Sol vs Pure: the Assetto Corsa weather mods
Sol and Pure are the two best-known weather and lighting mods for Assetto Corsa, installed through Content Manager on top of Custom Shader Patch. This guide explains how they differ, how each handles light, weather and performance, and which one suits you.
What are Sol and Pure?
Sol and Pure are free weather and lighting modifications for Assetto Corsa, the PC racing simulator by Kunos Simulazioni. Both sit on top of Custom Shader Patch and replace how the game draws the sky, the sun, time of day and weather conditions. Both are installed through Content Manager, and both are the work of the community modder Peter Boese — Sol first, in 2018, then Pure as a newer successor in 2022.
The two mods exist because Assetto Corsa's original lighting was designed for the simulator's 2014 launch and never really kept up with the visual standards players expect today. Custom Shader Patch modernised the rendering engine; Sol and Pure put a modern atmosphere on top. They are not mandatory — you can run Custom Shader Patch alone — but together with the app and the patch, they form the three-layer setup that most enthusiasts use, with Content Manager handling the install and the day-to-day switching between them.
Beginners often see "Sol or Pure?" framed as a versus question, and that is broadly useful: you install one or the other, not both. The differences are real, but neither is objectively better. Pick the one whose look you prefer, then refine the settings through Content Manager and the mod's own panels. Our Custom Shader Patch guide covers the install order in full, and our main Content Manager guide sets out where these add-ons sit in the wider toolchain.
What Sol brings to Assetto Corsa
Sol is the long-standing weather and lighting mod for Assetto Corsa, first released in 2018 and steadily updated ever since. Installed through Content Manager on top of Custom Shader Patch, it is the option many community guides default to and the one most server admins assume players are running. Its strength is breadth: a rich library of weather presets, a deep set of sliders, and a look that is visibly more dramatic than the base game from the moment you load a track.
On a clear afternoon, Sol gives saturated blue skies and crisp, contrasty shadows. At golden hour the colours warm noticeably; at night it produces dark, atmospheric skies with a credible moon. The full day-night cycle has been refined over years, and rain, fog and storms are well covered, with countless presets — both bundled and shared by the community — to swap between. Configuration runs deep: Sol exposes settings for atmospheric scattering, cloud density, sun intensity and far more, all reached through Content Manager's Custom Shader Patch panels or the separate Sol Config Tool.
The trade-off is that Sol's look is opinionated. The strong contrast and saturated palette can feel more like a game than a camera, particularly under direct sun. That has never bothered most players, but it is what motivated the search for a more photographic alternative — which is exactly what Pure offers.
What Pure brings to Assetto Corsa
Pure is the newer weather mod, released in 2022 by the same author and likewise installed through Content Manager. It was built with a single guiding idea: make Assetto Corsa look like a real camera, not a video game. Where Sol favours breadth and drama, Pure favours restraint and realism, with carefully tone-mapped colour and a smaller, more curated weather set.
The difference is visible the moment you load a track. Pure's skies are softer, the shadows less aggressive, the highlights cleaner. Direct sun no longer washes out interiors, and overcast scenes look genuinely overcast rather than just grey. A physically based sun controller and PBR-aware lighting produce results that read like a photograph, which is why Pure has become the default for many of the cinematic screenshots circulating online. Configuration in Pure is lighter than Sol: defaults are opinionated in the photographic direction, with fewer sliders to learn.
Pure is also actively developed, with a Patreon tier offering early access to preview builds. The free release covers everything the average player needs, and like Sol it is installed and managed entirely through Content Manager. The trade-off in the other direction is that Pure's preset library is smaller and the look intentionally more restrained — if you want bright, dramatic skies, Sol may still suit you better.
Sol vs Pure: a direct comparison
A summary of the differences that most often decide the choice.
| Aspect | Sol | Pure |
|---|---|---|
| Look | Saturated, vivid, dramatic skies | Natural, photographic, tone-mapped |
| Day-night cycle | Long-standing, well-tuned | Refined, with PBR sun controls |
| Rain and storms | Available; large preset library | Available; tighter, more realistic set |
| Configuration depth | Very deep, many sliders | Lighter, opinionated defaults |
| Hardware impact | Moderate (matches CSP cost) | Moderate to slightly heavier |
| Community support | Years of guides and presets | Newer, growing fast |
| Cost | Free; donations supported | Free; Patreon tier for previews |
In short: Sol gives you more to tweak and a more dramatic look; Pure gives you fewer decisions and a more photographic result. Both are free, both are installed through Content Manager, and both depend on Custom Shader Patch being in place first.
Hardware impact of Sol and Pure
Both mods add cost on top of Custom Shader Patch, since they extend what the patch renders. The impact is moderate on a PC that already runs Assetto Corsa with CSP at sensible settings — typically a single-digit percentage of additional GPU time, with the chosen weather preset accounting for more of the variation than the choice between Sol and Pure. Pure can be slightly heavier than Sol in scenes with active PBR lighting, but the gap is small and rarely the deciding factor in which mod feels right.
If a PC is borderline, both mods expose the same kind of relief valves: lower cloud quality, simpler reflections, fewer rain layers and reduced shadow detail all recover performance quickly. Content Manager's Custom Shader Patch section is the place to make these adjustments — the same panel that hosts CSP's own settings also hosts the active weather mod's controls. Switching between presets to find a lighter one takes seconds inside Content Manager, which makes performance tuning a cheap experiment rather than a commitment.
Which weather mod should you choose?
There is no objectively correct answer, but a few signals make the choice easier. The simplest test is to look at screenshots of each and pick the one whose colour palette you actually prefer; the rest of the differences follow from there.
Choose Sol if you want the broadest range of presets, the deepest configuration toolkit, or a more dramatic, contrasty look. Sol's longer history means countless guides, preset packs and community servers have been built around it, which makes it the safer default for newcomers who want to install something and have it simply work everywhere.
Choose Pure if you want the most natural, camera-like result with the fewest decisions to make. Pure's opinionated defaults are designed to look right out of the box, and the photographic style suits players who care about screenshots, video replays, or simply a more believable atmosphere on track.
Whichever you pick, the choice is not permanent. Content Manager makes switching between Sol and Pure painless — disable one in the Custom Shader Patch panel inside the app, install the other, and Content Manager handles the file swap. Many drivers try both through Content Manager before settling on the preset that suits their taste.
Where Sol and Pure fit in your setup
Sol and Pure sit at the top of a three-layer stack. Content Manager is layer one — the launcher that drives everything else. Custom Shader Patch is layer two, installed through the app, providing the engine that weather mods rely on. Sol or Pure is layer three, added last, replacing how the game handles atmosphere, time of day and weather conditions.
Skipping a step does not work: a weather mod cannot run without Custom Shader Patch in place, and the patch itself is installed through Content Manager. Get the sequence right and the whole setup falls into place in minutes. Our Custom Shader Patch guide covers the full order step by step, and if you have not set up the launcher yet, our download guide goes first.
Sol vs Pure — common questions
Are Sol and Pure made by the same person?
Yes. Both Sol and Pure were created by the modder Peter Boese, who built Sol first and then started Pure as a newer, more photographically focused successor. Either one is a legitimate and well-supported choice; the two simply represent different visual goals.
Do I need Sol or Pure to use Content Manager?
No. Content Manager works without either of them — it is the launcher, not a graphics mod. Sol and Pure are optional add-ons that improve weather and lighting once Custom Shader Patch is in place, and you install whichever you prefer through the app.
Can I have both Sol and Pure installed at the same time?
In practice you pick one and use it. Both control the same parts of the graphics pipeline, so they conflict if active together. Switching is easy — disable one through Content Manager before enabling the other, and the app handles the file swap cleanly.
Is Pure better than Sol?
Neither is strictly better; they aim at different looks. Pure is widely considered more photorealistic out of the box, with tone-mapped colour. Sol gives broader, more dramatic results and a deeper toolkit. The right choice depends on which look you prefer.
How do I install Sol or Pure?
Install Content Manager first, then Custom Shader Patch from inside the app, then add Sol or Pure on top. Both weather mods require CSP to be present first. Our Custom Shader Patch guide walks through the full sequence in order.
Do Sol and Pure work for VR?
Yes. Both render correctly in VR, though either one increases GPU load on top of CSP. If headroom is tight in VR, prefer the lighter weather presets and reduce reflection or shadow detail in the CSP and weather configuration panels inside Content Manager.
Start with Content Manager and CSP
Sol and Pure both sit on top of Custom Shader Patch, and CSP is installed through Content Manager. Set those up first, then come back and add the weather mod of your choice — CM Hub links everything to the official sources.
Read the CSP guide