Le Mans Ultimate: How Close Can rFactor 2 Mods Get?

Le Mans Ultimate or rFactor 2 mods.jpg
With Le Mans Ultimate tracing its roots to rFactor 2, can mods bridge the gap between the two games? Here are all the RaceDepartment liveries you need to recreate a 2023 FIA WEC grid in rF2.

Image credit: Studio 397

The official World Endurance Championship game, Le Mans Ultimate is at the time of writing just one week away. But for many sportscar fans that have spent the past few decades waiting for a Le Mans racing game, that week will no doubt prove too long.

A quick scroll through RaceDepartment mods will show that several games feature content and liveries for last year’s entry list. No less so than rFactor 2, the game upon which LMU is being built. So what if we decided to recreate Le Mans Ultimate using RaceDepartment mods for rFactor 2? Well, here is a list of all the livery creations you can find for the 2023 Le Mans grid.

LMU Content for rFactor 2​

Of course, we understand that every piece of content required for the 2023 FIA WEC is not present in rF2. Filling out the Hypercar class will no doubt be a struggle full of endless Googling and quality assessment. Some models do feature on the Steam Workshop. Meanwhile, the now-deceased Vanwall Vandervell 680 released as official rF2 content in 2022.


Elsewhere, the 2023 World Endurance Championship calendar featured seven circuits, as the LMU social pages will attest. Among these, Fuji and Portimao do not feature as official content for rFactor 2. The former does feature in RaceDepartment’s mod list. However, as an old conversion from the original rFactor title, quality is unlikely to match the rest of the calendar.

In fact, Studio 397 managed to recreate in great detail Sebring, Spa, Le Mans, Monza and Bahrain for its sandbox title. These circuits sit alongside the full GTE and LMP2 list one needs to fill a 2023 grid.

Le Mans Liveries in rFactor 2​

It is this lowest class from the 2023 Le Mans grid that RaceDepartment rFactor 2 livery mods do a great job of recreating. In fact, RD user @Laurent Leceurs has put together no less than 13 liveries from the GTE class from LM 2023. In addition, @pparas48 has numerous GTE liveries to help fill the field further, notably a Ferrari GTE collection. Together, these two painters give the community 10 full-season 2023 WEC liveries and four more present at the 24 Hours.

Unfortunately, the LMP2 class for 2023 is somewhat lacking. However, the 2022 ELMS class is very strong, with several cars fitting either season. Liveries for United Autosport, Inter Europol and PREMA come from @José Mª. Adding to this healthy collection comes RD user @Ned with a Jota LMP2 livery. Whilst inaccurate to the 2023 season, it is nice to see the infamous endurance racing team in rF2.

rFactor 2 GTE cars.jpg

GTE cars in rF2 have many 2023 liveries. Image credit: Studio 397

Going back to Laurent Leceurs, they have also given the community a number of liveries for the Hypercar class. Using a trio of mods found on the rF2 Steam Workshop, every Porsche, Ferrari and Glickenhaus livery from 2023 is available. Far from the correct model, pparas has painted the Cadillac DPI-VR in Hypercar colours.

Is rFactor 2 a LMU Replacement?​

Having scrolled through the many rFactor 2 mods available on RaceDepartment, it is fair to say that Le Mans Ultimate certainly has its place on the market. The standard Studio 397 game does not currently feature enough accurate liveries to rival the official release. Bringing every car and livery from the 2023 WEC season, including Le Mans-specific colours, LMU definitely out-does rF2.

However, as a stop gap for the next week or so, rFactor 2 is certainly a serviceable Le Mans simulator. In addition, those with a passion for VR immersion will have to make do with mod collections until the official game gains support.

What Le Mans car and livery mods do you use for rFactor 2? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
About author
Angus Martin
Motorsport gets my blood pumping more than anything else. Be it physical or virtual, I'm down to bang doors.

Comments

There is one modding group creating free modern prototype cars for rF2, and all of them have some kind of distracting multiple pitch sound in cockpit view, so nope, nothing remotely close to being top quality. And if we would get a paid mod from a respected modding team, there is no easy way to change the fake branding used for licensing loopholes. Even from the official rF2 DLC content only the 488 GTE and C8R could be considered up to par quality wise.

I think rFactor 2 is a great sim with a lot of potential. But how it looks/drives is very highly dependent on the quality of the content. LMU is a chance that we get a whole grid of content made with modern standards as provided in the latest of DLC in rF2, with consistent quality levels. And to have all the liveries without the interesting installation process, all the liveries having consistent preview images in the UI, trackside banners being authentic instead of generic rF2 branding, all of this adds to the immersion.
 
There is one modding group creating free modern prototype cars for rF2, and all of them have some kind of distracting multiple pitch sound in cockpit view, so nope, nothing remotely close to being top quality. And if we would get a paid mod from a respected modding team, there is no easy way to change the fake branding used for licensing loopholes. Even from the official rF2 DLC content only the 488 GTE and C8R could be considered up to par quality wise.

I think rFactor 2 is a great sim with a lot of potential. But how it looks/drives is very highly dependent on the quality of the content. LMU is a chance that we get a whole grid of content made with modern standards as provided in the latest of DLC in rF2, with consistent quality levels. And to have all the liveries without the interesting installation process, all the liveries having consistent preview images in the UI, trackside banners being authentic instead of generic rF2 branding, all of this adds to the immersion.
Totally agree. Sandboxes are fun for random mixes of content and do-everything gameplay. But there is nothing like a purpose-made game with all top-notch content.
Honestly, can't wait for LMU!
 
if we import all the LMU content into rF2, like the project cars 2 content into AMS2, bye bye LMU for the offline players.
The amount of fail in this comment is hilarious.
RF2 has really good physics, however the single player aspect is awful/ non existent, ai is among the worst and most inconsistent in simracing, the game itself has such a low player count it isn't stealing anything from anyone, LMU has updated gfx and likely won't be a science project to get running.
I imagine within 4 months LMU has nearly triple the player count of RF2. As others mentioned, a purpose built game is very attractive and this content in particular has been very popular. I could see a lot of ACC fans loving this: GTE cars would be new for them plus the LMDh, not to mention that even though it will only have 7 tracks, 5 would be tracks ACC doesn't have.
 
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if we import all the LMU content into rF2, like the project cars 2 content into AMS2, bye bye LMU for the offline players.
I'll still happily skip my way over to an LMU purchase once VR is implemented. The fact they seem to have properly, or at least mostly properly implemented hybrid powertrains is a big step forward. All the other tweaks and improvements will be very welcomed as well. If the vehicles are as engaging to drive as the rF2 GT3, GTE and endurance pack cars...I'll be champing at the bit to get VR implementation.
 
The amount of fail in this comment is hilarious.
RF2 has really good physics, however the single player aspect is awful/ non existent, ai is among the worst and most inconsistent in simracing, the game itself has such a low player count it isn't stealing anything from anyone, LMU has updated gfx and likely won't be a science project to get running.
I imagine within 4 months LMU has nearly triple the player count of RF2. As others mentioned, a purpose built game is very attractive and this content in particular has been very popular. I could see a lot of ACC fans loving this: GTE cars would be new for them plus the LMDh, not to mention that even though it will only have 7 tracks, 5 would be tracks ACC doesn't have.
I'm still trying to get to the bottom of the wide range of AI opinions with rF2. Like most sims, it can vary from car to car and track to track, along with skill and aggression settings. With official cars and tracks, rF2 AI consistently impresses me more than most. Certainly far more than AC and when it comes to believable and varying behavior, more than ACC. AMS2 is really ramping up their AI quality in recent months, but I still find rF2 AI to be more impressive on average. Whether it's covering off inside lines intelligently, putting pressure on me, effectively navigating multiclass traffic or occasionally screwing up in mostly believable ways...I've never had a terrible impression of it. The few times I've taken to the time to set up the "AI learning" behavior and allowed the AI to actively learn through solo practice sessions, it's gotten even more impressive on those tracks.

Is your underwhelming impression of rF2 AI based on official content, modded content, a mix? Genuinely curious about where the difference lies.
 
LMU has updated gfx
Won't answer about your no sense with rF2 AI, cause for the moment, I have never seen a block path in the others games ;)
About the gx updated, all I have seen updated is the headlights reflection, with a "star" when we look at them ;)
this is the only one gfx update :

big update.jpg
 
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@

Angus Martin How about finding out what the schedule / roadmap is for RF2 in 2024, or if they even have 1. RF2 is getting stuff they want to test for LMU nothing more & that's from MSG Race Control not S397.​

 
Won't answer about your no sense with rF2 AI, cause for the moment, I have never seen a block path in the others games ;)
About the gx updated, all I have seen updated is the headlights reflection, with a "star" when we look at them ;)
this is the only one gfx update :

View attachment 729488
I think there are quite a few very obvious differences in how the two games render everything. The sky tech is completely new in LMU wich isn't often mentioned but it's the gfx update that I am looking forward to the most to see how it works. They seem to use a completely different tone mapper aswell and based on the comparison images of Sebring they have done quite extensive updates to the shaders, wich is also noticable in cockipt screenshots. The dirtbuildup is also completely missing in rF2 and it doesn't need much explaination to see that the assets have been upgraded in terms of fidelity and detail. I guess the moment of truth will be, when people see it with their own eyes.
 
Well, I've only been running an online league for 17 years. I don't miss some pointless AI, an unnecessary thing for a high-end simulator. I put the game in the wish list, but it looks like custom skins and creating your own dedicated servers will not be supported, so I won't buy it at all.
 
Well, I've only been running an online league for 17 years. I don't miss some pointless AI, an unnecessary thing for a high-end simulator. I put the game in the wish list, but it looks like custom skins and creating your own dedicated servers will not be supported, so I won't buy it at all.
I on the other hand prefer to race with AI in pretty much every racing game. Saying AI is pointless is nonsense, frankly multiplayer is pointless for me when the AI is at high quality.

It also allows me to race any car, on any track, with any settings, at any point during the day, and i do not have to listen to other people's complains.
 
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I on the other hand prefer to race with AI in pretty much every racing game. Saying AI is pointless is nonsense, frankly multiplayer is pointless for me when the AI is at high quality.

It also allows me to race any car, on any track, with any settings, at any point during the day, and i do not have to listen to other people's complains.
as many people, as many tastes.
 
Premium
For WEC related content yes. For everything else? Nope ...

There is a good reason why AC is still more popular than ACC and there is no garantue that the same won't happen with LMU and rF2.

Depends. ACC isn't as open as AC. What if LMU isn't locked down like ACC but still open like RF2? Then think that LMU comes with some under the hood improvements that RF2 never gets. Then everybody has a reason to bring mods to LMU. That increases adoption and revenue and for MSG there's no looking back.

It also solves the problem of the baggage of the name rFactor 2 which, I hate to say it because I like rF2, may be irreparable at this point.

I think this is MSG's way of launching rFactor 3 that we've all been asking for.
 
For WEC related content yes. For everything else? Nope ...

There is a good reason why AC is still more popular than ACC and there is no garantue that the same won't happen with LMU and rF2.
ac is more popular cause the majority have craps PC ;), Mc Donalds is very popular but the food is ****, so thinks about AC ;)
 
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and likely won't be a science project to get running.

My god, I'm having flashbacks... I think I no longer have RF2 installed.

Mostly as I realised I had become akin to a semi-retired middle England gent, fettling with his old English sports car.... weeks of tinkering and trying to find out of production parts from weird websites to be able to take my car out for a run just long enough to know that the special carb I'd spent weeks getting working, was in fact total crap.

If ever a game could have an actual oil leak, it's RF2
 

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What's needed for simracing in 2024?

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