The Automobilista 2 overhaul and an Adrenaline Pack

REIZA Studios were proud but never comfortable with how Automobilista 2 felt, and the Brazilian sim racing developer brought to public what can be considered their most game changing update as physics received a lot of attention to address some of the flaws as they continue their quest to transfer their knowledge from the first title to the Madness engine, with the off-road section making a long awaited debut in the Adrenaline Pack DLC, while another new car was added outside of it.
 
It’s really hard to explain this without writing a book, but since the updates would affect every car in the game, REIZA Studios had its KUNOS Simulazioni moment to explain how every part of the physics got updated or fully reworked, with special care to the suspension and tires, which greatly improved the feeling and feedback you get from the car, with some erratic behaviors being practically eliminated once the dampers, tire heating, flatspot triggers and other areas were reviewed.
 

Track properties also received updates, like the interaction in a wet track and kerb grip, while a scratch version of a wet line simulation was included and will be worked over time. All that was updated affected setups and AI, so the former was reset to not create mismatches with the new physics, and the latter will be fine tuned over time as some erratic behavior was noticed.
 

As for the content included, the base pack received a new class in form of the up-to-date P1 prototypes, with mostly the same models that were first included in Automobilista 2 with the inclusion of the Sigma P1 G5, as the Rio Grande do Sul constructor finally delivers the promise made with REIZA Studios when the Sigma P1 G2 was released for the P2 class, as the current car finally met satisfying levels of performance by becoming a leading contender and race winner in Império Endurance Brasil.
 
The other P1 models received electronic and aero implementations as the Ginetta G58 received the DRS that Tech Force installed, which is unique to Endurance Brasil, and the JLM Racing AJR received the frontal DRS to finally have a double activation, used to reduce drag even more and keep the car stable during activation.
 

In terms of paid DLC, the Adrenaline Pack was finally released, delivering another long time promise from REIZA, that is including off-road racing in Automobilista 2, majorly with rallycross content but with a tiny bit of home flavor from out Velocidade na Terra series. Off-road racing in the Madness engine is highly regarded due to the rallycross content present in Project CARS, so the expectation was high for what REIZA would improve on top of it.
 
The Velocidade na Terra portion is more of a port from the first Automobilista, with the Formula DIRT cross kart, and as for the track, Ascurra in Santa Catarina was the choice that was already there, which also has a rallycross variant with an improvised Joker Lap.
 

The rallycross section added two new classes and six tracks that were either worked in models already present in AMS2 or ported and updated from AMS1. Aside from Foz do Iguaçu, which was part of the X Games, all tracks were present in the World RX calendar until last season at most, as Hockenheim, Barcelona and Kouvola return with minor revisions, while Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps debut their RX layouts in sim racing, something that was too late to be included in DiRT Rally 2.0.
 
In terms of cars, you can either start with the Crosskart that is based in the Speedcar Xtrem model as usual, with 600cc motorbike engine powering the rear axle, or you can go with the RX supercars and its four models, all of them really old - the no longer used Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X RX, the JRM built Mini Countryman RX, and the still used Citroën DS 3 RX and the Marklund Motorsport built Volkswagen Polo RX, which was recently driven by Johan Kristoffersson in RallyX Nordic.
 
With the version 1.5 physics being priority, the safe bet was obvious, but an Adrenaline Pack Pt. 2 was announced to be in development, which can go multiple ways but with nothing being confirmed for the moment.
 
You can see the full version 1.5 changelong into Automobilista 2’s Steam page, while a good recommendation is to read the physics deep dive made by REIZA Studios in previous development update posts, and also Vitor Genz’ live stream testing his real life car, giving his impressions of the virtual Sigma P1 G5 in his YouTube channel.
 
IMAGES: Automobilista 2 screenshots