Having nearly reached the top of the traditional product maturation S-curve, PC-based racing sims have had to differentiate themselves in areas other than the fidelity of the driving physics, the quality of the sounds and graphics associated with cars and tracks, and the abilities of the AI opponents. Basically, the new releases coming from top shelf developers like SimBin will concentrate more on things like which cars and tracks are modeled than they will on advances in the engine that drives the experience.

SimBin has been building on top of the excellent ISI simulation engine for years, and Race 07 will continue that practice. There are, of course, pros and cons to this depending on your satisfaction with the ISI engine. For example, I greatly enjoy the ISI engine starting on or about the second lap of any given race. Prior to that, it seems that I`ve always suffered at the hands of preternaturally talented qualifying drivers that inexplicably become village idiots the moment the green flag drops for the race. It all balances out, though, since I can pass a large group of the idiot drivers on the first lap and end up somewhere around where I would have qualified if they hadn`t each had brief moments of superb skill throughout the qualifying sessions. And since they`ve recovered just enough of their formal skill to race at a level where I can more or less keep up, until such time as I have the inevitable lapse of concentration that results in my impromptu meeting with a concrete wall, of course, I can enjoy the remainder of the race. Keep in mind, though, that your mileage will may vary.

Without significant advances in the underlying engine of the game, areas for improvement are naturally limited. As far as the driveability of the cars and the intelligence displayed by the computer controlled opponents goes, there will at best be minor incremental enhancements over previous releases. Even when it comes to the eye candy, the improvements can be expected to be more evolutionary than revolutionary.

For example, drivers of open-wheel cars will now have a more realistic view of the action in that the view is constricted by the confines of the driver`s helmet visor. As the race progresses, the visor will become dirty, and may even begin to get covered with the pureed carcasses of any unfortunate insects that may have dallied just a second too long on getting out of the way of an approaching car. Don`t get me wrong: this is a very cool idea, and I actually laughed out loud ("LOL" to you youngsters) the first time a bug got splattered on the visor, and again when I pressed the key that simulates the driver`s hand coming up to pull a tear-off from the visor. The Sunday drivers that prefer to be fully enclosed in their cars will be similarly excited to learn that they now will have windshield wipers to remove road spray and rain during wet races. In either type of car, you will want to set the head movement option to 100% to get the full effect of the roughness of the tracks. Anything less than 100% seemed oddly smooth. One of the things I most distinctly remember about my kart racing days is that the track was often so rough and bouncy that I could barely focus my vision enough to stay out of the dirt. Well, that`s my story anyway, and I have no intention of changing it.

Various other new camera angles and first-person view refinements add polish to Race 07. I was particularly intrigued by the "Action Cam." This view is somewhat console-ish in that it uses overlays for essential instruments like the tach and provides lap/timing data in blocks in the corners of the screen, but it has the benefit of being somewhat elevated over the realistic seating. This makes a difference in very low-slung cars like the Formula BMW and Formula 3000 racers. With cars that sit that low to the ground, it can be difficult to see the apex of turns. The Act...