Lotus 49: UPDATE: In an official release by iRacing, the Lotus 49 has been removed from Pre-Order. This almost ensures this car will not be available until the next build near the beginning of February. iRacing did send the 11.95 in credits back to those who had Pre-Ordered, and said those who had previously Pre-Ordered will receive the car for free when it is released. 11/10
UPDATE: There is currently no timeframe for a release of the Lotus 49. Tony Gardner posted in the forum that a flaw somewhere in the physics that cannot be figured out and just an overall unhappy driving experience. Forum Post 12/23
UPDATE 2: One of the most asked questions among the iRacing community is when the Lotus 49 will be completed. The good news is that it’s done.. except that it needs the NTMv5 which isn’t done yet. Cat Herder XVII 2/7

G6 NASCAR Cars: iRacing is busy working with the new Sprint Cup Series car that is coming to NASCAR in 2013. The car is so new, iRacing is building them in lock-step as the data becomes available to real-world teams for testing. The current goal is to have the car available starting March 5th, which is 4 weeks into iRacing Season 1. iRacing has opted to start the season late for series that use the Impala A, having an 8 week season with 2 drop weeks. iRacing will also delay the start of the NASCAR iRacing Drivers World Championship Series a couple weeks so that it can begin with the new car. The new NASCAR event series featuring the cup car that mirrors the real-world cup series for the entire season will delay as well. The Daytona 500 World Tour Event will still run with the old car. With the introduction of Ford to iRacing’s NASCAR stable, the series will be setup as a single class, multi-car series. The new cars are the Ford Fusion and Chevy SS. The Chevy SS will release first, hopefully during the last week of February, with the Ford Fusion to follow shortly thereafter, estimated two weeks after the Chevy. The current plan is to sell both cars at normal prices of $11.95. iRacing does plan to send out $6 credits to anyone who owns the old cup car and $11.95 to anyone who purchased it in the last 90 days to apply toward the purchase of the new Chevy SS or Ford Fusion. If you want to own both cars, members will purchase the other at the normal $11.95. While you do not need to own both cars to race in official iRacing series, both cars would be required in hosted sessions. Forum Post 1/9
UPDATE: Driver Names on Windshield: iRacing had confirmed that they are working on getting driver names on the top of the windshields of the new G6 Chevy SS and Ford Fusion like their real world counter parts. iRacing said they may not be able to get it completed at the time the new cars are released and would need to go out in the next 13th week build. Cat Herder XVII 2/7

Kia Optima to iRacing: Tony Gardner posted in the forum for those attending the 2013 Auto Show to check out the Kia booth as iRacing had been contracted to do some work for Kia. Today, Kevin Bobbitt confirmed that iRacing has scanned and built a car for Kia, specifically for the trade show application. Kevin said the car will be released, but it is not ready yet and that they are a ways away. No expected date and will definitely not be in this build. Forum Post | Screenshot 1/9
UPDATE: The Kia Optima SX race car is very likely to be in the April build. Steve Myers wrote that he was not super enthusiastic when the Kia deal came together until he drove the car. The Kia deal came together much like the Cadillac deal last year where Cadillac came to iRacing to build the virtual version of the CTS-V. Part of the deal gave all iRacing members the Cadillac free as apart of the base package. No word yet if the Kia will work the same way. Cat Herder XVII 2/7

NASCAR Ford Fusion & Mustang: iRacing has announced that the Ford Fusion for the 2013 Sprint Cup Series and the Ford Mustang for the 2013 Nationwide Series have been signed. No word if a deal was signed to bring Ford to the iRacing Truck Series. The biggest question now from iRacers is how will this work? It’s unclear exactly how implementation of this will work, seeing as multi-class for oval racing won’t make much sense. Speculation says iRacing will modify the “Paint” section to include “Manufacturer” to stamp the correct decals/front end to the car. If this happens, it would likely make the new cars free to members. No official word yet. Cat Herder: XVI | VirtualR.net 8/19
UPDATE: It appears we may receive the Ford and Mustang in time for the 2013 NASCAR season. No official word yet as to whether or not we will see any updates to the Chevrolet cars. Forum Post 12/28

McLaren MP4-12C GT3: RELEASED: iRacing has released the new McLaren MP4-12C GT3. 12/22

BMW Car UPDATE: A little more light has been shed on the license iRacing has made with the BMW cars. Check real world photos of the Z4 GT3, the E92 GT2, and the 320si or 1 Series. Steve Myers posted that the GT3 car would run in the same class with the McLaren, the GT2 car would run in the same class as the Ford GT and the 320si or 1 Series car would run in the same class as the Honda. Steve also posted that it will take around two years to get all of the cars built. Forum Post 12/23

Ruf RT12R Signed: iRacing has announced plans to add the Ruf RT12R to its lineup of virtual race cars and high performance automobiles. Manufactured by Ruf Automobile GmbH, the RT12R is among the world’s very fastest production automobiles. iRacing Post.
UPDATE: Steve Myers posted to twitter that scanning was completed of the RufRT12R. 10/12
UPDATE: No official word yet as to when we will see this car released, although it should be the next car in the pipeline following the Lotus 49.

Indycar 2012: UPDATE “Soon”?: This car is supposedly in the pipeline for 2012. No official word on it at all.
UPDATE: Steve Myers has said a car will be released following the McLaren, but before the Lotus 49. All speculation is believed that the 2012 Indycar will be that car as all of the other cars for 2012 are road cars, this would give oval drivers a car as well. Nothing official has been posted. 3/13

Total Views: 2824