The online racing simulator

Posted by Victor

Progress report of 2011

Dear LFS Racers,

We hope you had a good year in 2011. In June we released 0.6B, the best version of LFS so far. Since then we have been continuing to work towards the new tyre model and the S3 upgrade which we plan to release after the physics update.

Scawen has been further developing the virtual tyre test rig, a detailed model of a tyre's structure, to work out various values for the in-game tyre model. For example, what is the contact patch length, width and pressure for a given vertical deflection and how does the tyre's shape change with forces, torques and camber. These depend on the dimensions and structure of a tyre. By making the in-game tyres behave in a similar way, the driving experience will be as realistic as possible.

In the left part of the image, the yellow lines show the radial cords of the carcass. The orange and green lines show the steel belts and the cap ply. The right side of the image illustrates the carcass thickness which gives some rigidity even without air pressure.

Eric has been working on the S3 content. After the physics update and the VW Scirocco are released as a free update for all S1 and S2 license holders, we will work towards the S3 version which will provide more tracks and cars to S3 license holders. As usual for an upgrade, the cost of your existing license will be deducted from the full price.

We wish you a happy 2012, and we'll release the updates as soon as we can!

- LFS Developers
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