The internal combustion engine returns to the Gran Turismo 7 Online Time Trial lineups, with a new challenge beginning today.
It’s also a return to racing car action, with the Gr.4 category — similar to the real-world GT4 class, with road car-based racers — the focus. However it’s another one-make event, requiring the Volkswagen Scirocco.
This is a semi-fictional vehicle, taking inspiration from a real-world machine that was part of a previous GT game — making its only series appearance Gran Turismo 6. That was the Volkswagen Scirocco GT24, a car which won its class at the 2008 Nurburgring 24 Hours.
The Gr.4 car is pretty close to the real thing, sporting a two-liter, turbocharged TFSI engine (placing it in the SP3T class for GT4-esque cars) driving the front wheels only. It does have a little more power, but under the BOP conditions of the time trial it’s a close match at 326hp.
It will be a challenge keeping all that together in a front-wheel drive car on Racing Hard tires, especially at Laguna Seca where this week’s event takes place. The Scirocco will want to wash wide at just about every opportunity, and the red sausage curbs at turns three, four, and six will unsettle it greatly.
At present the world record is a 1:27.6, and while that’s probably going to fall we don’t think there’s a lot more time to come as the margins on race tires tend to be small. A low 1:27 is likely as far as it’ll drop, meaning that the gold target should be a flat 1:30.
One more week remains on the “Afeela” challenge at Lago Maggiore too. The event features the prototype car of the new brand created by Sony and Honda, and the world record currently stands at a 2:14.6. That means that, right now, you’ll need to hit a 2:18.650 to be in the gold bracket and we’re not expecting this to fall much. Nonetheless, aim for a 2:18.3 to be a little more secure.
In order to access the Online Time Trials, you’ll need to unlock Sport Mode, by completing Menu Book 9 (“Championship: Tokyo Highway Parade”) in the GT Cafe single player hub. As it’s just you against the clock and not a direct, head-to-head multiplayer event, PlayStation Plus is not required.
You’ll usually need to be within 3% of the fastest time globally once the event finishes in order to secure “gold” status and a 2m credit bonus prize. There’s smaller prizes of one million for being within 5%, and 250,000cr for bronze at 10% off.
The events update every Thursday, with each individual challenge remaining available for two weeks and the oldest of the two events being replaced each week. You can look forward to the next new Time Trial arriving at 0700 UTC on Thursday May 16.
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge May 9 – Laguna Seca
- Track: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
- Car: Volkswagen Scirocco Gr.4 – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (L)
- Tires: Racing Hard
- Settings: Fixed
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge May 2 – Lago Maggiore
- Track: Autodrome Lago Maggiore – Full Course
- Car: Afeela Prototype ’24 – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (M)
- Tires: Sports Hard
- Settings: Fixed
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