Currently in the midst of 2023 iRacing Season 3 Week 5, there’s a new patch that dropped on Thursday morning in the US (13th July) for the sim platform. Inside the update, well, it was your normal run-of-the-mill fixes and changes.
Tweaks to some of the cars, like the New Damage Model on the new Ligier LMP3, and some garage tweaks to the new Porsche 992 can be found in this update, as is a new penalty added to Willow Springs for those attempting to exploit a Turn 5 bypass.
One of the more interesting additions in this update doesn’t come in the program itself, but in the pricing for specific users that are subscribed through Steam. As of today, new cars and tracks on Steam will be an extra dollar while some of the legacy content rises by 30 cents.
This is due to the fact that iRacing’s prices need to add taxes directly, and Steam builds it in, so the new offset should make those pricing models more similar. In reality, Steam users were paying less this whole time, and now the prices should be comparable to going directly through iRacing.
It was a wild sight on Tuesday night to see the majority of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series field weaving across the banking transition at Nashville Superspeedway. I don’t know the exact science behind it but I can only assume it deals with getting tires to a more grippier temperature.
While there’s no fix for it in this patch, hopefully it is something that does eventually get addressed. Thankfully, it seems the eNASCAR Sanctioning Body has told their drivers NOT to do that anymore. As long as it still exists outside of that, you can probably bet that some will exploit it in other races around the service.
No tire fixes, but it looks like iRacing also has a new cone model… There’s nothing specific with the 1987 cars or the 2008 version of Daytona either, so the cones should be the only change for those of us taking part in the eRacr.gg Firecracker 400 this week.
As of this posting, the iRacing Service is back up and running. The update shouldn’t take too long, but make sure you still give yourself ample time to get it installed. The rest of the patch notes can be viewed below.
2023 iRacing Season 3 Patch 3 Release Notes
iRACING:
General
- Fixed an issue where the iRacing window would appear to load, but could not be found anywhere on the screen.
Paint Shop
- A new sponsor has been added to the Paint Shop, Screen to Speed!
SIMULATION:
Steam Users
- The Store purchase prices for both Cars and Tracks for iRacing Members with accounts through Steam have been raised by up to $1.00 each. iRacing Members that subscribe through iRacing directly have no change to pricing for all Cars and Tracks.
- – – While direct iRacing purchases add the End-User Vat/Taxes to the price before completing the purchase, currently for Steam members, the End-User Vat/Taxes are built into the Steam price and purchase system. Therefore, some direct iRacing customers may have been paying more than some Steam customers. Because of this, Steam content pricing has increased by up to $1.00 to bring the content prices closer to identical for all Steam/iRacing customers.
- – – Content pricing changes are as follows for iRacing Members with accounts through Steam:
- – – – – $14.95 content is now $15.95 content.
- – – – – $11.95 content is now $12.95 content.
- – – – – $4.95 content is now $5.25 content.
- – – – – $2.95 content is now $3.25 content.
- This update is in effect as of today’s 2023 Season 3 Patch 3 deployment, July 13th, 2023.
- This pricing change was announced on the iRacing Forums here:
- – – https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/44791/steam-content-pricing-update#latest
Connectivity
- The use of IPv6 “Unique Local” addresses is now allowed.
- – – Such addresses are intended to be used only inside private networks (see RFC-4193), similar to the IPv4 private address space.
Optimization
- For users with hybrid CPUs, the worker thread pool algorithm will now be restricted to a maximum number of four Enki threads at any time.
- – – Based on our testing and helpful feedback from our Members, this appears to be an optimal setting while we continue to investigate and test for additional hybrid CPU solutions.
Race Control
- Race Admin commands are now fully disabled during Time Attack and Time Trial Sessions.
AI Racing
- AI Drivers have improved their racecraft at roval-type tracks and should no longer attempt passes on the aprons of oval corners
- AI Drivers have improved their skills at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Full Course.
Dirt Racing
- For Dirt Road racing, tire sinkage has been adjusted slightly to increase grip.
- The starting state for track dirt is more varied than before, providing a slightly different experience each time you run the same track.
New Damage Model
- Object parameters for cone objects have been updated. Cones should be stiffer, and slightly less likely to get lodged inside other objects and cars.
Graphics
- Fixed an issue where SpeedTrees appeared extra dark at night.
- Fixed a crash-to-desktop error that could occur when switching to SPS when FSR was enabled.
- Fixed an issue where headlights were super effective at illuminating SpeedTrees regardless of distance.
Virtual Reality
- Fixed an issue with the appearance of low resolution particles while AMD FSR was enabled.
CARS:
Dallara iR-01
- Some incorrectly named and duplicate iRacing setups have been removed.
Dallara IR18
- Fixed an issue with the appearance of the vinyl wrapped suspension after taking damage.
Dirt Late Model
- For the New Damage Model, the recent stiffness adjustment to the right-rear panel has been reverted.
Ford GT GT2 / GT3
- (GT3) – The accuracy of the garage aero balance calculator has been improved.
Indy Pro 2000 PM-18
- A New Damage Model tuning update has been completed which stiffens sidepods, lowers friction on sidepods and chassis panels, and lowers the break limits for the nose and sidepods.
Late Model Stock
- iRacing setups have been updated with new fuel levels.
Ligier JS P320
- A New Damage Model tuning pass has been completed which reduces the ease for scrape damage to appear on body panels, and slightly lowers the break limits for the nose and engine cover.
Lucas Oil Off Road Pro 2 Lite
- Center-of-gravity location has been adjusted slightly.
- Tire tread pattern has been adjusted.
Lucas Oil Off Road Pro Trucks
- (ALL) – Center-of-gravity location has been adjusted slightly.
- (ALL) – Tire tread pattern has been adjusted.
Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
- The accuracy of the garage aero balance calculator has been improved.
Mercedes-AMG GT4
- The valve stem is no longer visible on tires when they are spinning.
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
- The accuracy of the garage aero balance calculator has been improved.
USF 2000
- A New Damage Model tuning update has been completed which stiffens sidepods, lowers friction on sidepods and chassis panels, and lowers the break limits for the nose and sidepods.
TRACKS:
Willow Springs International Raceway
- Fixed an issue where no slowdown penalty was applied for cutting the entirety of Turn 5.
SOURCE: iRacing Forums
