[Russell Sobie]

Having not been 100% familiar with what all DLC is required for the current crop of races, I did some research to list out all the DLC content available and what all is used in the SRS series currently. Here's my findings (please correct any of this if I botched it up):

Mazda MX-5 Cup
DLC required car

Seat Leon EuroCup
DLC Track Brands Hatch GP required for 1 week

R.S.01 Trophy
DLC Track Red Bull Ring GP required for 1 week

Ferrari 312/67 SIMPIT Historic
DLC required car
DLC required track Nodschliefe Endurance-Cup for 1 week

GT America
DLC Track Red Bull Ring GP required for 1 week

GT Asia
DLC Track Brands Hatch GP required for 1 week

GT 500 Rating
DLC Track Brands Hatch GP required for 1 week
DLC Track Red Bull Ring GP required for 1 week

GT Euro
DLC required track Brands Hatch Indy for 1 week
DLC required track Nodschliefe Endurance-Cup for 1 week

GT1
DLC required car

GT4
DLC Track Brands Hatch GP required for 1 week
DLC Track Red Bull Ring GP required for 1 week

DTM90 Gamer Muscle
100% free content

Scuderia Ferrari SF70H
DLC required car

GTR
DLC required car
DLC required track Brands Hatch Indy for 1 week
DLC required track Nodschliefe Endurance-Cup for 1 week


So... in looking at the evidence, there is quite a lot of DLC required stuff in the races here. Breakdown is:

Out of 13 Series...
8/13 require DLC for at least two weeks during the series (car or multiple tracks or both)
12/13 require DLC for at least one week during the series.
5/13 require DLC in every race (car).

Only a single racing series appears to be 100% non-DLC content required.

So I understand where the OP is coming from. That said, the DLC for AC is pennies compared to the life savings you'll spend trying to do anything interesting in iRacing from what I've seen, and there ARE typically a number of races that you'd still have access MOST of the time without any DLC. It just so happened that this last week looked like just about every race series was either a DLC car, a DLC track, or both.

I recommend doing what I did: see which races are your cup of tea first (20 minute sprints versus 1 hour commitments, old ass Ferraris vs state of the art GT3 cars, track selection, time slot the races start, etc.). Then see if people are actually showing up to the races you want to get in on. If they are dead, then don't bother... unless you have 10 friends that want to join in, of course! If they are populated and require a DLC car, pick up the pack with the car in it and go nuts. If they require one or two weeks with DLC tracks, decide if you are okay missing a week or two in the championship, and if you aren't, pick up the DLC with the tracks.

Worst case scenario you'll be out like... $20USD buying high quality content? And when the next set of series rolls around, you'll still have that content and you'll probably WANT it to be used in more series.

Anyway, I've spent far too much time on this post. Hopefully this is helpful to you or someone else reading.