Car engine audio mismatch with experienced RPM
I'm of the belief that sound is as important as anything in creating immersion - and I've found some of the cars' sounds ingame don't quite match the experienced RPM. While I'm very impressed with the game's sound design (especially with the recent 2024 DLC and additional content packs) I think there's a few things that could be done to several cars to make it even better. H1 (FWD) Mini Cooper: at the redline of 7500 rpm, the car sounds like it's revving to 7000 rpm - which is 500 rpm lower than it really is. Lancia Fulvia: at the redline of 7000 rpm, the car sounds like it's revving to 7500 rpm - which is 500 rpm higher than it really is. H2 (FWD) Peugeot 309: For some reason the Peugeot 309 ingame sounds like the engine is only achieving about 6000 rpm at the 7000rpm redline - which is very strange considering it uses the same engine as the 205, which sounds almost perfect already! This video illustrates the issue (although the 309 in this video does rev a little higher than the 7000 of the ingame cars, it's still clear that the pitch is a bit off ingame right now). H2 (RWD) Alpine A110: at the redline of 8000 rpm, the car sounds like it's revving to 7250 rpm - which is 750 rpm lower than it really is. Opel Kadett GT/E: at the redline of 9000 rpm, the car sounds like it's revving to 8500 rpm - which is 500 rpm lower than it really is. Talbot Sunbeam Lotus: While the ingame car revs to about 8000 rpm, it only sounds like it's doing about 7000 - here we can see a Group 2 car (like the one we have ingame) revving to ~ 7000 rpm, and the pitch is the same as the simulated vehicle despite the latter having a 1000rpm higher redline. H3 (RWD) BMW M3 Evo: at the redline of 9000 rpm, the car sounds like it's revving to 8000 rpm - which is 1000 rpm lower than it really is. Renault 5 Turbo: at the redline of 8000 rpm, the car sounds like it's revving to 7000 rpm - which is 1000 rpm lower than it really is. Lancia Stratos: at the redline of 8750 rpm, the car sounds like it's revving to 8000 rpm - which is 750 rpm lower than it really is. (This video illustrates correct pitch) Opel Ascona: at the redline of 7750 rpm, the car sounds like it's revving to 7250 rpm - which is 500 rpm lower than it really is. Group B (RWD) BMW M1 Procar: The car's tachometer indicates a redline of about 9250 rpm; however at the redline the engine sounds like it's only just reaching 8500 rpm. This video illustrates the issue - as the engine RPM approaches 8,500 on the IRL tachometer (though it may be difficult to see), the pitch is the same as the ingame car at 9250 - meaning the virtual M1's engine audio is about 750 rpm too low at the redline. Lancia 037 Evo 2: at the redline of 8750 rpm, the car sounds like it's revving to 7750 rpm - which is 1000 rpm lower than it really is. Opel Manta 400: at the redline of 8000 rpm, the car sounds like it's revving to 7500 rpm - which is 500 rpm lower than it really is. (Same issue as the Opel Ascona above) Group B (4WD) MG Metro 6R4: The car's tachometer indicates a redline of about 9750 rpm; however at the redline the engine sounds like it's only just breaking the 9000 rpm barrier. This video illustrates the issue brilliantly - as the engine RPM approaches 9,000 on the IRL tachometer, the pitch is the same as the ingame car at 9750 - meaning the virtual MG's engine audio is about 750 rpm too low at the redline. Peugeot 205 T16: The tachometer indicates a redline of 8750 rpm; however the engine pitch at this redline is the same as that of the Lancia Delta S4, which has a redline of just 8250 rpm. Since the Delta's audio is perfectly matched to the RPM range, the Peugeot's audio is about 500 rpm too low at the redline. Group A Mitsubishi Galant VR4: For some reason, the engine pitch rises inconsistently with RPM after about 4250rpm. Up to this point, the pitch is correct - but at the 8000 rpm redline, the engine audio is the same pitch as that of the 7000rpm Peugeot 205. The pitch from 4250rpm+ needs to scale linearly up to 8000rpm. F2 Kit Car Citroën Xsara Kit Car - Telemetry indicates 9,750 rpm redline for this car. I believe this may be a physics error, as I have not seen any footage of Xsaras running at 9,750 rpm - and I believe the sound was recorded with a 9000 rpm redline - but if this is not the case, the sound is about 750 rpm too low for the redline. Ford Escort Maxi - The tachometer indicates a redline of 9000 rpm; the same as the Seat Ibiza, however the engine pitch at this redline is lower than the Spanish car. Since the Ibiza's audio is perfectly matched to the RPM range, the Escort's audio is about 500 rpm too low at the redline. Peugeot 306 Maxi - Since this car has no MoTeC display to show RPM, I've used the UDP telemetry to find the redline; it indicates 11,000 rpm redline for this car. I believe this may be a physics error, as I have not seen any footage of 306 Maxis running at 11,000 rpm - and I believe the sound was recorded with a 9750rpm redline - but if this is not the case, the sound is about 1500rpm too low for the redline. Renault Megane Maxi - The LCD display indicates a redline of 9000 rpm; the same as the Seat Ibiza, however the engine pitch at this redline is lower than the Spanish car. Since the Ibiza's audio is perfectly matched to the RPM range, the Megane's audio is about 500 rpm too low at the redline. (Thisvideo illustrates correct pitch, including bouncing off the 9000 rpm limiter.) Volkswagen Golf IV - The LCD display indicates a redline of 9000 rpm; the same as the Seat Ibiza, however the engine pitch at this redline is lower than the Spanish car. Since the Ibiza's audio is perfectly matched to the RPM range, the Golf's audio is about 500 rpm too low at the redline. (This video illustrates correct pitch.) WRC 1997-2011 Citroen Xsara WRC: The LCD display on the Xsara shows it has a redline of about 6500 rpm - but the engine audio at this redline is the same pitch as the Citroen C4's, which has a redline of about 7500 rpm. (This may be due to both the Xsara and C4 using the same sound banks; the C4's engine audio is perfectly synced to its rev range.) Ford Focus RS 1999 & 2001: The display on both cars indicates a redline of 7250 rpm; which is almost the same as the 2008 car - however the engine pitch at this redline is much higher for the older cars. The 2008 car's audio is accurate to the RPM experienced, so the older cars are about 750rpm too high. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI: While the ingame car revs to 7000 rpm, it sounds like it's doing 8000. This video of Tommi Mäkinen at the 1999 Monte Carlo rally shows gearchanges at the 6000-6500 mark - as is the supposed optimum ingame - but the sound at this point is equal in pitch to the ingame vehicle at just 5000-5500 rpm - meaning the sim's represenation sounds like it's revving 1000 rpm higher than it really is. Furthermore, the engine pitch rises inconsistently with RPM after about 3750rpm (the same issue as the Galant above; passibly as the two cars share engine audio banks). Seat Cordoba: at the redline of 7500 rpm, the car sounds like it's revving to 7000 rpm - which is 500 rpm lower than it really is. NR4/R4 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X: at the redline of 7500 rpm, the car sounds like it's revving to 8000 rpm - which is 500 rpm higher than it really is. Furthermore, the engine pitch rises inconsistently with RPM after about 3750rpm (the same issue as the Galant above; possibly as the two cars share engine audio banks). Rally4 Peugeot 208 Rally4: While the ingame car revs to 6750 rpm, it sounds like it's doing about 7500 - in this clip we can see a 208 shifting at about 5750 rpm, but the sound is equal in pitch to ingame vehicle at 5000 rpm - meaning the sim's represenation sounds like it's revving 750 rpm higher than it really is. Renault Clio Rally4: The MoTeC display on the Clio Rally4 shows it has a redline of about 6000 rpm - but the engine audio at this redline is the same pitch as the Rally3 car's, which has a redline of about 7000 rpm. (This may be due to both the Rally3 and Rally4 Clio using the same sound banks; the Rally3 car's engine audio is perfectly synced to its rev range.)Some cars' specifications do not match reality
I'm quite a big fan of how closely balanced a lot of the cars are in EA WRC - the fact that almost all the cars in a class are usually competitive means that usually I see lots of variety in car choice when I compete in Clubs events, which is always nice to see! Something that's come to my attention, however, is the fact that some cars ingame have power/weight statistics that don't seem to reflect the actual cars' performances - which might make them a less popular or competitive option within their class, or vice versa, ie. they are so far ahead of other cars that not using them costs a lot of pace. I'm noting a few here in the hope that further down the line, there might be some changes to keep cars' performances more in line with that they are actually capable of. I am cognizant of the fact such changes would likely change game balance and/or require a full reset of Time Trial leaderboards for affected classes; something I realise is probably unlikely to happen in a game that has already seen v2.3 release. H2 (FWD) Peugeot 309 GTI: despite sharing the same engine as the 205 (in presumably similar tune), the 309 has 35hp less than its contemporary. Also, the larger body of the 309 would surely have made the car heavier than the 205 - yet ingame the car is 5kg lighter than the smaller 205. As a result it seems that nobody uses the 309, despite the longer wheelbase giving it more stability - and it not being as nose-heavy as the 205, making for a more stable and accessible platform. By bringing the performance of the 309 closer to that of the 205 it could create a viable alternative for rallies where stability matters. H3 (RWD) Renault 5 Turbo: For some reason the Renault 5 has put on 70kg since DiRT Rally 2.0 and DiRT 4? It now weighs 970kg which I feel is a bit much - I think previous games got it right, especially as this is the '83 Tour de Corse model. Again, this might have been for balance reasons, but having the car weigh 900kg would likely make it a viable rival to the McRae Escort. Also - the dispacement being 1527cc is also a bit strange, as that would line up with the Maxi model - which being the 1983 car, this isn't! It may only be a change in a line of text but it would be good to see the actual displacement of 1397cc displayed instead. DJM Escort Mk2 McRae Motorsport: While there's some debate about whether this should even be in H3, the Escort comes in at 900kg ingame - but DJM themselves had the weight down as being 930kg. Were the Escort a little heavier it might help to even H3 out a little (in tandem with the Renault suggestion above) and give other cars more of a chance of competing. F2 Kit Car Citroën Xsara Kit Car: The F2 Xsara ingame revs to 9,750 rpm (at release of Le Maestros DLC). Like the 306 below, I've never actually seen any footage of the Xsara revving this high. The WRC channel has an excellent video of Jesús Puras leading the 1999 Rally Catalunya in such a Xsara, and the sound matches the car perfectly... but it also matches this video of Tapio Laukkanen in a Mk4 Golf. The latter car only revs to 9,000 rpm - and so I think the Xsara's redline ingame has been set a little too high. Vauxhall Astra Rally Car: The Astra is some 40kg heavier than its class rivals - while I know a 1000kg minimum weight came into force for F2 Kit Cars in 2000, the Astra in-game is the 1998 model - and while I wasn't able to find any data to suggest actual weights for the car, it doesn't make sense to me that the car would be *this* overweight in '98 trim. I know the Hyundai Coupe was initally quite heavy but the Evo 2 model managed to get the weight down; and the Xsara above is a later vintage but also just 960kg! Reducing the weight of the Astra somewhat might make it a more competitive proposition with its increased ground clearance perhaps giving an advantage on faster rallies. Peugeot 306 Maxi: The 306 ingame has 300hp and the UDP telemetry shows it revs to a staggering 11,000 rpm(!). This was the case in previous games RPM wise too - and while I have seen these figures thrown around on the Web before, I've never actually seen any footage of the 306 revving this high. There's a video of Gilles Panizzi wrestling with what appears to be an Evo 2 306 - but even that only goes up to 9500 rpm or so. Furthermore, the Evo 1 (1996 model, as seen ingame) actually made closer to 280hp, although it still revved pretty high - definitely north of 9000rpm - but it's my opinion that the 306 in current trim dominates leaderboards simply because it has that much more power than its rivals, when in reality it was quite closely matched in the horsepower stakes to its later Citroën cousin, and the other F2 cars of the time. Super 1600 Citroen Saxo Super 1600: The Saxo's weight is 1000kg ingame - I think the minimum weight for Super 1600 cars was 950kg? While the Saxo doesn't appear to be as affected by this deficit as other cars on this list (it even takes some Time Trial records) I do wonder why the extra 50kg has been added ingame when the car was supposedly as light as its rivals. World Rally Car 1997-2011 Citroen C4 WRC: The C4 and the Citroen Xsara are allegedly only 5hp apart, yet the C4 seems to accelerate much faster - while I'm sure improvements in drag and available torque were made in the C4's development, I'm not sure it equates to the sheer difference in acceleration the C4 has to other cars in its class, which gives it an almost indomitable advantage everywhere - especially high speed stages, where admittedly the C4 was stronger than the Xsara anyway - but I feel the degree to which it is faster almost makes it perform in a class of its own. If the C4 recieved a small reduction in available boost/torque, it might allow the other modern WRCs to compete on a more level playing field (Gronholm very nearly took the title in 2007 in the Focus, remember!)
Rally School Lessons #2, #3 and #4
#2 Snow: 5 second reset penalty right at the start. #3 Snow: 5 second reset penalty in the breaking box which causes you to fail the lesson if you trigger it. #4 Snow: Regularity Rally, 20 second reset penalty in "the twisty bit" for no infringement which can give you too many points and fail the lesson. The "co-driver" also says that there is a speed limit which you can exceed, but there is no indication as to what the speed limit is for all surface types.
Wheel calibration and bindings STILL reseting every time I close the game...wth
Xbox series X, fanatec csl dd. wheel calibration and key bindings still resetting each time the game is closed. FFB doesnt work on quick resume so you must fully close the game. The latter issue has been broken since launch. Not to mention H pattern shifters arent working at all. Will the countless issues ever be fixed? This game is too broken. I guess it's back to Dirt Rally 2.0Hybrid system logic does not match reality
I'm certain that this issue was raised at launch, and I do recognise it's a moot point with the (likely upcoming) 2025 cars as they don't have this system, but because it's such an integral part of the modern WRC cars that we have in game now, I feel it's worth starting a new topic on this. The hybrid deployment logic on the WRC (2023-2024) cars doesn't seem to correlate with how such systems work(ed) in reality. While the hybrid charge correctly deploys above the defined throttle threshold, releasing the throttle whilst deploying hybrid power completely empties the charge - and forces the driver to brake again to regenerate power and regain hybrid boost. This current behaviour personally puts me off driving the Rally1 cars as I simply can't predict whether I will have boost or not existing a corner! This hybrid logic is in stark contrast to actual WRC-HY cars, which retain the charge between throttle uses - here we see Ott Tänak at Sweden, and when he comes off the throttle after briefly applying it with battery charge, the remaining charge is held until he re-deploys out of the next corner. There's also this video from the shakedown of Rally Finland 2022. Note that the recharge quota and deployment amount seem to be separate; a full charge is granted after enough braking, but recharging does not cancel out the accumulated charge, and if boost is left over after a full braking charge, the boost tops up to 100% and can be re-deployed as above. The current behaviour creates several issues in my view. To get the most out of the hybrid charge, drivers effectively need to decide on the fly whether the charge they may have available is worth using on the upcoming section of road - and if not, they must avoid crossing the deployment throttle threshold until a good enough piece of road emerges. Even at 70% throttle, however, one needs to maintain a very high engine speed to avoid bogging down while doing this, as the car's turbo boost does not come on until this point in the power band - if using the 30% threshold, this is almost impossible to achieve as there is simply no power available. Furthermore, this penalises the driver for trying to "feel" the grip through a corner; apply too much throttle too soon and you'll waste a charge if you have to lift off beyond the threshold. Hopefully with the hybrid Rally1 cars no longer in competition, EA might be able to source enough data to re-model the hybrid system to work as it did in reality.Snow on the car on every rally in championship mode and quick play
Some time ago I came across a weird bug. While I was driving through rally Monte carlo in 2024 championship mode where there is no snow I saw that the car was starting to get dirty in snow but I did not pay attention because it’s Monte carlo and it’s logical that there can be some snow. The same thing happened in Sweden but it’s snowy rally so it was obvious too. When the time came for safari rally Kenya I began to notice that the dirt on the car had two differend collours one was normal and dusty and the other was very orange and was sitting on the side pods, in front of the rear wheels, on top of the tires and it had the same pattern as the snow from Monte carlo. Then came Portugal and Sardigna and the dirt again had the same two different pattern. In poland I took some time to look at it in the photo mode and I found out that it is the snow! Some time later I chose to simulate rally Poland in quick play and you won’t guess what I found. Again the snow! That was the moment when I went to photo mode, made the comparison between how the dirt should look like and do the screenshots that I attached below. I know that it’s not that important of a bug as for example brightness of the snow but I always was a perfectionist and tried to make game more realistic.
Co-Driver Volume (Xbox Series X)
The (English) co-driver can't be heard at the default sound settings, it's there but it's very, very low. This started the patch before last and has continued into this one. You have to turn all other volume right down to hear it but still it's not really possible to play the game.