SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone - Feature: rFactor: A Factor in Racing Sims

The Porsche Carrera Cup 2005 is a very well made mod featuring Porsche GT3’s from the German Porsche Cup. The car models are very pleasing to look at, and they drive well too. Perhaps you have been following the discussions in various forums regarding the physics of this mod. Apparently Team GSMF who made the mod elected to model the cars with a weight distribution normally found in front-wheel drive, front-engined cars. As the Porsche is not only rear-wheel driven but has the engine mounted in the back of the car this naturally set off a rather lengthy debate concerning the physics of the mod. One interesting fact presenting itself out of the debate was that in the real cars the fuel-tank is placed at the front, thus ensuring added weight to the front of the car while the tank is full, and naturally transferring weight towards the back as the tank is gradually run dry. With the engine placed in the rear of the car, it will gradually become more and more tail-heavy. This just goes to illustrate the complexity of making mods. At any rate, the mod is fun and convincing to drive as the back-end of the car can be provoked into a slide by applying the throttle at the right time. A physics update could be in the making. I’ve tried a v.9 and in my opinion, the not-yet released physics are even better than the original.

The PCC2005 mod is available from here at Team GSMF.

PCCGB05

This package is a very nice addition to the PCC2005 mod. It is in effect the same mod as described above, but with gorgeous high resolution car liveries used in the Great Britain Porsche Cup. You may have to reinstall this mod if you found that it wouldn’t load after applying update 1070.

More on PCCGB05 here in a thread at RaceSimCentral.

Aus H6 v3.0

This mod uses the Howstons that are supplied with rFactor. However, new skins and new, very fun physics are supplied. This mod is a favorite of mine. The creators have spent a lot of time and energy on the physics, and I think they have done a wonderful job. I'm at a loss to point to any sim or mod where you get such an excellent amount of feedback from the cars.

Speaking of Howstons... I think they have quite a resemblance to the Maserati's used in the Maserati Tropheo Cup. Perhaps we can hope for a dedicated Maserati Tropheo mod sometime in the future?

The Aus H6 v3.0 mod is available from here at rFactorRacing.

Aus H6 v1.2

Another great mod, not to be confused with the other Aus H6 mod mentioned above. This one uses the Howston car shape and adds new skins as well as new physics. In the author’s own words: ”Although the H6C mod's features are based on fantasy, the physics model is derived from real life GT and Trans-Am series specs as well as my own experience as far as driving and racing high powered sports cars for over 20 years. I'd like to think that I know how a real wheel drive car with loads of torque handles and what the do(s) and don't(s) are. I've tried to deliver as much as I can to realistically mimic the feelings derived from driving and racing such powerful cars.”

The Aus H6 v1.2 mod is available from here at H6C.

AWD Rhez Challenge v1.2 mod

Four wheel drive Rhez cars with horsepower to match makes this an interesting mod as it lets you drive these mini cars with GTi performance.

The AWD Rhez Challenge v1.2 mod is available from here at Toka Jay's Place.

Stock Car Evolution (Beta v0.94)

The Stock Car Evolution mod is Beta and presently requires that you download the base mod and then some not-quite-real-world liveries. Currently there are skins available for the Fords and the Chevrolets. The Dodges currently appear in a "greyish" default configuration. Just released is Beta v0.94.

I very much like where this mod is going. At the present time, it offers a very fine ride and the choice of different chassis for road-courses, for short tracks, for speedways and superspeedways. The car liveries are not quite the real thing because of the ever present licensing issues, but they are close to the real thing. Several real ovals are available as is Watkins Glen and Infineon Raceway. Sadly the first release of Infineon causes CTDs for me, but I'm confident the problems will be resolved at some point in the future.

Clever use of sound clips in the user interface sets the scene perfectly for some "good ole boy" NASCAR racing. "Slidin'", short video from this mod is available here.

Learn more about the Stock Car Evolution mod here.

AeroWar88 (Conversion)

Converted from the AeroWar88 mod for NASCAR Racing 2003 Season, this mod lets you drive the cars from the years before restrictor plate racing was introduced.

The AeroWar88 Conversion mod is available from here at TheUSPits.

Next, let's take a look at the current crop of open wheel mods developed (and in development) for rFactor racing.

Go To Page 4

Click here to go to top of this page.