Latest iRacing patch addresses Auto Fuel, New Damage Model concerns

On Thursday (6th April), iRacing released the 2023 Season 2 Patch 3 update to the service, and with it, various changes, fixes, and additions for the sim.

Two big updates come in the form of one of iRacing’s newest features, Auto Fuel, as well as one of their constantly in-development feature, the New Damage Model.

In the Auto Fuel category, it was lamented when it first came out that the feature was always on and not something that could be toggled off before a race. With the feature automatically fueling the car based on a player’s driving around the track, it was good for hitting a number to get to the end of the race.

What it isn’t good for is something like iRacing Green-White-Checkers, which the fuel number would not equate for, nor was it good for cars that drive better with a fuel load of fuel, such as the NASCAR vehicles. Over the past few weeks, it’s been somewhat of an issue on the oval side of the community, at least from what I’ve seen.

The update now adds further customization towards the Auto Fuel. It can be turned off in the app.ini. If you do choose to use it, it now offers double the buffer of laps it did when launched. It has been added to iRacing’s new Gen 4 Cup car as well. The full details on the changes are in the notes below.

As it is with the New Damage Model, some cars in recent months have been racing like heavy armored vehicles, unable to break, leading to less attrition and more constant chaos in some areas of racing. The last patch addressed some of the cars that this was prevalent in. This patch updates even more cars to have more correct durability standards.

Other areas were also updated, including select cars and tracks. I found it interesting that the legacy version of Texas Motor Speedway received some grip lanes for multi-groove racing. I dig it though, because New Texas is kind of bad in the real-world and it translates to the sim at times. Just my opinion.

The rest of the notes are down below. What changes are you looking most forward to?

SOURCE: iRacing

2023 iRACING SEASON 2 PATCH 3 RELEASE NOTES

SIMULATION:

Race Control

• Fixed an issue where the leader during a rolling restart in a Start Zone could trigger a Jump Start Black Flag penalty on themself.

Auto Fuel

• The Auto Fuel Lap Margin limits have been increased to +/- 10.
• A label has been added to the Auto Fuel box when there is not yet sufficient fuel data for it to work correctly.
• Auto Fuel now appears in a disabled state during the Cooldown, Gridding, and Outlap.
• Controls for Auto Fuel in the Options menu have been renamed and are now functional.
• Some values for the Auto Fuel system have been added to the [Pit Service] section of the “app.ini” file.
• – – autoFuelDefaultEnable= 1 (Enable Auto Fuel by default for Races) or 0 ( Disable Auto Fuel by default for Races)
• – – autoFuelDefaultMarginLaps= 1.0000 (Number of Laps of fuel to add as a safety margin by default)
• – – – – When the Auto Fuel field is grayed out, it will show “1.0” for the lap margin, but the default value will be applied when the Race starts.
• The “autoFuelDefaultEnable” setting in the “app.ini” file is now used to enable/disable Auto Fuel on pit exit.
• The pit macro, “autofuel”, has been added.
• – – Toggle, Invert, and Clear functionality have been enabled.
• The Auto Fuel chat macros now support the use of negative values for adjustments.
• The Auto Fuel system is now available for the Gen 4 Cup Car.
• Fixed an issue where Auto Fuel calculations were incorrect once the checkered flag had flown.

New Damage Model

• With the systemic New Damage Model changes released with 2023 Season 2, many vehicles were in a place of unrealistically higher durability. This patch includes a variety of vehicle body panel adjustments that should generally weaken their strengths, and make the cars much more realistic. This Patch completes our post-Season 2 Release assessment for realism and balance for New Damage Model cars that was identified in Patch 2. The vehicles affected by these changes include the following:
• – – <Car Class> GT1 Cars
• – – <Car Class> GT3 Cars
• – – <Car Class> NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen Cars
• – – BMW M Hybrid V8
• – – Dallara P217
• – – Dirt Sprint Car
• – – Dirt Sprint Car Non-Winged
• – – Formula Vee
• – – Mercedes-AMG W12 E Performance
• – – Porsche Mission R

Graphics

• The upper limits for both CPU and GPU memory sliders in the graphics options have been increased to 32GB and 16GB respectively.

Controls

• Fixed an issue with GameInput API for Force Feedback caused by a recent Microsoft Gaming Input update.
• – – Now, we force the FFB device to always restart its FX every time they are updated. If you have a Thrustmaster device, you should also update the wheel drivers to the latest versions.

Telemetry

• A new variable, “PushToTalk”, has been added to telemetry.
• – – This variable is true when you hit the push-to-talk voice chat button. This does not mean that others can hear you, just that you attempted to send voice chat data to the server. The server still has the power to prioritize who is talking or apply restrictions on your voice chat.

CARS:

<Car Class> GT4 Cars

• Improved ABS system with faster response and better control and performance.
• Class Balance of Performance has been adjusted slightly.
• Updated shift indicator light settings.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

ARCA Menards Chevy / Gen 4 Cup

• (Gen 4 Cup) – Auto Fuel is now available for this car.
• (Gen 4 Cup) – iRacing setups have been updated.

Audi RS 3 LMS

• Rear damping has been increased.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

BMW M4 GT4

• Aerodynamic balance has been shifted forward.

McLaren 570s GT4

• Vehicle mass has been increased slightly.

Mercedes-AMG GT4

• Vehicle mass has been increased slightly.

Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR

• Engine torque has been increased slightly.

Radical SR10

• iRacing setups have been updated.

Ray FF1600

• Camber adjustment range has been updated.

TRACKS:

Circuit of the Americas

• (Grand Prix and West) – Standing start stall locations have been adjusted to better match the painted stalls on the track.

Sebring International Raceway

• Fixed an issue where night lighting had some significantly brighter areas.

[Legacy] Texas Motor Speedway – 2009

• (Oval) – Track surface parameters have been updated for improved multi-groove racing.