iRacing S3 - 2023: What's new at launch?

June 14, 2023

iRacing 2023 S3 has arrived, featuring one of the most advanced AI systems for anyone who wants to test and learn on track.

Season 3 brings many new features, and from Simufy we want to comment them all: more cars and tracks to compete, new features and a list of updates aimed at improving the user experience. Here is everything you need to know about the new iRacing season.

Car classes that can compete in AI

For this season, the existing car classes have been updated and improved, but also new ones have been created. Do you want to know which car classes are available in iRacing S3-2023?

GT1 cars

Two new models are added to the GT1 car class: the Aston Martin DBR9 and the Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1.

GT3 cars

As for the GT3 cars there are new updates this season:

Engine fuel maps have been locked to the full power map only and fuel economy maps have been removed.
The nomenclature of the differentials has been updated.
The minimum rear toe-in values have been set at 1.5 mm per side.
The adjustment fidelity of the springs has been increased from 0.50 mm to 0.25 mm.
Brake noise levels have been adjusted.
iRacing configurations have been updated.

GTP cars

For the GTP cars, a new class has been created, which includes two models: the BMW M Hybrid V8 and the Cadillac V-Series.R.

Nascar Classic Cars 1987

Nascar 1987 Classic cars have updated iRacing configurations.

Nascar Cup Series Next Gen Cars

The Nascar Cup Series Next Gen cars also have new features this season:

Artwork for the 2-inch spoiler aerodynamics package ST\RC is now enabled in short ovals.
The intermediate rear wing package has been updated for racing at Texas Motor Speedway - Oval and Kansas Motor Speedway. A ground diffuser will now appear on these cars when racing at the tracks discussed.
Tire parameters have been updated for running on short tracks.
Wear rates and ground tire textures have been increased.
For the new damage model, the angular breakage limits of the hood and trunk have been reduced.
The higher the speed, the better the animation of tire rotation.
iRacing configurations have been updated.

Nascar Trucks Series Trucks

For this class of cars, the new damage model is also available. Now only "Race" and "Qualification" can be selected for the tape values. In addition, opponent vehicles should now appear with an appropriate amount of tape.

Moreover, the visual appearance of the tape in use has been adjusted for accuracy and the iRacing settings have been updated.

Nascar Xfinity Cars

Now only "Race" and "Rating" can be selected for the ribbon values. As a new feature, the visual appearance of the ribbon has been adjusted for accuracy.

In addition, for Nascar Xfinity cars, iRacing configurations have been updated.

Cars

Touring cars will no longer give errors in tire properties. Previously, off-road surfaces behaved much softer than they should.

Stock Car Pro Series

In the Stock Car Pro Series cars, the iRacing configurations have been updated.

V8 Supercars

For the V8 Supercars, the iRacing configurations have also been updated.

List of available cars for iRacing

Here is a complete list of the cars available for season 3 iRacing. Most of the models have updates and improvements.

ARCA Menards Chevy / Gen 4 Cup
Audi 90 GTO
BMW M4 GT3
BMW M4 GT4
BMW M Hybrid V8
Dallara F3
Dallara iR-01
Dallara IR18
Dallara P217
Dirt Late Model
Dirt Sprint Car
Dirt Sprint Car without wings
Dirt UMP Modified
Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020
FIA F4
Ford GT GT3
Ford Mustang FR500S
Formula Renault 2.0
Formula Renault 3.5
Indy Pro 2000 PM-18
Late Model Stock
Legends '34 Ford Coupe
Lotus 79
Lucas Oil Off Road Pro 2 Lite
Lucas Oil Off Road Pro Trucks
McLaren 570s GT4
Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
Mercedes-AMG GT4
Mercedes-AMG W13 E Performance
SK / NASCAR Whelen Tour Modified
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992)
Porsche 911 RSR
Ray FF1600
Renault Clio R.S. V
Silver Crown
Street Stock
Super Late Model
USF 2000
[Legacy] Dallara - 2009
[Legacy] Mazda MX-5 Cup and Roadster - 2010
[Legacy] Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (991)
[Legacy] Porsche 911 GT3 R

New cars for AI competition

Eight new vehicles join the list of novelties for the AI competition:

Aston Martin DBR9
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1
Ford GT GT2
Radical SR10
Cadillac CTS-V Racecar
Cadillac V-Series.R GTP

Ligier JS P320

Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)

Circuits

The list of circuits for season 3 is as follows:

Autodromo Nazionale Monza
Barber Motorsports Park
Chicago street circuit
Circuit of the Americas (East and West)
Jerez Circuit - Ángel Nieto
Crandon International Circuit
Daytona International Speedway (Oval and Oval - 2008)
Eldora Race Track
Federated Auto Parts Circuit on I-55
Fuji International Circuit
Hickory Motor Speedway
Indianapolis Circuit
Irwindale Circuit
Lernerville Circuit
Limaland Motorsports Park
Martinsville Circuit
MotorLand Aragón: New circuit

Mount Washington Highway
Nashville Fairgrounds
New Smyrna Circuit
Nürburgring Combined
Nürburgring Nordschleife
Phoenix Circuit
Red Bull Ring
Talladega Superspeedway
Twin Ring Motegi
Virginia International Circuit
Wild Horse Pass Motor Park

iRacing UI

Iracing season 3 also has new features in the user interface. Do you know what they are?

Hosted Racing

The Create Grid functionality and button are now disabled when both Qualifying Races and the AI Opponent List are selected for an Event.

AI Racing

There is a new feature implementation for both AI Races and the Qualifying Race format. This feature is only available for Hosted Race events.

Tracks

All track location information has been standardized and updated. Now all track locations are identified by: City, State/Province, Country.

Leagues

Fixed issue where the names of AI drivers who won League Series Sessions were being forgotten when viewing the League Season Calendar.

Paint Shop

A new sponsor, Maconi Setup Shop, has been added to the Paint Shop. In addition, the missing font issue for the Stock Car Pro Series Class cars was fixed.

Simulation

The same applies to the simulation part. Let's see what's new this season.

Windows Support

With the release of iRacing 2023 S3, the Windows 8.1 operating system can no longer launch the iRacing application correctly. It is necessary to install or run iRacing on Windows 10 or 11.

Career Servers

The capacity of the Race Server has been extended to allow nine different car models to be present in a Session. A user's average lap time no longer excludes laps that have been marked as "invalid".

Also, fixed the issue where some Open Practice Race Servers would close early due to inactivity. Also the issue where track temperatures changed drastically if the Session was restarted (e.g. via AI Race controls).

Cargo

Some adjustments have been made to the loading of video memory resources and some car loading algorithms have been optimized.

Dynamic Track

The dynamic track algorithm has been improved in terms of calculation on surfaces, especially on the outer edges of the track.

Fixed an issue where the display of some dynamic track data, such as dirt, marble and rubber.

Race Control

The algorithm for generating race splits based on car classes has been slightly improved. Short parade laps are now possible in the following additional track configurations:

Barber Motorsports Park
Brands Hatch Circuit
Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Circuit Park Zandvoort
Circuit Zolder
Daytona International Speedway
Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Long Beach Street Circuit
Mount Panorama Circuit
Phillip Island Circuit
Talladega Superspeedway

Classification Scrutiny

The qualifying scrutineering system was adjusted to better handle cases where cars needed time to get up to speed after leaving their starting location.

Racing on land

Several upgrades have been enabled as a result of the Dirt Racing Renovation Project. In addition, the parameters of dirt tracks in general have been improved.

Careers with AI

Heat Racing is now available for organized sessions using AI Rosters. This is a new feature implemented for both AI Racing and the Heat Racing format, but is currently only available for Organized Racing events.

On the other hand, AI drivers are fully trained for new vehicles and tracks:

In addition, the drivers have completed another season of advanced education classes. Thus, they fixed several problems with the AI system.

New Damage Model

The New Damage Model is now active on the following additional vehicles:

Cadillac V-Series.R GTP
Dirt Late Model (ALL)
Ligier JS P320
NASCAR Truck Chevrolet Silverado
NASCAR Truck Ford F150
NASCAR Truck Toyota Tundra TRD Pro
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992)
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
Renault Clio R.S. V

Auto Fuel

Spotters and Team Members can now monitor the Auto Fuel status of their pilots.

Spotter

The iRacing Spotter system has received some updates to make it more accurate and dynamic. It is now able to better read Race Control events as they occur on the track, and several new Spotter calls have been added.

Graphics:

A new graphic option has been added: Hide Cockpit Obstructions. This option hides several elements that visually obstruct the world, including: Halo, A-pillar and Gravity Screen.

Vehicles using the New Damage Model have adjusted their car model format to reduce the demand for video memory.

In addition, several improvements have been made to the graphics across the board.

3D foliage system

A new option for environmental graphic features has been added to the graphic options menu: Fluff!

The new foliage system procedurally generates 3D foliage of an appropriate biome type on specified tracks. Foliage can include grass, bushes, rocks, cacti, flowers and other small environmental elements. The 3D foliage does not affect driving or physics, but should decorate the world more realistically.

Visual effects

The lighting of particle effects has been improved and the PopcornFX SDK has been updated to the latest version.

Audio

Hot Swap Audio support has been added to iRacing.

iRacing now detects your device when it connects, even during a race. If you have selected "System Default" in the sound options, the audio is automatically moved to the new device when the default changes. If you have selected a specific audio output point, it is activated once it is available.

In addition, a new audio option setting has been added that allows you to assign a Default System Communication Device, and a new audio option, "ambientMusicDisabled", to the "app.ini" file.

The dynamic braking sound has also been rebalanced and the load transmission audio has been improved in several cars. In addition, the engine audio of all safety cars has been adjusted and optimized.

Environment

New color and texture variations have been added for a variety of vehicles parked on the tracks.

Interface

Right-click pop-up menus in the Session/Replay screen and in the Driving screen have been improved to provide the option to send private messages (PM) to an individual user, to the current driver of a car, or to the entire team of a car (which includes a driver's observers/team in sessions without teams).

Text chat responses to Race Control Management commands now identify the target entry with the team name and car number, instead of the driver's name. In events without a driver change, the "team name" is the driver's name.

In addition, the unit selection option has been updated to "English (US)" for clarity.

Camera

A new higher option level, "Ultra", has been added for motion blur.

Controls

The automatic parking brake, which holds the car still when you stop, will now be fully applied whenever the car comes to a stop, instead of waiting for the user to hold down the brake pedal once stopped. This will help prevent cars from accidentally rolling when you stop quickly but fail to fully engage the brake pedal.

In addition, currently the reset button prevents users from putting you in the car if your Steering wheel needs to be assigned. Doing so will take you to the Controls Wizard and allow you to assign and calibrate the driving controls.

Force Feedback (tactile response):

When calibrating a Steering wheel, iRacing now verifies that the maximum angle of the selected Steering wheel and the Force Feedback status match what we expect based on the detected hardware. A notification will appear if they do not match.

iRacing will now attempt to automatically detect the maximum force of your Steering wheel racing car and adjust the force slider of Steering wheel accordingly.

In addition, a mappable button (Ctrl-A) has been added to apply the automatic force adjustment found in the Black Box F9.

For maximum force feedback detection, data collected when the car is out of control will now be suppressed. Data collection will be paused for several seconds immediately after an incident.

Regarding Force Feedback, a safety check has been added to detect if the Steering wheel jumped position (i.e., we lost/gained communication with the Steering wheel). If a break in communication is detected, force feedback will be momentarily suppressed for safety. A new rate-of-change limiting filter controlled by the smoothing slider is now available in the Force Feedback options tab.

Reproductions:

Chat messages and incident point accumulation are now saved and can be viewed in replays.

Telemetry:

The live brake line pressure (LFbrakeLinePress) is now set to zero and will no longer display a value.

Official iRacing sports code:

Several updates have been made to the official iRacing Sport Code.

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