Why are GT3 so popular?

why gt3.jpg
A quick look on Twitch or YouTube and you’ll see most content creators focusing on GT3 cars. Why do they do this? Well, this is what their viewers are demanding, but why are GT3 cars so popular?

We have ACC - where GT3 cars are centre stage, but ACC does have GT4 cars and these handle and drive fantastically well.

Then we have iRacing, which offers a whole host of cars to choose from. Yet GT3 cars seem to be the most popular.

The same can be said for RaceRoom, whilst there aren’t as many players online with RaceRoom compared to ACC and iRacing - in RaceRoom the most popular races involve GT3 cars.

We also have Assetto Corsa, where the choice of cars is practically endless - yet if you jump online there are many servers with GT3 cars.

Is it because GT3 cars are track going versions of cars we’d love to drive on the roads?

Is it because GT3 racing series feature all over the world?

In recent years GT3 cars have seemingly taken over the sim racing world, but this racing category has been over for over 15 years. Some may say they have propelled into the sim racing spotlight by ACC, which released late 2018. But, as most of you will know ACC did not fare well for a long time. Before ACC, I remember driving a lot of GT3 races in Assetto Corsa.

The reason why they are so popular could be because GT3 cars are relatively easy to drive, they have a decent amount of downforce vs power and they have ABS and TC. It could also be down to the choice that drivers have, which may sound strange as drivers are constraining their choice to just one category. There are many manufacturers who have built GT3 cars over the years, so players/drivers can align to their favorite brands. Players/drivers also have the choice of front, mid, or rear engined cars - which then offers different ways to drive these cars.

Why do you believe GT3 cars are so popular and what are your alternative cars to drive?
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Damian Reed
PC geek, gamer, content creator, and passionate sim racer.
I live life a 1/4 mile at a time, it takes me ages to get anywhere!

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I like them because grid contains many different cars. Cars look good and they are easier to drive than some other classes. Plus there is a variety of real life events to simulate on tracks I like, sprint races, multiclass, multiclass Endruance events. Those cars also give kind of feel of road cars, something reminding of what regular person can buy (not exactly, of course, but some road cars looking like those GT3 cars are not out of reach). Basically it is highly used class IRL, and I enjoy simulating real motorsport events, so that's my why :)
 
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It's the fastest car class where I have the feeling that I can drive it to the limit.
With formula cars or LMP cars I've got the feeling that I am the limiting factor.

Slower car classes can also be driven to the limit but not at those speeds.
 
Personally, I far prefer 1980s / 90s / 00s F1 cars, or even lower formula cars - I particularly love the Tattus cars in RF2.

I’ve just spent money on the GT3 dlc pack for RF2 so I spose that’s why I’ve personally been driving them a lot recently...

I do enjoy the variety of manufacturers though - the BOP means they’re competitive with each other despite feeling so different.
 
I was never fan of this discipline, just I do not like multi class racing, everything is so "amorphous". Also I like more open "environment feel" in cockpits of historic F1, CART\Indycar.
Sometimes I drive them (and something like Daytona DPI) because the feel of sunset, getting darker is fantastic in AMS2.
 
Are they? so popular.
Open server online racing seems to be obsessed with GT3 at SPA, or Monza. But open server online racing is the tip of the iceberg, not even the all 10%.
Are league obsessed by GT3? not sure.
offline racing, difficult for me to say, but I am guessing, GT3 are part of the mix, but no more used than all the other options, like F1, LMP, DTM, all types of TC, classic racing cars, and even hyper, super cars.
In VR, one thing I like about GT3, when racing offline, is that their dash, when properly done, like in ACC, gives you all the info you need to know what is happening to the car (tire, fuel, etc...) and in the race (laps/position).
GT3s look good, drive nice, offer full grid, so what is there not to like? But, at least for me, they get their fair share of action, but nothing more.
 
I think GT3s are popular because you can sometimes see these cars on the road, but most can't buy it, so they're happy to do it on their sim. They're varied and easy to drive. Personally I don't like this category because they are heavy and slow cars. For endurance I prefer the Lmp1 and Lmp2 there are more sensations and speed
 
I just love everything about it. ACC for my money is a beautiful game with great physics and sound. I love having so many different cars with different feels and different sounds. It's level-pegging racing. In driving GT3 cars, you get to discover your own driving style, which is fun. To me it's a perfect blend between "race car" and "real car." I love the GT4s too and I wish their popularity equaled the effort Kunos put in, but I think the reason people prefer GT3 is "vroom vroom go fast." I love the endurance aspect. I love that they're not plug-and-play...I have to think about tire pressure and aero and suspension, and because I'm not mechanically inclined I enjoy the challenge. I love the circuits and how the cars handle them...Spa for F1 can be a bore with too much flat-out, for instance, but not GT3. I love the opportunity for real community racing - nothing beats prepping and racing as a team in an endurance race. You really get to know people through that experience. Driving a virtual Indy 500 would be fun for me, but if I can ever hook on with a group to do a 24H...that would be not just an experience but a memory. And finally, there's just so much variety out there, from ACC to RaceRoom to iRacing to AMS 2. I personally love that I can take ACC (overly) seriously but hop in and throw it around in an AI race in AMS2. Such a variety in content creation too. Whether it's streaming, hotlapping, track guides, setup tutorials...it's all there.
 
Actually the most popular class of car by a country mile are the F1 cars.

F1 2021 has more concurrent players than ACC, AC, R3E, RF2 and PC2 put together - according to steamdb.

I'm now just waiting for the "But that's not a sim" wailing.
 
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Same reason why gentlemen drivers are all over them IRL. Fast, easy to drive, big car choice, close racing thanks to strong BoP.

Personally I find the category a bit sterile but that's just the way racing is nowadays. I'll admit they are fun to drive once in a while though.
 
They are good looking cars and with ABS/TC, relatively easy to drive.

I'd be curious to know if they are "easier" for programmers to simulate than other categories.
 

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