Assetto Corsa EVO 0.3: The Ultimate In-Depth Review

I’ll start with a confession: testing a beta of a simulator is like getting into a borrowed car with the seats still warm. You know it’s not yours, that something will squeak, and that you’ll probably have to adjust the mirrors twenty times before leaving the garage. But still, you enjoy it, because behind every flaw there’s a clue about where evolution is heading.

That’s what happens with Assetto Corsa EVO 0.3.Kunos opens the door to early access, with multiplayer included, new physics, and performance improvements. And the curious thing is that, while there’s a lot to celebrate, there are also details that make us raise an eyebrow as if we were reading a mortgage contract.

Performance: the pleasant surprise

The first feeling when starting this beta is that something changed under the hood. No more unbearable stutters in 1440p. I, who used to feel like every corner was a PowerPoint slideshow, now ran several sessions without a single hiccup.

• Faster loading: session-to-session times are notably shorter. Not instant magic, but seconds that count when adrenaline is high.
• Stable FPS: even in multiplayer, historically chaotic, the game holds a remarkable consistency.

Of course, not everything is paradise: Spa-Francorchamps remains the black sheep, with up to 20% FPS drops depending on the zone. Still, coherence is much better than before.

VR and triple-screen users still suffer more than single-screen players. Optimization still feels half-baked. But if simple screens have improved this much, there’s hope for more demanding setups in the future.

Graphics: from plastic to flesh and bone (well, almost)

EVO 0.3 looks better. The new global lighting makes colors stop looking like carnival toy sets.

• Better light and color coherence: the plastic tone fades, closer to the natural aesthetic many filters achieved in the original AC.
• Clearer distances: LSS still needs work, but the foundation is stronger.
• Super-sampling, who needs it?: DLAA is good enough that I’m considering dropping super-sampling altogether.

But not everything is a light festival: fine controls for brightness, saturation, and contrast are still missing. Sometimes, the new lighting leaves a strange tint, as if cars weren’t fully textured.

not a revolution, but a tangible step forward and it comes with performance gains instead of sacrifices.

Physics and Feelings: the soul (still under construction)

Kunos warns us: EVO 0.3 brings a new suspension and damper physics system. The problem is, many cars feel generic, lacking character like decaf coffee: recognizable, but not satisfying.

Tires: between gum and putty

Some cars in this beta show tire response delays, like steering input takes seconds to register. The BMW M4 GT3 suffers the most ironic, since it should be EVO’s showcase.

• Tire “lag” in reactions.
• Soft, putty-like sensation.
• Together with suspension model, driving feels a bit sleepy.

Compared to ACC, iRacing, or even Le Mans Ultimate, tires here feel less eager to react.

The exceptions

• Mazda MX-5: natural, fresh, reminiscent of AC1.
• KTM GT4: balanced, lively, fun to drive.

This suggests the model works, but calibration is uneven across categories. Sadly, GT3s the flagship class are the weakest.

Force Feedback:

The wheel should be the bridge between driver and car.

In EVO 0.3, it’s there, but fragile:

• Street cars: empty feeling, like an over-assisted wheel.
• GT3: muted feedback, missing that raw layer of road detail.

The FFB works but doesn’t excite like having a good engine without an exhaust: no roar, no soul.

Multiplayer and Interface: the party and the hangover

The interface: a toothache

The multiplayer browser is basic, but missing essentials:

• No filter to hide empty/full servers.
• Car selection happens before entering, and if wrong, you lose your spot.

The server browser itself feels straight out of the ’90s. There’s no filter to hide empty or full lobbies, and you have to pick your car before joining. If it’s the wrong one, you refresh, lose your spot, and start all over again.

This was solved back in the days of Quake! How is it possible that in 2025 we’re reinventing the wheel… and making it square?

The “minimalist” design ends up tiring and confusing, with unintuitive menus and little customization.

Online debut: duct tape beta

The first thing I have to say is that multiplayer in EVO 0.3 works better than I expected for a “first time.” I didn’t even expect to join and do a few laps without being kicked from the server, but instead I managed to set some times and even complete a couple of races with spectacular crashes, of course, since right now online feels like the jungle of GTA V.

Everything depends on the ping: if you land in a low-ping lobby, you can enjoy some proper laps and feel like a driver. If not, get ready to watch cars flying through the air and collisions that never actually happened.

Sometimes, the netcode has its own interpretation of space and time. I’ve seen cars that:

• Teleport 50m ahead.
• Bounce back from invisible walls.
• Float for seconds, as if defying gravity.

Practice sessions sometimes loop endlessly, with timers refusing to stop.

My Personal Take…Too much complexity?

Kunos is chasing the perfect physics system. But what if in doing so, they lose the spark that made driving fun? EVO 0.3 leans heavily on complex systems (suspension, tires, thermal models) that for now feel more like experimental weight than tangible progress.

At the end of the day, Assetto Corsa EVO 0.3 feels like buying a Ferrari that still has duct tape on the headlights and an owner’s manual written in crayons. It’s fast, it looks the part, but half the time you don’t know if it’s about to deliver the drive of your life or detonate in a shower of half-baked physics.

And yet, between the tape, the patches, and that BMW that teleports like a cheap magician’s trick, you can’t help but grin because beneath the chaos, you can see the monster it wants to be. It just needs less laboratory, more garage, and above all, that unfiltered madness that makes us fall in love with cars… and with sims.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good

• More solid performance and graphics than ever.
• Faster session loading.
• Promising base for future development.

The Bad

• Multiplayer still in alpha.
• Driver-car disconnection in some vehicles.
• Sometimes feels like a step back from AC1, not an evolution.

You can buy it from 20 euros in our Instant Gaming link:

• Assetto Corsa EVO

See you on the track!