Patience is a virtue: Assetto Corsa EVO first impressions

Assetto Corsa EVO is finally here and the question on every sim racer’s lips is ‘Is it any good?’.

Well, after testing Kunos Simulazioni’s ode to motoring and motorsport over the last few hours I’ve managed to collate a few thoughts on whether EVO’s Steam Early Access release is an encouraging start as it heads towards v1.0 this Autumn.

The hype surrounding EVO’s EA release has been almost unprecedented for a laser-focused racing sim, with the sim racing community (including influencers and the media – yes, including Traxion) jumping on any tasty morsel proffered by Kunos’ figurehead Marco Massarutto.

So, has EVO lived up to the hype? Check out my early opinions below.

How does Assetto Corsa EVO feel to drive?

Although I wasn’t blown away by how EVO felt after a few hours, neither was I overly disappointed. Its tyre model is forgiving, with slides easy to catch – or hold, depending on how much you wish to emulate Tiff Needell – with tyres also building temperature and pressure progressively.

The force feedback perhaps lacks fine detail but to me, but it felt perfectly natural, especially when tillering road cars on the limit.

It feels like a departure from Assetto Corsa Competizione’s handling model in that it feels more tactile, with the overall driving sensation having more in common with 2014’s Assetto Corsa. 

It’s an improvement on Kunos’ previous titles: cars move around under braking and kerbs are absorbed by supple vehicle suspension, which differs from AC and ACC’s rather concrete-like dampers.

To sum it up succinctly, it’s like Assetto Corsa Plus; a solid platform to build on.

How good are Assetto Corsa EVO’s graphics?

Not unexpectedly for an Early Access game, EVO has a few visual niggles. AI cars disappear from your rearview mirror, there’s ghosting in low-light conditions and there are frequent graphical stutters, even though my 4070-shod PC comfortably exceeds the recommended system requirements.

When everything works, however, EVO can look very pretty, especially if you set the in-game time to sunset. It’s not quite Gran Turismo 7 in terms of clinical presentation, but it does a solid job of showcasing Kunos’ dynamic physics engine in action, with cars diving under braking and rolling gently while cornering.

Depth of field effects can be a little overwrought, though, with objects in the far distance looking like they’ve been smeared with Vaseline, but this is a minor niggle. The visual style is quite natural by default, less saturated than AC but much cleaner than ACC. It reminds me of Forza Motorsport but with added clarity.

Wet weather effects are convincing but if you take a trip through a gravel trap your car doesn’t leave any tyre tracks. It’s a minor complaint that will likely be fixed shortly.

How good is Assetto Corsa EVO’s AI?

The sluggishness of EVO`s AI is only matched by their aggressiveness, with your virtual opponents doing hair-brained things like braking after Brands Hatch’s Paddock Hill Bend. They also tend to launch themselves at your car, seemingly possessed by the spirit of a frustrated BTCC driver. 

However, the AI does appear to make natural-looking mistakes; like running deep into corners. Their lack of pace is the biggest issue, though, even at 100% skill levels (which oddly defaults to 97% pre-race), and most competent sim racers will be able to gap them with little or no practice time.

Race starts are a little ridiculous too, with the AI seemingly unaware of what to do when the red lights go out; you can easily pick up five or six positions.

How does Assetto Corsa EVO’s in-game economy work?

At the time of publication, I wasn’t able to test EVO’s in-game economy due to the ‘always offline bug’.

At the centre of the in-game economy is a Driving Academy mode, where players unlock licences to drive more powerful cars, with each licence and subsequent race accruing XP and in-game currency.

This allows players to buy new cars and customise them, but again, I don’t know to what extent until Kunos releases a fix. This article will be updated once a patch goes live.

Sounds

Another slightly underwhelming aspect of EVO’s EA release is the car sounds. With ACC providing genre-leading audio it would be natural to assume that EVO would be an improvement. 

However, the road car exhaust notes are disappointing, sounding a little more digitised compared to the racecars. The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992), for example, sounds almost exactly as it does in ACC: piercing and racy. But the Honda S2000 lacks an aural punch, detracting from its overall driving experience.

How good is Assetto Corsa EVO in VR?

Unfortunately, EVO’s EA credentials are never more apparent than when trying to play it in VR. Using a Pimax Crystal Light, I had to drop the rendering quality of the headset as well as the in-game visual details to have an experience smooth enough to be deemed acceptable.

That wasn’t the main issue, however, as there seemed to be no way to centre the VR view. First of all, there isn’t a ‘centre VR view’ function to map in EVO’s control settings. Secondly, using Pimax’s own centring function led to the view shifting to the left collarbone of my driving avatar. It’s not ideal, then, and not the optimal way to test how EVO plays with a headset.

More work needs to be done, with Kunos thankfully planning to release at least two more VR mode upgrades during its EA phase, according to the recently released development roadmap.

Cars and tracks

EVO’s EA build only has five tracks and 20 cars, with several extra circuit layouts and car specifications available. Suzuka has its additional East and West layouts while Brands Hatch has Indy and GP variants.

In terms of vehicles, there are Touring and Sports versions of the Lotus Emira, which are identical in terms of performance rating. It’s a similar case with the various specifications of the Toyota GR86, Camaro ZL1 and Alpine A110 S, with all featuring real-world manufacturer options and differing handling characteristics. 

There are also two versions of the Hyundai i30 N. The i30 Drive-N Limited Edition has an N DCT dual-clutch transmission, while the i30 N Performance has a manual ‘box.

To be extremely nerdy, both cars’ gearshifting is punctuated by the unmistakable parp of a dual-clutch, which isn’t accurate but makes zero difference to the overall experience.

Needless to say, it’ll be intriguing to see how trim levels can be mixed and matched in future updates.

All five of EVO’s tracks carry over from ACC’s roster but there are subtle differences. Laguna Seca has more asphalt run-off, for example, to match its most up-to-date configuration, but sadly optimisation is required on some more than others.

Imola seems particularly resource-intensive, and I suffered consistent frame drops here. Likewise, adding rain or racing at night has a significant impact on performance at every track. At a standstill, however, each circuit exudes realism, with a warmer, more natural look than ACC’s versions.

Add a bit of rain to proceedings and EVO looks surprisingly well-sorted, with drying lines appearing when the weather is set to dynamic. In my experience, the game’s rudimentary replay mode failed to show all the wet weather details, however.

Conclusion

Assetto Corsa EVO’s Early Access release has several bugs, some of which are hugely disappointing. Graphical glitches, including poor VR performance, are the most immediate issues, but when EVO runs well it looks a step up on both Assetto Corsa Competizione and Assetto Corsa – but that should have been the case anyway.

Since multiplayer won’t be available for a while yet, a lot of the game’s heavy lifting has to be done by its AI opponents, who are sadly too dim-witted to offer much of a challenge at this stage.

So, EVO’s Early Access release is a bit of a disaster then, right? 

In my opinion, no.

It’s an Early Access game, it’s supposed to have rough edges. Look at the way both AC and ACC’s initial builds were received. They both lacked major features, had performance issues and were light on content, but Kunos turned those titles around in spectacular fashion.

With a suite of new features and content on the way, hopes are high that EVO will improve dramatically over the next few months as it heads toward v1.0 in the autumn.

Assetto Corsa EVO shows promise, then, but definitely has its limitations. So, if you decide to purchase it now, be prepared to put up with an imperfect sim, at least for a while. 

The Steam Early Access version of Assetto Corsa EVO is available now, priced at €39.99 /$39.99 / £32.99. For the first two weeks, between now and the 30th January 2025, there is a 20 per cent discount – €31.99 / $31.99 / £26.39.

Assetto Corsa EVO 2025 roadmap

1st Early Access Release – 16th January 2025

• 5 Circuits
• 20 Cars Single player / Practice
• Single player / Quick Race
• Special Events
• Game Economy – Step 1 (Car rent, Car purchas, xp, rank, rewards, driver profile, driving licenses, driving academy)
• VR Support – Step 1
• Triple Screen Supprt – Step 1
• Showroom selection Car customization – Step 1

Content Drop 1 – Coming soon

• 2 New Cars
• New special events
• Fuji speedway

2nd Early Access Release

• 5 New Cars
• Circuit of the Americas
• Single player / Custom race weekend
• New Special Events
• Replay tools & Gallery
• VR Support – Step 2
• Triple Screen Support – Step

Content Drop 2

3rd Early Access Release

Content Drop 3

4th Early Access Release

Content Drop 4

5th Early Access Release

Content Drop 5

6th Early Access Release

Content Drop 6

V1.0 – Overall – Fall 2025

• Photo mode & Replay gallery
• 100 Vehicles
• 15 Circuits
• Free Roaming Single & Multiplayer modes
• Dynamic weather
• Game economy
• Driver avatar customisation
• Car dealership & Showrooms
• Car customization
• Car tuning
• VR & Triple screen support