If you’ve been searching for “Assetto Corsa 2” and landing on pages for something called Assetto Corsa EVO, you’re not lost — they’re the same game. Kunos Simulazioni built EVO from the ground up on a new proprietary engine, it’s been playable in Early Access since January 2025, and as of update 0.9 (late August 2026) it’s a genuinely different driving experience from the original Assetto Corsa, not just a visual refresh. This guide covers what changed, where the game actually stands right now, and the exact steps to get your first race running tonight.
Is “Assetto Corsa 2” the Same Game as Assetto Corsa EVO?
Yes. GTPlanet documented how Kunos revealed the final name on April 1, 2024, through an in-game Easter egg — a dynamic sign at turn 10 of the Nürburgring 24H DLC for Assetto Corsa Competizione that linked to a teaser page tagged “Driving Simulation Evolved.” Kunos confirmed it officially on social media the next day. “Assetto Corsa 2” had been the working title the community used for years; “EVO” is the name Kunos settled on once the scope of the rebuild became clear — a new in-house rendering engine, not an incremented sequel number, which is why the marketing never called it “2.”
Quick Start Checklist
Do these seven things in order and you’ll have a clean first session instead of fighting menus:
- Buy it on Steam — base price is $39.99, with periodic 20% sales down to roughly $31.99.
- Check your GPU against the 8GB VRAM minimum (GTX 1070, RX 580, or Arc A580 class) before installing — EVO won’t run well below that floor. If you’re unsure your card clears it, see our 8GB VRAM guide.
- Decide wheel or gamepad before your first session — remapping later means relearning muscle memory.
- Set Traction Control and ABS to a moderate level, not off, for your first few sessions.
- Start in the Driving Academy, not a Quick Race — it’s the only mode designed to teach EVO’s physics rather than just test them.
- Pick a road car in the Modern era for your first laps — the throttle and grip curves are the most forgiving of EVO’s three vehicle tiers.
- Try a Special Event hotlap once you’re comfortable — it’s the fastest way to see how your pace compares to the wider player base.
What Actually Changed Since the Original Assetto Corsa
The headline change is the engine. The original Assetto Corsa’s renderer was never built with VR or triple-screen as primary targets — both were added afterward and always felt slightly bolted on. EVO’s new engine treats them as first-class from the start, which is why VR and triple-screen setups no longer take the performance hit they did in the original game.
Physics is the second real shift. Update 0.9 shipped a reworked racing-slick tire model across every GT-class car, from the Mazda MX-5 Cup to the Ferrari F40 — Kunos describes it as a step forward in handling consistency, and the practical effect is that slick tires behave more predictably near the grip limit than they did in earlier EVO builds. The same update added a broad force-feedback and input-reliability pass, including automatic wheel recovery after a disconnection, which matters more than it sounds — a wheel that drops out mid-corner in the original AC usually meant restarting the session.
The third change is structural, not cosmetic: EVO is being built toward a persistent career mode with an in-game economy and license-based progression, plus an open-world Eifel map generated from LiDAR data of roughly 1,600 square kilometers around the Nürburgring. Neither existed in the original Assetto Corsa in any form — the original was a pure track-day/race simulator with no world to drive between tracks.
Where Assetto Corsa EVO Actually Stands Right Now
Verified against update 0.9, released August 26, 2026. EVO is still in Early Access, with 19 laser-scanned tracks live (Imola, Spa, Suzuka, Mount Panorama, Nürburgring Nordschleife and GP layouts, and 14 others) — already past the original 15-track target Kunos set for the 1.0 release. The car roster has grown past its 20-car Early Access launch toward the roughly 100-car goal for version 1.0, spanning road cars, GT2/GT3/GT4 competition cars, classic and vintage models, and open-wheel racers.
Not everything on the original roadmap has landed on schedule. The Eifel free-roam map was first promised for summer 2025, slipped to early 2026, and as of the 0.9 update still has no confirmed release date — Kunos says the team is “very close,” which is the same language used before the previous missed window. Treat any “free roam is coming next update” claim you see elsewhere with the same skepticism until Kunos posts a dated patch note. Full 1.0 release timing has also moved: publisher 505 Games’ parent company Digital Bros. told investors 1.0 won’t land before summer 2026, down from an original fall 2025 target.
| Requirement | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| GPU | GTX 1070 / RX 580 / Arc A580 (8GB VRAM) | RTX 2070 / RX 6650 XT / Arc A750 |
| CPU | i7-8700K / Ryzen 1500X | i5-10500 / Ryzen 2600X |
| RAM | 16 GB | 16 GB |
| Storage | 100 GB SSD | 100 GB SSD |
The takeaway on hardware: EVO’s minimum GPU tier is a real floor, not a soft suggestion — below an 8GB card you’ll be turning down settings that hurt visibility on fast circuits like Spa. If you’re chasing frame rate on borderline hardware, our guide to graphics settings that kill FPS covers which sliders cost the most for the least visual gain, and the logic carries over directly to EVO.
Wheel or Gamepad? Setting Up Your Controls
If you own a wheel, use it — EVO’s force-feedback rework in 0.9 specifically targeted reliability across multiple wheel brands, and the new tire model transmits grip-limit feedback that a gamepad simply can’t replicate through vibration alone. If you don’t own one yet, our sim racing wheel picks cover entry-level options that pair cleanly with EVO’s wheel-brand detection.
Gamepad is a completely valid starting point — EVO ships an official controller layout, and you shouldn’t wait to own a wheel before playing. Our Xbox controller PC setup guide covers the Steam Input basics that carry over directly. Inside EVO, lower your steering sensitivity from default, widen the dead zone slightly, and smooth out input linearity — raw analog-stick input translated 1:1 feels twitchy at speed because a stick has far less physical travel than a wheel.
On assists: stability control is the one setting that meaningfully changes how the car behaves, not just how it feels. Raising it makes the car noticeably easier to catch when it steps out, because the game intervenes before you lose full control — but that same intervention caps how fast you can actually go, since it’s actively fighting the car’s natural rotation. Traction control and ABS are lower-stakes; start both at a moderate level and lower them as you get comfortable with weight transfer under braking and throttle.
Picking Your First Car and Track
Start with a road car, not a race car. EVO’s road cars carry more weight and less outright grip, which means mistakes unfold more slowly and give you time to correct — a race car’s stiffer setup and slick tires punish the same small steering input far more harshly. The Driving Academy progression Coach Dave Academy outlines follows the same logic: build fundamentals in a road car before moving into GT3/GT4 machinery.
For your first track, pick a circuit with a mix of slow and fast corners rather than a pure high-speed layout — Brands Hatch or Oulton Park teach braking points and corner rhythm faster than a flowing track like Spa will on your first few sessions, simply because the corners come at you more often and at lower average speed.
What to Prioritize Based on Your Player Type
EVO’s early-access state means the right first move genuinely differs by what you’re actually here for — treating every new player the same wastes time for at least three of these four groups.
| Player Type | Do First | Skip For Now |
|---|---|---|
| New to sim racing | Driving Academy, moderate assists, road cars only | Online multiplayer, GT3 cars |
| Coming from the original AC | Re-learn the tire model in one familiar car before touching your old setups | Assuming old car setups carry over — they mostly won’t |
| Coming from Assetto Corsa Competizione | Road cars and Special Events — EVO’s scope is broader than ACC’s GT-only focus | Expecting ACC’s competitive ranked ladder — EVO’s structured racing is still building out |
| Chasing leaderboard times | Hotlaps and Hotstints in Special Events — global, persistent rankings | Career mode — not live yet |
Common Beginner Mistakes to Avoid
Skipping the Driving Academy is the most common one — EVO’s tire model behaves differently enough from the original AC that veteran muscle memory works against you until you’ve felt the new grip limit at low speed. Turning every assist off on day one is the second — you’ll spend your first sessions catching spins instead of learning racing lines, which teaches the wrong lesson. And treating any unreleased feature — free roam being the obvious one — as confirmed-and-coming-soon will set you up for disappointment; Kunos has missed that specific date twice already.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Assetto Corsa EVO worth buying while it’s still in Early Access?
Yes, if you go in knowing what’s missing — career mode and free roam aren’t live yet, so you’re buying the driving and track content, not the full scope on the box art. At $39.99 for 19 tracks and a growing roster of physics-updated cars, the core driving experience already exceeds the original Assetto Corsa’s handling model, which is the part that matters most for a sim racer. Wait if open-world free roam specifically is why you want the game — there’s still no confirmed date for it.
Do I need a racing wheel to enjoy Assetto Corsa EVO?
No. EVO ships official gamepad support and a dedicated controller layout, and plenty of players race competitively on a pad. A wheel gets you more precise input and better force-feedback detail from the reworked tire model, but it’s an upgrade, not a requirement to start.
Will my Assetto Corsa 1 car setups work in EVO?
Assume they won’t transfer directly. EVO’s tire and suspension physics were rebuilt for this game, so a setup tuned around the original’s grip model will behave differently here — treat your old numbers as a rough starting point to adjust from, not a plug-and-play import.
Why does the game still say “Early Access” if it already has 19 tracks and nearly 100 cars planned?
Because several core systems Kunos considers essential to the full release — career mode, the Eifel free-roam map, and the final multiplayer netcode — aren’t live yet. Track and car count grew faster than those systems did; 505 Games’ own financial reporting points to a 1.0 release no earlier than summer 2026, so the version number reflects what’s still missing, not what’s already playable.
Sources
- Valve/Kunos Simulazioni. Assetto Corsa EVO — Steam Store Page. Steam
- Kunos Simulazioni. Assetto Corsa EVO 0.9 Patch Notes. 505 Games Support
- GTPlanet. Assetto Corsa 2 Will be Called “Assetto Corsa Evo.” GTPlanet
- GTPlanet. Assetto Corsa EVO: Everything We Know So Far. GTPlanet
- Traxion. Assetto Corsa EVO Complete Track List 2026. Traxion.gg
- Traxion. Assetto Corsa EVO Complete Car List 2026. Traxion.gg
- AssettoCorsa.gg. What’s Next: Assetto Corsa EVO. AssettoCorsa.gg
- RacingGames.gg. Assetto Corsa EVO Free Roam: Release Status and Everything We Know. RacingGames.gg
- OverTake.gg. Assetto Corsa EVO — Financial Report Implies Full Release Not Before Summer 2026. OverTake.gg
- SimRacingSetup. Assetto Corsa Evo Best Assists To Enable & Disable. SimRacingSetup.com
- Coach Dave Academy. Beginner’s Guide for Assetto Corsa EVO. Coach Dave Academy
I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.