Sarcasm was intended, but not towards the end user. T10 has this obsession with supercars, hypercars and 1000bhp rocketships, whereas the feedback shows that the joy of racing is in controllable, comfortable race cars.
If I could, I'd spend all of my time racing junior spec series like the Ginetta Junior, Mazda MX-5 Cup and Formula Mazda serie if they made them permanent instead of giving us a PI 990 Porsche 953 (or whatever it was). I really don't care if I come last - as long as it has been a close, fraught, enjoyable battle, and not because some tosspot smacked me out on the start/finish line (which happened twice on the Le Mans endurance race) because they can't control the wheelspin.
Yeah the entry level stuff has been great, and I'm actually pleasantly surprised to see it being received so well. Of course, the people actually responding to those polls are a very small and (probably) more dedicated bunch so don't really represent the casual players. Hopefully T10 actually listen to them regardless though, and utilize this stuff better.
On the Horizon side you are always pushed towards the upper classes, and I get how there is a bit of a "move up the ladder!" thing with the "progression" (if you can/want to call it that) in FM8, but with the driving standards being what they are in FM8 the entry level cars can provide much more fun racing.
It would be great if they keep adding in more, like Clio Cup, Spec Racer Ford, Aussie Racing Cars, GR86 Cup, an extra low formula car like Formula Vee or 1600 or something. Especially something like Spec Racer Ford would be quite unique as they really aren't present in many games (iRacing has it, and I seem to remember one of the less popular/older PC sims does too), they would be a junior car with downforce which is a little different, and they look kinda like baby Can Am cars so they would be cute in little '70s throwback liveries.
I knew race tires come with wets once you purchase race tires but what I didn't know is if these cars already had race tires on them. Because I thought in the past I had purchased race cars and then had to buy race tires for them. Once the rain got heavier and I was having to take turns at 20mph and spinning the tires in burnout style down a straight, I figured the car came with race tires.
Now on to the second part of your post, I also do not want to sound condescending either. But none of the strategy of tire selection, doing pit stops, etc interests me at all. That's why I've never done a pit stop in this game. I don't care about it. I run my little 8-10 lap races with no tire wear or fuel strategy and I'm happy with that. Plus my back is so bad I can't stay seated for much longer than that. In the last 15 or so minutes of that 56 minute race it felt like I was leaning up against a lava flow. Same thing goes for tuning. I have no interest in it. I don't have the patience for it. I do pit stops in F1 '24 because I run the 35% length races and it's mandatory plus it's automatic. I don't have to figure out when to come in, the team tells me.
Now having said all of that I am going to go back and run that race again and do the pit stop thing just to avenge that disaster. Is that going to make me all of the sudden love strategy, pit stops, fuel burn, etc? I doubt it but we'll see. If you like doing all of that stuff, that's great. It's just not for me.
Yeah the rain is brutal in this game, it's not like real life where the dry line and hot tires mean you can survive for a little while as it starts raining to make a decision whether or not to pit, in any rain condition other than "Light Rain" or "Drizzle" the wets are absolutely mandatory within a lap (usually less than a lap) of the rain starting. In "Drizzle" you can run slicks just fine, and in "Light Rain" they aren't as fast as the wets but are still fairly driveable.
I'd really like them to slow down the transition from dry to wet. Between how aggressive it is and how the rain transition is triggered (by the lead car) it almost seems like it's designed to just bone the leader if no practice has been done, and with practice it's easy to know exactly when it's gonna rain every time in Free Play/Private Multiplayer... Really ruins both the unpredictability and the fairness of it.
I was more intending my post to sound encouraging, like we have several years left on this game and T10 doesn't seem that interested in making the career stuff much better, so give it a shot and you might find some more depth in the game. It's certainly not the kind of thing you fall in love with the first time, but it really adds another layer. At first it can be a little daunting/frustrating as you inevitably make some misjudgements and choose the wrong tire, but as it becomes second nature I find it really adds a lot to the experience. Now that they added the tire wear multiplier, you can crank it up in Free Play so you can get the added depth without needing to sit around for so long, which is great.
It really can add a tension and satisfaction to the races. For example choosing an alternate strategy and wondering the whole race if you are going to be able to make it pay off, then with 4 laps to go realizing you miscalculated and your tires are about to start falling off soon... But all the other cars pit, so you make the decision to stay out and try to survive, watching the other cars on fresh tires carve into your lead multiple seconds per lap. If they catch you, sure it's kinda disappointing, but if you hang onto and manage to salvage a win after the miscalculation, then it's super satisfying.
