A year ago, we had the release of the Dallara DW12 and Indianapolis for rFactor 2, directly competing with iRacing’s counterpart. However, it was admittedly a rushed out job, and some elements of the car were missing. Now, a year later, we have an update to the car, essentially doing a full overhaul of the car.

One of the parts that was quite lackluster with rFactor 2’s DW12 was the driving physics. ISI had to rely on guesswork to create the physics, due to some inaccurate data given to them. Now, they were able to obtain data from not one, but THREE different race teams, to create more accurate physics. The oval configuration has seen the most significant improvement due to the new collaboration, but road course configurations will also be more accurate to the real life 2014 spec cars.

The new tire Contact Patch Model has also been implemented to the Dallara DW12, which has made for a lot of improvement. The new CPM is one of the major improvements ISI has implemented recently, and is one of the steps to prepare rFactor 2 for oval racing. I tested the DW12 at Indianapolis and at Mountain Peak, and I will say it is a MAJOR improvement over what we had before. Setups seem quite conservative, but I think if you tweak the setup, you should be able to get times similar to last season’s races. I also don’t know if this is any indication of improvement, but I find it a lot easier to spin out in Turn 4 at Indianapolis, which is similar to iRacing, so take that as you may.

Speaking of setup, a new option has been added: Weight Jacker. This is one of the options the community has been asking for, and now ISI is working to implement it. However, as of now, you can not adjust it via an in-car control. Tim Wheatley told me that functionality should be added via a future update.

For the full (and quite lengthy) list of improvements to the DW12, check out the Changelog below. Some great content will be coming to rFactor 2, both first party and third party. The Howston Stock Cars (based off the NASCAR Generation 6 Stock Cars) are slated to be the next car coming to the sim, along with a new build to bring oval racing rules. The CART Factor mod, one of the most popular mods for rFactor, is being ported to rFactor 2, as well as Indy Lights. Nola Motorsports Park has officially been licensed, and will be in development soon as well.

What are your thoughts on the Dallara DW12 update? Let us know in the comments!

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Dallara DW12 v1.62 Changelog

Physics / Setup

– Fixed fuel tank capacity.

– Fuel tank position corrected (slightly lower and further forward)

– Allowing both compounds during race.

– Added ‘weight jacker’. Garage only at this time.

– Brand new CPM enabled tyres.

– Better undertray points.

– Better ride height ranges and defaults.

– Caster range now 4-10 as per real life.

– Accurate suspension geometry that varies between oval / road course.

– Tyre pressure ranges more realistic (as are defaults)

– Updated trackconfigsbase.ini to have proper layout names for Mountain Peak and newer tracks.

– Minor Turbo error correction.

– Aero corrections for both speedway and road courses. (Main change is more accurate and higher downforce for speedway config)

– Recalculated brake system & restricted brake bias range.

– Improved unsprung masses.

– Added wheelbase options, the primary purpose of which is to adjust the weight distribution. 119″ is ideal for speedways, 120″ may be ok for road courses.

– Increased the weight of the car (was ~missing driver weight).

– Slightly more damage sensitive.

– Increased CG height according to new data.

– More accurate default RC toe angles.

– Increase AI’s grip a touch (road course).

– Recalc’ed and more accurate anti-roll bar rates, ranges.

– Fixed small error on front wing range (now goes up to 32° on RC / SC)

– Slight increase in mid-range torque and also fuel consumption, and attempted improvement for fuel estimate.

– Allowing stiffer springs.

– Now using spool differential (locked axle), for ovals.

– Increase in chassis flex.

– Min brake ducts now have MUCH less cooling, Max similar.

– Brake Duct drag and lift reduced (so penalty is a little lower).

– Steering system updated.

– Opponent sound attenuation increased (so other cars are slightly less audible).

– Steering ratio corrected (default, options not available yet).

– Very slightly less sensitive to turbulent air

– Auto-shift tweak (helps AI)

Visuals

– Fix so rotation matches in-game.

– Fixed problem with Alternates showing as Primaries at race start

– air intake gap fixed

– hands animation fixed

– new tyre damage texture

– spinner scene fixed

– Fixed tyre compound visibility in spinner.

– Digits on the steering wheel increased to 5

– Digital Yellow message “Yel” aligned

– Graphics : whole model rescale (+2%),

– Front susp arms corrected.

– Mirrored rear wing back logo (#27 #77)

– Various texture fixes