PC2 Project CARS 2 Update 4 Released!

[Paul Jeffrey]

Slightly Mad Studios have released a massive new update for Project CARS 2 on PC, with console to follow in the very near future.

So big is the new update changelog I've had to span it over 2 posts to ensure I don't break the 2500 world limit for a post! So with a premium on the number of words I've got left, I'll just skip right along to the change log below:

PC

• Solved link to Facebook page when user selects the Facebook option on the Extras tab whilst Microsoft Edge is set as default browser on PC.
  
• Corrected multiple options in Photo Mode not being reflected when playing in VR.
  
• Solved VR flicker.
  
• Dedicated Server: corrected session duration automatically changing to 140 minutes when the player sets the time to more than 140 minutes.
  
• Dedicated Server: improved client and server code that uses older net API, allowing for more reliable connections.
  
• Changed the default drawing distance when playing in VR to minimize intermittent texture flickering.
  
• Improvements to droplets on camera in both VR and non-VR.
  
• Corrected an issue in VR where driving lines would disappear if camera view was changed during race.
  
• Solved an issue where Dedicated Server lobby weather conditions would always display as ‘clear’.
  
• Corrected an issue where Dedicated Server lobby vehicle images weren’t updated correctly during multiclass selection.
  
• Corrected an issue in post-race results where the mouse would not switch between the Driver List and footer menu.
  
• Improved an Online Lobby issue where players were able to select a vehicle before info was fully set.
  
• Refined incorrect message 'Multiple inputs were detected. No action was assigned' when player presses Esc key and message 'Please assign a new configuration' is displayed.
  
• Polished the missing background for ‘return to position’ messages in VR.
  
• Stability improvement for when a user would join an in-progress session.
  
• Corrected AI behaving erratically leading to a crash to desktop.
  
• Corrected an issue in VR handling two screen systems to ensure that they are both treated separately, allowing either to be the default.
  
• Resolved a save fail if ‘my documents’ folder is set to a network location.

User Interface

• Corrected an inconsistency between info on the Track Select screen and the Loading screen.
  
• Refined the Online Browser filter not closing properly.
  
• Fixed the Password Protected Lobby icon that was missing on the Lobby Details screen.
  
• Improvements to Career Dashboard Standings UI.
  
• Corrected some display unit values not changing when switching between metric and imperial units.
  
• Stability improvement where the game would become unresponsive when attempting to save a setup with no description.
  
• Solved incorrect message when entering an invalid password.
  
• Solved Career nationality not defaulting to console / Steam user's location.
  
• Improved Session and Race settings not updating in Online Championship rounds if the user applies a Motorsport Preset, thereby adding a round to the schedule.
  
• Corrected options under Realism Settings in Online Lobbies not displaying correctly and being inaccessible to Host after accessing the Realism Settings from the Online Lobby.
  
• Added name of tyres on the car within the pre-race menu.
  
• Improved language translations throughout the game.
  
• Added message for when ‘ghosts’ and times are not uploaded due to invalid car-and-track combinations.
  
• Resolved 'Pedal Type' and 'Calibrate Wheel' disappearing if the user clicks on the scroll bar of the Control Scheme from the Pause screen.
  
• Fixed 'Rules & Regulations' and 'Esports' settings being altered if user selected 'Reset to Default' in the 'Realism Settings'.
  
• Solved car classes disappearing in Vehicle Select screen of Online Lobbies when changing vehicles in multiclass lobbies.
  
• Resolved changes of Helmet Camera settings not saving properly via the Pause Menu Options.
  
• Corrected setup descriptions not fully appearing if too long.
  
• Removed green screen appearing for a second when skipping the Career path intro movie.
  
• Removed a copy of the 'Won Group A Pan-America Championship' accolade.
  
• Fix for an issue where the pit strategies full message would not appear when trying to save a pit strategy with no available slots.
  
• Fixed the 'Edit Driver' screen overlapping the Showroom when in Vehicle Select of Online Championships.
  
• Added a notification for the lobby admin/host when a player rejects Director or Broadcaster roles.
  
• Polished a mismatch of results on Sessions Result screen and Retire screen.
  
• Adjusted location of important penalty messages on the HUD, and enabled them even when the HUD is Off.
  
• Corrected long team names not appearing correctly in Online Championships.
  
• Fix for correctly displaying the finishing status of players and AI that do not finish the race or retire early.
  
• Resolved opponent cars flicking if they retire from an Online Championship on the Pre-Race screen.
  
• Corrected an issue where user was unable to see which setup was being selected in Tuning Setups with HDR Enabled.
  
• Refined Online Championships showing previously-assigned team names in new sessions .
  
• Improved progress bars in Pedal Calibration to more accurately represent pedal input.
  
• Corrected overlapping text issue in Pit Strategy.
  
• Corrected image for Fanatec Porsche GT3 RS wheel in Controller Settings.
  
• Resolved lobby details not showing all classes in multiclass Dedicated Server lobbies.
  
• Added help text for Menu Spring Strength.
  
• Removed Damper Saturation option.
  
• Corrected an issue where changing track would not remove invalid weather.
  
• Improved an issue where the game would only allow for 250 laps when the player set more than 250 laps in Race Settings.
  
• Resolved debug text appearing in S1, S2, and S3 columns of the In-Progress screen when the player selects 'Retire and Spectate'.
  
• Refined the pit stop time being estimated incorrectly when setting 'Change Tyres' to 'Recommended' on certain cars.
  
• Fixed Manufacturer Events showing incorrect progress for unlocked manufacturers when creating a new career.
  
• Fixed the number of pit stops not being displayed correctly in Post-Race Results screen.
  
• Resolved the Player not being able to determine their grid position when using the IndyCar Motorsport Preset.
  
• Fixed conversion when displaying rev limit in tuning setups.
  
• Corrected the 'Restart Session' button being highlighted by default instead of 'Continue' on Session Results screens.
  
• Corrected pit stop progress information not showing in the pit stop cinematic cameras when entering the pits in the telemetry HUD.
  
• Changed Rear View Mirror to disable dynamic scaling.
  
• Enabled Enhanced Mirror when 'Enhanced Visuals' option is selected.
  
• Resolved incorrect ordering after altering the Standings in Online Championships.
  
• Added active Motorsport Presets to View Info and Edit screens in Online Championships.
  
• Resolved changes not being reflected when re-editing a Created Event.
  
• Corrected an issue where the game would incorrectly round up player's time on HUD and Results screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where player would sustain damage in the pit lane, but it would not appear on the HUD damage element.
  
• Corrected an issue where no data would be displayed when loading a default setup after previously overwriting it.
  
• Resolved 4th position missing in Standings Panel when on the grid during countdown sequence.
  
• Resolved 'Create New Pit Strategy' option remaining enabled when all pit strategy slots were filled.
  
• Fix for Team tab being disabled on Round Results screen of Online Championship.
  
• Corrected Status/Session info in Replays not correctly updating when switching drivers.
  
• Fixed Director and Broadcaster screens not showing all participants data in Online Championships.
  
• Fixed the Circuit of the Americas National circuit appearing when Daytona International Speedway Tri-Oval was selected in Online Championships.
  
• Added a central cockpit camera to cars and the options screen.
  
• Stability improvement when a player selected the 'Compare Driver Network Profile' option from Team Roster of Online Championships, after adding a Director or Broadcaster.
  
• Corrected an issue where Online Lobbies were not sorted in lobby browser when a player altered the sort order of a certain column more than twice.
  
• Resolved the player not being able to access Driver Network Profile on Livery Select screen of Invitational Events.
  
• Removed the 'Edit' option in Online Championships Lobby for options that cannot be edited.
  
• Improved the bars in the Competitive Racing License history chart to make them visible at lower values.
  
• Refined an issue where Rounds in Online Championships Schedule were selectable after they had been completed.
  
• Adjusted overlapping Online Championship names when text is extremely long.
  
• Improved lighting to some objects in car thumbnails.
  
• Polished the Current Session information being displayed on the Pre-Session screen in Online Championships.
  
• Corrected Tuning setups saving issues.
  
• Resolved an issue in Online Championships where class-wide results would fail to display under certain circumstances.
  
• Improved the menu flow in Online Championships to prevent accidental return to Main Menu when pressing the back button during countdown on lobby screen.
  
• Added lobby filtering for Competitive Racing License.
  
• Adjusted an issue where, in Russian, the capital K and Y letters were showing as lower case in the driver profile.
  
• Corrected an issue where the track UI wasn’t updating for the client if the host selected a new track in the Online Lobby.
  
• Corrected an issue where an incorrect detailed view of a car would be shown in Vehicle Select.
  
• Solved an issue where multiple DLC invitation pop-ups were triggered after creating a new career.
  
• Corrected an issue where the player is unable to change the number of laps within a lobby screen.

Cars

• Audi R8 LMS, and R8 LMS 24H: improved LOD popping issue at the rear of the cars.
  
• Mazda Radbull: fixed backfires not being visible from the cockpit.
  
• Honda 2&4: corrected glass HUD blurring with road behind the glass.
  
• Improved steering animations for Honda 2&4 and Radical SR3 when using a gamepad.

Tracks

• Bannochbrae: fixed collision issues in the pit lane / pit area with larger sized cars.
  
• Catalunya Club: corrected cinematic cameras remaining active when restarting a concluded session.
  
• Catalunya Rallycross: removed Joker Lap exploit.
  
• Donington Park: adjusted pit crew positions.
  
• Dubai Autodrome Club: corrected incorrect track length.
  
• Hell Rallycross: improved tree walls and outer terrain LOD distance.
  
• Indianapolis: changed the position of pit exit-line objects, and resolved an issue where the car could avoid the pit-out trigger.
  
• Knockhill: reduced garage depth to fix the AI hitting the kerb and marshal-box exiting pit garages.
  
• Lydden Hill: fixed a hole in collision mesh that caused players to lose control when hitting a dip in the road.
  
• Monza Oval: turned off oval flag. This disables the oval setup being applied, as track direction is opposite to the other ovals in the game.
  
• Spa Francorchamps: polished the pits to stop rain and snow falling in garages.
  
• Texas Motor Speedway: resolved player receiving insufficient progress notification while leaving the pits.
  
• Resolved issue where, after race is restarted, advertisement boards failed to disappear and remained on-track after being knocked about.
  
• Updated pit crew animations for tracks with left-hand-sided pit stop fueling.

Handling

• Added a new Opposite Lock Assist for gamepads and keyboards. This is designed to help the player control oversteer and slides, and can be toggled On or Off in the Gameplay screen in Options.
  
• Fixed incorrect altitude of many tracks for better balance of performance between turbo and naturally-aspirated cars.
  
• BMW 1M: Improved FFB scale.
  
• Dallara IR-15 Oval: increased FFB multiplier and fixed the FFB feeling very light, default gamepad setup changed to a differential which removes the left pull due to tyre stagger, revised tyre rubber for ovals when cold, and lowered rolling resistance of oval tyres.
  
• Ferrari 333SP: small balance of performance changes to fit with other
• LMP900 cars. Fixed final drive ratios and improved AI gear usage.
  
• Ford Escorts: raised and moved back chase camera position to help with high FOV settings.
  
• Ford Falcon V8SC: shifted aero drag balance rearward, fixed rear wing yaw effect, re-balanced adhesive and ‘rip grip’ for slick tyre compounds.
  
• Ford Fusion Stockcar: new Road Course tyre that now has a stiffer carcass and wider adhesive peak. Adjusted the AI tyres to match.
  
• Ford Mustang RTR Formula Drift: improvement to cars’ handling based on Vaughn Gitten Jr.'s feedback.
  
• Ford Sierra Group A: moved the launch RPM higher to help the AI on race starts.
  
• Formula A: reduced fuel tank capacity to a more reasonable level.
  
• Formula C and Formula R: revised tyres, engine braking, and damper setup for better stability and easier driveability. Revised Stable setups.
• Adjusted FFB for changes to tyres. Fixed rain tyre being faster than the slick.
  
• Formula Cars: decreased sensitivity to aero and suspension damage.
  
• Ginetta G40: Tuned for better control after large impacts and jump landings. Rebalanced side aero forces and tyre carcass bump-rebound damping.
  
• Lamborghini Huracan GT3: slight drag decrease to hit known top speeds with low rear wing.
  
• Lamborghini Sesto Elemento: increased FFB strength (previously too low).
  
• Ligier Judd LMP2 and RWD P20: better engine cooling adjustments after HP changes.
  
• LMP2 cars: gave approx’ 50hp power increase to get them closer to real-world lap times, and adjusted radiator sizes to suit.
  
• Lotus 38 and Lotus 56: increased speed on ovals.
  
• Mercedes AMG GT3 and SLS GT3: default wings changed for AI cars to obtain better speed balance at low downforce tracks.
  
• Nissan GTR GT3: small increase in power to 525hp.
  
• OMSE RX Lites: increased FFB multiplier and shifted aero drag toward the centre.
  
• Porsche 911 GT3 R: revised suspension geometry and setup from new reference material. Re-calculated chassis moments of inertia.
  
• Toyota GT-One 1999: small balance of performance changes to fit correctly with LMP900 cars.
  
• IndyCar & Ford Fusion: increased AI tyre wear to better match player on ovals, making pitting and strategy similar.
  
• Improved AI tyres for Ford MKIV, Lotus 40, Ferrari 365 GTB Competizione, and Mercedes-Benz 300 SL AMG
  
• Group C and IMSA GTP: increased engine rotational inertia, new tyre carcass, and re-balance of adhesive vs ‘rip grip’. Bump Stop lengths also reviewed, as was lift:drag ratio on all cars. Fuel consumptions also addressed.
  
• Group C cars: adjusted FFB for latest changes to tyres. Fixed rain tyre being faster than the slick.
  
• GT3 Soft Slicks: tweaks to temperature operating window to broaden their range, mainly fixing their poor performance in cold conditions.
  
• Small HP balance adjustments to Bentley, Cadillac ATS, and Ferrari GT3 cars.
  
• Added 5 litres to fuel capacity to Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, Porsche 911 GT3, and BMW Z4 GT3. This ensures they can do a 90-minute race/fuel-run with the rest of the GT3 cars.
  
• GTE Class: improved the rolling resistance of AI tyres to better match player speeds.
  
• Fine-tuned fuel estimates for LMP1, GT3, GT4, and turbo cars.
  
• Rallycross: improved adhesive vs ‘rip grip’ to help stability of slides on RX tyres.
  
• Altered side- and push-drafting.
  
• Reduced drag penalty associated with aero damage, and also adjusted thresholds for AI to pit.
  
• Corrected differing amounts of fuel between players in Fixed Setup races.
  Shifted the aero drag centre towards the rear on a number of cars, fixing rear wing yaw effect.
  
• Adjustments made to reduce in-air negative tilt of some vehicles.
  
• Reduced the speed of slick tyres in the rain.
  
• Increased rain tyre heating for player cars.
  
• Reduced heating on touring car rain tyres.
  
• Reduced base wear on slick-based rain tyres.
  Fixed issue that de-calibrated wear on some tyres

 

[eyewants]

Start with the "Stable" set-up. This is the best set-up for most of us to start with.

Lower the car in the front to 45mm ride height and lower the rear to between 55-65 mm depending on if you want more aero or not.

Set front springs to about 145 (imperial) and the rears slightly below or above the fronts.

Set front anti-roll to about 145 lbs and rears to just above or below that figure.

I prefer my rear not to sway around too much so I set rear anti-roll higher than I have recommended to you. I also set my rear springs to a setting that is equal to or more than the front springs. This is because with the weight of the engine to the rear, the rear will get sloppy with a loose set-up from the weight "slopping" around like water in a bucket when the weight shifts while cornering or going over bumps. This is more of a personal preference that seems to work for me.


Aero is tricky depending upon the track. I think "Stable" is set at 8 front and 14 or 16 rear. This is high DF but if you are on a twisty track this should work for you.

I prefer TC at low as it does not allow the engine to bog down too much over kerbs. Set this to preference.

Drop front bump stops to 15 and put rears at 25. Lower front slow bump two clicks.

Brake ducts should be open enough to allow for cooling but closed enough to allow the brakes to help heat the tires to race temps. Be careful with this because if you close the ducts too much with low tire pressures you will cook the tires. If you open them up too much the brakes will never develop enough heat to work properly.

Set brake bias to 52-48. Any more than that in the front will cause the fronts to lock easier.

I do not know how you are driving but it sounds as if you are entering the corners at far higher speeds than you should. Remember that you cannot brake mere yards away from the turn, these cars do not have ABS, you have to get on the binders sooner.

Use the tranny to help slow the car in the straights, don't rely upon just the brakes or you will overshoot every time. Set the engine braking to help slow, but not so much you swap ends while braking. I prefer a heavier engine braking setting as I use downshifts to get the rear around on tight corners, but this is a practiced technique.

Dunno how much more I can add unless you give more info.

Thanks, that's a lot of help. I'll surely give it a try. I'm at Silverstone with the Honda powered Ligier. I went there to set up a car that can make it through the "S's" and the sweeping rights to see what the update did. I'm on light throttle in the middle of a turn, not changing the steering input, the back end just comes around. I've eliminated a lot of it by stiffening the rear slow bound and rebound but there's something very wrong with the setup. I just don't know what it is. Thaks

 

[MarkR]

With this v4 patch I think Project CARS 2 has caught up with the Assetto Corsa AI, which for me was the best in racing games (remembering of course that is took a couple of years to happen).

Same player car, same tracks, same AI class cars where available in each game and as close as possible same conditions.

For those like me that care about realism the lap times are as good as identical to the real 2017 Euro GT4 RBR race too.

Incredible fun and I think the Project CARS 2 AI will improve quite a bit more yet the team are really listening and implementing changes this time around.

 

[thepharcyde]

AI has defo improved in perfect, dry conditions

 

[Andy_J]

Mr Bell stated that Pcars 2 will only receive patches/updates for 6 months after release. We must be getting close to that deadline now? Hopefully he has extended that time limit to further enhance the AI and some other minor problems.

 

[Majuh]

The season pass contains 4 DLCs and we have only seen the first one yet, so support is far from over.

 

[Keith Joyce]

I notice it's easier to catch oversteer since the lastest patch.

 

[Andy_J]

The season pass contains 4 DLCs and we have only seen the first one yet, so support is far from over.

I stated patches/updates to main game. It is what he stated also. Not DLC releases.

 

[Hiro Abe]

Mr Bell stated that Pcars 2 will only receive patches/updates for 6 months after release. We must be getting close to that deadline now? Hopefully he has extended that time limit to further enhance the AI and some other minor problems.

Why would they state this? Seems to show a distinct lack of commitment to their product. Unless they plan on releasing a new sim every 6 months or so which, obviously, is not going to happen. They made some terrific improvements with PC2 over PC1 and further improvements with their big update. If they keep going, PC2 could really be solid product thru and thru. I find this rather frustrating.

 

[David Wright]

Mr Bell stated that Pcars 2 will only receive patches/updates for 6 months after release. We must be getting close to that deadline now? Hopefully he has extended that time limit to further enhance the AI and some other minor problems.

The only quote I could find was this

http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/sh...-topic-of-AI&p=1359697&viewfull=1#post1359697

where he talks about working on the AI for AT LEAST 6 months. This is very different from "will only receive patches for 6 months."

Do you have another source for your statement?

 

[Andy_J]

That's what I remembered. Obviously it is open to longer time period. Like I stated I hope it gets more AI updates.

 

[MarkR]

From what I see in the AI topic on the forum the team have already acknowledged several issues identified with certain car/track/weather/fuel AI combinations and AI disqualification issues with pit lane speeding and are saying they will be fixed in the next patch. So far they've been good to their word let's hope it continues.

SMS seem much more receptive to issues being raised and willing to fix them this time which is an attitude I like a lot.

 

[Ian Bell]

Mr Bell stated that Pcars 2 will only receive patches/updates for 6 months after release. We must be getting close to that deadline now? Hopefully he has extended that time limit to further enhance the AI and some other minor problems.

I have never stated that anywhere. It's not our intention at all. Now, back to ignoring invented rubbish on the internet.

 

[Andy_J]

I have never stated that anywhere. It's not our intention at all. Now, back to ignoring invented rubbish on the internet.

Somebody has quoted what you said. And I was wrong. You said at least 6 months. My mistake. Perhaps you can tell us all just how long you will carry on with the fixes?

 

[Ian Bell]

Somebody has quoted what you said. And I was wrong. You said at least 6 months. My mistake. Perhaps you can tell us all just how long you will carry on with the fixes?

Until we can't make it any better. Patch 5 is already in development.

We have 2 projects on the go at the moment. One is yet to be announced 'action/arcade' and one is pCARS2. We have a team of over 50 people dedicated to ongoing improvements. Unlike last time, we haven't looked at or written a line of code for pCARS3 as yet.

 

[Msportdan]

Even though i have been critical of my opinion of PC2 in the past and in this thread - I still bloody find my self giving it another go - i didn't with PC1. In fact was playing it last nite till 2am, and had lot of fun.

So i commend the improvement over PC1 a lot Ian!

My only gripe for me that i do find slightly frustrating is the AI speed level amongst cars and tracks, I'm noting my required ai level and like in most sims this could always vary maybe 1-5%, in pc2 I'm finding I'm having 10-50% ai change on some tracks. Yes i understand the fact I'm not strong at all tracks, but that feels very extreme to me. Also maybe a few wet weather ai issues need adjusting maybe . Maybe using the leaderboards as a base for AI times could be a good idea?

Anyways I'm sure your aware lol

Anyway it is a great sim and while your here and most likely seen the posts here, i think I'm frustrated because it has great potential and I'm mainly an offline player (maybe a fault of mine). But the work to the AI and the whole game is pretty dam good it does well at the immersion and feel of a raceday.

If i could request one thing Ian me to you.. hehe Please change the Ginetta invitational at cadwell - those cars don't really suite that track there. Becomes bit of a wipeout race.. That is a great car/class to drive and i think another track is deserved of that invitational

one more thing:
i heard about the threat thing, and that is bloody pathetic, and shoudnt be a thing in our sim community, and how it ever got made public there should be consequences there to the guilty party and the party that allowed it to happen!

 

[Deleted member 379375]

We have a team of over 50 people dedicated to ongoing improvements. Unlike last time, we haven't looked at or written a line of code for pCARS3 as yet.

Well the horse has bolted for a lot of us who bought the first one but hope it gets sorted this time . I think it's fair to say you were warned.

 

[2112]

Thanks, that's a lot of help. I'll surely give it a try. I'm at Silverstone with the Honda powered Ligier. I went there to set up a car that can make it through the "S's" and the sweeping rights to see what the update did. I'm on light throttle in the middle of a turn, not changing the steering input, the back end just comes around. I've eliminated a lot of it by stiffening the rear slow bound and rebound but there's something very wrong with the setup. I just don't know what it is. Thaks

Unfortunately, if you tried that set up it would probably suck. I gave you the wrong anti-roll settings. They should be far higher than what I told you. I wrote the figures from memory while at work and realized the screw up that night.

Give the ARB's a big increase and then raise or lower to suit how it turns. If you want the front to bite more lessen the front ARB. If you want the back to stop swinging around increase it.

Sorry for the screw-up.

 

[thepharcyde]

I have started leveraging the ghost setups as my base point. Give that a try

 

[Andy_J]

Until we can't make it any better. Patch 5 is already in development.

That's cool and good to know.

 

[2112]

No the track was literally dry, and the ai was not using any existing wet patches to cool their tyres they were racing on the total dry line!!. yet they were getting faster and faster.. With smaller races the transitions from wet to dry happen in 2-3 laps literally. I would/should of come in for slicks, but as the ai are sorta broken wth changing weather i stayed out, and the ai didn't pit..?! i wanted to see what happened! PC2 is frustratingly flawed in many ways if your going to use a sim defining technology, at least make sure the game works with it.

and...

f1 tyres dont work the same as any other tyre?! the principle is the same geez.

im fed up being told that the flaws in PC2 are realistic by people thinking this is the top sim in the industry ! SO please argue amongst yourselves.

Ahem...

First: I do not think PC2 is actually "realistic". Of course I don't think any of the sims we use are "realistic". I believe that the people who make some sims try to get the most realism that they can.

Now: If you are running a race with wet/dry cycle why are you running a two to three lap race in the first place? Is that a realistic lap count for a sports car race? Know of any real series that only run 2-3 laps?

I avoid, every time, jumping into a server that has a wet/dry cycle unless it is going to be a long race, i.e: 20 laps or more. Why? Shorter races do not allow for pitting in a changing tires to fit the weather. Shorter races should be either dry or wet, not a weather pattern with both. It is the utmost in lack of realism thus I refuse to participate in such. While I do not believe my sims are the mostest realisticest, I do insist upon some realism.

Lastly: Why are you racing short races, with varying weather, against the AI? Perhaps if you lengthened the race you may see the cars duck in for wets.

Last, lastly: AI probably start the race with "automatic with weather". If this is so, perhaps the program changes the physics of the tire to match weather conditions for the AI?