Jaz Rignall, gamesplayer extrodinare, lends his tips to the Gran Turismo experience.
THE GRAN TURISMO ULTIMATE GUIDE
Part 2. What? Carry on reading!!
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, Chevrolet 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
ENGINE
AERODYNAMICS
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
FOUR WHEEL DRIVE
NISSAN '89 SKYLINE GT-R
NISSAN 400R
SUBARU '96 IMPREZA WRX-STi III
REAR WHEEL DRIVE
TVR GRIFFITH 500
CHRYSLER VIPER RT/10
HONDA NSX TYPE S ZERO
MAZDA RX-7 A-SPEC
TOYOTA TRD3000GT
STOCK CARS (TUNED) AND STOCK-DERIVED RACING CARS
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE
MAZDA DEMIO A-SPEC
HONDA CRX SiR
HONDA PRELUDE SiR
MITSUBISHI FTO GP VERSION R
FOUR WHEEL DRIVE
SUBARU '96 IMPREZA WRX-STi III
SUBARU '94 IMPREZA WAGON
MITSUBISHI LANCER GSR EVOLUTION IV
NISSAN '89 SKYLINE GT-R
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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