We’ve been given access to RaceRoom’s latest update and it’s another cracker.
Not content with releasing the DTM 2024 Car Pack (including the presence of Lamborghini for the first time in the sim’s history) and classic DTM cars and tracks, RaceRoom has now turned its attention to the greatest era of touring car racing: Super Touring.
The Super Touring Car Pack adds the Volvo 850, Volvo S40, Honda Accord, BMW E36 and Audi A4 models to the game, with more planned for release in future. It’s a tantalising prospect, especially for motorsport fans of a certain vintage (at the age of 40, I feel like RaceRoom has been creating content especially for me in recent times).
If this wasn’t exciting enough, three classic Silverstone layouts will also be made available, plus a modern version of Estoril and a 2024 update for Monza.
Additionally, RaceRoom will undergo a multiplayer revamp (we’ll cover this in more detail soon) and will gain the first instance of the sim’s dynamic track evolution system; where grass, dirt and gravel can be deposited on the track surface.
It’s another hugely impressive and feature-rich update from RaceRoom; make sure to check out our thoughts below.
Please also bear in mind we received an early preview version of the DLC, so some aspects are likely to be changed and some content may differ from the final release version.
The story of Super Touring
Why is Super Touring so revered in motorsport? Well, in 1991, the British Touring Car Championship switched from Group A to a two-litre, normally aspirated formula for saloon cars. It became so popular, it was ratified by the FIA into the global ‘2 litre Touring Car Formula’.
It caught the public’s imagination as the cars looked like standard runabouts, with the close racing and big personalities entertaining to watch. The 1992 BTCC finale, where John Cleland was cruelly robbed of championship victory by Steve Soper’s cynical sideswipe, was headline news and helped elevate the sport in the public’s consciousness.
Manufacturers couldn’t ignore this and pumped millions of pounds into multi-car, multi-country programmes, with the four-wheeled arms race predictably leading to implosion by the early 2000s.
However, Super Touring is still highly regarded for the technologically advanced cars (a Super Tourer still holds the BTCC lap record at Thruxton), induction noise and world-class drivers, which is why RaceRoom’s Super Touring Car Pack will strike a chord with so many fans.
Honda Accord
Motor Sports Developments (MSD) ran the Accord program for Honda in Europe between 1995 and 1996, building 20 cars to run in the British, Belgian and German championships, with engines supplied by British touring car stalwart Neil Brown Engineering.
For 1997-98, Honda passed the reins over to Prodrive, and it’s this version of the car represented in RaceRoom, specifically, the example owned by KW Studios (chassis (PRO-ST/H-9706, for car nerds) and exhibited at their headquarters.
This car, sponsored by KW Studios in its 1999 ADAC SuperTourenWagen Meisterschaft days, was campaigned by Thomas Stingl, but began its racing life being driven by three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Marco Werner in the 1997 ADAC SuperTourenwagen Cup.
The car comes with BTCC, STCC and STW liveries, but although some ‘96 paint schemes are included they are plastered onto ‘97 models (much like the above car driven by Gabriele Tarquini at Knockhill, in tribute to the late David Leslie).
The engine sound is classic Super Touring: two litres of screaming atmospheric mechanical joy. Listening to it from a fixed camera position in-game reminds us of the halcyon days of the BTCC. Magic.
Volvo 850
Although Volvo was nearly laughed out of the British Touring Car Championship when the Swedish manufacturer unveiled its estate car in 1994, a year later no one was smiling when the saloon variant appeared.
Immediately taking a win and a pole position at the first round from Donington Park, the 850 proved to be a potential championship winner from the outset, thanks in part to its professional preparation by F1 and Le Mans specialist Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR).
The car in RaceRoom is a 1996 example, with factory-backed entries also raced across Europe and Australia accounting for the multitude of liveries available (Peter Brock’s red livery is a personal highlight).
The car was unique in that it used a five-cylinder engine, producing the finest exhaust note in all of Super Touring, which has been replicated wonderfully in-game (although perhaps with too much reverb if I’m nit-picking).
The car has much more in-game agility than you’d expect from a boxy saloon, but quickly tends towards understeer on the limit. However, the rear end will step out under heavy braking, so caution is advised when bombing into hairpins.
Volvo S40
The S40 was the 850’s curvaceous follow-up for ‘97, featuring a more pliant chassis while retaining that sweet, sweet five-pot motor.
It features liveries from the BTCC’s ‘97 and ‘98 seasons (no doubt familiar to fans of the original TOCA Touring Car Championship games) but again the car model appears to be a ‘97 example.
For many, Rickard Rydell’s ‘98 livery will be a favourite, since the Swede not only clinched the BTCC crown but also set one of the most committed lap times at Mount Panorama in the same year, qualifying 1.5s clear of the field for the Bathurst 1000 endurance race.
Audi A4
The Audi A4 was used across European Super Touring championships in 1995 and made its way to the BTCC in ‘96. Controversially, it used Audi’s proprietary quattro all-wheel-drive system, giving it significant advantages in braking and traction zones.
Naturally, its superstar driver Frank Biela won the ‘96 championship at a canter but huge weight penalties scuppered its chances in ‘97 before Audi Sport switched to a front-wheel-drive version for ‘98. Ironically, there are no official BTCC liveries for the Audi included, although there is a silver ’95 car from the Touring Car World Cup present.
Drive RaceRoom‘s version and you quickly see why the Audi dominated the British series. It provides a lot of confidence on corner entry and allows you to brake as late as you dare while maintaining a rock-steady balance.
On the power, it feels quite lively, with the slight power-oversteer pleasant and controllable surprise. As a result, we reckon the A4 will be the perfect car for beginners to start their RaceRoom Super Touring careers with.
BMW E36
Going from perhaps the easiest car to drive in the Super Touring Car Pack to the most difficult.
The rear-wheel-drive BMW 320is saloon was first used in the BTCC in 1995, replacing the outgoing 318is version from ‘93 and ‘94 (a coupe version was used to win the championship in ‘92).
In 1995’s BTCC, it was driven by future Le Mans winner David Brabham and Venezuelan motorcycle racer and multiple touring car champion Jonny Cecotto. It also featured a distinctive livery promoting the latest James Bond movie, Goldeneye, which was pretty incongruous but delightfully random.
The E36 comes with classic liveries from around the globe, including Paul Morris’ Diet Coke-adorned car from the Australian Super Touring championship, Marc Duez’s Bastos livery and Yvan Muller’s Fina paint scheme, among others.
As you’d expect, the BMW can be a handful to control on the power, but it can also be driven much more naturally on the limit than the other cars. The BMW can be coaxed into apexes using your right foot, with its mid-corner bite confidence-inspiring. It sounds tremendous too: pure and mechanical.
Silverstone Classic
Silverstone’s Classic layout is keenly missed in British motorsport. Corners like the Abbey hairpin and Bridge are now gone after the circuit’s redevelopment in 2010, with the International layout – as used in the BTCC – only utilised between 1996 and 2009.
Unfortunately, some of the kerbing isn’t quite right: the old Silverstone International circuit’s chicane had more prominent kerbs, for example, which caused a few interesting incidents, and the track feels much wider than it appears in old footage. But there’s no doubt KW Studios has nailed the feel of the old circuit.
The National and Grand Prix layouts from the same era are also included, with the former providing the backdrop for perhaps the most famous incident in Super Touring history (see John Cleland vs Steve Soper above!).
The Grand Prix layout provided a launch pad for promoting Super Touring to a wider audience, as the track held both Formula 1 and BTCC races on the same day. No prizes for guessing which was more entertaining…
Estoril, Monza, dynamic track evolution
Understandably, given the Traxion team’s feverish Super Touring fandom the rest of RaceRoom’s November update feels like a slideshow, but that would be doing a disservice to KW Studios’ impressive work over the last few months.
A 2024 revamp of Monza is included for free in the sim’s forthcoming update, with Estoril added as purchasable content.
The Portuguese track was once a Formula 1 venue, but today still holds rounds of the World Superbikes Championship and, oddly, Porsche Cup Brasil. Two layouts are included: Grand Prix and Tanque, with the latter cutting out the Grand Prix circuit’s tight Turns 8-10.
The first stage of RaceRoom’s dynamic track evolution mechanic will also make its debut in the new update, with cars now able to deposit dirt onto the track surface, affecting grip. It’s an evolving system, so expect a few updates in future.
RaceRoom’s Super Touring Car Pack: is it worth buying?
If you’re a fan of Super Tourers then just go and buy RaceRoom’s Super Touring Car Pack now, you won’t be disappointed.
However, for those without nostalgia-tinted glasses, three front-wheel-drive cars with a mish-mash of liveries is a harder sell. The cars, alongside the Audi and BMW, handle well and sound great but if you’re a BTCC fan there’s a dearth of authentic tracks to race them on.
Super Tourenwagen Cup aficionados have more options in this regard but again it’s difficult to construct a fully authentic, period-correct grid to race against.
However, RaceRoom plans to add more Super Touring content in future, so keep your fingers crossed that more car models and tracks make it to the sim in future.
RaceRoom Super Touring Car Pack price and release date
RaceRoom’s Super Touring Car Pack, Silverstone Classic and Estoril will be available to purchase on the 10th of December 2024.
Will you be getting RaceRoom’s Super Touring Car Pack? Let us know in the comments below.
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