Need for Speed Shift users will soon be able to download a free pack of cars that will add five new vehicles to Sligthly Mad Studios’ recently-released title.

The pack will introduce four American muscle-cars and one Japanese sports car to Shift:

* 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
* 1967 Shelby GT 500
* 1969 Dodge Charger R/T
* 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T
* 1998 Toyota Supra Mark IV

Furthermore, the pack will be including a new team racing mode for online events, allowing up to six players per team to race their opponents.

Even though the pack is already listed on the Need for Speed website, the download links aren’t available and no further info on the release date has been given yet.

The_Lonely has released various new screenshots of his Jerez de la Frontera track project for rFactor, showing the recently-added pit-area buildings at day and dawn.

Based on Virtua_LM’s Jerez track for F1Challenge, The_Lonely’s track is just a conversion by name as it has been completely overhauled. That includes a relofted road, new track objects such as fences and trees as well as brand new textures by SLN, resulting in the stunning quality The Lonely stands for.

Located in the Sherry-producing region in south Spain, Jerez has hosted a wide variety of motorsport events since the circuit’s opening in 1985. Hosted events include several Formula One Grand Prix as well as an annual MotoGP round.

 

Team CTDP has released new previews of their Formula One 1994 mod for rFactor, showing us first shots of the Lotus 109 model.

Powered by a Mugen Honda V10 engine, Lotus used no less than six drivers during the 1994 season – Including some well-known names such as Alex Zanardi, Pedro Lamy, Johnny Herbert & Mika Salo.

F1 1994 for rFactor will let you relive one of the most remarkable seasons in Formula One history, a year that provided both thrilling racing and heartbreaking drama – From Interlagos all the way to Adelaide.

 

Via CTDP Devblog

Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi has revealed some interesting facts regarding Gran Turismo 5’s weather system in an interview with the British Playstation Magazine:

“Night racing is going to be a part of GT5, but with things like dynamic weather, the choice is about whether it will improve the experience. The functionality is not a problem – we’ve got the weather system done – but if we are not sure about the quality of it, and how it improves the driving experience, we are not going to have it in the game.”

While it is understandable that they´re not willing to include a feature that does not meet the GT quality standards, it’s rather odd to think about whether or not weather adds to the driving experience. Missing weather has been the point of complaint in many simulations such as rFactor as driving in the rain is one of racing’s most intense challenges – Lets hope that the guys at Polyphony Digital manage to come the same conclusion…

Furthermore, Yamauchi has been commenting on the rumors that Gran Turismo 5 may be released in an unfinished state to meet the release deadline (March 2010 in Japan), relying on online updates to complete the title’s content.

“Let me be clear on this. There is a massive amount of content in this game, I don’t think there are many teams that put as much into a game as we can. The launch of the game isn’t a start, we are releasing a full game. Everything we want to put into the game is on the disc when it ships. Having said that, we do have a sizeable online team that will look after it once it’s launched.”

Via GTPlanet

iRacing has released first screenshots of Brands Hatch, the second European track to make it into their online racing simulation.

The shots show the track as it’s currently undergoing the development process, including the laser-scanned surface and the buildings around the track’s main straight.

he 3,7 kilometer Brands Hatch circuited hosted 12 Formula One Grand Prix and is well known as a touring car venue these days, hosting both the WTCC & DTM as well as the British BTCC.

 

Yesterday, I posted a first story on Team Redline’s Dom Duhan who got the chance to prove himself in a professional-grade Formula One simulator of an undisclosed Formula One team.

As promised, Dom has taken some of his time to write about his experience, explaining how the high-tech simulator compares to simulations we use every day.

By: Dom Duhan

The F1 sim felt similar to what we already drive (it wasn’t RF Pro, but a bespoke sim) I acclimatised to the sim pretty quickly despite not driving it before. I found it surprising that it was so close to what we already drive, however learning nuances on the fly was a little difficult! I decided as soon as I got it to really attack it.

Read More

Turn 10 has released the free Hyundai Genesis car pack for Forza Motorsport 3, introducing three new cars to the Xbox 360 racing title.

The pack includes the 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe in three different versions. Included is the HKS-tuned street version, the R3-class drift version as well as a SuperGT & DTM-inspired R2-class racing version.

The pack can be downloaded free of charge from Xbox LIVE by following the link below.

 

Download Hyundai Gensis Car Pack for Forza Motorsport 3 Here

Jessica, Darin & Shaun of Insidesimracing.tv have released a new episode of InsideSimRacing, bringing us reviews of Supercar Challenge for Playstation 3 as well as 2PEZ’s Top Race PC simulation.

Furthermore, the guys take a look at the recently added content to iRacing and continue to build their list of top sim race cars. Enjoy the show!

The team behind the highly popular RSRBR 2009 project for Richard Burns Rally has released another update, introducing two brand new cars to the mod.

RSRBR 2009 includes new cars, textures, physics, a new night mode and much more, giving Richard Burns Rally a complete overhaul. Released in 2004, RBR is still the best and most recent rally simulation around.

New in this update:

- Seat Ibiza KitCar Evo 1 by Kazhol
- Subaru Impreza WRC 2008 (S14) by Garyson

Important: This is just an update, make sure to have the initial version & all earlier updates installed before using it.

 

Download RSRBR 2009 Update 11 Here

Dmatzies, CK73 and NIL have released four new renders of their DRM Mod project for rFactor, showing off the stunning details of the Ford Capri model.

Built to the Group 5 regulations, the turbo-powered Capri was one of the most popular cars in the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, facing competition from many other Group 5 racing cars from Porsche, BMW and other manufacturers.

The car will be going head to head with the BMW 320 Turbo and the Porsche 935 in the DRM Mod, bringing one of the most exciting eras of racing to rFactor.

 

Team Redline’s Dom Duhan had the one chance any sim racer dreams of – Proving himself in a professional Formula One Team simulator while being watched by professionals and journalists.

Thanks to TopGear Magazine, Dom got to try out the full motion simulator of an undisclosed Formula One team, trying to match the laptimes of racing driver Darren Turner.

His performance managed to impress as Dom was able to post competitive times quickly despite fighting motion sickness on the professional-grade simulator. In the end, Dom was a mere second slower than the Formula One drivers and Darren Turner, proving the driving talent of avid sim racers.

“It was a fantastic experience and great to meet up with a driver of Darren’s calibre, big thanks to the F1 team and Top Gear,” Dom commented. “I hope this paves the way for Sim Racing teams to become a part of F1 testing, providing thousands of hours of lap data for a fraction of the cost of running on a track.”

Dom will be sharing his experience with the VirtualR readers in an upcoming story, in the meantime you can check out Team Redline’s website where the TopGear Magazine article can be found.

Zand has released his FIA GT 2008 mod for GTR Evolution, bringing last year’s FIA GT Championship season to the simulation.

The mod contains all GT1 and GT2 class cars that competed in 2008, combining several mods that have been released for GTR Evolution before. Mods that have been used include the GTR2GT mod, the Porsche 997 & Ferrari F430, taku’s FIA GT skins and several other mods.

Also included in the comprehensive mod are talent files, correct helmets and driver suits and much more.

 

Download FIA GT 2008 Mod for GTR Evolution Here

United Racing Group has released new previews of their Super GT 2009 2.0 mod for GTR2 and rFactor, showing us the mod’s cars in the showroom.

Made by Alless & United Racing Group, the mod will bring all GT500 class cars of the 2009 Super GT season to rFactor and GTR2. That includes cars such as the Honda NSX, the Nissan R35 as well as the Lexus SC43 0,all battling for the title in Japan’s popular GT championship

 

Via PushPushPush

Until now, the Need for Speed Shift modding community has been busy improving the title’s physics and graphic effects as well as providing new liveries.

Modding efforts will now go a step further as the popular 3DSimED tool is now Shift-compatible, allowing to import new cars and tracks.

The tool is also able to export Shift’s .MEB files, allowing modders to modify Shift’s content even further. Supporting a wide range of file formats of simulations such as rFactor, GTR Evolution, NASCAR Racing 2003 and Grand Prix Legends, 3DSimED is a visual editor for car and track makers.

The tool sells for 25 British Pounds, a 30-day demo version is also available. More info on 3DSimED and its comprehensive list of features can be found on their official website.