Adaptive AI. What’s that, you ask? Well, in theory, it’s a smart system that adjusts AI difficulty based on your real skill level. No more fiddling with percentages—now you simply choose “Low,” “Medium,” or “High” and the system does the rest. Sounds revolutionary, right? Well… yes and no. Let me explain.
With a cup of coffee in one hand and my wheel in the other (not recommended), I launched a race at Nürburgring, “Single Race” mode, set to “Medium.” I thought, “I’m a decent driver, this should be balanced.” The first lap went so well I almost called my mom to watch. I overtook three cars, nailed the Karussell like I was born there, and felt like a simracing god.
But then Adaptive AI… adapted.
By lap 3, car number 5 (whom I now despise) flew past me like I was parked. And he wasn’t alone. Suddenly it felt like all the AI drivers had activated turbo mode. One after another, they overtook me as I double-checked if I’d accidentally switched to “High.” Nope, still on “Medium.” The system had just decided, “This guy needs a reality check.”
And oh boy, it delivered.
Surprisingly, I didn’t get frustrated—I got hooked. Unlike the old percentage-based system, which felt like a mix between science and tarot reading, this actually feels natural. Instead of spending 30 minutes tweaking sliders before every race, you just jump in, race, and the game does the rest. Each lap becomes a new challenge because the AI learns your pace and matches it. It gives you that sweet spot of competition where you’re pushed without feeling helpless.
Sure, it’s not perfect yet. In some slow corners, the bots are still clumsier than me trying to reverse into a parking spot. But overall, the potential is obvious. And this is just the beginning—it’s only available in Single Race for now. They’ve already announced it will roll out to Hosted iRacing and AI Seasons later on.
For those of us who sometimes don’t feel like going online but still want the thrill of a good race (without ruining someone else’s), Adaptive AI is a blessing. And while there were moments I felt like I was in a high-speed driving lesson with vengeful robots, there were also flashes of glory that only a good wheel-to-wheel battle can provide.
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Happy Racing!
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The jury is still out on this one for me. I have been finding that if I have just one really good lap the AI adapts and then the rest of my race is just about impossible. I have really high hopes for this because I am so tired, like really tired, of tweaking sliders trying to figure out different percentages for every single track, but so far I am experiencing that I almost have to sandbag a little bit in practice because if I have just one good lap suddenly the AI thinks I’m this amazing driver and there’s no going back. Maybe I need more information. Do any of you know if the AI is constantly adapting? Or does it just adapt once and call it good? Does the AI adapt in qualifying and practice as well as the race?