Project Cars - Japanese Car Pack includes FRS/86

[Lynxis]

Thought I'd post this for the other PC gamers out there because we've finally got a sim style racer with a twin in it. No, it doesn't have the BRZ but the FRS is practically the same car so I'll take what I can get.

Here is a copy of the notes concerning the release of the Japanese Car Pack:

"Project CARS continues its programme of continual updates and delivery of fresh new content with the release of the fan-requested Japanese Car Pack featuring two amazing Mitsubishi machines, 2014 Toyota Le Mans hybrid, the 2012 Toyota GT86/Toyota 86, and the latest Rocket Bunny Editions of both the Toyota GT-86 and Scion FR-S."

I bought the game and the Japanese Car Pack and played it for a bit with the FRS on Laguna Seca and I'll give a little mini-review. I've driven my BRZ on track a few times (but not any of the tracks in this game) and done a bunch of autocross so I have a good idea what the real thing behaves like.

I played the game with a controller and all driving aids turned off.

About the game first. I felt the graphics are middling even on the highest settings. It looks like a PS3 game to me but it's nice that it runs at a very smooth 60fps without ever dropping frames at 1920x1080 on my GTX770 and i5 4670. I hear the weather effects are very good but I haven't gotten to experience them yet.

Driving physics seem good but sometimes strange things happen under braking. In particular, I've seen the car veer hard right under heavy braking several times. I've seen the real car squirm a bit under heavy braking but I've never seen anything like this. Also, I've seen the RPMs drop way down in a braking-but-not-downshifting zone. This is like if I was holding in the clutch when I shouldn't be. It doesn't affect anything driving wise but was just strange to notice. Other than these things, no complaints, behaviour is as expected.

From what I could find in the 20 minutes of messing around in the menus I did before actually driving, the customization of your car appears to be minimal. You can choose from a few different tire compounds and tire pressures and a handful of other minor tweaks but that's all I could find. I suspect this was intended so they could model accurate physics for each vehicle with a minimum of variables.

Now about the car. It drives very close to the real thing but the one thing that really threw me off was how it sounds in the game. The real car doesn't sound this good. I'll get an exhaust someday.

Besides that, everything seemed pretty accurate. Acceleration is accurate, torque dip is present and punishes you if you fall into it like the real car does and cornering speeds are accurate like if you have the stock tires too. Saw a RL video of someone taking one of the corners on 280 tw tires at 65mph and I took the same corner at 70 in the game which I think would be pretty close to the Primacy's 240 tw rating. I did feel like the FRS in the game was a bit more tail happy than my BRZ but I think that is expected because the BRZ has a more neutral suspension setup than the FRS.

My final verdict: If you're like me and PC is your dedicated gaming platform then this is great! I've ordered a Logitech G27 wheel and I'm going to be playing much more of this over the winter. That said, the apparent lack of car customization options is a bit of a downer for me and lots of options appear to be present in the Forza and GT games so if you have a console for those games, then you might want to look at those instead.

[GhostRai]

I feel like the twins in Project CARS have vtak yo (engine sound wise)

[Lynxis]

Got my G27 today and played a bunch more. A good wheel definitely adds to the experience although it took some getting used to. It mounts to my computer desk very nicely but it's in the way when I'm not using it and a bit of a pain to move everything.

The wheel exposes both the good and the bad about the game. I'll start with the good:

Straight line and cornering speeds, lines and braking are all relevant to the real world. I mentioned issues with braking before but that was because I wasn't braking in a straight line. The braking model in the game is actually very good. Even left foot trail braking works well in certain corners, likely the same corners that benefit from it in the real world. It's a very good tool for learning line and braking techniques.

Now onto the bad. I gotta say, the wheel, pedals and shifter make the games weaknesses very apparent.

There doesn't seem to be any power oversteer programmed in. For example, in the real world, mashing throttle around a corner in 2nd gear will definitely break traction in the rear and cause a spin if you don't counter steer but here, it just pushes you through the corner. I was hoping to be able to use this to learn some car control but the game just isn't set up for it.

Also, if you choose full manual shifting, the clutch seems to just be there for people who want to bother with it. I found no sign of engine braking ever occurring in any situation. I've mis-shifted from 5th to 2nd in my car before and doing that causes the rear wheels to lock up. In the game, doing that just bounces the needle up like you rev-matched when you release the clutch. There is literally no reason to bother with heel-toe when the game basically rev-matches every shift for you anyway so it can't be used for this either.

In summary, if you want to learn or practice the lines for certain tracks, this is actually a great tool but don't expect to get anything else out of it.

[Lynxis]

Going to update this. I spent more time with the game and dialed in the G27 wheel and I have a new opinion.

There is more to be gained out of playing Project Cars than I gave credit for initially. Start chasing the time trial leader boards and it becomes really apparent.

In the GT86, I've managed to set the top time on the leader boards at Willow Springs International Raceway and I'm in the top 10 at Laguna Seca. There's still over 2 seconds between me and first place at Laguna Seca but I'm honestly mystified how they got the time they did. I might be able to get another second at Laguna but I'm satisfied to be in the top 10 so I've moved onto another track. I've started practicing Watkins Glen which is a track I might actually get to drive on one day.

Anyways, one of the things I complained about was the lack for need for car control. I have to take this back. Sure, it doesn't appear that torque can outdo traction so controlled drifts and donuts are nearly impossible in this game but chassis dynamics are alive and well and upsetting the car is a terrible thing to do. There have been plenty of times when I screw up and spun out. Turn 9 at Laguna Seca is my nemesis for ruining what would have been many great runs.

The next point is something I touched on previously that the game does well but at the time did not understand the importance of and sort of downplayed it as a transferable skill. As I started chasing the leader boards, it became apparent that braking and cornering are critical and both of these are transferable to the real world.

I will elaborate.

By the time I had a decent line and was able to follow it with some consistency I was still about 15 seconds behind the top of the leader boards. At this point, I started following ghosts and found small changes in braking and cornering that greatly affected the speeds onto straights which is where you actually make time. At a track like Big Willow where corner exit is paramount, a lot of my braking and lines placed emphasis on corner entry instead which is a huge mistake. As a novice, I related late braking to faster times but this isn't correct. It's more important to be at the correct speed to take the corner on time to get back on power early for a fast exit. Alternatively, Laguna Seca is highly technical though and some corners benefit from late and trail braking.

So yes, there is definitely plenty to be gained even from Project Cars.

[Vracer111]

Project Cars is from team members that were responsible for GTR2...one of the greatest sports car racing sims ever made. I have the Xbox One version of Project Cars and do like it, much better than those arcade games (Forza/GT). Right now just playing with the controller...but the GT86/FR-S is pretty fun and somewhat true to how it really is - love romping around Donington Park with it.

For those unfamiliar with GTR2...it is a 10 year old GT racing sim that has brilliant physics (tire and suspension model are really, really good) and awesome force feedback (once dialed in) - plus is works very well with MoTec DAQ capture software so you can see where you need to improve on each track and work on your braking, entry speed, or whatever...

Just look at the external car movement in this video, and then imagine you can feel what the car is doing at each corner through the steering wheel - because you actually can:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKdeD43217Y"]Japan GTR2 Season3-Donington Race2 Highlights - YouTube[/ame]

Video of MoTeC software and GTR2...making a track map:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01-MtyCTXNg"]Motec telemetry tutorial - part 2 - YouTube[/ame]