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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About author
Damian Reed
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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Comments

jonelsorel
Why are they popular? Because they're easier to drive than most other cars, and kids don't have to "edit the physics to make it more realistic".

Try any car in AC that has (properly done) 80's or 90's road tires, and the difference becomes clear in a second.
 
M
Premium
Gt3 are popular, because they offer what we all want. Close racing !

I used to race grand prix legends in the past, and i this periode miss me, but i really think that the people who are against Gt3 have never made the effort to dive deep into ACC or other simulations Gt3.

They are fantastic cars to race, and make us better as simracers.
Plus they look great and sound stellar. What else ?
 
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U
I think, this is simply due to the average age of the target group.

The younger members of our sim racing group prefer to drive GT3 or modern formula cars on modern tracks.

The older ones (40+) prefer to drive cars from the golden years of motorsport. Old Formula 1, Old DTM, DRM, Group C, CanAm, etc.

I like to drive difficult to control cars on difficult to drive tracks like the Nordschleife. There's nothing more rewarding.
 
B
Hi to everyone.
I think you explained the reason why in your last few sentences perfectly. I think the GT3 is a very interresting class in SimRacin and in real life as well.
For me personally, the feel a little to much "plastic", that is why I personally prefere GT4 (the real gentlemens class :) ) and vintage cars, especially non formular.
Best whishes to all of us... and a lot of fun doing (sim)racing.
Cheers:)
 
FinFan
See, here's the thing. I liked them at the beginning but because of the popularity and their omnipresence I really got tired of them.
 
W
Premium
Bunch of factors probably, that these look like cars a lot of people aspire to have always helps. People see ABS and TC available and so consider them easier to get on with. If you set up a GT3 race you know you'll get a decent turn out and a well know track lowers the learning curve. If you setup a server with more obscure (challenging) cars less people will turn up unless its an organised group. There's also a big difference between driving and racing those cars, getting a full grid of people who can actually race them toe to toe is far harder, having a few people miles ahead and the rest struggling to keep it on the track and do a half decent lap time can put people off.
 
Frank
Premium
They are fast, high DF, not too difficult to drive, but above all, close racing.
 
R
Because there's no stupid DRS or hybrid batteries that give you extra juice to overtake, these cars allow raw, close racing in a relatively balanced field with so much variety in machinery and most fit drivers can go flat out 3 hours straight in real life.
 
Marcel B.
That is the single most annoying reality in Sim Racing: The one car class that sucks the most, has the most populated servers.
1. This car class is basically created for rich wannabe racers (IRL)
2. It may look like the streetcar counterparts, but has almost nothing to do with (different suspension, drive system, aero, power output, all altered due to homologation), so the driving experience is completely different
3. It uses assists, especially the traction control, that sucks out the fun of driving these cars (I imagine if I would go on a track day with my car IRL and leave all assists on - NEVER ever did that happen! In GT3 this is basically standard)
4. compared to other racing car classes, it lacks nimbleness of the car
5. the setup influence is huge -> makes you 2 seconds faster, comparing a bad versus a good setup
So to me it is popular for 3 reasons: they look and sound cool, they are fairly easy to drive on a +/- competitive level and they have the numbers of active racers.
Personally I will never invest my spare time in this car class, when I have myriads of other possibilities. I want to drive a sim car that is fun to drive and where I have full control over the car.
 
Neko Taisen
They are trully popular and beautiful ! Good looking, good noises, and there is a lot of models.

I have a preference of GTE cars in my opinion, because they're the last heritage of what radical GTs were.
Because they were called GT2 when they ran with the famous GT1 category.

And in my opinion, we are forgetting too much this golden age (maybe because I will hitting 30 years old in some years, i don't know). I would like that ACC make a "Classic" category with some famous GT1 and GT2 that ran in FIA GT Championship, like Aston Martin DBR9, Ferrari 550 GTS, Chrysler Viper GTS-R, Chevrolet Corvette C6R, 996 GT3-RSR, 993 GT2, etc.
 
mantasisg
Can't blame people for liking or even being massive fans of GT3. But not being interested in anything else is a little bit weird, to say the least.

For example I recently discovered Indycar, it is pretty awesome series.

I also discovered DTM last year, ironically it also switched to GT3 last year... the actual DTM cars were beasts and very entertaining. Good things just keep going to an end.
 
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T_rac3
Why? I think because everyone of us had some posters in our room, as children (and maybe even now) and the supercars on these posters was "Ferrari", "Porsche", "Lamborghini", "Nissan", "Honda", "McLaren" to name just a few
 
Sotirismac
I think that GT3 category has a lot of benefits! Outstanding exotic cars, amazing track pace, they are powerful, a lot of races including sprint and endurance and its exciting to see those monsters fighting side by side and those drivers trying to give their best in all over the race. But I think this category at the time needs more different cars!
 
Michel Bélisle
Premium
Shannon Flynn said:
I honestly have no idea. But, I'm a senior citizen :p
I'd much rather struggle to drive a vintage car on the edge than have a bunch of computer nonsense and downforce drive the car for me.
Click to expand...
I am old as well and my favourite sim is R3E. I prefer competing in a DTM92 race than a GT3 race. I believe that the answer lies in the fact that online race organizers feature GT3 race at the expense of other series. Also, I would rather race a 300bhp touring car than a GT3 Jetson spaecship!
 
D
Cause people want easy life. Wife done, children done, work done.. Boot up SIm-game, join GT3 lobby, do some P and Q. Then Race start. Big pole of crash during take off and/or T1. Complain it's shiietttt. Join another lobby. Do the same thing. Starts complaining everyone is an ass, and their rating going to down oblivion :rolleyes:

Imho, once you learn and try to master certains cars like a Caterham 620r it feels so more satisfiying. Even when you're able to race the AI or alien-like people, at around 105-110 strength.
 
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