Suggestion: Visual Progression and Customisation for Racing Cars
A proposal to make racing upgrades, paint, vinyls, and car identity more visible without affecting race balance.
I would like to suggest expanding the racing system by making car appearance reflect both cosmetic choices and installed upgrades.
At the moment, racing upgrades improve performance, but the car itself visually remains unchanged. This makes progression feel largely numerical. When a player spends money and racing points improving a car, the car should gradually start to look like it has been modified, upgraded, and built for a specific purpose.
The goal is not to turn racing into a completely different game or to affect balance. The existing performance system could remain as it is. This suggestion is about adding visual progression, identity, and long-term cosmetic goals to racing.
Paint, Materials, and Car Identity
Cars should be paintable for a fee. Basic colours could be available from the start, while more advanced paint styles could unlock with racing Class. This would give players another money sink while also making cars feel more personal.
Paint should not only be a colour choice. It could also include different materials and finishes, such as normal gloss paint, matte paint, metallic paint, pearlescent paint, two-tone paint, raw carbon fibre panels, and painted carbon fibre panels.
This would allow two players using the same car model to still have cars that look visually different. A fully upgraded car should not only be stronger statistically, but also more recognisable visually.
Vinyls, Liveries, Stickers, and Community Rewards
Alongside paint options, cars could also support vinyls, liveries, decals, and stickers. These could be separated into categories such as flags, racing stripes, number decals, sponsor-style graphics, abstract patterns, Torn-themed designs, faction-inspired designs, company-inspired designs, event-limited stickers, and racing-class unlocks.
This would help each car feel unique. Players could build a visual identity around their favourite car, their racing style, their faction, or simply their own personal taste.
Styling competitions could also be introduced as racing community events. Players could submit customised cars for voting, with winners receiving exclusive Torn-themed stickers, limited vinyls, unique decals, or special cosmetic rewards that cannot be bought normally.
These rewards would not affect performance, but they would still be desirable. They would give racing more community interaction while keeping the competitive side fair.
Aerodynamics
Aerodynamic upgrades should create visible changes to the body of the car. The changes do not need to be extreme, but they should make the upgrade stage obvious.
| Fixed Rear Spoiler |
Adds a small fixed rear spoiler, suitable for a first-stage aerodynamic upgrade. |
| Air Forced Engine Cooling |
Adds bonnet vents or cooling slots. |
| Air Cooling Ducts for Brakes |
Adds visible brake cooling ducts in suitable areas of the bodywork. |
| Adjustable Rear Spoiler |
Adds a medium adjustable rear spoiler, representing a second-stage aero upgrade. |
| Front Diffuser |
Adds a visible front aerodynamic element. |
| Rear Diffuser |
Adds a visible rear diffuser. |
| GT Style Spoiler |
Adds a large GT-style rear wing, suitable for a third-stage aerodynamic upgrade. |
Brakes
Brake upgrades could alter the appearance of brake discs and calipers. This would be a small visual detail, but it would add depth to upgraded cars and make wheel views more interesting.
| Uprated Brake Discs |
Adds cleaner or larger brake discs behind the wheels. |
| Grooved Brake Discs |
Adds visible grooved brake disc styling. |
| Grooved and Drilled Brake Discs |
Adds a more advanced disc design and could unlock paintable brake calipers. |
Exhaust and Engine Bay Upgrades
Exhaust and engine upgrades could also have visible effects where appropriate. Not every engine upgrade needs to be obvious from the outside, but major upgrades should have some visual impact.
| Back Box |
Changes the exhaust tip or rear exhaust appearance. |
| Uprated Air Filter Element |
Could be visible through bonnet vents or in engine bay views where suitable. |
| Cat/Back Exhaust |
Changes the rear exhaust layout more noticeably. |
| Open Air Filter |
Adds a more visible intake element where the car design allows it. |
| Full Exhaust System |
Creates a more aggressive exhaust appearance. |
| Stainless Steel 4/1 Manifold |
Adds engine bay detail where applicable. |
| Forced Induction Kit |
Adds visible intake, turbo, or engine bay changes where appropriate. |
| Custom Forced Induction Kit |
Adds a more advanced and distinctive engine bay appearance. |
Safety
Safety upgrades could alter the driver avatar, the interior, or both. These changes could appear in garage views, car profiles, race previews, or any future racing display that shows the driver and car together.
| Race Overalls |
Changes the driver avatar clothing to basic race overalls. |
| Helmet |
Adds a visible helmet to the driver avatar. |
| Fire Extinguisher |
Adds a visible interior safety detail. |
| HANS Device |
Adds a more professional race safety appearance to the driver. |
| Roll Cage |
Adds a visible roll cage inside the car. |
| Emergency Power Cut-Off Switch |
Adds a small interior racing detail. |
| Bucket Seat and 3 Point Harness |
Changes the seat and harness appearance. |
| FIA Approved Safety Upgrades |
Adds more professional versions of overalls, helmet, fire extinguisher, and roll cage visuals. |
| Bucket Seat and 6 Point Harness |
Adds the highest-level seat and harness appearance. |
Suspension and Ride Height
Suspension upgrades could affect ride height and stance. Tarmac-focused cars and dirt-focused cars should not look identical if they are built differently.
| Uprated Springs Soft |
Slightly higher ride height. |
| Uprated Springs Medium |
No major visual change. |
| Uprated Springs Hard |
Slightly lower ride height. |
| Uprated Springs and Dampers Soft |
A bigger increase in ride height. |
| Uprated Springs and Dampers Medium |
No major visual change. |
| Uprated Springs and Dampers Hard |
A bigger decrease in ride height. |
| Coilover Suspension |
Creates more noticeable stance changes depending on setup. |
| Adjustable Coilover Suspension |
Allows a more aggressive stance. |
| Group N Rally Suspension |
Adds a rally-style raised stance suitable for dirt setups. |
Weight Reduction and Carbon Parts
Weight reduction upgrades could visibly remove or replace parts. Carbon fibre parts could be left as raw carbon fibre or painted, depending on the player’s preference.
| Strip Out |
Removes rear seats where the car has them. |
| Racing Steering Wheel |
Changes the steering wheel style, with round wheels fitting dirt builds and GT-shaped wheels fitting tarmac builds. |
| Lightweight Flocked Dash |
Simplifies or removes the dashboard and adds extra gauges. |
| Polycarbonate Windows |
Could have little or no visible change, depending on implementation. |
| Carbon Fibre Roof |
Adds either raw carbon fibre or painted carbon fibre roof styling. |
| Carbon Fibre Trunk |
Adds either raw carbon fibre or painted carbon fibre trunk styling. |
| Carbon Fibre Hood |
Adds either raw carbon fibre or painted carbon fibre bonnet styling. |
Wheels and Tyres
Wheels and tyres are one of the most visible areas for car customisation. They would be a strong way to show progression, racing style, and setup type.
| Budget Upgrade Tires |
Adds minor visual tyre improvements. |
| Steel Rims |
Changes the wheels from the stock appearance. |
| Fast Road Tires |
Adds a less aggressive tread pattern suitable for road use. |
| Lightweight Alloys |
Adds a sportier alloy wheel design. |
| Track Tires |
Adds slick tyre appearance. |
| Rally Tires |
Adds deep-grooved rally tyre styling. |
| Rally/Cross Tires |
Adds a mixed tread style between road and rally tyres. |
| Ultra Lightweight Alloys |
Adds more exotic or high-end alloy designs. |
Why This Would Improve Racing
This would add depth to racing without requiring a balance change. The performance system could remain exactly as it is, while the visual side would make upgrades feel more rewarding.
It would create more long-term progression, add another money sink, make racing cars feel more personal, give players visible proof of their investment, and make garages, race previews, car displays, and racing profiles more interesting.
It would also create space for community interaction through styling competitions, limited cosmetic rewards, event decals, and Torn-themed stickers. These rewards would not affect racing performance, but they would still give players something worth collecting and showing off.
A stock car, a lightly upgraded car, a fully built tarmac car, and a rally-focused dirt car should not all look identical. Even if this system started small, with paint, wheels, spoilers, ride height, vinyls, and carbon panels, it would make racing progression feel much more satisfying.
In short, racing upgrades should not only change numbers. They should also change the way the car looks. This would make every car feel more unique, make player investment more visible, and give the racing community more reasons to engage with their cars beyond pure performance.
What if....
![[image: www.counter12.com]](https://www.counter12.com/img-Y9DyB6z6175AByb3-14.gif){kind=link}