version 1.0 (GT2 HAS ARRIVED!)
by John Culbert
December 1999
*The Following work is dedicated to Canadian CART racecar driver Greg Moore, who
was killed in a crash at Fontana California during the final race of the 1999
season, on October 31st. From a fellow Canadian racedriver, rest in peace Greg,
you will be missed. Please indulge me and read the end of the Compendium for my
thoughts on this tragedy.*
This FAQ and all my others can be accessed at the following sites:
Wanna talk? You can contact me on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) as tigeraid, on
channels #cars, #fighters.net, #vfhome, #tekken and #capcom.
MARGIN CHECK
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1234567890
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MONOSPACE, DAMMIT! :) If the dots above line up with the numbers above them,
then you can read this document with ease. If they aren't lined up, the margins
will be all screwy and generally make this a bitch to read. It was created using
Editpad with "Break Lines" on, and as such it is best viewed by this. Should
work well in Notepad (if it can be loaded) as well.
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
-----------------------
I'm getting sick of the bullshit going around with others stealing FAQ
writer's hard work without permission or credit. A certain unmentionable
gaming mag stole SFA2 stuff from me a while ago (*ahem*EGM*cough*hack), and on-
line people who don't want to put effort into doing this stuff also
copied from me (this means you, Davis!!) So here it is:
All work and information contained within this document Copyright 1999
John Culbert unless otherwise stated.
This FAQ is for private and personal use only. It can only be
reproduced electronically, and if placed on a web page or site, may be
altered as long as this disclaimer and the above copyright notice
appears in full. Any information used from this document, quoted or no,
should have this author's name somewhere clearly as acknowledgement. Feel
free to distribute between others, but this FAQ is not to be used for
profitable/promotional purposes; this includes being used by publishers of
magazines, guides, books, etc. or being incorporated into magazines, etc.
in ANY way.
This document was created by John Culbert . Give
credit where it is due.
Gran Turismo and Gran Turismo 2 are trademarks (tm) of Sony Computer
Entertainment of America Inc. (SCEA) 1999-2000, and developed by Polyphony
Digital. All manufacturers, car names, brands and associated imagery are
trademarks and/or copryright their respective owners.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
-------------------
1.0 - Version Updates
2.0 - Introduction
3.0 - News and Frequently Asked Questions
4.0 - The graphics and Sound
5.0 - New Additions to Gran Turismo Gameplay
6.0 - The Tracks - Track Strategies
7.0 - Car Discussion
7.1 - Alfa Romeo
7.2 - Aston Martin
7.3 - Audi
7.4 - BMW
7.5 - Chevrolet
7.6 - Citroen
7.7 - Daihatsu
7.8 - Dodge
7.9 - Fiat
7.10 - Ford/Mercury
7.11 - Honda
7.12 - Jaguar
7.13 - Lancia
7.14 - Lister
7.15 - Lotus
7.16 - Mitsubishi
7.17 - Mazda
7.18 - Nissan
7.19 - Mercedes-Benz
7.20 - Peugeot
7.21 - Plymouth
7.22 - Renault
7.23 - Mini / MG
7.24 - RUF
7.25 - Shelby American
7.26 - Subaru
7.27 - Suzuki
7.28 - Tommy Kaira
7.29 - Toyota
7.30 - TVR
7.31 - Vauxhall
7.32 - Vector
7.33 - Venturi
7.34 - Volkswagon
8.0 - Car Types
8.1 - Front Engine, Rear Wheel Drive
8.2 - Front Engine, Front Wheel Drive
8.3 - Mid Engine, Rear Wheel Drive
8.4 - Front Engine, All Wheel Drive
9.0 - Basics of Driving
9.1 - Automatic Transmission
9.2 - Manual Transmission
9.3 - Braking
10.0 - Driving Techniques
10.1 - "Apexing the Turn" -- how to best navigate a corner
10.2 - Sliding through corners
10.3 - Navigating the S-Turn
10.4 - General Tips Cornering with RWD
10.5 - General Tips Cornering with AWD
10.6 - General Tips Cornering with FWD
10.7 - Cornering with traffic
10.8 - Drafting
10.9 - Differences in handling with the Dual Shock
11.0 - Car Rankings/Opinions
11.1 - Best RWD car
11.2 - Best FWD car
11.3 - Best AWD car
11.4 - fastest car (top speed)
11.5 - best stockcar
11.6 - best power/weight ratio
12.0 - Parts
12.1 - Exhaust
12.2 - Brakes
12.3 - Engine
12.4 - Drivetrain
12.5 - Turbochargers
12.6 - Suspensions
12.7 - Tires
12.8 - Others
12.9 - For Professionals
13.0 - Car Setup (Simulation Mode)
14.0 - Simulation Mode Races/Cups
15.0 - Arcade Mode Tips and Cars
16.0 - Around the Web--additions from the readers
17.0 - Resources, Places to look on the web for GT2 Info
18.0 - Credits/Wrap up
1.0 VERSION UPDATES
---------------------
0.5 - beta version of the Compendium, previewing Gran Turismo 2
0.7 - still in beta. Changed info on GT2 being 2 discs (oops), added more
cars to the car list, finished the (hopefully) confirmed tracks and courses
list, and some more info on each manufacturer. Also added more resources.
0.8 - Added list of confirmed artists for the Gran Turismo 2 soundtrack. Also
some more info on Lister, and some various news updates.
0.9 - added buncha info on some of the manufacturers, as well as little News
tidbits.
0.99 - KICK ASS CONFIRMED LIST OF CARS UPDATED! Sony Entertainment released
another list of confirmed cars, tons more, including some real suprises--check
it out in section 7.0!!!!
0.9999 - info (from all the sources I could possibly find) to try and determine
if the game has been delayed past december 7th... see section 2.0 below.
0.9999b - welp december 7/8 is gone and no GT2... but Sony made another
statement, and things may be looking up... see section 2.0.
1.0 - The game is out as of December 16-18 in North America!! This update will
begin the additions of actual strategy to this Compendium. Similar to my Gran
Turismo Compendium, the Gran Turismo 2 Compendium will now feature the basics of
driving, course strategies, prizes for each class, and any other information
recieved as I progress in the game. Feel free to send me any information you
have found and I will consider posting it in this document.
NOTE: I WILL BE ADDING GAMESHARK CODES NEXT UPDATE!
2.0 INTRODUCTION
------------------
Well, die-hard GT fans like myself (and there are many) already know that Gran
Turismo 2 is the greatest racing game of all time. While retaining essentially
the same game engine in terms of car physics and control, Sony has added to what
we thought was close to a perfect game, to come up with GT2. It plays the same
in terms of control, but has now been improved ten-fold. Gran Turismo 2 now
offers nearly 600 cars from practically every manufacturer on the planet (and
those that aren't here are missing for licencing reasons, which I'll discuss
later), as well as special edition, race-spec, and rally cars. And THANKFULLY
for us ol' domestic tuners who played the '67 427 Corvette and yearn for more,
there are now many classic muscle and sports cars included. Not to mention a
plethora of rumored hidden cars that are difficult to aquire, but certainly
worth the effort.
There's also the addition of several new tracks and courses, included an uphill
climb at the legendary Pikes Peak, some dirt rally courses, and including our
old favorite tracks from the original GT for over 20 tracks (that's almost 50
including the reverse tracks) in total to choose from.
And there's much more... needless to say I, along with every other GT fan, have
awaited this game with drooling mouths. Read on racefans, this Compendium will
fill you in on all the new goodies so far known about this highly anticipated
game as well as detailed racing strategies.
3.0 NEWS AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
-----------------------------------------
MISSING CARS:
There are two very prominent types of cars missing in Gran Turismo 2, and one
that's still kind of sketchy. In regards to Porsche and Ferrari, Electronic
Arts as exclusive rights on both and therefore they cannot be featured in GT2...
Note however that EA does not reserve the rights to RUF, a high performance
PORSCHE manufacturer--so Sony managed to find a back door, and RUF Porsches only
are featured in Gran Turismo 2 ;). Ferrari appears to be a no go however,
though some rumour them as secret cars...
The Third refers to the Chevrolet C5 Corvette. The C5 stands for 5th generation
Corvette, built from 1997-2000 and featuring the awesome 345 horse (advertised,
it's actually higher), all-aluminum LS1 5.7 L (346 cubic inch) V8. While it's
not listed on the official cars list for GT2, reports are that it may still be
in the game. Apparently, EA also owns the rights to the C5 Corvette, however
others have mentioned seeing it in preliminary videos for Gran Turismo 2...
Officially it's not supposed to be in the game, but stll other reports say it
may be a hidden car. The fact that EA owns the EXCLUSIVE rights to the C5 is
also in question, since the Test Drive racing game series also features it.
I personally hope that the C5 is in this, it's truly one of the greatest
performance cars ever built, especially in terms of bang-for-buck. I'll cross
my fingers, you do the same... ;)
Oh and BTW, The Mercedes CLK GTR appears to have been removed due to licencing
conflicts, again wtih EA... the original beta screen shots showed it was in the
game, but has apparently been removed.
SPECIAL MODES AND SPECIAL VEHICLES:
The new modes of racing in GT2 are, among others: Rally, Hill Climb, GT, and
sportscar... they're all pretty self-explanitory.
Note: we have yet to find a drag racing mode at all, however there are is a lot
of evidence to support its existance. First off, there are several drag racing
models available, including the 180sx Drag Car... hell, when you race mod a
Dodge Intrepid it becomes a RWD NHRA Pro Stock dragster, isn't that evidence
enough? In addition, if you watch the intro real close, you can see the name
"Palm Strip" flash by, which is a drag strip...
Another early rumor was that SUVs would be included in the game. The rumor has
been proved factual, with the existance of the Subaru Forester, Daihatsu Foroza
and several others. Let's just hope Sony didn't get silly and plant that god-
awful Ford Excursion as a secret car :P.
SYSTEM INFO:
Gran Turismo 2 is TWO discs, arcade and simulation. As well, the NegCon, JogCon
and the various types of Steering Wheel periphirals are compatable, along with
the usual digital and analog Playstation controllers.
SPONSORSHIPS:
Similar to GT1, but with far more, GT2 features several automotive sponsors on
the cars and on the courses. Here is a confirmed list:
Advan Alitalia Alpine Autobacs
BBS BP Brembo Bridgestone
Castrol Cibie Denso Dunlop
elf Enkei Esso Exxon
Falken Fet Gulf Havoline
Kenwood Magnetti Marelli Masterfit
Michelin Mobile MOMO Motul
Movistar Oz Pennzoil Pirelli
Potenza Puma Quaker State Rays
Red Line Racing Red Line Synthetic Speedline Texaco
Total Toyo Tires Trampio Valeo
Vodafone Yokohama
TUNER LIST:
Many popular in-house and aftermarket tuning companies are now featured in Gran
Turismo 2. Here is the confirmed list:
AMG Audi Sport
Fiat Auto Corse
Ford Racing HKS
Lister Sport Lotus
Mazda Speed Mine's
Mugen Nismo
Ralliart Spoon
STi Tom's
TRD TVR Racing
TWR Racing
The Confirmed Modified models in the game so far are listed under Car List and
Discussions. (eg. Mugen under Honda/Acura)
4.0 THE GRAPHICS
------------------
While Gran Turismo completely blew us away with its smooth graphics and
attention to detail, it really was only using 75% of the Playstation's hardware
capability. Gran Turismo 2, on the other hand is using basically 100% of the
Sony platform's abilities, and you can see the even more amazing detail and
smoothness in the game, apparent through the screen shots and videos currently
available on line (see resources for locations).
Attention to detail certainly was paramount this time around. For example, in
Gran Turismo the wheels on the car were basically a flat surface meeting with
the sidewall of the tire. In Gran Turismo 2, the wheels look quite realistic
and have the 3d appearance that shows their depth inward towards the hub. Other
details such as badging and logos on the car are now easily made out from all
camera angles and during the replays. The cars in the game also have a
smoother, more refined look to them, and are also a little more balanced in
terms of scaling, meaning they look more true to their real life counterparts in
the way of size. Certainly pure eye candy.
The sound, needless to say, is pure heaven. Polyphony took the time to
carefully record the exhaust notes of every single car in the game from the real
thing, at each stage of acceleration, deceleration, revving, etc etc... Nothing
like the sound of a 302 smallblock in the 1969 Camaro Z28 in full song, to the
tune of 6000 RPM ^_^.
5.0 NEW ADDITIONS TO GRAN TURISMO GAMEPLAY
--------------------------------------------
The real major jump in gameplay is in the form of modifying your ride, either
for performance or asthetics. For example, a new feature allows you to adjust
the Limited Slip Differential... See section 14.0.
6.0 THE TRACKS
----------------
One of the more intriguing features now in GT2 is the variety of tracks and
courses available. There are now 24-25 tracks available, much improved over the
original. The tracks include uphill tracks such as Pike's Peak, rally courses
like Tahiti, some new street and road courses, legendary Grand Prix circuits
like Laguna Seca, plus the original tracks from GT1.
Tahiti Road
Midfield Raceway
High Speed Ring
Super Speedway
Seattle Short Course
Rome Short Course
Red Rock Valley Speedway
Seattle Circuit
Rome Circuit
Grindelwald
Laguna Seca Raceway
Apricot Hill Raceway
Motorsports Land
Trial Mountain Circuit
Clubman Stage Route 5
Grand Valley East
Grand Valley Speedway
Special Stage Route 5
Autumn Ring
Test Course
Deep Forest Raceway
Rome-Night
Autumn Ring Mini
Ralley Courses:
---------------
Tahiti Dirt Road Route 3
Smokey Mountain South
Green Forest Roadway
Smokey Mountain North
Tahiti Maze
Pikes Peak Hill Climb
Tahiti Dirt Route 3 Reverse
Smokey Mountain North Reverse
Pikes Peak Downhill
7.0 CAR LIST AND DISCUSSIONS
------------------------------
While the DB7 in GT1 was really not that impressive, it reappears again in
GT2... the major addition here is in the form of the Aston Martin Vantage, an
incredible concept car that can certainly compete with the Mercedes CLK GTR.
The DB6, needless to say, is interesting to drive ;)...
DB6
DB7 Volante
DB7 Coupe
Vantage
7.3 AUDI
One that I'm anticipating myself, with the ability to modify these great
handling AWD Euro cars... the Quattro in particular. The new S4 sleeper is also
included.
A3 1.8 T Sport
A4 Avant 2.8 Quattro
S3
S4
TT
A4
A4 Touring Car
A6
A8
7.4 BMW
Both the 5 and 3 series are available here, but unfortunately for you bimmer
guys, the M cars didn't make it for some reason :/. They've even got the bigass
4 door 740i... gotta wonder what kinda performance this'll have when modified.
323ci Coupe (E46)
323 Coupe (E36)
323ti Compact (E36)
328ci Coupe (E46)
328i Sedan (E46)
320ci
528i Sedan
740i Sedan
840ci Sports
7.5 CHEVROLET
Thankfully they have expanded the Chevrolets in this game, featuring some
classic muscle along with the current performance cars. While I'm happy the
extra Camaros and Vettes are here, ESPECIALLY the spectacular 69 Z28 with the
high-revving 302 smallblock, I TRULY hope that they found a way to stick the C5
in here, though no evidence of it has been seen yet.
But then AGAIN, the 195 mph ZL1 with its all aluminum 32 valve DOHC 5.7 L V8
pushing 410 horsepower is also in, so maybe that'll satisfy me ;).
1997 Camaro Z28 Coupe
1997 Camaro SS
1998 Camaro Z28 Coupe
1996 Camaro Z28 30th Anniversary
1969 Camaro Z28
1996 Corvette Coupe
1996 Corvette Grand Sport
1967 Corvette Stingray 427
1969 Corvette Stingray 427 (darn, it's "only" the L88, not the ZL-1 ;)
1982 Corvette Stingray
1995 Corvette ZR-1 (YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!)
7.6 CITROEN
Welp... it's... a Citroen... :) They offer a small selection of front wheel
drive, low horsepower cars, as well as a nice rally car.
Thankfully they've also expanded Dodge to not only include great classics like
the Charger and Challenger, but also some of the more common late model cars
like the Neon and the Avenger. RWD modified versions of the Avenger are quite
popular in high classes of drag racing, and while we'll have to stick with the
FWD formula in GT2, it's still capable of some great performance. When the
Intrepid is Race modified, it becomes a RWD, NHRA Pro Stock dragster!
Avenger ES
Neon ACR
Neon R/T
Stratus ES
Intrepid ES
Viper GTS
Viper GTS-R
1998 Viper GTS-R LM
1999 STP TAISAN Viper JGTC
Viper RT/10
1971 Charger
Challenger
Concept Car
Phaeton
7.9 FIAT
Makes a mean rally car...
1998 500 Sporting
1975 500R
600 (Seicento)
Barchetta
Coupe 2.0 20V Turbo
Punto GT
7.10 FORD
While I (and most other car enthusiasts) find the new Mustang really ugly, and
in stock form is still not anywhere near the performer as its LS1 competition
from Chevy and Pontiac, it's good to see it in GT2, because there's a very large
number of Mustang fans who modify these pony cars for handling and speed... I'll
be interested to see what all can be done to it. I'm also happy to see the new
Cougar in here, IMO the only stylish car currently made by Ford. It's also one
of the best handling FWD cars on the planet, albeit an underpowered one...
They've just started making Supercharger kits for it in real life, what all will
be done to it in GT2?
Oh and of course, the GT-40, an absolutely amazing GT racing car from the 60s
and early 70s, is also in ;).
Large variety of cars as usual, now including the new S2000 roadster, and some
gay concept (?) cars like the Beat and Life. Honda fans should be
satisfied, I suppose.
NSX '90,
NSX '92,Type R
1997 NSX
1997 NSX ,Type S
1997 NSX ,Type S Zero
1995 Integra, SiR-G
1995 Integra,Type R
1998 Integra Sir-G
1998 Integra Type R
1995 NSX-R,GT2 LM
1999 Mobil 1 NSX, JGTC
1999 Raybryg NSX, JGTC
1999 Takata NSX, JGTC
1999 Castrol Mugen NSX, JGTC
1991 Prelude Si
1991 Prelude Si VTEC
1996 Prelude SiR
1998 Prelude SiR
1998 Prelude SiR S spec
1996 Prelude Type-S
1996 EK Civic,FERIO Si II
1995 EK Civic,SiR-II
1998 EK Civic,Type R
1993 EG Civic,Si-R II
1993 EG Civic,FERIO Si-R
1998 EK Civic,Ferio Si
1998 EK Civic,SiR
1992 CR-X Del-Sol,VXi
1992 Del-Sol,SiR
1995 Del-Sol,VGi
1995 Del-Sol, SiR
CR-X EF-8,Si-R
1996 Accord,Sedan SiR
1996 Accord,Touring Wagon SiR
1997 Accord,SiR-T
1997 Accord,Wagon 2300VTL AWD
1998 Accord ,SiR-T
1998 Accord ,Wagon SiR
Accord,Type-R
1998 Z, Turbo
1998 Logo,TS
1997 Life,T type
1998 Life,T type
1991 Beat,Normal
1992 Beat,verF
1994 Beat,verZ
1999 S2000
Jaguar's now a part of the Ford family, but still produces some of the most
spectacular sports cars on the planet... just a little more reliable and better
crafted now ;).
XJ Sport 3.2
XJR Vehicle
XK180
XK8 Coupe
XKR Coupe
XJ220 (GT Racer)
XJR15 (Racer)
7.13 LANCIA
Certain to dominate the Rally courses, Lancia's became popular in video games
with Sega Rally and Rally Cross.
Delta HF Integrale
Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione
Delta HF Integrale Rally Car
Delta HF Integrale collezione
1985 Delta S4
Stratos (can you say RALLY!?! :)
Y 1.2 16V
7.14 LISTER
So far only two cars in GT2 (do they even make anything other than the Storm in
Real Life?). The Storm is, however, a very impressive car that will likely
compete on the high side of factory races in the game. The Storm V12 features a
7.0 Litre V-12 engine producing 592 horsepower, easily capable of speeds over
200 mph, this should be in the same league of competition as the Viper GTS-R,
Nissan R390, etc etc...
Storm V12
Storm GT
7.15 LOTUS
Built as some of the lightest, best handling cars on the planet, it'll be great
to see what kinda full blown racecars can be made out of these.
1964 Elan S2
1974 Elan S4 Sprint
1990 Elan S2
Elise
Elise 190
Elise 135
Elise GT1
Motorsport Elise
Esprit Sport 350
Esprit V8 SE
Esprit V8 GT
Esprit GT1
Europa
7.16 MITSUBISHI
Including the new Legnum, a wide variety of cars throughout. The 3000GT uses
its american name, the 3000gt, in Gran Turismo 2 now.
Again, wide variety of cars, and thankfully includes the 97 RX-7 models and the
kickass modified 99 RX-7! Maybe further advancements in the game's modification
areas will let the Miata become truly fast on the straights?
Eunos Cosmo,13B TYPE-S CCS
Eunos Cosmo,20B TYPE-E CCS
1989 Eunos Roadster,Normal
1990 Eunos Roadster,V-Special
1992 Eunos Roadster,R-Special
1993 Eunos Roadster,Normal
1993 Eunos Roadster,V-Special
1993 Eunos Roadster,R-Special
Lantis,Coupe 2000 Type-R
1991 FD Enfini RX-7,Type R
1996 FD Enfini RX-7,Type RZ
1996 FD Enfini RX-7,Type RB
1996 FD Enfini RX-7,Touring X
1990 FC Savanna RX-7 ,GT-X
1990 FC Savanna RX-7 ,Enfini III
1997 Demio,GL-X
1997 Demio,GL
1997 Demio,LX G Package
1998 Demio,GL-X Special
1999 Demo,GL-X
1997 RX-7,Type RS
1997 RX-7,Type RZ
1997 RX-7,Type RB
1997 RX-7,RS-R
1998 RX-7,Type RS
1998 RX-7,Type R
1998 RX-7,Type RB
Roadster,1.8 RS
Roadster,1.8 VS
Roadster,1.6 S Package
1983 Savanna RX-7 GT-Turbo (SA22C),
1989 Familia,Interplay 4-door Sedan
1992 Familia (BG),GT-R
1992 Familia (BG),GT-X
1999 Familia,S-Wagon Sport 20
1990 FC Savanna RX-7 ,Cabriolet
1991 AZ-1,Normal
1999 RE Amemiya Matsumoto-Kiyoshi RX-7, JGTC
7.18 NISSAN
Now includes the new Silvia models, as well as the classic Z cars (YES!)... I
can't wait to modify one of these... just too bad you won't be able to do the
best mod for a 280z... an EFI smallblock chevy ;).
1994 Fairlady Z,2by2 Version S
1994 Fairlady Z,2by2 Version S Twin Turbo
1994 Fairlady Z,2seater Version S
1994 Fairlady Z,2seater Version S Twin Turbo
1971 Fairlady 240Z,HS30(240ZG)
1998 Fairlady Z,Version R 2by2
1998 Fairlady Z,Version R 2by2 Twin Turbo
1998 Fairlady Z,Version S 2seater
1998 Fairlady Z,Version S 2seater Twin Turbo
1971 Skyline, GT-R(KPGC10)
1984 Skyline, RS-X TURBO INTERCOOLER(DR30)
1987 Skyline, GTS-R(R31)
1997 Skyline, (4door), GT-R Autech Version 40th Anniversary(R33)
1989 Skyline, GT-R(R32)
1991 Skyline, GT-R(R32)
1993 Skyline, GT-R Vspec(R32)
1994 Skyline, GT-R Vspec II(R32)
1990 Skyline, GT-R NISMO(R32)
199 1Skyline, GTS-t Type M(R32)
1991 Skyline, GTS25 Type S(R32)
1991 Skyline, GTS4(R32)
1996 Skyline, GTS25t Type M(R33)
1995 Skyline, GT-R(R33)
1995 Skyline, GT-R Vspec(R33)
1997 Skyline, GT-R(R33)
1997 Skyline, GT-R Vspec(R33)
1998 Skyline, 25GT TURBO(R34)
1999 Skyline, GT-R(R34)
1999 Skyline, GT-R V-spec(R34)
Skyline (DR30),RS-X TURBO
Skyline (R31),GTS-R
1996 S14 Silvia,Q's
1996 S14 Silvia,K's
1995 S14 Silvia,Q's
1995 S14 Silvia,K's
1991 S13 Silvia,Q's 2000cc
1991 S13 Silvia,K's 2000cc
1988 S13 Silvia,Q's 1800cc
1988 S13 Silvia,K's 1800cc
S15 Silvia,Spec R
S15 Silvia,Spec R Aero
S15 Silvia,Spec S
S15 Silvia,Spec S Aero
S14 Silvia,K's Aero SE Sports Package
1990 Primera,2.0Te
1995 Primera,2.0Te
1998 Primera,2.0Te-V
1998 Primera,Wagon 2.0G-V
1995 180SX,Type X
180SX ,Type X
180SX ,Type S
1991 Pulsar,GTI-R
1997 StageA, RS FOUR V
1997 StageA,260 RS Autech Version
StageA,RS FOUR V
StageA,260 RS Autech Version
Pulsar Serier,VZ-R(N1 Version)
Pulsar Serier,VZ-R
1997 R390 GT1, Race Car
1997 R390 GT1, Road Car
1998 R390 GT1, Race Car
1998 R390 GT1, Road Car
1998 Sunny,VZ-R
1998 March,SuperTurbo
1997 March,G#
1998 Cube,X
Sileighty
NISMO 400R
NISMO GT-R LM, (Normal R33)
NISMO GT-R LM, (Race R33)
NISMO GT-R LM, (Race R34)
1997 Zexel Skyline, JGTC
1997 Kure R33, JGTC
1997 300ZX-GTS, JGTC
1999 NISMO Penzzoil GT-R, JGTC
1999 Arta Zexel Skyline, JGTC
1999 Calsonic Skyline, JGTC
1999 Unisia Secs Skyline, JGTC
1999 Zanavi Arta Silvia, JGTC
1999 Daisin Silvia, JGTC
Prince, Skyline 280, Type MR
Not much to say here... has their own specific Rally Cars though.
106 1.6 Rallye
106 1.6 S16
206 Gti
306 Gti-6 2.0 (S16)
206 Rally Car
306 S16
306 Rally Car
406 3.0 V6 Coupe
406 Sedan
406 Touring
7.21 PLYMOUTH
Lotsa kickass classic musclecars including the ever-popular 'Cuda, and the boxy
sleeper Plymouth Belvedere GTX... mmmmm...
1967 Belvedere GTX
Pronto Spyder
1971 Road Runner ("Musclecar" at the dealership)
Road Runner Superbird
1970 'Cuda
7.22 RENAULT
Prominent Euro manufacturer makes some kickass cars (despite not being very
powerful), one even featured in the movie Ronin during one of its famous chase
scenes.
Laguna V6
Laguna Touring
Clio II 16V
Clio Sport V6 24V
Espace F1
Megane 2.0 16V Coupe
1998 Megane Rally Car
7.23 Mini / MG
Mini/MG is owned by the Rover corporation. We got lots tiny cars now :P.
Mini 1.3
Mini Cooper 1.3i
Mini Cooper 1275S MK1
Mini Monte Carlo
MGF
7.24 RUF
Wow, is all I can say... we're gonna get to race the likes of the CTR and CTR2,
that alone is amazing. Certainly one to watch for.
BTR2
BTR964
Turbo R
CTR Racing
CTR
Yellowbird
7.25 SHELBY AMERICAN
Not only is the Series I in the game, but I think we can be satisfied alone with
the 289 and 427 Cobras, some of the fastest American production sportscars ever
built.
Much more variety than GT1, including Pleo, Rex and Impreza Rallier edition...
this manufacturer is sure to be highly competitive in the Rally courses, they've
won enough championships in real life :P.
Gonna include their rally championship winning car, as well as the Alto Works...
interesting to see what all can be done to this rather limited manufacturer,
over here in North America there's really not that much variety on the street.
Tommy Kaira is a high performance builder similar to RUF, in that they construct
their own cars. They've constructed high(er) performance versions of cars like
the Skyline GT-R, and have a large cult following in Japan with the ZZ Coupe.
The import tuners should be going nuts for this one.
ZZ-S Coupe
ZZ
M30 (Tuned R31 Skyline)
M30 (Tuned R32 Skyline)
Tommy kaira R, (Tuned R33 Skyline)
Tommy kaira R, (Tuned R34 Skyline)
M13 (Tuned March)
7.29 TOYOTA
Expanded even further, now includes the new Altezza and Aristo models, and the
latest Celica.
More expanded throughout the Cerbera line, and now includes the Chimera...
Fortunately, we also have the new Speed 12 available, the incredibly fast
concept car previously seen in Test Drive 5 and 6.
One of GM's divisions over in Europe... I still wish Holden was in DAMMIT :/.
The Vectra is a 4 door sedan in either SiR trim or Gsi high performance trim,
with a 24 valve 2.5 V6. The Tigra is a pissy little version of a Geo Metro with
a 116 valve 1.6 litre 4 cylinder. The Astra is a 3 door hatchback style car
available in either the Sxi model featuring a 1.6 litre 16 valve 4 cylinder, or
Sri high performance option with the 2.0 litre 16 valve powerplant.
Vectra GSi 2.5 V6
Vectra Touring
1995 Calibra Touring
Tigra 1.6i
1998 Tigra Ice Rally Car
Astra Rally Car
Astra SRi 2.0i 16v
Corsa Sport 1.6i 16v
7.32 VECTOR
Truly exotic car manufacturer, some of the fastest cars in the world... Seems
these are the only two models available. The M12 is an awesome AWD car, the
handling is so tight it's almost silly.
M12
Weigert W8 Twin Turbo
7.33 VENTURI
"France's answer to Ferrari". The Atlantique is a bit of a handful for a RWD
car, but has some great straightaway speed.
VW has started gaining a serious performance aftermarket in the 90s, so it's a
good thing it was included in GT2... unfortunately, we're not getting the
Jetta....
Golf IV, GTi
Golf IV, 2.3 V5
Golf IV, GTi 1.8T
Golf IV, V6
Lupo, 1.4
Beetle, 2.0 (New Model)
Polo, 1.4 16V
8.0 CAR TYPES
---------------
8.1 FRONT ENGINE, REAR WHEEL DRIVE
The classic drive train setup, it's not really that "efficient" or "economical"
due to drivetrain losses and interior space (main reason why most manufacturers
use FWD in street cars now), but it delivers the best acceleration and often top
speed, so the majority of performance cars still use this type. As stated, the
advantage to these cars is raw power, acceleration and speed. However the
downside to these cars is
that they tend to get "loose" in the turns; the back-end of the car wants to
slide outward in the corner. This is due to a combination of power delivered to
the rear wheels as weight transfer wants to pull the ass of the car outward.
This is known as oversteering.
Quick reflexes and experience are required to drive these cars, with great skill
in "countersteering" (see section 10.2). However when it comes to accelerating
out of the corner, and blowing them away down the straightaway, these cars are
really fun to drive and the true cars of the masters. Beginner versions of Rear
Wheel Drive cars include the Madza Miata. Advanced cars in this class include
the TVR Cerbera, Corvette and the ever-popular Dodge Viper.
8.2 FRONT ENGINE, FRONT WHEEL DRIVE
These are cars that have the engine located at their front, under the hood
as you may normally see. However the thing to note is that the power is
delivered to the FRONT WHEELS, not the rear wheels. Most conventional cars
these days run FWD. On the one hand, Front Wheel Drive cars are much more
efficient because they eliminate most of the drive train (eg. drive shaft),
thus reducing frictional horsepower. They are also economical in the minds of
manufacturers because the localization of the drivetrain totally to the front
allows them to maximize cabin space.
On the other hand the engines in FWD cars tend to make a lot less power because
they are situated over the front wheels, which puts a strain on suspension and
drivetrain components, as well as the issue of weight.
The disadvantage of the front wheel drives cars is caused by the delivery of
power to the wheels that are steering, as well as the weight of the engine on
them. FWD cars tend to have excellent turn-in characteristics because the rear-
front weight transfer caused by braking increases traction. However from that
point on, a FWD car tends to understeer in the corners because of the inertia of
the weight on the front wheels, meaning the front end wants to drift to the
outside of the corner.
The worst knock against FWD cars however is in the acceleration department. No
matter how much horsepower they have, they are not as good as acceleration off
the line or out of corners as RWD/AWD cars. This is because weight transfers
from the front of the car to the back during acceleration (by Newton's Law, an
equal and opposite reaction to the force of acceleration). Thus, the front
wheels lose traction. While it's not true that EVERY RWD/AWD car will out-
accelerate EVERY FWD car, the fact remains that given similar conditions (like
curb weight and horsepower), the RWD/AWD car will win the battle.
A FWD car's rear-end tends to stick like glue around the corner, since there is
no power spinning the back wheels. A loose condition can only be induced in a
FWD car by a) locking the wheels which, while inducing a slide, can slow the car
too much and b) by seriously upsetting the chassis, usually by a very fast,
sudden jerk of the steering. Remember these techniques well, in case you find
your FWD car in a position that requires a quick snap into a line.
For this reason, proper apexing of the corner (see section 10.1) is required,
especially when driving this kind of car. Also note that, due to this huge
weight transfer onto the drive wheels, they will tend to wear quite fast and
lose traction--this becomes a serious problem when running longer races.
Beginner versions of Front Wheel Drive cars include the Honda Civic and
Mazda Demio A-Spec (aka "The Little Shopping Cart That Could"). Advanced cars in
this class include the Mitsubishi Eclipse GT.
8.3 FRONT ENGINE, ALL WHEEL DRIVE
These are the best of both worlds above, really. All Wheel Drive vehicles are
special because power from the engine is delivered to all FOUR wheels.
Therefore, these cars have good acceleration, and more importantly they handle
GREAT in the corner. They can hold a turn quite well for the same reason the FWD
can, because weight transferred during braking applies traction to the front
wheels. At the same time, they can accelerate well when weight is transferred
to the rear wheels. Thus, the AWD cars tend to be the quickest THROUGH the
corner.
An AWD car with a lot of inertia heading into a corner will be more likely to
understeer, however similar techniques used with the FWD car can be used here to
break it into an oversteer, because traction control prevents you from snapping
the wheels loose with torque in most cases.
Beginner versions of All Wheel Drive cars include the Nissan Pulsar. Advanced
cars in this class include the Mitsubishi 3000GT Twin Turbo and the Vector M12.
8.4 MID ENGINE, REAR WHEEL DRIVE
These special cases are different from other RWD cars because the engine is
mounted midway through the car, instead of at the front. These cars tend to
handle the weight transfer into the corner much better, since they do not
have the tremendous weight of the engine sitting at the front. This creates a
weight distribution of 50/50 (althought some front engine/rwd cars can achieve
this), minimizing weight transfer during oversteering OR understeering, creating
a very neutral feeling.
8.5 REAR ENGINE, REAR WHEEL DRIVE
This is also a somewhat special case that exists with cars like the RUF
Porsches. The weight of the engine is situated almost entirely over the rear
wheels, creating a rear-biased weight distribution. On the plus side, this
makes for absolutely insane acceleration, because front-rear weight transfer
PLUS the engine places almost all the car's weight entirely over the drive
wheels. This also ensures a very neutral feeling to start into the corner, if
not a little bit of understeer due to lack of weight on the front wheels.
However, rear Engine cars experience what is sometimes referred to as "snap
oversteer". The car will go through the corner very neutral, but if pushed hard
enough the centrifugal force of cornering will eventually unload the weight of
the engine to the outside of the corner. The problem here is that you've gone
from a perfectly neutral cornering condition to a wild oversteer caused by most
of the car's weight swinging outward. While this does sound serious, a good
driver that has gotten used to this condition can not only correct early enough
to maintain good speed, but can also create some wicked 4-wheel drifts ;).
9.0 BASICS OF DRIVING
-----------------------
9.1 - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS
Acceleration with an Automatic Transmission is simple--step on the gas ;).
Note however that starting from a static position (eg. beginning of race)
still requires you to moderate your RPM... This of course also depends on
your drive-train type. Generally, if you're running a RWD car, keep the RPM
fairly low when the signal to go arrives--if your RPM is too high, you will
crawl from the starting line smoking your tires off. Typically you keep RPM
at this time around 3000 or so, less depending on your HP or gearing. If
you're geared really high towards acceleration, you may want to begin as low as
a 1000 RPM or so. You also have to keep turbo-lag in mind... turbo
charged cars require you to keep the revs up no matter what, or throttle
response will become nill for an agonizing moment.
When accelerating with Front Wheel Drive cars, you will rarely spin the
tires without serious horsepower. Keep the RPMs up in the high range either way.
Same goes for 4WD cars, though you usually get a little smoke out of these.
Remember: smoking the tires a little when the green flag drops is not a problem,
as long as you get up to speed quick enough. The RPM you start at is something
you need to get a feel for, since it varies with every car, but generally 4WD
and FWD allow you to basically pin it.
4.2 - MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS
Same notes about starting from a green flag, but some words on shifting
are needed.
For those who don't know, a Manual Transmission will not change
gears unless you tell it to, meaning you can start in 1st gear and if you
don't shift, the car will redline and eventually stop gaining speed (and if
this were real life, you'd over-rev the engine and blow it up too ;).
In the long run, a stick is a much better choice as it provides quicker
acceleration (since you can shift a little later than an auto would, edging out
that last little bit of HP in that gear).
A standard gets you through the corner faster too; an automatic with often stay
in a certain gear through a corner, and end up accelerating too slowly out of
the corner. Downshifting for cornering allows you to accelerate much quicker out
of the corners and gives improved response during and coming out of slides (and
if you're not careful, can take ya for a loop too ;). Downshifting for a corner
also causes the engine to act as a brake as well, aiding you in the slowing
process.
To properly shift your gears, wait for the tach (tachometer, the gauge on the
bottom right of your screen) to reach near redline, then shift up. If you wait
too long and bring the RPM right up through redline, you may stop gaining
horsepower and lose a bit of acceleration (and again, if this is real life,
you'd blow the engine).
Sometimes however this helps during cornering, to keep it in a lower gear to
prevent heading up into the wall. See section 10. 0 for more info on cornering.
So overall, the basic idea is to shift when the needle is entering the red ;).
4.3 BRAKING
Whenever I try to teach beginners how to take a corner, the most common
mistake they make is braking too late. Braking really should not be used TO
corner, rather to slow heading INTO the corner.
Oftentimes when you brake during your turn, you will either slide out too much,
or understeer and cause your car to drift up to the corner. Braking at high
speeds usually results in uncontrollable sliding. My father's a fellow stockcar
driver, and his philosophy on cornering is fairly simple: "If the wheels aren't
rotating, you have no control", meaning that if the wheels are not rotating
because you have applied the brakes, they will follow the intertia and slide in
the direction the car is going, frequently towards the outside of the corner.
And while threshold braking prevents total wheel lock up, the fact remains that
the slower the tire is allowed to move, the less traction it can gain.
Thus, brakes should be used ENTERING the corner--I cannot stress this enough.
Now, with the tweaking possible in Simulation Mode, allowing you to adjust the
strength of your front and back brakes, this can be compensated for somewhat,
but the basic idea still remains. This problem with braking is especially
evident when driving RWD cars, because of the torque they generate through the
corners combined with the weight transferring OFF of the drive wheels from
braking. Either you will get very loose and lose control, or you will understeer
and not be able to recover in time. Remember, BRAKE WHEN ENTERING THE CORNER,
then turn and downshift when needed.
10.0 DRIVING TECHNIQUES
-------------------------
First a couple of notes:
-OUTSIDE/INSIDE: referring to the "outside" or "inside" of a turn--pretty
straight-forward, the "outside" of, say, a left turn would be the right side of
the turn; the "inside" of that turn would be the left side.
-WEIGHT TRANSFER: when entering a corner in a car in real life, you will
notice that your weight will shift to the outside of that corner. This is
known as centrifugal force. Ever swing a bucket of water around, and the
water stays in the bottom of the bucket even when upside down? That's
centrifugal force. The same thing applies to cars entering corners.
Throughout the corner the weight of the car will shift to the outside. More
specifically during deceleration , the weight will shift from the inside rear of
the car to the outside front of the car, because there is still forward inertia
from entering the corner. This back to front weight transfer is applied further
if braking occurs.
Weight transfer is what causes both understeering and oversteering (see below).
In addition to the weight transfer caused by centrifugal force and intertia,
braking also comes into play.
10.1 "APEXING THE TURN" - HOW TO BEST NAVIGATE THE CORNER
Apexing a turn refers to taking the fastest and shortest possible line
around the corner. This is usually accomplished by starting on the outside of
the turn, diving to the inside, and coming out on the outside again. Thus:
____________________c____
/
|
|
| b___________ In this rather simple example of a
| | perfect 90 degree turn, the idea
| | is to get from point a to point c,
| | but THROUGH b, taking the shortest route
| | around the corner.
| | Obviously, apexing a corner is easier
|a | the bigger, wider and more gradual
| | the turn is. Running faster cars,
| | especially RWD, may require you to slide
| | the back end out when you reach point b
| | to prevent from when you reach point b
hitting the outside around point c (see
5.2 below).
There are other ways to apex a turn, depending of course on the shape of the
turn. On a really sharp hairpin or "almost-hairpin" turn, a different path must
be chosen:
____________
/ \
| \
| \
| \
| b___ \ In this example, the idea is to get |
| \ \ from point a to point c, but this
| | \ \ time the nose of your car should
|a | \ \ already be pointing around to point b.
| | \ c \ This can be done by sliding the car
| | | | around with a RWD or even 4WD, or
| | | | slowing down and taking the turn sharp
| | | | enough with a FWD car.
Ideally you should end up on the
outside of the corner, point c.
It is especially important to start
this turn far to the outside near point
a. If you hug the inside and attempt
to turn into point b, often your car will end
up nose-first outside the corner (in the grass, dirt
or the wall).
10.2 DRIFTING AND SLIDING
Sliding or "drifting" is done most often with RWD cars, but also occurs with
other drivetrain setups. Sliding the car refers to turning a corner so sharply
that you swing the back end of the car out, sliding the back tires around.
Sometimes this can be a bad thing but in most cases, it is the best way FOR a
car to take a corner, to prevent you from understeering and drifting to the
outside of the turn.
One must note however, that careful control must be used to ensure that you do
not "spin out" or "loop" the car, or you're in big trouble.
To slide effectively, it is best to approach the corner and brake
EARLY, being sure to point the nose of your car toward the inside part of the
corner--if it's a right hand turn, crank the car to the right so that the nose
points to the inside of the turn, while applying the brakes. Let off the brakes
early so that you do not spin out, or simply slow the car down too much. If all
goes well, the back of your car will slide around to the outside of the turn.
But you're not done yet; if you just hammer the gas and go, you
will either loop it, or smack your rear quarterpanel against an outside wall.
You now have to "countersteer" to bring the car back. I may refer to this
throughout the Compendium as "counter(ing)", "bringing it out/back" or
"correcting". This is when you counteract the affects of a slide by steering
into it. For example, if you were to take a hard right turn, the back end of the
car would slide out to the left--in order to "correct" this, turn the wheels to
the left; this will bring the back end around in the proper direction (hopefully
in time :). The amount you have to turn the wheel in correction depends on the
severity of the slide and the handling of your specific car. In the case of the
4WD car, the slide is often much easier to correct, as the front wheels will
also pull the car's front end outward since they also have power delivered to
them. Get used to this quick countersteer, so you do not end up "overcorrecting"
and sending the front end careening to the outside of the turn instead.
10.3 NAVIGATING THE S-TURN
Navigating an S-Turn requires good timing and expert setup. One must take the
first turn while taking into account how he will enter the second one. The basic
principle follows the idea of apexing a turn--take the shortest route possible,
so less turns are needed.
| d|
| |
\ \
\ \
/ /
____________/ /
/ c /
/ /
| /
| b___________/ In this example, the idea again is to
| / get from point a to point d, but to take
| | the shortest route possible, through b
| | and c. In this particular diagram, this
|a | is pretty simple, being almost a
| | straight line.
Now, in extreme cases, the corner at point c may be a much sharper left
turn, and thus you must be prepared to start an early slide (or slow and
turn early with FWD) AS you come out of your first turn. To do this, simply
jerk it quickly in the other direction, remembering to countersteer quickly.
In addition, it is often best to apply the brakes briefly around the outside of
the center turn (point c as above) to perform this slide, or to otherwise slow
you enough that you don't hit the outside of the middle turn (below point d as
above).
10.4 - GENERAL TIPS CORNERING WITH RWD
When driving a RWD car around a corner, you must always be ready to
countersteer--when using a normal D-pad controller, this can often be done
by quickly tapping to countersteer. If you simply hold in the outside
direction you will overcorrect and be in even bigger trouble. If you find
yourself understeering too much, with your nose heading to the outside of
the turn, it is possible to throw yourself into a sharper slide, even from a
gradual one you may be performing. To do this simply crank it sharper and
longer than you did initially. Sometimes you may even have to briefly tap the
brakes to get the tires sliding. Worst case scenario, you will smack your ass-
end into the outside wall (if any) and be off. This is a good technique to use
on corners with outside walls if you find yourself losing a slide, but try not
to do it often on open turns unless you're SURE the sharper slide will keep you
on the pavement.
Hitting the grass can often be worse than spinning out. For cases like this,
"peppering" the brakes (tapping them briefly for a short period) and letting off
the gas will also work to slow the car down enough, and at the same time not
allowing it to understeer too much. The problem with this is that, with RWD
cars, this may cause you to slide too much... This will take practice, you need
a definite feel for it.
10.5 GENERAL TIPS CORNERING WITH AWD
Always remember that VERY quick recoveries from slides are commonplace with
AWD, so practice the proper amount of correction needed, to prevent you from
overcorrecting. A mistake that plagues beginners became popular first in Sega
Rally, which became known as the "pinball effect": players correct too quickly
and end up bringing the nose into the outside wall (if any), then try to correct
again and bounce of the inside wall, then back out, etc...
If you're in an open turn and this happens, chances are you'll just fishtail
wildly and loop it anyways. And always remember, you will most often outhandle
the other cars in the corner with AWD, so don't be afraid to attempt to pass
them on the outside, but of course always be weary of dirty tactics (see section
10.7 ;).
10.6 GENERAL TIPS CORNERING WITH FWD
Braking is, in fact, one of your best friends when driving a FWD. It is
pretty difficult to slide uncontrollably when braking with a FWD, unless you TRY
to do it ;). So, don't be afraid to dive to the inside under heavy braking to
pass an opponent, just remember to know the limits so you don't get into a heavy
understeering condition.
Note that during extreme corners like hairpins, the chassis will be upset enough
to induce a fairly minor oversteer, so you still need to be ready to correct if
need be.
10.7 CORNERING WITH TRAFFIC
>From the door-to-door competitive world of stockcar racing, you can learn many
devious techniques for out-DRIVING your other opponents. So, you're a "measly"
Toyota Supra with oh, let's say 280 hp. Up ahead of you leading the race is the
powerful Dodge Viper GTS, with 460 hp. What to do? You just aren't fast enough!
So what... OUTDRIVE 'EM. One of the most common driving rules in the racing
business is that passing on the inside is easier. Of course there are
advantages to high and low lines, it depends on your driving style and the
circumstances. But for the inside line, you take a shorter route around the
corner than they do, and also tend to get a better run INTO the corner.
But what's even better is a classic short-track technique, commonly referred to
as "using" the other car. When you get up on the inside of another car in the
corner, DON'T let off the gas and DON'T brake. Let the other car act as your
guide, as your "wall", if you will. You can ride them all the way around the
corner without letting up and take right off when you come out of the turn. The
other car also prevents you from moving to the outside of the corner, and
usually keeps your ass-end around the corner too. This is not so easy against
experienced human players, as they can fight back--for example, they can let off
ever so briefly early in the corner and cause you to fly off ahead of them into
the wall, or outside of the turn either way--However this is a VERY easy way to
beat the CPU. You will often see the whole field of computer cars check up as
they reach the outside of the turn; don't follow their example :). Instead, just
plow right into the turn and USE the cars on the outside. Often this can
slingshot you from last place to first in one turn.
Now note that this "dirty" tactic is kind of unsportsmanlike and should only be
used if you're racing against someone that doesn't mind and will just do it back
to you in a similar case ;).
More strats will be added later.
10.8 DRAFTING
Also known as "slip-streaming", this makes use of another car's air
resitance to increase your speed. When a car moves, it must push against
the air, causing a resistance. The shape of the car can determines its
amount of wind resistance, i.e. if it is aerodynamic, more of the air tends
to flow easily around the car, then become a direct force against it. The
less wind resistance you have on your car, the faster it will go (and
alternately, air flow can create downforce on parts of the car to gain more
traction, i.e. the rear wing/spoiler, and the front air dam).
So, what do you do if you get caught walking in a wind storm? You try and
find someplace, perhaps a doorway, where the wind cannot hit you--you're
creating a barrier against the wind. Drafting is based on this principle;
obviously, if there is an object in front of your car blocking the air, it
will greatly decrease the wind resistance on your own car.
Thus, in order to draft, you tuck behind another car in front of you, taking the
wind resistance off of your car and allowing to accelerate to a greater speed.
Simply, once you notice yourself almost running into the back of the car in
front, slip off to the side, and your built-up speed will allow you to literally
slingshot around the car. This technique is ESPECIALLY important in the
Megaspeed Race to get into the lead. This is also an excellent way for slightly
slower cars to gain an edge--if you get a great exit off of a corner leading to
a longer straight and manage to get behind a slightly faster car for a moment,
you can draft it and slip by.
NOTE: drafting only works at fairly high speeds, and you of course have to
be fairly close behind the car in front for the draft to work. In other
words, drafting is important on places like High Speed Ring or the Test
Track, but is pretty much non-existant on lower-speed track like Autumn Ring
Mini.
10.9 DIFFERENCES IN HANDLING WITH THE DUAL SHOCK
The Dual Shock provides analog control. What this allows you to do is
moderate the amount of pressure you apply to the controls. This in effect
makes it act more like a real steering wheel--if you're coming up on a long,
easy curve, you can simply apply a small amount of pressure and take the turn
nice and smooth, as you would turning the steering wheel just a little bit in
real life. When using the normal D-Pad on an easy curve, you have to tap it
repeatedly in short increments. The analog allows you to not only stop this
tapping, and thus stop the quick jerks and sliding from the car, but also it may
help you shave a couple hundredths of a second of your lap times.
We DEFINETELY recommend the Dual Shock controller for Gran Turismo, also
because it has the "rumble-pack" addition to it, which creates small
vibrations in the controller when you skid the tires, hit other cars or
objects, or even accelerate with a hard-running engine. It's not as if you
can't PLAY the game without it, it's just a really nice addition to an
already great game.
11.0 CAR RANKINGS AND OPINIONS
--------------------------------
Added a fair bit later when I get a good idea of it ;).
12.0 PARTS
------------
12.1 EXHAUST
Sports: Replaces the stock air filter with a better flowing element as well as
low back-pressure muffler systems. Ideal for turbocharger upgrades and improves
top end torque on naturally aspirated engines.
Semi-Racing: Higher grade air element with urethane sponge filter, combined with
high flow muffler(s). This improves breathing at high RPM ranges, and is
especially good on larger turbo engines.
Racing: Replaces the air filter with a velocity-stack form and a straight-design
exhaust designed for racing cars. Reduces low RPM torque due to lack of
backpressure, but allows excellent breathing at high revs.
12.2 BRAKES
Sports: stock brake pads are replaced by carbon metallic types to increase
stopping power and reduce brake fade. A must on endurance racing cars.
Brake Balance Controller: modifies the metering and proportion valves in the
brake system to allow for changes in front and rear brake power. See section
13.0 for details.
12.3 ENGINE
Computer Chip: this chip changes the ECU's settings to increase power and
efficiency. This is done by modifying the air/fuel ratio, ignition timing and
other features.
Engine Balancing: engine is disassembled and re-assembled. Each part is
properly weighed and balanced to specific values, then rebuilt using exact
tolerances. The crankshaft is also modified and balanced. As a result of the
bottom end rebuild, the engine can now rev higher and thus the rev limiter is
also reset.
Port and Polish: The cylinder head ports are grounded out to increase total
breathing area, as well as rounding off all sharp corners and polished to reduce
drag on the A/F charge.
Naturally Aspirated Tune-Up Stage 1: adjusts ignition and valve timing, installs
thinner head gaskets to boost compression. The exhaust manifold is also swapped
for a higher flowing version. These modifications increase total horsepower
without sacrificing bottom end torque.
Naturally Aspirated Tune-Up Stage 2: higher compression pistons are installed
and the heads are shaved slightly. The camshaft(s) is/are swapped for higher
lift/duration versions to improve A/F flow into the cylinders. The valve
springs are also replaced with stronger coils to aid in revving higher, and the
ECU is reset to take affect with these changes. Low end torque drops off
slightly but high RPM power improves greatly.
Naturally Aspirated Tune-Up Stage 3: Complete rebuild of the engine, including
pistons, connecting rods, camshaft(s), valve springs and engine block rebuild
for improved strength. This modification is designed to give ultimate
performance at high RPM.
Displacement Increase: increases the displacement of the engine, providing more
torque at all RPM ranges.
12.4 DRIVETRAIN
Sport Transmission: brings gear ratios closer together for faster shifting,
allowing for better downshifts and keeping the engine in its power band during
shifting. This in turn allows you to keep the car at maximum speed during
corners. Great for naturally aspirated engines.
Semi-Racing Transmission: tightens up the gear ratios even more, ideal for
highly-tuned cars with a power band that's not quite broad enough. This is not
as beneficial for engines with very wide power bands (e.g. most of the American
V8 cars.)
Racing Transmission: Replaces each gear, including the final drive gear. This
upgrade allows fine tuning of each ratio for maximum power output the drive
wheels at all times.
Heavy Duty Single Plate Clutch: shifting is more pronounced and instant,
reducing slippage.
Twin Plate Clutch: dual clutch plates are installed to reduce slippage and
improve acceleration. Excellent for high powered, high torque engines.
Triple Plate Clutch: three clutch plates are isntalled to boost torque
transmission and increase the shifting speed.
2-Way Limited Slip: the limited slip differential gives the drive wheels the
ability to rotate at different RPM during cornering, but deliver power both when
hitting the straightaway. This modification engages the limited slip feature
during both deceleration and acceleration. This will stabilize the vehicle
during hard braking and maintain traction during acceleration. See section 13.0
for more info.
1.5-Way Limited Slip: maintains full limited slip during acceleration and
reduces it during deceleration to ensure good traction and maintains good turn-
in ability during braking. Excellent system for all cars.
1-way Limited Slip: ideal for FWD cars, because it gives the limited slip
feature only during acceleration. While turn in ability is maximized during
braking, it reduces the stability of the car at the same time. Basically, the
car becomes a handful when slowing for a corner, but works well on exits.
Full LSD Customization: allows full independant adjustment of the LSD for
acceleration and Deceleration.
Sports Flywheel: lightweight chromemoly flywheel that allows the engine to rev
higher due to reduced rotating mass. This improves acceleration but revs may
drop below the powerband without a close ration gearbox in conjunction.
Semi-Racing Flywheel: even lighter than the Sports type, allowing for greater
revs when matched with a close ratio transmission.
Racing Flywheel: super lightweight that drops revs very quickly from top end.
This improves acceleration and deceleration as a whole, but again the revs may
drop below the powerband unless a close ratio tranny is used.
Carbon Driveshaft: lightweight driveshaft made of a carbon composite, reducing
rotating mass and thereby increasing acceleration, as well as saving some
overall vehicle weight.
12.5 TURBOCHARGERS
Stage 1: installs gaskets, oil cooler, high flow oil pump and uses a compact
turbocharger to make high RPM horsepower, but still maintains low end torque.
This makes for very little turbo lag, so it's excellent for courses with a lot
of up and down revs in tight corners.
Stage 2: built for high RPM torque and decent bottom end power output. In
addition, a turbo computer, new high flow fuel pump, injectors and other
components are installed.
Stage 3: Built for pure horsepower that can maintain excellent acceleration when
combined with a close ratio transmission to keep the engine in the power band.
The cam is also replaced to help the turbo flow better into the engine, as well
as again replacing the gaskets, fuel pump, oil pump, etc etc...
Stage 4: Designed purely for high RPM output, it sacrifices nearly all low end
torque. Turbo lag is insane and thus keeping the engine in the power band is
crucial.
Sports Intercooler: cools the intake air after it's pressurized by the turbo,
allowing for better air density.
Racing Intercooler: Larger capacity intercooler increases cooling ability but
will slightly reduce throttle response.
12.6 SUSPENSION
Sports Kit: good all around kit for any track, allows adjustment of front and
rear gas shocks to 10 damping levels. Camber angle is also adjustable and ride
height is lowered about 1" front and back.
Semi-Racing Kit: Gas shocks and springs can be adjusted for strength, as well as
very fine ride height adjustments. Camber can also be modified.
Full Customization: tuning of all suspension components. Adjustment of damping
levels on shocks and springs is allowed, as well as stiffer anti-roll bars (sway
bars). Both wheel camber and toe can now be adjusted, and shock bound and
rebound are now adjustable as well.
12.7 TIRES
Sports Tires: better tires improve grip, allowing for better braking,
acceleration and handling. Purchasing these tires allows subsequent tire
servicing as long as you continue to run them.
Hard Racing Slicks: for racing on paved surfaces, ideal for longer races because
they wear much slower. Takes a few laps to warm them up.
Medium Racing Slicks: Made of a special compound that gives good balance between
traction and durability.
Soft Racing Slicks: provides good grip at all times, but not very good for long
races as durability is minimal.
Super Soft Racing Slicks: provides MAXIMUM grip at the cost of durability. Must
beware during prolonged races when traction goes to the wind.
Real Life Tires: more precise examples of real life tires, extremely difficult
to navigate but provide an ideal simulation.
Dirt Racing Tires: designed for traction sliding on gravel and dirt. Available
only on certain cars made for rally racing.
12.8 OTHERS
Weight Reductions: Removing non-essential components of a car, such as interior,
back seat, inner fenders, etc etc... to improve power/weight ratio and braking
ability.
Race Car Modifications: Upgrades the body to a more aerodynamic shell, including
rear wing and front air dam, as well as adding a racecar paint scheme.
12.9 FOR PROFESSIONALS
Yaw Control System: allows control of the distribution of torque between the
left and right drive wheels. Increasing this setting allows the car to turn
faster, but but can increase the likelihood of wheel spin.
Active Stability Controller: controls the braking power of all four wheels to
stabilize cornering and reduce traction loss. The higher the setting however,
the more difficult the car becomes to handle.
TCS Controller: adjusts the setting of the Traction Control System, preventing
wheelspin by reducing power delivery to the wheel that's losing traction. This
improves overall traction but may reduce straightline speed.
13.0 CAR SETUP
----------------
Here we'll take a look at setting up your car for optimal performance.
13.1 - SPRINGS
This setting adjusts the stiffness of the springs in the front and rear
suspension. Stiffer springs support weight transfer and body roll much
better and make the ride much more responsive. However, stiff springs can
cause the car to become unstable over rough surfaces. If you have really
stiff suspension when you go off a jump, for example, you may have trouble
keeping the car straight as you land.
13.2 - RIDE HEIGHT
Ride Height is the measurement from the bottom of the back and front bumpers to
the ground, given a flat service. The lower the car's centre of gravity sits,
the better it accepts weight transfer, thereby reducing body roll. This makes
for a much stiffer, smoother transfer through the corner and better stability
under braking. However if the ride height is too low, the car will bottom out
due to the suspension's stroke being shortened. This setting goes hand in hand
with Spring Ratio and dampening level.
13.3 - SHOCKS
The higher the bound value, the better the car accepts weight transfer.
Conversely, the higher the rebound value, the faster and harder the suspension
will unload the weight back to the opposite direction. In general you want a
moderate rebound strength to get the car set straight when exiting the corner,
while not unsettling the chassis in the other direction. RWD cars in particular
should have stiff rebound values on the front wheels to transfer weight back to
the rear wheels on acceleration. Bound values for the front wheels on pretty
much all RWD/AWD cars should be pretty heavy to accept weight transfer.
13.4 - CAMBER
Camber is the term used to describe the wheel's angle in relation to the
ground, given a flat surface. Zero (degrees) camber means the wheel is
totally perpendicular to the ground surface. If the wheel is cambered
negatively, it is tilted inwards, so that the top of the wheel is further
into the car. When the weight transfers to the outside of the car in the
corner, a wheel with Zero camber will actually lean outward (positive camber) so
that it rides up onto the sidewall of the tire. This is known as "plowing" or
"rolling". In real life racing, the worst problem with plowing is that it wears
the outside and sidewall of the tire, in extreme cases even tearing chunks out
of the rubber. In addition, you will lose a fair bit of handling in the corner
because the tire will not be using a full contact patch. Most often, the outside
front tire will push, causing an understeering condition due to its loss of
traction.
However, if the wheel is cambered negatively a few degrees, it will return to
Zero camber during weight transfer, because all of the weight is leaning it
outward. Cambering allows the tire to return to a perpendicular position and
gain its maximum traction.
NOTE: loss of traction due to tire plowing also creates a more serious
problem; braking power is significantly reduced, since the contact patch of
the rubber that is braking is lessened. This occurs if the tire plows OR if
the tire has too MUCH camber.
General Tip: when a wheel is cambered, it will sit on that angle down the
straightaway. Therefore, a RWD car should camber the Front wheels a fair bit to
help in the corners, but you should keep the rear wheel camber minimal so that
you do not lose traction down the straight. Alternately, you don't want much
camber on the front wheels of a FWD car, but you will need a bit since
understeer is a big problem with FWD. Treat 4WD as you would RWD, so that you
can keep speed down the straight but not sacrifice handling.
13.5 - STABILIZERS
Stabilizers, often referred to as anti-roll bars or sway bars, do just as the
name suggests--compensate for body/chassis roll. The stiffer the sway bar is,
the stiffer the relationship between both sides of the suspension is.
Conversely, it also increases the amount of energy transferred from one wheel to
its opposite. In other words, while it will tighten the car up and reduce
chassis roll, it may upset the chassis and generally make it all squirrely.
Stiffer rear sway bars in a RWD car will also improve acceleration because it
balances the drivetrain torque (the rear end torques in a clockwise fashion
looking from the rear, reducing traction on the LR wheel) for maximum traction.
13.6 - BRAKE BALANCE
In my opinion, probably the most important all-around settings for handling.
The Sports Brakes and Balance Controller should be your first buys,
ESPECIALLY if you're modding a RWD car. The Balance Controller makes use of
a proportioning valve to adjust the amount of braking force to rear and front
brakes respectively. As most people know, if the back wheels lock up, you slide.
The Balance Controller allows you to reduce the amount of back brakes while
increasing the amount of front brakes. More front brakes will slow you and allow
you to start into your turn much more sharply, while not sliding out by locking
up the back wheels. Alternately, too much front brake will cause the car to
understeer.
General Tip: usually we keep the front brakes a little bit higher than the
back, so that sliding is a fair bit more controllable. You want SOME back
brakes, so that you have sufficient stopping power. Usually, it's a good
idea to start with both front and back brakes at the same value, then adjust
depending on the handling. Also remember that brake balance can depend a lot on
driving style. Sliding can of course be controlled, and some may prefer to
ALWAYS power slide through a corner--in a case like this, you want more back
brakes. However, too much back brakes will cause the rear wheels to slide and
lose traction. Note that you should keep this setting similar even for FWD cars,
because you will not lose handling provided you brake properly.
13.7 - GEAR RATIOS
These settings affect the shifting range of each gear. Generally, there's
not really that much modification needed in between gears... the Final Gear
Ratio is what's truly important. In relation to Turbo Boost, you can adjust
acceleration. A high final gear ratio results in better acceleration, but
sacrifices top speed. Thus, for races like the High-Speed Challenge, you may
want to lower this number significantly.
Adjusting specific gear range is really only needed when working with Turbo
Chargers. You can adjust seperate gears depending on where you find a speed
loss with Turbo. Typically you can often increase the 1st gear ratio to give a
closer shift to 2nd gear, allowing for slightly better acceleration from start.
13.8 - DOWNFORCE
Also a very important handling characteristic. Downforce is the term used to
describe the way the air runs over the car. Downforce on certain parts of the
car will push it downward to improve handling. Increasing downforce over the
drive wheels improves traction and stability in the corners. Thus, increased
traction causes better response from that part of the car. Downforce on the
front air dam will increase traction to the front wheels, improving response and
decreasing understeer. Downforce on the rear decreases oversteer.
General Tip: to make handling overall better, use a lot of downforce on both
ends of car, especially RWD to REALLY make it hold a turn. However, it's not
much of a problem to lower downforce on the wing of a FWD car, since it only
really needs traction on the front wheels. If you find yourself losing out a bit
on the straights and you cannot, for some reason, make it up in the corners,
then reduce downforce altogether to get a little more speed.
13.9 TOE
Toe is the angle of the wheels in relation to their opposite. 0.00" toe means
both wheels are parallel with each other and in line with the car. Toe out
pulls the front of the wheels outward from each other, toe in does the opposite.
Toe out on the front wheels allows the outside wheel to take a slightly greater
path around the corner while the inside wheel maintains its original radius.
This reduces the tendancy of the car to oversteer.
Rear toe out performs a similiar feature, allowing the outside rear wheel to
take a more gradual radius around the corner and maintain traction.
13.10 LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL
Updated later when I figure out the specifics. Additions welcome ;).
13.11 YAW CONTROL
Updated later when I figure out the specifics. Additions welcome ;).
13.12 TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM
Updated later when I figure out the specifics. Additions welcome ;).
The following is a list of price cars gained after winning each race/series in
Sim Mode. Special Thanks to ZZ of the www.granturismo.com forum message board,
who translated this from a Japanese GT site.
LICENCE ALL GOLD
----------------
B Licence- Spoon Honda S2000
A Licence- Dodge Concept Car
I-C Licence- Mitsubishi GTO LM [R]
I-B Licence- Honda CR-X LM [R]
I-A Licence- Mitsubishi FTO LM [R]
S Licence- 1999 Toyota TS020
Race 1- TRD Toyota 3000GT
Race 2- TOMs Toyota Supra
Race 3- 30th Anniv. Chevrolet Camaro Z28
15.0 ARCADE MODE TIPS AND CARS
--------------------------------
Well, I'm probably about 90% done arcade mode... basically, get all your
licences in Sim Mode, and the Arcade disc will recognize them and open up most
of the tracks. Then, you beat each track on the Difficult setting (class makes
no difference) and it will open up its reverse track, and unlock either a Rally
Car or an S-Class Car. As you progress, you'll open up more tracks. Still no
Drag Racing sightings.
Note: Motorports Park appears to be a small go kart track, and can only be
played in Time Trial mode.
16.0 AROUND THE WEB--ADDITIONS FROM THE READERS
-------------------------------------------------
Let's hear 'em!
17.0 RESOURCES
----------------
The best resource for compiling this information is the Gran Turismo Message
board, at http://www.granturismo.com... Thanks especially to HondaKid86, and Jaz
Rignall of IGN (www.ign.com) for posting some real informative documents on GT2.
Also thanks to Tony Lau and Kevin Knipp
for additional information.
Special thanks go out to all the members of #cars, who have helped spread the
word about the problem of ricing cars (and I don't mean japanese cars, rather
any car that has that kind of tasteless, useless crap done to it--see
http://cars.drip.org/rice.html for the PROPER explanation of this sad
phenomenon), as well as Jason Jamieson, Ryan Jackson, Tyler
Stewart, Jove Malcolm and Sam Reckzin for Gran
Turismo competition, and GT2 competition to come ;).
REMEMBER TO CHECK OUT MY GRAN TURISMO 2 NEWS PAGE FEATURED ON
HTTP://CARS.DRIP.ORG FOR LOTSA GREAT PICS, VIDEO CLIPS, INFO, AND OF COURSE THIS
DOCUMENT!
This FAQ and all my others can be accessed at the following sites:
Wanna talk? You can contact me on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) as tigeraid, #cars,
#fighters.net, #vfhome, #tekken and #capcom.
NEED ALL THE BEST ON-LINE INFO ON FIGHTING GAMES? COME CHECK OUT
FIGHTERS NET AT WWW.FIGHTERS.NET. UNBIASED, HARDCORE INFO ONLY!
"I said it before and I'll say it again--democracy simply doesn't work!"
-Kent Brockman, the Simpsons
REST IN PEACE, #99 GREG MOORE
-----------------------------
I'd like to take a short moment to speak my thoughts on the tragedy that befell
Greg Moore at Fontana on October 31st of 1999. He was killed in a crash early
on in the race and pronounced dead 90 minutes later.
Greg Moore was a fellow Canadian racecar driver, and though I never had the
privilage of meeting him in real life, I have been aquainted with his team's PR
reps before. Certainly I don't mean this in an egotisical way, but being a
Canadian racer as well I feel a great loss almost as if he was a personal friend
or family.
This just goes to show that there are some serious problems with the design of
these cars. In 4 years, three drivers and five spectators have been killed in
accidents during races in the CART series. This to me shows that's there's
really something wrong with the direction CART is taking. I race oval on a
weekly basis and never exceed speeds of 80 mph (because it's a 1/4 mile oval,
very small--my car's certainly capable of faster). At these speeds, our racing
is close, competitive and very fun to watch. My point is, why the hell do
series like CART have to go so fast? It doesn't make it any more exciting to
watch, it's the competition that counts--NASCAR restricts speeds for safety
reasons and hell, stockcars like these and mine have full bodies and rollcages.
Dale Earndhart, at Daytona two years ago, flipped his car 20 ft in the air,
rolled twice hitting the fence on the front stretch. He got out of the car on
his own, walked to the ambulance, and later, after realizing the engine still
fired, put 4 new tires on it, taped it up and went out and continued the race.
Open wheel cars are just plain too dangerous and feeble to be racing at these
tremendous speeds. Despite the fact that designs of these cars have advanced
greatly since the old days, with the cockpit seperating from the rest of the
shattered car during impact, it's still far too dangerous. It's simple physics-
-the closer the rest of the car is around the driver, the more energy of impact
the driver's body will absorb. The cockpit is very small and tight around the
driver without any frame or tubing to absorb the impact, meaning the walls of
the cockpit and the driver's body still takes most of the impact. This design
seriously needs to be rethought.
I know I'm rambling and this document is supposed to be for Gran Turismo 2. I'm
just so sad at the loss of who is arguably the 2nd best racecar driver our
country has ever produced, next to Gilles Villeneuve, and quite possibly was on
his way to being THE best. But at the same time, I'm incredibly frustrated and
angry that open wheel racing has not taken steps to improve safety, only
increasing speed.
Rest in Piece, Greg Moore, you will be sorely missed by your friends, fans, and
fellow racers.
