The Rio de Janeiro Update (v2.6.0) is the sixteenth update in Asphalt 8: Airborne. It features the return of the Rio de Janeiro track and the addition of the IAP-based VIP System from Asphalt Nitro.
It was released for iOS and Windows simultaneously on July 27, 2016, a first in the Asphalt series. The Android version was released on August 3, 2016, unusual because the updates usually come to Android after iOS and before Windows.
Announcement
Hit the road to Rio in our brand-new update!
- NEW LOCATION: Discover the bustling streets of Rio. From its impressive mountains to the incredible beaches, dive into this very exotic city!
- LOGIN REWARDS: Check in on the game every day for increasingly awesome prizes with our Daily Login Rewards.
- VIP SYSTEM: Now there’s even more value in every purchase as each one boosts your VIP status, granting you extra rewards, special boxes, exclusive cars and more!
- NEW CARS: New cars are just 'round the bend! So check in often to catch the Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe, Cadillac ATS-V Coupe, Donkervoort D8 GTO, W Motors Fenyr Supersport and more.
- NEW EVENTS: More Enduro Double Down and R&D events are here! Overcome the challenges & bring some sweet rides home.
New Cars
Class D
Class C
- Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe (Tokens car, Elite car)
- Cadillac ATS-V Coupe (Elite car)
Class B
- BXR Bailey Blade GT1 (Enduro Car, Elite car)
Class A
- Aston Martin One-77 (Enduro Car]])
Class S
- 2015 GTA Spano (VIP Car, Elite car)
- W Motors Fenyr Supersport (R&D)
The new cars will need the following engine cards:
- i4 Engine
- i5 Engine
- Donkervoort D8 GTO (x8)
- V6 Engine
- Cadillac ATS-V Coupe (x12)
- Forced-Induction V8 Engine
- BXR Bailey Blade GT1 (x8)
- V12 Engine
- Aston Martin One-77 (x12)
- 2015 GTA Spano (x52)
- F6 Engine
Game Changes
- Rio de Janeiro location added.
- Daily Login Rewards and VIP System from Asphalt Nitro added.
- New engine card introduced: i5 Engine. Used exclusively for the Donkervoort D8 GTO.
- "Jaguars", "Japanese Dragons", and "European Collection" collections added.
- The update adds a new loading screen: in addition to the screens used since Santa's Gift Update, there is now one with a Chevrolet 2016 Camaro SS, Lamborghini Huracán, and W Motors Lykan HyperSport in Tenerife.
- The SSC Tuatara loading screen has been removed.
- The thumbnails shown while claiming the rewards for an Event have been enlarged and will clip into the caption.
- The update fixes the Pro Kits for all the Enduro Update cars, with the following confirmed changes:
- Mercedes-AMG C 63 Coupe Touring Car 2014: V6 → V8.
- Jaguar XJ220S: V8 → V6.
- nanoFlowcell QUANT FE: V8 → Electric.
- Jaguar F-TYPE Project 7: Electric → V8.
- Logically, this is still incorrect as given the fact that the Jaguar F-TYPE Project 7 actually has a supercharged V8 engine, it should use the Forced-Induction V8 card like with the Jaguar F-Type R, which uses the same engine as the Project 7.
- Weber Faster One: V8 → V10.
- Mercedes-AMG GT3: V10 → V8.
- Many of these cars' required engine card counts have also changed.
- The Alfa Romeo 4C's Research & Development event was revived in this update after the W Motors Fenyr Supersport's event.
- It has been extended to have 50 Tests and 5 Labs, some of them set in the new Rio de Janeiro tracks. It also now lasts 15 days to accommodate these changes.
- The ED Design Torq's Research & Development event was revived on September 29, 2016 in this update after the Alfa Romeo 4C's revived event.
- This update is the first update to revive two or more R&D events at once.
- Both R&D events, however, had technical difficulties on the Android version of the game and were subsequently suspended by Gameloft, meaning that Android players couldn't get these cars if they didn't already have them.
- Decals added for Mitsubishi Eclipse, Nissan Juke Nismo, and Jaguar XJ220S.
- However, these decals have never been released.
- The acceleration for the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage has been improved.
Events Schedule
- Aston Martin One-77 EDD July 27, 2016
- W Motors Fenyr Supersport R&D August 9, 2016
- BXR Bailey Blade GT1 EDD August 26, 2016
- Alfa Romeo 4C R&D September 4, 2016
- Aston Martin One-77 EDD September 14, 2016
- ED Design Torq R&D September 29, 2016
Trivia
- The icon from the Research & Development Update featuring the McLaren P1™ GTR has been reused again. This update is the first major update to use the same icon twice in a row.
- The Android version still uses the new Enduro Update icon for Android.
- This update by far has the second least amount of new cars released via conventional Events, with only two. The Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe was made available right from the first day of the update, the Aston Martin One-77 and BXR Bailey Blade GT1 are Enduro Double Down-unlockable cars, the W Motors Fenyr Supersport is an R&D-unlockable car, and the 2015 GTA Spano is unlockable at VIP Level 15.
- Later updates would follow suit with up to only two cars released via conventional Events.
- It is unknown wether the next update actually had three cars released via conventional events, though, since the sneak peek of the cars of the next update did not clearly reveal how the Chevrolet Corvette C3 would be released (it was released as a Multiplayer League Reward in the following update after being postponed due to a Mastery bug). The fact that the C3 was released in the update after its debut update, however did not mean that it would not be released via conventional events.
- Later updates would follow suit with up to only two cars released via conventional Events.
- All the special events from this update were revived at once two years later, through the Asphalt Moments series.
- This update marks the first time when an event is held two times in the same update. In this case, the EDD for Aston Martin One-77 was held for the first time on July 27, 2016, and revived on September 14, 2016.
Bugs / Glitches
A BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage with a distorted decal after a World Series race.
A TRION NEMESIS with a garbled Molten Core decal
- Decal Glitches: It is possible for the cars to show a garbled decal, usually with a design not normally available for that car. This bug has carried over to subsequent updates and has yet to be fixed.
- On rare occasions, the glitch may instead choose a color and decal combination that is available for the car but the player did not select or have unlocked or purchased. On other occasions, the glitch may also select a decal that is available for the car but with a color combination that is otherwise unsupported on that decal (e.g. a W Motors Lykan HyperSport with an orange Alpha Wolf decal instead of the normal white one).
- On certain Android devices, decals are rendered incorrectly for several cars (the following is a list of cars with wrongly-rendered decals on a Samsung Galaxy S7):
- 2010 Bentley Continental Supersports (added in the Championship Update)
- Arash AF10 (added in the Championship Update, decal added in the Porsche Update)
- BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage
- Ferrari LaFerrari
- Ford Focus RS
- Geely GC9
- McLaren 12C Spider
- McLaren 570S
- Range Rover Evoque Coupe HSE Dynamic
- Weber Faster One
- On rare occasions, upon restarting a race, the player's car may lose its decal. Restarting the race restores it, though.
- Missing Manufacturer Name: The W Motors Fenyr Supersport had its manufacturer name omitted. This was fixed in the next update.
- Missing Graphics Effects: A few graphics effects have been erroneously removed, including the lightning graphic effects in Sector 8 and the green energy particles that appear whenever a Quality Check is collected.
Version Patches
- v2.6.1 released on September 7, 2016; minor update for the Android version. This includes bug fixes.
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