New to this forum and to the GT series.

  • Thread starter Thread starter mrbalston
  • 13 comments
  • 993 views
M

mrbalston

Messages
10
Messages
mrbalston
I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself here. I will also use this post as a blog of sorts to keep track of some progress. I really shouldn't say I am brand new to the series as I have played previous games a few times but have never gone out and bought one.

I have owned the game for roughly 24 hours and have already figured a few things out but for the sake of my "blog" I will be starting from scratch and letting people know what I am doing on any given day.

To start, I plan to buy a car and start my driving tests and do a few of the special events. I am challenging myself to drive only in cockpit view, which from what I understand limits me to premium cars. I also will not be using the driving line as I feel like this is cheating. Also, until I get the hang of this game I will not be going out and buying a steering wheel, although I see myself purchasing one shortly.

Wish me luck!!

p.s. If there is a section for blogs that I am not seeing please direct me to the proper place!
 
Driving line is not cheating. Have it on, and stay away from it. If you are on it, the Ai will hit you....hard! It is also not the fastest way around the track.
But welcome! And cockpit view is the way to go! :)
 
Last edited:
Welcome i'm new here as well ,there's some great people here.Unfortunately its not possible to only use premium cars ,2 races so far have needed standards which was a shame as cockpit view is awsome(though pretty tricky on Rally cars due to sunvisor coming halfway down windscreen).
Give it 5 mins playing and you'll want a steering wheel i did.
 
First let me say thank you for the welcome.

Second to respond to the other postings: I know the driving line isn't cheating but if I were to race my truck out on the street it would not be there so I will not use it for this game.

And as far as the races where standard cars must be used, well I guess I won't do them. At least not until I have done as many of the other things the game has to offer as I can.

Here is my first "blog" update!

Day 1

I installed game content.

I did all the profile crap for online purposes.

I purchased my very first car from the dealership. Civic Type R (EK) ’97. Upon delivery I see 171hp/8000rpm and a weight of 1050kg with a FF drivetrain. It also cost me 19980 credits so I now have 20 credits left.
Guess it’s time to get cracking on the B-license test!

I finished my B-license with all Gold in just under two hours. I could not turn the driving line off for this but I noticed that it absolutely does not produce the best line. Because the driving line is mandatory for these tests I still feel I am being true to my challenge.

By gaining all Gold I was able to reach level 4 on my A-spec rating and received the following cars as rewards!

DEMIO Sport ’03
OFC-1 Concept ’07
ZZ-S ’00

And for reaching level 1 I have received:

PDI Racing Cart 100

Overall I thought B-6 and B-7 were the hardest of the tests, but on most of them I was able to achieve Gold in 3-5 tries. Both B-6 and B-7 took perhaps 20 tries each.

Next, I will jump in each of the new cars and see if they have a cockpit cam. If they do not I will sell them as per the challenge I am giving myself to only use the cockpit cam and no driving line while driving.

Both the ZZ and DEMIO ended up on the chopping block but I was able to sell them for a decent profit of 22,200 credits. The OFC-1 is now part of my premium collection though! It boasts a whopping 61hp/6000rpm with a weight of 820kg and the ever boring FF drivetrain. Pretty cool passenger cabin though.

To this point I have not used my Civic so it is time to hit the practice area and see what it has. I will do the same with the OFC-1 to compare times. I will limit these to 1-Lap times and not try for the absolute best.

High Speed Ring with a rolling start.

OFC-1 time: 1:44.752
Civic time: 1:30.171

I guess I know what car I am using for the Sunday Cup!
That is all for tonight though! Tune in next time for some real racing!
 
FYI you're not going to be able to complete the career mode of the game and still keep to your "challenge" of only using cockpit view, since there are a few races that require standard cars.

Also, IMHO, you're going to be missing out on a whole lot of fun to play cars.
 
Mike240SX
FYI you're not going to be able to complete the career mode of the game and still keep to your "challenge" of only using cockpit view, since there are a few races that require standard cars.

Also, IMHO, you're going to be missing out on a whole lot of fun to play cars.
Click to expand...

I am aware of this already. I will be doing these races eventually but it will be the very last thing I do. I will do my best to get to those fun cars when the time comes aswell!
 
Installment 2

Gentleman (and ladies), start your engines!! That’s right it is time to race. I will be using my Civic for the Sunday cup today. I will not purchase any tuner parts for my car unless I must.

First race:

Autumn Ring Mini

2:35.245 – Total Time
48.382 – Best Lap

I beat the competition by a whopping 10.875 seconds! I know I can beat this time but I am very happy with my first race!

4,100 credits earned.

As this is my first official race of my cockpit career I have saved it!

Second Race:

Grand Valley East

3:03.544 – Total Time
1:26.673 – Best Lap

Another 4,100 Credits but I only won by 4.680 seconds this times! I know this is not all that close but they are gaining on me!

I also gained level 5 after this race!

Final Race:

Tsukuba Circuit

2:38.419 – Total Time
1:14.998 – Best Lap

With a margin of 5.128 seconds I won this race handily and made yet another 4,100 credits, bringing me to a total of 34,520 credits!

And of course I won: a VITZ U Euro Sport Edition ’00 that I sold for 3,864 credits!

So my total reward for the Sunday cup was 16,164 credits! Not a bad haul for a car that cost me fewer than 20,000 credits.

At this point I am torn between buying a new car and trying to modify this one.

While I decide I will attempt to complete the Lightweight K cup in my OFC-1.

First race: Autumn Ring Mini

2:49.943 – Total Time
52.989 – Best Lap

I won by 3.679 seconds with a reward of 4,860 credits.

Second Race: Suzuka Circuit East Course

3:53.271 – Total Time
1:12.496 – Best Lap

I won by 2.708 seconds due to missing the entry into the final corner on the first lap. This would be the first time I missed the good old driving line! It was fun catching back up though. Another 4,860 credits earned and a Wagon R RR ’98 which sold for 3,846 credits, which brings me to a total of 51,950 credits!

That’s all for now folks! Stay tuned for the next installment, which will include the FF challenge and finding a FR car that I will love!

At this point I would welcome any feedback or criticism. If this is boring stuff to all of you veterans please let me know and I will try to find more interesting things to write about! Also suggestions for a decent FR premium car under level 5 (or 6 if I level when I complete the FF challenge) and under 50,000 credits are more than welcome. Please try to limit suggestions to cars that do not have way to much power for me. Also I would love to know how my lap times compare so I can see how well I am doing driving without a line and in the cockpit!

Thanks for looking!
 
mrbalston
I am aware of this already. I will be doing these races eventually but it will be the very last thing I do. I will do my best to get to those fun cars when the time comes aswell!
Click to expand...

Don't you know that it's hard enough to level up later in the A-spec mode without skipping events because the cars you have to use are 'standard'? You're going to end up grinding at level 15 doing that!
 
Installment 3
I decided to hold off on buying a new FR rear car for the moment and instead do the FF Challenge and possibly do a couple special events. This should allow me to accumulate the credits I will need to complete the beginner series and move on to amateur.
I won’t continue with times and all that as I am not sure anyone is really all that interested. With a reward of 12,300 credits and a Civic SiR-II (EG) ’92 that was sold for 4,860 credits I completed the FF challenge with ease.
I also noticed that my engine is starting to get broken in on my car as I have gained 1 horsepower since I purchased it. I think it is time to try the World Compact Cup. I will buy a racing air filter and a sports catalytic converter, which bring me to a whopping 184 horses under my hood.
And I am now officially “The King of my Gran Turismo World”! And least the compact part of it! With a total of 18,000 credits added to my stack and Berlinette R/S Coupe ’99 which sold for 14,208 credits, I am officially over the 100,000 credit mark.
I certainly have enough to purchase a new car but I have decided to complete every race I can with my almost stock Civic first. The next races on the agenda are the Clubman Cup and the Japanese 90’s challenge once I reach level 7. I am a bit worried here as it shows typical opponents in cars boasting in the 250hp range for the Clubman Cup. The good news is I am awfully close to putting a racing modification on my first car!
The Clubman Cup I can say is my real challenge. My car is underpowered for this event by just a hair so I am having to beat my oppenants in the corners. In the first race the S2000 was right with me the whole way and gained on me every straight but I was able to maintain the lead through aggressive cornering. I guess he should have tried to get all Gold in his B-License test and maybe he would have beat me!
The second race was tough! For the first time I did not place 1st in a race. 4th however in a race where I am underpowered by roughly 30% is respectable and keeps me tied atop the leaderboard for the final race!
I managed to complete the final race with ease. I beat the field by almost 9 seconds that to taking corners well and making only 1 mistake. This allows me to collect the Clubman Cup trophy and a Mugen Motul Civic Si Race Car ’87 which sold for 13,500.

The Japanese 90’s Challenge was a cake walk in my Civic and won me around 20k credits and Sileighty ’89.
I also did some of the kart challenges (both beginner and intermediate) and purchased a Camaro Z28 ’69 for doing the FR races and muscle car stuff.

More to come later!
 
Good start to the game. You're definitely going to be grinding early if you skip the S car events; Good luck though.
 
Welcome to GTP buddy. Something fun to read. Keep it up.

It woud be worth checking the car prize list before making any major purchases. GL.

GT5 Prize Car List/Unlockables
 
Thanks for the heads up on the prize list. I actually pretty happy with the Camaro purchase as it is one of my dream cars.

Also I am currently looking at steering wheels. I am looking at the Thrustmaster at RadioShack and thinking for the price it might be a good choice.

Also I have not had to grind at all yet and I am now level 8 and there are also a few events I have yet to do.

Overall I am having a blast and should have an update on my progress tomorrow sometime.
 
Installment 4
Well I took the Camaro out today and managed to get a win in the FR challenge winning me the FT-86 Concept ’09 which is a premium car so I will be hanging on to it.

I took both to the High Speed Ring to practice a bit and post a time for each of my 4 cars. The FT came in at 1:21.967 putting it in first, while the Camaro came in at 1:24.150 even though it has close to 100 more hp. I did put an air filter, catalytic converter, racing chip, and a 5 speed close transmission in the Camaro before the FR races. It is a fun car but the handling is certainly a lot different that my newer cars.

I just raced on the Sarthe track and I must say I need to grab a fully customized transmission for these tracks. I won the race but only because of cornering again but 5 cars flew by me on the straight. I need to be able to set up my top speed. The other races in the World Classic Car Series were easy. I won a Subaru 360 ’58 for my troubles, which I sold for 10,800 credits. I am now at 241,142 credits and I will start looking at cars I need for future races.

I just completed the Amateur Classic Muscle Car Championship in two attempts. I won the Special ’62, which cannot be sold so I will hang on to it for later in the game. The first attempt I placed third with my trusty Camaro but it just could not keep up with the massive horsepower of the other cars. I decided to supercharge it, install a sports exhaust manifold and get some softer tires. I was going to get the customizable transmission as well but I decided to attempt the race with just the horsepower boost and it ended up being enough.

Next was the Nostalgia Cup. I was a little nervous going into this with the Camaro but I managed to eeck out a win in the first race with a top speed of only 124 mph. The Bertone’s were certainly right with me the whole way though. Again cornering is where I won the race. The second race forced me to go and get my transmission. The two races paid for the transmission so I was ok with this. The final race at Laguna Seca was extremely easy. I won a Dome-Zero Concept ’78 for bringing my American muscle car around the track the fastest in these three races. This is another car I cannot sell, so I am now at 265,372 credits and level 11.

Looking ahead the next races have cars with a ton of horsepower so it is either time to really tune the Camaro or buy a car with a lot more horsepower. I could also do some of the specialty races.

I attempted to complete the Muscle Car series in the Professional races and was able to win in Laguna Seca on my first attempt without any modifications to my Camaro. Daytona I was expecting a challenge but I was able to set my transmission up to maximize all 383 hp. I was surprised to win both races easily even though I was at a roughly 100hp disadvantage. I was awarded a Challenger SRT8 ’08 for winning both races.
With 412 HP stock I just had to try this car on the High Speed Ring and record a time. 1:18.205 and it felt sluggish doing it. With a few parts this car could retire the Camaro!

That’s it for this episode. See you guys next time.
 
Back