Obtaining a high and constant framerate is VERY important in a racing game. For some users more than others. Some users might be using 120hz or 144hz monitor panels, on which higher frame rate is even more important. Again, Project CARS is very next-gen. Start with LOW settings, and try to raise them up little buy little. Some settings have major impact, while some others not as much (described a few lines below). Don't push antialiasing. Sometimes while driving you don't "need" as much AA since everything is moving so fast! When racing in Rain, keep in mind that Reflections and Particles takes a major role in performance.


Resolution: Self Explanatory - Normally as high as you can go.

Windowed: Self Explanatory - Normally NO.

Texture Resolution: Self Explanatory - Keep them as HIGH - This is the last I would touch.

Texture Filtering: Anisotropic Filtering - 8x or 16x for Mid-end/High-end system is fine.

V-SYNC: Synchronizes frames output to your monitor refresh rate. Looks smoother, increase input lag - Driving with Wheel, I would suggest off. Using Keyboard or GamePad, try V-SYNC ON.

Anti-Aliasing: Increases image quality by reducing aliased lines - Settings are: MSAA, HIGH, DS2M, DS2X, DS4X, DS6X and DS9X. Prefer MSAA, HIGH and DS2M methods as those are specifically built and optimized. Start with MSAA even for High end system, tune up gradually.

FXAA: different Anti Aliasing Method - It might introduce some Image Blurring. You might combine this with AA (example: AA= HIGH/ FXAA=LOW; Also you can use AA=NONE/FXAA=LOW) Using only FXAA LOW without Anti-Aliasing is very cool for Low/Mid end systems.

SMAA: another AA method. FXAA and SMAA can NOT be combined. Suggested OFF to start.

Reflections: Self Explanatory - This is one of the overkill features. It looks nice indeed, but beware of performance!. Settings are off, low, med, high and ultra. Start with LOW even on high end system, If you drive Cockpit or bumper cam, you will *almost* not notice any graphical difference when keeping this to LOW.

Environment Map: Related to reflections. - Same statement as before applies. Start with LOW.

Car Detail: Self Explanatory - Start with Medium/High. Only use ULTRA if you have very high-end system!

Track Detail: Same as before - I start High with this one, use Ultra only if you see popping effects. Otherwise keep it at Med/High.

Shadow Detail: Self Explanatory. Affects performance very much. Start with Low/Medium.

Motion Blur: Self Explanatory - Use it if you like it. Low/Med/High equals the quality of the blur, not the ammount applied!

Render Frames Ahead: Keeps a buffer of rendered frames for smoothness. Use 1 to reduce input lag/visual lag only on high end systems. Default value of 2 is OK for most cases.

Detailed Grass: Self Explanatory - Better grass - Performance impact is high on this setting. I use either LOW or OFF. Keep in mind that if you use motion blur, then grass will look almost the same.

Particle Level: Self Explanatory - Normally doesn't affects too much the performance since it only works when you see smoke, dirt, etc. Medium for start is fine.

Particle Density: Same as before - Medium.

Streched Headlight Reflections: Reflections of head and taillights in the asphalt. Looks Awesome! Specially in wet conditions. Performance impact is medium. Try with this setting ON as first.