an earlier post, PCars2 really has a feel similar to AC these days, yet I think, better. It's amazing how much fun it is racing in PCars2. I'm also amazed at how many people say that it's crap. Totally. Their. Loss. And that's a shame. Why hate something just to hate it? If something's good, it's good. I love AC as well. It's awesome. But so is PCars2. Yet is has much more to offer these days. Also, I love the brightness and clarity of the graphics. It is truly stunning.

 

[Conrad Miller]

modedit: profanity removed

What? What I wrote as profanity? I don't remember what I wrote but I can't say anything negative about this free DLC so please don't lie to the people.

modedit: profanity removed

 

[henrisal]

The Hypercar Trofeo tyres in AC seem to behave more like warm soft slicks. On the real cars when these track tyres like Cup 2, Trofeo, 595, R888, A048 do give tremendous grip and improved braking but get close to the limit they can get tricky and often there isn't that much feedback and they tend to snap more than less grippy tyres.

Hypercar Trofeo tyres in AC are slicks. So yes, they behave like slicks.

 

[MarkR]

Hypercar Trofeo tyres in AC are slicks. So yes, they behave like slicks.

So I've been informed in a more friendly tone today. Why roll the eyes in contempt? The label in the game clearly says Hypercar Trofeo and that is a brand of road legal semi-slick. If in Assetto Corsa they are considered full slicks, and I did say above they drive like warm soft slicks in real life, then label them as slicks.

Much as it might upset the Assetto faithful currently the PCARS2 Hypercar Trofeo tyres drive like the road tyre, the Assetto tyres are something else entirely.

 

[Patrik Marek]

looking at the vid, the entire AC version of the track is bit too blue

 

[henrisal]

Sorry if my smiley upset you.

Agreed those tyres are badly named in AC.

 

[MarkR]

Sorry if my smiley upset you.

Agreed those tyres are badly named in AC.

Fair enough and agreed badly named but I suppose they at least behave like the slicks they are meant to be.

 

[Gergo Panker]

looking at the vid, the entire AC version of the track is bit too blue

His entire screen is blue, I think it's the PP filter, the default is defo not like that.

 

[MarkR]

He's entire screen is blue, I think it's the PP filter, the default is defo not like that.

I'm using the in-game setting default_bright PP, nothing else and that is exactly how the game looks on screen and in Rift. Personally, I don't see the blue issue that others do, real race tracks look all kinds of different colours on different days.

 

[Gergo Panker]

Weird, are you sure you don't have leftover weather mods etc.? Here's the default that I'm seeing, no blue tone like in yours:

 

[MarkR]

No, I don't have any weather mods or anything like that installed, just the base game and an extra few tracks, RSR Live Timing and Crew Chief but nothing to change the look of the game. I'll put the game back to default in PP in case that is causing the issue.

Edit for additional: I just checked and default / default bright didn't make any real difference, default being slightly darker as expected. Weather conditions made the biggest difference with Light Clouds set as in the video the screen has the blueish hue, with clear weather the screen is much brighter, brighter even than your picture.

 

[RMR1]

So I've been informed in a more friendly tone today. Why roll the eyes in contempt? The label in the game clearly says Hypercar Trofeo and that is a brand of road legal semi-slick. If in Assetto Corsa they are considered full slicks, and I did say above they drive like warm soft slicks in real life, then label them as slicks.

Much as it might upset the Assetto faithful currently the PCARS2 Hypercar Trofeo tyres drive like the road tyre, the Assetto tyres are something else entirely.

It was clearly stated over and over again that they are hand cut slicks. Therefore not road legal.

 

[MarkR]

It was clearly stated over and over again that they are hand cut slicks. Therefore not road legal.

Stated over and over where? In the channels, you read maybe? A bit of Googling reveals this Trofeo/cut slicks argument has been ongoing since the Top Gear Power Lap in 2013. The question remains as to why then are they called Trofeo, the brand name of a road legal semi-slick, in the AC? If the tyres were modelled on the Zonda R cut slicks call them slicks. There is no Pirelli track only 'cut slick' named Trofeo. At this time Project CARS 2 is more accurate in both description and handling of the stated Trofeo tyre, disagree with that as much as you want I'm not attempting to win a popularity contest. As I have said twice now, the AC tyres drive like slicks which is the only redeeming point, they behave like the tyres they are meant to be even if the name is wrong.

Ah, wait a minute though I recognise that profile picture though the username has changed, same old same old, I remember you love AC above all else and they can do no wrong. Given the time of year I'll show goodwill and wish you a good Christmas but I'll also mute you now to save going through the same nonsense conversations.

 

[Gergo Panker]

Stated over and over where? In the channels, you read maybe? A bit of Googling reveals this Trofeo/cut slicks argument has been ongoing since the Top Gear Power Lap in 2013. The question remains as to why then are they called Trofeo, the brand name of a road legal semi-slick, in the AC?

It can be confusing but here it is FYI: HR are modern-day performance road tyres they put on the car in the factory, road tyres are standard road tyres, semi-slicks are popular track tyres (yet sometimes the HR has more grip as tyre techology has advanced quite a bit in recent years), trofeos are non-street legal (cut) slick tyres, which are there to bring out full potential on the track, they are not related to the Pirelli tyre with the same name. Hope it helps.

Thus, in terms of grip level: old road<road<semi-slick~HR<trofeo