Why Project Motor Racing’s dynamics aren’t, and can’t be, related to Project CARS

• Project Motor Racing will use a Hadron vehicle dynamics engine, which is new from the ground up

• Despite ‘Project’ in the name, the way the cars drive is unrelated to the development team’s previous Project CARS games
• The team is legally not allowed to use any code from the cancelled Project CARS 4, which is Electronic Arts’ intellectual property
• Previously announced partnership with Automobilista 2’s Reiza Studios is a non-starter, with no shared development work

In the fullness of time, the Madness Engine was pioneering in several key ways.

Visuals that still look competitive well over a decade since its first use, exquisite virtual reality support and vehicle handling that can be… let’s say divisive.

Created by Slightly Mad Studios, it was used for the likes of Need for Speed: Shift, Project CARS and latterly, Automobilista 2. When Project Motor Racing announced its existence, initially under the GTRevival and GTR Revival monikers, there was confirmation of Unreal Engine use. This then switched to GIANTS Engine.

In that melee, despite announcing that it would use a proprietary ‘Hadron’ system for vehicle dynamics, some were (and remain) sceptical, even those prominent within the sim racing industry. 

After all, Ian Bell was at the helm of the new company, Straight4 Studios, and several of the ex-Slightly Mad team were on board to make the new game, too. Surely Project Motor Racing would also use at least some element of the Madness tech?

This was fuelled by some of the early, work-in-progress, handling traits seen in hands-on previews – our preview was notably analysed from afar.

You could also forgive some of the misgivings, too, when the word Project in the name seems deliberately provocative, possibly harking back to prior games.

“The Madness Engine became the property of Electronic Arts after Codemasters’ acquisition by EA in the winter of 2021,” explains Straight 4 Studios and former Slightly Mad Studios lead Ian Bell to Traxion.

“At Straight4 Studios, we have no access to our old engine, and Project Motor Racing is running our proprietary Hadron, which has been built from the ground up and runs on top of the GIANTS Software game engine.”

So, while the development team will no doubt continue to be effusive about its new systems, and has likely chosen this path of starting afresh for very sensible reasons, legally, it cannot touch or replicate its previous physics.

As EA culled Project CARS 4 before completion in 2022, that updated Madness Engine will now never see the light of day.

Reiza partnership a nothing burger

Another element that muddied the waters was an announcement in 2023 that the then newly-founded Straight4 Studios had formed a ‘strategic partnership’ with Reiza Studios – the Automobilista 2 team, who still use the Project CARS tech with its own tweaks.

“Renato [Simioni, Studio Head and Project Manager for Automobilista 2] and I have been discussing this possibility for a long time, going back to when they were creating Automobilista 2 using our then proprietary Madness Engine,” said Bell at the time.

“Combining our studios’ talents is exciting news for all of us at Straight4, and I’m really confident this will also be fantastic news for the sim racing industry as a whole.”

However, since then, this alliance is no longer active and both sides are clear that there is no joint work on Project Motor Racing.

“While we’re excited to see them using our ageing engine and squeezing some fantastic performance from that platform, we have no formal or informal partnership with them,” clarified Bell to Traxion.

“Given we’re using our own engine, there is obviously little benefit for either of our studios for any kind of technical or other partnership.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Simioni to Traxion:

“We were collaborating in terms of knowledge, in terms of they [Slightly Mad Studios] were contributing with knowledge of the [Madness] game engine for Automobilista 2, and we were contributing with our thoughts about how we do things.

“After the sale [to EA], the Slack messages were shut down and ultimately Straight4 Studios came to be, starting from scratch. So they needed some material assets to get something going, and then it was our time to contribute, and we were more than happy to do that.

“But since then, they’re very much doing their own thing, not least because we’re very busy with Automobilista 2 and we’re a small team, so we can’t really be working on multiple projects at once.

“We’re still friendly, but we’re not directly working together.”

Tweaking Hadron

The Hadron vehicle dynamics engine will be the first time the team works without elements of the venerable isiMotor game engine framework – something seen to varying degrees in the likes of Project CARS, RaceRoom, Rennsport, rFactor and others. While Project CARS significantly built upon that basis, the lineage was still present.

“Hadron will simulate the whole drivetrain,” explains Ben Ponsford, Lead Vehicle Programmer on Project Motor Racing, to Traxion.

“So you’ve got the engine, the clutch, the gearbox, differentials, you’ve got all the connecting shafts. We’re doing the wheels and obviously the detailed tyre model that’s covering not only the contact patch, but all of the treads plus all of the carcass.

“That’s all there, and obviously we’ve got aero models. So all of that is the key things of Hadron and more.”

In our early testing, feedback through a Logitech wheel felt detailed around Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, but some of the Lamborghini GT3 handling characteristics felt unpolished – snapping unpredictability despite the wings, slicks and traction control systems.

Still, that was on a work-in-progress build at a busy event, and since then, the Factory Driver Program for setup feedback has now been opened to more people.

“I always talk about the 80/20 principle,” explains Straight4 Studios Chief Operating Officer, Ryan Hoey, to Traxion.

“We have a physics engine that gets you 80% of the way. Then you have to fine tune with the handling the consultants that last 20%, and it’s that last 20 that makes it a really good product.”