“GTune 5″ App Simplifies Gran Turismo 5 Car Tuning
Tuning – in the real or virtual world – can dramatically change a car’s performance and handling characteristics. It can also be very time consuming, involving hours of tweaking, testing, trial, and error.
It’s also a generally subjective art; settings preferred by one player are are often unsuitable to another’s driving style. To further complicate things, a specific tune only applies to the car it was designed for – until now.
GTPlanet user Brendan Hobbart (pgagoober) has tackled this problem head-on in his new iOS app, “GTune 5″. It includes an ambitious feature known as “inTune”, which claims to translate settings from one car to another in Gran Turismo 5 while maintaining the tune’s characteristics.
When Brendan first contacted me about beta testing his app, I was skeptical of these promises, but accepted his free copy for review.
I found the menus to be fast and highly polished, if not a bit daunting. Fortunately, Brendan has integrated a set of pop-up help screens, which guides new users through the app. He’s also created this video, which explains all of the features and functionality in detail.
I decided to start with one of the sample tunes for FR cars, based on the small, lightweight Toyota 86 GT ’12. After a few laps around Tsukuba with the stock car, I applied the app’s tune. Although it’s noted the sample tunes are not intended to be optimal, there was a definite improvement to the 86′s already balanced handling.
This tune would be my starting point; could the app’s mathematical formulas really translate these settings for a small FR car to a significantly heavier, more powerful car?
Using the “inTune” feature, I created a new tune for the Dodge Challenger SRT8 TC. This isn’t an especially fun car to drive, but I was impressed with the improvement after applying the recommended settings. Turn-in was sharper, grip was more consistent through corners, and the car exhibited a greater sense of overall balance. So far, so good.
The real test would come next, with the Corvette ZR-1; it’s fun to drive, but it can be difficult to get cleanly around the track. After applying the newly translated tune, I was stunned with the results.
Power oversteer was reduced significantly, and when it did come, it was more predictable and easy to control. The car was stable and – dare I say it – felt like a big, powerful Toyota 86. The improvements were also reflected in lap times, as I dropped 1.2 seconds my first lap out after applying the tune. To consider this had all been brought about by a few lines of code and mathematical formulas made the results even more impressive.
Although I used one of the GTune’s samples for my testing, it’s important to keep in mind this tool is designed to translate – not generate – car settings. That means it will preserve characteristics about your favorite tunes as you transfer them from car to car, making each set of recommended settings unique and personalized just for you.
As of writing, the only drawback to the inTune feature is its handling of gear ratios. For now, these still need to be adjusted between cars for optimal performance. However, automated gearbox tuning is apparently coming soon in a future update and will certainly be a welcome addition. It’s also worth noting that not all of GT5‘s cars are yet included in the app, though all of the Premium models are covered and popular Standard models will continue to be introduced in future updates.
At $4.99, this will likely not be an impulse buy, but if you want to go faster in GT5 without spending hours in the game’s tuning menus, I consider it a good value.
Brendan, the developer, is active in the community here and has outlined plans to improve and support the app over the long term. As a site sponsor, you can chat with him here in the forums to submit your feedback, questions, or suggestions.
GTune 5 is available in the App Store now for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Check out the app’s official website for more information.
You should follow GTPlanet on Facebook, and on Twitter @GTPlanetNews. You can also get GTPlanet's news by full-text RSS feed, or delivered via email, straight to your inbox every day.
Newest comments are displayed first.
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August 29th, 2012 at 3:52 pm - #vivalafeng
update is out!
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August 23rd, 2012 at 3:00 pm - #vivalafeng
do you know when apple will be putting up the update? Im having the same problem as thaisn, app starts up fine then i push the spanner and it shuts down, my ipod has version 4.2.1.
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August 23rd, 2012 at 4:07 pm - #pgagoober
Sorry vivalafeng. It will probably be available in about 4-5 days. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do to speed up the review process. I will post again here and in the forum when 1.02 is released.
Just to re-iterate for anyone else reading, this bug effect iOS 4.x only.
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August 23rd, 2012 at 4:15 pm - #vivalafeng
Cheers dude, thanks for the eta.
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August 23rd, 2012 at 9:00 am - #gamerdog6482
To answer the question on the main page, yes, it works.
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August 22nd, 2012 at 4:55 pm - #rip4ofakind
I’ve never paid for an app before but when the android version of this comes out ill be the first in line:-)
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August 22nd, 2012 at 11:07 am - #Flamester
Please consider putting this on windows, even if you make it more expensive.
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August 23rd, 2012 at 7:59 pm - #pgagoober
Well, I will certainly be considering every platform but to be honest right now Windows is a long shot. Still – I have made no decisions and like I said, everything will be considered if there seems to be enough demand to warrant the cost of development. GTune 6 probably stands a much better chance of hitting multiple platforms as I will be in a position to launch much sooner after game release, and that should be a big factor in app sales. Of course I will also factor that into any GTune 5 platform decision as it will be easier to modify an existing codebase for the GTune 6 release that it would be to start from scratch. Decisions decisions, and all of them difficult :)
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August 21st, 2012 at 4:33 pm - #Teejay143
well i dont see it on play store?
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August 21st, 2012 at 5:30 pm - #pgagoober
Sorry Teejay143 – right now this app is available for iOS only. I am giving strong consideration to creating an Android version but if it happens it will take quite a while to create.
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August 21st, 2012 at 5:46 pm - #gyt2wong
I will buy this on Android as well.
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August 21st, 2012 at 2:02 pm - #grazbro
Tried it. My tunes are better, but good for Noobs.
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August 21st, 2012 at 5:29 pm - #pgagoober
Did you try it with one of your own tunes? Remember the sample tunes are just that- samples. Many have commented how much they like the sample tunes and as a result, the inTune-generated tunes based on them. However, if the sample tunes are not to your liking then you will get most value from the app by starting with your own tunes(s) and using them as the basis for generating tunes for other cars.
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August 21st, 2012 at 6:58 pm - #grazbro
I’m going to try some more tonight. The Yellowbird was the first one. The new tune put the ride hight at -40 in the front, which is way too low. My tune is used with full ballast, and not so low. I like it for the most part, and will try a few “tune the untunable” cars with it. Great app though. Very compehensive.
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August 21st, 2012 at 7:13 am - #Borna12345
5$? That’s dirt cheap. 4 kilograms of sugar fetches something around that price here, not expensive at all.
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August 20th, 2012 at 1:29 pm - #w115ter
i hope u omit the 2d , 2j , gsxr etc lol , as these cars r ruining online tt’s , nice idea though , how about a ‘pro’ update that uses real world tuner demo car setups , you know how the minnions go mad for anything labelled pro , would bring variety to the leaderboards ,
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August 20th, 2012 at 1:36 pm - #gamerdog6482
Why would you want to not have all the cars in the app?
And by the way, your post violated the AUP: http://www.gtplanet.net/aup/ -
August 20th, 2012 at 1:48 pm - #w115ter
well goddamn it i thought we were here to discuss gt & cars not to get a HND in english literature
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August 20th, 2012 at 2:07 pm - #pgagoober
Gotcha w115ter – I’ll add some code to make sure any tunes generated for those cars perform poorly. Interesting idea about the real world tuner setups. Can you send me a PM with more details? Thanks.
Oh – p.s. Just kidding about hobbling those cars ;) lol
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August 20th, 2012 at 2:07 pm - #gamerdog6482
Nobody ever said anything about diplomas, just that posts should be written in common English.
And I must say I am a fan of English Literature.
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August 20th, 2012 at 10:22 am - #Traviizter
Lol this looks like a waste of time.
Even if I wanted it I would need an iPad or Android version.-
August 20th, 2012 at 12:26 pm - #gamerdog6482
It pants waste of time at all.
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:16 am - #gamerdog6482
Great app, pgagoober! Keep up the good work!
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August 20th, 2012 at 10:08 am - #pgagoober
Thanks bud!
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:14 am - #DANfourTWENTY
Ok maybee i dont understand properly, can i not use this app for any car in the game? are there only certain cars which it works with? that would kinda suck.
Is there anything like GTcalc or this which will work on linux mint 12?
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:15 am - #gamerdog6482
As of now, it only works with certain cars.
But in the near future, it will work with all of them. -
August 20th, 2012 at 9:31 am - #DANfourTWENTY
ahh : (.
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August 20th, 2012 at 10:12 am - #pgagoober
Right now all the Premium cars and more than 50 of the most popular standard cars are supported. Collecting the necessary data to support all standard cars is an enormous task but is underway. I am targeting the end of September to complete the standard car support. In the meantime any user can request support for specific cars not already in the app and I will prioritize them for inclusion in the next available update.
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August 20th, 2012 at 10:25 am - #DANfourTWENTY
thats better than i thought! good work pgagoober.
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:08 am - #DANfourTWENTY
Jeez a lot of you guys are tight arses, whats 2.99?? especially when it lets you tune quickly on the fly. Picture this.. Your friend messages you saying that tonight we are having a 368PP FR race. But your FR you want to use is 450pp and perfectly tuned for it. now theres no more guess work in what to do to get a decent setup when lowering or increasing the power or weight.
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:18 am - #Pit Crew
Think the App price is 4.99. No need to insult people. We always have a choice. It is what it is.
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:24 am - #DANfourTWENTY
yeah buddy but im from the UK, I dont use the DOLLAR.
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:28 am - #DANfourTWENTY
and before you try correcting me again, $4.99 is £3.18 so i was nearly rite.
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:29 am - #gamerdog6482
So it is cheaper in the UK than the US?
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:32 am - #DANfourTWENTY
no, its currency conversion.
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:37 am - #Pit Crew
Well then use the pound symbol and chill on the Internet Bad boy razzle
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:43 am - #DANfourTWENTY
why dont you use the $ symbol and chill on the internet titcrew.
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August 20th, 2012 at 1:20 pm - #gamerdog6482
Why doesn’t everybody just calm down and stop insulting people?!
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August 21st, 2012 at 9:04 am - #DANfourTWENTY
Lol, typos ;p
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August 20th, 2012 at 7:50 am - #zanxion
Scrap for sale! Now for your IOS phone. And android wants that too…
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:02 am - #DANfourTWENTY
I don’t understand, was that meant to be a joke?
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August 20th, 2012 at 7:19 am - #snaketus
Good old money grab application. If it was free, it would be great.
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August 20th, 2012 at 8:12 am - #RDAardvark
Sigh.
Everyone wants something for nothing. No matter the work and research that has gone into this.£2.99 ain’t much – Think of it as buying the author a beer to say thanks!
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:10 am - #DANfourTWENTY
The fact of money does not come into the equation of whether an app is great or not. there are much worse apps for the same price.
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August 20th, 2012 at 6:46 am - #BkS
Is there going to be an Android version? :(
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August 20th, 2012 at 6:28 am - #thaisn
just bought the new version… it crashes down as soon as i touch the tune button :(
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August 20th, 2012 at 8:16 am - #gamerdog6482
This could be a problem (obviously). I suggest contacting pgagoober, as I have not had any problems. Although, I am running on 4.2.1.
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:08 am - #pgagoober
Sorry thaisn, sounds like you are on 4.x. The bug has been fixed in 1.02 which is awaiting Apple’s review. Note: gamerdog is running an early-access build which is why he is not having the same problem. I can help you do the same if you are interested. Just drip me a PM.
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August 20th, 2012 at 12:36 pm - #thaisn
sounds good! when do you think the working version will be published? if its not too long i wait for that and dont steal your time on improving the app… thank you
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August 20th, 2012 at 12:49 pm - #pgagoober
Thanks for understanding thaisn! Based on the approval times for 1.0 & 1.01, I expect 1.02 to be released sometime around the 28th/29th of this month. My offer to give you early access still stands if you would like to take me up on it. Thanks!
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August 20th, 2012 at 5:27 am - #Escort mk1 yum
Sorry, not for £2.99, if it was 59p then yea I would, I know it’s only £2.99 but, at that price it puts a lot of people off of buying apps, if it was 59p they would sell loads more, get it in the top 25 then boom, but at that price I can’t see many buying it, sorry.
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August 20th, 2012 at 1:55 am - #pgagoober
FYI, version 1.02 has just been submitted to Apple. It contains the fix for iOS 4.x devices and a few additional cars requested by users. Please see the thread in the Tuning forum for more details.
GTPlanet on Google+
GTune5 is not available in South Africa. How can I get hold of it.