It had all gone a little bit quiet on the RaceRoom front. The sim had promised quarterly content drops in April 2023 but their regularity became infrequent despite new Porsche, BMW, Ferrari and modern DTM-themed content.
With improved force feedback implemented in the meantime, RaceRoom dropped hints on a forthcoming graphics overhaul, set to go live on the 4th of September. At the same time, KW Studios will release two classic DTM cars – the Opel Calibra V6 4×4 and Alfa Romeo 155 2.5 V6 TI – to sit alongside RaceRoom’s incumbent AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse DTM in a new ‘DTM 1995’ class.
Ramping up the nostalgia further, classic period DTM tracks including Avus, Diepholz, and the ‘90s version of Hockenheim also make their RaceRoom bow, providing rose-tinted memories of German touring car racing in its pomp.
As huge DTM fans, the Traxion were delighted to be given early access to all this lovely Germanic touring car content: check out our thoughts below.
DTM 1995
The new DTM 1995 car class in RaceRoom has been designed with ‘90s DTM fanboys in mind.
To celebrate 40 years ot the DTM, the AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse can finally go toe-to-toe with its Opel Calibra and Alfa Romeo 155 sparring partners in RaceRoom, and it can even do it on period-correct tracks like Avus and Diepholz.
What’s even more remarkable is that both these tracks have long since disappeared from real-world racing calendars and haven’t appeared officially in any other sim platform. How’s that for fan service?
But the real charm of the new ‘95 DTM cars is in how they drive.
Oh, and how they sound. My god, the sound…
One of RaceRoom’s strong points has always been its audio design, and the Opel and Alfa Romeo’s in-cockpit exhaust notes hit you with all the subtly of a brick to the face.
Their screaming V6 motors overwhelm your senses, but rightly announce the brutality of the car you’re about to manhandle around the insanely challenging Avus and Diepholz circuits.
Avus
Avus was a street circuit that opened in 1921, originally featuring a much longer layout compared to RaceRoom’s 1995-spec 2.660 km example. It’s essentially two long straights separated by hairpin bends of differing radii, punctuated by the kind of chicane devised by the devil.
It’s a simple track, but those pesky kerbs are key to lap times and so satisfying to master. One wrong move, however, and you’ll end up in this Avus highlights reel.
Avus comes in its 1994 and 1998 guises, with the latter version featuring an additional chicane just before the final corner.
Fliegerhorst Diepholz
Fliegerhorst Diepholz, similarly to Avus, was a largely featureless circuit that operated between 1968 and 1998. Based in an operation airfield, it featured zero elevation change, giant kerbs discounted.
It’s been replicated well in RaceRoom – judging from classic YouTube DTM clips – with hard-to-judge, late apex turns mixed with brutal kerbs. You need to attack these aggressively for best results, with some traction control tweaks required to prevent complete power shut-off.
Both the Opel and Alfa feature permanent all-wheel-drive, which lets you thrash them mercilessly, both on the brakes and in traction zones. You can take huge liberties under brakes especially, as you have the added comfort of factory-spec traction control.
Get to a corner, stamp the middle pedal while turning, line up your exit, then hit the loud pedal half a second quicker than you think you can: that’s the recipe for success when driving these ‘90s beasts.
In our testing we found the TC to be quite inhibitive, though, but setting the ‘TC Slip’ sliders to 0% prevented the power from being cut off completely, a notable issue when kerb-hopping. This allows the total traction of both cars to drag their 1,000 kg mass around corners with slight tweaks to the differentials (increase the ‘power’ percentage to help with exit grip).
Hockenheim Klassik
The ‘old’ Hockenheim many Formula 1 fans remember from the ‘90s has also been added to RaceRoom, and it features two layouts: one with iconic long, forested straights and another much shorter version that’ll likely be more familiar to today’s motorsport fans.
Kerbs again play a huge part in the charm and challenge of this track, with Turn 1 being a tricky customer whichever layout you pick. Hockenheim’s longer configuration, on the other hand, features the wonderful Bremskurve 1 chicane, where monstering the kerbs elicits thrills the likes you can only get in a firmly-planted car like the DTM’s class of ‘95.
Letzte Gerade
RaceRoom is on to a winner with its DTM 1995 content. The tracks are true-to-life and characterful, if not maybe everyone’s cup of tea, but the cars are simply sensational to drive, featuring a forgiving handling balance with enough playfulness (after set-up tweaks) to satisfy more experienced sim racers.
As usual from RaceRoom, its VR performance is generally excellent, with the DTM 1995 class providing some stern AI opposition, with the sim’s recent graphics updates providing an extra slice of eye candy, but seemingly not at the expense of fps.
RaceRoom still doesn’t look as pretty as the likes of Assetto Corsa Competizione or Le Mans Ultimate, but it’s so well-refined now that everything just works.
Encouraging signs for the future, then.
The Opel Calibra V6 4×4 and Alfa Romeo 155 2.5 V6 TI DTM cars will be available as a pair for €10.99, with each of the three classic ‘90s DTM tracks available for €6,99 each, with all content set to release on the 4th of September.
A further DTM 2024 Car Pack, including the new McLaren 720S GT3 Evo and Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 cars plus the full 2024 DTM field, is set to be released at some point in the near future.
What do you make of RaceRoom’s new 1995 DTM content? Let us know in the comments below.
