Test Drive Tuesday – GSC 2013 Formula Retro @ Monaco

[youtube]http://youtu.be/wxXAcax9TB8[/youtube]

Test Drive Tuesdays has become one of our favorite parts of the new face of Inside Sim Racing. Going back in time, we used to do Top Sim Cars of All Time and it was a wonderful segment to give credit to the great modders and developers of our industry. Test Drive Tuesdays has given us a new opportunity to merge the two ideas together. This allows us to feature those talents within our industry once again and have some fun driving all these awesome cars and tracks and share them with you.

For this weeks Test Drive Tuesday (sorry it’s late, had some technical difficulties) we are featuring a car from the title Game Stock Car 2013 by Reiza Studios. GSC 2013 is perhaps the best Rfactor or ISI based title ever made. They have massaged every line of code and squeezed everything out of that game engine possible.

Their latest version features a handful of new cars built into the game. One of the cars available is the Formula Retro and it resemble a Formula One car from the mid seventies. I picked the Scuderia Modena which seems to be a Ferrari 312 and one of the most recognizable cars in racing. This was an era of racing when horsepower was really coming along and enough downforce to keep the cars down on the ground (sort of). For me, this is the era that really begun the look of a modern Formula One car.

The Scuderia has a giant air scoop that feeds the V8 engine and produces 418 horsepower.  It is also equipped with a monster sized wing both front and rear and still manages to weigh in at only 1433 pounds.

When picking a track for this test drive, we wanted to turn to the community. GSC is easily modded and there is a huge following that offers endless amounts of cars and tracks. I went to No Grip Racing and in their downloads section they have threads dedicated to Game Stockcar. (link below) I downloaded GSC2013 75Monaco and installed it on my machine. 75Monaco is converted by MotorFX and this track is a conversion that has dated back many variations and sims over time. This version has been built for GSC2013 and includes adapted Ai for the track. The track is a great rendition of Monaco from back in time. It features all of the landmark items that make this track so well known. This includes both on track and off the side of the road. Ultimately Monaco is one of the most challenging tracks to drive, and driving it fast can be risky. But regardless of your abilities it will come down to qualifying because passing at Monaco is nearly impossible.

For this test drive I am in my tried and true racing rig. It all starts with a custom profile chassis that has a Thrustmaster T500RS mounted to it. My pedals of choice for this drive are the Fanatec Clubsports and my shifter is a Thrustmaster TH8RS in H-pattern mode. I am running simvibe in chassis mode with a Buttkicker at each corner of my rig. The computer running this system is an Intel I7 with a single Nvidia 690 video card controlling 3 x 27″ monitors.

I set the Ai to 93% and ran the car with the default setup. I spent about a half an hour getting comfortable and then laid down a qualifying lap of 1:32.8 which landed me 4th on the grid. I ran a 3 lap race and tried to put more attention on running the race realistically, then actually worrying about winning. Again, passing at Monaco is very difficult and keeping all of my wings intact is goal number one.

As the lights go green and I smash on the throttle the rear end of the car kicks out to the right. I immediately need to feather the throttle and saw on the wheel to gather things up. I fight hard going into one but end up loosing a position and dropping to 5th place. As I head up the hill and try to gain that spot back I am also reminded of the driver behind me trying to do the same.

Physics

This is a good time to talk about the physics that Reiza studios has built into this car and sim. They have recreated these 70’s era cars in a way that I would expect them to handle. They have massaged the driving physics into a beautiful perfection of a challenging yet drive-able car model. This car is ferocious and you will need to have quick hands and a gentle throttle peddle to drive it. The car is tight, with very little sway. It’s that throttle pedal that will aid you in steering the car.

Sounds

Also helping you drive this car are the incredible sounds that Reiza have recreated. One of the shear pleasures of driving is that they have a tone, or note that one would expect from a formula one car. For me it goes beyond that and it sounds downright raunchy, nasty or even harsh. But those are the sounds of an F1 car. When driving, the engine RPM can be heard spiking when you are too hard on the throttle. You can hear the tires loosing traction and dial things back in time to save it from spinning around.

Car Model

Despite being sort of a fantasy car, they have hit a huge home-run with a car model that details more parts then I have ever seen. I found myself with my eyes glued to the gearbox of the car ahead of me. Looking at the detail of the half shaft, the inboard brakes and even the gearbox itself. All of those parts moving along with the suspension. This is shear sim racing heaven.

AI – The Race

I spent the three laps trying to push as hard as I could, desperately wanting that 4th spot back. I found the Ai to be very challenging and at certain parts of the track would leave me behind. But at other points I would be faster and look for a point to pass. Anytime that I pushed too hard on the gas to make things happen, I would fight a car that wanted to get too loose. I would look for opportunity under braking, but with the walls of Monaco being so deadly, you had to reconsider those moves.  In the end I was never able to make that pass but I am rather proud of my result.

Fun Factor / Experience

In the end I had a great time with the car, track and sim combination. I was running against the AI and had a good feeling of racing real life drivers. I could see them make mistakes at times and if I had been ready to jump on them, would have earned their spots. Granted with AI, you can always push them around. Since I respected them like I would a human driver, they offered great racing.

In Closing

I highly recommend this title for anyone that hasn’t picked it up yet. We will have a complete look at it here on the site and show very soon. For now, I hope you’ve enjoyed my Test Drive of the Formula Retro car in Game Stock Car 2013 running the 75Monaco Track conversion. I’m Shaun Cole and I hope to see you on the track.

75Monaco for GSC 2013 – HERE

No Grip GSC 2013 Section – HERE

Request a Test Drive – HERE

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