Written by Project Motor Racing’s Test Centre Track Goes Live
Straight4 Studios has rolled out a fresh piece of content for Project Motor Racing, and this time it’s not another slice of vintage motorsport history — it’s a look behind the curtain at how the game itself gets built. The new Test Centre track is now available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, giving simracers a chance to explore the very environment the development team uses to shape the driving experience before it ever reaches a public build.
For a title that has built its identity around recreating the feel of historic racing from the 1960s and ’70s, this is a slightly different kind of release. There’s no famous corner named after a legendary driver, no grandstand full of period-correct advertising boards. Instead, Straight4 Studios has opened up its internal testing ground, and the response from the community has been more enthusiastic than you’d expect for what is, on paper, a functional add-on rather than a glamorous new circuit.
The update lands as part of Project Motor Racing’s ongoing content cadence, which has seen Straight4 Studios steadily add tracks and features since launch. Test Centre fits into that pattern, but its purpose sets it apart from anything else currently in the game, and it gives us a good excuse to dig into what makes this release worth a look, even for simracers who wouldn’t normally get excited about a track that isn’t based on a real venue.
What Is the Test Centre Track?
Test Centre is exactly what the name suggests: a purpose-built facility that Straight4 Studios uses internally to evaluate how the game handles different track surfaces, tests force feedback response, and fine-tunes rumble effects on supported wheels and controllers. Rather than keeping this tool locked away in a development build, the studio has packaged it up and handed it to players.
That makes Test Centre less of a traditional circuit and more of a technical playground. It isn’t modeled on a specific real-world venue, and it doesn’t carry the historical weight of the tracks Project Motor Racing typically features. What it does offer is a controlled space where simracers can push the car physics, feel out different surface types, and get a sense of the sim’s force feedback behavior outside the pressure of a race weekend.
The track is distributed as a free download through ModHub, weighing in at roughly 762.54MB. It’s a modest file size, which should make it an easy pickup for anyone already running Project Motor Racing, regardless of platform.
Key Features of the New Circuit
Test Centre isn’t a single layout — it’s actually a collection of six distinct configurations, each designed to stress different aspects of vehicle handling and surface interaction. Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s included:
| Layout | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Racing Layout | A full circuit configuration for general lapping and handling checks |
| Big Loop | A wide, sweeping route for testing higher-speed stability |
| Small Loop | A tighter loop suited to low-speed handling evaluation |
| Small Needle Skidpad | A compact skidpad for testing grip limits and rotation |
| Big Needle Route | An extended skidpad-style layout for sustained cornering tests |
| Playground | An open area for free-form testing and force feedback exploration |
That variety is what makes Test Centre genuinely useful rather than a novelty. Instead of one static layout, players get six different ways to experience the same environment, each geared toward a different aspect of car behavior.
How to Access the Update
Getting the Test Centre track into your copy of Project Motor Racing is straightforward, and Straight4 Studios has kept the process simple across all supported platforms. Since it’s distributed through ModHub rather than as separate paid DLC, there’s no purchase step involved — just a download and install.
- Launch Project Motor Racing on PC, PS5, or Xbox Series X|S.
- Navigate to the in-game ModHub section.
- Locate the Test Centre track listing (file size approximately 762.54MB).
- Download and install the content directly from ModHub.
- Select Test Centre from the track list when setting up a session.
Once installed, the track is available in both Race Weekend single-player sessions and Custom Lobby multiplayer setups, so there’s flexibility in how you want to use it — whether that’s a solo test session to dial in your wheel force feedback settings or a shared lobby with friends comparing notes on how the surfaces feel.
Why This Update Matters for Project Motor Racing
On the surface, adding a test track might seem like a minor footnote compared to a new historic circuit or a fresh batch of cars. But for a simracing title still building out its identity, Test Centre says something about how Straight4 Studios approaches development — and it gives the community a genuinely practical tool.
Simracers spend a lot of time tuning force feedback settings, adjusting for different wheelbases, and trying to understand how a given car reacts on different surfaces before taking that setup into a full race weekend. Having access to the same environment the developers use for that exact purpose is a meaningful addition, even without the visual spectacle of a new track set in period-correct scenery. The six layouts inside Test Centre — from the tight Small Loop to the open-ended Playground — mean players aren’t limited to a single way of evaluating their setup. Instead, they can move between configurations built for high-speed stability, low-speed handling, and pure grip testing, all within one download. For a sim built around historic motorsport, that kind of practical, developer-grade tool is an unusual but welcome addition to the content lineup, and it’s the sort of detail that tends to matter most to the players who take their setups seriously.
It also signals a level of transparency worth noting. Rather than keeping internal tools separate from the public build, Straight4 Studios has chosen to fold this one directly into the game and make it freely available. For a studio working on a title still growing its content library, that kind of openness can go a long way toward building trust with a community that’s watching closely for signs of steady, thoughtful development.
Community and Early Reactions
Early discussion around the Test Centre release has focused mostly on its practical value. Simracers who spend time fine-tuning setups have pointed to the Playground and skidpad layouts as useful spaces for isolating force feedback behavior without the distractions of a full circuit — braking zones, traffic, or lap-time pressure. The Big Loop and Small Loop configurations, meanwhile, offer a quicker way to sanity-check handling changes between sessions.
There’s also a bit of curiosity in the community about what a behind-the-scenes track like this reveals about how Project Motor Racing is built. Seeing the tool developers use daily gives players a small window into the studio’s process, and that kind of transparency tends to be well received in a genre where fans are often deeply invested in the technical details behind the sims they spend hours setting up.
What’s Next for Project Motor Racing
The Test Centre track arrives as part of Project Motor Racing’s continued rollout of updates since its release on PC via Steam. Straight4 Studios has maintained a pattern of adding content over time, and this latest release fits that broader strategy of keeping the sim actively supported rather than static. You can keep tabs on that rollout, along with other sim racing updates, as new content lands.
What comes next hasn’t been detailed in this release, but the pattern so far suggests players can expect further additions down the line, whether that’s more historic circuits, expanded car rosters, or further refinements to the physics and force feedback systems that Test Centre itself is designed to help fine-tune. For a game built around recreating the feel of vintage motorsport, having a dedicated space to keep improving that feel is a solid sign for where things are headed.
In the meantime, the Test Centre track gives current players something new to explore right away — not as a race destination, but as a tool. Whether you’re chasing the perfect force feedback curve or just curious about how it all comes together, it’s worth a lap or six.
FAQ: Project Motor Racing Test Centre Track
Is the Test Centre track free?
Yes. It’s distributed at no cost through ModHub, with a file size of approximately 762.54MB.
Which platforms support the update?
The Test Centre track is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
What is the Test Centre track used for?
It originated as an internal Straight4 Studios tool for testing track surfaces, force feedback, and rumble effects. It’s now available to players for the same purpose.
How many layouts does it include?
Six: Racing Layout, Big Loop, Small Loop, Small Needle Skidpad, Big Needle Route, and Playground.
Can I use Test Centre in multiplayer?
Yes. It’s playable in both Race Weekend single-player sessions and Custom Lobby multiplayer.
Is Test Centre based on a real-world circuit?
No. It’s a purpose-built testing facility rather than a recreation of an existing venue.
Source: bsimracing.com
