Latest Project Motor Racing update adds radar and ‘all-new penalty system’

• Radar overlay added and editable via HUD Editor
• New penalty and off-track system
• Various bug fixes

Project Motor Racing has continued to evolve since its disastrous launch last month.

Despite significant layoffs, developer Straight4 Studios has released a series of updates to address the game’s myriad issues across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, including a new build today (18th December 2025).

In version 1.5.0.3, Straight4 has added a much-requested radar to the game, allowing players to see the exact positions of their AI opponents, along with an ‘all-new off track [sic] and penalty system’.

The penalty system was a bugbear of Traxion in PMR’s review build, with seemingly innocuous and time-consuming off-track moments resulting in huge time penalties. Conversely, cutting a track at high speed could gain time but would result in comparatively lenient censure.

Understandably, the new update adds several bug fixes to the game (all of which are listed in the changelog below this article), with the bizarrely immovable virtual mirror now able to be shifted from its top-right location via the HUD editor.

AI behaviour and performance optimisations have also taken place, with hopes high that Straight4 has addressed the wild behaviour of the game’s computer-controlled cars. 

Project Motor Racing v1.5.0.3 update changelog

NEW FEATURE:

• Added a Radar System functionality that can be customised in the HUD.

Camera & Visual Settings

• The Field of View (FOV) setting has been moved to the Preferences page.
• FOV is now split into two global options: External Camera FOV and Cockpit Camera FOV.
• The per-car cockpit FOV option has been removed.
• LOD draw distance tweaks to improve performance.
• Virtual Rearview Mirror can now be repositioned in the HUD editor.

Career & Progression

• Players can no longer purchase vehicles that do not have an associated championship.
• Fixed various labelling and UI issues in career screens.

Online – Social

• Social racing now follows the same registration flow as Ranked: Register → Choose Vehicle → Registered.

Online – Custom Lobbies

• Lobby settings can now be edited from within the lobby.
• Removed ping display from the custom lobby browser.
• Fixed an issue where the lobby countdown would not start when a ready player became host.
• Lobbies are marked as Private if Friends Only is enabled or a password is set.
• Fixed an issue where players getting stuck loading into track when another user fails to load or gets stuck.
• Added an in-game message to notify players when servers are undergoing maintenance.

AI Improvements

• Improved AI behaviour when racing close to the player to reduce lockups and fallback behaviour.
• Added new AI tweakers for in-lap and out-lap behaviour, allowing overtakes.
• AI now allows overtakes by default during practice and qualifying sessions.
• Increased default AI buffer sizes based on community feedback.
• Exposed AI debug options and text windows for modding support.

Stability & Performance

• Added missing initialisation and improved overall code robustness.
• Vehicle actor updates to support threaded True2Track processing, improving stability.
• Fixed a rare crash where True2Track could fail randomly during a frame.
• Integrated vehicle test library fixes addressing NaN-related issues.
• Fixed multiple crashes caused by null pointer access across physics, audio, HTTP, and threading systems.
• Improved thread safety in True2Track, addressing crash reports on PS5.
• Fixed an issue in command queue processing that could cause unintended fall-through.
• Added missing thread safety in several systems to prevent rare crashes.
• Improved thread safety with a read/write lock pool for the culling grid.
• Multiple engine fixes and performance improvements.

Audio

• Removed excessive tarmac roll rumble to reduce high-speed audio fatigue.
• Rebalanced collision audio.
• General audio stability improvements.

UI & Menus

• Increased text field sizes to prevent text clipping.
• Added a Settings button to the main menu.
• Fixed labelling issues in menus and essential screens.
• Added the controller slider UI for brake and accelerator sensitivity, dead zones, and related controls.

Vehicles

• Porsche 962C: Fixed banner UV mapping.
• Audi R8 GT3 EVO II: Corrected dashboard RPM light intensity.
• Updated all driver models to use a separate helmet mesh to support helmet visibility toggling.

Tracks & Penalty Detection

• All new off track and penalty system.
• Updated pit layouts, grids, and track boundaries where required.
• Improved track splines to enhance off-track and penalty detection across all circuits.
• Environment & Art Optimisations
• Vegetation optimisations to improve performance across tracks.
• Fixed tree normal maps and bush placement on various tracks.
• Extensive visual and performance improvements to San Marino, including:
• Pit entry fixes and visual cleanup
• Material, lighting, and LOD improvements
• Collision wall and barrier adjustments
• General LOD, clipping, and visual popping improvements.

Input & Miscellaneous

• Input system updates and fixes.
• Fixed issues with some Logitech peripherals.
• Pressure calculation fixes.
• General polish and clean-up across systems.