- 11,579
- Intercourse, PA
- Carbonox
I'm surprised there is almost nothing about this in the 'net. I became interested when I heard from the GT4 Minimal Buys guide that there had been discussion on GameFAQs's message boards about how it was possible to complete GT3 with only two cars bought. Well, after a while, I decided to begin trying how well I would manage. It soon became apparent that it was a much better way to go through the game than buying a starting car and struggling with money for most of the game. With a Minimal Buys run, you'll become rich in no time, even if you begin with the MX-5 like me.
**NOTE** This guide is for the PAL version of the game. I'm not sure if there are any other changes on NTSC except for car names, but in case there are different prize cars for certain events for NTSC, I can't help with that. Sorry.
Some pointers before starting:
- You should be at least a bit skilled with the game before beginning, as the runthrough requires you to get all golds in any license or beating all the best developer times on Time Attack.
- The prizes for getting the golds/best times are the following:
* National 'B' License: Mazda MX-5 1.8i
* National 'A' License: Mazda RX-8
* International 'B' License: Nissan Z Concept
* International 'A' License: Aston Martin Vanquish
* Special License: Dodge Viper GTSR Concept
* Rally License: Subaru Impreza Rally Car Prototype
* All best times on Time Attack: Panoz Esperante GTR-1
- Championships can be a pain in the ass. Because of certain one-make races, you must win a certain car from some championships. Fortunately, you are helped by the fact that you can save before the last race, then attempt it again and again until you get the car that you want. This has to be used in some championships, including the annoying Professional Yaris Race.
- The only two cars that you must buy to complete the game with 100% are any of the Mercedes-Benz's (except for CLK Touring Car as you can't buy it) and TVR Tuscan Speed 6. Yeah, that's all. But 10 or so cars must be won from championships, and one beast requires a whole endurance. But that won't be a problem as you'll see later on.
- For easier navigation, I'll mark every race with red so you won't miss anything just because the race names were lost in a wall of text.
- This is only a run that involves buying as few cars as possible, not a minimal upgrade run, so don't expect to run into a difficulty curve too steep. Also this is only one of the many paths you could take in a minimal buy playthrough, thanks primarily to the game's loose (sometimes nonexistent) regulations on many events.
- As a general rule, I tend to follow a "gentleman's rule" of using a car that would logically qualify for the event if it did have regulations. Such as using a European road car for the European championship, and so on. This is obviously not mandatory, I just do it for authenticity.
Without further delay, let's go!
Chapter List:
Chapter 0: Preparations
Chapter 1: The First Races
Chapter 2: The Nismo and Lancer
Chapter 3: The Not-So-Brief Offroad Tour
Chapter 4: More Rally Cars, More Nismo and the Stupid Yaris
Chapter 5: NA Fun & First Touch of Endurances
Chapter 6: Racing Time & One-Make Preparations
Chapter 7: One-Make Oblivion
Chapter 8: Loose Ends
Chapter 9: Just Endure the Suffering
Chapter 10: Rest of Professional League
Chapter 11: Mercedes and Tuscan
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Chapter 0: Preparations
And so you are thrown into the Gran Turismo world with 18,000 credits. Normally you would have jumped into the Car Dealer and bought something like an MX-5, but not this time - buying a starting car would ruin the playthrough immediately. Instead, get into the License Centre. The National 'B' License may as well be the easiest license to gold, and it's also recommended because the MX-5 fits more than well enough into the Roadster Endurance. Grab the IA license now and run it if you wish. (Guide for the race in chapter 5) However, I'll just go with a more casual approach and start from where people usually do.
Chapter 1: The First Races
Beginner League is where we start, the MX-5 can easily dominate both Sunday Cup and Clubman Cup for a total of 6,000, a Toyota Trueno and a new MX-5. Get in that new MX-5 (the green one) and give it a Stage 1 Turbo kit for 4,500 credits (notice the horsepower boost). Then enter the Beginner FR Challenge and win your money back, along with a Nissan Silvia.
The MX-5 doesn't need anything extra to beat the Beginner 80's Sports Car Cup for an RX-7. Now, grab the RX-7 and give it some tuning parts - Racing Chip, Racing Muffler, Racing Intercooler and Lightweight Stage 1 are all cheap, but effective together. The Beginner Turbo Race should be a breeze, especially Test Course thanks to the RX-7's top speed. As a prize you get a Daihatsu Cuore, which might seem useless, but think again. With a Stage 1 Turbo, it easily dominates the Lightweight K Cup, or at least the first two races. If Laguna Seca is causing problems, get a Racing Chip, or even better, an oil change for a smaller cost. Win the Mini Cooper, a fairly useless machine now that the lightweight race is done.
The Amateur 80's Sports Car Cup awaits, so get back in the RX-7 and use up the prize money to get a Stage 2 Turbo and Racing/Hard tires. The car is a monster on straights, but loses in cornering to the Trueno Shigeno version by a mile, which causes some trouble. Oh yeah, and get the A license beforehand (gold gives the RX-8) so you can actually enter. The Tokyo and SSR5 races are easy thanks to the long straights, but Trial Mountain Reverse can be a pain. How can a smooth course turn into absolute hell by just turning it into reverse? Oh well, you have money, so get something like a Lightweight Stage 2 if you need better equipment, and if even that's not enough, go for a Carbon Driveshaft for a decent acceleration increase. Win the Nismo Skyline S-Tune, a wonderful tuning car.
If this event is proving too difficult (sometimes it did), you might want to run that Roadster endurance for big money and max out the RX-7's performance, maybe give it softer tires too as wear isn't a problem. I think you could also use the MX-5 (again, the one from Clubman Cup) with enough modifications, in theory at least. Or use the cheap trick of quitting and re-entering until you get a field without a Shigeno Trueno at front, at least.
Chapter 2: The Nismo and Lancer
And this begins a new chapter. The Nismo can easily dominate the Beginner 4WD Challenge (and win the golden Suzuki Alto Works) without any tuning, but the Amateur 4WD Challenge is a bigger challenge. Get the Racing/Hard tires as tire wear is applied, and also install Racing Chip and Lightweight Stage 1. Win the Lancer Evo VII GSR, you'll be using it in a moment. In the Amateur Turbo Sports Models you don't need anything more. However, beware of the Silvia in Test Course - the car has a little faster top speed than you, and you might end up in a slipstream race. Just make sure to pass the Silvia as close to the finish line as possible so it doesn't get a chance to strike. You can buy a custom transmission and win that way easily, but I never needed it as long as I kept up with the Silvia.
Get your IB License (gold gives the Nissan Z Concept) and enter the Amateur Race of the Red Emblem. For some reason, you are given 30,000 per race, which makes 90,000 in total - no money problems in sight anytime soon! Well, actually, never again. Your prize is a Nismo 400R. As a final race for the first Skyline stint, do the Japanese Car Championship. You don't need to win a specific car from it, although there are some decent Japanese rides to be won for sure.
Then the Lancer. The Beginner Evolution Meeting is a breeze with just a Racing Chip and Lightweight Stage 1. Win a Lancer Evo IV, which you don't really need at this point. The Amateur Evolution Meeting is a bit tougher, but I think you don't need anything more than a Stage 1 Turbo (get the Racing Intercooler if you want to make sure you'll win). Your prize is a nice Lancer Evo VI Rally Car. And that begins the most boring, but also one of the most rewarding chapters in the game...
Chapter 3: The Not-So-Brief Offroad Tour
With the rally car, you can obviously win all the Rally Events in the game. Before this, get the Rally License (Impreza Rally Car Prototype available as a prize - if you win it, you can just use it and spare a little cash as you'll need to use an Impreza later on as well, while the Lancer is only good for the Rally Events and Beginner GTWC). Grab the Stage 1 (2 if you want to be certain of success) Turbo for the rally car of your choice and get all races finished. You'll get one of each rally car in the game, minus the Lancia (which isn't necessary to have) along with a large chunk of credits. Also, for winning all the Rally Events, you get the Suzuki Escudo, the fastest car in the game, although it's practically useless on other circuits than Super Speedway and Test Course, and you won't need it until chapter 5 anyway.
UPDATE: Now, since you'll cover a total of 120 laps here, I understand it might get tiresome after a while and you'll crave for some racing on asphalt already. So, what I prefer to do instead is do these in short stints, leaving some done for later. At the very least, on your first trip to the rally hall, win the following races for chapter 4:
Special Stage Route 5 Wet for Xsara
Tahiti Maze or Smokey Mountain for Escort/Focus respectively
Tahiti Maze Reverse or Special Stage Route 5 Wet Reverse for Impreza/Impreza Prototype respectively (not necessary if you already won it from the license)
Chapter 4: More Rally Cars, More Nismo and the Stupid Yaris
The title explains all. First, you should get the Stars & Stripes races done. Use either the Focus or Escort Rally Car as those are just as eligible as any American car. The Beginner S&S doesn't probably require anything, but for Amateur S&S you might want to get a Stage 1 Turbo. Your rewards will be the Camaro SS and Spoon S2000 Race Car (don't get your hopes up, that can't really keep up with the JGTC racers).
The FF Challenges (Beg/Ama/Pro) can all be won with the Xsara rally car. You can go stock into the first two events, winning the pink Yaris and TRD Celica, but for the Professional race, first obviously get the IA License (don't leave home without it!) then the Stage 2 Turbo. 10 lap races get really boring quickly, but at least you are doing with a decent-paced car. Your prize is the Spoon Civic Type R.
The Amateur Boxer Spirit can be won with a stock Impreza Rally Car (Prototype) (whichever you like more, it doesn't matter at all) but for Professional B.S. get a Stage 2 Turbo, as always. You'll be placed against some RUFs, but you'll still win, even on Super Speedway although rally cars aren't good at top speed. For the Amateur race, you get the Legacy B4 Blitzen, and for the Pro race, the RUF RGT.
One more rally car race: the Beginner Gran Turismo World Championship. After staring at it with awe, get your most preferred rally car and enter the fairly simple race. If you want an enjoyable experience, use an unmodified Corolla or Celica Rally Car and wait for a line-up with no Toyota SuperAutoBacs or Nissan C-West Razo Silvia. (Exiting a race without starting it doesn't count against your Win Percentage stat, if you're wondering) No matter what, try to win all the races so you won't need to replay anything later, and win a random prize car (and once again, it doesn't matter which car you get).
Now, time for the Nismo. Get the Stage 2 Turbo and Racing Exhaust, together with an Oil Change to reset the somewhat worn-out oil. The Professional 4WD Challenge is yours. You'll get the Lancer Evo VII Rally Car Prototype - been there, won that already, so let's just go forward. For some reason the Professional Race of the Red Emblem pays you less than the Amateur version, even though the opponents are harder and the races are far longer, but at least the prize car, the Calsonic Skyline JGTC, is well worth the madness. If you have trouble, get a Racing Intercooler as well.
Next up... the Yaris. It's been referred to as the 'Pitz', but because it's Yaris on PAL, I guess I should call it Paris... hehe. Okay, enough with the stupidness, take this little buggy into the Tune Shop and buy Stage 2 Turbo, Racing Chip and Lightweight Stage 1. In the Beginner Vitz/Yaris Race you are placed against tuned Euro Editions, but they're easy to go across, and the races are only two laps. Seems nice, right? No problem with this. Win the championship and earn a randomly colored Yaris RS...
Oh yeah, now all the fun is ruined. The Professional Yaris Race comes next. And it's the stupidest race in the whole game, especially for Minimal Buys runners. Reasons?
- Five 10-lap races in a Yaris, even the full modifications don't help much with this.
- Test Course. Booooooooooooooooooring, says Homer Simpson.
- Random prize cars. You MUST win the Altezza Race Car or else you'll end up scavenging from the Laguna Seca endurance, and doing the last race over and over and over and over again is not fun. Fortunately I only had to try three times before doing it.
UPDATE: You can, of course, always do the Laguna Seca endurance first (quick race car required however), and see what car you get. There's only a 25% chance of getting the Altezza LM, but if you get it from there, you'll be saved from grinding the last Yaris race. I'm not sure how well the trick of being able to choose your prize car works, as I never seem to master it (sloppy reaction times), but if you can make it work and cherry-pick the Altezza for yourself, it'll save you a lot of trouble. 👍 Guide for that race coming up in chapter 9.
Okay, now that I've finished crying about it, let's get back to business. Get mostly everything. Note that I only said mostly. Oil Change, Racing Muffler, Port Polish and Engine Balancing for full HP (and fresh oil). Then Lightweight Stage 2, but 3 is not necessary. As for suspension and brakes, get the full customization services for both. Also, the Racing Transmission is a must if you want to get through Test Course quicker. Finally, grab the best clutch and flywheel, and Racing/Hard tires (believe me, those are the best ones for this race).
Rome Reverse should be easy enough as the opponents pit twice against your one stop strategy, and same goes for Laguna Seca. In Test Course, refer to the Tuning Presets Guide on GameFAQs and give the Paris a 'Pure speed' tune-up to make it go about 50 km/h faster than normal and even lap the opponents. In SSR11, return the settings to more handling-friendly, and save before Grand Valley. Then just hope for the Dream Car to show up as early as possible as your prize, because you really don't want to keep doing one of the longest tracks in the game this many times with a pathetic car like this. When you get the Altezza, enjoy yourself. Basically, the biggest challenge of the game is now done.
Chapter 5: NA Fun & First Touch of Endurances
Now it's time for a relatively short, but also a long chapter (try to figure that out). Ahem, anyway, your new RUF RGT from that Boxer Spirit race will be able to beat Beginner NA Sports Models stock for a Honda CRX. Next, get an Oil Change and probably a Racing Chip and do a small detour into the European Championship in Amateur League, and once again you have to win a certain prize car, the Lotus Elise 190. For me, this was a complete disaster - I did the final race in Monte Carlo for more than 10 times before finally getting the Elise. Mostly I was offered the Skyline and Gillet Vertigo, which I would have gladly accepted if this wasn't the only chance to win the Elise apart from its own one-make cup. Oh well, things happen. The Amateur NA Sports Models is also easy to do for an RX-8, which you can get now if you didn't gold the A license, but the car is pretty much non-mandatory.
And then, the Professional NA Sports Models where the Zonda and friends are waiting for you. Get the Stage 2 NA Tuning and Racing/Hard tires to make things easier. Nothing else to say about this race, your prize will be the Zonda C12S. Cool, a supercar.
Then the first two endurances (unless you jumped ahead to do Laguna Seca of course). The first one, Roadster Endurance at Apricot Hill, is fairly simple. Your starting car (Mazda MX-5 1.8i) will need to go as stock, but an oil change is acceptable. As for tires - well, the funny part is... no, you don't need to buy any tires. Just enter the race as you are, and don't panic when one of the cars pulls away from the group. It's running on really soft tires and pits every 3 laps, making it certainly not a big problem. You yourself don't need to pit a single time. Even on bright red tires, the MX-5 does surprisingly good laps - I only lost 2-5 seconds per lap to my best lap (1'42.6) and occasionally hot-lapped with those completely red normal tires into the low 1'44's! A great cash prize comes from the race, although it's the worst in Endurance Hall. Finally the prize car - if you get the Formula, you're one lucky man, but even if you don't, it won't be the end of the world as there are plenty more chances.
After this, make sure you've completed all of that rally event hall, because the other endurance is going to be Super Speedway. Now, this is the only endurance in the game where you must win a certain prize car - namely the Renault Clio Sport Race Car. I'm at the same time extremely happy that the endurance you must win to get it is an oval, where a trick can be used to not do it yourself at all, but also extremely angry about the fact that winning this car might still take a horribly long time. Anyway, onto the trick - grab the Escudo, get the Stage 4 Turbo, enter the race and wear out your outside tires so the car wants to steer right. Now just tape the X button down or find some other way to keep the accelerator pressed. Then mess around as you wish. I went browsing the 'net with my laptop, with my toe occasionally on the controller to hold X, as even three tapes didn't hold the button down properly and the car's acceleration slowly worsened, but it was easy to correct. When the inside tires wear out, you may need to turn the car a bit more during the race to avoid swerving into the pits (this can happen if the car somehow bounces from the back straight wall to the left and is unable to steer right before hitting the pitlane).
Okay, that's it for this chapter. When you finally win the Renault, you'll be more than halfway done with the forced championship/endurance prize cars (yeah, only two remaining! Or one, but if you miss out on the other, you'll make one of the Pro League races harder than normal).
Chapter 6: Racing Time & One-Make Preparations
There's still some things to do before fully starting the One-Make races that are still undone. As a start, the Elise 190 can win both the Beginner MR Challenge and Beginner Spider & Roadster while stock, for a Toyota MR2 and a new Mazda MX-5. The reason why I left the Spider & Roadster undone until now was the old MX-5's low top speed which would cause it to be obliterated on Test Course by the SLK Kompressor and VX220.
Enough of the Beginner League for now, so to the Amateur American Championship we go. If you want to follow the gentlemen's rule, get the Focus/Escort Rally Car, and make sure the Corvette C5R is not in the lineup, or winning will be impossible. This is also the penultimate championship where you have to win a specific car - the Audi TT 1.8t Quattro namely. Fortunately, I got it on my first go (probably as a payback for the European Championship).
Now, I know you want to race for real already, so get the Calsonic Skyline and enter the Amateur GT World Championship. You can go stock if you wish, and I made up for some really awesome races in the late season by doing that. In the end, a random prize car is given as always, and you'll be once again a lucky guy if you manage to get the GT-ONE Road Car, which has the performance of a race car however. Followed by that event, participate in the German Touring Car Cup. Both the Skyline and that Altezza Race Car are eligible for winning - personally I used the Altezza as I remembered Test Course being one of the tracks there, and the Skyline just doesn't have top speed to win that. But I was wrong, no Test Course in that championship. Here you can win the New Beetle Cup Car, but don't need to, because you're guaranteed to get one (in various colors) from the Clio Trophy later on.
In the Amateur MR Challenge you can go with a stock Zonda C12S (with Racing/Hard tires equipped however), which has a notably low top speed, but excellent acceleration and especially braking, if you ask me. Win a Honda NSX Type S Zero (note that it's not eligible for Type R Meeting, but don't worry about those as you already have the Spoon Civic Type R, which can enter the races just fine, although the Mine's Lancer Evo VI couldn't enter the Evolution Meetings... hmph).
With the Zonda, you can also win the Professional MR Challenge, but you'll want to grab a Stage 2 NA Tune-up beforehand. Your biggest opponents will be the Ford GT40 and your low top speed (fixable via custom tranny), along with the fact that the GT40 really doesn't want to pit. In Trial Mountain, I pitted and continued into a simple win, but Laguna Seca was so tight that I had to conserve tires and complete the race without pitting to beat the GT40. In Midfield, the GT40 fortunately always ran wide at the long-ish sweeper after the first tight hairpin, and the victory was mine. You'll get the wonderful Tommykaira ZZII, which in turn can enter the Professional Turbo Sports Models just the way it is, winning you the RUF CTR2 (at this point, it's practically raining fast cars on you). The Nismo Skyline could win these races as well, but would need a custom tranny for Test Course. The ZZII also needs a setup on that track if you face something like a regular Skyline, or it'll just pull away into an impossible lead off the line.
Your Elise 190 can beat the Professional Spider & Roadster, but common sense tells you that you don't just walk in stock and do the trick. Max out the car's performance, choosing Racing/Hard tires as always - whether you want the NA or turbo kit is up to you, but I prefer NA for its smoothness. A setup to help stabilize your cornering is also vital. If you're wondering why not just use the 3400S, you can, but you'll end up needing to maximize the Elise's performance anyway for its one-make, and this event, being slightly less difficult, serves as good potential practice.
Now I didn't have time to specially go through the races yesterday, but in Grand Valley you might need to rely on pit strategy (more specifically, the lack of it) to win, because the Motor Sport Elise got away with ease. In Trial Mountain I had the Griffith 500 attempting to escape, and I believe that a skilled driver could even catch it before it pits somewhat after the halfway point. Monte Carlo might seem the hardest with 15 laps, but it wasn't. The AI fail ridiculously every time in the chicane, and it only took two laps for me to take the lead. With all the Lightweight upgrades, the Elise can feel floaty, but I didn't have trouble in corners - at least much less than the AI! Win the Shelby Cobra.
Chapter 7: One-Make Oblivion
Now we will for sure have all the cars needed for One-Make races (if not the Clio, then just keep attempting the Super Speedway with the Escudo, but if you easily get bored, don't always bother). But ahem, let's get started. This will be your last trip to the 2-lap haven called the Beginner League, not counting the Mercedes race that requires a buy. The Beginner Audi TT Race is obviously done with the TT 1.8t quattro. Oil Change, Racing Chip and Weight Reduction = win. Low margins, but still simple races once you claim the lead. Get a randomly colored Audi TT.
Next, the Amateur Tourist Trophy. It's much more challenging, and I ended up going with the Turbo Kit Stage 3 and Racing Intercooler, although those were a bit unwise choices when the AI still kept blitzing on the straights and I had to deal with bad cornering as well, but at least all races ended with a win, and I only needed to qualify in the last two. Maybe opt for Racing Tires of your choice along with the aforementioned upgrades. The reward will be a randomly colored Audi S4.
And then, get in your Altezza Race Car, because it's finally Beginner Altezza Race time. Obviously you don't need to tune anything. It's too easy, but this car is everything you get, so just get the job done and don't worry 'bout the AI. Go claim a Celica of various colors from the worst paying championship in the game. In the Amateur Altezza Race, the AI hasn't learned anything and are still leaning on the RS200, while you can dominate the field again. No tire wear of any kind to worry about here either. From here you win a lot more credits, along with a random prize car again - I got a Tom's Chaser.
Now, with the aforementioned Spoon Civic Type R, get the Oil Change and Racing Chip, then enter the Beginner Type R Meeting. Easy pickings for sure, your prize is a randomly colored Acura RSX Type S. After this, it's time for the Amateur Type R Meeting, where you'll want to have the highest NA tune-up and racing tires. I previously recommended Super Softs, but as it now turns out, mediums (and maybe even super hards) work just fine and should ensure victory. From the championship, you'll get either the NSX Type R, or one of the S2000's in the game - the normal Honda version or Mugen or Spoon.
At this point of the game, I reached 50% completion and won the Chevrolet Corvette C5R. You should also win it if you've done every race mentioned this far.
Time to move on, into the Elise Trophy in the Professional Hall, naturally with the Elise 190. It's an extremely annoying race, possibly the hardest one in the game in a Minimal Buy run. Bring in your fully upgraded Elise with the best setup you can possibly find (again I like to advertise the Tuning Presets Guide and go for the stable turning setup), and prepare for a 5-race survival battle with the Motor Sport Elise's (the menu screen says it's a 10 race championship, but thankfully not). Don't be afraid to qualify. From my experience, the AI won't pit in Monte Carlo and Deep Forest, but the former wasn't a problem because they kept screwing up. In the latter, I used some dirty tactics to win, but can hardly feel bad about it thanks to the AI's unsportsmanlike conduct all race long. Also, Apricot Hill was the only race where I was essentially dependant on their pit strategy to win, as they kept pulling away after I cleared the slower Elise 190's. A random prize car - in other words, a randomly colored Elise 190 - is awarded at the end for your efforts.
The Clio Trophy is next, so bring out the Clio Sport Race Car. Like the Altezza series, you'll breeze into victory at each race - I guess it's a shame there's no more balanced option available for us minimal buy runners. As said before, your reward is guaranteed to be a New Beetle Cup Car, one that finds use in the (wait for it) New Beetle Cup in the Beginner League, marking the last event you'll do over there before inevitably having to buy a car. It can go stock and win just fine, though in that case you'd need to make full use of your cornering abilities to beat the AI. Even though this is one of the lowest-performing race cars in the game, it is still a race car, blessed with great brakes. Your prize car is always a New Beetle RSI.
Chapter 8: Loose Ends
We've reached a point where almost all remaining races can now be done with a large variety of cars at your disposal, probably a lot more fun than the one-make tour we just did. Before moving on to the biggest of the races in this game, I'd like to tackle a few challenges that have been left undone up to this point, mainly due to lack of decent cars that could work out for them.
First things first, though, the biggest loose end of all - Arcade Mode. The mode that may look somewhat primitive from the eyes of a regular GT Mode player is actually required for 100% completion in this game, even though there's no money and only one GT Mode prize car in it for you. The objectives are simple: win on all tracks in Single Race mode (difficulty doesn't matter - do it on Easy if you want it out of the way quickly, Normal and Hard simply unlock more vehicles for the mode), and beat all the Time Attacks. For the latter, getting first place on each will earn you a Panoz Esperante GT-1, a car fast enough to challenge some of the best race cars in the game. I suggest doing this mode at your own pace though, it might get tedious after you've done it for a while. It helps you get towards the 75% completion reward though, which might - depending on your random prize cars - be essential once we get to those big races.
As for GT Mode, the Amateur FR Challenge has been left undone as of now mostly due to lack of balanced cars you can use there, but at this point your garage should be flowing with fast FR-drive cars, including some racers. I personally used a Shelby Cobra with just hard racing tires on for a challenge, but if you just want it out of the way quickly, use a race car if you feel like it. The Shigeno Trueno is awarded - the bane of your existence if you tried beating that 80's Sports Car Cup early in the game.
Professional FR Challenge is significantly tougher, and I got tired of the Cobra's bad handling to the point where I gave in and just used the Astra Touring Car. Hey, it's not cheating if the AI cars are faster than mine on a straight line. It just doesn't happen to be my problem if they can't make the turns as well as me.
Pick up a Nismo GT-R LM Road Car for your troubles.
Gran Turismo All Stars in the Amateur League is once again a 10-race championship series. The Corvette C5R from 50% completion is actually pretty good here, just invest in harder tires if you're going with that as it eats through the default medium compound awfully quickly. The prizes are a selection of very high performance road/tuning cars.
On we go to the neighbor series, the Amateur Japanese GT Championship, an all-JGTC series as you'd expect. I brought out the Castrol Tom's Supra again, but anything from the class can really win this, even in stock form. A randomly chosen JGTC car is your prize.
The British GT Car Cup has lied dormant in the beginning of the Pro League event list, and it's time to fix that. Like so many previous events, it's completely unregulated - and if the gentleman's rule concerns you, there's not a whole lot to choose from, especially with all opponents being in British sports cars. The Elise 190 has a bit of a low-key performance for my liking, so I decided to be a chav, waltz in with my Astra Touring Car and take their money. Oh, and an Aston Martin Vanquish too.
The Dream Car Championship is the last possible event in Amateur League that remains undone, so let's get to it next. Your trusty Altezza might carry you through with some slight modifications (mainly to keep up on Test Course) but if we're staying within imaginary rules again, the Tommykaira ZZII will be quite superior. Your reward is guaranteed to be one of the other fantasy race cars you don't already have.
NOTE: By this point, I made enough progress in Arcade Mode to reach 75% completion, which grants another bonus car, the Mazda 787B. If you can tolerate its engine noise, it can propel you through a number of events in the late stages.
Chapter 9: Just Endure the Suffering
Before we quite place the focus on endurance races, let's make sure we've done all of the Time Attacks in Arcade Mode around this time. In fact, I must say that completing them was even easier than getting all golds on the B license - this despite the last time trial, known as the hardest of them all for a reason. Complex String is, well, complex, and it can be hard to keep the RUF RGT on track for an entire lap while still maintaining high enough pace to overthrow the record. Extra difficulty comes from the simple fact that this is one of the few occasions in the whole game where the String is featured in full - unless you've done Free Runs on this course, you probably won't be familiar at all with some of the braking points.
In any case, a Panoz Esperante awaits at the end of the trials. Yeah, baby!
Now for the Endurance Hall. In the beginning of the list, Grand Valley 300K is one of the longer races you'll contend with, and the AI solely consists of stock JGTC's. A Loctite Zokel GT-R with hard tires fitted was all I needed, though the race is so long that some may opt to just go whole hog and get it done sooner with a 787B or the like. Your call, really.
Seattle 100 is a race against American sports cars, despite the preview image suggesting otherwise. You can use whatever you want to blast the competition, but I went the fun route by entering a bone-stock Camaro SS with racing/medium tires only. My stints were just 1 lap longer than the main opposition's, but the car fortunately just held on, in spite of being held up by some backmarking AI's throughout the race and having the slowest straight-line speed of all.
If you haven't done Laguna Seca 200 yet, now would be the time. I already completed it back during my Altezza Race Car hunt by using a Calsonic Skyline that had an oil change and hard tires on. The Viper will be faster than that, but pits often enough to be beatable. If you'd like something faster just to be sure, you can always use the Esperante or 787B at this stage of the game.
Passage to the Colosseum is 2 hours of Rome Circuit, therefore it won't go by any faster no matter what vehicle you use. I went all "up yours, AI" and beat this race in a fairly overpowered Vanquish, all because everytime I used a slower vehicle, there would always be that one rabbit that would make things borderline impossible especially due to not pitting often enough. I gained a significant chunk of satisfaction from putting that Griffith 500 a lap down on my final attempt, though.
Now, this is one of the events that can potentially gift you a Zonda Race Car, a fairly crucial vehicle for an upcoming Pro League race. If you do get it, lucky you! I wasn't as fortunate, but at least got an F1 as a consolation prize.
**To be continued**
**NOTE** This guide is for the PAL version of the game. I'm not sure if there are any other changes on NTSC except for car names, but in case there are different prize cars for certain events for NTSC, I can't help with that. Sorry.
Some pointers before starting:
- You should be at least a bit skilled with the game before beginning, as the runthrough requires you to get all golds in any license or beating all the best developer times on Time Attack.
- The prizes for getting the golds/best times are the following:
* National 'B' License: Mazda MX-5 1.8i
* National 'A' License: Mazda RX-8
* International 'B' License: Nissan Z Concept
* International 'A' License: Aston Martin Vanquish
* Special License: Dodge Viper GTSR Concept
* Rally License: Subaru Impreza Rally Car Prototype
* All best times on Time Attack: Panoz Esperante GTR-1
- Championships can be a pain in the ass. Because of certain one-make races, you must win a certain car from some championships. Fortunately, you are helped by the fact that you can save before the last race, then attempt it again and again until you get the car that you want. This has to be used in some championships, including the annoying Professional Yaris Race.
- The only two cars that you must buy to complete the game with 100% are any of the Mercedes-Benz's (except for CLK Touring Car as you can't buy it) and TVR Tuscan Speed 6. Yeah, that's all. But 10 or so cars must be won from championships, and one beast requires a whole endurance. But that won't be a problem as you'll see later on.
- For easier navigation, I'll mark every race with red so you won't miss anything just because the race names were lost in a wall of text.
- This is only a run that involves buying as few cars as possible, not a minimal upgrade run, so don't expect to run into a difficulty curve too steep. Also this is only one of the many paths you could take in a minimal buy playthrough, thanks primarily to the game's loose (sometimes nonexistent) regulations on many events.
- As a general rule, I tend to follow a "gentleman's rule" of using a car that would logically qualify for the event if it did have regulations. Such as using a European road car for the European championship, and so on. This is obviously not mandatory, I just do it for authenticity.
Without further delay, let's go!
Chapter List:
Chapter 0: Preparations
Chapter 1: The First Races
Chapter 2: The Nismo and Lancer
Chapter 3: The Not-So-Brief Offroad Tour
Chapter 4: More Rally Cars, More Nismo and the Stupid Yaris
Chapter 5: NA Fun & First Touch of Endurances
Chapter 6: Racing Time & One-Make Preparations
Chapter 7: One-Make Oblivion
Chapter 8: Loose Ends
Chapter 9: Just Endure the Suffering
Chapter 10: Rest of Professional League
Chapter 11: Mercedes and Tuscan
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Chapter 0: Preparations
And so you are thrown into the Gran Turismo world with 18,000 credits. Normally you would have jumped into the Car Dealer and bought something like an MX-5, but not this time - buying a starting car would ruin the playthrough immediately. Instead, get into the License Centre. The National 'B' License may as well be the easiest license to gold, and it's also recommended because the MX-5 fits more than well enough into the Roadster Endurance. Grab the IA license now and run it if you wish. (Guide for the race in chapter 5) However, I'll just go with a more casual approach and start from where people usually do.
Chapter 1: The First Races
Beginner League is where we start, the MX-5 can easily dominate both Sunday Cup and Clubman Cup for a total of 6,000, a Toyota Trueno and a new MX-5. Get in that new MX-5 (the green one) and give it a Stage 1 Turbo kit for 4,500 credits (notice the horsepower boost). Then enter the Beginner FR Challenge and win your money back, along with a Nissan Silvia.
The MX-5 doesn't need anything extra to beat the Beginner 80's Sports Car Cup for an RX-7. Now, grab the RX-7 and give it some tuning parts - Racing Chip, Racing Muffler, Racing Intercooler and Lightweight Stage 1 are all cheap, but effective together. The Beginner Turbo Race should be a breeze, especially Test Course thanks to the RX-7's top speed. As a prize you get a Daihatsu Cuore, which might seem useless, but think again. With a Stage 1 Turbo, it easily dominates the Lightweight K Cup, or at least the first two races. If Laguna Seca is causing problems, get a Racing Chip, or even better, an oil change for a smaller cost. Win the Mini Cooper, a fairly useless machine now that the lightweight race is done.
The Amateur 80's Sports Car Cup awaits, so get back in the RX-7 and use up the prize money to get a Stage 2 Turbo and Racing/Hard tires. The car is a monster on straights, but loses in cornering to the Trueno Shigeno version by a mile, which causes some trouble. Oh yeah, and get the A license beforehand (gold gives the RX-8) so you can actually enter. The Tokyo and SSR5 races are easy thanks to the long straights, but Trial Mountain Reverse can be a pain. How can a smooth course turn into absolute hell by just turning it into reverse? Oh well, you have money, so get something like a Lightweight Stage 2 if you need better equipment, and if even that's not enough, go for a Carbon Driveshaft for a decent acceleration increase. Win the Nismo Skyline S-Tune, a wonderful tuning car.
If this event is proving too difficult (sometimes it did), you might want to run that Roadster endurance for big money and max out the RX-7's performance, maybe give it softer tires too as wear isn't a problem. I think you could also use the MX-5 (again, the one from Clubman Cup) with enough modifications, in theory at least. Or use the cheap trick of quitting and re-entering until you get a field without a Shigeno Trueno at front, at least.
Chapter 2: The Nismo and Lancer
And this begins a new chapter. The Nismo can easily dominate the Beginner 4WD Challenge (and win the golden Suzuki Alto Works) without any tuning, but the Amateur 4WD Challenge is a bigger challenge. Get the Racing/Hard tires as tire wear is applied, and also install Racing Chip and Lightweight Stage 1. Win the Lancer Evo VII GSR, you'll be using it in a moment. In the Amateur Turbo Sports Models you don't need anything more. However, beware of the Silvia in Test Course - the car has a little faster top speed than you, and you might end up in a slipstream race. Just make sure to pass the Silvia as close to the finish line as possible so it doesn't get a chance to strike. You can buy a custom transmission and win that way easily, but I never needed it as long as I kept up with the Silvia.
Get your IB License (gold gives the Nissan Z Concept) and enter the Amateur Race of the Red Emblem. For some reason, you are given 30,000 per race, which makes 90,000 in total - no money problems in sight anytime soon! Well, actually, never again. Your prize is a Nismo 400R. As a final race for the first Skyline stint, do the Japanese Car Championship. You don't need to win a specific car from it, although there are some decent Japanese rides to be won for sure.
Then the Lancer. The Beginner Evolution Meeting is a breeze with just a Racing Chip and Lightweight Stage 1. Win a Lancer Evo IV, which you don't really need at this point. The Amateur Evolution Meeting is a bit tougher, but I think you don't need anything more than a Stage 1 Turbo (get the Racing Intercooler if you want to make sure you'll win). Your prize is a nice Lancer Evo VI Rally Car. And that begins the most boring, but also one of the most rewarding chapters in the game...
Chapter 3: The Not-So-Brief Offroad Tour
With the rally car, you can obviously win all the Rally Events in the game. Before this, get the Rally License (Impreza Rally Car Prototype available as a prize - if you win it, you can just use it and spare a little cash as you'll need to use an Impreza later on as well, while the Lancer is only good for the Rally Events and Beginner GTWC). Grab the Stage 1 (2 if you want to be certain of success) Turbo for the rally car of your choice and get all races finished. You'll get one of each rally car in the game, minus the Lancia (which isn't necessary to have) along with a large chunk of credits. Also, for winning all the Rally Events, you get the Suzuki Escudo, the fastest car in the game, although it's practically useless on other circuits than Super Speedway and Test Course, and you won't need it until chapter 5 anyway.
UPDATE: Now, since you'll cover a total of 120 laps here, I understand it might get tiresome after a while and you'll crave for some racing on asphalt already. So, what I prefer to do instead is do these in short stints, leaving some done for later. At the very least, on your first trip to the rally hall, win the following races for chapter 4:
Special Stage Route 5 Wet for Xsara
Tahiti Maze or Smokey Mountain for Escort/Focus respectively
Tahiti Maze Reverse or Special Stage Route 5 Wet Reverse for Impreza/Impreza Prototype respectively (not necessary if you already won it from the license)
Chapter 4: More Rally Cars, More Nismo and the Stupid Yaris
The title explains all. First, you should get the Stars & Stripes races done. Use either the Focus or Escort Rally Car as those are just as eligible as any American car. The Beginner S&S doesn't probably require anything, but for Amateur S&S you might want to get a Stage 1 Turbo. Your rewards will be the Camaro SS and Spoon S2000 Race Car (don't get your hopes up, that can't really keep up with the JGTC racers).
The FF Challenges (Beg/Ama/Pro) can all be won with the Xsara rally car. You can go stock into the first two events, winning the pink Yaris and TRD Celica, but for the Professional race, first obviously get the IA License (don't leave home without it!) then the Stage 2 Turbo. 10 lap races get really boring quickly, but at least you are doing with a decent-paced car. Your prize is the Spoon Civic Type R.
The Amateur Boxer Spirit can be won with a stock Impreza Rally Car (Prototype) (whichever you like more, it doesn't matter at all) but for Professional B.S. get a Stage 2 Turbo, as always. You'll be placed against some RUFs, but you'll still win, even on Super Speedway although rally cars aren't good at top speed. For the Amateur race, you get the Legacy B4 Blitzen, and for the Pro race, the RUF RGT.
One more rally car race: the Beginner Gran Turismo World Championship. After staring at it with awe, get your most preferred rally car and enter the fairly simple race. If you want an enjoyable experience, use an unmodified Corolla or Celica Rally Car and wait for a line-up with no Toyota SuperAutoBacs or Nissan C-West Razo Silvia. (Exiting a race without starting it doesn't count against your Win Percentage stat, if you're wondering) No matter what, try to win all the races so you won't need to replay anything later, and win a random prize car (and once again, it doesn't matter which car you get).
Now, time for the Nismo. Get the Stage 2 Turbo and Racing Exhaust, together with an Oil Change to reset the somewhat worn-out oil. The Professional 4WD Challenge is yours. You'll get the Lancer Evo VII Rally Car Prototype - been there, won that already, so let's just go forward. For some reason the Professional Race of the Red Emblem pays you less than the Amateur version, even though the opponents are harder and the races are far longer, but at least the prize car, the Calsonic Skyline JGTC, is well worth the madness. If you have trouble, get a Racing Intercooler as well.
Next up... the Yaris. It's been referred to as the 'Pitz', but because it's Yaris on PAL, I guess I should call it Paris... hehe. Okay, enough with the stupidness, take this little buggy into the Tune Shop and buy Stage 2 Turbo, Racing Chip and Lightweight Stage 1. In the Beginner Vitz/Yaris Race you are placed against tuned Euro Editions, but they're easy to go across, and the races are only two laps. Seems nice, right? No problem with this. Win the championship and earn a randomly colored Yaris RS...
Oh yeah, now all the fun is ruined. The Professional Yaris Race comes next. And it's the stupidest race in the whole game, especially for Minimal Buys runners. Reasons?
- Five 10-lap races in a Yaris, even the full modifications don't help much with this.
- Test Course. Booooooooooooooooooring, says Homer Simpson.
- Random prize cars. You MUST win the Altezza Race Car or else you'll end up scavenging from the Laguna Seca endurance, and doing the last race over and over and over and over again is not fun. Fortunately I only had to try three times before doing it.
UPDATE: You can, of course, always do the Laguna Seca endurance first (quick race car required however), and see what car you get. There's only a 25% chance of getting the Altezza LM, but if you get it from there, you'll be saved from grinding the last Yaris race. I'm not sure how well the trick of being able to choose your prize car works, as I never seem to master it (sloppy reaction times), but if you can make it work and cherry-pick the Altezza for yourself, it'll save you a lot of trouble. 👍 Guide for that race coming up in chapter 9.
Okay, now that I've finished crying about it, let's get back to business. Get mostly everything. Note that I only said mostly. Oil Change, Racing Muffler, Port Polish and Engine Balancing for full HP (and fresh oil). Then Lightweight Stage 2, but 3 is not necessary. As for suspension and brakes, get the full customization services for both. Also, the Racing Transmission is a must if you want to get through Test Course quicker. Finally, grab the best clutch and flywheel, and Racing/Hard tires (believe me, those are the best ones for this race).
Rome Reverse should be easy enough as the opponents pit twice against your one stop strategy, and same goes for Laguna Seca. In Test Course, refer to the Tuning Presets Guide on GameFAQs and give the Paris a 'Pure speed' tune-up to make it go about 50 km/h faster than normal and even lap the opponents. In SSR11, return the settings to more handling-friendly, and save before Grand Valley. Then just hope for the Dream Car to show up as early as possible as your prize, because you really don't want to keep doing one of the longest tracks in the game this many times with a pathetic car like this. When you get the Altezza, enjoy yourself. Basically, the biggest challenge of the game is now done.
Chapter 5: NA Fun & First Touch of Endurances
Now it's time for a relatively short, but also a long chapter (try to figure that out). Ahem, anyway, your new RUF RGT from that Boxer Spirit race will be able to beat Beginner NA Sports Models stock for a Honda CRX. Next, get an Oil Change and probably a Racing Chip and do a small detour into the European Championship in Amateur League, and once again you have to win a certain prize car, the Lotus Elise 190. For me, this was a complete disaster - I did the final race in Monte Carlo for more than 10 times before finally getting the Elise. Mostly I was offered the Skyline and Gillet Vertigo, which I would have gladly accepted if this wasn't the only chance to win the Elise apart from its own one-make cup. Oh well, things happen. The Amateur NA Sports Models is also easy to do for an RX-8, which you can get now if you didn't gold the A license, but the car is pretty much non-mandatory.
And then, the Professional NA Sports Models where the Zonda and friends are waiting for you. Get the Stage 2 NA Tuning and Racing/Hard tires to make things easier. Nothing else to say about this race, your prize will be the Zonda C12S. Cool, a supercar.
Then the first two endurances (unless you jumped ahead to do Laguna Seca of course). The first one, Roadster Endurance at Apricot Hill, is fairly simple. Your starting car (Mazda MX-5 1.8i) will need to go as stock, but an oil change is acceptable. As for tires - well, the funny part is... no, you don't need to buy any tires. Just enter the race as you are, and don't panic when one of the cars pulls away from the group. It's running on really soft tires and pits every 3 laps, making it certainly not a big problem. You yourself don't need to pit a single time. Even on bright red tires, the MX-5 does surprisingly good laps - I only lost 2-5 seconds per lap to my best lap (1'42.6) and occasionally hot-lapped with those completely red normal tires into the low 1'44's! A great cash prize comes from the race, although it's the worst in Endurance Hall. Finally the prize car - if you get the Formula, you're one lucky man, but even if you don't, it won't be the end of the world as there are plenty more chances.
After this, make sure you've completed all of that rally event hall, because the other endurance is going to be Super Speedway. Now, this is the only endurance in the game where you must win a certain prize car - namely the Renault Clio Sport Race Car. I'm at the same time extremely happy that the endurance you must win to get it is an oval, where a trick can be used to not do it yourself at all, but also extremely angry about the fact that winning this car might still take a horribly long time. Anyway, onto the trick - grab the Escudo, get the Stage 4 Turbo, enter the race and wear out your outside tires so the car wants to steer right. Now just tape the X button down or find some other way to keep the accelerator pressed. Then mess around as you wish. I went browsing the 'net with my laptop, with my toe occasionally on the controller to hold X, as even three tapes didn't hold the button down properly and the car's acceleration slowly worsened, but it was easy to correct. When the inside tires wear out, you may need to turn the car a bit more during the race to avoid swerving into the pits (this can happen if the car somehow bounces from the back straight wall to the left and is unable to steer right before hitting the pitlane).
Okay, that's it for this chapter. When you finally win the Renault, you'll be more than halfway done with the forced championship/endurance prize cars (yeah, only two remaining! Or one, but if you miss out on the other, you'll make one of the Pro League races harder than normal).
Chapter 6: Racing Time & One-Make Preparations
There's still some things to do before fully starting the One-Make races that are still undone. As a start, the Elise 190 can win both the Beginner MR Challenge and Beginner Spider & Roadster while stock, for a Toyota MR2 and a new Mazda MX-5. The reason why I left the Spider & Roadster undone until now was the old MX-5's low top speed which would cause it to be obliterated on Test Course by the SLK Kompressor and VX220.
Enough of the Beginner League for now, so to the Amateur American Championship we go. If you want to follow the gentlemen's rule, get the Focus/Escort Rally Car, and make sure the Corvette C5R is not in the lineup, or winning will be impossible. This is also the penultimate championship where you have to win a specific car - the Audi TT 1.8t Quattro namely. Fortunately, I got it on my first go (probably as a payback for the European Championship).
Now, I know you want to race for real already, so get the Calsonic Skyline and enter the Amateur GT World Championship. You can go stock if you wish, and I made up for some really awesome races in the late season by doing that. In the end, a random prize car is given as always, and you'll be once again a lucky guy if you manage to get the GT-ONE Road Car, which has the performance of a race car however. Followed by that event, participate in the German Touring Car Cup. Both the Skyline and that Altezza Race Car are eligible for winning - personally I used the Altezza as I remembered Test Course being one of the tracks there, and the Skyline just doesn't have top speed to win that. But I was wrong, no Test Course in that championship. Here you can win the New Beetle Cup Car, but don't need to, because you're guaranteed to get one (in various colors) from the Clio Trophy later on.
In the Amateur MR Challenge you can go with a stock Zonda C12S (with Racing/Hard tires equipped however), which has a notably low top speed, but excellent acceleration and especially braking, if you ask me. Win a Honda NSX Type S Zero (note that it's not eligible for Type R Meeting, but don't worry about those as you already have the Spoon Civic Type R, which can enter the races just fine, although the Mine's Lancer Evo VI couldn't enter the Evolution Meetings... hmph).
With the Zonda, you can also win the Professional MR Challenge, but you'll want to grab a Stage 2 NA Tune-up beforehand. Your biggest opponents will be the Ford GT40 and your low top speed (fixable via custom tranny), along with the fact that the GT40 really doesn't want to pit. In Trial Mountain, I pitted and continued into a simple win, but Laguna Seca was so tight that I had to conserve tires and complete the race without pitting to beat the GT40. In Midfield, the GT40 fortunately always ran wide at the long-ish sweeper after the first tight hairpin, and the victory was mine. You'll get the wonderful Tommykaira ZZII, which in turn can enter the Professional Turbo Sports Models just the way it is, winning you the RUF CTR2 (at this point, it's practically raining fast cars on you). The Nismo Skyline could win these races as well, but would need a custom tranny for Test Course. The ZZII also needs a setup on that track if you face something like a regular Skyline, or it'll just pull away into an impossible lead off the line.
Your Elise 190 can beat the Professional Spider & Roadster, but common sense tells you that you don't just walk in stock and do the trick. Max out the car's performance, choosing Racing/Hard tires as always - whether you want the NA or turbo kit is up to you, but I prefer NA for its smoothness. A setup to help stabilize your cornering is also vital. If you're wondering why not just use the 3400S, you can, but you'll end up needing to maximize the Elise's performance anyway for its one-make, and this event, being slightly less difficult, serves as good potential practice.
Now I didn't have time to specially go through the races yesterday, but in Grand Valley you might need to rely on pit strategy (more specifically, the lack of it) to win, because the Motor Sport Elise got away with ease. In Trial Mountain I had the Griffith 500 attempting to escape, and I believe that a skilled driver could even catch it before it pits somewhat after the halfway point. Monte Carlo might seem the hardest with 15 laps, but it wasn't. The AI fail ridiculously every time in the chicane, and it only took two laps for me to take the lead. With all the Lightweight upgrades, the Elise can feel floaty, but I didn't have trouble in corners - at least much less than the AI! Win the Shelby Cobra.
Chapter 7: One-Make Oblivion
Now we will for sure have all the cars needed for One-Make races (if not the Clio, then just keep attempting the Super Speedway with the Escudo, but if you easily get bored, don't always bother). But ahem, let's get started. This will be your last trip to the 2-lap haven called the Beginner League, not counting the Mercedes race that requires a buy. The Beginner Audi TT Race is obviously done with the TT 1.8t quattro. Oil Change, Racing Chip and Weight Reduction = win. Low margins, but still simple races once you claim the lead. Get a randomly colored Audi TT.
Next, the Amateur Tourist Trophy. It's much more challenging, and I ended up going with the Turbo Kit Stage 3 and Racing Intercooler, although those were a bit unwise choices when the AI still kept blitzing on the straights and I had to deal with bad cornering as well, but at least all races ended with a win, and I only needed to qualify in the last two. Maybe opt for Racing Tires of your choice along with the aforementioned upgrades. The reward will be a randomly colored Audi S4.
And then, get in your Altezza Race Car, because it's finally Beginner Altezza Race time. Obviously you don't need to tune anything. It's too easy, but this car is everything you get, so just get the job done and don't worry 'bout the AI. Go claim a Celica of various colors from the worst paying championship in the game. In the Amateur Altezza Race, the AI hasn't learned anything and are still leaning on the RS200, while you can dominate the field again. No tire wear of any kind to worry about here either. From here you win a lot more credits, along with a random prize car again - I got a Tom's Chaser.
Now, with the aforementioned Spoon Civic Type R, get the Oil Change and Racing Chip, then enter the Beginner Type R Meeting. Easy pickings for sure, your prize is a randomly colored Acura RSX Type S. After this, it's time for the Amateur Type R Meeting, where you'll want to have the highest NA tune-up and racing tires. I previously recommended Super Softs, but as it now turns out, mediums (and maybe even super hards) work just fine and should ensure victory. From the championship, you'll get either the NSX Type R, or one of the S2000's in the game - the normal Honda version or Mugen or Spoon.
At this point of the game, I reached 50% completion and won the Chevrolet Corvette C5R. You should also win it if you've done every race mentioned this far.
Time to move on, into the Elise Trophy in the Professional Hall, naturally with the Elise 190. It's an extremely annoying race, possibly the hardest one in the game in a Minimal Buy run. Bring in your fully upgraded Elise with the best setup you can possibly find (again I like to advertise the Tuning Presets Guide and go for the stable turning setup), and prepare for a 5-race survival battle with the Motor Sport Elise's (the menu screen says it's a 10 race championship, but thankfully not). Don't be afraid to qualify. From my experience, the AI won't pit in Monte Carlo and Deep Forest, but the former wasn't a problem because they kept screwing up. In the latter, I used some dirty tactics to win, but can hardly feel bad about it thanks to the AI's unsportsmanlike conduct all race long. Also, Apricot Hill was the only race where I was essentially dependant on their pit strategy to win, as they kept pulling away after I cleared the slower Elise 190's. A random prize car - in other words, a randomly colored Elise 190 - is awarded at the end for your efforts.
The Clio Trophy is next, so bring out the Clio Sport Race Car. Like the Altezza series, you'll breeze into victory at each race - I guess it's a shame there's no more balanced option available for us minimal buy runners. As said before, your reward is guaranteed to be a New Beetle Cup Car, one that finds use in the (wait for it) New Beetle Cup in the Beginner League, marking the last event you'll do over there before inevitably having to buy a car. It can go stock and win just fine, though in that case you'd need to make full use of your cornering abilities to beat the AI. Even though this is one of the lowest-performing race cars in the game, it is still a race car, blessed with great brakes. Your prize car is always a New Beetle RSI.
Chapter 8: Loose Ends
We've reached a point where almost all remaining races can now be done with a large variety of cars at your disposal, probably a lot more fun than the one-make tour we just did. Before moving on to the biggest of the races in this game, I'd like to tackle a few challenges that have been left undone up to this point, mainly due to lack of decent cars that could work out for them.
First things first, though, the biggest loose end of all - Arcade Mode. The mode that may look somewhat primitive from the eyes of a regular GT Mode player is actually required for 100% completion in this game, even though there's no money and only one GT Mode prize car in it for you. The objectives are simple: win on all tracks in Single Race mode (difficulty doesn't matter - do it on Easy if you want it out of the way quickly, Normal and Hard simply unlock more vehicles for the mode), and beat all the Time Attacks. For the latter, getting first place on each will earn you a Panoz Esperante GT-1, a car fast enough to challenge some of the best race cars in the game. I suggest doing this mode at your own pace though, it might get tedious after you've done it for a while. It helps you get towards the 75% completion reward though, which might - depending on your random prize cars - be essential once we get to those big races.
As for GT Mode, the Amateur FR Challenge has been left undone as of now mostly due to lack of balanced cars you can use there, but at this point your garage should be flowing with fast FR-drive cars, including some racers. I personally used a Shelby Cobra with just hard racing tires on for a challenge, but if you just want it out of the way quickly, use a race car if you feel like it. The Shigeno Trueno is awarded - the bane of your existence if you tried beating that 80's Sports Car Cup early in the game.
Professional FR Challenge is significantly tougher, and I got tired of the Cobra's bad handling to the point where I gave in and just used the Astra Touring Car. Hey, it's not cheating if the AI cars are faster than mine on a straight line. It just doesn't happen to be my problem if they can't make the turns as well as me.
Pick up a Nismo GT-R LM Road Car for your troubles.Gran Turismo All Stars in the Amateur League is once again a 10-race championship series. The Corvette C5R from 50% completion is actually pretty good here, just invest in harder tires if you're going with that as it eats through the default medium compound awfully quickly. The prizes are a selection of very high performance road/tuning cars.
On we go to the neighbor series, the Amateur Japanese GT Championship, an all-JGTC series as you'd expect. I brought out the Castrol Tom's Supra again, but anything from the class can really win this, even in stock form. A randomly chosen JGTC car is your prize.
The British GT Car Cup has lied dormant in the beginning of the Pro League event list, and it's time to fix that. Like so many previous events, it's completely unregulated - and if the gentleman's rule concerns you, there's not a whole lot to choose from, especially with all opponents being in British sports cars. The Elise 190 has a bit of a low-key performance for my liking, so I decided to be a chav, waltz in with my Astra Touring Car and take their money. Oh, and an Aston Martin Vanquish too.
The Dream Car Championship is the last possible event in Amateur League that remains undone, so let's get to it next. Your trusty Altezza might carry you through with some slight modifications (mainly to keep up on Test Course) but if we're staying within imaginary rules again, the Tommykaira ZZII will be quite superior. Your reward is guaranteed to be one of the other fantasy race cars you don't already have.
NOTE: By this point, I made enough progress in Arcade Mode to reach 75% completion, which grants another bonus car, the Mazda 787B. If you can tolerate its engine noise, it can propel you through a number of events in the late stages.
Chapter 9: Just Endure the Suffering
Before we quite place the focus on endurance races, let's make sure we've done all of the Time Attacks in Arcade Mode around this time. In fact, I must say that completing them was even easier than getting all golds on the B license - this despite the last time trial, known as the hardest of them all for a reason. Complex String is, well, complex, and it can be hard to keep the RUF RGT on track for an entire lap while still maintaining high enough pace to overthrow the record. Extra difficulty comes from the simple fact that this is one of the few occasions in the whole game where the String is featured in full - unless you've done Free Runs on this course, you probably won't be familiar at all with some of the braking points.
In any case, a Panoz Esperante awaits at the end of the trials. Yeah, baby!
Now for the Endurance Hall. In the beginning of the list, Grand Valley 300K is one of the longer races you'll contend with, and the AI solely consists of stock JGTC's. A Loctite Zokel GT-R with hard tires fitted was all I needed, though the race is so long that some may opt to just go whole hog and get it done sooner with a 787B or the like. Your call, really.
Seattle 100 is a race against American sports cars, despite the preview image suggesting otherwise. You can use whatever you want to blast the competition, but I went the fun route by entering a bone-stock Camaro SS with racing/medium tires only. My stints were just 1 lap longer than the main opposition's, but the car fortunately just held on, in spite of being held up by some backmarking AI's throughout the race and having the slowest straight-line speed of all.
If you haven't done Laguna Seca 200 yet, now would be the time. I already completed it back during my Altezza Race Car hunt by using a Calsonic Skyline that had an oil change and hard tires on. The Viper will be faster than that, but pits often enough to be beatable. If you'd like something faster just to be sure, you can always use the Esperante or 787B at this stage of the game.
Passage to the Colosseum is 2 hours of Rome Circuit, therefore it won't go by any faster no matter what vehicle you use. I went all "up yours, AI" and beat this race in a fairly overpowered Vanquish, all because everytime I used a slower vehicle, there would always be that one rabbit that would make things borderline impossible especially due to not pitting often enough. I gained a significant chunk of satisfaction from putting that Griffith 500 a lap down on my final attempt, though.
Now, this is one of the events that can potentially gift you a Zonda Race Car, a fairly crucial vehicle for an upcoming Pro League race. If you do get it, lucky you! I wasn't as fortunate, but at least got an F1 as a consolation prize.
**To be continued**
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Looking forward to the next 50%!
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