rFactor 2: Historical McLaren F1 Cars Released!

[Chris]

Just days after their announcement at the 2018 Sim Racing expo in Germany, right on cue, Studio 397 have released three historical McLaren Formula One cars for rFactor 2... free of charge.

Replicated with stunning attention to detail, the three vehicles brought to the increasingly popular simulator are:

1. McLaren M23 - The one that carried Fittipaldi and Hunt to WDC's in 1974 and 1976 respectively.
2. McLaren MP4/8 - The one that helped Ayrton Senna complete the greatest opening lap ever.
3. McLaren MP4/13 - The one that won the 1998 Drivers and Constructors titles with relative ease.

But don't let me talk you into it, here's a little of what Studio 397 had to say about the cars:

McLaren M23
"When McLaren introduces the M23 to the world in 1973 with first test drives, they knew already that they had created something special. Feedback from the first laps had been amazing, an easy to steer car with a great balance, thanks to nearly all the weight being close to the center, where also the tank was located.

The introduction to the Formula 1 World Championship was marked as a complete success before even going into the cars first race, since McLaren managed to put their brand new M23 right on Pole Position."

McLaren MP4/8
"While the car featured innovative technology and an advanced chassis, the team was being led [sic] down by engine in the end, which didn't offer as much performance as their competition was able to produce. Nevertheless this car put up a fight for the championship, especially since it featured automatic programmable gearbox, traction control and a host of other options, leaving the driver with more resources to concentrate solely on fighting for the top spots."

McLaren MP4/13
"Designed by Adrian Newey, the new MP4/13 was a perfect fit to the new rule-set and the grooved tyres. Efficient aerodynamics teamed up with the most powerful engine (780bhp) on the grid, the car immediately dominated the series and turned the first race into a pure McLaren showcase. Every single competitor got lapped at least once during the Australian Grand Prix, just a sign of what was to come for the rest of the season."


So there you have it. Three iconic F1 cars, for free and they're available for download right now. So what are you waiting for?!

 Tried the new content? Let us know what you think in the comments below, and be sure to stay up to date with all the latest simracing news here at RaceDepartment (especially once our Editor-in-Chief gets back from the Expo!)

 

[Alex72]

M23: this car, as others historic cars, would benefit from a transmission model, i.e. proper clutch and gearbox. Are there plans to implement it in the future?

What is the difference when such a thing would be implemented from today? I havent done proper H pattern for a long time and i just ordered a proper shifter and clutch pedals so i would like to know what the benefits/difference is with this implementation from how it is today.

Thank you.

 

[Emery]

I havent done proper H pattern for a long time and i just ordered a proper shifter and clutch pedals so i would like to know what the benefits/difference is with this implementation from how it is today.

Right now in rF2, apart from stalling a start, you can H-shift without the clutch, no balking of the transmission gears. Rev-matching downshifts is possible and helps with some cars.

Most of the other sims have implemented a crude balking and eventual destruction of the gearbox. Remember, though, that dog-ring transmissions do not balk the way synchromesh does, so your street-driving experience probably doesn't count when you're looking at your own experience. This is why the current rF2 implementation for race transmissions is not particularly "wrong", but isn't so brilliant for synchromesh.

Features that no one has implemented:

• Clutch wear
• Exploding clutches
• FFB H-shifter (hardware & software combo) [there is that hideously expensive shifter that does it all in hardware]
• Power transmission fluctuations to match the gear backlash that Sector 3 makes nice sounds with

 

[NBH]

We cannot have alcohol or tobacco brands in rFactor 2 even if they pay us, because we would loose our "all ages" rating and that would seriously hurt us, sales wise. For that reason we always take those off, even if we have a license for them.

Will there be a future update with Senna, Andretti, and Coulthard's helmets added?

 

[walken]

This car had automatic gear change IRL.
Are you sure in setup settings you changed automatic upshift / downshift to off?
View attachment 270265

where in setup !?!?? in general setting of rf2 of course i have manual shifting, for alla cars !!!!
i can't find it !!!
thank you

?????

found !!! reverted to defaul ui so now i've screen like your !!!
thank you

 

[Amanda]

Features that no one has implemented:

• Clutch wear

BeamNG has this. In fact, when it comes to vehicles simulation apart from the tire and suspension models, it's probably the most in-depth simulation, nothing comes even close. Radiators leaking, gear damage with percentages, real brake fade, turbo overheating. Name one specific vehicle dynamics and BeamNG most likely has it implemented.

It's a really cool sim

 

[xmlinc]

where in setup !?!?? in general setting of rf2 of course i have manual shifting, for alla cars !!!!
i can't find it !!!
thank you

View attachment 270416

?????

found !!! reverted to defaul ui so now i've screen like your !!!
thank you

Make sure you use the original UI. I had the same case

 

[davehenrie]

take a look who currently has the slowest time on the leaderboard ....lol !!! @Marcel Offermans

That is only because I just moved and haven't setup my wheel again yet.

 

[Alex72]

Right now in rF2, apart from stalling a start, you can H-shift without the clutch, no balking of the transmission gears. Rev-matching downshifts is possible and helps with some cars.

Most of the other sims have implemented a crude balking and eventual destruction of the gearbox. Remember, though, that dog-ring transmissions do not balk the way synchromesh does, so your street-driving experience probably doesn't count when you're looking at your own experience. This is why the current rF2 implementation for race transmissions is not particularly "wrong", but isn't so brilliant for synchromesh.

Features that no one has implemented:

• Clutch wear
• Exploding clutches
• FFB H-shifter (hardware & software combo) [there is that hideously expensive shifter that does it all in hardware]
• Power transmission fluctuations to match the gear backlash that Sector 3 makes nice sounds with

Cheers Emery!

Good thing Marcel noted its on the todo list.

 

[Leynad777]

Features that no one has implemented:

• Clutch wear
• Exploding clutches
• FFB H-shifter (hardware & software combo) [there is that hideously expensive shifter that does it all in hardware]
• Power transmission fluctuations to match the gear backlash that Sector 3 makes nice sounds with

Clutch wear and broken clutch is possible in AC and Raceroom has at least the wear. And with a transducer near your shifter plus SimVibe you can add Feedback as well.

 

[Andrew Harper]

We decided against implementing it after reading how complicated it was to setup on the real car. Without getting into details (I'm under NDA here) you had to program it for each track and although our community loves realism, this might have been a bit too much except for the most hardcore users.

Only because I was watching F1 at the time and I became obsessed with all this stuff....lol

The suspension was programmed on a corner by corner basis, so the mechanics would tell the car how to behave in the the various sections around the track. So leaning into corners, for example.

It also had active adjustment on ride height so on the straights the car would alter it's ride height to get the least amount of drag and the best top speed. The Williams and McLaren if I remember were automatic, whereas Benetton had a push button on the steering wheel to activate it. It also (I think) stopped the car diving under braking. So the perfect aero platform. The car was level at almost all times.

It also of course had variable damper setups, which again could be programmed on a corner by corner basis. So bumpy part of the track, well we'll have that soft, smooth part of the track, firm the dampers up again. Very clever.

So all in all a very complex system (and when you think it was probably programmed by something like a 386 or 486 processor laptop it's incredible! lol)

As Marcel says a very complex system to replicate in a sim, it could be possible I suppose; but you would have to have something like a setup screen that showed a track layout, onto which you would click a track "sector" and then make adjustments to the suspension on a sector by sector basis. Ride height, lean, pitch, yaw, etc.

As Marcel says, I'm sure they are loads of other details that we have never been told about. At the end of the Active Suspension era I would imagine the McLaren and Williams were probably the most advanced, with maybe Lotus just behind. Their car was very advanced but too clever for it's own good and had lots of reliability issues.

 

[Deleted member 503495]

It would probably require an update to track tech so each area/parameter can be assigned, etc, which would require redoing work on tracks as well. Given the outdated aspect on many things, it would just add to a lengthy backlog and never get implemented. There are theoretically more basic alternatives but still requires work and above all, the will to do the work.

 

[Marcel Offermans]

I don't think that would require any kind of track tech update, tbh.

 

[Velocita]

Will there be a future update with Senna, Andretti, and Coulthard's helmets added?

They'd need to be mods because they don't have the licensing for them. I know that Reiza (makers of AMS) currently have the license for Senna.

 

[NBH]

They'd need to be mods because they don't have the licensing for them. I know that Reiza (makers of AMS) currently have the license for Senna.

Really? How come they haven't used it yet?

 

[TTM75]

I just did that and not a single pic that shows the dual tach or addresses my point. Why have a large graphical tach and then CHOOSE to use the display below it for a difficult to read alternate tach instead of one of the other choices like speed?

Is anyone questioning that the lower digital display could be configured in more than one way (in real life)?

 

[FTRRacing]

Anyone got a good setup for Mp4/8 around Silverstone

 

[Marc Collins]

So what does this show? Lower digital read-out used for alternate tach or speedometer or something else?

I suspect nothing because it's a fake display read-out put in to a museum car.

Still waiting for a pic or video to show the lower read-out being used as a duplicate tach (as it is in rF2). Won't hold my breath because I don't think anyone would be dumb enough to use it that way. But look forward to being proven wrong

 

[TTM75]

So what does this show? Lower digital read-out used for alternate tach or speedometer or something else?

I suspect nothing because it's a fake display read-out put in to a museum car.

Still waiting for a pic or video to show the lower read-out being used as a duplicate tach (as it is in rF2). Won't hold my breath because I don't think anyone would be dumb enough to use it that way. But look forward to being proven wrong

 

[Marc Collins]

I stand corrected. As annoying as it is to my eye while driving, I see that the rpm display there must be used for the clutch starts. You need to see engine speed below the 5,000 rpm cut-off on the main tach and at a greater resolution than what is shown on it, which is very compressed at the lower end.

Looks like oil and water temps can replace the lap time read-out on the lower row, too.

 

[Alex Townsend]

I'm not looking forward to VR as I don't have it.

But I am looking forward to another car and track to try out.
Hopefully some optimizations too