A new Gran Turismo 7 Online Time Trial challenge has made its debut this morning, with another V8-powered, roadgoing GT car at an established North American racing circuit replacing the outgoing one.
Players who were able to tame the two-ton Lexus LC500 around Watkins Glen should be in their element as this week’s challenge (or rather this fortnight’s challenge) places you into a German kindred spirit in the shape of the Mercedes-AMG C63 S.
This W205 model uses the same four-liter, twin-turbo V8 as you’ll find in the flagship AMG GT models — and you’ll need to hunt in the AMG section of your garage rather than the Mercedes one, highlighting the floppy nature of how both the game and Mercedes classifies these cars — which replaces the older, naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8.
It should be a pretty well-known quantity for power delivery then, especially as it uses the same seven-speed DCT, though it’s in a package not originally intended as an all-out sports car as with the GT.
Still, given that the wagon version of this car served as F1’s medical car for several seasons, it should be well at home here at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. You even have stickier Sports Medium tires to make things a touch less slippery on the Canadian circuit’s many chicanes — including that infamous final one.
The top times for this one are breaking into the 1:42s now, but there’s a few gaps on the leaderboard which suggests there might be a bit of time yet to come. That means that while the current gold target is a 1:45.943 you might want to look at getting something much closer to a mid-1:45 if you don’t want to go again.
Last week’s challenge in the Gr.1 cars at Daytona Road Course has seen a lot of movement and a shift in the preferred car over the past week. While the Genesis Vision GT X Gran Racer was the weapon of choice in the early stages, most top times are now using the Peugeot L750R and a handful of drivers have managed to find a special sauce for this one.
A lot of the leaderboard is pretty close with two-tenths covering 50th-100th, but the same gap also covers 20th-50th and 1st-6th. The top time is now a 1:30.364, setting the gold target pretty close to a flat 1:33. If you want to be sure of it, we’re going to say you’ll want to get a 1:32.9 or better — and to keep a close eye in the closing hours.
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 usually 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 January 29.
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge January 22 – Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
- Track: Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
- Car: Mercedes-AMG C63 S ’15 – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (M)
- Tires: Sports Medium
- Settings: Fixed
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge January 15 – Daytona
- Track: Daytona Road Course
- Car: Gr.1 – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (H)
- Tires: Racing Soft
- Settings: Fixed
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