iRacing S3 - 2023: Launch News

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

Season 3 brings a lot of new features, and we at Simufy want to cover them all: more cars and tracks to race on, new features, and a list of updates designed to improve the user experience. Here's everything you need to know about the new season of iRacing.

Car classes that can compete in AI

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

GT1 cars

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

GT3 cars

As for 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.
• Minimum rear toe-in values ​​have been set at 1.5 mm per side.
• Spring adjustment fidelity has been increased from 0.50 mm to 0.25 mm.
• Brake noise levels have been adjusted.
• iRacing settings have been updated.

GTP Cars

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

1987 Nascar Classic Cars

The 1987 Nascar Classic cars have updated iRacing settings.

Nascar Cup Series Next Gen Cars

The NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen cars also feature new features this season:

• Artwork for the ST\RC 2-inch spoiler aero package is now enabled on short ovals.
• The intermediate rear wing package has been updated for racing at Texas Motor Speedway – Oval and Kansas Motor Speedway. A dirt diffuser will now appear on these cars when racing at the aforementioned tracks.
• Tire parameters for short circuit racing have been updated.
• Gravel tire tread wear rates and textures have been increased.
• For the new damage model, the angular breaking limits of the hood and trunk have been reduced.
• The higher the speed, the better the tire spin animation.
• iRacing settings have been updated.

NASCAR Trucks Series Trucks

For this car class, the new damage model is also available. Only "Race" and "Qualifying" can now be selected for tape values. Additionally, opposing vehicles should now appear with an appropriate amount of tape.

Additionally, the visual appearance of the treadmill in use has been fine-tuned for greater accuracy, and iRacing settings have been updated.

Nascar Xfinity Cars

Only "Race" and "Qualification" can now be selected for ribbon values. Newly, the ribbon's visual appearance has been adjusted for greater accuracy.

Additionally, iRacing settings have been updated for Nascar Xfinity cars.

Passenger cars

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

Stock Car Pro Series Cars

iRacing settings have been updated for Pro Series Stock Cars.

V8 Supercars

For V8 Supercars, iRacing settings have also been updated.

List of cars available for iRacing

Here's a complete list of the cars available for iRacing Season 3. Most models have received updates and improvements.

• ARCA Menards Chevy/Cup Gen 4
• 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
• Ford '34 Coupe Legends
• 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 RS 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 racing

Eight new vehicles have joined the list of new features for 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:

• Monza National Racetrack
• 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 Racetrack
• Federated Auto Parts Loop on I-55
• Fuji International Circuit
• Hickory Motor Speedway
• Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• 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 Raceway
• Wild Horse Pass Car Park

iRacing UI

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

Hosted Racing

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

AI Racing

There are new features implemented 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. All track locations are now identified by: city, state/province, and country.

Suspenders

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

Paint Shop

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

Simulation

The same thing happens in the simulation section. Let's see what's new this season.

Windows Support

With the release of iRacing 2023 in the S3 version, the Windows 8.1 operating system can no longer launch the iRacing app properly. iRacing must be installed or run on Windows 10 or 11.

Race Servers

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

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

Burden

Some adjustments have been made to video memory resource loading and some car loading algorithms have been optimized.

Dynamic Track

The dynamic track algorithm has been improved in terms of surface calculations, especially at the outer edges of the track.

Fixed an issue where the display of some dynamic track data, such as dirt, marble, and rubber, was not consistent.

Race Control

The algorithm for generating race splits based on car classes has been slightly improved. Short parade laps can now be run on 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 has been adjusted to better handle cases where cars needed time to get up to speed after leaving their starting position.

Dirt Track Racing

Several updates have been made available as a result of the Dirt Track Renovation Project. In addition, the parameters of the dirt tracks have been improved across the board.

Racing 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 completed another season of advanced training classes, resolving several issues 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 RS V

Auto Fuel

Spotters and Team Members can now monitor their drivers' Auto Fuel status.

Spotter

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

Graphics:

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

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

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

3D foliage system

A new Environmental Graphics Features option has been added to the Graphics Options menu: Foliage!

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. 3D foliage doesn't affect driving or physics, but it should decorate the world more realistically.

Visual effects

Particle effects lighting has been improved and the PopcornFX SDK has been updated to the latest version.

 Audio

Audio Hot Swap support has been added to iRacing.

iRacing now detects your device when connected, even during a race. If you've selected "System Default" in the sound options, the audio automatically switches to the new device when the default changes. If you've selected a specific audio output point, it will activate once it's available.

Additionally, a new audio options 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 charging transmission audio has been improved in several cars. Additionally, the engine audio in all Safety cars has been tuned and optimized.

 Around

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

Interface

The right-click pop-up menus on the Session/Replay screen and the Driving screen have been improved to provide the option to send private messages (PMs) to an individual user, the current driver of a car, or the entire team of a car (which includes a driver's observers/team in non-team sessions).

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

Additionally, 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 keeps the car stationary when you stop, will now fully apply every time the car comes to a stop, instead of waiting for the user to hold the brake pedal down once stopped. This will help prevent cars from accidentally rolling when you stop quickly but fail to fully engage the brake pedal.

Additionally, the reset button currently prevents users from putting you in the car if your steering wheel needs mapping. Doing so will take you to the Controls Assistant and allow you to map and calibrate the driving controls.

 Force Feedback (Tactile Response):

When calibrating a wheel, iRacing now verifies that the selected maximum wheel angle and force feedback state match what we expect based on the detected hardware. A notification will appear if they don't match.

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

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

For Force Feedback peak force detection, data collected when the vehicle is out of control will now be suppressed. Data collection will pause for several seconds immediately after an incident.

Regarding Force Feedback, a safety check has been added to detect if the steering wheel has jumped positions (i.e., we have lost/gained communication with the steering wheel). If a break in communication is detected, Force Feedback will be temporarily suppressed for safety reasons. A new shift rate limiter filter is now available, controlled by the smoothing slider in the Force Feedback options tab.

Reproductions:

Chat messages and incident point accumulation are now saved and viewable in replays.

Telemetry:

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

Official iRacing Sports Code:

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