Assetto Corsa Competizione is Kunoz Simulazioni’s hyper-realistic GT-focused sim-racer.
Kunoz Simulazioni is no stranger to simulation-style racing games. The Italian game developer is well known for their highly-successful multiplatform racing simulator in the original Assetto Corsa.
If you are new to GT-style racing, then Assetto Corsa Competizione’s GT3 and GT4 cars’ handling will feel a little alien to you at first. However, we guarantee that, sooner or later, you will be lapping around in GT cars like there is no tomorrow.
If you have just recently picked the game up, you might want to try some of what we think are the best beginner cars that can help you hone your skills in-game.
Every Car is Different
Much like other simulation racing games, Assetto Corsa Competizione tries its best to mimic and replicate the handling characteristics of real-world cars. In this case, Assetto Corsa Competizione officially features GT3 and GT4 cars currently competing in the GT World Challenge.
GT3 and GT4 cars from various car manufacturers such as Ferrari, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Nissan, to name a few, are available to use in the game. Of course, each car in-game will have handling characteristics that differ from one car to another.
As such, some of the cars in the game can potentially be faster but be more difficult to drive and control, while others will be slower but will provide a more stable handling package that is easier for less advanced drivers to learn with.
Beginners do not have to worry too much about each of the cars’ advantages and disadvantages against one another, though. Every car in-game can be very competitive with one another despite their polarizing handling and performance characteristics.
However, some cars will be more ideal than others as beginner cars since they hide input mistakes better than the other cars in the game.
Pick A Car and Stick With It
When you are starting in Assetto Corsa Competizione, it is probably best if you stick to a single car for a while.
Racing and learning onboard the same car for miles and miles in-game will help you understand its handling characteristics. Once you start moving on to other cars, the knowledge and skills you have gained from driving the same car over and over for the longest time will help you pick out and choose the handling characteristics that best complement your driving style.
For example, after driving the super-stable Nissan GTR GT3 for hundreds of hours, getting onboard a touchy Porsche 911 GT3 will feel like a riot since you’re so used to stable and forgiving handling of the GTR. However, you might end up liking the agile chassis and fast turn-in of the 911 GT3.
Picking a single car and sticking with it for a while will give you a good baseline idea of the handling characteristic you’re looking for.
1. Nissan GTR GT3
If you are familiar with the road-going version of the Nissan GTR, then you will know this car has one of the more forgiving handling characteristics of any supercar.
The road-going Nissan GTR’s bread and butter is its advanced all-wheel-drive system which automatically adjusts the amount of power that is sent to the front and rear wheels for optimum grip in just about any situation.
Unfortunately, because of the all-wheel-drive drivetrain ban on most GT3-class race series, the GT3 Nissan GTR is forced to adopt a strictly rear-wheel-drive drivetrain. It is not all bad news, though, as the advanced aero, suspension, and engine tuning that the folks from Nismo have done to the GT3 Nissan GTR gave the car a very rock-solid handling characteristic that carries over in-game.
The Nissan GTR GT3 is best-known for its mid-corner stability and corner exit grip. Almost nothing will make this car budge in mid-corner situations, and the extra corner exit stability forgives even the heaviest of right-foots.
The Nissan GTR GT3 is not the fastest car in Assetto Corsa Competizione, but it does not have to be. The Nissan GTR GT3 offers a handling package that is very predictable and stable yet still manages to remain adequately agile. A great beginner car, in our opinion.
2. Lexus RC F GT3
The Lexus RC F GT3 is one of the best if not the best sounding GT3 cars in the game. The combined exhaust, engine, and gearbox exhaust note that the Lexus RC-F GT3 emits enough to keep anybody hooked lap after lap.
In-game, the Lexus RC F feels just a little more agile than the Nissan GTR GT3 yet still retains that rock-solid handling that front-engined GT3 cars possess in-game.
The car is well-behaved in just about every part of the corner. Corner entry will require a bit of brake massaging to get the front-end pointed towards the middle of the turn at times. At mid-corner and corner exit, however, the Lexus RC F GT3 can be a little more energetic (touchy) than the other cars on this list but still overall very controllable and predictable.
As a beginner car, the Lexus RC F GT3 offers a very forgiving handling experience that can help beginners focus more on their basic driving skills, such as turning, braking, and accelerating.
3. Bentley Continental GT3
The Bentley Continental GT3 (or the Boat, as some Assetto Corsa Competizione fans call it) is built like a literal tank.
The Bentley Continental GT3 is one of the few cars in-game that can abuse Rumble Strips and Sausages (go over them) as if it’s on off-road suspension. Because of the very low ground clearances of GT3 cars, driving over uneven surfaces usually upsets the car’s overall balance going into and out of turns. The Bentley Continental GT3 is more forgiving in these situations and is less sketchy overall when compared to other GT3 cars in the game.
The Continental GT3 gives out a somewhat heavier feeling and less agile handling impression when compared to something like the Nissan GTR GT3. The steering feel is less touchy (slower) than most GT3 cars. This means that steering input will be very forgiving for beginner drivers.
Fortunately, even though the Bentley Continental GT3 is more of a lazier feeling car in the handling department, this works to the advantage of beginner players who are just starting in Assettso Corsa Competizione. The Boat’s handling feels even more forgiving than the Nissan GTR GT3 and gives players a more predictable but still competent performance package.
4. Honda NSX GT3
In Assetto Corsa Competizione, safer tuned cars will expectedly be slower than their on-the-edge and frantic high-speed rivals. Cars such as the Porsche 911 GT3 are borderline uncontrollable in less skilled hands but set record-shattering lap times in the hands of an experienced veteran.
Suppose you ask anybody in the ACC community about which GT3 car feels the slowest for them overall. In that case, most of them will probably agree that the Honda NSX is by far the slowest car in Assetto Corsa Competizione.
The Honda NSX GT3 is another great beginner car. Everything about the NSX screams stability. (which is expected from a slower and safer tuned car) The steering feels faster than the Bentley Continental GT3 yet still stays fairly forgiving and is not touchy.
The car’s braking and turn-in feel are excellent (although there is a bit of understeer in faster corners.) Corner entry is also very stable with barely a hint of oversteer, even in late-braking situations.
Overall, the Honda NSX GT3 feels very stable and planted as a whole. The car’s behavior is very predictable, making it a great car for beginners in Assetto Corsa Competizione.
5. Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT3
Following the trend of all the other cars before it, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT3 offers predictable handling and very forgiving driving characteristics in Assetto Corsa Competizione.
At times, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT3 even feels too safe, leaning towards an understeer-heavy behavior that requires some finesse with the brakes to get it to turn into a corner.
The Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT3’s corner entry stability is fantastic, mid-corner behavior is rock solid, and corner exit stability is very good with barely a hint of exit oversteer even for heavy-footed beginners.
Like its mild-mannered front-engined brethren, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage is a great starter car that’s very easy to drive fast.
Slow is Fast, Fast is Smooth
That is about it! These are the five ideal cars for anyone just starting in the exciting GT-world of Assetto Corsa Competizione. The five cars featured here have some of the most predictable handling characteristics of any car in the game.
Since most of these cars lean towards the safer (slower) side of the GT tuning spectrum, these cars will not be breaking lap records anytime soon. However, don’t sleep on these “boring” cars as they give their drivers a very stable and smooth driving behavior that might help them creep up to the faster but more mistake-prone GT cars as the race goes on.
