The latest Le Mans Ultimate update has sparked excitement, particularly with its overhauled GT3 tyre model. Since its release, the community has overwhelmingly praised the improvements—citing better responsiveness, enhanced feedback, more realistic braking, and vastly improved cornering grip.
The previous tyre model allowed excessive sliding and drifting, which was unrealistic for LMGT3 cars. With input from real-world drivers, Studio 397 has refined the GT3 tyre physics. Here’s what’s changed.
See what real LMGT3 driver David Perel had to say about the update:
The Old Tyre Model
While the previous tyre model was fun, it lacked realism in force feedback and low-speed handling. Sim racers may not have noticed, but the lateral grip was significantly underdeveloped. This led to an unnatural tendency for LMGT3 cars to drift rather than properly load up through corners.
In reality, the Goodyear tyres in WEC at low speeds grip into the surface, gradually building up load while maintaining traction. The old model, however, caused excessive sliding, making it difficult to feel crucial tyre feedback. This has now been corrected somewhat.
As a consequence of the old tyre model being very ‘drifty’ it took away some crucial force feedback elements that you needed. As soon as you started sliding, you just had to wait until you’re out of the drift to feel the feedback in the tyres again.
The old tyre model went too extreme on its cold tyre physics as well; it was far too easy to spin the cars leaving the pits and making it hard to turn in the initial set of corners due to the severe lack of grip. It’s fair to say you were just a passenger until the tyre eventually responded to your inputs.
The New Tyre Model
The update brings major improvements, especially in low-speed corners. The most significant change is the increased rear grip, resulting in greater lateral stability, particularly at the back of the car.
Corner entry is now much more stable, making it harder to induce oversteer by pitching the car in aggressively. Drivers must use trail braking effectively to keep the front end planted, maximising grip and utilising the improved lateral tyre response. The steering input now feels far more realistic. The force feedback now feels more realistic.
All of the above are things that are present in real-world racing from these LMGT3 cars as well, so we are happy we listened to the feedback from the real-world GT3 drivers on this. A lot of steering is used to get these cars around a corner in real life, and now it’s the same for in the sim.
With the new model giving you more grip, you feel more at one with the car on your initial laps out of the pits, and you can get the tyres into a better operating window faster. Because of this, you also have to be careful not to abuse these new tyres during a race due to the new lateral grip elements of the tyre model, which is also true to real life.
The other good news is that the same great feeling you get from the curbs, ABS and under braking is still there, so you can still have full confidence in these areas on the new tyre model whilst getting to grips with the new physics of them.
Room For Further Refinement
Despite these positive changes, there’s still room for refinement. While rear grip has been improved, some drivers may notice more understeer on power after the apex. Now, optimal cornering requires fully rotating the car before applying the throttle rather than powering out early.
Additionally, reducing aero grip slightly would better align LMGT3 cars with real WEC performance. These cars rely more on their Goodyear tyres than aerodynamic downforce, as they inherently generate less aero grip than other categories.
Lastly, force feedback under load is still an area to improve. It’s subtle, but currently, the sensation of front tyre grip isn’t as pronounced as it should be. Increasing front-end grip could enhance the overall feel, making Le Mans Ultimate even more immersive.
With these refinements, Le Mans Ultimate could solidify its position as the most realistic GT3 sim racing platform available.
Setups For The New GT3 Tyre Model
As the official setup partner of Le Mans Ultimate, Coach Dave Academy has a full roster of brand new LMGT3 setups on the new tyre model ready and waiting for you to get up to speed right away and keep on top of your competition.
With the new setup bundles, you get a pro race, safe race and qualifying setup, and you get all of the telemetry data to see how these setups achieved those laps. Finally, they are accompanied by visual hot laps thanks to the Coach Dave YouTube channel.
Try the brand new setups today for all of the current LMGT3 cars in LMU, including the brand new Ford Mustang GT3, Porsche 911 GT3 R and Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
