DA40 NG engine/climb performance is unrealistically overpowered

ZeekR5430 · March 13, 2025, 5:16am

ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Description of the issue:
The DA40 NG is extremely overpowered compared to its real life counterpart, to the point where it can climb up to flight levels that only Jets and Turboprops should be able to be at (32,000ft+).

If applicable, which aircraft is experiencing this issue:
DA40 NG
I have not tested the DA40 TDI yet

[PC Only] Did you remove all your community mods/add-ons? If yes, are you still experiencing the issue?
Yes

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

How often does this occur for you (Example: Just once, every time on sim load, intermittently)?
Everytime

REPRODUCTION STEPS

Please list clear steps you took in order to help our test team reproduce the same issue:

Load in on the ground in the DA40
Climb away from the airport with autopilot on FLC climb to 32000 ft at Vy speed.
The plane will comfortable climb to 32,000 ft.

YOUR SETTINGS

If the issue still occurs with no mods and add-ons, please continue to report your issue. If not, please move this post to the User Support Hub.

What peripherals are you using, if relevant:
N/A

[PC Only] Are you using Developer Mode or have you made any changes to it?
No

[PC, MSFS 2020 Only] Are you using DX11 or DX12?
No

[PC Only] What GPU (Graphics Card) do you use?
4070 Ti Super

[PC Only] What other relevant PC specs can you share?
N/A

MEDIA

Please add a screenshot or video of the issue occurring.

[END OF FIRST USER REPORT]

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Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?
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ZeekR5430 · March 24, 2025, 8:27pm

Additionally, the DA40 seems to have unrealistically low drag on landing with full flaps. Maybe this lack of drag is related to this crazy performance at high altitudes.

It feels really hard to slow the plane down to even touch down on the runway appropriately.

edekadesgrauens · March 24, 2025, 8:36pm

You deserve better…

WildmanII · March 24, 2025, 9:47pm

Full flaps and braking applied, it’s almost impossible to stop after landing with idle power. The physics used to model the plane is obviously wrong. Hope they correct it.

ZeekR5430 · March 24, 2025, 10:45pm

I’m tempted but it’d be great if the diamond I’ve already paid for to at least have an update, especially since it’s a career mode plane.

If there’s no sign the devs are looking at improving the stock DA40, then yeah I’d probably go for this since the diamond star is one of the IRL planes I fly.

edekadesgrauens · March 25, 2025, 7:14am

I fully agree they should fix the stock DA40, but even if they manage to fix it at some point in the future, it will never even come close to the Cows GOAT-level DA40 experience. I am not a pilot IRL, but I bought the Cows DA40 and it is my favorite plane to fly. Visual island hopping during sunset will never get any better
I will say, if you are a real life pilot flying this plane and you are really passionate about it then do not waste any more time but make a nice tea and watch this real life pilot’s brilliant showcase :
This is probably your personal DA40 heaven…

There are also some nice custom liveries available and an optional upgrade patch for the G1000. This preview was based on a pre-production version. So the pilots are not visible yet, but they of course are now in the final version.

StealthyBean42 · May 15, 2025, 2:22pm

It’s a shame that DA40 NG as one of the most popular trainer aircraft worldwide got worse in MSFS2024. In MSFS2020 there was only the propeller RPM constantly going into the red numbers, but you could ignore that and fly.

Now in MSFS2024 the propeller RPM problem is still there with added bugs of unrealistic overpowering plus (the most undesirable) non working brakes at landing - it makes DA40 NG almost unflyable!

Please fix it.

DementedCorn327 · December 13, 2025, 5:32pm

Can replicate, even if cannot reach 32,000 ft, 27,700 ft is still too high. Service ceiling (as per wiki) is 16,000 ft for this aircraft.

Maki152 · December 13, 2025, 5:48pm

It’s worth noting that service ceiling is not the highest it can go. That would be absolute ceiling.

DementedCorn327 · December 13, 2025, 6:03pm

So could 27,700 ft be the absolute ceiling as IRL ?
I understand service ceiling is the one that pilots should not exceed but do 11,000 ft higher reachable by this aircraft ?

Maki152 · December 13, 2025, 6:08pm

No, I’m not saying it is. What I am saying is that an aircraft can climb past it’s service ceiling. It’s just not with any meaningful rate of climb. When it reaches it’s absolute ceiling the aircraft can’t climb anymore. There is nothing wrong climbing an aircraft past it’s service ceiling.

ZeekR5430 · December 14, 2025, 5:38am

i.e. @DementedCorn327 if you noticed that at 16,000ft you could only do a 100fpm climb at max weight then yeah. In my experience however, the diamond in the sim goes well past the 100fpm climb at 16,000ft…

DementedCorn327 · December 14, 2025, 7:39am

At 16,000ft (clear sky preset) with 4 pax (pilot+3pax) you can climb 500ft/mn, then vs decrease the more you climb until reaching almost 0ft/mn at 27,700ft. So if I understand correctly it does not match with the service ceiling definition.

DementedCorn327 · December 14, 2025, 6:00pm

Did another test: 100ft/mn were reached at 23,900ft, so let’s say service ceiling as per the definition you’ve provided is 24,000ft what is incorrect.