Project CARS releases this week, so here’s everything you should know about this racing upstart, or should we say superstar. From initial impressions thus far, Gran Turismo and Forza have a very real fight on their hands because Project CARS’ breath-taking visuals, car as well as track variety, impressive list of technical specs and overall functionality is exactly what we, and the rest of the racing world, has been asking for.

Project CARS or “Community Assisted Racing Simulator” is being developed by Slightly Mad Studios. The idea behind the game is to offer a grind-free, sandbox-like approach to motorsport racing. As a result, everything will be at the player’s disposal from launch, giving you access to every car and every track upon starting up the game for the very first time.

The goal is to treat the player like an athlete; to offer them an emulated experience of the real life structures and opportunities for success actual motorsports professionals go through, and all the while still suiting the needs of contemporary gaming.

There was clearly a lot to be done, however, because Project CARS, initially due for release on February 18th, was delayed until April 2nd. The game suffered yet another delay and is now set for May 8th.

What Powers Project CARS?

Players competing in events that span over a number of days, or that are simply re-racing on a track, will never experience the same track twice thanks to the game’s incredibly dynamic engine. That said, it can also recreate conditions for you, so if you want to feel what it was like to race as Fernando Alonso in the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix, you can.

The game’s engine, the Madness Engine, allows you to simulate the exact weather, sun strength and position as well as road conditions present on any particular day. It’s supposed to allow for endless experiences in racing. In fact, professional racers have used this engine to predict the conditions for their upcoming races. It’s that accurate.

Project CARS is the most technically competent racer we’ve come across, so expect some fantastic weather effects.

As for the weather, well the engine dynamically produces the effects – this allows for a wide range of weather effects, lighting conditions and a great deal more to worry about in each race. Best of all, the Madness Engine supports the SETA feature, previously seen in Need for Speed: Shift. This allows for a more dynamic tire in game, rather than the static tire most traditional racing titles use. This SETA model brings a more complex racing experience, but it also means that every screw-up is your fault.

It’s a fantastic engine capable of calculating physics at 600 times per second and even tracks your finger movement at over 250 times per second. This allows for accuracy beyond measure. The engine also tracks race track temperature and air pressure to determine the torque that is available for each car, depending on your engine of course.

What this does mean is that the PS3 and Xbox 360 just do not have the hardware capable of handling Project CARS, and so won’t be receiving it at all. As for the PS4 and Xbox One, well that’s a different story. The PS4 version runs at 1080p at 60fps, whereas the Xbox One version is running at 900p at 60fps. Weirdly, the console versions even have graphical settings to play with. We won’t know how they affect the game until we get a crack at it, but they’re rather curious. And as for the mighty PC, Project CARS will offer up to 12K resolutions – for those six or seven people with the hardware to run it at that spec.

PC Requirements

Minimum System Requirements

• CPU: 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400, 3.0 GHz AMD Phenom II X4 940
• GPU: Nvidia GTX 260, ATI Radeon HD 5770
• RAM: 4 GB RAM, 1 GB VRAM

Recommended System Requirements

• CPU: 3.5 GHz Intel Core i7 3700, 4.0 GHz AMD FX-8350
• GRU: Nvidia GT600 series, AMD Radeon HD7000 series
• RAM: 8 GB RAM, 2 GB VRAM

As you can see, the requirements for both minimum as well as recommended specs are fairly reasonable. What won’t be reasonable will be trying to run Project CARS at 12K. It will look spectacular though.

The Cars

Project CARS will sport a fair number of vehicles, but it’s far from the likes of Forza 5.

The question is then, what will you be given to drive, to test the capabilities of this engine? Over a number of bundle types, there are 74 cars included at launch, 66 of which are in the Standard Edition release. The Limited Edition bundle grants its owners an additional five cars and Modified Car Pack owners will get an additional three, many of which are available for purchase here. And according to a very recent update from Slightly Mad Studios, there may even be more than that, as many as 80+.

Standard Edition List

• Alpine A450
• Ariel Atom 300 Supercharged
• Ariel Atom 500 V8
• Aston Martin Rapide S Hydrogen Hybrid
• Aston Martin Vantage GT3
• Aston Martin Vantage GT4
• Audi R18 TDI LMP1
• Audi R8 LMS Ultra
• Audi R8 V10 Plus
• BAC Mono
• BMW 1 M CoupÈ (E82)
• BMW 320 Turbo Gr.5 (E21)
• BMW M3 Gr.A (E30)
• BMW M3 GT (E92)
• BMW M3 GT4 (E92)
• BMW Z4 GT3
• Caper Monterey Stockcar
• Caterham Seven Classic
• Caterham Superlight R500
• Caterham SP/300R
• Ford Capri Zakspeed Gr.5
• Ford Escort RS1600
• Ford Focus RS
• Ford Mustang Boss 302R1
• Ford Mustang Cobra SCCA TransAm
• Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth Gr.A
• Formula Gulf 1000
• Ginetta G40 Junior
• Ginetta G55 GT3
• Ginetta G55 GT4
• Gumpert Apollo S
• Lotus 49 Cosworth
• Lotus 72D Cosworth
• Lotus 78 Cosworth
• Lotus 98T Renault
• Marek RP219D LMP2
• Marek RP339h (PM 06a) LMP1
• McLaren 12C
• McLaren 12C GT3
• McLaren P1
• Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evo2 DTM
• Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.8 AMG
• Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG
• Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
• Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT
• Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X FQ400
• Oreca 03 Nissan
• Pagani Huayra
• Pagani Zonda R
• Palmer Jaguar JP-LM
• Radical SR3 RS
• Radical SR8 RX
• Renault Clio Cup
• Renault MÈgane R.S. 265
• Ruf CTR3
• Ruf RGT-8
• Ruf RGT-8 GT3
• RWD P20 LMP2
• RWD P30 LMP1
• SMS Formula A
• SMS Formula B
• SMS Formula C
• SMS Formula Rookie
• SMS Kart 125cc (Kart01)
• SMS Superkart 250cc (Kart02)

Limited Edition Car Pack

• Sauber C9 Mercedes
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe DTM
• McLaren F1
• Ford Mk. IV
• BMW M1 Procar (E26/1)

Modified Car Pack

• Ariel Atom Mugen
• Ruf CTR3 SMS-R
• Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster

Free Cars

• W Motors Lykan HyperSport

What about the tracks?

Project CARS may be limited in the car department, but it more than makes up for it with its number of tracks.

Project CARS has a huge number of tracks on offer, 31 to be exact, with many of them offering alternative layouts. The full track list is as follows:

• Nurburgring 1 – Germany (4 layouts)
• Nurburgring 2 – Germany (4 layouts)
• Zhuhai International Circuit – China
• Chesterfield – UK
• Cadwell Park – UK (3 layouts)
• Greenwood – Republic of Ireland
• Sakitto – Japan (4 layouts)
• Summerton – UK
• Spa – Belgium
• Sonoma Raceway – USA (3 layouts)
• Brno Circuit – Czech Republic
• Willow Springs – USA (2 layouts)
• Le Mans – France (2 layouts)
• Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – USA
• Donnington – UK (2 layouts)
• Snetterton – UK (3 layouts)
• Azure Coast – France (5 layouts)
• Azure Circuit – France
• California Highway – USA (5 layouts)
• Glencairn – UK (6 layouts)
• Mount Panorama – Australia
• Oulton Park – UK
• Road America – USA
• Watkins Glen – USA (2 layouts)
• Brands Hatch – UK (2 layouts)
• Dubai Autodrome – UAE (5 layouts)
• Hockenheim Ring – Germany (3 layouts)
• Imola – Italy
• Monza – Italy (2 layouts)
• Motorsport Arena – Germany
• Silverstone – UK (4 layouts)
• Circuit Zolder – Belgium

And there’s more

• Project CARS’ free-form career mode allows you to choose your own specific, historic races to compete in. You can even earn accolades by completing specific goals.
• You can setup race weekends to compete with up to 17 friends (it supports 18 including yourself). These will allow players to join up and race with you under your desired weather and track conditions, climate and a lot more.
• The game will support up to 48 cars on a track at any one time, the first ever game to achieve this amount.
• It’s going to be chaotic at times, but it should offer as real and gritty an experience as possible.
• Project CARS will support around 30+ wheel peripherals, community apps and virtual reality via the Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus.

Project CARS is one exciting racer. The end.

All-in-all, Project CARS has us intensely excited. It’s technically incredible, light on trivial DLC (for now at least), has a lot of variety and avoids the grind. What more could you want?

Project CARS releases on May 8th, 2014 for PS4, Xbox One and PC.