Have you learned something by playing GT?

  • Thread starter tomcat66
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I started "GT-ing" when I was about six years old, I remember I always used to play arcady games with my PSOne, when I got to play GT1 and 2 I was so bad at it.

Throughout the years I started to improve my skills mainly due to GT, and even today I keep learning things.
The most important things that GT thaught me in my opinion are learning racing línes, knowing the exact times on where to brake, accelerate, overtake, etc, what cars are good at what and also what they're bad at and many other important things, but I think that the really most important thing that GT thaught me is tuning.

There are many things that I'm leaving out but my point is that GT is a great and big book that teaches you much more things than you could think not only when it comes to racing but also when it comes to cars, sure there are much better sims out there, but there will never be something as significant as GT was and is to me, and probably other people.
 
Yes. A lot of technical information and also manufacturers and models I would've never known of if it wasn't for it. I got to thank mostly GT1, GT2 and GT4 for that. Also stuff like driving lines and other basic racing techniques (in theory).
 
When GT1 came out, South Africa was still a very new democracy and the country had just come out of isolation a few years prior. Many of the Japanese cars as well as a few American and European cars had not been seen before by South Africans for a variety of reasons. One example is the Honda NSX, because of our low fuel quality at the time one car was brought to SA for a test dive by Car Magazine in either 1989 or 1990 while on the other hand the Nissan 300ZX was only available as a special import in the early 90's. Through GT, I learned how capable cars like the R32 and R33 Skyline GTRs, the Toyota Supra and the Mazda RX7 FD3 were against other cars. GT4 made me more aware of the Nurburgring, it was no longer something that was just on TV or in videos but something you could drive on even if it was still only in a videogame. Someday I will go there to drive on it for real.
GT6 got me interested in drifting, both real and virtual. I learned that prominent motoring journalists like Chris Harris are just as skilled at drifting as they are at hot lapping. This is reflected in GT to some extent as well whereby some gamers place high in both the TT and drift seasonal events. Through GT and these forums, I have learnt a bit about tuning as well even though GT's tuning does not always replicate reality.
 
Something not mentioned before:

Sim Racing taught me a lot of respect for real life racing drivers. Now I understand a little bit better, how difficult it is to race high speed on a winding race track - maybe even with rain and during the night. I am sure I dont want to drive in an LMP car in Le Mans :lol:

And I am really glad, that the worst thing that can happing in sim racing is to loose a race - no matter how horrible the accident is.
 
I live in Northeast Ohio. Our weather is often unpredictable, especially in the winter time. I believe playing Gran Turismo has helped me become a better driver in inclement weather. I have a better feel for my own vehicle while driving in the snow or rain. I also feel I can better predict how other drivers will react. I'm a pretty defensive driver though, I'm always cautious about what the other person may do.
 
Agree with many others that using a wheel and no driving aids has improved my car control skills. More sensitive to inputs and feedback.

Main thing I've learnt is, I'm not as fast as I'd like to be!
 
Yes, I have learned patience and respect for others (I am not saying I didn't respect other before. I just respect people even more).
👍
 
I learned a lot about cars. I never really had access to internet till GT5: prologue so it was my only way to really know what was going on in the auto industry (plus I lived in the middle of the woods)
 
Well I can say I've learned the basic driving lines for tracks I'll never attend as a spectator much less drive on, and I've learned about the 50 different variations of Nissan skyline GTR and what makes each one different
 
From playing GT, I learned how to properly race around a track.

Back when I was a kid playing GT3, I remember always driving the GTR GT500 at trial mountain just ramming everything in sight.

In GT4, I always drove at New York. If you know that track, you know that brakes are essential. With that track, I ended up learning how to tackle it by following the AI exactly.

Then I went on to take my very first win at a race in GT. It was at Tokyo. I was in a F1 (codebreaker), and racing against Nismo's. I never crashed, and for the first time ever, I survived turn 1.

In GT5, I continued to learn until I finally mastered it. Now in GT6, I feel like I have finally mastered how to race properly.
 
It helped me understand tuning. In GT1 I used to play about with settings not having a clue what I was doing. In GT2 I started to learn what changing the settings achieved and now in GT6 I'm a tuning master (not actually but I like to think I'm descent at it)
 
i have noticed GT helps with ones reaction time in real life. You develop certain reactions while playing (with a wheel), which, although there its no 100% realism in a game, help you react in certain way with a real car. Have noticed this few times in surprising traffic situations requiring fast moves - Have made evasions and braking as a reflex without thinking and had a familiar "game" feeling right after. Knowing games can teach one wrong reactions for real life as well, in these situations it has worked for me. Its king of a melt between the reflex from the game and steering/pedal input learned in real life.
 

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