It's been almost 12 months since Kunos released the GT4 Pack for ACC, but it hasn't taken off as well as they'd probably hoped. So why are GT4's struggling to take off in ACC?

If you've been in & around the ACC corner of the sim racing community for any length of time you'll have realised that GT3 public lobbies, leagues & endurance events dominate the landscape with a few Porsche Cup races sprinkled in-between. And this is understandable as ACC is marketed as the "Official GT World Challenge Game" with some of the most impressive virtual recreations of a GT3 car you can find, and as such, ACC has attracted a significant crowd for that one main reason, GT3 racing!

But GT3's, as hinted to earlier, are not the only cars ACC has to offer. The widely loved Porsche Cup & widely unloved Lamborghini Super Trofeo cars also exist within ACC but are used more sparingly amongst the ACC communities that host weekly league races or big-grid endurance events.

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So we've established that GT3's are at the top of the pecking order for popularity, followed by the Porsche Cup cars and then the Lamborghini Super Trofeo's, but where do the GT4 cars fit into all this? Well, they're more popular than the Super Trofeo's but less popular than the Porsche Cups, and that's a real shame too because, from my experience, some of the best racing in ACC is in the GT4 category.

The GT4's in ACC are some of the best virtual recreations of a GT car that I've ever seen. From the tiny Ginetta G55 GT4 to the enormous Chevrolet Camaro GT4R, each of these cars feels radically different, which can't be said about all the GT3 cars. The GT4 cars are less aero dependant too, which means you can scrape paint & beat them up quite a bit more than you can a GT3 car before you start to feel the effects of the seconds of damage you've collected.

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So if the GT4's feel more unique, durable & fun to race against a GT3 or a Porsche Cup, why are they so underused across most of the ACC community? Whilst the reasons may go beyond those I'll touch on below, I believe there are three main reasons why the GT4's haven't taken off as expected:
  • They aren't as easy to pick up & drive compared to a GT3.
  • Finding setups for them can be a nightmare.
  • Racing them in multiclass can be more trouble than it's worth in return.
The GT4 cars feel very different to the GT3's, primarily because of their less powerful engines, but also their dependency on mechanical grip due to the minimal amount of aerodynamic grip they generate. All of this makes them quite tricky to pick up & drive if you're used to a GT3 car, the stone-cold tyres you need to warm up over the first 2-3 laps of a stint don't help this problem either.

Adding to the difficulty involved in driving GT4 cars are setups, whilst the feel of a setup will vary from driver to driver, there is a consistent opinion on the default setups available for the GT4 cars. They don't feel great. What's worse is that not many people make setups for the GT4 cars. Coach Dave Academy is starting to pump them out recently, however besides their service finding GT4 setups is a chore, unless you have the time to spend hours making your own from scratch, but most won't bother.

And finally, multiclass racing. It's a term that makes so many of us jump with joy at the prospect of seeing multiple classes battle it out on track to create more entertaining racing than single class series often do, to the few regular drivers of GT4 cars within ACC, that is an alarm bell for incoming dive-bombs & impatient drivers that just don't seem to care what the slower class thinks.

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Despite all of the above though, there is a ray of hope shining down on those that relish the challenge of GT4 racing regularly. Some of the communities running leagues & events in ACC haven't given up on the GT4's, and they might give the others the push they need to do the same soon enough.

Actrollvision Community Racing, Racing Club International, On The Limit Community Racing, SimGrid, PCDC & Simracing.gp are all regular or semi-regular hosts for GT4 leagues or one-off events. Their efforts to actively create GT4 leagues & events for drivers to enjoy are having an impact on other communities too so it might not be too long before a "second wave" of communities running GT4 events begins.

So, do you drive the GT4's in ACC? If not, what's put you off trying them out? And do you think there's another reason people don't drive them than the points above? I'd love to know your thoughts below!