iRacing Is certainly the most well known racing game simulator, but it certainly isn’t without it’s issues. Monthly subscription fees, tracks need to be purchased, cars need to be purchased, etc. If you’ve read my previous post about sim racing, you know that I’ve chosen a different path: Assetto Corsa.
The two best things about Assetto Corsa are 1) It is VERY cheap. Anywhere between $3 on sale(!), and $20 if you pay full price. And 2) On the PC version, There is an incredible community driven effort to create new content: Cars, Tracks, and literally everything else that has to do with the game (improving on graphics, physics, AI, etc) and nearly all of it: is FREE.
One of the people in our regular sim racing group, a local track day Junkie: Alex “redSerpente” is one of these content creators for the game. Together our group worked to modify the game’s included stock 95 Miata into a Spec Miata. It’s may not be a 100% perfectly accurate Spec Miata. It is capable of turning lap times a bit quicker than real life, but it sure feels close to “right”, and we’re very happy with it… so now we’re sharing it:
If you’ve been on track with NASA Northeast at some point over the last 10 years, you’ll recognize a few of the livery designs. I’m sure we’ll add some more in later versions and updates, but it is quite a labor intensive process and I need a bit of a break.
Click the link below to download the mod file, install as you would any Assetto Corsa car mod:
A Few notes: Some people have reported issues with the steering ratio being off: Make sure the box for “Auto-adjust scale to match car’s steer-lock” is checked in your Assetto Corsa controls settings.
When playing in single player, the AI cars are jacked up super tall. We’ll fix this with our V2 update, but until then: it can be fixed if you save a setup titled “ai_default” it will fix their ride height. The actual specs of the setup don’t matter much, just that the file exists.
As for the car, there’s some adjustment allowed, we tried to keep it somewhat close to what you can do in Spec Miata. My preference is the brake bias pushed all the way forward (Mimicking different compound brake pads), and I’ll occasionally run with the rear bar off (AWB to zero). We’ll likely make that the default setup for the V2 update.
Try it out, let me know what you think! We’re in no rush, but it is likely we’ll eventually release an updated version. Enjoy!
First time on No Money Motorsports? Check out More Posts!
Into Spec Miata? Check out our Spec Miata Guide:
This is awesome!!! Ive been searching for a mod like this for so long! Great work! It would be cool to see some socal skins as well in the future!
Ride height seems to be set at around 2,500 and resists any changing. The setup ai_default didn’t fix the problem. Are there any other known fixes?
I’ll add it to the list. I believe it may have gotten locked but should be open (Within some reason).
Want to say a huge thank you! I’m gearing up for my debut at the SCCA Double Divisional at Road America in August and been grinding away at the sim.
How much faster do you think the Sim Spec Miatas are?
Awesom, Glad it’s working out for you! It’s obviously track and driver dependent but they seem to be around 1 second faster than a hot lap on a great weather day in real life
I would love to do some more paints for these – is there a good source of photos etc I can use for reference?
I’ve got a bunch of photos all around this site! Also can load them into Assetto and take stills, the ones based on real cars (most) are super close to their real life liveries
I have posted a few of my fictional skins on Racedepartment already. Search davidph62 to check them out.
checked em out, awesome! looks good!
Hello, Any word on the update release? Hopefully the speed situation gets figured out.
Sorry, the business of the racing season has gotten in the way of any real upgrades! I’ll keep you updated on what we do this winter though!
Also very thankful for this mod! I noticed the final drive/speed was off compared to IRL (I drive spec). Perhaps from the tire size being off at 24.88in diameter (0.31600 in .ini). A stock RR 15″ diameter is about 23″. Perhaps this was intentional to generate more tire flex/lively feel? anyways, messaging here to stay updated on the post in case any extra work is done!
Thanks for the feedback! I’ll take a look at it, After dragging my feet all last year we finally plan on digging back into it this winter and trying another round of tweaks! (Plus everyone’s due for new liveries!)
It’s pretty minor. Using a mod prog I changed the final drive a bit till shift rev limit and speed jived with my real world data (and place on track where I usually shift from known track).
I can’t tell but either power or drag was a touch off as my peak speed as 164kph on straight vs 158. But part of that could be fresh tires in sim/better exit/and fact that I don’t have a race built engine. I tuned it down just a smidge. This way I’m hoping it’ll allow me to learn new tracks as close as possible prior to heading to them. Great stuff. Thx again.
Really looking forward to the updates. I have to finish a couple skins for it. I have some WIP skins for the Forty 48 guys at Road America.