Assetto Corsa Competizione | Challengers Pack DLC and Game Update Released

ACC Challengers Pack DLC 01.jpg
Kunos Simulazioni has released the fifth DLC pack for Assetto Corsa Competizione on PC, the Challengers Pack.

ACC’s latest DLC pack is the Challengers Pack DLC, composed mostly of spec series race cars.

This is the fifth DLC for Assetto Corsa Competizione, following the release of the GT4 Pack, Intercontinental GT Pack, British GT Pack, and 2020 GT World Challenge Pack.

Here is an overview about what is included in the new DLC:

Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II – The only true GT3 car to be released here is the newest Audi GT3 car. ACC already has the R8 LMS and LMS Evo, and this is another step forward for the Audi. Improvements to the aero and suspension aren’t major, but enough to soften the edge of a car known for its narrow effective tire window. It remains generally nimble, with good overall handling.

BMW M2 CS Racing – The newest BMW to be added to this sim is the M2 CS Racing. A sub-400 horsepower spec series car that drives unlike anything in the sim to date. This car is designed for wheel-to-wheel racing, where the advantage goes to the driver that can conserve momentum effectively. The car will tend to understeer if pushed too hard through a corner, so a well-trained left foot that can slow the car just enough to allow efficient cornering is a must.

Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo – Kunos has given players the most powerful car in ACC to date as part of this pack. Ferrari’s 488 Challenge Evo effectively a 488 GT3 without compliance to GT3 regulations. The twin-turbo charged, mid-mounted 3.9L V8 engine produces an impressive 670 horsepower and 760 Newton-meters of torque. It’s heavier than its GT3 counterpart, so the incredible power figures and resulting straight line speeds are balanced with longer braking zones. The Challenge Evo drives as an absolute blast in ACC, with huge top speeds and enough torque to seldom warrant using 1st or 2nd gear.

Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo2 – The Super Trofeo is nothing new to Assetto Corsa Competizione, but this new version outperforms its predecessor by almost any metric. While the old Super Trofeo in ACC was nervous, the new Evo2 is a confident, fast monster on the track. Its 5.2L V10 engine maintains the roar we’ve come to expect from the Lambo and Audi models in this title, and the striking looks of the Super Trofeo may help make this a popular choice for one-make races very soon.

ACC Challengers Pack DLC 02.jpg


Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) - Porsche Cup cars hold the distinction of being the biggest selling race car in the world, and it might also be the most popular sim car as well, with its presence in nearly all modern racing sims. Porsche’s newest Cup car, based on the 992 version of the 911, potentially shaves seconds off the lap times of its predecessors while retaining the challenging driving style we have come to associate with the Porsche Cup car. Aerodynamics have changed with the new Cup car, including a larger, gooseneck mounted rear wing. It’s a fun, fast spec series car that should prove as popular as the previous Cup car.

The spec series focus is an unexpected direction for the sim known as the go-to GT3 and GT4 sim, but the new car lineup opens up driving options. One of these options could be a three-make race, since the Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche cars are somewhat balanced in overall lap times but possessing different strengths.

Race with us online​

Let us know in the comments if you are interested to run an online series with us for one of the these cup cars. Which of the single-make series would you prefer?
About author
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

Comments

It doesn't matter how random esports guys feel.

Indycar racing 1 had FCY and a safety car 30 years ago. You can't simulate a true race, specially offline, without it.

With that logic you might as well do what PCars3 did, and remove pitstops and other "annoyances", just to focus on the "true fun part" of racing...
A developer just took his time to explain it to you why they won't implement it. In video games, just like in every aspect of real life, you can't satisfy everyone. Seems like you got the short straw this time.

And just a reaction to your last point, you can, in fact have a real life race without FCY and safety car. Without tire and fuel consumption, not so much.
 
And yet many do.


No, you put your options, resources, personal and user preferences and priorities into a pot and cook up something that corresponds with those goals and possibilities. The removal of 50 other things just because one feature didn't make it through the strain is not an obvious next step.

Technical skill for setup, strategy and ability to react to relatively unpredictable events (e.g. weather) are very much part of the racing worthy of simulating.


They matter just as much as the feelings of random forum dudes do.

A developer just took his time to explain it to you why they won't implement it. In video games, just like in every aspect of real life, you can't satisfy everyone. Seems like you got the short straw this time.

And just a reaction to your last point, you can, in fact have a real life race without FCY and safety car. Without tire and fuel consumption, not so much.
All i see is the usual mental gymnastics of "gatekeepers" (to be as polite as i can) to justify the fact that a 2022 game is worse at replicating a motorsports category and it's racing dynamics than a 1993 one.
 
Last edited:
Sadly I seem to recognize a bit of a recurring trend to see that more than half of the comments are just complaints to complain.
If you don't like the cars or don't like the price, don't buy it. If you don't like the game, don't play it.
If you feel like the game is being milked because of DLCs, ask yourself: would you rather have them release a game and then abandon it? Because without DLC or subscription they don't get any money and don't get to develop anything anymore.

Be thankful instead that they sim devs are very loyal to their products and keep supporting it with additional updates, dlcs, free content and paid content.

And it's not only on ACC threads that I see this negative trend...

Can we please talk about the cars, the tracks & the experience again?

thank you
 
Staff
Premium
Guys I kind of blame myself for moving this so far off topic, so maybe we could start a thread about features or lack of in racing games and continue the discussion there.
 
All i see is the usual mental gymnastics of "gatekeepers" (to be as polite as i can) to justify the fact that a 2022 game is worse at replicating a motorsports category and it's racing dynamics than a 1993 one.
I think you’re just upset because most people don’t agree with you (to be as polite as I can).

I’m guessing the world of people who want FCY is quite small. And the world of people who, if it was implemented and got to see it in action, would use it is much smaller still.
 
Some series, like IMSA, "misuse" SC periods to do wave by and hence "enable" teams to gain some laps back over the course of an endurance race to catch up again with the competition. Good for those teams. I would call that distortion of competition/race. I don't like it and it extends SC periods needlessly., because you close/open pits a.s.o..

Gergö summed it up pretty nicely why ACC was developed without those "features".
I mean, agreed, If you do single player only and want to simulate a whole race weekend, FCY and SC might be an addition to immersion for some people. But then you'd also have to simulate only limited practice time, limited sets of rubber, etc, stick with one car for the whole season (BOP!), etc.
In multiplayer FCY/SC would just be a nuisance. My experiences with MP were that you want as transparent as possible competition - as drivers.

I have always perceived ACC as a driving simulator, not a simulation of real world motor sports. I think Stefano put in a good few points what such a simulation could also entail. Of course you could cherry pick thise you are interested in or make sense to you and this is exactly what Kunos did.
 
All i see is the usual mental gymnastics of "gatekeepers" (to be as polite as i can) to justify the fact that a 2022 game is worse at replicating a motorsports category and it's racing dynamics than a 1993 one.
I didn't say it's better or worse than whatever you picked as your beacon, I'm just saying it's not getting added and listed the reasons why. If you can't see the value in the rest, that's your loss. You've decided on your standpoint before the argument even began and have been implying narratives that don't exist, and you seem to be very much used to getting away with that buzzword-one-liner-judgement-on-the-world type of bullcrap.

Wait until you find out that SC for the most part is deployed after FCY periods for seemingly no reason because the car also needs screen time. Another great racing dynamic everybody's missing out on.
 
Last edited:
Staff
Premium
We really do need to drop this now, as anyone coming on here to read about the new dlc is going to be faced with a few pages of us going back and forth about safety cars.
So I've started a discussion about it here
 
Just to add my 2 cents to this price conversation, I do think this DLC is more expensive than the Kunos standard.

IGTC was 15€ with 4 legendary tracks
GT4 was 20€ with a lot of new cars
2020 was 9€ with 1 track and 2 newish cars (more expensive in comparison)
BGT was 13€ with lots of tracks (cheaper again)

Now we have Challengers, with 5 cars for 11€. Out of those the 488 Challange was released for free for AC and it was probably done using that AC base. M2 CS could have been made before for AC as well but not public, the car folder appeared in AC in an update. R8 Evo II is not scratch either in my opinion, used Evo I as base naturally.

It is in my opinion expensive in comparison to what other DLC offers, but still cheap in simracing standards.

iRacing price would be around 60€.
rFactor price would be around 25€.
RaceRoom price would be around 20€ I guess.
AMS 2 price if released in DLC could be comparable probably with added tracks, but AMS 2 at the moment does not have the luxury to raise prices.

I honestly haven't bought it yet, first time I didn't buy Kunos content on day 1 since AC was released. But I will certainly do so, I am just not too active in simracing lately.
Being a business owner myself, trust me, the COVID period has been very difficult. I paid my 11 USD in part because I do want to feed the machine which I hope will bring me new locations to drive in the near future. It is in the same vain as the public relations campaigns to get folks to support local restaurants and other small local business people who took it in the shorts during COVID. However, this is my point of view. Which ever way people navigate their economic well being is a private issue. I will interject and say I do not think this is an outrageous cost for value inequity when I look at the fun factor for me.
 
So glad to see lack of SC being called out. Simplifications like lack of SC, ghosting and questionable damage model is exactly why I can't force myself to enjoy ACC. Blancpain series have SC phase, where is it? I really, really want a game that tries to replicate motorsport series in detail. ACC is not that game.
 
Last edited:
The audacity, hypocrisy, and "manners" of certain game developers never ceases to amaze (and sadly it doesn't get old for people like Stefano). It is OK to have limitations and not have the capacity to do certain things, you know? Just take a few steps down the pedestal, accept and maybe communicate so.
 
Last edited:
I have always perceived ACC as a driving simulator, not a simulation of real world motor sports. I think Stefano put in a good few points what such a simulation could also entail. Of course you could cherry pick thise you are interested in or make sense to you and this is exactly what Kunos did.
And yet, sims like ACC are used in official virtual championships. SRO did (and still does?) that. So if it is used that way, in my opinion, it is more than a driving simulator and should replicate real world racing conditions.

The lack of SC/FCY is not a deal breaker for me and I love ACC. But I was a bit disappointed that a studio like Kunos who could surely implement that feature chose not to do it. To Me, it takes away from the realism because we know FCY periods can have a major impact on the outcome of a race.
 
Last edited:
i bought dlc and i just can see new cars (and drive them) but only in special event, not in single player mode.... why ? new to acc...
Ops, i found them ! thx anyway !
 
Last edited:
i bought dlc and i just can see new cars (and drive them) but only in special event, not in single player mode.... why ? new to acc...
I would 'guess' it is due to only one of the cars(Audi) actually fitting in the GT3 category. The others are fantasy like the Ferrari, or Cup/Super Trofeo cars which do not compete against GT3 cars but single make events.
 
I would 'guess' it is due to only one of the cars(Audi) actually fitting in the GT3 category. The others are fantasy like the Ferrari, or Cup/Super Trofeo cars which do not compete against GT3 cars but single make events.
Not fully correct. They just don't race together in the SRO events. In the NLS (Nürburgring endurance trophy) for example, Porsche Cup and M2 CS are the numerically strongest class right after GT3 (SP9)
But i guess no Sim will ever be able to support 145 cars on a track at the same time.
 
Last edited:
Not fully correct. They just don't race together in the SRO events. In the NLS (Nürburgring endurance trophy) for example, Porsche Cup and M2 CS are the numerically strongest class right after GT3 (SP9)
But i guess no Sim will ever be able to support 145 cars on a track at the same time.
Yes, you got me, but in my defense, I ONLY consider SRO when talking about ACC. (well......) ;)
As far as large fields, I think the number I remember from the DLC Nords in rF2 is around 99 or so(I forget the exact number) That might be as close as you can get.
 
Last edited:
Premium
I of course bought this dlc immediately.
The price is incredible for the quality.
10€ is less as 10 minutes salary of an engineer.
ACC is an incredible game, and i am sorry for those who don´t like it.

The model are superb, and the new dashboards and liveries are just insane.

I recently discovered a little more all the gt4 cars, and these new models will add some very interesting content to the game .

It is unfair to say that ACC lacks content. There is already enough content for thousands hours of pure simracing pleasure.
 
Reaching up to 1000 hrs with ACC, i'm trying to convince myself to purchase the DLC. The cost is an irrelevance, it's more the only appealing element is the Audi Evo, which i'm unlikely to drive anyway.

The other cars are a fine addition to those that are interested in running in series events, but for guys like me only really interested in GT3, it really is a damp squib.

If they had tabbed it with a track like the world challenge, it would have been an instant no brainer. I'm guessing that might have been the plan, the DLC seems like a bit of a stop gap.
 
So glad to see lack of SC being called out. Simplifications like lack of SC, ghosting and questionable damage model is exactly why I can't force myself to enjoy ACC. Blancpain series have SC phase, where is it? I really, really want a game that tries to replicate motorsport series in detail. ACC is not that game.
rF2 has SC and it's better to turn it off. Damage models IMO shouldn't be authentic in sim-racing and really sucks in iRacing atm. You get a typical hit during in the first lap, probably T1 with the Porsche Cup and either the car is toast or it's not competitive anymore. I got similar hits in the ACC-Cup, could move on and gained all places I lost back because the car was still competitive:thumbsup:

And my 2 cent about the DLC: just alone the new Porsche Cup 992 is worth the price and leave the iRacing-Cup in the dust:p. I was watching some races in the Carrera Cup Deutschland last year and the iRacing-version is reasonable good, but the ACC-Cup just seems to nail it better, especially with the driving-dynamics and necessary steering corrections to keep it on the track. Great job Kunos and IMO the best car in sim-racing atm:)

I like the BMW M2 CS, but rF2 put the bar up high with this car regarding dynamics and I wouldn't say ACC is at the same level. On the other hand I doubt the real car is as nimble as in rF2 and the ACC-version feels more reasonable.

The Lambo ST EVO 2 and Ferrari Challenge EVO are nice, but nothing special and drive like GT3-cars with bad setups, especially last one.
 
Same here: finally had the time to get the DLC and drive some of the cars. The Porsche is awesome! I always drive the GT3 Porsche and switching to the 992 Cup was almost seamless, the car behaves similarly but has softer "bouncier" suspensions and less aerodynamics, plus no TC.
In a word, savage! Intense, close battles at the limit of grip. And sounds great. Even watching the replays is an experience. Thanks for this car!
 

Latest News

Article information

Author
Mike Smith
Article read time
3 min read
Views
27,644
Comments
133
Last update

What does easier access mean to you?

  • Free access

    Votes: 54 69.2%
  • Better structured events

    Votes: 21 26.9%
  • Better structured forum

    Votes: 17 21.8%
  • Standard game content

    Votes: 16 20.5%
  • No 3pa registration pages

    Votes: 17 21.8%
  • To casual

    Votes: 7 9.0%
  • Other, please post

    Votes: 4 5.1%
Back
Top