Dirt Rally 2.0 devs Codemasters have shown off their latest game’s rendition of some of the most iconic vehicles in rally history, introducing them alongside the decades they dominated in a new trailer.
Representing the 1960s is the Alpine Renault A110 1600 S, tearing through the New Zealand stage rather more expertly than I managed. The famous Audi Sport Quattro conquered rallying throughout the 1980s, and can be seen racing around Spain beneath a setting sun, while an autumnal New England offers a romantic backdrop for Colin McRae’s Subaru Impreza 1995.
The trailer also shows off Dirt Rally 2.0’s stage degradation systems, which aims to replicate the way in which surfaces evolve over the course of a rally event.
“If you start first on the road you’re going to suffer from a lot of loose gravel, which means you’ll struggle for traction. That makes it hard to put in a flowing stage with a good stage time,” rally consultant Jon Armstrong says. “The optimal run time is probably around fifth to tenth place because you get that loose surface swept off, but it’s not too rough that it ruins your car or your rhythm.”
“The further down the running order you are from there, the more the surface is going to plough and rut, so you need to adjust your driving style and even your vehicle setup to cope with the evolving track. Even though you can drive down the same stage a thousand times, these stages are going to present a different challenge every time.”
Dirt Rally 2.0 is out on February 26.