Intro Many of us NR2003 enthusiasts probably have had lots of fun racing the default 2003 Winston cup cars around the semi-realistic turns of Atlanta to the road course of Watkins Glen all the way down to the sands of the early Daytona Beach "track" where your great grandpa may have raced. But just like with almost every single toy or video game, it gets boring- we want more. Thankfully, the NR2003 community has gifted us several hundreds of mods including tracks, cars, and paint schemes. Now, several of us, like me, may have started off on NR2003 and slowly moved on to other simulators such as Assetto Corsa, BeamNG, iRacing, or even rFactor (2). Now, one thing all of those sims include is real life street cars. Not just the models, but also the appropriate physics for them. Now, mind that some BeamNG mods are just Russian meshslaps of low quality mods and sometimes physics from the default fictional vehicles. But most of the time, BeamNG features non-fictional street cars, such as the S550 mod or the Mazda Miata. Even NASCAR mods are available in the simulator for download along with NASCAR tracks. Other Simulators NR2003 has street car mods such as the ones listed in the screenshot above. Some mods that aren't listed in the screenshot above include the Rogue GT500 mod (based on the S197 Ford Mustang) made by NASCARFunFacts along with their Corvette mod (Banshee). These two mods along with the ones listed in the screenshot are what the community needs in this 23 year old simulator. It is a small niche that sadly goes unquestioned and no one really seems to care about it. BeamNG and Assetto Corsa fulfil this niche. This niche is a special thing of being able to drive a random street car, rather it be a S550 Ford Mustang, a Mazda Miata, or a 1970 Camaro on random street roads such as the LA Canyons or even Thornton. The most important thing is: It can be done right now.
Simple Fun DIY Now go do it yourself: Download the GN55 mod, GN69/70, Corvette mod, Rogue GT500, or anything else listed in that screenshot and just use either GNS or CTS physics (yes it is unrealistic but there are no physics EXEs of any of those mods at the moment) to emulate those cars' performances and handlings. Take your car out to Thornton or this very special gem no one really knows about. Utilize the "Easy" setup (because street cars understeer for your personal safety including others') and modify the gear ratios to fit the appropriate acceleration and speed for the vehicle you have selected. Now, using your steering wheel and pedals, drive your car maturely and in a calm matter around the streets. The beauty of BeamNG and Assetto Corsa is that the ability to drive a real life car -possibly even your own car- in a simulator in the comfort of your home in a calming and therapeutic matter really brings out a niche experience and art in the hobby of racing simulators. We are so used to racing for one more position in the final lap of the Daytona 500 on NASCAR Heat 5 or NR2003 that we forget about the calm and just-enjoying-the-scenery aspect of simulation. I am sure the track makers behind NR2003, along with BeamNG and tons of other simulators created their track side assets with wonderful, breathtaking detail for the average simracing to glance at and admire the track they downloaded or bought. But we need to be able to truly admire it by going the speed limit at times. There are many, many easter eggs and small things you probably have never noticed, such as the bird on one of the streets on the left past the inital or second curve of Thornton. More Mods Please... As of right now, street racing and driving regular realistic street cars in NR2003 is a very niche thing that is heavily limited, mostly due to outdated 2003 physics. As time goes by, maybe this problem will be recognized by many members of the community. With BeamNG having amazing damage physics along with suitable driving physics, NR2003 is missing an opportunity to capitalize on its realistic damage model and modifiable physics. I expect this niche to be more and more popular as NR2003 lives on. But for now, I enjoy my calm commuting in BeamNG or Assetto Corsa at 4k ultra graphics, and that's with my NVIDIA RTX 3060 running to its max barely giving 30 FPS...
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NR2003Issues based on NR2003 and its physics editing possibilities. Archives
September 2023
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