They never specifically just give youtubers access to the new handling model, they rolled it out in updates over a year, though as for the physics changes themselves, Yes they have been implemented fully for the Street Race and Hypercar disciplines since March this year... for better and worse. Some cars in other disciplines have also gotten this new change (example being the recent Alpha GP Mark X car, or the Lancer WRC in Rallycross)
Better:
- The Street Race and Hypercar classes are much better balanced than they were at launch, with a lot more closely viable vehicles to use.
- Pretty much all the vehicles grip better now and feel faster as a result (and from compraisons by top players, are faster than before.
Worse:
- Their steering input has a weird delay and/or 'filter' to it, making proper direct steering input not feel as precise or as accurate as you want it to.
- the vehicles themselves do sort of blend in a bit more than before due the handling changes.
Overall it is technically a net improvement, but with other physics changes done before, they have been better or worse. since release they have altered physics for the following disciplines in order of recency:
Apr 2019 - Rallycross (most agree its ruined now, with only one good-ish car to drive and even that one doesnt feel nice to drive)
Apr 2019 - Jetsprint (not quite as good as before, but still plenty of fun)
Nov 2019 - Airplanes (made apparently worse, and i agree personally, with them feeling less precise)
Mar 2020 - Motocross (divisive, but I personally think they actually did a great job here, lot more flexible to drive and fun feeling)
Honestly, as for the world itself, i definitely prefer the new games' USA map for racing around, i just wish they'd actually the cities more for street circuits instead of just open roads, and i wish more that they would add events to other disciplines other than street. Motocross still has not had any new events since launch, for the record, and while most other disciplines have recieved one or two new events (or in some cases a smidge more), meanwhile Street Race has recieved nearly 40 NEW EVENTS SINCE LAST JANUARY... and it already had the most events of any discipline even since the launch count of 18, which none of the other disciplines have gotten close to yet either.... sorry, it bothers me a lot this haha.
I still enjoy the game a fair bit though, even if some of the changes continue to baffle me.
