Review: Race Pro
My Impressions - "Chunx"

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Physics

Well, here’s the meat of it then. The real discriminator that separates "sim" from "arcade". I have to admit that one has to look pretty hard to see past the vague controller response associated with the Xbox 360 FFB Wheel to see what quality lies within Race Pro. But after a few evenings of hard concentration I have to say the overall the physics felt pretty good in spite of the wheel issues. I don’t think they’re quite as challenging as GTR2 or rFactor, but they do offer challenge and reward the driver that masters them.

One aspect of the physics model I appreciated was the flavor clearly evident in different car types. For example, the Radical SR3 felt a lot lighter and more tossable than the GT1 class Aston Martin DBR9, with the SR3 more tolerant of braking errors and a little easier to move the tail out with power-on oversteer. Conversely the DBR9 felt heavier, with more nose weight due to its front engine and thus more prone to understeer when over-driven in the corners. With its vast horsepower, it had some rather abrupt and severe power-on oversteer and generally felt like a bigger, heavier and more powerful car. This is a subtle and very subjective ‘feel’ aspect of Race Pro, but overall I liked the way the physics engine could give each car type a flavor of its own — something more commonly associate with a PC-based racing sim. But frankly, I think Race Pro may even do this one aspect better than rFactor.

While overall I liked the challenging physics model that sometimes gave realistic outputs such as power-on and trail braking oversteer that allowed me to steer the car a bit with the throttle, or result in a spin or excessive yaw if I overdid things. There’s also a fair amount of suspension travel that’s conveyed as part of a changing visual perspective as well as in the individual grip levels of the tires. But there were times the physics model felt either toned down or limited in fidelity, especially near the traction limit. During slides the car would sometimes suddenly "catch" itself, magically finding grip during oversteer that turned to controllable understeer, or have more grip than expected when putting an outside tire in the grass or gravel verge. With all my races so far being short affairs aimed at those of limited attention span, I have only to wonder if SimBin has included tire wear in their physics model. Or if the Xbox 360 even has the capability to process all the nuances of a racing sim physics engine.

Forgive the pun, but the tires are where the rubber meets the road in any racing sim. Get the tire model wrong, and you don’t have a quality racing sim. Here, I think that for the most part SimBin has done a good job on the three traditional aspects of conveying grip status. Brake lock with Radical SR3 in physics, graphics and sound are all present and done well. The only aspect missing is in force feedback response, and as we’ve discussed the wheel and its controller code is simply not up to race sim spec.

The physics of the game itself seem to actually feel pretty good. You can tell there's less physics info being passed back and forth (either in rate or number of variables), or that the game's physics is just a tad dumbed down compared to it's PC counterparts — at least that's how it feels. But RacePro still has plenty of power-on oversteer, and turn-in understeer when you enter a corner too hot or lock a front wheel. Chassis setup makes a difference, so the garage does influence the car's handling, and that's good news for sim fans. The MS wheel's limitations really make it hard to precisely place the car on the track, which will be an issue when racing in traffic or even trying to get a good, consistent lap time. And without precise car control or placement, there's little to keep a hard-core sim racer coming back for more.

Like all SimBin products, there isn't much indication that any straight line braking lockup has occurred and there's no real difference in feel when you've pushed the brake too hard (besides noticing you're not stopping), but when you turn the wheel even a tiny bit when braking, you'll instantly know you've locked up a wheel or two. One thing I didn't notice even with all the aids turned off and a 51/49 brake bias was braking oversteer on turn entry. I just couldn't seem to get the rear end to want to pass the front when trail braking. More testing is needed.

Garage Setup

Like any racing sim, Race Pro offers a wide spectrum of chassis and drivetrain adjustments. They’re grouped by functional category, such as Aerodynamics, Brakes, Suspension, Gearing, etc. Each category’s individual adjustment item comes with a brief description of what that item is, which is something other sims could learn from.

While the Garage setup options are diverse, they’re not quite complete. Noticeably absent in the otherwise complete garage setup section was the ability to adjust rear differential gear or “final drive” ratio. Also missing were any options for adjusting fuel load or pit strategy. The fuel load is controlled by the game and there’s no fuel gauge on the HUD or instrument panel to tell when you’re running out of petrol. That’s too bad, because fuel strategy is a major part of auto racing, and has impacts on car weight, fuel mileage, and pit strategy. In Race Pro, those chores and the options they offer are taken out of the player’s hands, and the tank magically meets whatever needs you place on it. It’s one area of sim fidelity that SimBin made no effort to provide.

Finally, there is no way to share setup files. With the game on a console, there’s no way to pull setups from the hard drive as with a PC game and share via e-mail. And unlike rFactor, there’s no way to share setups online during a race session. Other than these few issues, Race Pro seems pretty much up to the standards that demanding consumers expect in a purpose-built racing sim.

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