VGR: Gran Turismo

The Ultimate Gran Turismo Guide 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 Demio 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, 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

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: 9139 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 spinning 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-Spec 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.