The engine sound is also changed for N2003. I haven't obviously sat in a Winston Cup stock car and heard the sound, but to me the engine sound is more similar to what you hear in TV than before. Other than that, I haven't noticed much change in the sounds, there are a few different “gentlemen, start your engines!” sounds. One thing I don't like is how the cars sound in the external cameras (TV1, TV2 and so on) in replays; the sound is far too weak for my liking. The best I can describe is that it sounds like a couple of sewing-machines going around the track. Again, I haven't been in a real WC race so I don't know how it sounds. I would be surprised if it sounds like this, though. I hope this will be changed for the final version. Another thing that is a bit distracting is the garage / pitlane sounds while you're in the garage tweaking your setup. I'm sure someone will find a way to turn off this sound, though.

Then, the graphics. They have received quite a face lift since N2002. The biggest change is the really impressive lighting effect, which changes around the track depending on conditions. The shadows are also implemented much better than before, for example you get shadows inside the car from the trackside fence and other objects. There's also solar glare and lens flare. While racing you see different moving objects in the sky, like blimps and helicopters. The track lighting and shadows are the most impressive changes for me, but all the small things like blimps (not literally small) add more to the feeling of “being there” than you would first imagine. Probably one of the biggest things you'll notice when driving is the dirt on the windscreen. Your windscreen will get dirtier and dirtier the longer you drive, and if you're in a pack of cars behind someone the dirt will build up quicker. And if you blow an engine you will get oil and all kinds of stuff on the windscreen very quickly! By pitting you can get the windscreen cleaned. I wasn't expecting much from this effect, but it seems really cool, especially for longer races. I also noticed that the driver is animated in replays like it is in Grand Prix Legends so you can see the hands and the wheel moving. Small point, but another nice thing to have. Some of these graphics improvements require fast hardware, and the frame rate hit is hard if you turn all the graphics on. If you don't use the new features the frame rate is quite similar to what I had in N2002.

The realistic weather is improved so that the weather can change (weather info is shown in the F1 screen) during the sessions, and most of the time it does change, too. I've only seen the wind direction and speed change so far, but according to Papyrus the ambient temperature should change, too, along with cloud cover appearing / disappearing. Maybe this will happen in longer races, or maybe it's just not implemented yet in this demo.

According to Papy the AI has received a big update in N2003. I have to be honest and say that I don't care much about the AI, I didn't spend really any time at all racing against it in N2002. I have done some races against the AI in the demo (as there's no multiplayer mode!) and it seems a lot better compared to the AI in N2002. It's hard to explain all the differences, but they seem to move around a lot more on the track, not just sticking to one line. All the races I've done have been great, as you can now race a lot closer with the AI cars. They're really competitive at 100% strength, for example at Talladega they seem to move around a bit trying to get a draft. All in all they seem much more human-like than before, judging from the testing I've done. To get a better view, you'd need to do a longer race, but this isn't possible in the demo.

I forgot to mention another great improvement that N2003 implements; bumpy tracks. Michigan doesn't feel really bumpy, except for a bump going into T1. The car shakes a bit driving along on the straights and this improves the driving feel and realism. Talladega is a notch bumpier, especially in the corners you can really feel the car going over the bumps and the movement is visible in the cockpit, too. I can't wait to try the other tracks once the final version hits the stores.

There are probably a number of other small improvements that I forgot about, but this should give you an idea on how good N2003 really is. The previous Papy titles have always been solid, with great physics and multiplayer support. I would settle for this, but the Papyrus guys have improved the physics model even further with the help of the Jasper Motorsports team and Goodyear, and like I mentioned before this is the thing I'm most excited about in N2003. And with the improvements to the graphics and other things I can safely say that NASCAR Racing 2003 Season will be the best racing simulation available when it's released.

Oh, the pace car is now a “ghost” car so you can now drive through it, or more likely it can drive through you without any ill effects. What a relief!