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Due to interest in the Hidden Things thread, everything pertaining to changing car logos has been spun off into this thread. I'll post my logo swaps later - in the mean time, here's @Gerarghini's tutorial to do this. 
I'll try to post a video of the process later, but for now, I'll go ahead and explain in as much detail how exactly to get the logos in GT2 with, at what I think is, the best quality.
The programs I use are TimViewer, GIMP 2.8, and paint.net.
In the grand scheme, you only really need one photo editor, but I use paint.net because it can compress the variable bmp of the edited logo into 8bpp with very good quality. It's a lot easier to go 8bpp -> 4bpp than it is a ???bpp -> 4bpp.
You're also going to need an already exploded VOL directory. I believe the logos are interchangeable between all versions.
In this instance I will be replacing the logo for the R390 GT1 Road Car '98
1. Fire up TimViewer and open the "carlogo" file within the VOL. In it, you'll find a variety of .tim files that house every car's own logo. Find the specific one you will be editing.
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TimViewer is easily findable on the web. It'll make your life much easier.
Since .tim is a very exclusive format, you'll need TimViewer in order to view and convert them to .bmp extension properly.
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The option to convert .tim files to .bmp and back will be the key to success.
Once you've opened TimViewer and find the car you're looking to replace the logo of. I suggest using the site on @tankuroded's signature as it compiles the car codes in an easy to search for website. Take note too that these codes come with an extension.
[[*]Files in the carlogo folder are named by car ID name (a-a7r for RX-7 A-spec LM, for example), followed by l (Simulation Mode logo) or m (Arcade Mode logo). l and m are defaults, n and o are 1st alternates (US) and p and q are 2nd alternates (PAL).
For the most part, an "l" extension means the car logo for simulation mode and is the default in most cases. The only cases in which it's not is with cars that are region specific.
In the R390 GT1's case, it's Simulation mode car ID is "n24nn" so it's carlogo file name is "n24nnl--".
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Make sure to keep a backup of it somewhere safe in case you run into an error during importing the GT2.VOL back into the corresponding .bin
The "--" after the codes aren't specific; just make sure you have them.
2. In TimViewer, open the .tim file and export it to .bmp.
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It helps to be organized! I already copied the .tim into my personal folder for editing. While not extremely important, it's a good idea to take note of the file size for future reference.
TimViewer also gives information about the size and bpp. Be extremely careful that, at the end of the day, the specifications for the edited car logo match exactly with the default one.
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This is how it should look like after opening the .tim. Take note of all the numbers there; your imported one should be displaying exactly the same numbers.
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You should be greeted with two more files after converting to .bmp (under the Convert tab).
3. Open the .bmp in a photo editor of your choosing.
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Zoomed in 400%. Take note that the imported .bmp will either be under "Grayscale" or "Indexed."
To preface, here are some guidelines:
- Pictures must be 4bpp (16 colors).
- You must use the same resolution as the old logo. Every logo has different resolution. For instance h2carl (unused Castrol Mugen Accord logo for simulation disc) has 196 x 36 size, while hairnn (Acura Integra Type-R '98, US ver. logo for simulation disc) has 256 x 64.
I liked to open up a new window with the same resolution. There's a good chance that the .bmp you open will either be in "Grayscale" or "Indexed" modes. While you can turn these off, I like to start fresh.
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The second window is the same resolution, but does not carry any color modes that the old one may've had. This is where you'll design your new logo.
It's very important that you do not edit your new logos within the small resolution space provided; work in a large canvas (such as 2048x2048), get the logos looking exactly as you want them, and then transfer them over to your new work space. Do not worry about bpp for now. Instead just get the logo looking exactly as you want it.
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Using a large canvas allows you to bring in multiple logos at once and easily align them, or to cut/erase portions of a certain logo without the harshness brought about with a limited resolution. In this example, I cut the R390 GT1 logo and removed all the black, leaving the R390 GT1 vector.
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I then copied the R390 vector and pasted it over the "fresh" canvas, lined it up, and considered it finished. Don't expect super sharp accuracy; it is a PS1 after all.
Once you're done, go ahead and export it as a .bmp. In GIMP, it's crucial that you make sure that you tick the box for "Compatibility Options - Do not write color space information." While not important during the first phase, once you plug it back in, it's necessary in order to get the 16 color, 4bpp resolution.
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4. Open up your newly edited .bmp in paint.net and save under 8bpp resolution.
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This one is pretty self-explanatory. Simply open up your edited .bmp in paint.net and simply save it again, but make sure that it's saving under 8bpp resolution. I've found that it does a great job in keeping the colors mostly intact, so that when you have to open it up again in GIMP, the difference is minimal.
It's okay to overwrite, as the old one won't be needed again. Make sure 8bpp is selected and go ahead and set the dithering level to 8.
5. Open up the .bmp again in GIMP, set at 16 color index, and save
This part might get confusing as an FYI. For starters, open up the .bmp you saved via paint.net. It should open up with an "Indexed Color" tag alongside the file name. From there, go to Image -> Mode -> and set it to RGB, as you'll need to re-index it in order to access the menu.
Within the Indexed menu, all that you really need to do is look under "Generate Optimum Palette," and set the "Maximum Number of Colors" to 16. If all goes well, your image should look only slightly worse than it did before.
After that, save it as a .bmp once again, make sure the "Compatibility Options - Do not write color space information." box is ticked, and from here, it's just one more stretch.
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When you open up the .bmp after saving it in paint.net, do not adjust it, as it should've been final during the first GIMP run. What you'll want to do next is change it to Indexed mode.
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When presented with the Mode menu, yours should look something like this.
6. Convert the .bmp to .tim using TimViewer
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Leave these alone, as even I don't know exactly what they're used for.
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Behold! The new logo is in!
Lastly, open up the .bmp using TimViewer. You'll be presented with a menu asking for coordinates; leave these alone. If all went well, your new logo should appear wearing the exact same statistics as the default. From here, simply convert it to .tim. Again, the same menu asking for coordinates will appear. Just press OK and you'll be gifted a new .tim file with whatever name the .bmp had.
From here, it's simply a matter of renaming the new .tim with the name of the logo you want to replace (in this case, this new "R390 GT1.tim" will be named "n24nnl--.tim") and then replacing it in the VOL that will be recompiled.
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The .tim on the left is our new logo. Note how it is exactly the same size as the default one on the left. This means that, if all was done correctly, you won't have to do any hex editing to deleted minute extra overflow.
Now just go ahead and replace it, recompile, import the VOL, and check to see if your logo came out A1.
Before:
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After:
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Q and A:
Q: When I tried to open the edited .bmp with TimViewer, it gave me an "Invalid Compression Type." What happened?
A: It means that the file is not within 8bpp. You can open files with 8bpp, but they will not be accepted by the game.
Q: When I set the color limit to 16, my logo came out all corrupted looking and looks really jagged. What did I do wrong?
A: Be advised that not every logo will look 100%, since compression issues mandate very strict palettes and sizes. For one, do not try to limit the colors without going through paint.net first. While it might be alright for logos which are only 1 or 2 colors, since GIMP is whack, it'll index the blacks, greys, and whites, before the RGB spectrum. Converting to 8bpp via paint.net first at least reduces the damage.
Q: When I tried to import the GT2.VOL, it had a different size.
A: Be sure to match the logos resolution and 4bpp limit. Also be sure that you are replacing the correct car logo as well. I made that mistake once and was on the verge of creating a new exploded VOL, but my mistake was that I replaced the wrong car. Remember that your new logo will be the exact same size as the default if everything was done correctly.
