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The Research & Development Update, also known as the R&D Update or the Summer's Over Update, is the v2.1.0/v2.1.3 update of Asphalt 8: Airborne, which was released on September 30th for iOS and Android, October 14th for Windows and October 20th for Nexus Player which is exactly same platform as Android, Lollipop. It added the Research & Development special event.

Announcement[]

RD Update trailer

The following text was published on the Apple Store:

Summer's over, but the latest Asphalt 8 update will help you keep the heat going a little longer!
  • LAMBORGHINI HURACÁN R&D: Test-drive the Lamborghini Huracán and complete each stage of upgrades to make this motorized marvel yours!
  • 6 NEW CARS: The Lamborghini Huracán, Bentley EXP10 Speed 6 and four other super sports cars will be progressively released!
  • CAR MASTERY EVENTS & REWARDS: We added more than 100 brand-new Car Mastery events! Take 'em on to earn exclusive Cars & Decals!

New Cars[]

The new cars need the following engine cards:

  • i4 Engine
    • SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STI (x16)
  • V6 Engine
    • Kepler Motion (x20)
  • V8 Engine
    • Bentley EXP10 Speed 6 (x20)
  • Forced-Induction V8 Engine
    • McLaren 570S (x12)
  • V10 Engine
    • Lamborghini Huracán (x16)
  • V16 Engine
    • Cadillac 16 Concept (x48)

Game Changes[]

A8-v2
  • New Pro Kit Engine Card: V16 Engine
  • Research & Development game mode added. It introduces new cars in a series of test drive stories, which have to be cleared within a given time span in order to receive the car for free.
  • The Pro Kit Boxes section has seen a major change: the Racer Kit Box has been permanently replaced by the Super Racer Kit Box, which contains now 8 cards (instead of previously 4) and is available every 8 hours (instead of once every 24 hours).
  • The Car Mastery Rewards section was expanded, and five new decal packs were added, as well as one new car reward, the Cadillac 16 Concept.
  • New collection: Chevrolet
  • San Diego Harbor, Sector 8, and Tenerife tracks are now available in Quick Solo Race.
    • The San Diego Harbor tracks were changed to include additional containers that would make a shortcut harder. This change was reverted in the subsequent update.
  • The McLaren P1™ GTR's drift radius was fixed.
  • The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X has been considerably buffed from its Car Mastery Update rendition.
  • Glitches surrounding the Ferrari 330 P4 and its random tendency to do stunts have been fixed.
  • Metal Effects now available on Android (graphics setting must be set to "Very High"). Compatible devices include any flagship/high-end Android smartphone (e.g. Samsung Galaxy Note 5, LG G4).
    • It is also possible via rooting to install the Metal Effects on any Android phone that otherwise doesn't support the Metal Effects.
  • The glitch in the Car Mastery pre-race cut-scene with the distorted layer on the iOS version of the game has been fixed; it displays now correctly.
  • Several changes were made to Car Mastery.
  • Decals added for Datsun 280Z and McLaren 675LT.

Events[]

  1. Lamborghini Huracán R&D October 1, 2015

Trivia[]

Summer's Over Trailer ad
A8A v2.1

Bugs[]

  • Sudden Wrecks: Upon landing correctly or slightly touching the border, the car wrecked. There had always been a slight chance for an unmotivated wreck in the previous versions, but it had increased greatly with this update. This has since been fixed in the Santa's Gift Update.
  • Tokens/Licenses Become Credits: On the Android version of the game, it was reported that should the Internet connection be weak, cars available only for Tokens or Licenses suddenly became available for Credits with the same number of Credits. Examples include a McLaren P1™ GTR suddenly becoming available for Credits 14,500 (as a reference, this is the price of an Aston Martin DB9 Coupé), as well as the Shelby Cobra 427 becoming available for Credits 1,050.
  • Game Center Freeze: For iOS, Game Center became very slow with iOS 9.0. Upon connection with Game Center, the game became unresponsive for a random amount of time (up to 20 seconds). As a side effect, Events were unavailable for several minutes even though the device was connected to WiFi. This was actually a bug of iOS that has been fixed since iOS 9.1.
  • Random Skid/Bump: The car would start drifting or jumping for no apparent reason. A prominent example was in Tokyo Reverse, where the sidewalk bump was increased to an amount that made the track nigh impossible for certain cars.
  • Resource Needs: On older Android and Windows 8.1 devices, the game had issues with lag, making it virtually impossible to play. Lowering the graphic effects in the setting menu helped, but didn't fix the problem. Upon playing the same level again, there were no issues anymore.
  • Suicidal R&D AI: In certain R&D tests, opponents try to hinder the player from reaching their goals only to wreck themselves in the process, earning them the nickname "Suicidal AI".

Trailer[]

Asphalt_8-_Airborne_-_New_Cars,_R&D_Challenge_-_Update_Trailer

Asphalt 8- Airborne - New Cars, R&D Challenge - Update Trailer

Updates for Asphalt 8: Airborne
2013 Original Release (v1.0.0) • Free to Play Update (v1.1.0)
2014 Daily Bonus Update (v1.2.0) • The Great Wall Update (v1.3.0)
Fuel Events Update (v1.4.0) • Dubai Update (v1.5.0)
San Diego Harbor Update (v1.6.0) • Winter Update (v1.7.0)
2015 Decals Update (v1.8.0) • More Than 300 Decals Update (v1.8.1)
Tenerife Update (v1.9.0) • Car Mastery Update (v2.0.0)
Research & Development Update (v2.1.0) • Santa's Gift Update (v2.2.0)
2016 Lunar New Year Update (v2.3.0) • Elite Cars Update (v2.4.0)
Enduro Update (v2.5.0) • Rio de Janeiro Update (v2.6.0)
Multiplayer League Update (v2.7.0) • Championship Update (v2.8.0)
2017 Lunar New Year 2017 Update (v2.9.0) • Car Blueprints Update (v3.0.0)
Porsche Update (v3.1.0) • Motorcycles Update (v3.2.0)
Munich Update (v3.3.0) • Hot Wheels Update (v3.4.0)
2018 Fall Out Boy Update (v3.5.0) • 2018 Spring Update (v3.6.0)
Asphalt Moments Update (v3.7.0) • Fifth Anniversary Update (v3.8.0)
Halloween Update (v3.9.0) • Holiday Update (v4.0.0)
2019 Fast Lane Update (v4.1.0) • 2019 Spring Update (v4.2.0)
Showdown Update (v4.3.0) • Sixth Anniversary Mini Update (v4.4.0)
Sixth Anniversary Update (v4.5.0) • 2019 Halloween Update (v4.6.0)
2019 Holiday Update (v4.7.0)
2020 2020 Lunar New Year Update (v4.8.0) • 2020 Spring Update (v4.9.0)
Formula E Update (v4.9.1) • Fifteenth Anniversary Update (v5.0.0)
Wild Cards Update (v5.1.0) • 2020 Summer Update (v5.2.0)
Seventh Anniversary Update (v5.3.0) • 2020 Halloween Update (v5.4.0)
2020 Christmas Update (v5.5.0)
2021 2021 Lunar New Year Update (v5.6.0) • 2021 Spring Update (v5.7.0)
2021 Summer Update (v5.8.0) • Eighth Anniversary Update (v5.9.0)
2021 Holiday Update (v6.0.0) • 2021 Christmas Update (v6.1.0)
2022 2022 Lunar New Year Update (v6.2.0) • Neon Season Update (v6.3.0)
Ninth Anniversary Update (v6.4.0) • Gangstar Season Update (v6.5.0)
Golden Season Update (v6.6.0) • Golden Season Mini Update (v6.7.0)
Hot Winter Season Update (v6.8.0)
2023 2023 Lunar New Year Update (v6.9.0) • Garage Life Season Update (v7.0.0)
2023 Spring Update (v7.1.0) • 2023 Summer Update (v7.2.0)
Tenth Anniversary Update (v7.3.0) • 2023 Halloween Update (v7.4.0)
2023 Holiday Update (v7.5.0)
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