I suppose the physics can be as complex as you want them to be .. generally simplicity but a good feel works best for most.
If you're going for realism I would recommend looking at a few of these sites in terms of car / racing physics.
http://www.racer.nl/reference/carphys.htm
http://www.miata.net/sport/Physics/04-No-Centrifugal.html
There is also a good tut by Marco Monster which I don't have a link for.
If your plan on writing your own physics engine rather than using the ODE or TOMAMAK wrappers then I'd recommend looking into verlet integration ... It took alot of effort but I have un-breakable system working , including variable suspension , rear / front / 4 wheel drive catered for, car/car rigid body collisions , self-righting etc.. and it works very well.
Unfortunately, I cannot share the verlet code as I'm working with an artist and hope to make a couple of quid from it.
If you're going for realism I would recommend looking at a few of these sites in terms of car / racing physics.
http://www.racer.nl/reference/carphys.htm
http://www.miata.net/sport/Physics/04-No-Centrifugal.html
There is also a good tut by Marco Monster which I don't have a link for.
If your plan on writing your own physics engine rather than using the ODE or TOMAMAK wrappers then I'd recommend looking into verlet integration ... It took alot of effort but I have un-breakable system working , including variable suspension , rear / front / 4 wheel drive catered for, car/car rigid body collisions , self-righting etc.. and it works very well.
Unfortunately, I cannot share the verlet code as I'm working with an artist and hope to make a couple of quid from it.