Le Mans Ultimate IS COOKING with the new GT3 DLC

Le Mans Ultimate is coming in hot a with a new DLC and update. Studio397 and Motorsports Games have provided me a key for early access so I could check it out.  A big thank you to all subscribers and members for their continued support, it wouldnt be possible without you.

Anyways, lets start with the big elephant in the room which I have already explored in the previous Le Mans Ultimate DLC Video. Itlll be something that the most hardcore fans wont like to the point of lashing out verbal abuse, but it needs to be voiced. LMU is early access, and providing DLC while in early access program, especially in the context of a company like MSG, is not something that goes down very well with a good chunk of the player base. Its not something I like as well, though there are attitudes coming from S397 that makes this DLC qualify better. And as such, something to pay attention to LMU even if the DLC situation is not something to your taste. 

So lets, start. In reality this video is not just about the DLC, but also the accompanying update which in reality is more important than the DLC. You can really forego the DLC and youll get the update improvements. If I had to define this update somehow, its essentially about making Le Mans Ultimate a good product, rather than just a good sim. Often in simracing both are mistaken as the same but they absolutely are not. The DLC is 6 pounds, 7 euro and 7.5 usd for 2 cars, the ason Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 and the Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT. This update comes with a free car as well, the Ford Mustang LMGT3 for those of you who say wtf is a kilometer. So, 2 cars at a really good price and a free one, without BOP shenanigans seen elsewhere, much like the free mclaren was last december. 

If the cars are important, the update is more importantererere than the cars. Lets start with the user interface. A working, nice to look at user interface in a simracing game? ARE THEY MAD? 

The UI has been optimized once again. Now theres a little button at the top to go back to the mainmenu without seeing those stingers everytime we change menus. In game, the UI has also changed, with more information being presented without any extra clutter. The UI team has definitely cooked something at the level of a pastel de nata and it is aan absolute breath of fresh air to see a simracing game with some interest in making the user experience having the same polish as the driving one. Devs elsewhere take notes. 

One interesting update is that now there are a few variations to some tracks, adding extra layouts. Fuji will have the short corner that deletes the slow chicane, Le Mans has the Mulsanne straight version with no chicanes, those of you remember forza 3 and 4 have a blast here, Spa has a 24H variation with the longer pit and exit at Radillon. This version will also have a bumped up pit number. Theres a few more variations available in other tracks too. 

LMU also added tyre warmers as an option for servers, which is pretty cool, or hot, but theres a new tyre model, or improved that is on the LMGT3s. S397 has listened the feedback about the tyres and has done a few changes. Critically, Ive felt that the tyres are far easier to warm up. Within a push lap they will start to come into play with usable grip from the get go, and within 2 to 3 laps they are at an optimal level. So, theres less of that hunting for grip or icy behaviour at the start, and more of a progressive sense of grip. The tyres can be pushed further, but there will be an incurred penalty if they are kept over its limits for too long as well. 

This has for me changed Sunset at Sebring where the bumps made in some cases feel like I was having a bit of RNG playing with my luck there where those bumps did upset not only the balance of the car but sometimes even at low speeds made the car lose control.

Ive also felt that the issues that Ive complained about last time, namely the low-speed grip issue that feels like it disappeared and interestingly enough the forcefeedback seems to be less vague at center and at low speed. So, the improvements in handling are positive as are the improvements of the feel of handling. 

A few will say “oh, but WEC doesnt have warmers and these layouts”. Yeah, but these are fun, and fun is also good. 

Now lets talk about the cars. We get 2 dlc and 1 free. So it can be said that this DLC is optional because most of the improvements are free and you get a free car and therefore if you are uncomfortable with the eraly access and DLC thing, you get basically most of it except for the cars that while fantastic, are at the end of the day totally optional. Adding to this, the free car, the Mustang is really, really good.

The handling of all cars is fantastic. The Mustang feels meaty and aggressive with a bit of oversteer on throttle, a bit of understeer at entry. It reminds me of the Lexus RCF in Assetto Corsa Competizione. If you dont get the DLC, youll be given something 

The Porsche though is definitely my favorite. I dont like driving most porsche in sims, its just not my type of handling. This GT3 R feels incredible. Its agile, turns on a dime, the rear helps out a lot without having so much of a pendulum effect thats normally associated with the porkers.

As for the Aston Martin, it felt like it had some lazy handling. Its a weapon in straight line, but its not a type of car I would select. So this means, all cars have their different flavours and certainly at least between the free GT3s, theres a bit of everything.

One last point about the update, is the AI. So, the recordings for the broll you see in the background are made racing against the AI. In doing so, ive had so much fun driving against the bots. They are a bit weird in the grip they have from the start, so I need to always drop their skill to 94 to 97%. Once you get a good setting, holy hell are they good. They defend, they attack, they have great racecraft. Very fun, so LMU is working quite well in singleplayer as well. 

Though few other smaller annoyances still persists, like the screen still hanging for a bit when coming back to the pits and other small fps hiccups here and there. But overall the experience is actually pretty good, and since the launch I havent really touched iracing for anything than doing some testing with wheelbases. The driving experience is just so much better in LMU than iracing, that when going back its hard to get my head around the iracing handling and tyre model.

So, that leads me to the last point that could be a whole video, and in reality Im doing a video on this topic, so subscribe. LMU devs decided to make good software rather than just centering themselves in the sim part and then not providing a good user experience. If we could have had this before in rfactor2. Because of that, LMU at this stage could be argued that the Early Access phase feels like almost release software. Even so, its highly unlikely that a good portion of the playerbase will ignore past MSGs misgivings, you can remember what a mess NASCAR ignition was, and want to buy the DLC because of that. Myself, if I wasnt sent the DLC code, I would buy this DLC, just like I did with the first GT3 pack. Even with all my criticisms, and they were relevant and needed, I ended up enjoying the driving and praising the positives from December onwards, because before that, the software part was just too much in the way of enjoying the sim. 

So, in short, LMU despite the Early access, is actually in a pretty good state. This update is cleaning up a lot of the mess that is Early Access and the DLC is really well priced while at the same time not needed because they provide an excellent car for free.