Project Motor Racing reunites the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore in the free Aussie Rivals Pack

Project Motor Racing is bringing one of touring car racing’s most emotionally charged rivalries back to the grid with the free Aussie Rivals Pack.

Released alongside Update 2.1, the DLC combines the 2013 Ford Falcon FG V8 Supercar with the newly added 2013 Holden Commodore VF. The two cars represent the defining red-versus-blue conflict that shaped Australian motorsport for decades, particularly through the annual battle for supremacy at Mount Panorama.

Ford against Holden was never limited to lap times or championship points.

The rivalry entered family homes, factory towns, local dealerships, company fleets and suburban driveways. Supporters frequently inherited their allegiance before they were old enough to understand engine specifications, and Bathurst weekend became the moment when those loyalties were tested in public.

The Aussie Rivals Pack recreates that argument through two front-engined, rear-wheel-drive touring cars powered by naturally aspirated V8 engines producing approximately 620 horsepower.

They are heavy, physical and deliberately demanding. Drivers must control rear-wheel slip, manage tyre degradation, attack kerbs without destabilising the chassis and remain precise under braking when more than 1,400 kilograms of race car attempts to continue travelling in a straight line.

The Ford Falcon had already been released as free content earlier in 2026. Update 2.1 reworks its handling and places it beside the missing half of the rivalry: the Holden Commodore VF.

Project Motor Racing now has the cars, the class and the circuit needed to recreate the 2013-era Australian V8 battle properly.

The Holden Commodore completes a rivalry the Falcon could not recreate alone

The Ford Falcon FG entered Project Motor Racing through Update 1.7.0.0 as a free addition for all players.

Its arrival gave the simulator one of the most recognisable Australian touring cars of the early 2010s, but the class remained incomplete.

A Falcon without a Commodore can still provide an entertaining driving experience. It cannot reproduce the cultural and competitive tension that made the category distinctive.

The Holden Commodore VF corrects that absence.

Its addition converts the existing Ford into one half of an actual rivalry rather than an isolated historical vehicle. Players can now organise mixed grids, compare the two cars directly and recreate the type of close-contact racing associated with the 2013 V8 Supercars season.

Straight4 Studios has therefore reorganised both cars under the Aussie Rivals Pack rather than treating the Commodore as an unrelated standalone release.

Existing players are not being asked to buy the Falcon again or purchase a separate premium rival. The complete two-car package is free.

That decision matters because parity-based touring car racing becomes more convincing when every participant can access both sides.

The rivalry should be decided through driving, setup and strategy rather than through ownership of different paid content.

Both cars share the same fundamental performance specification

Project Motor Racing lists the Falcon FG and Commodore VF with the same principal performance figures.

Both use a 4.9-litre naturally aspirated V8 producing 620 horsepower at 7,250 rpm and 645 Nm of torque at 6,000 rpm.

Each car weighs 1,410 kilograms, uses a six-speed sequential transmission and sends its power exclusively to the rear wheels.

Those similarities reflect the philosophy behind the Car of the Future regulations introduced in 2013.

The category moved toward a greater number of common components to reduce costs, improve safety and create closer competition between manufacturers. Chassis architecture, brakes, suspension elements and other major systems became more tightly controlled than under the previous regulations.

The bodywork and engine identities still allowed each manufacturer to remain recognisable, but the underlying platform prevented one brand from creating a fundamentally different type of racing car.

Project Motor Racing’s specifications preserve that parity.

The Falcon and Commodore offer the same headline power, torque and weight, meaning neither car begins with an obvious advantage visible through a simple statistics screen.

Their identity must emerge through smaller handling characteristics, setup choices, sound, presentation and the driver’s confidence behind the wheel.

Equal specifications do not make these cars easy to drive

A shared technical foundation should not be confused with accessible handling.

These cars combine substantial power with rear-wheel drive, limited mass reduction and an aggressive touring car setup designed for direct competition.

The driver must manage several forces simultaneously.

Heavy braking transfers weight toward the front axle and reduces the stability available at the rear. Turning while the chassis remains unsettled can begin a slide before the car has even reached the apex.

Applying throttle too early creates the opposite problem.

The naturally aspirated V8 delivers enough torque to overwhelm the rear tyres, particularly in slow corners or when the car is still carrying lateral load. The driver needs to open the throttle progressively without surrendering too much acceleration.

Kerbs add another variable.

A V8 Supercar must be driven assertively enough to shorten the racing line, but striking a large kerb with the wrong suspension load can move the car away from the intended trajectory.

At Mount Panorama, that movement may leave almost no space for recovery.

The Falcon and Commodore reward commitment, but they punish inputs that exceed the available grip by even a small margin.

Update 2.1 rebuilds the AUS V8 driving experience

The Holden Commodore does not arrive as the only change to the class.

Update 2.1 includes a complete handling and tyre overhaul for both AUS V8 cars.

Straight4 Studios has revised aerodynamic sensitivity, inertia, centre of gravity, brake behaviour and the way the tyres respond under different conditions. The class also receives updated suspension parameters, expanded setup ranges and new default configurations.

Brake heat can now influence tyre temperature, adding another relationship drivers must consider during longer sessions.

Repeated heavy braking may generate the temperature needed to bring the tyres into a more effective operating window. Excessive heat can produce the opposite result, reducing consistency and accelerating wear.

Brake ducts introduce another setup compromise.

Opening them provides additional cooling but can increase aerodynamic drag. Closing them can improve efficiency while creating a greater risk of overheating during circuits with frequent high-energy braking zones.

The grooved wet tyres have also received adjustments intended to improve their behaviour in rain.

These changes mean the Aussie Rivals Pack is not simply placing a new car beside an unchanged Falcon.

Both vehicles enter a revised class designed to provide a more coherent and technically detailed interpretation of Australian V8 racing.

New default setups provide a starting point rather than a complete solution

The AUS V8 overhaul includes new default setups.

This is necessary because substantial changes to suspension behaviour, tyre modelling, inertia and braking can make older configurations unsuitable.

A setup created before Update 2.1 may no longer produce the expected balance.

Spring rates, damping, differential settings and aerodynamic choices interact with a revised physical model, meaning previous solutions need to be tested again rather than transferred automatically.

The new defaults should give players a stable starting point.

They are not expected to remove the need for adjustment.

A setup that works at Mount Panorama must manage high-speed sections, major elevation changes, aggressive kerbs and several low-speed exits requiring strong traction.

A tighter circuit may reward greater rotation and mechanical responsiveness. A faster venue can demand additional stability and lower drag.

Driving style matters as well.

Some players prefer a secure rear axle that allows early throttle application. Others accept a more mobile car because the additional rotation helps them reach the apex.

The Falcon and Commodore may share official specifications, but setup development gives drivers room to create different interpretations of the same platform.

The 2013 season marked the beginning of the Car of the Future era

The real Falcon FG and Commodore VF competed during a major transition for Australian touring car racing.

The 2013 season introduced the Car of the Future regulations, later renamed the New Generation V8 Supercar formula.

The project was intended to reduce the financial burden of building and operating a competitive car while improving safety and opening the championship to additional manufacturers.

Ford and Holden had dominated the modern identity of the category, but 2013 also brought Nissan and Mercedes-Benz machinery to the grid.

The new regulations used control components to standardise important parts of the cars. Teams continued developing their own engines and aerodynamic packages within the rules, but the common foundation created closer technical relationships between cars carrying different bodywork.

Holden introduced the new VF Commodore immediately.

Ford continued with the FG Falcon shape, now adapted to the Car of the Future platform.

The result was a season in which the traditional rivalry remained central even as the championship expanded beyond its established two-manufacturer structure.

Project Motor Racing’s DLC concentrates on the cars that still represented the emotional core of the competition.

The Commodore VF became immediately successful

The VF Commodore entered competition with significant pressure.

Holden had built decades of identity around the Commodore name, and its teams were expected to convert the new platform into victories immediately.

They did.

Craig Lowndes won the first race of the Car of the Future era at Adelaide in a Triple Eight Commodore. The VF continued accumulating victories throughout the season and helped Holden secure the manufacturers’ championship.

Jamie Whincup eventually won the 2013 drivers’ championship in another Triple Eight Commodore.

The VF’s early success demonstrated that the introduction of common components had not removed the importance of engineering quality, operational execution or driver performance.

Teams still needed to understand how the new chassis behaved, how the tyres responded and how to extract performance under different conditions.

Triple Eight adapted quickly.

The Commodore became the benchmark across much of the season, giving Ford a clear target and ensuring the traditional rivalry remained competitive despite the arrival of new manufacturers.

The Falcon delivered Ford’s defining victory at Bathurst

Holden achieved greater overall success during the 2013 championship, but Ford secured the victory with the strongest emotional significance.

Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards won the Bathurst 1000 for Ford Performance Racing in the Falcon FG.

The result gave the team its first victory in the Great Race and marked the first win for a factory-backed Ford entry at Bathurst in four decades.

Winterbottom had spent years pursuing that result.

The final stages developed into a direct battle against Jamie Whincup’s Holden, placing the Falcon and Commodore rivalry at the centre of the race when the pressure was highest.

Winterbottom defended the lead and crossed the line only a fraction of a second ahead.

For Ford supporters, the victory carried more meaning than another result in the championship standings.

Bathurst is the event through which many Australian touring car careers, teams and manufacturers are ultimately judged. Winning at Mount Panorama can define a season even when the championship goes elsewhere.

The 2013 Falcon included in Project Motor Racing therefore represents a genuine historical winner rather than a generic version selected only because it fits the era.

Bathurst turns the rivalry into a survival test

Mount Panorama is already available in Project Motor Racing, allowing the Aussie Rivals Pack to be used at the circuit most closely associated with Ford and Holden competition.

The 6.213-kilometre layout contains 23 corners and an elevation change of approximately 174 metres.

Its public-road origins remain visible throughout the lap.

The lower sections allow high speed and relatively conventional braking zones. The climb toward the top of the Mountain becomes increasingly narrow, with concrete walls restricting the available margin.

Drivers then cross the skyline before beginning a steep descent through a sequence of corners where a small mistake can damage the car or block the circuit.

Conrod Straight provides a brief period of acceleration before The Chase forces the driver into another heavy braking event.

The circuit tests almost every weakness of a large rear-wheel-drive touring car.

Traction is critical when climbing away from slower corners. Stability matters across the high-speed sections. Brake temperature becomes relevant during repeated stops, while tyre condition influences whether the rear remains controllable late in a stint.

The Falcon and Commodore may feel dramatic on any circuit.

Mount Panorama explains why they became legends.

The Mountain rewards discipline more than aggression alone

The official promotion describes these cars through big slides, brutal kerbs and physical racing.

That attitude is accurate, but Bathurst punishes drivers who interpret aggression as a lack of control.

The quickest lap is not created by sliding through every corner.

Excessive oversteer increases tyre temperature, wastes acceleration and leaves the car poorly positioned for the next section. A spectacular correction may look impressive while still costing several tenths of a second.

The driver needs to manage the rear rather than constantly rescue it.

This is particularly important across the top of Mount Panorama, where several corners form one continuous sequence.

A compromised entry into one turn can create a poor line through the next two. The walls remove the possibility of widening the corner to recover.

The fastest approach requires commitment supported by precision.

The car must be allowed to move, but its movement needs to remain predictable enough that the driver can place it within centimetres of concrete barriers.

That tension is central to the appeal of Australian V8 touring cars.

They look violent because they demand constant physical control, not because successful drivers abandon technique.

Naturally aspirated power changes the relationship with the throttle

Both cars use a naturally aspirated V8 rather than a turbocharged engine.

The absence of turbo lag gives the driver a direct relationship with the accelerator.

Throttle movement produces an immediate response, making it easier to judge small changes in power delivery. It also means mistakes are exposed without delay.

A sudden application of throttle can break rear traction before the driver has finished opening the steering.

The engine’s character encourages the use of the complete rev range.

Maximum power arrives at 7,250 rpm, while peak torque is produced at 6,000 rpm. Drivers need to keep the V8 operating in its effective range without allowing wheelspin to consume the available performance.

The six-speed sequential gearbox supports rapid changes but still requires attention to timing.

An early downshift can destabilise the rear under braking. Holding a gear too long may limit acceleration or increase the risk of reaching the rev limiter before the next braking zone.

The result is a car that communicates clearly but does not protect the driver from poor decisions.

Rear-tyre management can determine an entire stint

The Aussie Rivals Pack is promoted through power and spectacle, but longer races will be decided by tyre management as much as outright pace.

The rear tyres perform several responsibilities.

They transmit more than 600 horsepower to the surface, provide lateral grip through corners and help stabilise the vehicle during braking and downshifting.

Aggressive throttle application can overheat them.

Repeated sliding can increase wear and gradually reduce the traction available at corner exit. As the tyres deteriorate, the driver may need to apply the accelerator more carefully, creating further time loss.

This can become a self-reinforcing problem.

A driver losing rear grip may begin correcting more frequently. Those corrections create additional temperature and wear, making the car even harder to control.

A cleaner driver can appear slower during the opening laps while retaining enough tyre performance to attack later in the stint.

Update 2.1’s expanded tyre and brake modelling should make this progression more visible.

The Falcon and Commodore are not only cars for qualifying laps and dramatic replays. Their full character emerges when the driver must maintain control after the original grip has begun to disappear.

Door-to-door racing is part of the class identity

Australian V8 racing became famous for close competition between large cars on circuits that frequently offered limited space.

The Falcon and Commodore were expected to withstand a level of physical contact uncommon in more fragile forms of motorsport.

That does not mean collisions carried no consequences.

Contact could damage suspension, affect steering, compromise aerodynamics or force a driver into a wall. The strongest competitors understood the difference between applying pressure and destroying both cars.

Project Motor Racing’s AUS V8 class should work best when players adopt the same principle.

The cars invite late braking, defensive positioning and side-by-side battles. Their weight and proportions give them a physical presence absent from lighter single-seaters or prototypes.

However, using that strength effectively still requires judgement.

A small door-to-door contact may be survivable. Striking another car at the wrong angle can rotate it immediately or destabilise the driver initiating the move.

The rivalry becomes convincing when both sides remain capable of reaching the next corner.

The Falcon and Commodore represent different sporting identities

The blue Ford and red Holden division became a simplified language through which supporters understood the championship.

The Falcon represented the Blue Oval and a long history of Ford competition in Australia. Its supporters often viewed the car as the aggressive challenger to Holden’s domestic dominance.

The Commodore carried Holden’s identity as the manufacturer most closely associated with Australian car production and national motorsport.

Those perceptions were shaped by decades of marketing, competition and family loyalty rather than by the exact technical differences between every model.

The manufacturers became symbols.

A victory for one could feel like a defeat inflicted on an entire opposing community. A Bathurst failure could remain part of family conversation for years.

The 2013 cars arrived near the end of that traditional era.

Ford eventually replaced the Falcon with the Mustang, while Holden ceased domestic manufacturing and later disappeared as an active automotive brand.

The Aussie Rivals Pack therefore recreates a rivalry that can no longer return in precisely the same form.

The disappearance of Falcon and Commodore adds historical weight

The Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore were not exotic supercars inaccessible to ordinary spectators.

Road-going versions were familiar across Australia.

They appeared as family cars, taxis, company vehicles, police cars, performance sedans and utility derivatives. Supporters could watch the race on Sunday and drive a car carrying the same name during the working week.

The racing versions were highly specialised machines, but the shared visual identity maintained the connection between track and road.

That relationship weakened as the Australian automotive industry changed.

Ford ended local Falcon production in 2016. Holden stopped manufacturing vehicles in Australia in 2017, and General Motors retired the Holden brand several years later.

Modern Supercars competition has continued, but the original Falcon-versus-Commodore argument belongs to a specific cultural period.

Driving the 2013 cars in Project Motor Racing is therefore an act of preservation.

The DLC does not only add two performance models. It records the final stage of a rivalry built around vehicles that once formed part of daily Australian life.

The Commodore is designed around heavy braking and committed rotation

Project Motor Racing describes the Holden Commodore VF as a car that thrives under heavy braking, committed rotation and precise throttle control.

That combination suggests a driver needs to create the corner entry deliberately.

The Commodore cannot simply be pointed toward an apex while the electronics solve the remaining balance.

The driver must transfer enough weight toward the front to generate response without releasing so much stability that the rear rotates uncontrollably.

Trail braking can help the car turn, but continuing too deeply into the corner may leave insufficient rear grip for the exit.

Once the Commodore is rotated, the throttle becomes the principal control.

Power needs to be introduced quickly enough to exploit the V8, but progressively enough to prevent the rear tyres from breaking away.

This produces the sense that every corner exit is a negotiation.

The car will provide substantial acceleration, but only after the driver has created the conditions required to use it.

The Falcon rewards commitment but punishes excess

The Falcon’s official description places similar emphasis on power, rear-wheel drive and limited tolerance for mistakes.

Its appeal comes from the point where physical movement remains controlled.

The driver can use weight transfer to rotate the car and attack kerbs aggressively, but there is a threshold beyond which the Falcon stops cooperating.

Crossing that threshold produces sudden oversteer, missed apexes and unstable braking entries.

The challenge is not to eliminate all movement.

A completely static Falcon would indicate that the driver is probably leaving performance unused. The car needs to rotate and transfer weight because those movements help it negotiate the circuit.

The skill lies in predicting them.

A driver who understands when the rear will begin moving can prepare the steering correction before the slide becomes severe. Someone reacting only after grip has been lost will usually overcorrect or surrender too much speed.

That relationship makes the Falcon particularly satisfying when driven well.

The car does not hide the driver’s contribution.

The two-car pack creates a natural foundation for multiplayer racing

The Aussie Rivals Pack should be particularly effective in organised multiplayer events.

A two-car class provides enough visual and cultural variety to create teams without introducing the larger Balance of Performance challenges associated with grids containing many unrelated vehicles.

Both cars share the same official power, torque and weight figures.

That gives league organisers a clear starting point for competition and allows races to focus on driver performance, setup development and strategic execution.

The Ford-versus-Holden division also creates an immediate narrative.

Players can choose a side, organise manufacturer championships and track whether one brand performs better across different circuits.

Mount Panorama is the obvious centrepiece, but the class can also produce strong racing at venues with heavy braking zones, elevation changes and limited space.

The cars are sufficiently powerful to create overtaking opportunities while remaining heavy enough that every pass requires planning.

Because the DLC is free, community organisers do not need to exclude participants who lack a paid content pack.

Career Mode has been updated to support the Commodore

Update 2.1 also modifies Career Mode events that permit the AUS V8 class.

Those events can now include the newly added Holden Commodore rather than remaining structured exclusively around the Falcon.

This gives the DLC relevance beyond standalone sessions and custom multiplayer races.

Players progressing through the career can use the Commodore within existing class events and build a longer relationship with the vehicle.

The addition also improves grid authenticity.

An Australian V8 event containing only Falcons could not represent the manufacturer rivalry at the centre of the category. Mixed fields create a more convincing competitive environment even when the opponents are controlled by AI.

The wider update includes further AI revisions, meaning the quality of the class will also depend on how effectively computer-controlled drivers manage braking, rear-wheel traction and close racing.

These cars need opponents capable of applying pressure without turning every corner into an uncontrolled collision.

Dynamic conditions can expose different weaknesses

Project Motor Racing’s circuits support changing weather, track evolution and day-night conditions through its True2Track system.

These variables can make the Falcon and Commodore even more demanding.

A wet circuit reduces the grip available to the rear tyres while the engine continues producing the same basic power. Drivers need to use higher gears, gentler throttle inputs and more conservative braking points.

Standing water can make parts of the normal racing line dangerous.

As the surface dries, grip may return unevenly. One side of the car can reach a dry section while the other remains on a damp patch, producing sudden changes in balance.

Temperature also affects the speed at which tyres and brakes reach their effective operating ranges.

A setup designed for a hot afternoon may struggle during a cold evening session. Brake ducts, tyre pressures and suspension choices can all require adjustment.

The update’s revised wet tyres should improve the class in these situations, but no physics change can make 620 horsepower easy to deploy on a slippery track.

Free content strengthens the game more than an isolated premium car

Releasing the Aussie Rivals Pack for free has strategic value beyond player goodwill.

Multiplayer racing games depend on shared content.

When a car is sold separately, every event using it reduces the number of eligible participants. A complete class divided across several premium purchases can become difficult to organise outside the most dedicated communities.

A free two-car pack avoids that fragmentation.

Every updated player can access the Ford and Holden rivalry, making the AUS V8 class more viable for Ranked rotations, custom lobbies, community championships and casual races.

The Falcon had already been offered as a free thank-you to players.

Adding the Commodore without changing that approach preserves the accessibility of the class and gives the original release a stronger purpose.

The pack may not generate direct DLC revenue, but it can improve engagement with the wider simulator.

A compelling free class gives players another reason to return, test Update 2.1 and participate in events.

The real argument begins when the cars leave the garage

The Ford Falcon FG and Holden Commodore VF are closely matched on paper.

Both produce 620 horsepower. Both weigh 1,410 kilograms. Both use six-speed sequential gearboxes and rear-wheel drive.

Those figures cannot decide which car deserves loyalty.

The answer will emerge through laps, races and accumulated experience.

One driver may prefer the way the Falcon responds during corner entry. Another may feel more confident controlling the Commodore under power.

Setup development can strengthen those preferences until each car feels inseparable from the style of the person driving it.

That subjectivity is appropriate.

Ford versus Holden was never an argument resolved through one definitive statistic. Each victory supplied temporary evidence, and every defeat created a reason to continue the debate at the next event.

Project Motor Racing now provides the same opportunity.

The Aussie Rivals Pack preserves a form of racing built on noise and loyalty

The Aussie Rivals Pack arrives as a relatively small piece of content: two cars occupying one class.

Its significance is larger than the number suggests.

The Falcon and Commodore represent a period when Australian touring car racing connected professional motorsport, domestic manufacturing and public identity with unusual intensity.

They were fast enough to demand genuine discipline, heavy enough to produce physical racing and familiar enough that supporters could view every manufacturer victory as something personal.

Update 2.1 gives both cars a revised handling foundation, expanded tyre behaviour, improved brake modelling and the setup systems needed to make their 620-horsepower performance meaningful.

Mount Panorama supplies the natural battlefield.

The Ford carries the history of Winterbottom and Richards’ 2013 Bathurst victory. The Holden arrives from a season in which the VF rapidly became the championship’s dominant new platform.

Neither side enters without evidence supporting its claim.

The Aussie Rivals Pack is available free for Project Motor Racing players alongside Update 2.1.

Manage the rear. Survive the Mountain. Choose a colour.

The argument has started again.