Hey guys, welcome to our first iteration of Sim Car Rankings! I’m taking a look at the Toyota Celica GTO IMSA race car for rFactor 2. Check out the video above, for the full review.

The Toyota Celica GTO was used in the IMSA series between 1986 and 1988. The car was a collaboration between Toyota and Dan Gurney’s “All American Racers”, to build a competitor in the GT division. Originally in the GTU class in 1985, a purpose-built GTO Racer was constructed in 1986 (which is the car featured in the mod). The car achieved moderate success in the 1986 season, and followed it up with taking the championship in 1987.

This rFactor 2 counterpart was released in the end of 2014 by 32 pixels, alongside a semi-fictional racetrack called Lester. Now, you don’t usually associate Toyotas with awesome race cars, but this is quite an exception. The car is powered by a turbocharged Inline 4 engine, which can pump out over 600 horsepower! You have to be very careful with your right foot, or you will be quickly facing the wrong way, or going into the wall.

The physics of the car feel very believable, and can make for some awesome driving. The car is very punishing, when driving with no assists, and will make sure you are on edge. The car is notorious for turbo lag, but when those turbos kick in, you’ll be hanging on for dear life!

Handling for the car can be very finnicky, with quick hands required to keep the car under control. Using the stock setup, the car is very tricky, but I found softening the rear end helped make the car a little more predictable.

Despite the name of the company “32_pixels”, the car is by no means like that. It is a very impressive visual model, both in the cockpit and looking at it from the outside. You can tell that the work done on the car was a labor of love, and that it paid off.

The sounds have also received a lot of work, making it one of the best sounding mods in rFactor 2. There is very little “digital sound” for these cars, which can be all too common in racing titles. The backfires are also very impressive, making for great immersion.

Damage is a mixed beast, largely because of rFactor 2’s limitations. The car has good mechanical damage, where a decent smack on the wall will screw up the suspension in a realistic way. The car gives a good feel when it’s damaged, convincingly replicating mechanical damage.

However, as of right now, visual damage is lacking. Parts will fall off in a heavy impact, but rFactor 2 does not have deformable body parts yet for visual damage.

To keep the variety, 32 Pixels came up with some impressive liveries for you to race. They have schemes replicating iconic race cars, such as Richard Petty’s STP 43 car, as well as Ayrton Senna’s John Player Special Lotus 98T. Other schemes are available as well, such as the stock Toyota liveries, which makes for an impressive looking field.

Now, for my Sim Car Rankings, I would like to discuss how I will be rating the cars. I have split the cars into 7 different categories, and have them weighted in order of how I feel they are in importance to the experience.

For the car’s model quality, I have an available 15 points. For cockpits, I have also allowed for a possible score of 15. Physics, being especially important in a sim, will be worth 25 points. Damage will be split into two parts, Visual (worth 5 points) and Mechanical (worth 10). Sounds will be worth 15 points as well. Default setup tips the scale at 10 points, and Paint Schemes closes it out with 5 points.

Now, let’s see how it applies for the Celica:

Model Quality 13/15

Cockpits 13/15

Physics 22/25

Damage – 9/15 (2 physical, 7 mechanical)

Sounds 13/15

Default Setup 7/10

Paint Schemes 4/5

That gives us a grand total of 81/100! That is a solid score, especially for a first release of this car! I’m looking forward to seeing what will come in the future from 32 pixels for rFactor 2!

I feel this car also shows that there is hope for the rFactor 2 modding community. rFactor 2 is quickly becoming a stable modding solution, and we’re bound to see more quality content coming to ISI’s sim in the future.

What are your thoughts on the Toyota Celica GTO IMSA for rFactor 2? Let us know in the comments!