Gran Turismo 7 “Power Pack” Paid DLC Now Available: New Races Including Endurance Events, Qualifying, and “Sophy 3.0”

[Touring Mars]

I succumbed to temptation and bought the Power Pack, and I've enjoyed both of my first two races.

The Le Mans race is the only one I’ve not seen a screen shot of. I’ve got two more Group C races to go to unlock - but I’ll then need some stars to enter it

Is the choice of car pre-selected?

 

[Fezzik]

I succumbed to temptation and bought the Power Pack, and I've enjoyed both of my first two races.


Is the choice of car pre-selected?

Yes, for the endurance races and all others in the PP.

Looks like Porsche, Nissan (1 chili) and Sauber (2 chili) for the Le Mans 24 Group C.

 

[Grim Fandango]

Pondering on the power pack, not sure I have enough time to warrant the purchase. How long do the practice, qualifying and races generally take?

 

[Talon16]

So I've done 14 races in the PP and some observations:

1) IMO the Sophy 3.0 AI is levels of magnitude too slow. I mentioned it in a previous post but virtually all of the races I've done have been a blowout. Like, ridiculously so for some of them. The N24 race in Gr3 only P2 finished within a minute of me. The American race in the Gr3 cars around WG Short I lapped P7 and back and won the race by 22 seconds. Kind of concerning actually as all the races I've done have been fun... as fun as they can be pulling away every lap anyway. [ETA - Three pepper difficulty setting.]

2) Speaking of lapping cars, the AI does not yield when being lapped (despite the blue flags being shown, so you know the computer is aware). Not only does it not yield, it'll block and fight you for "position." This is very annoying.

3) AI also does not yield during qualifying despite it being on an out lap. Also annoying.

4) Sarah. Go away. Seriously. Stop telling me there are two laps left right after telling me there are three laps left. Yes Sarah, I know it's the last lap as there is a flashing red/white icon telling me so. I don't need to be told about a fast lap or who's in the lead. I already know. Please go away and don't come back unless you're going to give me useful information like who's pitting, what tires their on, etc.

5) AI often takes odd lines but is still fast though the turns. It'll take the inside line, for no apparent reason, but still get a better exit than me.

6) The fact we can't use our own cars is kinda bummer. It'd be cool, even if we needed to buy a new one, could take an OE car and just have it automatically tuned to the requirements for the race... but have our own liveries and the like. Especially when it comes to the Gr cars that are cookie-cutter anyway.

7) AI's standing start launch is always better than mine. Not sure how to mitigate this one but while even in the same car the AI launches perfectly every time.

8) AI loves to dive bomb on virtually every turn. Even when it's not close enough to do so... ie, huge lunge and still doesn't get to the side of my car. It's its right I guess but very annoying seeing that on the radar and in the mirror all the time. But, despite taking a "divebomb line" it still exits the turn as well as or better than me while on the racing line (see point #5). It's EXTRA annoying when a lapped car does this (see point #2).

9) Would be nice if we could skip qualifying, similar to practice, once we put a lap in. Rather, best we can do is hit FFW and wait ~7.5 seconds/minute for it to finish.

10) THe opening grid with the times is kinda cool... but it would be nice if we could skip it.

11) The cars and combos have all been fantastic. The tunes in every car I've driven have been so fun: the cars drive great; the tracks that have been assigned have been very good for their respective cars; and, the modifiers have all been reasonable. I think my favorite thus far has been the Camaro at Road Atlanta. I'd love to see literally any of these combos as a Daily Race D.

Also, albeit only once so far (DTM race at Nurb GP), there was dynamic weather in a race and some of the AI actually pitted for IMs. I did this race twice and it was different both times.

12) I have had some good battles with Sophy (typically on lap one after it gets a much better launch) and they've quite respectful... most of the time. I have been divebombed and pushed wide through a turn, to which it got the same treatment the very next turn.

OVerall I think the Power Pack is a great update. Is it worth $30? Well, only you can decide for you... but to me it is. I am okay paying $30 for what will be many many hours of entertainment. And, to an extent to show PD/Sony that I am willing to pay them for new and fresh updates of this size/capacity.

YMMV

 

[bigmull]

So let me get this straight. If I want to play the 24 hr races I have to faff around doing a multitude of races using only cars that the game gives you and not being able to use any of your cars in your collection to unlock them, then again I don’t get the choice to use cars in my collection for the 24 hours races which have no “save “ option?

 

[Alfa Romeo GT]

I've read and think I agree with (based on my limited time with the DLC) the notion that corner cutting is part of the reason for this. Sophy is taking more traditional lines, where as I'm taking lines that I've used to survive in Sport mode.

I think if future iterations of Sophy are given the freedom to skirt the rules a bit, that might make up for some of the time loss in my experience. That being said... Sophy 3.0 is a huge improvement and I'm content with it.

People probably won't agree with me, but I would have loved to have the Sophy from the beta version we had at the beginning.

 

[jonoholland29]

So let me get this straight. If I want to play the 24 hr races I have to faff around doing a multitude of races using only cars that the game gives you and not being able to use any of your cars in your collection to unlock them, then again I don’t get the choice to use cars in my collection for the 24 hours races which have no “save “ option?

That’s true of the other games too. You had to unlock them - however you were free to chose your own vehicle within the guidelines

 

[Betty blue]

Guys... Anyone knows how to turn off the drivers names and pics in these power pack races while keeping all car and race info?

With all due respect to all guys featured, but I'm not interested in their faces.

 

[bigmull]

That’s true of the other games too. You had to unlock them - however you were free to chose your own vehicle within the guidelines

So I will take that as a yes to my observations.Sadly I don’t think I will be buying this DLC, I was really looking forward to the 24 hour races.

 

[PaMu1337]

Pondering on the power pack, not sure I have enough time to warrant the purchase. How long do the practice, qualifying and races generally take?

Practice is 1 hour, but can be ended early whenever you want
Qualifying differs per race, but mostly 10-15 mins. It's possible to fast forward time when in the pits by 10x.
Races wildly differ. Some of the early races are only 3 laps on shorter tracks, but they get longer as you get further along, with endurance races up to 24 hrs at the end.

 

[Com Fox]

I really hate how the 1000 Power cars handle. The races aren't hard (easy to make a comeback when you lose the lead), its just annoying how understeery they are.

My Chiron Engine Swap cars handle way better than this if people are just going to say "well duh, its 1000 BHP"

 

[SuperSportX]

Almost 2 and a half hours left to go I drive at 1-1 1/2 hr stints at a time and the CLK is now incredibly dirty with the front wheels showing noticeable darkness:

 

[Voodoovaj]

So I've done 14 races in the PP and some observations:

1) IMO the Sophy 3.0 AI is levels of magnitude too slow. I mentioned it in a previous post but virtually all of the races I've done have been a blowout. Like, ridiculously so for some of them. The N24 race in Gr3 only P2 finished within a minute of me. The American race in the Gr3 cars around WG Short I lapped P7 and back and won the race by 22 seconds. Kind of concerning actually as all the races I've done have been fun... as fun as they can be pulling away every lap anyway.

I find it EXTREMELY difficult to believe that you raced at the 2 pepper level and found Sophy to a "level of magnitude too slow" while it takes me several attempts and focused driving to win at that level. If you are referring to the base/EASY level, yes it is slow, but that level wasn't meant for you.

6) The fact we can't use our own cars is kinda bummer. It'd be cool, even if we needed to buy a new one, could take an OE car and just have it automatically tuned to the requirements for the race... but have our own liveries and the like. Especially when it comes to the Gr cars that are cookie-cutter anyway.

Some of the races put you at the wheel of the most expensive/rarest cars in the game, and those events come early on. Given that you have to finish the event to unlock the next, your progress through the races would stop at that moment.

The DLC is designed as a self contained expansion.

9) Would be nice if we could skip qualifying, similar to practice, once we put a lap in. Rather, best we can do is hit FFW and wait ~7.5 seconds/minute for it to finish.

Just speed up time. I've done it. It's only useful to skip it on the easy level. Skip it on 1 or 2 peppers and you're sitting at the back of the pack for most events.

 

[SuperSportX]

Pondering on the power pack, not sure I have enough time to warrant the purchase. How long do the practice, qualifying and races generally take?

Practice is usually around an hour but you can skip it, qualifying is 10-20 mins, IIRC the longest was the Nurburgring tourist event at 20(?) I believe. For the races the longest 'regular' race was around 25 mins for me, while the Enduro events are obviously much longer, but expect to spend around 20 mins per event usually.

 

[SuperSportX]

Almost 2 and a half hours left to go I drive at 1-1 1/2 hr stints at a time and the CLK is now incredibly dirty with the front wheels showing noticeable darkness:

Opponent cars get dirty aswell, I wonder if this mechanic was included with with Spec III or the Powerpack specifically as I don't recall cars ever getting dirty previously during gameplay.

 

[Nebuc72]

Opponent cars get dirty aswell, I wonder if this mechanic was included with with Spec III or the Powerpack specifically as I don't recall cars ever getting dirty previously during gameplay.

It was always in game but very very very slow to build up.
I imagine testing the endurances have made them realise the value was set too low and they've increased it accordingly - which is awesome.

The speed of build-up seems pretty decent too, its not Power Pack exclusive as even in the WTC800 Yas Marina event (18 mins) I noticed my windscreen getting grubby.

 

[art3mis]

Loving the Power Pack. I need some help on the grid start races though. I don't use TC so my starts are terrible and I'm getting swallowed up before the first corner. Is there a trick to get a good take off without using TC?

Turn on TC before green. Hammer throttle. Turn TC off when you shift into 2nd. It is that easy

 

[Yard_Sale]

All of cars in Power Pack races have installed „racing gearbox” which work like sequential.

For me its a little downside, really wanted to use clutch in historic races or DTM.

Thanks for checking. I’m just going to continue using the clutch as if it still works, with the added bonus of never missing a shift!


Besides, heel-toeing makes the racing with Sophy more fun when you can’t just spam gears, and have to give yourself enough time to set up for down shifts

 

[art3mis]

So the the 4 endurance races are:

Jgtc Suzuka 6 hours
Group c le mans 24
Gt3 nbr 24
Gt1 spa 8

Correct?

That's bad.

Like the whole DLC is already railroading you into extremely specific cars with zero setup, zero changes, and they can't even get the endurance right.

It needed to be Daytona 24, Le Mans 24, Nurburgring 24, and Spa 24.


Then do 10 at Suzuki, 6 at Watkins Glen, and also all of these wide open, not limited cars.

I wish I hadn't bought this. It's not fun or good.

 

[Talon16]

I find it EXTREMELY difficult to believe that you raced at the 2 pepper level and found Sophy to a "level of magnitude too slow" while it takes me several attempts and focused driving to win at that level. If you are referring to the base/EASY level, yes it is slow, but that level wasn't meant for you.

Some of the races put you at the wheel of the most expensive/rarest cars in the game, and those events come early on. Given that you have to finish the event to unlock the next, your progress through the races would stop at that moment.

The DLC is designed as a self contained expansion.

Just speed up time. I've done it. It's only useful to skip it on the easy level. Skip it on 1 or 2 peppers and you're sitting at the back of the pack for most events.

You tell me then. I do seriously think something is wrong but I don't know what. Regardless I took a video of the finish of the aforementioned WG race going right into my difficulty setting (albeit a little slow cuz I couldn't remember where it was).


The option would be nice. We could use our own or a provided car, similar to say a Manu cup or something

i mentioned the speed up time thing. But it takes about a minute to do every race when you only put in two laps. A straight out skip would be a nice to have.

 

[SpacedInvader]

Quite a few people telling us they're beating the chilli races comfortably, presumably without cheating (aka punting out Miyazono).

But I'm not seeing (m)any videos posted. Strange. C'mon guys, don't be shy.

 

[Talon16]

Quite a few people telling us they're beating the chilli races comfortably, presumably without cheating (aka punting out Miyazono).

But I'm not seeing (m)any videos posted. Strange. C'mon guys, don't be shy.

You really want to watch me drive around the track by myself for X mins? See my video above... shows the finishing order/deltas and goes right into the difficulty. And no, I didn't crash into the whole field to punt them off.

I did have one really close race... was Daytona Oval so don't think that counts.

.008" victory. Take that Fraga!!!

 

[Scuderia Paul]

Almost 2 and a half hours left to go I drive at 1-1 1/2 hr stints at a time and the CLK is now incredibly dirty with the front wheels showing noticeable darkness:

That's excellent! I have always wanted the cars to get dirty as the game, while gorgeous in many areas, is very sterile and needs this dirt and grime. Great stuff.

 

[Yellow Tabby]

Sorry, I really can’t keep watching this. If you judge yourself by professional sim-racing penalty standards, no one can finish all the “double-🌶️” races cleanly. Some races simply cannot be won unless you put in enormous effort. Because on some tracks the performance gap between cars is huge (for example, the Nürburgring). You have to drive a weaker car while still being able to push out absolute limit laps.
⚠️ Note: this refers to World Championship–level drivers, not regular players.

 

[Voodoovaj]

I'm a bit tired of the flack regarding the Power Pack, the update, and those (like myself) who are happy with it. So, rather than another post of complaints, here's MY review (and some Spec 3 points as well since we're at it).

1 - Price - Gran Turismo was $80CDN at launch. This booster is $40CDN. Not sure where the "it's the price of a full game" comments come from. For that you get 50 events that you can replay, 6 new cars, and freebie tickets and extra credits. Aside from the $5mil credits you get, the tickets will award you credits. We've done the credits vs cash value argument many times. We may not like the price of credits, but it is what it is, and the DLC gives you your money's worth in credits.

2 - Difficulty - It's set up very much as expected. Easy (no peppers) is akin to the base game. Perfectly fine for the younger/less accomplished player. 2 peppers is DIFFICULT and a good challenge even for the most advanced player. 1 pepper is a happy medium and I recommend running through the challenges on 1 pepper, then going back for the 2 pepper bragging rights.

3 - The new cars - Rest assured that the "GP Tuned" cars are indeed different and not simply visual changes. In fact, they are more different than some of the "new" cars we've received in the base game. Yes, you can buy more after you unlock them.

4 - Car selection - Despite the disappointment from many, I found it to be a welcome relief. Some perspective (because it's Christmas), there are those who will get the base game + the DLC as a gift. They are starting from zero. Given that the DLC requires the use of difficult to obtain cars (often they have to be available and affordable). For instance, the races with the classic Le Mans racers. Building a custom race like that would take hundreds of millions of credits, so getting the chance to have that event without the need to blow all my credits is very welcome. The base game has no such event.

5 - Practice/Qualifying/"the save" - It's very obvious to anyone who has participated in the cup events that the DLC is designed to replicate THAT experience. Practice is useful for 2 Pepper level racing and you can skip it. Qualifying is necessary for 1 and 2 pepper racing. If you want to run from the back on easy, just fast forward (I've done this, it's not as easy as some think, especially with 3 laps). And now, "the save", EDIT - There's a save so people can chill out now

6 - "Should I buy it" - That's totally up to you and what you are looking for. If you want more challenging single player events, then yes. If you want what you expected, even though none of those expectations were ever overtly stated, then maybe not. Now that I have paid for it, am I disappointed? Not in the least!! I'm loving these events. That civic battle in Tokyo reminds me of the Race A events we've seen. It's nice to have this level of competition without the post race commentary.

7 - Sophy 3 - Meh. The standing start is nice, but they launch in a way that you cannot, which breaks the immersion. The Sophy dive bomb is EXTREMELY annoying (like real life). As we've seen for months, the Sophy boost is still a thing that NOBODY likes. Why they can't simply allow Sophy to run consistent lap times (whether fast or slow) is beyond me. The boost thing has to go. Thankfully, the worst of it is on the 2 pepper level. Still, for future reference PD, please stop continuing in this direction. I can live with the dive bomb, but I can't live with the boost.

SPEC 3 Stuff (just my observations)

Dunlop tires - Hmm....they seem to slide a lot more than I expected. Not saying this is good or bad, just that it takes some adjustment.

No Sophy updates? - I kind of understand that they didn't want to give DLC features for free, but I'll take the new cars as an example. Why aren't the new cars available for use in the Sophy custom races? With the missing car bug, you can see that they work in the Sophy custom races, so why exclude them? The F3500B is, for all intents and purposes, the same as the F3500A, so why does it not get Sophy support? And what about the cars that were released several updates back?? Nothing yet?? This seems like an easy win that was intentionally left out.

Were the graphics updated???? - A few times now, I've loaded up a race and have been surprised by the graphics. I don't know if this is something I didn't notice before, or if something has changed (for the better). The most obvious example is Yas Marina with F1 cars.

No B-Spec anywhere? Super GT showed it in his preview video. It's a bit disappointing that it didn't make the cut.

You tell me then. I do seriously think something is wrong but I don't know what. Regardless I took a video of the finish of the aforementioned WG race going right into my difficulty setting (albeit a little slow cuz I couldn't remember where it was).

+10% indicates that you did 1 pepper. No pepper is ultra easy. 1 pepper is chill. 2 peppers is hard. Base game difficulty adjustment has nothing to do with the DLC.

 

[brockie]

I started my sophy racing in the Tokyo civic racing mostly because I do well there in dailies, did about 20 mins practice on the hardest level, tyre model feels good, like a less grippy hard tyre should, did manage to get pole and was looking forward to the race.

P2 was coming up on me so I thought for a 3 lap race I’d put some pressure on and close the door, boy did he not like that, bumped me into the first corner and into wall no less and I finished 5th! 🤣

I’ve no interest in the rally or the endurance races but the challenge of beating this 2 pepper sophy is a solid one

There is some longevity here I’m sure

 

[gigio79]

Spec III and power pack give the chance to buy more with GT7. I love it. As a Christmas gift, my wife is going to buy for me steering wheel Fanatec DD PRO. Can't wait to have the same wheel of the best GT7 drivers. Thank you much my wonderful wife.

 

[SpacedInvader]

I started my sophy racing in the Tokyo civic racing mostly because I do well there in dailies, did about 20 mins practice on the hardest level, tyre model feels good, like a less grippy hard tyre should, did manage to get pole and was looking forward to the race.

P2 was coming up on me so I thought for a 3 lap race I’d put some pressure on and close the door, boy did he not like that, bumped me into the first corner and into wall no less and I finished 5th! 🤣

I’ve no interest in the rally or the endurance races but the challenge of beating this 2 pepper sophy is a solid one

There is some longevity here I’m sure

Tokyo. Best tracks in the game. The Suzuki Carry daily race there about 6 months ago was the best daily ever imo.
Anyway, just one thing, not clear from your post whether you realise: The Sophy is always the same level (so practice can't really be on the hardest level), it's the three cars you drive that adjust the difficulty. One's strong, one's mid (one chilli) and one's weak (two chillis). The AI, as far as can be seen, remains consistent. You probably do realise this, just pointing it out cos the way it's worded in your post leaves it ambiguous.
And when you get to it, the Suzuka race in the Civics is sublime, but the hardest race in that whole 'Japan' strand on the top/right side. Hizal ultra aggressive in my many races there. Wondering if he was the P2 you mention putting you into the wall? Great stuff anyway.

Edit: if you can beat the Civic Suzuka race in the 2 chilli car without resorting to any dubious tactics, you're a much better driver than me, that's for sure.

 

[Siasi0]

For me, it’s worth it but i would like a feature where you can use your own cars

 

[Grim Fandango]

Opponent cars get dirty aswell.

Are they still nailed to the road? They only have to touch me to spin me off the track, they have magical powers. It's only of my biggest gripes with the physics of the game.