A week ago, EA released the changelog of the upcoming second patch for Need for Speed Shift that will address various issues on all platforms.

Most interesting for PC users will be the performance-related changes as the patch aims to drastically improve the graphic performance, especially for ATI users. How significant the changes are shows the following in-depth article from HardOCP.

They got to test the second patch, providing us with a variety of benchmarks and image quality comparisons. The patch is expected to be released at the end of this month, click here to check out the very detailed benchmarking article.

International Pro-Modding has released an official video trailer for their upcoming FSONE Formula One 2009 mod for rFactor.

The trailer shows several cars of the mod in action, including the championship-winning Brawn GP BGP01.

Following IPM’s highly popular FSONE 2008 mod, FSONE 2009 will include all cars and drivers of the recently finished Formula One season which introduced a whole lot of changes to the world championship.

Team RMT has released a new high-definition preview video of their World Super GT 2 mod for rFactor 2.

The video shows a full field of cars racing on rFactor’s Le Mans circuit by Virtua_LM for testing purposes, keep in mind that despite the stunning looks, the mod is still very much in alpha stage.

Successor to World Super GT for GTR 2, World Super GT 2 will bring some of of the most legendary GT cars of the 90s as well as Super GT GT500 class machinery to rFactor 2.

Via BSR

RACE On has been released on Steam and in stores four weeks ago and now, Simbin has released the painting templates for their newest simulation.

The pack includes templates for the muscle cars, the International Formula Master car as well as the SEAT Leon TDI and the Lada 110 of WTCC fame. Happy painting!

RACE On includes all RACE07 content and brand new stuff including the 2008 WTCC season, the Swedish Touring Car Championship, US muscle cars and the Formula Master series. The title is available both as upgrade and standalone version on Steam, starting at 25€.

Download RACE On Painting Templates Here

Com8 has already shown us several very impressive preview shots and videos of his Mainz-Finthen track project for rFactor.

Now, he has released a bunch of comparison shots that show off the track’s virtual version side by side with real photos to demonstate the accuracy of his work.

Located near the German city of Mainz, the former US Army Airfield was used as a DTM venue from 1984 until 1990. Com8’s version will be modelled after the 1989 version of the DTM event, once completed the track will also make its way to GTR2 and GTR Evolution.

 

Polyphony Digital has released four new previews of their upcoming Gran Turismo 5 racing title for Playstation 3.

The shots show two cars from the SEMA tuning show in mind-boggling 5760×3240 pixel resolution, equaling 18 megapixels.

Please allow some time for these shots to load as they´re several megabytes in size. Once the image has fully loaded, click “Full Size” to view these shots in all their glory.

Gran Turismo 5 will be bringing 1000 cars and over 60 tracks to the Playstation 3, including new features such as damage, weather and day/night effects. The title has been announced to be released in March 2010 in Japan, dates for the US & Europe have not been given.

 

Via GTplanet

Mikemav has put together a very interesting video tutorial on how to replace the wheel rim of Fanatec’s recently-released Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel with rim from Fanatec’s GT3-RS wheel.

The idea behind his effort is to equip the multi-purpose console compatible Turbo S wheel with the much nicer feeling Alcantara leather grip the GT3-RS offers. His video tutorial is very in-depth, you can watch the first of seven parts below – The full playlist with all part can be found here.

Even if you don’t plan to make such a swap yourself, the videos are well worth watching for all Fanatec wheel owners as Mike shows and explains a lot of the wheel’s mechanics. Stay tuned for more on the Turbo S wheel as VirtualR will be having a full review in a few days time.

Mike Cantwell has released a new preview video, showing off the 2009 version of his Lakeside Raceway for rFactor.

Release of the track is closing in as the video shows the track in a pretty finished stage, Mike’s rFactor version is officially by venue owners Queensland Raceways Holdings Pty Ltd, – A very rare thing in modding.

Located 30 kilometers outside of Brisbane, the 2.40 kilometer track incorporates 8 turns. After hosting two occasions of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix and many years of Australian Touring Car Championship competition, usage of the track is now limited to club racing with a maximum noise of 95db.

The beta phase of iOpener’s Real-Time Racing game continues to rapidly pick up pace as RTR beta testers will be treated to the first ever iOpener Enabled endurance race next weekend – The 10 hours of Zolder.

While the real drivers will be competing on track, sim racers will be joining in using iOpener Enabled technology that transfers the real racing action right into the simulation. Testers will be driving two brand new cars, the Mini Cooper S and the BMW Z4M Coupe. The race will start on 10:40 GMT on Saturday, finishing ten hours later. Furthermore, first previews of another new car have been released as we get to check out the Corvette C6.R in Real-Time Racing below.

If you´re not part of the RTR beta test squad yet, visit their website to pre-register for a beta key.

 

Here’s a cool product for car fanatics who are tired of using those old standard USB-sticks and external hard drives. Flash Rods offers data storage solutions, hidden in scale car models.

Their flagship products are 250GB & 500GB hard drives, built into detailed 1:18 scale models. The models are very detailed with doors and hoods that can be opened, the only hint giving the new purpose away is the USB connector in the back bumper. Check out the Flash Rods website for more details here, USB sticks start around $20 and might be a cool gift idea for fellow car fanatics.

 

Via Racerslife

Elwood and mad-horse have released a new version of their Varano de’Melegari track for rFactor and GTR2, further improving what already was one of the finest tracks for gMotor 2-based simulations.

The new version brings the track to 2009 spec, including plenty of new 3D objects, new shaders and textures as well as a new short layout.

Changelog:

- Massive updates of all 3D, textures and shaders/shading, all updated to 2009.
- Reduced big meshes with alpha channel used for transparency, less flickering with many mods .
- Fake ambient occlusion on terrain and buildings, using multimapping.
- Added some bumps and little elevation changes we forget to add in previous releases of Varano.
- Added Short layout, mainly used by Centro Internazionale Guida Sicura (CIGS, International Safe and Fast Driving School) .
- Removed the fantasy layout and all non real stuff.
- Removed invisible slowers inside chicane Ickx that caused some problems with cars with low ride-heights.

Also known as the Autodromo Riccardo Paletti, Varano de’Melegari is a 2.374 kilometer permanent road course, primarly used by smaller series and for track day events.

 

Download Varano de’Melegari 1.2 for rFactor Here

Download Varano de’Melegari 1.2 for GTR2 Here

Gran Turismo made a big appearance at the annual SEMA tuning show, not just selecting cars that will be included in future GT titles but also bringing a new playable demo.

The new demo already includes a car that had been picked at SEMA before as players got to drive JR Rocha’s Infinity G37. The video below shows off the demo, the somewhat shaky footage shows both the car in the showroom as well as on track.

Via GTPlanet

Jaketoox has released his Sun Mod for Need for Speed Shift, giving the real-life tracks in Shift more realistic lighting.

The mod changes the location of the sun, producing more realistic sunlight for dawn, mid-day and dusk. The mod also dials down the bloom effect, all changes are only applied to the real-life tracks in Shift, not the fictional ones.

The effect can be checked out best by watching the video below.

Download Need for Speed Shift Sun Mod Here

We´ve already seen plenty of reality check videos for various simulations, comparing simulation with real life footage.

Here comes a new approach as iRacing subscriber Sam Hazim has put together a series of very interesting comparison photos, showing how close the laser-scanned virtual version of the Indinapolis Motor Speedway comes to the real venue.

Nicknamed the “Brickyard”, the 2.5 mile oval was opened in 1909 and is able to accommodate up to 400.000 spectators who flock to Indianapolis for the annual Indy 500 race each May. The virtual version of Indinapolis is available to iRacing subscribers. for $14,95