The latest Gran Turismo 7 update launched today and, as is so often the case, some of the new content included is immediately put to the test in a new Online Time Trial challenge.
In fact it’s a twofer this week, as the regular Online Time Trial is joined by a special event with additional physical rewards for top-ranking participants, and both employ new cars added in the 1.67 update from earlier this morning.
The first marks a pretty special occasion, as a wholly new car joins the series to bring a wholly new brand and — in a rarity — an entirely new country. Regular Gran Turismo watchers will know that this is the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, from a relative newcomer to the car manufacturing scene, which brings the debut of China to the GT series.
As for the car itself, if you’re not a fan of electric vehicles in a racing game you should look away now. The tri-motor SU7 Ultra isn’t just a straight-line machine though, as it holds the production four-door lap record at the Nurburgring Nordschleife — lapping four seconds faster than any Nissan GT-R, even the tweaked NISMO, at 7:04.957.
Despite that famous stat, and Xiaomi’s sponsorship of the Nurburgring, you won’t be recreating it in the game yet. Instead you’ll be heading to the “temple of speed” at Monza, trying to lay down your fastest possible lap on Sports Soft tires.
You’ll need to make sure you have a button mapped for the Overtake/DRS feature, as the SU7 Ultra features a boost button that lifts output from 1,525hp to 1,548hp. It doesn’t affect downforce through any aerodynamic trimming, so feel free to get it taped down as you chase your goal.
Currently the world record for this one sits at a 1:45.697, but there’s a few gaps on the leaderboard — the top 40 spread is over a second — so we’re expecting that to be merely an early marker. That means that if you want the gold then you might need a 1:48.8 right now but we’d suggest aiming quite a bit lower to account for improvement in the top time. A 1:48.2 should be safe enough, but with the car being so new its abilities won’t be fully explored yet and we’ll reassess next week.
The event that began last week still has another seven days to go and the times have tumbled pretty far. Currently the world record is almost four-tenths better off than the second-placed time, so we’re going to suggest that might be the limit.
Handily that 1:42.450 time sets the gold bracket at almost exactly what we suggested last week, with a 1:45.523 required for this Mercedes-AMG C63 lap at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. If you’re already below a 1:45.5, you’re likely safely in gold and can look forward to 2m credits next week.
As an added bonus for the next two weeks there’s a further time trial event running in conjunction with Hyundai N. The format is a regular time trial, with regular rewards and brackets, requiring you to lap the Nordschleife in the new Hyundai Elantra N TC on Racing Hard tires.
This challenge also has some real-world prizes, offering a Logitech RS50 wheel with Pro pedals for one winner, two Logitech G Pro X2 headsets for the next runners-up, and five signed 1:43 diecasts of the car for the spots thereafter. Ten selected entrants will also score a $20 PSN gift card.
As with the event staged back in October, you’ll need to be a Hyundai N Owners Club member, though this only requires signing up, and register your time on the leaderboard on its website.
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 February 5.
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge January 29 – Monza
- Track: Autodrome Nazionale Monza
- Car: Xiaomi SU7 Ultra ’25 – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (H)
- Tires: Sports Soft
- Settings: Fixed
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge January 29 – Nurburgring
- Track: Nurburgring Nordschleife
- Car: Hyundai Elantra N TC ’24 – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (H)
- Tires: Racing Hard
- Settings: Fixed
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
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