Jaz Rignall spent his entire Christmas and New Year playing through the import version of Sony's incredible driving game Gran Turismo. Here's what he's found so far.
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.
Don't use the game shark codes to unlock the different racing licenses. It may be tough earning them, but there's good reason for it -- the process of earning the licenses teaches you how to drive the cars. If you don't do it, you won't be able to drive the cars you get. So just stick with it -- in the long run the effort you put in is rewarded by the fact that you'll be a better driver and thus it'll be easier to win races and earn loads of cash.
A good rule of thumb is don't immediately buy a super-powerful FR (rear wheel drive car) -- they're the most difficult cars 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.
Big 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.
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 get a 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 and spend the rest of the money on a muffler, hard roll bars and tuned ROM (and anything else you can afford). Enter and win the 4WD Event Race. Sell the Subaru SVX (or Mitsubishi Lancer if don't get the maximum 45 points) and pour your winnings into fully modifying the Nissan GT-R. SS racing tires, the rest of the suspension modifications and a ROM tune should make the car competitive enough to win the Bronze League GT race. Assuming you do that, 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. Select this and enter and win the Silver and Gold GT Races. Now you should be getting rich.
Select the Nissan GT-R, compete in the Mega Event race and sell the Toyota Soarer that you win. Now buy the Viper RT/10 and enter the Normal Race. It's fairly easy to win with this car since it's twice as powerful as its closest rival (Honda NSX Type S-Zero).
Now you should be ready to get the A International License. Once you've got it, use the Nissan GT-R to win the tuned race (with 939 ps, 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 US race, and use the Viper GTS-R that you win in that race to win the US Vs British race and thus complete the international race series. Use the Viper GTS-R 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 Mitsubishi FTO Limited Edition is tailor made for the Valley 300. Just be prepared to put in about an hour and 50 minutes of racing, 'cos that's how long the race takes (yikes!). The last two Stage 11 races (both take about 45-50 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.
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!
BEST CARS FOR EACH RACE
SUNDAY CUP GT RACE
Pretty much anything that's tuned up will smoke the sad vehicular
slugs that make up this field.
BRONZE CUP GT RACE
As long as your car has over 300 ps and good suspension modifications,
you'll win with ease.
SILVER CUP GT RACE
A fully-tuned car is what you need to win this one. Any 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.
GOLD CUP GT RACE
Like the previous race, a fully-tuned car that weighs less than
1300 kgs and sports more than 600 ps is required to win this.
So that means any of the "big five" -- Mazda RX-7, Toyota
Supra, Mitsubishi GTO, Honda NSX or Nissan GT-R. However, the
Mitsubishi is a bit of a lard-ass, 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 NSX
(less than 1000 kgs and around 550 ps) 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 (and is my personal
fave).
FF RACE
The Mitsubishi FTO GP-R Version is the best car for this class,
although both the Honda Prelude VTEC and Toyota Celica SSII are
just as fun to drive and give it a good run for its money. The
Honda Civic-R is less powerful, but due to its light weight makes
it competitive too.
FR RACE
The Mazda RX-7, Toyota Supra and Honda NSX are kings here. The
rear wheel drive Nissan GT-R is also good, but nowhere near as
powerful as a top-of-the-line Supra. A tuned Viper is also a great
laugh, and thanks to its enormous tires, gives it copious grip
and very good handling.
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,
and 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 at only 265 kph in top gear).
LIGHTWEIGHT
The Mitsubishi FTO GP-R Version is the vehicle of choice here.
It's by far the most powerful car in this class. But for comedy
fun driving, race tune the Mazda Demio A-Spec. With a measly 218
ps under the hood, but weighing in at a featherlight 549 ps, it's
like driving a 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 Honda Civic-R is the final choice
in this category. It's not as fast as the FTO, but it's a total
laugh to drive.
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 "big five" work here, and a fully-tuned Viper
also 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).
BRITISH Vs US
The Viper GTS-R is king for this one, although the Cerebra (fully
tuned with racing body) is a really good alternative. Again, just
be careful with the power -- 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. My favorite is the GT-R, though,
since its 4WD makes it easier to drive than the rear-wheelers
(it's far more forgiving when you're really pushing for those
record lap times).
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.
TUNED
This is a hard race, since you're up against some very powerful,
medium weight cars. A 4WD rally car makes a lot of sense for this,
but all of them tend to lose out on the high speed courses to
cars like the Supra, GT-R and NSX. I ended up going for brute
force -- a Skyline GT-R tuned to 965 ps and sporting every tuning
feature except the racing conversion. 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 East Valley track. It's certainly a test of endurance --
my best time on this course is an hour and 49 minutes -- rather
than skill. I chose the FTO LM racing car 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's also a very
fast car, and with reasonably fast, consistent racing it's easy
to build up a huge margin between you and the second-placed car.
By the time I finished the race, I had lapped all the cars at
least three times!
STAGE 11 RACING
Another massive race, this one weighing in at around 50 minutes.
Again, I chose the FTO LM for this -- it's the best all-round
car in the game. And again, steady and consistent racing is the
key to success.
STAGE 11 TUNED
I chose my trusty old overpowered GT-R for this, going for raw
power again. 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.
REFERENCE
Most powerful car -- race tuned Nissan GT-R Vspec gives out 969 ps. This car is also the most powerful 4WD
Most powerful rear wheel drive car -- race tuned Toyota Supra RZ spanks out over 900 ps, depending on the model
Lightest car -- race tuned Mazda Demio A-Spec is 549 kg
Fastest car -- race tuned Mitsubishi GTO MT can be tweaked to go over 400 kph
Most powerful lightweight/FF car -- race tuned Mitsubishi FTO GP-R Version bangs rated 376 ps
Most powerful stock car -- Viper RT/10 (Viper GTS has the same ps, but is slightly heavier)
Best power-to-weight racing car -- Viper GTS-R
Lightest tuned non-racing car -- NSX S-Zero (990 kg)
Best all-rounder -- FTO Limited Edition combines power, reasonably light weight, 4WD and impressive top speed to devastating effect
WIN MORE CARS
Here are the bonus cars you get for winning each race. There are at least three other cars that you can win -- a TVR Cerbera Limited Edition, Toyota Racing Division 3000GT and a Nissan GT 400 -- but I have yet to discover how. If you know, please drop me a line:-
SUNDAY CUP
Mazda Demio A-Spec
BRONZE LEAGUE CUP
Z28 Camaro 30th Anniversary Edition
SILVER LEAGUE CUP
Toyota Chaser Limited Edition
GOLD LEAGUE CUP
Nothing (you just get the game credits -- boooooooooo!)
FF RACE
Honda Civic Type R
Nissan Silvia K'S 1800
FR RACE
Nissan 180 Type-X
Sil Eighty
4WD RACE
Subaru Alcione SVX S4
Mitsubishi Lancer GSR Evolution IV
LIGHTWEIGHT
Mazda Eunos
Honda CRX Sir
JAPANESE Vs US
Mitsubishi FTO Limited Edition
Honda CRX Limited Edition
JAPANESE Vs BRITISH
Chrysler Viper GTS-R
Aston Martin DB7 Coupe
BRITISH Vs US
Chrysler Concept Car
Mazda RX-7 A-Spec Limited Edition
MEGA GT
Toyota Soarer 2.5 GT-T VVT-I
NORMAL RACE
'91 Nissan GT-R
TUNED RACE
Toyota Supra RZ
VALLEY 300
Castrol Supra GT
STAGE 11 RACING
Nissan Silvia Limited Edition
STAGE 11 TUNED
Nissan GT-R Nismo