Featured Automobilista 2 V1.6.8.5, Historical Track Pack Pt3 & Historical Endurance Pack Pt1 RELEASED!

I second your compliment! When so many firms trend toward mediocrity and capitulating to popular opinion, Reiza sticks to a plan of constant improvement. Reiza actions always speak way louder than their words!

 

Hello Team Reiza,

I want to quickly congratulate you to this outstanding update to Automobilista 2 and your latest DLC´s. Thanks to your generous habit to allow a free preview to the new content, I was able to check out some of the new cars and of course the three new historical tracks. The BMW E46 GTR made me get some serious goosebumps with it´s perfect cockpit and the tremendous sounds I took it out at Spa 2005 and I really thought I be there for real and drive this thing through the rain. Everything looks so damn real and the immersion is enormous (even with a single 27" screen)!!!
It is obvious, that people that have a true passion for Motorsports are working at Reiza Studios!
I will definetely buy both DLC´s and therewith support your outstanding work!

Keep it up, Team Reiza
Kind regards to Brazil
Maverick

 

Do we know when the leaderboards are going to be active for the new cars?

I've been ripping the DBR9 around Bathurst all morning and it's been the most fun i've had in AMS2 in quite a while - it's such a fun combo. I'm really enjoying these new cars, but wish there was some leaderboards to challenge.

 

Omph, played, sorry I mean driven , the 2005 GT2 cara on Spa 20205 the whole weekend.
While I was immediatly on pace with the Milano, the Porsche 996 GT2 took me several hours (!) to match the 100% AI strengh lap times - but still I loose the car more than I drive it.
My front tyres are always cold while my rear tyres are burning. The braking feels like I‘ve thrown an anchor and if it was a little bit too early, I just all of the sudden stop and die
Some advise for me what I may do wrong?
It‘s better on the medium tyre and if I avoid inside kerbs on tires.
When the rear gets a little loose I open up the steering, but a hard counter steer while also kill you.

 

There was a place here on the forum where Renato posted my AI analysis video about what is good, bad and what is weird and he made a very detailed post about all circumstances explaining AI in huge detail.

I cannot find that anymore, has it been removed, locked or am i just blind and cannot find it ? Thank you for any pointers.

 

30 above track temp? Maybe I‘m running them way to hot all the time about 80C.
Stiffen front springs, good tip, maybe you can send me a screenshot of your settings? I would highly appreciate it.
Thanks for your tipps already!

 

Amazing content all around, once again thank you Reiza for the incredible work you guys put on. Just did a 2h20min LeMans 24h with the GTs, driving the Maserati, and had one of the best races I ever had in this game. The AI improvements are very significant, they defend so much better now, and also managed the strategy perfectly. Only bad thing I noticed was that they no longer follow my slipstream, but overall it was an incredible experience.

Especially great job balancing the GT1 cars. In general, the faster cars (Aston and Viper) were the worst on fuel, and the slower ones could remain competitive on fuel consumption (except for the Corvette, which was both slow and fuel-thirsty). I won with another Maserati in P2, but the first Aston, despite having made an extra pit stop, finished only 10 seconds behind me in third. I don't know how realistic this is, but it works brilliantly well for racing. I can only hope the 90's GT1s one day get the same treatment.

Also, I haven't been able to try out the prototypes on a proper long session yet, but from the short races I did with them, the Courage seems completely dominant, with the Audis just barely edging out the Dallaras, but both quite far behind the Courage (I don't know if they're more balanced on fuel, but I hope so). Was it also the case in real life?

 

Reiza you are seriously one of those developers in a dozen that still feel very developer passion oriented

The ones that don't have to cut corners, the ones that don't have to extremely live up to a board of people in suits that dont understand the product at all.

In a world were videogames get half arsed more and more with minimal effort maximum profit, that passion for creating shines through everything you do, in AMS1 and AMS2, and it makes this sim extremely enticing and KNOW that that edge of wanting to perfect things and wanting to mirror the tiniest details is really appreciated, seen and DOES make a difference.

 

This one?

 

It was something else. This was the video on the top of it when the discussion started and i wanted to post a new one there.
EDIT because that video is outdated anyway. I am searching if i had posted this video in the right place

I posted it here: Official General AI Comments & Discussion Topic

 

Beautiful packs! Well done Reiza team.
The tracks are awesome. Hope we'll see Mid-Ohio one day like these and many more from that era.
I have an issue with both Lola's B05-40. Since I'm always testing new cars with auto and manual gear, It appear that the normal gearing is disabled on both cars when running on auto and trying to force gears from my SW. Only the R and N are working.
Also, the FOV of the rear passenger camera is not normally positioned. It's a small issue I know but If you can verify and fix please .

 

Brilliant update, the 2005 content is top notch.
I'm liking the default ffb which oddly feels more lively than default+.
In vr taa works well in my quest pro with trilinear, taa sharpening at 150, xml sharpening strength raised to 1.0, oculus tray tool ss at 2.0, with similar if not better performance than msaa on medium.

 

+1 for Mid-Ohio! Would love to see it in AMS2, and I think it would suit a lot of classes already in the sim.

Spent a bit more time with AMS2 today - though in the latest Beta RC due to only having enough disk space for one AMS2 install, so I don't know if there have been any significant changes between then and the current main release - and there's some stuff I really need to get out:

1. It has been mentioned before that the M1 Procar has changed - a lot - for the better. It's true. The car feels like a thoroughbred race car now; the M1 is highly capable and easy enough to drive, but really starts to move and slip and slide in the best way once you approach the limit. It's a wild beast in disguise, but it's neither completely unhinged nor tame, boring and understeery as it used to be at earlier times in the development of AMS2.
   Oh, and I am fairly certain Reiza managed to sneak in improvements to the engine sound as well. That V6 never sounded this aggressive (or good!) before. Wow.
2. I was today years old when I drove Road Atlanta Short for the first time. It made me sick... with a bad case of "one more lap syndrome"! Holy crap, the flow of the short track is SO good, much better than almost any other short track I know. Took the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II to the track (what a dreamy combo!) as well as the new GT2 cars. Simracing heaven, really.

Speaking of Road Atlanta Short, is there any chance we could see a modern version of the short track added as well? The 2005 Short Version surely makes for a compelling argument to buy the new track DLC (if you haven't already), but I'd love to see the modern short track, too. Given that the track still exists and should for the most part be identical to the regular/moto version we already have, the amount of work required wouldn't nearly be as big as creating a new track from scratch. Just saying...

Last but not least, on the topic of GT3 cars: I'm somewhat confused by the claims that they haven't changed at all compared to the previous release. So far every single one I have tried in recent weeks during the beta had been transformed for the better (more planted, more precise overall) with perhaps the exception of the 911s that still feel a bit iffy. Even from one beta update to another where only minor tweaks were applied the changes were easily noticeable to me. So I wonder if we're really talking about the same sim here? Even with these "minor" changes the GT3 driving experience has significantly improved compared to the previous main release, full stop.

Anyway, just my two cents (or however much that is in today's money).

 

God that GT1 Maserati is my favourite car in Sim racing so far. Love the Porsche GT2 also brillant work.
Mid race saves and some flag work I wouldnt need another sim.

 

I found this out the hard way on a scorching mid-summer Road Atlanta with the Milano...
Crimson quick question; what would justify using the hard compound? Because Atlanta was over 50°c track temp, or would that still be doable with the mediums you'd say?
Or the hards are basically just a strategy thing more than anything?

Edit; alright since I'm the type that always needs answers to my questions I decided why not test this, right?
So with my new favorite class being the GT2, Road Atlanta in mid-juli with the track surface at 54°c will not work with softs (obviously) or even medium rubber.
I was cooking them in no-time, left rear saw 110°c?!
The hards seem to take the abuse well even though they ended up hotter then I'd like as well, but still showed a nice healthy green in the HUD.
Qualy and fastest lap times nicely just under a minute on Atlanta 2005 short.
Race vs AI very level on pace with them.
What does this mean? What does it all add up to you ask? Well for one, I never ventured much into other compounds except soft at all?!
This opens up new avenues to explore and that excites me somewhat.

 

Great content, even though I can't play it.
I activated TAA and bam... black screen and PC restart. I haven't been able to play anything since.
The technician will tell me what happened tomorrow.

 

I think you misunderstood something. Ideal tire temps are around 80-90 depending on the compound and tires, some could have a higher range of temp. With a track temp above 30C, softer compound will heat up faster but also overheat. If you see that after 5-7 laps without overdriving the car at normal pace the tires are overheating, switch to the next harder compound.

 

You can't play just AMS2 or your PC is dead? If just AMS2 and you are on a single monitor, then rename this file (in Documents/Automobilista 2 folder) and it will create a new one.

 

I’ve owned Automobilista 2 for a while, but it stayed on the sidelines at first because my group was racing a different sim. That group drifted apart, the current “hype” sim isn’t my thing, and I decided to give AMS2 another proper go — especially in VR. I’m glad I did.

The VR Experience That Clicks
In short: AMS2 in VR is a joy. It’s not razor-sharp on my setup, but it’s very good and highly immersive. Lighting sells the mood, cockpit scale feels right, and the overall presentation makes it easy to “be there.” I spent this weekend running multiclass (LMH/LMdH & GT3) and it reminded me why I love endurance-style racing: traffic management, rhythm, and those little moments that feel like real motorsport.

Physics, FFB & AI
The car behavior is easy to read without feeling “fake forgiving.” Load transfer and grip changes come across logically, so pushing to the limit is exciting rather than frustrating.
On the AI side: with aggression at medium, they were a bit too eager to spin me on contact. On the plus side, an FCY triggered and I came across a convincingly wrecked AI car — a small detail that massively boosts immersion. Moments like that make the world feel alive.

Small FFB note (defaults)
On the default FFB (no custom files), two things stood out on my rig:

• Kerb feel under ABS is muted.
  
  
• On long straights (hands-off), the wheel oscillates left–right.
  

Just flagging this for awareness/feedback — not looking for tips here; I trust the team knows how to interpret it.

Performance (My Mid-Range VR Rig)
Ryzen 5 5600X • 32 GB RAM • Radeon RX 6750 XT (12 GB)
Thrustmaster T500RS wheel
Pico 4 via Virtual Desktop (USB tether) • HEVC 10-bit ~1200 Mbit/s
On this mid-range setup, performance has been very solid in VR, even with weather, night, and multiclass grids in the mix.

The 1.6.8.5 Effect
Recent updates — 1.6.8.5 in particular — make the whole package feel more cohesive: steadier frametimes, a more confident FFB feel, and a general sense that AMS2 has caught up a lot to the competition. That’s the nudge I needed to go beyond the base game — I picked up Endurance Pack Pt. 1 and the Premium Track Pack and have zero regrets.

Multiplayer Today — And Where It Could Go
It’s great that automobilista.gg, the in-game event browser, and a rating/safety system are already in place. From a player’s perspective, I’m simply hoping we can keep growing the MP population. If it aligns with your plans, a few ideas that might help:

• Featured/rotating events (including regional time slots) highlighted in the in-game browser.
  
  
• One or two regular multiclass series at predictable times to help players form habits.
  
  
• Some light onboarding/promotion to guide newcomers into active splits (e.g., subtle tooltips or a “play now” nudge from automobilista.gg).
  
  
• Driver swap in multiplayer someday, for full endurance vibes.
  

These are just thoughts from my seat—no expectations. I appreciate the direction so far and I’m excited to see where you take it.

A Simple Growth Idea: Creators & Showcase Events
If it’s useful, consider partnering with streamers/creators to spotlight the updated MP tools. A big streamer race event (multiclass format, easy sign-up via automobilista.gg, co-stream kits, regional time slots) could bring a wave of new players quickly — and, with the rating/safety system already in place, help retain them.

A Little Personal Wish
Totally personal, but… I’d love to see Ford Mustang and Ford GT in AMS2 someday (licensing and all that, of course) — and then see them featured in events. That would make my day.

Final Thoughts
AMS2 has reminded me how good sim racing can feel when immersion, physics, and performance line up — especially in VR. I’m grateful for the pace of development and the direction of recent patches. With a gentle push on multiplayer visibility, routine events, and endurance features, I think AMS2 can keep growing its audience.

Thanks, Reiza — keep going in this direction. You’ve got something special here.