Asetto Corsa Rally: The Biggest Leap in Realism in 20 Years of Sim Racing

Let me start by confessing something I probably shouldn’t say so casually: I am not a rally driver. Not even close. In fact, if you threw me into a real stage with a co-driver shouting “right five tightens!” I’d probably respond, “tightens… what exactly?” My natural habitat is asphalt, smooth race circuits, traditional sim racing that world where if the car behaves strangely, it’s your fault, not because you stepped on a rock shaped like a potato.

And yet here I am, grinning like a fool, saying that Asetto Corsa Rally is probably the biggest leap in realism I’ve felt in two decades in this hobby. Not out of cheap dramatics, but from the genuine disbelief of someone who has tested hundreds of simulators, lived through legendary mods, seen engines struggle, and fought with force feedback that felt like it was being transmitted by a depressed robot.

Whatever this team has done… it’s something else entirely.

A Leap No One Saw Coming

This might sound like exaggeration, but honestly, it feels like the last 20 years of rally simulators were just a prolonged beta phase.

Imagine you’ve spent your whole life listening to music on one of those cereal-box MP3 players. And one day, someone puts high-end headphones on your ears and blasts a live orchestra in Dolby Atmos. That’s what I felt on my first stage.

I had no idea what they’d done I still don’t fully but the car seemed to breathe, the surface shifted under the wheels, and the wheel spoke to me with such ridiculous clarity that at one point I genuinely thought:

“Did that tiny rock I just hit… tell me its life story?”

Dirt, Stones, Asphalt… and That Unforgiving Rain

The most surprising thing is how every centimeter matters.

In other games, hitting a rough patch is like flipping a switch: either you’re on rails, or you’re suddenly in the vibration apocalypse. Not here.

Here, it’s a continuous gradient, a constant whisper of changing textures.

You get close to the edge of the road, and you feel that “hmm, maybe don’t do that.” Move a bit further and the car decides to improvise a ballet of spins without asking permission.

And then the rain comes.
Not decorative rain, no.
Here the surface changes, softens, becomes treacherous.

I don’t know what black magic is happening under the hood, but what I feel through the wheel is exactly what I’d imagine happens if I foolishly drove at 160 km/h on fresh mud.

Are the puddles lacking real depth simulation? Sure.

But honestly, you won’t be thinking about that when you brake late into a wet corner and immediately regret your life choices.

The Force Feedback: The Silent Superstar

We need to stop here, because what the wheel transmits is… absurdly good.

With my usual Direct Drive setup, which never complains, I felt things no simulator had ever delivered before. Micro-impacts, tiny texture differences between clean areas and gravel patches, roads that communicate their scars like war stories.

I’ve always said force feedback is half of any simulator.

Here, it’s seventy percent.

It’s so good that, for the first time ever, I actually enjoyed driving on asphalt in a rally game. And that alone borders on miraculous.

An Early Access That Makes You Doubt All Others

Let’s address the elephant in the room: this is Early Access. A concept that usually causes more anxiety than excitement.

But this Early Access is like going to a restaurant and the waiter telling you, “we only have two dishes today… but both are perfect.” And they truly are: polished, coherent, solid.

Few cars, few rallies, still-light game modes… yes.

But what’s there works better than in most fully released games.

No drama, no game-breaking bugs, no physics launching you to the moon if you touch a tree stump.

I’d dare say this is Early Access with manners.

And if you add the stunning graphics on top even without everything maxed out well… you’re looking at something special.

Damage, Sound, and a Co-Driver Who Finally Sounds Awake

You know what’s modest yet wonderful? Breaking the car and seeing the pieces actually fall off. Hitting them again and watching them react with proper physics.

Please, let this become the new standard.

And the sound… Oh, the sound. The roar of the engine, the crunch of dirt, the gravel pinging off the chassis… I don’t want to sound poetic, but if hell had rally stages, they would sound like this.

The co-driver works well too. No more lifeless, monotone reciting. Here there’s intention, clarity, humanity. More voices in the future would be great, but what’s there already works beautifully.

Conclusion: A Skeleton… But One With a Soul

Asetto Corsa Rally arrives with limited content, yes, but it arrives with something far more valuable: coherence, realism, and a sense that every stage is alive.

In a world full of games released half-baked, this one shows up with half the content… but twice the respect for the player.

If the developers follow through with the planned updates, this could become the rally simulator that defines an entire generation. And if not… well, what we already have feels like a luxury consolation prize.

Either way, I can say this without hesitation: This is the biggest leap in realism I’ve experienced in 20 years. And I never expected it to come from here.

You can buy it by clicking here:

• Assetto Corsa Rally

Happy Racing!