Project Motor Racing 2.1 Overhauls GT Physics and Brings Iconic Australian V8 Battle to Sim Racers
Key takeaways
- The free 'Aussie Rivals' DLC introduces the 2013 Holden VF Commodore and reworked 2013 Ford Falcon FG, cars absent from Gran Turismo but meaningful to V8 Supercars fans.
- GT3 and GT4 handling has been rebuilt from the ground up by new CCO Aristotelis Vasilakos, formerly of Assetto Corsa developer Kunos Simulazioni.
- Update 2.1 also adds alpha triple-screen support on PC, Logitech Trueforce across all platforms, and major online multiplayer quality-of-life improvements.
Project Motor Racing has received one of its most substantial updates yet, with Straight4 Studios rolling out version 2.1 alongside a free DLC pack celebrating a beloved chapter in Australian motorsport history. The 'Aussie Rivals' pack introduces the 2013 Holden VF Commodore and a completely reworked 2013 Ford Falcon FG — two cars that defined the final era of a genuinely domestic rivalry in the Supercars Championship before both manufacturers moved to imported body shells. The duo's inclusion marks the first time these cars have appeared in Project Motor Racing, and given that Gran Turismo has never featured this era of V8 Supercar racing, PS5 players in particular stand to find this addition especially compelling.
The historical significance of the Aussie Rivals pack runs deep. When Holden transitioned to the ZB Commodore shell in 2018 and Australian car manufacturing ultimately wound down, the Supercars grid shifted toward Chevrolet Camaros and Ford Mustangs, leaving the homegrown rivalry era behind. While titles like Forza Motorsport, iRacing, and 2014's Grid Autosport have touched on this period, it has remained largely underserved in modern sim racing — making its arrival in Project Motor Racing a meaningful moment for fans of the sport.
Beyond the DLC, Update 2.1 delivers sweeping changes to the game's physics foundation. The GT3 and GT4 handling models have been rebuilt from scratch under the direction of new Chief Content Officer Aristotelis Vasilakos, who previously served as the handling expert at Kunos Simulazioni during the development of the Assetto Corsa series. His involvement signals a serious commitment to simulation fidelity, and the community has already noted the pedigree he brings to the role.
PC players also gain alpha-stage triple-screen support in this update, a feature long requested by sim racing enthusiasts who invest in multi-monitor setups for greater immersion. Logitech's Trueforce force feedback system has been enabled across all platforms as well, and various graphical improvements have been distributed throughout the game. Collision handling has been refined too, addressing one of the more persistent pain points in close-quarters racing scenarios.
On the online side, Straight4 has tackled several friction points in the multiplayer experience. Players can now join supported online sessions after they have already begun rather than waiting for a full restart cycle, and those registered for ranked sessions no longer need to remain anchored to the registration screen. A notification system will alert players wherever they are in the game when their session is ready, allowing a seamless transition back into competitive racing. New CEO Kevin Boland framed the update as a direct response to community feedback, calling it 'a big thank you' to the players who have continued to shape the game's development.
The bigger picture
The arrival of Aristotelis Vasilakos as CCO is arguably the most strategically significant element of Update 2.1, even if it reads like a footnote in the patch notes. Vasilakos built much of his reputation crafting the handling that made Assetto Corsa a benchmark for road car physics in sim racing, and bringing that expertise to Project Motor Racing's GT categories sends a clear message about where Straight4 wants to position the title competitively. Sim racing is a crowded and passionate niche, with iRacing, Assetto Corsa Competizione, and rFactor 2 all holding loyal audiences — credibility in physics modeling is table stakes, not a bonus feature.
The free Aussie Rivals DLC is smart community management as much as it is content delivery. Free content lowers the barrier for lapsed players to return and gives the game fresh coverage momentum without fragmenting the playerbase behind a paywall. The choice of these specific cars also taps into genuine nostalgia among a fanbase that has historically felt underserved by the major sim racing platforms — if Gran Turismo has never gone there, being first has real value in terms of audience capture and word-of-mouth.
The online improvements, while less glamorous than new cars or physics overhauls, may end up mattering most for long-term retention. Friction in multiplayer lobbies has historically been a slow killer for racing game communities, and removing the requirement to babysit a registration screen is exactly the kind of quality-of-life fix that keeps players from drifting away between sessions. Watch for how the community responds to the new GT physics over the coming weeks — that reaction will tell us a great deal about whether Vasilakos's influence is already making itself felt in measurable ways.
We decided to cover this update because Project Motor Racing represents something genuinely interesting in the sim racing space — a title still actively finding its identity and responding to its community in real time. The hiring of Aristotelis Vasilakos caught our attention weeks ago, and seeing his influence start to show up in the actual physics model is worth tracking closely. The 'Aussie Rivals' content is also a story in itself: this era of Australian touring car racing carries enormous emotional weight for a dedicated fanbase, and its near-absence from modern sim platforms has been a quiet frustration for years. Beyond the racing specifics, this update is a good case study in how smaller studios build trust — through free content, honest patch notes, and consistent iteration. We think that story deserves space in the broader conversation about what sustainable game development looks like in 2025.
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