The Factory Driver Program for Project Motor Racing

24. June 2025

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When you think about it, innovation in sim racing is rare because there are only so many unique ways you can put a twist on driving virtual race cars on a track. But first and foremost, racing simulators live and die by the authenticity of their car handling.

At S4, we work with a huge array of tyre data, manufacturer data (CAD, alongside driver feedback), team data, and reams of anecdotal notes from a team that’s been making sims for a quarter-century to get the handling right.

But no matter the data and expertise of the staff, there are moments when the data just isn’t there. Some parameters—like thermal degradation models or surface fidelity modifiers—don’t exist in real-world equivalents. They’re part of the complex systems we use to emulate reality.

And it’s precisely here where the Factory Driver Program comes in. A program specifically designed to enhance our precision by creating a structured system for feedback from sim racers and real-world drivers alike.

This isn’t about patching mistakes. It’s about refining the razor’s edge of realism, where minute adjustments can make the difference between immersion and immersion-breaking.

The Factory Driver Program is designed to harness the experience of sim racers and real-world racers in a unique new testing process to create sim cars that are #RaceReady.

Why a Car Review Portal?

The universal thing we all love doing when booting up a racing sim (or a new mod or DLC) is going out and shaking down a car. And then, in time-honoured tradition, heading to the nearest public forum to complain about the handling!

For developers, most of that criticism is difficult (and often impossible) to action. It’s the same spectrum that presents itself in real-world racing. When you look at any successful race team, you’ll find one thing in common: all their drivers are able to express what they’re experiencing in the car in a way that the engineers are able to work with.

Conversely, the teams that struggle, you can usually listen to their radio comms and figure out the problem in five minutes—a basic inability of driver to communicate any actionable data to their engineers.

So how do we get that kind of precise, intricate feedback to our handling staff at the studio?

Crazily enough … by giving you the answers!

Welcome to the FDP Portal

Take any corner, then break it down into its 3 phases: turn in, mid-turn, exit. Now your car, in all these phases, is going to do any of the following: understeer a lot, understeer a little, be neutral, oversteer a little, or oversteer a lot. That’s pretty much it.

In the Factory Driver Program, we’ll ask you to tell us what the car is doing via a series of multiple-choice answers. Tell us what best matches your experience, and we will then be able to take that and use it to enhance the handling of our cars.

The FDP has around 40 different “text adventure-like” questions spanning five different categories—Car Setup, Authenticity, Finding Speed, Endurance Racing, and Dynamic Track—and this should give you a sense of how deeply we’ll be getting “inside” every car in PMR.

Moreover, some of these questions are constructed to intentionally help us spot quirks, and we also have a comment box for every individual question—so if you want to engage in an 80-comment chain about the ride height sensitivity of one specific GT3 car, go right ahead because they will be automatically AI-parsed and sorted by car, category, and trait.

All these responses are then fed into a purpose-created algorithm (this isn’t about a simple aggregate score, because it must be “weighted” to factor in external parameters) to generate a “score”. This score is essentially a Likert scale that will enable our handling staff to immediately spot if something is askew in one or more specific areas of a car.

That score will be public, too. Every Factory Driver will be able to openly see the state of each car we build and watch as it progresses through development and know that their test laps are literally driving the handling of our cars throughout final polish.

This “text adventure” format can easily be translated to empower those from non-English speaking regions, too, so they can also contribute feedback with the exact same level of detail.

Who Can Apply?

We’re not asking for your participation in basic playtests or to leisurely turn a few laps after work without ever entering the setup menu. This isn’t a beta program, and it isn’t a way to get an advanced copy of the sim, and it’s not Early Access.

We want our sim scrutinized and criticised by the best because we know that racers are using our software as a training tool, we know the kind of prize money being handed out at eSports events, and we know that our community demand authenticity more than anything else.

That’s why we have to limit the FDP to drivers whose judgement we’re able to trust, and why there’s a rigorous application process for entry. We’re after “aliens”, sure, but we’re also after slowpokes who know their way around a car: we’re after guys who spend a week tracking their setups on spreadsheets, and gals who spend a week trying to perfect their exit from T7 at Lime Rock.

And this doesn’t just stop at sim racers.

The guys towing out their amateur cars to the track every weekend, the gals who’ve spent time in the professional GT ranks and are maybe starting to dial it back a bit, the guys who split their simulator time with turning wrenches—potentially on the very cars we offer—this is every bit your program as well.

Your experience is going to make this the most authentic handling sim we’ve ever created. So if you feel you’re right for the program, and that you have the time to dedicate to being a factory test driver, applications are now open. Come on in! And let’s build this together.

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Discuss this program in our forum or in Discord. Pre-order NOW!