Automobilista 2 Update V1.1.3.5 Adds The Lotus 79

As a fan of Lotus in Formula One since my earliest childhood memories, and having been born around the same time the car was created, I’m particularly excited that Automobilista 2 Update V1.1.3.5 adds the Lotus 79.

Designed by Colin Chapman and team it was the first F1 car to take full advantage of ground effects aerodynamics, to compliment the 3.0 litre Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 engine. And it had a dominant debut season driven by Ronnie Petersen, and taking Mario Andretti to a comfortable world championship. Switching to green Martini sponsorship from the classic black and gold JPS colours, and replacing Petersen with Carlos Reutemann wasn’t as successful, and the car was retired at the end of the 1979 season.

Along with the classic Lotus 79, Automobilista 2 Update V1.1.3.5 also comes one year after the sim racing title was released via Steam Early Access and features a development of the physics which reduces driveline friction levels, improving driveability, top speeds and the performance of cars with a Limited Slip Diff (it’s recommended you reset setups on those cars). And the championshp mode now allows you to run four seasons in progress, in preparation for the new custom championship feature currently in development.

The Lotus 79 needs some opposition, so a generic F-Retro Gen2 Model1 has been added. And the Jacarepagua circuit gets some attention with four historical layouts added. I’m particularly excited to hear how it sounds, as the recent addition of the Porsche 962C has been one of the best car audio experiences I’ve had in sim racing for a while. It’ll be interesting to compare the Reiza Studios version with the example currently available via iRacing.

Automobilista 2 Update V1.1.3.5 Changelog:

CONTENT

• Added F-Retro Gen2 Series (featuring Lotus 79 & generic F-Retro Gen2 Model1)
• Added more Jacarepagua Historical layouts (2005, Oval, Sul, Stock Car Roval)

GENERAL

• Reduced Multiplayer safe join buffer time in practice / qualifying from 180 to 90 seconds
• Added option to set maximum limit on the number of AI in official championships
• Fixed GT1 Championship lap length race sessions incorrectly treated as timed sessions

UI & HUD

• Updated HUD (will reset customizations): Restyled car info and added vehicle damage widget; Restyled tacho unit
• Added hints and tips to loading screens.
• Added warning to opponent settings screen when the number of opponents is grater than the number of available liveries
• Fixed championship AI aggression input not clamping to correct range
• Increased loading screen tip refresh time to 20s
• Added ‘Wheel Only’ option to ‘Display Cockpit And Driver’ setting
• Added extra vehicle info to Vehicle Selection screen informing availability of tire compounds, DRS, boost, adjustable turbo, adjustable onboard brake bias & roll bars, head lights, pit limiter on the currently selected vehicle (accuracy of current info pending further revisions)
• Restyled Race and Test Day settings screens
• Fixed untranslated ‘Opponent Aggression’ label on opponent settings screens

PHYSICS & FFB

• Fixed FFB pulling to the left under braking or to the right on power (FWD vehicles only)
• Substantial reduction of friction levels for various wheel bearing models for reduced overall driveline losses, improved functionality in LSD cars, better handling entering & exiting corners, better driveability under traction and slightly higher top speeds
• Adjusted default preload and ramp angles in most LSD cars (setup reset recommended)
• Updated engine torque / power curves to suit new wheel bearing values
• GT / Stock / Proto / wet tire wear adjustments
• Adjusted F-Retro, F-Ultimate, F-Classic, F-V12, V-V10, F-Reiza, F-Ultimate tire carcass inflation shape
• Slightly steeper engine compression curve for Cosworth 1974 engine in F-Retros
• Slightly higher wear rate for soft compound in GT3 / P1
• Minor rear wing efficiency adjustment for F-Retros
• Revised aero drag in formula cars
• Added customized values for tire pre-conditioning per car (replacing old global function)
• Increased damage rate for grinding & clutchless shifts in manual boxes
• Adjusted StockV8 2020/2021, Montana, F-Retro, Omega StockCar, Mini UK aero yaw sensitivity
• Disabled onboard roll bars in GT5, GT4, GT3, F-Retro Gen1, F-Reiza, F-Ultimate
• Disabled redundant turbo range in Hot Cars / Copa Classic cars
• Lowered Opala CoG height; stiffened suspension rates to minimise issues with lifting inside wheels
• Minor adjustments to H-pattern gearbox syncro parameters

AI

• Increased range of AI performance & some initial customization per series
• AI Callibration pass to account for new AI range parameters & new driveline physics update
• Slightly increased AI prudence against human drivers
• AI aggression is now scaled down during in/out laps of practice & qualifying sessions
• Fixed issue with AI skill range at extreme ends of the scale and effective lower cap of 84% in multiplayer
• Fixed bug where the AI skill from personality wouldn’t load properly in first session (leading to reduced spread of performance)

TRACKS

• Weather, climate & HDR revisions for more consistency across the daytime and weather variants
• Minor adjustments to weather and climates for clouds & HDR behaviour
• Increased maximum render distance for far terrain at higher graphics settings
• Spa-Francorchamps: Fixed bad bumps at the outside run-off of Pouhon and Fagnes; Minor art & performance pass
• Jacarepagua Historic: Reduced road mesh noise; Minor art & optimization pass
• Interlagos Historic: Reduced road mesh noise; Increased poly density for outer link road
• Hockenheim: Reduced road mesh noise for all Historic layouts
• Cascais: Fixed fix flipped armco at T9
• Goiania: Updated trackside data
• Revised default date for all tracks
• Added VR cams for Campo Grande, Cascavel, Snetterton, Curitiba, Londrina
• Minor art pass to Hockenheim Historic layouts
• Minor art passes to Jacarepagua and Spielberg

VEHICLES

• Adjusted LOD settings for wheel and tires in open wheel cars to avoid gaps between transitions at lower detail levels
• Fixed dark external mirrors in several formula cars
• Corrected suspension animation to account for camber settings in F-Vintage cars, F-Classic Gen3, F-V10 Gen2
• Sigma P1: Fixed glitch on cockpit front end
• F-Trainer and F-Trainer Advanced: Fixed suspension artifacts on cockpit view; Added missing chassi parts to cockpit view; Fixed chassi parts misplacement in LodA.
• F-Vintage: Fixed engine damage issue
• Chevette: Fixed cockpit red paint issue

Automobilista 2 is available on Steam for the PC, along with the Ultimate Edition, the Season Pass bundle and the Spa, Silverstone, Nurburgring and Hockenheim DLC track packs.

You can keep up with all the latest Automobilista 2 news, updates and DLC here. Or check out everything available already with our Automobilista 2 car list and Automobilista 2 track list.