Project Motor Racing Review: A Rough Launch for the Spiritual Successor to Project CARS
Project Motor Racing arrives on November 25 for PC and consoles, positioned as the spiritual successor to the Project CARS franchise and created by much of the former Slightly Mad Studios team. Straightfor Studios provided a review key, and I attended the PMR announcement in Zurich earlier this year. As always, the impressions here are my own — and in its current state, the game is difficult to recommend.
The premise is promising: a focused sim racing title with a single-player career mode, cross-play multiplayer, around 50 cars, and 18 circuits including Nürburgring, Nordschleife, Sebring, and Bathurst. Some tracks appear under altered names, while several major venues like Suzuka, Laguna Seca, and Le Mans are missing. This review focuses solely on the PC version and excludes multiplayer, as there are currently no populated lobbies to test.
The base edition is priced at €60 / £52 / $60. A more expensive version bundles a one-year season pass for €90 / £80 / $90. Although some issues may improve before launch, many of the core problems outlined below seem unlikely to be fully resolved.
User Interface and Hardware Support
PMR takes a simple approach to UI design. It’s cleaner and easier to navigate than some sims, but lacks the distinctive visual flair of Project CARS 2. Binding controls and configuring force feedback requires more digging than it should, and hardware compatibility remains inconsistent. Some pedal sets — including my own M-SIM Tento pedals — weren’t recognized at all.
The highlight in presentation comes from composer Stephen Baysted, whose orchestral soundtrack remains one of sim racing’s strongest. Even players uninterested in PMR may enjoy the score independently.
Career Mode: Strong Ideas, Weak Execution
Career mode is one of PMR’s most anticipated features, borrowing light team-management ideas reminiscent of Race Driver: GRID. Each event contains entry fees, sponsorship options, and financial risk. Players can choose between guaranteed but smaller payouts or higher-risk, high-reward sponsorships. Buying cars, repairing damage, and reinvesting winnings adds a sense of progression.
The mode offers flexibility — including the ability to start in higher-tier championships — and includes standard practice, qualifying, and race sessions.
Unfortunately, the AI severely limits enjoyment. PMR’s AI behaves with little awareness, routinely driving into the player, refusing to deviate from the racing line, and causing unnecessary collisions during re-entries. Even small track-limit violations automatically trigger two-second penalties, which quickly becomes exhausting.
Although the structure of the career mode shows promise, its depth is limited and replay value suffers due to the chaotic AI. Rivals, livery creation, or more dynamic progression could have elevated it significantly.
Vehicle Dynamics: Inconsistent and Divided
PMR’s physics feel like an evolution of the Project CARS lineage, but car quality varies widely. Some vehicles feel polished, progressive, and rewarding. Others — particularly the popular GT3 and GT4 classes — struggle with grip transitions and an unpredictable tire model.
Grip often switches sharply between “on” and “off,” making cornering inconsistent. Downshifts can overload the rear tires excessively, destabilizing the car in a way that feels more like a bug than an intentional characteristic. Developers have acknowledged this issue, but it significantly impacts gameplay.
By contrast, older GT categories such as 1990s GTS, GTO, and NGT cars feel markedly better. Classic prototypes like Group C vehicles are also strong, offering fluid dynamics and good tire progression. The Spec Miata is enjoyable, though overshadowed by more refined versions available in other sims.
Rain racing mirrors Project CARS 2 in positive ways, with functional wet lines, puddles, and evolving grip. Force feedback is serviceable and offers a reasonable level of connection, though less intuitive than some competing sims. The mix of per-car and global settings complicates setup more than necessary.
Graphics and Performance: Visually Dated, Technically Uneven
Project Motor Racing moves to a heavily modified version of Giants Engine 10 — the same engine used in Farming Simulator — and the results are mixed. Car and track models are detailed, but the overall presentation feels flat and washed out. Skies look tinted and low-resolution, distant scenery lacks depth, and certain environments appear outdated compared to both modern sims and even Project CARS 2.
Performance is also inconsistent. On a Ryzen 7 7800X3D and RTX 4070, framerates hover between 70–90 FPS with cars on track, using DLSS Quality. Other sims deliver higher framerates with more visually complex scenes.
Replays suffer from low detail, low frame rates, visible LOD transitions, and heavy pixelation. Rain effects also appear unfinished, with raindrops floating, sticking to surfaces, and failing to clear with wipers.
Stability issues — such as crashes, stuttering, and hardware recognition problems — round out a rough technical picture.
Verdict: A Promising Concept That Falls Short
Project Motor Racing launches with ambition but also with significant issues. The career mode has interesting foundations but lacks depth. The AI is among the weakest elements, making single-player racing frustrating. Physics quality varies dramatically between car classes, graphics feel dated, and performance struggles to match modern expectations.
With updates, the game could improve over time. But in its current state, Project Motor Racing is a disappointment — and a difficult recommendation for players on launch day.
