As ever, there are new cars, new tracks and quality-of-life changes expected for iRacing’s September 2024 Season 4 update and content drop.
Here’s everything we know so far.
iRacing Season 4 2024 new content
- McLaren 720S Evo GT3 car
- Mini Stock car
- BMW M4 GT4 Evo (G82) car
- Cadwell Park track
- Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps track (possible)
iRacing Season 4 2024 new cars
McLaren 720S Evo GT3
Whenever there are GT3 competitions on iRacing, it perhaps ages the platform a little when someone enters with the aged McLaren MP4-12C. It has been superseded, not once, but twice, with the 650S and then the 720S.
The latter then received an ‘Evo’ update last year, but with Season 4, iRacing members will have the option to purchase the Woking’s latest GT racer – at last!
This was announced earlier this month with a teaser image on social media, but is now locked in.
Mini Stock
A new rookie-level stock car is also set to arrive in time for Season 4, and it will be base content for subscribers – no additional DLC purchase necessary. Neat.
Designed primarily with oval racing in mind, the two-door three-box machine is powered by a 2.3-lite four-cylinder engine with ‘over’ 200bhp.
BMW M4 GT4 Evo
Right, this is all about to get model-codey, which is a BMW fan’s favourite pastime.
The BMW M4 in the GT4 class currently available for iRacing is based on the F82 generation car. The F82 was replaced in 2020 by the G82 – an all-new car, with the ‘fangs’ for a grille.
Then, before iRacing could implement the G82 version, it received an ‘Evo’ update this season.
So, the M4 GT4 Evo (G82) will make its simulation debut in iRacing for Season 4 – other sims have the G82, but not the ‘Evo’ spec.
Confusing things further, iRacing will not have the new lights that come with the ‘Evo’ spec ready on time, so will update these later.
Phew!
This is a brand-new car to the platform, and consequently, it is not a free upgrade. However, anyone who has purchased the existing M4 GT4 (F82, sans-fangs) within the past 12 months will receive credits. The extent of the credits will be determined by the recency of the purchase, according to iRacing.
iRacing Season 4 2024 new tracks
Updated Spa-Francorchamps, possibly.
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Belgium’s premier venue and a place where motorsport enthusiasts gather for Formula 1, touring cars and 24-hour GT races. Essential to any popular sim racing title, due to popular demand, iRacing’s version presently is a little old hat.
It does not include the gravel traps, new buildings or reprofiled curves present in the real-world since 2022.
That could change next month when the Season 4 2024 content arrives for the PC platform.
iRacing’s work on the Wallonian circuit has been public knowledge for some time. The development team is said to have completely rebuilt the venue from scratch and formed a relationship with the track owners to receive data on a more consistence basis henceforth.
However, according to iRacing’s Senior VP and Executive Producer Greg Hill, the new version is “coming in hot” and is “50/50” to make the Season 4 launch.
Those who already own Spa will receive the new version for no additional cost, and the old version will remain playable. Those who purchase afresh will receive both.
Cadwell Park
From the middle of Europe to… Lincolnshire. One of the flattest counties in England, home to potato production, a beautiful cathedral and a twisty, narrow, daunting circuit – Cadwell Park.
Not known to hold the world’s biggest championships, and perhaps best known for motorcycles taking off over The Mountain, this will be a stern test in both hot lapping and trying to keep your safety rating respectable. Overtaking opportunities here are few and far between.
It was announced that both Cadwell and Thruxton were in development earlier this year, although only Cadwell makes this particular set of new content. Croft has also been confirmed for a later date.
When the venue, just south of Louth, is released, it marks the use of a drone to capture data, which iRacing calls a “broad maps” process.
iRacing Season 4 2024 platform updates
Alongside the new content will come a host of tweaks that affect the platform holistically.
Highlights include a more unpredictable rain setting labelled as ‘spotty’, the ability to see all cars qualifying in the replay mode, a tweak to how multi-class and multi-manufacturer races grids are split (pending a Week 13 test) and a new user interface option to quickly preconfigure AI.
Account management will now support two-factor authentication and a revision to dirt surface performance may make it on time – “our fingers are crossed,” said Hill.
The recent development update provided insight into upcoming tyre model changes and new tracks such as Australia’s The Bend and Britain’s Croft plus Zolder updates. We’ll cover that in a separate article
