Jaz Rignall has long since proclaimed himself the ultimate Gran
Turismo master. So we thought it was
high time for him to put his money where his mouth is and give
us the scoop on how to get the most
out of this game. Here’s his guide to better driving…
STARTING OFF
Gran Turismo is an incredible racing game. However, be warned
-- it's not like any other racer. It
takes time and effort to get used to the ultra-realistic handling,
so be prepared to persevere.
The quick arcade mode is a great way to get used to the basic
handling properties of the cars,
particularly if you pick "racing mode" rather than the overly-arcadey
"drift". The cars available are
nice and slow and really enable you to get the general feel and
understanding of the physics. Once you
can win races regularly in arcade mode, you're ready for Gran
Turismo!
A good rule of thumb is don't immediately buy a powerful rear
wheel drive car -- they're the most
difficult to drive, and if you're a novice you'll be spinning
out on every corner. This can be really
frustrating, so instead, choose a 4WD (four wheel drive) or FF
(front engine, front wheel drive), since
these cars are much more forgiving and easier to drive.
THE FASTEST WAY TO WIN AND EARN CASH
Here's the quickest way to win all the races with the least amount
of cars and thus earn the most
amount of money to spend on the best cars.
Go and earn the B license, then buy a used Honda Prelude and win
the Sunday Cup GT race. Sell both
the Prelude and the Demio A-Spec that you win, buy an '89 Nissan
GT-R (best power-to-weight ratio
of all the Skylines) and spend the rest of the money you have
on a muffler, hard roll bars and tuned
ROM (and anything else you can afford). Enter and win the 4WD
Event Race. Sell the car you win
and pour your money into fully modifying the Nissan GT-R. SS
racing tires, the rest of the suspension
modifications and intercooler should make the car competitive
enough to win the Clubman Cup. Just
don't yet go for a turbo stage tune -- wait until you can afford
a stage IV tune. Assuming you're able
to win the Clubman Cup (if you can't, keep trying -- use the
cash you win to keep modifying your car
until you do), sell the Z28 Camaro 30th Anniversary Edition.
Now go and get your A license.
You should be able to completely finish tuning the Nissan GT-R
by buying everything available,
including the all-important weight reduction -- don't buy the
racing body, though. Enter the Japanese
Vs US Event race. Win this and you get the Mitsubishi FTO Limited
Edition -- the best all-round car in
the game. If you're unlucky, you'll get the Chrysler Viper GTS-R,
a brilliant car, but you have to be a
great driver to get the best out of it. If you win the FTO, select
this and enter and win the GT Cup and
(after getting your International A license), the GT World Cup.
If not, use the Nissan GT-R. Now you
should be getting rich.
Now compete in the Mega Event race and sell the Toyota Soarer
that you win. Buy the Viper RT/10
(or GTS if you like it better) and enter the Normal Race. It's
fairly easy to win with this car, thanks to
its huge power.
Use the Nissan GT-R to win the tuned race (with 926 hp, you should
be able to win this with ease).
Now you should be absolutely loaded up with cash.
Use the Mitsubishi FTO Limited Edition to win the Japanese Vs
British race (or Skyline, if you haven't
won an FTO). If you won a Viper GTS-R, or the Cerbera Limited
Edition, use either of those to win
the US Vs British race and thus complete the international race
series. If you're really unlucky and
win neither of those, tune your normal Viper RT/10 (or GTS) to
the max and use that. Use the Viper
GTS-R (RT/10 or GTS, whichever you've got) to win the FR Class
race and buy an FTO GP-R
Version, which you should then fully modify (except for the racing
body, which is optional). Use this to
win the FF and Lightweight Class races and you're set for the
last three challenges.
The two Stage 11 races (both take about 40-50 minutes) can be
won with the cars you have -- the
Mitsubishi FTO Limited Edition is good for the Racing Class,
and the Nissan GT-R for the Tuned
Class. The Mitsubishi FTO Limited Edition is tailor made for
the Valley 300 -- but you can slap a
racing body onto the Skyline and it does just as well (it just
requires more concentration). Just be
prepared to put in about an hour and 40 minutes of racing, 'cos
that's how long the race takes (yikes!).
And that's it. By the time you've completed all those races you
should have way, way over
100,000,000 and can buy anything you want. So spend! Spend! Spend!
And have fun playing with the
cars on the Machine Test course, or just keep on racing and earning
all those cool prize cars you
missed!
BEST CARS FOR EACH RACE
SUNDAY CUP
Pretty much anything that's tuned will smoke the sad vehicular
slugs that make up this field.
CLUBMAN CUP
As long as your car has over 300 hp and good suspension modifications,
you'll win with ease.
GT CUP
A fully-tuned car is what you need to win this one. Any full-spec
Nissan GT-R is a good pick, even
though it's really too powerful for these courses. But who cares
if your racing is a little ragged when
you can blow the competition away with brute force.
WORLD GT CUP
Like the previous race, a fully-tuned car that weighs less than
2500 lbs and sports more than 525 hp is
required to win this. So that means any of the "big five" --
Mazda RX-7, Toyota Supra, Mitsubishi
GTO, Honda NSX or Nissan Skyline GT-R. However, the Mitsubishi
is a bit of a lard-mobile, so it's
slow on the twisty courses. The Mazda and Toyota, due to the
massive power being delivered to their
rear wheels only, need an experienced driver to really get the
best out of them. The light weight of the
gives it blistering acceleration and top end -- although like
the Mazda and Toyota, its rear wheel drive
means it's easy to spin out on the twisty bits. The 4WD of the
Nissan makes it an excellent
all-rounder. Once you get more skillful, you should be able to
win the race with other, less powerful
cars (which is actually more fun and requires much better racing
ability than competing with a
super-powered car).
FF RACE
The Mitsubishi FTO GP-R is the best car for this class, although
both the Honda Prelude SiR and
Honda Integra R are just as fun to drive and give it a good run
for its money. The Honda Civic 93
3Door Si and Mitsubishi Cyborg are less powerful, but are still
competitive thanks to their light weight.
FR RACE
The Mazda RX-7 and Toyota Supra are both excellent for this.
The Honda NSX would be too -- but it
can't enter this race because it has a mid engine. A tuned Viper
is also a great laugh which, thanks to
its enormous tires, has copious grip and very good handling,
and the lightweight TVRs are also fun. In
the non-exotic group, the Toyota MR2, Nissan Sil Eighty and Nissan
'88 Silvia 1800 K's are fun
drivers. The Mazda Eunos and Toyota Trueno are also a hoot --
both are underpowered, but their light
weight makes them a blast to drive.
4WD RACE
Once again the ominous Nissan GT-R rules the roost here. The
Mitsubishi FTO Limited Edition is less
powerful, but is easier to drive. The Subaru Impreza Rally Edition
is also a good one, although its lack
of top end makes it a bit annoying to drive on the straight-aways
(because it hits the rev limiter in top
gear if you don't fiddle with its setup). But this is somewhat
unfair considering the competition are
driving non-racing cars. So if you want a good challenge, less
powerful, non-racing cars that are also
great fun on this course are the Subaru Impreza ('96 Sedan and
Type R), Mitsubishi Lancer (III and
IV), Nissan GTi-R and Toyota Celica GT-4.
LIGHTWEIGHT
The Mitsubishi FTO GP-R Version is the vehicle of choice here.
But for high comedy value fun
driving, race tune the Mazda Demio A-Spec. With a measly 211
hp under the hood, but weighing in at
a featherlight 1408 hp, it's like driving a souped-up shopping
kart. And it also happily corners on two
wheels (indeed, once you get skillful enough, you can actually
drive some distance with the car
balanced on two wheels!), which makes it great fun to drive.
The Mazda Eunos, Mitsubishi Cyborg R,
Honda Civic 93 3Door Si and Toyota Starlet are the final choices
in this category. They're not as fast
as the FTO, but are all a total laugh to race with.
US Vs JAPANESE
The Mitsubishi FTO Limited Edition destroys the competition in
this race, thanks to high power and
4WD. But if you want variety, any of the race-converted "big
five" work here, and a fully-tuned Viper
GTS-R offers laughs a-plenty if lurid tail slides are your thing.
JAPANESE Vs BRITISH
Like the above, the Mitsubishi FTO Limited Edition rocks. Any
of the "big five" are competitive. If it's
a British racer you're after, there's nothing better than a race-tuned
Cerbera -- although its huge
rear-wheel power and super-light weight makes racing an oversteer
spectacular (the back spins out
when the power is poured on too early). Once you win it, the
Cerbera Limited Edition is absolutely
fantastic -- when you learn how to drive it properly, you can
corner on two wheels while tail sliding,
under full acceleration. Brilliant!
BRITISH Vs US
The Viper GTS-R is king for this one, although the Cerbera (fully
tuned with racing body) is a really
good alternative. Again, just be careful with the throttle --
both cars are very powerful and lightweight
and tend to oversteer.
MEGA
Power and speed are the keys to this race. Any fully-tuned, high-spec
Mazda RX-7, Toyota Supra RZ,
Nissan GT-R, Honda NSX or Mitsubishi GTO will win this with ease.
The Viper and TVRs are also
winners here too.
NORMAL
The best car for this series is the Viper RT/10. Marginally lighter
than the Viper GTS and producing
the same ps, this car smokes everything -- including the other
killer car in this class, the NSX Type
S-Zero. The only thing that's tricky is initially learning to
drive the Viper -- once you've mastered it,
you won't have any problems winning this series. The only other
car that is clearly better than the
competition is the Nissan 400 R that you earn by winning all
the gold medals in the international A
license test. If you want a challenge, any TVR, RX-7 or Subaru
Impreza can also win, but only if
you're a great racer.
TUNED
This is a hard race, since you're up against some very powerful,
medium weight cars. A 4WD
rally-style car (Impreza or Lancer) makes a lot of sense for
this, but all of them tend to lose out on the
high speed courses to cars like the Toyota Supra, Nissan GT-R
and Honda NSX. A GT-R sporting
every tuning feature except the racing conversion is a guaranteed
winner -- it's difficult to drive on
some of the tighter courses, but its huge power advantage and
4WD makes it a formidable car.
VALLEY 300
Here's where the going gets really tough: a 300 mile, 60-lap
race of the Grand Valley Speedway. It's
certainly a test of endurance -- rather than skill, since the
computer cars tend to drive conservatively.
The FTO Limited Edition racing car is great for this (which you
should have won long before you try
this race). Its perfect balance of medium weight and high power
coupled with 4WD gives it supreme
handling and makes it a really easy car to race -- it's plenty
forgiving if your concentration starts to
lapse. It also has good top speed, and with reasonably fast,
consistent racing it's easy to build up a
huge margin between you and the second-placed car and ensure
you finish first by miles.
STAGE 11 RACING
Another massive race, this one weighing in at around 50 minutes.
Again the FTO LM is ideal for this
-- it's the best all-round car in the game. And again, steady
and consistent racing is the key to success.
If you want variety, any light/medium weight 4WD car is ideal
for this rally-style course.
STAGE 11 TUNED
An overpowered GT-R is ideal for this. The problem is that it
wears its tires out incredibly quickly, so
expect to be pulling into the pits every 15-19 laps for new rubber.
Despite that, the GT-R is still king of
this one, since its combination of 4WD and immense power blows
away the opposition and enables
you to build up a huge gap between you and the second-placed
AI driver.
REFERENCE
MOST POWERFUL CAR
A race tuned Nissan GT-R Vspec has peak power of 941 hp. This
car is also the most powerful 4WD
vehicle
MOST POWERFUL FRONT WHEEL DRIVE CAR
A race-tuned Honda Prelude SiR is rated 378 hp
MOST POWERFUL REAR WHEEL DRIVE CAR
A race tuned Toyota Supra RZ spanks out 910 hp
MOST POWERFUL LIGHTWEIGHT CAR
A race tuned Mitsubishi FTO GP-R Version is rated 364 hp
LIGHTEST FRONT WHEEL DRIVE CAR
A race tuned Mazda Demio A-Spec is 1210 lb
LIGHTEST REAR WHEEL DRIVE CAR
A race tuned Toyota Trueno Apex is 1364 lb
LIGHTEST FOUR WHEEL DRIVE CAR
A race tuned Nissan GTi-R and Subaru '96 WRX Sti III (that you
win in the Normal race) both weigh
1935 lb
HEAVIEST FRONT WHEEL DRIVE CAR
A Honda Accord Wagon SiR is a lardass 3196 lb
HEAVIEST REAR WHEEL DRIVE CAR
An Aston Martin DB7 Volante is a lumbering 4133 lb
HEAVIEST FOUR WHEEL DRIVE CAR
A Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo rolls in at 3769 lb
FASTEST CAR
A race tuned Mitsubishi GTO MR can be tweaked to go way over
270 mph
MOST POWERFUL STOCK CAR
A Viper RT/10 (Viper GTS has the same hp, but is slightly heavier)
BEST POWER-TO-WEIGHT RATIO
A TVR Cerbera Limited Edition (581 hp, 1984 lb)
BEST ALL ROUNDER
AN FTO Limited Edition combines power, reasonably light weight,
4WD and impressive top speed to
devastating effect
WIN ALL THE CARS
Here are the bonus cars you get for winning each championship.
The GT races each have one car to
win, except the Gold League Cup. All the event races have two
different cars to win. We've tried to
get to the bottom of how to win the different cars, but so far
it seems random. Most of the cars are
available in multiple colors.
SUNDAY CUP
Mazda Dem io A-Spec
Color: Grey
CLUBMAN CUP
Chevrolet Z28 Camaro 30th Anniversary Edition
Color: White with orange stripes
GT CUP
Toyota Chaser Limited Edition
Color: Black
GT WORLD CUP
Opens up the GT HiFi mode, a time trial mode that enables the
player to race the Clubman Stage R5,
Special Stage R5 and Special Stage R11 in hi-res. Which looks
incredible.
FF RACE
Honda CRX EF-8 SiR
Colors: Yellow, black or purple
Toyota Celica SSII
Colors: Yellow, green or purple
FR RACE
Nissan 'Q's 1800
Colors: Yellow or blue
Nissan Sil Eighty
Colors: Purple, blue or yellow
4WD RACE
Subaru SVX S4
Colors: Purple or white
Mitsubishi Lancer GSR Evolution IV
Colors: Yellow, purple or turquoise
LIGHTWEIGHT
Honda CRX Type R
Colors: Yellow with black hood, green with black hood or pink
with black hood
Mazda Eunos
Colors: Yellow, gold or blue
JAPANESE Vs US
Mitsubishi FTO Limited Edition
Colors: Black or green
Chrysler Viper GTS-R
Colors: White with blue stripes or white with green stripes
JAPANESE Vs BRITISH
TVR Cerbera Limited Edition
Colors: Grey-purple or grey-green
Honda CRX Limited Edition
Colors: Red or black with white stripes
BRITISH Vs US
Chrysler Concept Car (Race tuned)
Colors: Yellow, or purple
Mazda RX-7 A-Spec Limited Edition
Colors: Purple or green
MEGA RACE
Toyota Soarer 2.5 GT-T VVT-I
Colors: Yellow, or purple
Aston Martin DB7 Coupe
Colors: Purple, white or crimson
NORMAL RACE
Toyota Supra RZ
Colors: Purple
Impreza '96 WRX Sti III
Colors: Light blue or yellow
TUNED RACE
Nissan '91 Skyline GT-R
Colors: Red, yellow or blue
AE86 Sprinter Trueno GT
Colors: Red, blue or green
VALLEY 300
Castrol Supra GT
Colors: Black, red and blue or black, red and green
STAGE 11 RACING
Nissan Silvia Limited Edition
Colors: Red or bright green
STAGE 11 TUNED
Nissan GT-R Nismo
Color: Off white
MEDAL CARS
All gold in B License Test
Chrysler Concept Car (stock)
Color: Red
All gold in A License Test
Toyota TRD 3000GT
Color: Silver
All gold in International A License Test
Nissan Nismo 400R
Colors: Silver, orange or yellow
ARCADE MODE
Not only is this a fun way to learn the game, but it's also a
great game in its own right. The "Goodies"
option on the main menu basically enables you to keep track of
what races you've won, so utilize it to
ensure you don't needlessly compete in races.
To open up all the goodies, you've got to play on "Hard". When
you beat a track using with all three
car categories (A, B and C -- C is pretty tough unless you're
a Gran Turismo veteran), you open up a
hidden track, of which there are four. Beating each hidden track
in the same way opens up a new
menu of cars -- either TVR, Chrysler, or Aston Martin,
depending on the track you beat.
When you've beaten every track with every category of car, the
arcade GT-Hifi mode is opened up --
a time trial mode that enables you to race the Clubman Stage
R5, Special Stage R5 and Special Stage
R11 in hi-res. This is very cool indeed! It also opens up an
option that enables you to view the ending
movie, should you wish to do so.
ADVANCED TUNING
The basic setup of the cars is excellent for general racing.
However, if you're going for record times
on Time Trial, you'll need to tweak your car using the setup
menu to ensure maximum performance.
You'll be surprised how much you can improve your lap times by
tuning your favorite car for each
particular track. Here's a basic guide:-
SUSPENSION
SPRING RATIO
Adjust the hardness of the springs.
The stiffer you make the springs, the faster and more responsively
the car steers. However,
over-stiffening the springs makes the car very unstable on rough
roads. Some courses have smoother
roads than others -- the smoother the road, the stiffer you can
make the springs.
RIDE HEIGHT RATIO
Adjust the height of the car.
Lowering the car's height lowers its center of gravity and makes
it more stable on the road. However,
over-lowering the car causes it to bottom out, which means you
can completely go out of control
following a jump or particularly vicious bump. This can be balanced
by increasing the spring ratio and
damper ratio -- but race the track continually while adjusting
to ensure maximum balance for each
particular track. Again, the smoother the track, the lower you
can adjust the car.
DAMPER
Adjust the decreasing strength (dampening ratio) of the damper.
The softer the dampers, the more the car rolls into corners and
over-reacts to bumps in the road. The
harder they are, the more unstable the car gets out of corners.
Some of the lighter cars have problems
getting their power down cleanly on the road -- their tires spin
and the car shakes. By softening the
dampers, the tires are able to grip better -- the down-side is
that the body roll is over-exaggerated
through corners. When this happens, adjust the Spring Ratio and
to lessen the effect.
CAMBER
Adjust the negative cumber angle.
This makes little difference to overall performance, and setting
this wrongly can completely ruin the
car's handling, braking and steering. A slight tweak negatively
increases the car's stability through
corners, but this is offset by loss of braking ability and steering
effectiveness. In most cases, it's best to
leave this as is.
STABILIZER
Adjust the roll rigidity of the stabilizers.
The stabilizers affect the car's cornering ability by making
it more stable. Over-adjusting the stabilizers
causes the car to become over-reactive on the straights. Under-adjusting
makes it roll through corners
and become very unstable. Just remember -- the car's stability
is also directly affected by the dampers
and spring ratio -- so adjust this in relation to the other two.
BRAKE
Adjust the brake balance front and back.
The more powerful the brake setting, the more the car's weight
is thrown forward during the braking
process. This can cause real handling problems if you brake while
turning. Basically, the more
powerful the front brakes, the more the car understeers (that
means it wants to carry on in a straight
line) and the more powerful the back brakes, the more the car
oversteers (the back wants to slide
around). The latter condition is more preferable because it helps
the cornering effort, but can cause a
loss of traction. Tweak the brakes to suit your driving style,
starting with the rear brakes first.
ENGINE
TURBO BOOST PRESSURE
Adjust the turbo boost pressure.
The higher the setting, the higher the peak power is raised,
but this detrimentally affects the low-down
acceleration is affected. Generally speaking, you want to have
turbo pressure at maximum, unless
you're driving a course that requires strong low- and mid-range
acceleration (such as Special Stage
R11)
GEAR RATIOS
Adjust the ratio for each speed gear.
Lowering the final drive ratio reduces the car's acceleration,
but enables it to reach faster speeds (idea
for a top speed test, for example, or very high speed courses).
The higher the final drive, the better the
acceleration, but it lowers top speed. Adjusting each individual
gear ratio enables you to ensure that
the engine revs are always kept in the car's power band. This
is particularly important for turbo cars
where the power band kicks in at higher revs -- by not keeping
the revs in the power band results in
very poor pickup, reducing the car's low- and mid-range performance,
drastically affecting the car's
performance on the more twisty tracks.
AERODYNAMICS
DOWNFORCE
Adjust the downforce.
Increasing the overall downforce (by adjusting both front and
rear by the same amount) essentially
makes the car heavier, this making it more stable at higher speeds.
However, this increase in "weight"
is to the detriment of top-end performance. Lowering the downforce
increases top-end performance
but makes the car less stable at top speed. Increasing the front
downforce alone causes it to
understeer. Increasing the rear downforce causes it to oversteer.
GRAN TURISMO'S GREATEST CARS
Gran Turismo's sheer wealth of cars is unprecedented. But with
over 150 to choose from, which ones
are the best? Obviously, this is a very subjective question -
everyone has their own personal favorites.
So what we've done is choose a selection of cars that stand out
for a specific reason. Be it their sheer
acceleration, cornering ability, top speed or the fact that they're
just plain fun to drive, the following
cars are worth every credit of their in-game price tag.
STOCK CARS
Normal racing is one of the game's biggest and most enjoyable
challenges, since it requires a great
deal of skill to win constantly. With races that enable you to
choose tuned vehicles, you can easily pick
an overpowered car and blow the competition away. But with normal
racing you're forced to use the
same kinds of cars as the AI drivers, which means that even if
you choose the best cars in the class,
the competition are always right behind you. All the cars listed
below are capable of winning the
normal race, but the question is - are you?
Note: Something you might have noticed is that in most cases,
when you buy a car and look at it in
your garage, its power often differs from the figure originally
shown at the dealership. This difference
essentially reflects the car's "run in" power as opposed to the
factory spec. In the cases below we've
listed the "run in" power.
FOUR WHEEL DRIVE
NISSAN '89 SKYLINE GT-R
Power: 310 hp
Weight: 3373 lb
With a phenomenal number of different-spec Skylines available
in the game, it's difficult to know
which to choose. Wonder no more - this is the one. It's the lightest
of the lot and whacks out a very
healthy 310 hp, giving it better acceleration and nimbler handling
than the newer models. The fact that
it's four wheel drive makes it a very easy and forgiving car
to drive, and even though it lacks the
midrange of an NSX Type S Zero, it's a competitive car that's
an excellent all-rounder.
NISSAN 400R
Power: 411 hp
Weight: 3417 lb
The 400 R's enormous 411 hp makes it one of the most powerful
stock cars in the game. Impressive
acceleration, great midrange pickup and excellent top-end combine
brilliantly to make this a car to be
reckoned with. It's a bit on the heavy side, but once you learn
how to utilize the car's momentum to
best advantage by four wheel drifting, you'll see why this Gran
Turismo rarity is second only to the
awesome Viper as the best stock vehicle in the game.
SUBARU '96 IMPREZA WRX-STi III
Power: 276 ps
Weight: 2733 lb
Note: this isn't the same car you buy from the Subaru dealership
- it's the one you win in the normal
race, and it's marginally lighter than the regular version. It's
a very easy car to drive, and its relatively
light weight and fast steering results in it being very nimble
on the road, making it a winner, particularly
on twisty courses. It's only letdown is its lack of top end,
which means that it's at a disadvantage on
courses with long straightaways, but skillful drivers will be
able to claw back a little lost time by taking
corners faster than any of the other stock cars on this list.
REAR WHEEL DRIVE
TVR GRIFFITH 500
Power: 333 hp
Weight: 2336 lb
Check out the weight of this one! At just over 2300 lb, this
is one of the lightest stock cars in the
game. Combine that with its extremely impressive power and you
have a car that's blisteringly fast if
you have the skill to drive it. It delivers its power from very
low down the rev band, and because it's so
light it means it can spin its wheels easily in first, second
and third gear. The result is a car that's a real
handful - if you have a lead foot (or should that be finger)
you'll be spinning out on every corner.
However, treat it with respect and drive intelligently and you'll
find this TVR is one of the fastest,
nimblest and most rewarding rear wheel drive cars in the game.
CHRYSLER VIPER RT/10
Power: 440 hp
Weight: 3187 lb
All hail the king of the stock cars (the Viper GTS is just as
good, but it's marginally heavier, so this
gets the nod from us over the hard-top version). Its massive
power delivered right across the rev band
and huge, fat tires combine to make a vehicle that absolutely
blows everything away in this class.
Literally, there's nothing that can beat the Viper in terms of
sheer grunt acceleration and phenomenal
midrange pickup. The only thing you need to do is learn how to
drive it. It's a fairly heavy car, but
thanks to its copious grip can be easily slid around the sharpest
of corners - just make sure you don't
put the power on too early or you'll find yourself spinning out.
HONDA NSX TYPE S ZERO
Power: 285 hp
Weight: 2799 lb
All the NSX models are fantastic cars, but the S Zero has the
best power-to- weight ratio. It has
superb handling thanks to its mid-engine setup, and due to the
fact that it's not a turbo car means that it
delivers power right across the rev band. Extra bonus - highly
impressive top speed, which gives it an
advantage on courses with long, sweeping bends and plenty of
straightaways. Highly recommended as
a beginner's car - and watch out for the computer AI racer who
drives one of these. He's very tough
to beat.
MAZDA RX-7 A-SPEC
Power: 256 hp
Weight: 2689 lb
With a slew of RX-7's to choose from, the A-Spec offers the best
in terms of weight and power. It
might not have the acceleration and handling of other cars in
this class, but it's a fun car to drive and
can definitely win if you work at it. Watch out for early power-on,
which can cause it to spin out, and
try to keep its revs high - it's a turbo car and delivers its
punch right at the top of the rev band.
TOYOTA TRD3000GT
Power: 291 hp
Weight: 3328 lb
Another Gran Turismo rarity, this unusual Toyota - the racing
division's take on a Supra - is heavy, but
very fast. It's very at home on high speed courses, and can hold
its own on the twisties if you're
careful to brake early and ease it through the corners. Like
the RX-7, it's a turbo car, so keep the
engine spinning at high revs. Let them drop and you'll fall victim
to its only vice - somewhat sluggish
low-end pickup.
STOCK CARS (TUNED) AND STOCK-DERIVED RACING CARS
Stock tuned cars (that is, cars tuned to the max, but without
the racing body conversion) are great fun
to race, and there's plenty of opportunity in Gran Turismo to
do so, from the straightforward class
races to the super high speed Mega Race. The toughest competitions,
however, are the Tuned and the
30-lap R11 II races, which both feature high quality AI competition.
Since stock tuned cars are
heavier and have slimmer tires than a racing car, they're more
challenging to drive than their race car
derivatives, so generally you have to brake earlier and corner
slightly slower than you would with a
racing car.
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE
MAZDA DEMIO A-SPEC
Power: 211 hp
Weight: 1408 hp
This overblown shopping kart is an absolute hoot to drive. Although
it's only rated 211 hp at full tune,
its incredible light weight results in a car that's surprisingly
competitive. Its high center of gravity and
very fast steering also gives it an added bonus - it easily tips
over on its side. Indeed, once you master
this aspect of its handling, you can actually drive considerable
distances on two wheels, which makes
for spectacular-looking replays.
HONDA CRX SiR
Power: 259 hp
Weight: 1666 lb
Again, not exactly a powerful car, but thanks to its light weight
it's a deceptively quick car. Steering is
very responsive, and its excellent low- and midrange pickup makes
it a fabulous car for twisty courses
such as Autumnring Mini and Deep Forest. It might be old, but
give this front wheel driver a go - it's
one of the better ones in the game.
HONDA PRELUDE SiR
Power: 378 hp
Weight: 2303 lb
The most powerful front wheel drive car in the game isn't necessarily
the fastest all-round - its lardy
weight unfortunately blunts its overall performance. However,
it's still a blast and can smoke virtually
every other car in the front wheel drive category.
MITSUBISHI FTO GP VERSION R
Power: 364 hp
Weight: 1977 lb
The FTO is simply the ultimate front wheel drive car - if you
want to break all your record times in the
front wheel drive car race, this is the vehicle to choose. Its
handling is nothing short of incredible - it's
very easy to drive on the limit thanks to its highly predictable
understeer and its light weight and
supremely responsive steering makes it very easy to throw through
the twistiest or corners where
heavier cars would be spinning out.
FOUR WHEEL DRIVE
SUBARU '96 IMPREZA WRX-STi III
Power: 494 hp
Weight: 2286 lb
Light weight and high power makes a great combination especially
when you add in fast steering and
four wheel drive. Yep, this Subaru is a great car that's the
lightest in its class (tied with the Nissan
Gti-R, which only makes 381 hp fully tuned) and is absolutely
at home on the R11 rally-style courses
and twisty tracks such as Deep Forest and Autumring.
SUBARU '94 IMPREZA WAGON
Power: 567 hp
Weight: 2393 lb
A real sleeper, this wagon is the most powerful stock-derived
Subaru in the game. It's exceptionally
fast, has fine mid- and upper-range power (don't let the revs
drop, because it's a turbo) and is
extremely well balanced. If you're looking for one of the best
four wheel drive rally-style cars in the
game, look no further than this.
MITSUBISHI LANCER GSR EVOLUTION IV
Power: 492 hp
Weight: 2528 lb
Heavier than the GSR Evolution III, but with crisper power deliver
and better handling thanks to its
larger, thicker-gauge tires, this four wheel driver is fun to
thrash around any twisty track and still has
the power to compete on the more open courses. It's not as good
as the two Subarus, but should still
be checked out.
NISSAN '89 SKYLINE GT-R
Power: 913 hp
Weight: 2678 lb
Get ready for the ride of your life - this car is absolutely
insane. It's ridiculously overpowered and its
brutal power delivery makes it an incredibly exciting car to
drive. Watch for its lethal acceleration -
you'll find the next corner coming up much faster than you expect.
It's quite heavy and combined with
its rapidity means that you have to be hard on the brakes or
you'll be off at every corner. If you can
tame this beast, expect to chalk up some awesome record times.
NISSAN SKYLINE GT-R VSPEC
Power: 941 ps
Weight: 2885 lb
This Skyline makes the list thanks to the fact that it's the
most powerful car in the game. If screaming
out of corners with all four wheels spinning is your thing, this
car must not be missed. The downside of
this warp-speed accelerating car is its weight - if you want
to keep this car on the road, you have to
get on the brakes early. However, once you get the measure of
its balance, you can four wheel drift
through corners at speed, and then use its lunatic power to burst
out of the bend with all four wheels
spinning. Truly one of the Gran Turismo greats.
MITSUBISHI '95 GTO MR
Power: 930 hp
Weight: 3203 lb
This car's just too heavy for most twisting courses, but for
the Mega Speed race it's excellent.
Particularly on the oval test track, where it's really at home.
Just remember to brake very early, and
don't try to throw this car through the bends - you'll just end
up plowing off the track.
REAR WHEEL DRIVE
TOYOTA SUPRA RZ
Power: 910 hp
Weight: 2828 lb
If lurid tail slides are your thing, this insane rear wheel driver
is definitely one for you. It's a heavy
motor, so get on the brakes early for corners, and only pour
the power on when the car is balanced
and ready to go in a straight line, otherwise you'll find yourself
facing traffic within a heartbeat. Other
than that, have fun - this car has phenomenal straight line acceleration,
and can get serious air on
tracks with jumps, like Deep Forest's straightaway.
CHRYSLER VIPER GTS
Power: 578 hp
Weight: 2526 lb
As smooth as rear wheel drive cars get, this vehicle's supremely
fat tires enables it to get the power
down comfortably, and makes sliding it through corners a breeze.
It's not as fast as a souped-up Supra,
but it's far more controllable and it has exceptional midrange
acceleration.
TVR GRIFFITH BLACKPOOL B340
Power: 430 hp
Weight: 1820 lb
If you're getting good at the game and are after a challenging
car that'll reward and delight, this is the
one to try. Just don't buy it straight away. It's very powerful
and very light, which makes it very
susceptible to spinouts if the power is gotten on to early. But
learn to brake right, to balance the car
right through corners and when to get the power on and you'll
find a record breaker in the making.
HONDA NSX TYPE S ZERO
Power: 534 hp
Weight: 2182 lb
Like it is in its stock form, this is a very easy and forgiving
car to drive - it takes an unskilled baboon
with no finesse to get it out of shape. It's extremely fast,
has very impressive top end and is
comfortable on pretty much any track in the game. An excellent
all-rounder and a good one to choose
early on in your career as a Gran Turismo driver.
MAZDA RX-7 A-SPEC
Power: 527 hp
Weight: 2286 lb
The RX-7, thanks to its reasonable weight and quick steering,
is a fun driver. Just remember to keep
those revs high, as it delivers its power at the top end of the
rev band. As usual with rear wheel drive
cars, watch for that early power-on or you'll be waltzing down
the track making beautiful clouds of
smoke as you spin.
SOARER 2.5 GT-T VVT-I
Power: 789 hp
Weight: 2923 lb
This one's in here thanks to the fact that it's great fun to
drive. It's heavy, it has relatively thin tires and
it has lots of power. Which means one thing - lots of tail-sliding,
tire-shredding sideways-slideways
action. The Soarer isn't the car to choose if you want to break
records, but if you're looking to impress,
or want to indulge in a little exhibition driving, this car's
fun, fun, fun.
STOCK-DERIVED RACING CARS
Lighter, more nimble and gripper than their stock-tuned counterparts,
stock- derived race cars are a
total blast to drive. One thing to remember when you're deciding
whether to upgrade to a race car or
not is that you can actually do this relatively cheaply and still
keep your stock-tuned car. Buy the same
model and take it racing. But don't race it - select "change
parts" from the menu and you'll be able to
select every option you've already bought for your other car
- for free (and it's a permanent thing too,
as long as you save the game)! The only things you need to buy
are port polishing, rebore and the
three stages of aerodynamics (and, occasionally and for an inexplicable
reason on some models, the
brake controller). Then, all you have to do is buy the racing
body and you have two different class cars
at cut-rate price.
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE
MAZDA DEMIO A-SPEC
Power: 211 hp
Weight: 1210 lb
The racing version of this is even more insane and, with practice,
you can actually flip this car onto
two wheels on the straights!
HONDA CRX SiR
Power: 259 hp
Weight: 1430 lb
Faster, smoother and more predictable than its stock counterpart,
this pocket rocket sure does fly.
HONDA PRELUDE SiR
Power: 378 hp
Weight: 1977 lb
Easier to manage than the stock-tuned version, just watch for
its tendency to spin its wheels on every
corner.
MITSUBISHI FTO GP VERSION R
Power: 364 hp
Weight: 1697 lb
Here's the game's ultimate front wheel drive car. Fantastically
responsive and extremely fast, this is
the easiest car in the game to drive at insane speeds.
FOUR WHEEL DRIVE
SUBARU '96 IMPREZA WRX-STi III
Power: 494 hp
Weight: 1935 lb
A fabulous rally car that's razor sharp and controllably quick.
SUBARU '94 IMPREZA WAGON
Power: 567 hp
Weight: 2030 lb
Faster, but slightly less manageable than the STi III, this car
rewards the skilled driver.
MITSUBISHI LANCER GSR EVOLUTION IV
Power: 492 hp
Weight: 2142 lb
Similar characteristics to stock-tuned, but obviously faster
and more responsive.
NISSAN '89 SKYLINE GT-R
Power: 939 hp
Weight: 2268 lb
If you thought the stock-tuned version was mad, this version
should be locked up and given sedatives.
Watch it on tight, closed-in courses - if you're not careful
you'll be bouncing off the walls.
MITSUBISHI '95 GTO MR
Power: 930 hp
Weight: 2665 lb
Here's the car to break top speed records with, particularly
if you're willing to fiddle with its setup.
REAR WHEEL DRIVE
TOYOTA SUPRA RZ
Power: 910 hp
Weight: 2396 lb
The fatter tires of the racing body conversion makes this a lot
more controllable, and it's able to put the
power down better, which means it's even quicker in a straight
line.
NISMO GT-R LM
Power: 860 hp
Weight: 2506 lb
This car, earned by winning the 30-lap R11 II race, is rather
disappointing in stock and stock-tuned
form. But it comes into its own when you slap a racing body into
it - it's lighter and more powerful than
the Special Edition Nismo GT-R LM that costs 50m credits! Very
highly recommended.
TVR GRIFFITH 500
Power: 430 hp
Weight: 1565 lb
Just like it is in its other forms, this TVR is one for Gran
Turismo masters. It's a blinder if you have the
ability - an uncontrollable nightmare if you don't.
HONDA NSX TYPE S ZERO
Power: 534 hp
Weight: 1873 lb
Even easier to drive than stock-tuned, this is a car that's highly
recommended to beginners looking to
step up from stock-level racing.
SPECIAL RACE CARS AND LIMITED EDITION RACE CARS
Here's where the racing goes from fast to warp speed. All the
following cars are "pure" racers. Each
has exceptional scope for tuning and most of them are supremely
competitive. The 50,000,000 credit
Special Model cars are obviously fast, but the game's best cars
are actually ones that you can win.
Here's a complete list of all of the pure racing cars in the
game - strap your seatbelt on and get ready
for the ride of your life.
FOUR WHEEL DRIVE
SUBARU RALLY EDITION
Power: 575 hp
Weight: 2160 lb
Simply, the best there is for tight courses like Autumnring (mini
and regular) and the Special Stages,
this rally car is blisteringly fast thanks to its incredibly
close gear ratios, and it's incredibly responsive -
you can literally hurl it through corners. On the high speed
courses, you have to increase its final drive
ratio, otherwise you'll find the car hitting its rev limiter
way to early.
MITSUBISHI FTO LM EDITION
Power: 541 hp
Weight: 2050 lb
One of the Gran Turismo greats, this is the best all-round car
in the game. Light, incredibly easy and
forgiving to drive, sporting excellent acceleration, responsive
pickup across the rev band and fast
steering, this is a car that you can really cane the nuts off
without worrying about crashing every few
seconds. It's not as quick as some other cars, but because of
its ease of use is ideal for beating the
endurance races.
MITSUBISHI GTO LM
Power: 604 hp
Weight: 2821 lb
This is a fairly easy to drive car thanks to its great grip and
acceleration - as long as you brake and
accelerate without spinning the tires. If you're a sucker for
tail sliding, you'll find this will punish you
due to its poor low- down pickup. Not a car for twisty courses,
this one lives for open, high speed
tracks.
REAR WHEEL DRIVE
HONDA DEL SOL LM
Power: 563 hp
Weight: 1962 lb
A very light, very powerful car that's extremely stable thanks
to its mid- engine configuration. Its
acceleration is road-ripplingly fast and it can be thrown into
corners at speed. Just watch for
mid-corner oversteer at high speed.
MAZDA RX-7 A-SPEC LM
Power: 570 hp
Weight: 2314 lb
A decent car that's good all round and has excellent cornering
ability. Watch for mid-corner oversteer
and keep the engine spinnin g and this will see you right. Get
it wrong and well, you should know the
score by now.
MAZDA RX-7 LM
Power: 596 hp
Weight: 2116 lb
With more power, less weight and fatter tires than the A-S pec
LM, this is by far the ultimate RX-7.
It's exceptionally fast, corners at unbelievable speed thanks
to the sheer amount of rubber in contact
with the road and has outstanding acceleration, making it one
of the best 50m Special Editions in the
game.
NISSAN SILVIA LM
Power: 536 hp
Weight: 2116 lb
Another excellent rear wheel drive car that offers great handling
and good all-round speed. Not as
quick as some of the other racing cars, but that's not to say
that it's an incredibly fast, highly enjoyable
racer.
TOYOTA CHASER LM
Power: 655 hp
Weight: 2777 lb
This, the heaviest Limited Edition racing car in the game, is
fun to drive, but it has a tendency to
understeer. A good beginners car, but not one to stick with if
you have record-breaking in mind.
CHRYSLER CONCEPT CAR
Power: 560 hp
Weight: 1329 lb
Supremely light and very powerful, this car is an outstanding
motor that's great to drive on every type
of course.
CHRYSLER VIPER GTS-R
Power: 680 hp
Weight: 2753 lb
The second best car in the game, this is an absolutely superb
racing car that offers smooth handling,
astounding grip, lunatic fast acceleration and amazing top speed.
If you're able to avoid the early
power-on oversteer which its big power and little weight tend
to cause (easy enough as long as you
put the power down once the car has settled through the corner),
you'll find this car is fabulous. Best
thing of all - you don't even have to fiddle with its setup to
start beating the competition and breaking
records!
TOYOTA CASTROL SUPRA GT
Power: 655 hp
Weight: 2535 lb
This awesome racer is fast, smooth and responsive and has huge
potential for tweaking. It's got
excellent all-round power and superb acceleration and, as long
as the driver doesn't go for lurid tail
slides, is one of the best- balanced racers in the game.
HONDA NSX-R GT2 TURBO
Power: 549 hp
Weight: 2314 lb
Like the Castrol Supra, this is another great, well-balanced
car that has excellent scope for tweaking.
A brilliant all-rounder, its only vice is that its handling gets
a little twitchy and it can get out of shape at
very high speeds.
THE BEST CAR IN THE GAME
TVR CERBERA LM
Power: 581 hp
Weight: 1984 lb
With the best power-to-weight ratio of any car in the game, this
is quite simply the fastest car that
Gran Turismo has to offer. However, you have to be an excellent
driver to get the best out of it -
novices need not apply. Once you have the skill to drive it,
the Cerbera offers an absolutely astonishing
ride. It's fantastically fast, its acceleration is mind-boggling
and its cornering ability is simply
unbelievable - if you're good enough, you can actually corner
on two wheels while tail sliding! Once
you master this car, you'll break every record you thought you'd
never beat.
HOW TO DRIVE THE CARS
ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS
Big beginner tip: when cornering, remember the racing adage, "slow
in, fast out". It's the key to
success. Learn to brake early and get on the power as early as
possible so you accelerate out of a
bend. Don't brake late -- you'll still be out of control and
decelerating deep into the corner, and you'll
end up coming out of the corner slowly and quite possibly still
not under full control of the car.
WHEELSPIN
While it's great fun sliding cars through corners with their wheels
spinning, it's actually totally
inefficient for racing. Think about it - every revolution of
the car's wheel while spinning is a wasted
one - if that wheel was gripping the car would be moving forward
at a much quicker rate. To drive a
car efficiently, you have to brake early so you can get on the
power through the corner and accelerate
out of the corner at the limit of the car's grip.
BRAKING
Braking for corners correctly is extremely important. Do it too
early and you lose an awful lot of time;
too late and you come off the track and lose even more time (particularly
if there's a sandy runoff
area). So how do you get it right? The trick is to remember to
look for braking markers - trackside
objects that help you identify exactly when to slam on the brakes
for a corner. You don't have to do it
for every corner - sweeping ones can easily be gotten right.
But for severe corners - particularly those
at the end of long straights when you're going absolutely flat
out - it's absolutely crucial. Several
practice laps will quickly enable you to hunt these out. Look
for signposts, trees, overhead gantries,
fence posts, kerbs - anything that is clearly recognizable that
you can easily remember. Basically, as
you're approaching the corner, quickly look around and as you
start to brake and observe what
recognizable objects are nearby and choose one of those as your
braking point. If you've braked too
late or too early, change your braking accordingly on the next
lap (using your originally selected
braking point as reference) this time looking for another marker
as you do so. Keep repeating this
process until you have the perfect braking point.
Once you have a braking point, you can then use it every time
you race, modifying it depending on the
car you're using by using the strategy outlined above. It sounds
quite complex, but if you're prepared to
put a little time into this, you'll find your lap times will
improve immensely.
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE CARS
A front wheel drive cars displays a heavy understating behavior
while cornering - that means it wants
to go straight ahead instead of going around the corner. Cars
of this type have to be driven hard in
order to obtain fast cornering. You have to brake late, very
late, to successfully negotiate the corner.
Basically, at the very last moment into the corner, turn in and
blip the brake to change the car's attitude
through the corner, tucking in the front tires and making the
back want to slide around. The faster the
approach to a corner, the more you have to brake, but don't forget
- the later you brake, the faster you
navigate the bend.
If it looks like the car is about to go off the road, you can
"gas it" - punching the accelerator while
steering into the corner actually helps it grip and get around
the bend. However, doing this is inefficient
since it spins the tires, and it's best to use this tactic only
in an emergency.
REAR WHEEL DRIVE CARS
Rear wheel drive cars are the most fun to drive since you can
slide them around the corners. Cars of
this type have a natural tendency to oversteer - that means that
the back of the car wants to break
loose and slide around into the corner, essentially spinning
the car out. Whenever a car slides in this
way, you should steer into the slide until the car begins to
straighten out.
The best way to drive a rear wheel powered car is with respect.
Brake in a straight line, get off the
brakes and turn into the corner, get the car balanced and then
when the car is settled, get on the gas
and power out of the corner under acceleration, using the full
width of the road.
Getting the power on too early overexaggerates the oversteer and
the car simply spins out of control.
Doing it too late results in a loss of acceleration out of the
corner.
FOUR WHEEL DRIVE CARS
The road holding characteristics of these cars are a bit more
complex. They are a combination of both
of the above. A four wheel drive car has a tendency to understeer
when entering the corner and
oversteer when exiting. Like with front wheel drive cars, the
driver has to brake late when entering
the corner, turning in at the last moment of braking. The car
leans into the corner, and then as it
bounces back on its suspension, get back on the gas to slide
the car through the corner. It takes some
practice to learn the timing of the "bounce". Do it too early
and the car simply understeers in a straight
line and won't make the corner. Do it too late and you lose considerable
speed. Also, the heavier the
car, the more prone to understeering it is - with a car that
carries a lot of weight, you really have to
heave it into the corner, virtually sending it sideways before
you get back on the gas to wrestle it
through the bend.
CORNERING IN PRACTICE
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE
Approach the corner at speed.
Turn into the corner and blip the brakes to avoid understeer -
don't forget to keep those front wheels
turned into the corner at all times.
Keep turning in and as soon as car has stopped understeering and is turning into the bend.
Try to keep the wheels straight at this point, which allows maximum acceleration.
Keep the power on and blast out of the corner at top speed - use
the full width of the road if
necessary to ensure maximum exit speed.
REAR WHEEL DRIVE
Approach the corner at speed.
Brake in a straight line - don't break while turning or the car will spin.
When you've finished braking, turn the car into the corner. Don't
power on at this point or the car will
spin.
When the car is settled and sliding neutrally (or simply driving
around the bend with all wheels
gripping), power on and steer into the slide if the back end
starts to break away.
Use the full width of the road to ensure maximum acceleration and exit speed.
FOUR WHEEL DRIVE
Approach the corner at speed.
Brake in a straight line, turn in and blip the brakes - watch
for understeer at this point. If the car is
doing this, turn in and blip the brakes again.
Power on when the car has bounced on its suspension and has settled into a neutral slide.
Keep the power on and the car will four wheel drift through the bend, cornering flat.
Use the full width of the road to maximize exit speed.
CHEATING BASTARD TACTICS
Like most licensed games, Gran Turismo's cars don't suffer any
damage as a result of collisions with
other racers or trackside objects. This can be used to your advantage.
On circuits with walls,
particularly the High Speed Ring, Special Stages and Clubman
circuit, you can use some corners' walls
to your advantage by sliding into them and running along their
length while accelerating around the
bend. There is a little loss of speed when you hit the wall,
but since by using this tactic, you don't really
need to brake into the corner, there is an overall gain in speed,
since you can bounce your way through
a bend at a far greater speed than you would under normal conditions.
This does require a good
degree of skill to get right - a full-on frontal collision results
in a huge loss of speed. To do it right, you
have to hit the wall with the car parallel to it to ensure minimum
loss of momentum.
The other thing that can help is other cars. If there's a car
in front of you, you can slide into it and
bounce off it, safely negotiating the bend at speed in similar
way that you can use a wall. The added
bonus is that it sends the other car careening off the track
- very useful if that car happens to be one
of the leaders.