September 15^th, 2005 (1:00pm) - Renowned for delivering the most realistic and impressive crashes, collisions and damage effects in racing games, Codemasters’ TOCA series is about to up the ante. For TOCA Race Driver 3, a hugely advanced version of the series’ proprietary Terminal Damage Engine is being designed to deliver 100 times the level of damage effect detail.

TOCA Race Driver 3’s advanced Terminal Damage Engine will be even richer in its damage visuals thanks to incredible particle effects and, most importantly, far deeper in terms of physics that effect the driver’s car handling and ultimately the race result. The additional particle effects create hugely impressive visuals that really show the punishment the car is receiving: sparks fly spectacularly when it bottoms out and ends up grounding the car. Windshields will shatter, wings will get ripped off, spoilers will break and fly from the car. Plus, new game effects will show incremental amounts of damage as bodywork realistically deforms around crumple zones during a race.

Keeping an eye on the state of the car’s tires is key; watching for wear and temperature. Any impact to the tires can send the wheels into misalignment, resulting in juddering drive as players head for the pit lane. If tires become too worn during a race, they’ll overheat and, if there’s no let up, they’ll finally burst, sending the car crashing down on its steel wheel rims, kicking up a shower of sparks and smoke. Similarly, if a car’s coolant system fails, the radiator will overheat and smoke begins pouring from under the hood. Too much strain and the smoke will billow from the car as the radiator finally blows.

These spectacular damage physics even run across all the AI opponents’ cars, making racing a truly thrilling, test of nerves and racing expertise. All this detail means that long-term races become more engaging and tactical. It’s not always the fastest driver who will cross the finishing line first; those who employ better pit-stop strategies and keep an eye on tire wear can reap rewards.

Every race team has a budget to spend on car tuning through the course of a race season and there are up to 27 upgradeable parts for each car including real tuning parts from Brembo, Bridgestone Motorsport and OMP.

To make a car more robust, players can replace the roll cage, add engine struts, and improve its suspension, tires and brake pads. For those who are confident in their racing abilities, the engine’s horsepower can be increased but must be careful as the radiator and coolant system may not be able to take the additional strain!

With so many different racing experiences and real racing cars, TOCA Race Driver 3 is revving up for a release in February 2006.