PART 1

About six weeks ago, I started a thread in this forum evaluating, from my perspective as a Winston Cup team chief engineer, the accuracy of the physics presented in NR2002. I stated I would present my assessment to Papyrus. It turned out that it was unnecessary to do so; Papyrus came to me, as a result of that thread. To make a long story short, Papyrus and I spoke, then we met face-to-face at my team's shop, then we began an exchange of information geared toward making NR2003 the most accurate NASCAR simulation possible for gaming purposes available on PC. I have given (and still give) reams of engineering data on my team's cars. Papyrus has given (and still gives) me pre-release builds of their game to evaluate and comment upon. Numerous calls have taken place to ensure that design intent and engineering numbers have been understood and implemented properly.

I want to say up front that the people who make the car model at Papyrus are engineers who take the development of the car model seriously, and they attempt to justify everything put in it by real engineering criteria. I think that the basic soundness of their modeling approach has been evidenced to me by the fact that with every inclusion of more accurate design information coming from my team, the more accurate the car performed, both in terms of setup and driving.

I will limit my comments here to setup (physics/car modeling), and will address driving some, as it is affected by the car model.

I will also say that I am doing this for Papyrus, the gaming community, and me, for free. Gratis. De nada. On the house. That means my garbage tolerance from the forum will be minimal. I will answer well-considered questions, when I have the time. I will not respond to catcalls, boorish behavior, nonsense, etc. I am not this forum's ARAB (Appointed Refuter of Assorted Bull-ka-ka), therefore, I will not respond to every uninformed opinion or misguided notion that arises. I have been reading recent forum threads touching upon physics and other subject matter, and believe me, plenty of both abound.

First, simulation or game? It's both, really, a simulation wrapped up in a game environment. I will postulate that a few years ago, NR2003's car model could have passed as a credible simulation tool for engineering analysis.

OK, enough prelude - what's changed about it? A lot. New and more complex aerodynamic modeling. Engine power has been revamped. Suspension geometry. Steering geometry. Swaybar stiffness. More. Up front I will tell you I have given Papyrus THE REAL STUFF. All I have done is very minimally massage horsepower, torque and aero properties so that no one can reverse-engineer my team's car. When you buy NR2003, you WILL have in your hands as accurate a model of current Winston Cup hardware as I can in good conscience release for public consumption. I have given a lot more than I've kept back.

I think the only reason that such a working through of the car model was in order was because the sources willing to provide Papyrus information in the past have been reluctant to fork over the hard data. Further, such sources are few, and data can quickly become out of date.

How will it affect how you set up the car? Well, expect to leave the rear swaybars back in the shop (It'll help the team transporter at the weigh station!). Oh, they're available, but you'll probably not make much use of them. Some teams use them at quite large tracks, and you can if you want, but the car will turn without them. You'll be able to select front bars up to 2", just like Cup teams can. Cup teams actually spend much of their time with bars bigger than the previous1-1/2" limit.

Expect to shove the lead further forward in your frame rails (more nose weight). Further expect to be using stiffer front springs at many tracks. The days of starting with a 700/900 spring baseline across the front everywhere are gone. Oh, you can try it if you want, but expect to find some wall. Expect the fabricators back at the shop to hate you with a passion, too.

Seven-degree camber is back, but with better tire modeling. Why? Because on the LF, teams are frequently above five degrees.

The new aero model is such that you'll probably have the spoiler stood up more than before.

You've got more horsepower and torque than before, along with a more tractable power band. More tractable power, but when 750 HP at the rear wheels gets turned to over 4400 ft-lb of wheel torque by the magic of gearing, you still have to stay on top.