As you have probably noticed by now, some very important sites have posted reviews of Power&Glory v2.0 mod. This is a bit of a paradox because the Power&Glory v2.0 mod is not yet available for download. So what happened?

We have provided release candidate versions of our mod to the reviewers and they have been working on it for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, some bug hunting took a bit more time than what we had initially thought it was necessary. We also had a server crash on our private forums, kindly hosted by the GPL Repository. Our amazing administrators, Keith and Bill, are working night and day to solve the problem and has enabled us to work on the forums again, thank you very much guys. Still we lost direct contact of our team members for 4-5 days. Excuses though, we are very sorry for the delay.

The release is imminent, but we can't give you a precise date for now. Still, the reviews are real reviews and not previews, as they are based on the release candidate version. We are taking care of a couple of graphic bugs a CTD issue here and there... you know the usual staff. We are working hard to eliminate every single problem because we simply hate patches.

We can only be grateful of the reviews this mod is getting. Honestly we even think it is really so much. Maybe we are just false modest, maybe we have got used to our mod... we don't know. What we do know is that we have done this work with great passion and enormous dedication. We tried to follow the paradigm of the best modding groups of the past, as the GPLEA, the initial SIMBIN, the VirtuaLM people and so on. Stay tuned, it's almost done. Thank you again to all the sites for the trully amazing reviews.

The reviews until now:

AutoSimSport review 82%
DrivingItalia.net review 9 stars
SimHQ review "mod of the year recommendation"

more to come...

The Ford Mustang first appeared in 1964 and was immediately popular for its style and its capabilities.

Ford turned to SCCA racing to stir even more popularity for the car, and wanted a performance version of the Mustang that could go after the Corvette in SCCA B Production racing, so it tagged Carroll Shelby to build one, to fit competition rules.

Shelby-destined fastback body style Mustangs began life on regular Ford production lines, but they were assembled without hoods, grilles, rear seats, exhaust systems, or emblems. The cars arrived at Shelby-American's Los Angeles facility with stock 289-inch, 271-horse V-8s, but they were soon treated to the Texan's recipe.

Since the Mustang would be packing extra power (306 hp), the rest of the components were modified to respond appropriately. Chassis improvements included relocating the front-suspension mounting points and installing Koni shocks, traction bars, larger antirollbars, and special Goodyear Blue Dot tires on 15-inch steel or aluminum wheels.
Items scrounged from Ford's parts bins included 11-inch front disc brakes, larger drums at the rear and special bracing under the hood.

A quote from Motor Trend magazine's original test of the GT350 (May '65) stated: "Handling is much improved over even the best-handling, kit-equipped, normal Mustang. There's so much cornering force that the idiot light came on and the gauge wavered due to oil surge in the sump."

As planned, Carroll Shelby also developed a lighter, race-ready GT 350R with the same engine specs as competition Cobra 289s. That meant a nominal 340 bhp (up to 380 bhp in some examples) - surpassing an outstanding 1.17 bhp per cubic inch.

In order to qualify for SCCA homologation requirements, 100 examples needed to be produced by January 1st, 1965. Amazingly, the cars were ready to go by the due date, all painted in Wimbledon White livery with Guardsman Blue stripes. Well, they weren't entirely ready but they did pass the inspection.

7 GT-350R's sit in the Shelby factory lot, 1965

The car won its first race ever in February of 1965 at Green Valley, Texas. The GT350R would go on to win SCCA races in Lime Rock, Connecticut, and Willow Springs, just to name a few. It was raced with a lot of success both in American and European events.

A total of 562 Shelby GT350s were built in 1965, 37 of which were the lightweight race or "R-model" cars.

With the Shelby-ized potent engine bellowing through a loud side exhaust, close-ratio aluminum four-speed with steep differential, quick steering, competent suspension and big brakes, the GT 350 was pure performance nirvana.

It was the right car at the right time, putting Ford on the SCCA racing map, and leading Shelby to a promising future modifying Mustangs.
Shelby went on to produce many more Mustang variants later, including the big block GT 500s but, to the cognoscenti, the first one was the purest, being the "R-model" version regarded as the most special of them all.

A common sight in 1965: Wimbledon White with Guardsman Blue stripes 
SCCA B/Production class Shelby, mid corner.

Bringing the GT-350R to Power & Glory

A general clean up of the body was needed to bring the cars back to their period state

The external changes made are:

• New Front bumper style with different vents
• Removal of passenger side mirrors
• Roll cage changed for 60's style roll bar.
• Removal of other non period items, such as cut off switches, and towing hooks.

Of course there have been changes inside the cockpit too.

• Brand new "Stewart Warner" period style gauge set and needles.
• Brand new Moto Lita period style wooden rimmed and leather wrapped steering wheels.
  
• Deletion of front roll bars, electric boxes on dashboard, as well as other non period items.

Physics

Two models are available to drive within Power & Glory 2.0. The SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) version, and the CASC (Canadian Auto Sport Club) version which ran a different set of guidelines and rules to their American counterparts.

Certainly a heavy car, but extremely fun to drive. Although the car shows some understeer in "turn in" phase, you can easily eliminate it by pressing the gas pedal and instantly achieving a very nicely controllable power on oversteer. You can keep some incredible wide angle drifts with this car, but the key to go fast here, is to not overdo it with the gas and manage to keep a slight oversteer that points you at the turn exit. Keeping the differential lock heavily preloaded, will certainly help you achieve this kind of driving style and indeed the differential has two options with just a hint of preload and another one heavily preloaded.

As easy as the the car control is, you better be a bit more careful under heavy braking. The rear drums can and will overheat sooner than the front disc brakes. This also means that they will also arrive at their optimum temp before the front disc pads , meaning that rear wheels blocking is something to be aware of. So you better keep this car braking bias way forward, to eliminate a bit the braking instability.

The SCCA cars have a 340bhp engine, with amazing low and mid range torque that gives excellent tractability. The CASC car has a much powerful 380bhp engine, but lacks the low and mid range power of the SCCA cars and only comes alive after 4000rpm.

You will find that the cars come with quite a variety of different tyres makes and compounds, from early to more modern dunlops, plus firestones and goodyears, each with it's own characteristics of course, but this makes part of a different story.

With good front brakes, fun and easy handling and good grip, it's no surprise this car was a bad client for the Z06 Chevrolet Corvettes with their all around drums brakes and their heavy bodies.

Now for some screenshots

The Austin-Healey 3000 was a sports car built from 1959 to 1967, by Jensen Motors for the Austin-Healey marque, and is the best known of the 'big' Healey models. The 3000 was a successful car which won its class in many European rallies in its heyday - and is still used in competition by enthusiasts today. The car was originally to be called the "Mille Miglia" after the famous sports car race, but the displacement-based "3000" name stuck instead. Both the 3000 and the 100 before it were known simply as "the Austin-Healey" in the 1950s, since the company was essentially a single-vehicle marque.

Austin Healey 3000's have a long competition history - having raced at most major racing circuits around the world, including Sebring (USA), Le Mans (France), Targa Florio (Italy), and Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst (Australia).

"DD300" at Le Mans in 1961. "767KNX" at Sebring in 1965.

The Austin Healey 3000 was pitched against much more exotic machinery in the GT class such as the Aston Matin DB4, the Jaguar E-Type and of course the Ferrari 250 SWB and GTO, the latter also being in the same capacity class (under 3 liters). Not surprisingly, Healey opted for rallying as the main focus for competition, but the car was raced occasionally in GT races.

Bringing the Healey to Power & Glory

The GTL model gave us a great base to start with, but again the details of the cars have been altered and changed to characterize each unique car.

The external changes include

• 2 New exhaust systems. One long "stock" type as seen on the cars in various rallies and endurance tests. The 2nd a racier variant with twin pipes exiting behind the passenger side door.
• 2 New styles of spot lights. For extra vision in night time endurance racing the cars were fitted with additional spot lights. The early type had the spot lights mounted on brackets attached directly to the front of the chassis, where the later type they were embedded into the front bodywork of the cars.
• 2 New grilles. The Early 1960 model Healeys have a new 3D vertical bar grille fitted. As you progress through the years you can see on the later cars this was removed, and finally on the last MK II Healeys it was replaced with a simple full width mesh type grille.
• Welded up side vents. The early Healeys did not feature any side venting. Instead they have a chrome trim piece in its place. Later cars have the vents installed.
• Cowl scoops. 2 different sorts of cowl scoops are fitted to the various cars. A large type as seen above on "DD300" Also a smaller flatter type on later cars.
• Le Mans style Fuel filler. A quick release fuel filler was fitted to some of the cars for endurance racing, hoping to speed up pit stops. The teams modified the filler location by putting it directly in the center of the boot lid, and cutting a hole for it to poke through. The hole was then re-enforced around the cut edge for a clean finish.

Of course there have been changes inside the cockpit too.

• The brand new "Smiths" gauge set is the star attraction, with accurately painted dials that are unique to the Healey.
  
• Gone is the gauge pod on the left hand side of the cockpit, as well as the roll cage and other non period additions.

Physics

As usual, great amount of time has been spent on research for this particular model.From different front tracks depending on the car bodywork, to accurate damage modeling of the delicate wire wheels and of course proper tyres and compounds for mk1s and mk2s, also depending on the model year.

One of the most particular characteristics is the gearbox. The original car gearbox had an extra hydraulic overdrive mode for 3rd and 4th gear, resulting actually as a six speed gearbox. Track racing prepared cars, usually eliminated the overdrive because it would make the gear selection slow and also account for bigger drive train losses. The result was a very closely geared 3rd and 4th gear. Not only we have simulated this as needed and as you would expect, but one of the cars is actually a rally car that is equipped with the overdrive gearbox, resulting in slower gear changes and of course, six very closely placed gears. We are sure that accuracy enthusiasts will be delighted to drive this car.

Although it is true that the car doesn't have top of the range performance and it is actually more of an underdog when compared to other more famous cars like Jaguars and Ferraris, it still is a very easy to drive car. As a matter of fact and despite the big 3 liters engine, people that drive it, tend to compare it with under 2 liter cars, not only for the low performance but most importantly for the agility and lightness in its handling characteristics. Nice low to middle range torque from the engine, good grip on slow circuits and easy on the tires, makes this car an excellent option for extremely long endurance races where driving comfort is very important.

Now for some screenshots