The Ultimate Guide - GT Mode tips & tuning guide

[TeaKanji]

Hello everyone, my follow-up to my Gran Turismo 2 Ultimate Guide is finally here.



This one took a lot longer than I expected, as there were so many hidden mechanics like reverse shifting and series manipulation that took some time to understand and put together. I decided to put together a 160-page written guide to accompany it, as I didn't want to leave out any important details.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dSzM7tQb2Fgue8zN-OY_ndimyHin9X-WQtq9BQul6AM/edit?usp=sharing

I hope some of you find it interesting, enjoy!

 

[Jupiter Jazz]

Thank you for the guide.

I'm new to the series and going through it for the first time. I tried the game as a teenager and found it too hard but recently on a whim picked up GT3 and 4.

Here's where I'm at:

I'm a completely new player so I cannot get all gold in the B license. I have acquired both my B and A licences, however.

I won the first cup, got the free Trueno and upgraded it to achieve over 200 HP. I have completed the first two cups and working on the FR Beginners Cup.

I've turned off assists and put handling on Amateur.

I made a video of me struggling to get Gold on the licenses.



Also a replay of me playing A license exam.



I have to say that I'm really impressed with the game. Although the early game has a lot of grinding the fact I went from struggling to even get bronze in the first two B license stages to understanding the basics of apex, out-in-out, and more is a testament of the games design. It really doesn't hold back and forces the player to get better and want to do so, too. As a long time loved of arcade racers I have always been intimidated by sim racers. Though I realize that GT is considered a simcade game the point is still made. I'm in love with GT and by extension, sim racers now because of this game.

I could really use the help. I want to become a great player. Currently playing on pad and using d-pad.

Thanks.

 

[TeaKanji]

Thank you for the guide.

I'm new to the series and going through it for the first time. I tried the game as a teenager and found it too hard but recently on a whim picked up GT3 and 4.

Here's where I'm at:

I'm a completely new player so I cannot get all gold in the B license. I have acquired both my B and A licences, however.

I won the first cup, got the free Trueno and upgraded it to achieve over 200 HP. I have completed the first two cups and working on the FR Beginners Cup.

I've turned off assists and put handling on Amateur.

I made a video of me struggling to get Gold on the licenses.



Also a replay of me playing A license exam.



I have to say that I'm really impressed with the game. Although the early game has a lot of grinding the fact I went from struggling to even get bronze in the first two B license stages to understanding the basics of apex, out-in-out, and more is a testament of the games design. It really doesn't hold back and forces the player to get better and want to do so, too. As a long time loved of arcade racers I have always been intimidated by sim racers. Though I realize that GT is considered a simcade game the point is still made. I'm in love with GT and by extension, sim racers now because of this game.

I could really use the help. I want to become a great player. Currently playing on pad and using d-pad.

Thanks.

Happy to help! Yeah, I think GT3 gets the balance just right with its handling, where it's not too difficult to jump into but you still need to have a basic understanding of how to approach a corner using the car you're given.

I had a quick look at your videos. If you're looking for tips:

• The way you're approaching corners seems to be working well, though you're slowing down a bit more than you need to. I assume it's due to course unfamiliarity, so that will come in time.
• For A-2, what seems to be tripping you up is that you're braking too early, then you need to accelerate a lot mid-corner which causes the car to lose grip and oversteer. Braking a little later and letting the car glide into the corner while doing as little acceleration as possible will help the car maintain grip for a fast exit.
• For A-8 and a few of the B tests, it helps to understand how to use weight transfer to your advantage. For A-8 especially, the key is to move the car's weight to one side, then make a very sudden turn in the opposite direction so the car takes a sharper turn. This lets you overcome the Lancer's 4WD understeer and take an inside line in that Midfield hairpin turn. Same applies to the last corner of B-8. I didn't cover the A licence in the video guide, but a step-by-step guide for what to do in each test is in the handbook.
• At one point you asked what RPM you should be launching the car at: it depends on the car and what its TCS setting is. If TCS is 1 or higher, it doesn't really matter since you'll always get a slow launch anyway to prevent wheelspin. With TCS 0, most cars (with high-RPM power bands at least) launch fastest in between redline and the rev limiter, but you also have to take wheelspin into account. Sometimes you'll have to go for a 2nd gear launch to prevent wheelspin, especially if the car's gears aren't set up yet. For other cars, like the GT-R in B-8, you want to aim a little lower since 4WD's produce most of their torque before redline.

Other than that, using the analog stick instead of the d-pad and driving in manual with reverse shifting will also improve your driving a lot too. The d-pad can force you to over-commit to corners sometimes, and the analog stick lets you make much more precise movements. One thing at a time, though.

I hope all of that and everything in the guide wasn't too overwhelming. It's hard for me to judge sometimes how to pace these guides for total newcomers. In my Gran Turismo 2 guide, I left the gear setup stuff towards the end because I felt it'd be too much to introduce early in the guide. In this one, I ended up going deep into it after only 15 minutes. I felt like it was important enough to talk about early, but it could be also the fact that I'm so accustomed to gear setup now that it didn't dawn on me that it was too advanced.

 

[Jupiter Jazz]

Happy to help! Yeah, I think GT3 gets the balance just right with its handling, where it's not too difficult to jump into but you still need to have a basic understanding of how to approach a corner using the car you're given.

I had a quick look at your videos. If you're looking for tips:

• The way you're approaching corners seems to be working well, though you're slowing down a bit more than you need to. I assume it's due to course unfamiliarity, so that will come in time.
• For A-2, what seems to be tripping you up is that you're braking too early, then you need to accelerate a lot mid-corner which causes the car to lose grip and oversteer. Braking a little later and letting the car glide into the corner while doing as little acceleration as possible will help the car maintain grip for a fast exit.
• For A-8 and a few of the B tests, it helps to understand how to use weight transfer to your advantage. For A-8 especially, the key is to move the car's weight to one side, then make a very sudden turn in the opposite direction so the car takes a sharper turn. This lets you overcome the Lancer's 4WD understeer and take an inside line in that Midfield hairpin turn. Same applies to the last corner of B-8. I didn't cover the A licence in the video guide, but a step-by-step guide for what to do in each test is in the handbook.
• At one point you asked what RPM you should be launching the car at: it depends on the car and what its TCS setting is. If TCS is 1 or higher, it doesn't really matter since you'll always get a slow launch anyway to prevent wheelspin. With TCS 0, most cars (with high-RPM power bands at least) launch fastest in between redline and the rev limiter, but you also have to take wheelspin into account. Sometimes you'll have to go for a 2nd gear launch to prevent wheelspin, especially if the car's gears aren't set up yet. For other cars, like the GT-R in B-8, you want to aim a little lower since 4WD's produce most of their torque before redline.

Other than that, using the analog stick instead of the d-pad and driving in manual with reverse shifting will also improve your driving a lot too. The d-pad can force you to over-commit to corners sometimes, and the analog stick lets you make much more precise movements. One thing at a time, though.

I hope all of that and everything in the guide wasn't too overwhelming. It's hard for me to judge sometimes how to pace these guides for total newcomers. In my Gran Turismo 2 guide, I left the gear setup stuff towards the end because I felt it'd be too much to introduce early in the guide. In this one, I ended up going deep into it after only 15 minutes. I felt like it was important enough to talk about early, but it could be also the fact that I'm so accustomed to gear setup now that it didn't dawn on me that it was too advanced.

Thank you kind sir/ma'am!

I've always been intimidated by manual in racing games. I'll give it a shot today. I watched your video and was surprised to learn analog > d-pad. Going to turn those settings to 0 and 1 as well!

 

[Jupiter Jazz]

@TeaKanji



Playing with analog makes A8 ridiculously easy. Wow. I had been playing with a handicap with d-pad.

 

[TeaKanji]

@TeaKanji



Playing with analog makes A8 ridiculously easy. Wow. I had been playing with a handicap with d-pad.

Nicely done. When you're starting off using manual, you can use that little red flashing number as a suggestion and gear down to the number it shows as you're braking. With practice though, you should be able to tell from the sound of the engine whether you need to gear up or down. Don't be afraid to let the car hit off the rev limiter, there's no real penalty and the Trueno is faster at high revs anyway.

 

[Jupiter Jazz]

Nicely done. When you're starting off using manual, you can use that little red flashing number as a suggestion and gear down to the number it shows as you're braking. With practice though, you should be able to tell from the sound of the engine whether you need to gear up or down. Don't be afraid to let the car hit off the rev limiter, there's no real penalty and the Trueno is faster at high revs anyway.

Thanks!

I'm struggle with reverse shifting by the way.

 

[Jupiter Jazz]

@TeaKanji You're now my racing game sensei lol.

I popped in GT4 (love that game too) and beat the Sunshine Cup in Beginners but then went on to FR and did Seattle. I have it on MT and it feels impossible to play this track on Manual with my current skills. I really struggle braking around and downshifting. I've gotten into a habit of shifting down a gear when breaking around a corner. I'll be at 3 so I go to 2, for instance. I'm not sure if it's right but I'm losing so much speed and the competition is sweeping my ass at an embarassing degree. It makes no sense too because I cleaned up on Special Stage 5 in GT3 despite using manual. I don't get it. Seattle does hard more hard turns than Special Stage, to be fair.

I started watching this video and I really hope it applies to GT3 and 4!

 

[TeaKanji]

Thanks!

I'm struggle with reverse shifting by the way.

It's important to keep in mind that reverse shifting replaces the regular gear up button. When I first found out about reverse shifting, I thought you had to gear up normally then immediately hit reverse, but then I found out it was a lot simpler than that. So, I remapped reverse to R1 so I could access it as easily as possible.

I'm guessing the issue is that the Trueno won't reverse shift from 1st to 2nd; for some tuned cars, the game expects you to let the car hit off the rev limiter a few times before gearing up (the car still accelerates while this is happening, so it's not like you're losing acceleration). You can see I have to do that while reverse shifting with the Miata in the Gear Setup section of the guide. The length of your car's gears will also make a difference.

@TeaKanji You're now my racing game sensei lol.

I popped in GT4 (love that game too) and beat the Sunshine Cup in Beginners but then went on to FR and did Seattle. I have it on MT and it feels impossible to play this track on Manual with my current skills. I really struggle braking around and downshifting. I've gotten into a habit of shifting down a gear when breaking around a corner. I'll be at 3 so I go to 2, for instance. I'm not sure if it's right but I'm losing so much speed and the competition is sweeping my ass at an embarassing degree. It makes no sense too because I cleaned up on Special Stage 5 in GT3 despite using manual. I don't get it. Seattle does hard more hard turns than Special Stage, to be fair.

I started watching this video and I really hope it applies to GT3 and 4!

Technical tracks like Seattle, especially in an FR, can be quite difficult, and the AI is a tough match on that track as well. What car were you driving? If you have the money, I'd recommend buying a 4WD and practicing with that instead (or you can hop into Arcade Mode and do time trials with a Lancer Evo or something). The GT-R '89, Lancer Evo VI RS and Impreza Sedan / Coupe Ver.VI can usually be picked up cheap from the used lots. That way, you don't have to worry about losing stability mid-corner, and you can focus instead on practicing your gear changes. You should be able to stay in 2nd gear for most of those tight corners.

As for the video, a lot of it is correct, but it's pretty advanced stuff. Gear management of road cars vs. race cars can differ greatly, especially in GT4 where gearing up from 1st to 2nd takes a very long time. Many licence tests pretty much require you to stay in 2nd gear around tight corners so you don't lose time from the gear change. He also talks about the car's power band without really explaining it, and a big focus of the video is on throttle control which is quite difficult to manage on a DualShock, even with pressure-sensitive buttons.

But yeah, I think just driving by yourself in time trials or free runs, without any pressure of competition, might help with building up your fundamentals.

 

[Jupiter Jazz]

It's important to keep in mind that reverse shifting replaces the regular gear up button. When I first found out about reverse shifting, I thought you had to gear up normally then immediately hit reverse, but then I found out it was a lot simpler than that. So, I remapped reverse to R1 so I could access it as easily as possible.

I'm guessing the issue is that the Trueno won't reverse shift from 1st to 2nd; for some tuned cars, the game expects you to let the car hit off the rev limiter a few times before gearing up (the car still accelerates while this is happening, so it's not like you're losing acceleration). You can see I have to do that while reverse shifting with the Miata in the Gear Setup section of the guide. The length of your car's gears will also make a difference.

Technical tracks like Seattle, especially in an FR, can be quite difficult, and the AI is a tough match on that track as well. What car were you driving? If you have the money, I'd recommend buying a 4WD and practicing with that instead (or you can hop into Arcade Mode and do time trials with a Lancer Evo or something). The GT-R '89, Lancer Evo VI RS and Impreza Sedan / Coupe Ver.VI can usually be picked up cheap from the used lots. That way, you don't have to worry about losing stability mid-corner, and you can focus instead on practicing your gear changes. You should be able to stay in 2nd gear for most of those tight corners.

As for the video, a lot of it is correct, but it's pretty advanced stuff. Gear management of road cars vs. race cars can differ greatly, especially in GT4 where gearing up from 1st to 2nd takes a very long time. Many licence tests pretty much require you to stay in 2nd gear around tight corners so you don't lose time from the gear change. He also talks about the car's power band without really explaining it, and a big focus of the video is on throttle control which is quite difficult to manage on a DualShock, even with pressure-sensitive buttons.

But yeah, I think just driving by yourself in time trials or free runs, without any pressure of competition, might help with building up your fundamentals.

Do you mind making an AT to MT transition video guide?

Thanks for the 4WD tip. I have invested in my car already with turbo. I guess I could do the Sunday Cup over again.

I'm driving a Trueno in GT4. I even have a Toyota Corolla as my car irl.

 

[TeaKanji]

Do you mind making an AT to MT transition video guide?

Thanks for the 4WD tip. I have invested in my car already with turbo. I guess I could do the Sunday Cup over again.

I'm driving a Trueno in GT4. I even have a Toyota Corolla as my car irl.

That's not a bad idea, maybe I will when I find the time. I'm taking a break from video-making for a bit to re-play GT4 myself (potentially to make a guide on that as well, we'll see).

No need to grind Sunday Cup, by the way. Have you done the A licence yet? You can enter the Trueno into Japanese 80's Festival in the Japanese Events hall, it should be pretty easy if you've already given it a turbo upgrade. 3,000 per race, more than enough to fund a good 4WD once all five are done.

 

[Jupiter Jazz]

I feel like GT4 is more difficult than 3. In 3 you can shortcut through s curves and stuff but GT4 requires more patience and skill. I feel like GT4 is more rewarding in terms of driving well whereas in 3 it felt like it's up to my cars upgrades a lot of the time.

This guy's video is a great display of that. He articulates this is why he prefers GT3 but I think this may be why GT4 is better, because it requires more skill.

 

[TeaKanji]

I feel like GT4 is more difficult than 3. In 3 you can shortcut through s curves and stuff but GT4 requires more patience and skill. I feel like GT4 is more rewarding in terms of driving well whereas in 3 it felt like it's up to my cars upgrades a lot of the time.

This guy's video is a great display of that. He articulates this is why he prefers GT3 but I think this may be why GT4 is better, because it requires more skill.

It depends, I think. When I started playing GT4 a week ago, I went straight into licence tests and my initial impression was that the handling felt awful. Took over half an hour to gold the full lap run with the Mini One on Tsukuba because the car refused to accelerate out of corners until it was facing the exit. However, I found out afterwards that most licence tests have assists enabled, which was the main cause for my struggles.

Bought an '89 Miata as my first car after that, turned off all assists, and the handling felt like GT3 again. There does seem to be some differences in tyre physics, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. FF's seem to be nerfed slightly due to extra wheelspin, but others handle better than they ever did with 0 TCS. I fell in love with the Silvia Spec R Aero's handling after some slight tuning, that was the real turning point of the game for me. I feel like, with ASM off and TCS at 0 or 1, you can get away with most stuff that you could in GT3.

As for the video, it's kind of difficult to compare 4's dirt driving to 3. I feel that rally is one of many cases in GT4 where Polyphony favoured realism over fun, and it backfired. Rally driving in 3 had a learning curve, but it was still very approachable and you didn't get punished hard for making a mistake. 4's, on the other hand, has the lack of traction you see in the video and, in my opinion, it isn't very fun. Yes it requires more skill, but I'd much rather be driving on tarmac instead, where 3 and 4 are much more similar.

Add in the ridiculously narrow tracks that you can't overtake on, along with the penalty system, and the rally events are pretty miserable in 4. At least they give nice prize cars, I guess.

 

[Jupiter Jazz]

Look at this progress!

 

[TeaKanji]

Look at this progress!

Nice one. Don't worry too much about the tyre squeal; that's just the comfort tyres that the test cars use.

Choosing whether to stay in 3rd gear or go down to 2nd will depend on the car and its TCS setting; keeping it in a higher gear can lead to a smoother exit sometimes. You can see how the Audi is jolting around in 2nd gear at 0:37 in the first video; I know the game suggested 2nd gear there, but 3rd would have worked too and allowed you to hold a less erratic line. It'll become instinct after a while, once you get a better feel of how to handle different cars.

 

[TeaKanji]

The Ultimate Guide Handbook has gone through a major re-write over the past month, with a focus on making it more informative for both newcomers and seasoned GT3 players. Each car now has its hidden stats and engine curves documented, and the tuning setups were updated for most cars to take these stats into account. Hopefully it's now a much more useful resource for anyone who wants to dive into this game's depths.

Link to the handbook: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dSzM7tQb2Fgue8zN-OY_ndimyHin9X-WQtq9BQul6AM/edit