High Gear is pleased to announce that it will now start hosting mods for various racing simulations. If you want your work hosting, send an email to admin@highgearforums.com

The SimCo modding team have released their Formula 2 mod for rFactor. Based on the inaugural 2009 season, it features all of the drivers that raced in the new formula.

Formula 2 saw a chassis developed by Williams mated to a 400bhp turbo-charged, 1781cc Audi engine. The cars also feature an overboost facility, which raises the power output to 450bhp for 6 seconds, up to 10 times a race.

Formula 2 1.0 sees many improvements over the version released a few weeks ago. Changes include:

• Mirror problems
• Text errors
• Suspension problems online
• Engine curve problem
• Fixed alphas to reduce car shine
• DX7 – DX8 problems
• TV Cam error
• Racing wheel hud

You can download Formula 2 1.0 HERE

You can discuss rFactor HERE

Previous Winners:

2005: Fernando Alonso – Mild Seven Renault F1
2006: Giancarlo Fisichella – Mild Seven Renault F1
2007: Fernando Alonso – Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
2008: Kimi Räikkönen – Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
2009: Jenson Button – BrawnGP

Track Record: 1:34.223 – JP Montoya (2004)

Sessions (GMT):

Fri 02 April 2010
Practice 1 03:00 – 04:30
Practice 2 07:00 – 08:30

Sat 03 April 2010
Practice 3 06:00 – 07:00
Qualifying 09:00

Sun 04 April 2010 (BST)
Race 09:00

Discuss the Malaysia Grand Prix HERE

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iRacing have released 3 pictures showing the new content that “should be in good shape to get it out to you all at or near the start of next season”, according to iRacing’s Greg Hill.

It will feature the Ford Falcon V8 Supercar and the 4.4km, 12 turn Phillip Island circuit located in Victoria, Australia. They will be the first track and car released for iRacing that are not European or American.

All 3 screen shots show the car and track in a WIP state, with not all structures and trees placed, temporary grass and cliff textures and new wheels to be added to the Ford Falcon.

Discuss iRacing HERE

SimBin have today announced that they are currently developing a new GTR title which aims to take th GTR franchise back to it’s roots of “easy to drive, difficult to master.”

SimBin claim that the new title will “take a significant step up in both realism, visuals, and sheer immersion” and will feature downloadable content (DLC). They are also looking to include new multiplayer features and activities, although details are not yet available.

It has not been announced which series and cars will feature in the as-yet unnamed title, but the single screenshot shows Nurburgring, where the newly-created FIA GT1 World Championship will be racing in August.

If you look a little closer at the screen shot, you may spot something interesting on the pit boards. P1 GTR, P2 looks like FM (Forza Motorsport?), P3 is NS (Need for Speed?) and P4 is GT (Gran Turismo?). The country flags seem to match the developer locations too!

No definitive release date has been announced, but it is scheduled for a 2001 release. Platforms have not been announced either, although PC and XBox 360 will most likely see the title released.

Discuss SimBin titles HERE

VVV Redhawk has released Touring Car Masters Beta 1.5 for rFactor. Based on the highly acclaimed Touring Car Legends mod by TCL, it features a number of improvements over the 1.4 version.

Changes include:

• Car and engine naming refinements
• Drag co-efficients adjusted
• Cleanup of unnecessary GMT, TBC and WAV files
• Removal of default rF sounds previously packed with download
• BMW 635 bug fix
• Reduced from 8 to 7 skins per car – linked to 635 bug
• Added intro video (thanks to Stabiz for permission to use an excerpt from one his videos)
• Added new loading screen (thanks to Rhys Gardiner)
• Small changes to VK, Sierra, Skyline weights
• Small change to VK tyres
• Additional music
• Refined sfx files, notably tyre sounds
• New Mercedes internal idle sound (thanks to MethylEthyl)
• New ambient fire sound (thanks to MethylEthyl)
• New rumble strip sound (thanks to Jericho)

If you have any of the previous versions installed, you will need to delete the “rFactor\GameData\Vehicles\RD TCL” folder.

Get Touring Car Masters here

Discuss rFactor HERE

Some new GT5 videos have surfaced on the ‘net, posted by YouTube user “mimaximax”, and while some show some nice features such as driver movements, one really grabbed High Gear’s attention.

This video shows Sébastien Loeb in his Citroen C4, looking up to his face. And it is his face. Watch carefully and you will see Loeb blinking. Watch even closer and you will see his eyeballs following the trajectory of the corner. Whilst there are no facial expressions, it is still astonishing attention to detail.

GT5 will be a Playstation 3 exclusive and will be released sometime this year, although no official release date has been announced for the Japanese, European or American markets.

Discuss Gran Turismo 5 HERE

The generous folks over at iRacing.com are running a promotion for those of you who haven’t yet given their simulation a try. Just $5 will get you a one month subscription to the iRacing.com service, 3 cars (Pontiac Solstice, Legends Ford, Spec Racer Ford) and 7 tracks (Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Lime Rock Park, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Lanier National Speedway, South Boston, Summit Point and Oxford Plains Speedway).

This offer is only open to new members. But fear not, for those of you who already have an iRacing.com account will get $6 credit when you buy two or more bits of content (car and/or track). These offers run until March 28th, so get a move on!

Discuss iRacing.com HERE

HistoriX, makers of the GT Legends conversion (although it was so much more), have been working hard on Historic GT and Touring Car 2.0. As a teaser, they have released a video of their latest work, called Over The Limit.

Their work was one of the more popular releases for rFactor, and their latest work looks set to improve upon the work in the original mod. Again, it will use GT Legends as a base (you will need a GT Legends disc to be able to install it), and it will bring many new cars to rFactor.

Discuss rFactor mods HERE

6e660 has released footage of the upcoming Targa Florio track converted from the original GPL masterpiece. At 44.73 miles long and 567 turns, this should challenge even the most experienced and talented sim racers. Because this is such a long track, YouTube limitations mean that the video has had to be split into 4 parts.

Originally created for Grand Prix Legends, the Targa Florio Conversion Team have been hard at work to get the rFactor version looking as good as possible. They have given it new shaders and new hires textures, along with a new AIW that will support a large field of cars.

As a side note, how nice is 6e66o’s setup!

Discuss rFactor HERE