Automobilista 2 Racin' USA Pt 2 Review.jpg
Even though CART cars of the late 1990s are very popular among motorsports fans and sim racers alike, the turbocharged rocketships have never been part of any modern simulation. The newest DLC pack of Reiza Studios for Automobilista 2, which is called “Racin’ USA Pt. 2” changes that – and it was only the beginning!

While the first part of Racin’ USA focused on the IMSA series, it is all about the country’s open-wheel history this time around. Three CART vehicles of the 1998 class – the Reynard 98i, the Swift 009 and the Lola T98/00 – are now available in AMS2 and make up the F-USA Gen 2 class. The cars come in four variations in the Reynard’s case, which differ in the engine configuration and offer the choice between Ford, Honda, Mercedes and Toyota to the player. The other two cars are powered by Ford, as they were in the real 1998 season. Only Goodyear as the second tire manufacturer is missing, all cars use Firestone rubber.

With this, Reiza follows in the footsteps of the almost legendary CART Fator (rFactor) and CART Extreme (Game Stock Car Extreme/Automobilista) mods, which are considered among the best ever created in sim racing. The developer has created a worthy successor to them – the CART cars feel extremely good to drive! It is immediately obvious that you are sitting in a single-seater with horsepower numbers far beyond the 800 mark, meaning a careful throttle foot is mandatory. The cars have a lot of downforce thanks to their big wings, but understeer considerably in slower corners at the same time. The right amount of throttle does get them to rotate though – the cars are the epitome of “slow in, fast out”.

Mastering these cars takes a lot of practice because of this, especially since their transmission uses a sequential stick that likes some blipping on downshifts. Pushing the new cars in AMS2 to the limit is an intense but rewarding experience, which the sound of the turbo V8 only adds to – as soon as other drivers were flying past me while I was sitting in the pits, I noticed goosebumps.

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Meanwhile, there are two new tracks that are part of the update as well: Watkins Glen is now on board, even though the cars never raced there, as well as the Burke Lakefront Airport course in Cleveland – which has never been recreated in a modern sim either. Its layout may be simple, but the width of the runways as well as their bumpiness make hitting the apexes correctly or powering out of corners without losing the rear end a true challenge. The Glen is relatively smooth compared to Cleveland, but is an instant classic in AMS2 that is incredibly fun in any sort of car as well.

In short: The CART cars are unbelievably fun. It is a great challenge to use all of their potential, which is sure to make sim racers sweat. Just like the cars were considered as very demanding in real motorsports – without ABS, traction control or even power steering.

With the release of the two tracks and the 98 cars, Reiza is not finished with the DLC pack, however: Cars from the 1995 season – the final year before the series split into CART and IRL – and 2000 are set to join the vehicle roster in December, while the third track of the pack has been revealed to be Road America – a legend in IndyCar and CART history. In addition to this, the cars are going to get their oval configurations added at a later date, too. This strongly hints at the addition of oval tracks and the racing discipline as a whole. Reiza knows how to make open wheel fans happy.

Have you given the new DLC a try yet? Let us know what you think about the cars and tracks in the comments below!
About author
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

Comments

Yes...in AMS2 you get a number of tracks and cars and future updates for the same price as 1 iRacing track!
Not completely true.....the USA pt 1 & 2 on steam here in Canada is $18 each and the entire racing USA DLC is $45.50 :p
if I was smart, I would have bought the entire DLC for $22 the other day during the steam sale.
 
I had a lot of fun driving these cars. I tried all 3 of them and it was a thrill. My only complaint, for now, it's the lack of authentic tracks to race them at. I hope Road America comes soon, because taking these cars out at laguna Seca makes it seem like a Go-Kart track.
I know I can race them at SPA or other tracks, but I am funny that way, I like to race cars, especially older cars, at the tracks where they raced historically.
It's also a real shame that the online action, in my time zone, it's practically non existent. I don't know if it's Automobilista 2 or my location, but there is no one online when I try. To be fair, I have that problem with all sims. Living in the US West coast I have the entire Pacific Ocean to the West, and I suppose there aren't many merchant sailors simracing, Hawaii is too far, Japan and Australia even further, and most East coasters are in bed by the time I feel like racing. I don't even mention Europe. When I raced a UK based league, I had to wake up at 7 am on Saturdays to be on track by 8. Every week was a struggle to get out of bed and sit my ass in front of a screen, with engines roaring in my ears.

The West Coast is all tumbleweeds and crickets on even the most popular sims, let alone niche ones like A2. Shame, because driving this cars really made me want to have some competition that was not of the dumb variety (Although, some races on iRacing make me wonder).

Anyway, bravo Reiza. Hopefully more tracks and more people will come to the sim as it improves.
 
Frankly, I don't know why they spent time working on these cars, they are so unlike the rest of the content of AMS2.
Time on time they take this kind of decision. Something like "Oh let's add GT4", few months later "Oh Gt3 is the thing", then "Oh US pack" but fortunately this one went good, then "Oh VW are so fast", etc. When we think about it they always have been like that, AMS1 is a collection of random cars but the physic and handling was great and almost every car was a blast to drive. They continue it in AMS2 but the madness engine render different handling quality depending of every single car. To me 50% of the AMS2 cars drive the same, means bland. Generally the newest cars are the best, after the 1.3 update i was very happy because i mainly tested the gt4,GTE etc, then went back to the old cars...oh the smile in my face faded out.
 
Why most of sim-racers still don't play AMS2?
I tried that, but the game doesen't feel good for me. Cars which I tried didn't feel natural and FFB wasn't great aswell. So the only thing whish was great was graphic, but that's not enough. So after several hours I uninistaled that and get my money back. I will stick with ACC, which is miles ahead.
 
Aceita. Eles lançaram um conteúdo muito bom desta vez, mas ainda parece meio cozido. Precisa de mais polimento.

Eles também lançaram com tanto conteúdo que não precisavam ser transferidos para o AMS2. Alguém dirige os hot hatches e os carros de corrida do clube brasileiro?

Às vezes, gostaria que o acesso antecipado não fosse uma coisa e os desenvolvedores fossem forçados a definir o escopo e fazer isso direito antes de pedir aos testadores beta que paguem pelo privilégio.
para responder a sua pergunta, adoro carros brasileiros. dos clássicos aos protótipos.
 
The cars are really fun. Cleveland is awesome. I know its a simple layout, but its an emotionally charged track for me. From CART to Trans-am to IROC. Its more challenging than it looks and will take a while to learn.

My beefs are why have all the MUSCO lighting around Cleveland if the lights don't work (judging by videos I've seen). And Watkins is authentic when it comes to track surface but is missing some obvious visual things around the track. The Toyota tower on the back straight, the empty billboard in the last corner that faces the main grandstand, and the bridge that crosses before start finish? Why such obvious omissions? I used all of those as some sort of signal when I raced there this summer. Also the look back button doesn't work in the CART cars.
Re Cleveland, you may well be aware of this, but a vaguely similar but very much better track is the Norisring in Germany. It's very good in AC. I like to drive WTCC cars there such as the new Seat Cupra,
 
Premium
I had a lot of fun driving these cars. I tried all 3 of them and it was a thrill. My only complaint, for now, it's the lack of authentic tracks to race them at. I hope Road America comes soon, because taking these cars out at laguna Seca makes it seem like a Go-Kart track.
I know I can race them at SPA or other tracks, but I am funny that way, I like to race cars, especially older cars, at the tracks where they raced historically.
It's also a real shame that the online action, in my time zone, it's practically non existent. I don't know if it's Automobilista 2 or my location, but there is no one online when I try. To be fair, I have that problem with all sims. Living in the US West coast I have the entire Pacific Ocean to the West, and I suppose there aren't many merchant sailors simracing, Hawaii is too far, Japan and Australia even further, and most East coasters are in bed by the time I feel like racing. I don't even mention Europe. When I raced a UK based league, I had to wake up at 7 am on Saturdays to be on track by 8. Every week was a struggle to get out of bed and sit my ass in front of a screen, with engines roaring in my ears.

The West Coast is all tumbleweeds and crickets on even the most popular sims, let alone niche ones like A2. Shame, because driving this cars really made me want to have some competition that was not of the dumb variety (Although, some races on iRacing make me wonder).

Anyway, bravo Reiza. Hopefully more tracks and more people will come to the sim as it improves.
Check out the SimRacing 604 Community on simracing.gp. That's probably the most active North American community and they have a lot of stuff in ACC and AC. Its founder is based in Vancouver.
 
I had a lot of fun driving these cars. I tried all 3 of them and it was a thrill. My only complaint, for now, it's the lack of authentic tracks to race them at. I hope Road America comes soon, because taking these cars out at laguna Seca makes it seem like a Go-Kart track.
I know I can race them at SPA or other tracks, but I am funny that way, I like to race cars, especially older cars, at the tracks where they raced historically.
It's also a real shame that the online action, in my time zone, it's practically non existent. I don't know if it's Automobilista 2 or my location, but there is no one online when I try. To be fair, I have that problem with all sims. Living in the US West coast I have the entire Pacific Ocean to the West, and I suppose there aren't many merchant sailors simracing, Hawaii is too far, Japan and Australia even further, and most East coasters are in bed by the time I feel like racing. I don't even mention Europe. When I raced a UK based league, I had to wake up at 7 am on Saturdays to be on track by 8. Every week was a struggle to get out of bed and sit my ass in front of a screen, with engines roaring in my ears.

The West Coast is all tumbleweeds and crickets on even the most popular sims, let alone niche ones like A2. Shame, because driving this cars really made me want to have some competition that was not of the dumb variety (Although, some races on iRacing make me wonder).

Anyway, bravo Reiza. Hopefully more tracks and more people will come to the sim as it improves.
utah here, cannot agree more
 
I know this will be unpopular, but after driving these cars extensively over the past couple of days the conclusion is - they are everything but real and alive.
I've recently become a member of the test group for the latest update for the CART Factor mod for rF2 that is due to be released sometime in the near future.
Everything is overhauled, the cars' physics, graphics, FFB, there are many tracks that are being heavily updated regarding the surface, mesh, etc.
As I stated in one of my posts, I do understand why AMS2 is so popular and I wish all the best to the developers.
But after driving the latest iteration of these cars/tracks in rF2, I must state the obvious - the AMS2 version is a complete joke, driving feel wise.
And I wonder if everybody stating the opposite is on crack, or I became a member of the wrong forum.
I doubt there are many people on crack here.. So maybe you are on the wrong forum: this surely doesn't read "RF2 Fan Club"
 

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