getting started with gran turismo 4.docx

8/11/2019 Getting Started with Gran Turismo 4.docx

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Gett ing Started with Gran Turismo 4

This is a work in progress, content may change at any time. This "Walkthrough" may not be posted on any other sites without myexpressed permission.

When you start the game, you only have Cr. 10,000, which really isn't that much. Even ifthere are new cars you can buy for this money, it's not likely they'll be much good, andyou'll be stuck doing the same easy races over and over just to get some extra money toget some sort of upgrade that will make it easier to win more races. Well, fear not. Here'sa guide for oneway to get started in Gran Turismo without being stuck in the SundayCup.

You have two options: You can take the B and A license tests, and go with one of thefree cars that you get from that, or you can buy a used car.

Scoring all bronze on the B Licenses will get you a Volkswagen Lupo1.4'02. This isn't abad car at all, but if you want to go for something else, you can sell it for about Cr. 3,300.

Scoring all bronze on the A Licenses will get you a Pontiac Sunfire GXP Concept'02. This isa decent FF car, and you could use this to start (and we'll look at that later on). It has183HP, which is a lot more than the Lupo, and more than what we'll get when we goshopping for a used car.

Time to go shopping for a used car, and see what we can find. Since there are so manymore Japanese used cars to be found, it might be an idea to check and see what races youcan do in theJapanese Hall. Some of those races are fairly easy, and once you've gotten a

few wins in the Beginner hall, you might want to look at the Japanese Compact Car Cup orperhaps theJapanese 80's Festival or 90's Challenge. So, let's plan ahead a little, so that wecan invest our hard earned money into one car that'll help us win a few races. Also lookat the individual manufacturers, as there are Make-specific races available for most ofthem. Honda has a Civic race, Mazda has a Roadster cup for its Miatas, and Mitsubishihas the Evolution Meeting for their Lancer Evolution cars. All of these are races that youshould be able to win fairly quickly. And, for what it's worth, if you won the Lupo,there's a Lupo cup you can compete in as well as the Euro Hot Hatch League. So, thereare options for that car as well.

We need a car that handles well, and can quickly be upgraded to win to bring in somemoney for more upgrades. The Historic Showroomhas an old Honda Civic 1500, '83 modelfor a little over Cr. 4,000. It's a front wheel drive car, so it should handle fairly well, it cancompete in the Civic race as well as the FF race in the Beginner Hall, and it leaves us withsome money for upgrades. Since its short on horse power, we're going to need it...


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There's also aMazda MX-5 Miata, 1989 model available. It has more HP to start withthan the Civic, but it costs almost Cr. 6,000, which leaves less for upgrades. But, it hasthe added benefit of also being eligible for the Spider & Roadster cup in the BeginnersHall. That's one more race we can win without having to purchase or upgrade anothercar.

Also check out the Used Car Showroom I, you might find something there as well. The UsedCar Showroom IIhas newer cars, but they also cost more money. With some luck, you canfind a cheap Honda Civic there, and it has quite a bit more horses than some of the carsavailable in the Historic Showroom.I found a nice Honda Civic SiR-II (EG), 1992 model,dark green for Cr. 5,670. That'll leave me over Cr. 4000 for upgrades. NOTE:Whenlooking at the car on the list, it says it has 167HP, but when you look at the "paperwork"

when purchasing the car, it says 149HP, so keep that in mind when buying your car. I'llgo with this one...

Now, first thing we want to do is check the oil. Head over to the GT Autocenter, and hit"Oil Change";. Change the oil, t's only Cr. 50, so it's not going to be a major setback, andyou'll regain that "lost" horsepower. Next, head over to the Honda dealership and getinto the Tune Shop. Spend Cr. 1,000 on the Racing chip. It's a cheap upgrade, and it'lladd some HP to your car. We'll spend another Cr. 1,500 on an upgraded Exhaust and Airfilter. That'll add a few more HP to your car. And finally, we'll spend Cr. 1,000 on a

weight reduction. That should leave us with very little money, but a nice car to get startedin.

Head over to the Beginner Hall, and compete in the Sunday Cup. With over 170HP, you

should be able to win these races. Don't do what I just did; before you start racing, headinto Settings (the red toolbox), and tune your car! There's not a whole lot you can do atthe moment, but locate the "Driving Aids" section, and turn down all the values to 1.

The ASM and TCS systems will work against you in turns, and you may lose too muchspeed if you have these at too high a value. If you don't like how your car handles withthese values, you'll need to do a little testing. With the defaults of 10 and 7, you may havea hard time on the Special Circuit 5. So, that cost me my perfect winning record, oh

well...

The first race is at the Autumn Ring Mini track, and shouldn't be difficult at all. With my

Civic, I won with a decent margin, and got a total of 7 A-Spec points for that race. Theseraces only yield Cr. 600, so there's not much you can do with the winnings to begin with.I now have a total of Cr. 1,300 after that win, so I could get a wing for my car, if I

wanted to, or perhaps a lighter flywheel. At this point, it's not going to do much for megetting either, so we'll save our money for now, so move on and finish up the remainingraces in the Sunday Cup.


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Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of anAutobianchi A112 Abarth'79.There's not a whole lot you can do with this car, but you can use it for the LightweightK-Car cup. With the same upgrades that we got for the Civic, it should be able to becompetitive in those races. As well as getting a new car, you should have 3,000 Cr. More(5 races, 600 Cr. each), plus what you may have gotten for re-runs.

The best upgrade at this point would be getting some new tires. But, we can't afford thatyet. The S3 tires cost Cr. 5,600, so that's a little too expensive at this point. The secondbest upgrade would probably be a wing. For Cr. 1,200 you can adjust the downforce onyour car, which is definitely a plus. Head over to the GT Autocenter again, and pick a

wing. All the models perform the same function equally well, it's just a color and designthing, so pick a nice looking wing and buy it. Note that you cannot mount wings on allcars, but you can on the Civic.

Now, back to the Beginner Halland the FF Challenge. This is going to be a little tougher.

Our car may not be good enough to win these races on the first try, but you'll get somemoney for second place as well, so it beats doing Sunday Cup over and over. Before youstart racing, adjust the downforce on your car. A good starting point is 25% downforceon the front, and 75% downforce on the back. Set it to 7 on the front and 21 on theback, and see how that works for you. The first race turned out to be a 47 point race forme. The races in Sunday Cupwas only 8 or 9 points, so the difficulty here is a bit higher.It looked a little scary to begin with, but it became clear that the wing did its job so Icould keep a higher speed through the turns, and that would give me the win in the end.

The 1,500 credits from winning the Mid-Field race more than pays for the wing, and itnow seems we may want to get some more power. If you don't have Cr. 4,500 by now,

re-do the Mid-Field Raceway for another Cr. 1,500, then head over to the Tuning Shoporthe car dealer and get a Stage 1 Turbo upgrade. Then head back to the FF Challenge, anddo the Grand Valley East race. With the Turbo upgrade, you should now have about215HP, which should be enough to win this race. If you don't win on the first try, thentry again. Hopefully, you'll win some money, and as soon as you do, get either the sportsor the semi-racing flywheel. I spent the 500Cr. for the semi-racing flywheel, and thatshould help with the acceleration of the car.

I did some acceleration tests on the Las Vegas Drag strip. I did 5 runs without theflywheel and 5 without. I then took the four best times from each and calculated the

average. Without the flywheel, the average time was 16.334 seconds. With the flywheel,the time was 16.143 seconds. Not a big difference you say? Well, it's all about having theedge, and the ability to accelerate faster out of a turn than your opponents may mean thedifference between winning and coming in 4th.

Stay away from the Hong Kong track for now. This Honda doesn't have the power tooutrun the opponents, and its high center of gravity doesn't make it easy around those


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corners on the city streets. Good tracks to do initially in the FF Challenge would bethe Mid-Way Race track and the Grand Valley East. After winning those two races, itmay be time to consider some other options. The Civic Race should now be within yourgrasp, at least you should be able to win one or two of these races. Head over to theHonda Dealer, and pick the One-Make Races, and the pick the Civic Race. The price for

winning here is Cr. 5,000, and even if you come in second, you'll still get more than fromwinning the FF Challenge. We did the Mid-Field race in the FF Challenge, so re-do ithere. It's a fairly simple track, and our 200+HP Civic should be able to compete here.

After winning this single race, I got about Cr. 6,000, which I could use on an upgrade.The question now becomes, which upgrade to get.

So, here's our problem: We need more power, better tires, a better suspension systemand better brakes. Not necessarily in that order, but that's still a lot of expensiveupgrades.

Power upgrades for the Civic would be either a Level 1 NA upgrade or a Level 1 Turbo.Both cost about Cr. 4,500, and the turbo will give you the highest power boost, but thatpower may only be available at higher RPMs. The NA upgrade may not give you as bigincrease in HP, but that power is available regardless of your RPMs. And, we already gotthe Level 1 turbo upgrade, and the next one is Cr. 12,500, which is out of our range atthe moment.

As you may have noticed when driving, even with the wing, your car will slip and slidequite a bit. Better tires will help with this, but the S3 tires, which are softer than the S2tires the car comes with, cost Cr. 5,600, and that's a lot of money, at least at this point in

the game. But, you'll need those tires once you start doing races outside of the Beginnershall, so keep that in mind.

There are 4 different suspension systems. If you go to the manufactures tuning shop,you'll only get 3, but the 4th is available from the Tuning Village. This option appears toonly be available to Japanese cars. At this point in the game, your only affordable optionis the Sports Suspension. With this, you can adjust the ride height of the car, as well asthe shocks and camber angle. A slight adjustment on the camber angle may help you turnand also even out the wear on the tires. Adjusting the front and rear shocks will alsochange how your car handles in turns and when going over curbs. Lowering the ride

height moves the center of gravity down, and reduces the effect of weight shifting duringturning, which in turn means higher speeds through turns. Just don't set it too low, or thecar may hit the ground going over bumps/curbs, or the tires may hit the wheel well.

The sports brakes are also an expensive upgrade at about Cr. 4,500. These brakes greatlyimprove your braking power, meaning your car will stop a lot faster than with thestandard brakes. With this upgrade, you should be able to outbrake all your opponents atthe cost of some extra tire wear.


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Drivetrain upgrades help with acceleration, mostly. An improved clutch will reducepower loss during gear changes, but at the beginning stages of the game, the gain heremay be miniscule, so you may want to save your money for something else. A lightweightflywheel will improve your acceleration. Since this reduces the weight of the drivetrain,less torque will be used on the drivetrain itself, making it available for wheels instead.

BUT, there's a cost. A lightweight flywheel has less momentum, so you may lose speedwhen going uphill, especially with low-powered vehicles.

I already got the Turbo and the flywheel, I'll get the suspension now. The Sportssuspension costs Cr. 3,000, so that's within our price range. Once that is equipped, headback to the Civic Race to compete in some of the other races. Before starting any race,remember to go into settings to make changes to your suspension. First order of businessis to lower the ride height. I'm going to lower it to 130mm (down from 138mm), and add2.5 to both the front and the back Camber Angle. Then it's off to race on the Twin RingMotegi - East Short Course. With these settings, this is a 7 point race, which shouldn't be

too much of a challenge. Just be careful, as there are several tight corners on this track,and if you go too fast, you'll end up in the dirt. Once that race is won, move on tothe Autumn Ring Mini. There are a lot of curves here, so watch your speed in thosecorners. This should be another 7 point race, but that doesn't necessarily mean easy. Ifyou don't win the first time around, try again. Now, finish up the two remaining tracks ofthe Civic race, and you'll have a nice lump of money and a free Honda Mugen Motul Civic SiRace Car'87. Now, you can choose to continue with your regular Civic or use the race caryou just won. The advantage of the race car is that it comes with all the good parts, sodon't have to spend any money on that. You will, however, need to buy some sports tiresas it comes with racing tires which are not allowed in many of the beginner races. The

race car has more barely more HP than your old Civic, and if you need more, you'll haveto get the level 2 upgrades, which will cost you about Cr. 15,000. For now, I'm going tocontinue with the old Civic, but now with a set of new S3 tires. And back to the FFChallenge we go...

Now that we have better grip and better suspension, we can finish up the three remainingraces in the FF Challenge. Save the Hong Kong race for last, as that might be the mostdifficult one to win. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you'll be glued to the track,because it's not so. Your grip will be improved, so you will have better braking, betteracceleration and better control during turning, but you still need to watch your entry

speed. If you are worried about your winning ratio, then perhaps you'd want to savebefore the Hong Kong race. It's not an easy race to win the first time around... Thebiggest threat in the Hong Kong race appears to be theMitsubishi Eclipse GT'95. It has ahigh top speed, but the Civic will outbrake and outcorner it, so that's how to beat it. And,once you get in front of it, it sort of loses its' interest altogether and the race is prettymuch over at that point.


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Congratulations, you should now have completed the FF Challenge, and that'll earn youaMazda Mazda6 Concept'01.

Time for some fun. Complete the A license test, then get in the Honda Civic race caryouwon in the Civic Race and head for the Special EventsHall. Enter the Capri Rally (easy),

and win both of the races. You can win these races without buying any upgrades forthe Civic Race car, just remember to tune your car a little. Change the traction controlsettings to 5, 5, 3, and set the Shock Bound to 4 and 4. That should improve the handlingof the car. There's a couple of things to keep in mind here:

1) Don't rear-end the other car and don't slam into walls. There's a 5 second penalty,which means you have to drive for 5 seconds in 1st gear!

2) There are two jumps on the course. You don't want to go much over 65MPH overthose jumps, as you will have no control over your landing. If you land too close to a

wall, you'll end up slamming into it, and there's your 5 second penalty.

Each win will give you Cr. 5,000, and the best part of all, you'll win a Toyota RSC RallyRaid Car'02. You can sell this car for over Cr. 250,000, and since you can win this carover and over, your money problems are forever gone!

The Toyota RSC Rally Raid Car is a fairly powerful 4WD car. You can keep it aroundand use it to win the 4WD Challenge and the Turbo Sports race in the Pro Hall withouthaving to get any upgrades for it. At least for the 4WD Challenge, this is no challenge atall with this car. It simply blows all the competition away. But, it's a quick (and free!) way

of winning another car.

Back on track with the Civic, the next step is the Japanese 90's Challenge. In order tohave a shot here, we're going to get the Level 2 Turbo upgrade. That's going to cost a

whooping Cr. 12,500, but since we just won Cr. 10,000 in the Capri Rally, that'saffordable. With that upgrade, and a port polish, we're now sporting 260HP. Winning allthe races here will give you aNismo 400R '96. Looks like a nice car, I haven't driven it yet.It's a 4WD, so we can try that in the 4WD race later.

For now, we've pretty much maxed out what we can do with our original Civic, withoutgoing to the Professional Hall. So, we need to look at what to go for next. There's still afew races left in the Beginner Hall, as well as a few in theJapanese hall, so let's take a look atour options. We need something for the Japanese 80's Festival and the Japanese CompactCup. That means a relative small and older car. Back in the Beginner Hall, we needsomething that can compete in the Spider & Roadster race as well as an FR or MR car. If

we can find a car that'll fit all these, then that's less cars we have to buy. And, since theMazda MX-5 Miata fits all those, plus it can do the Miata one-make cup, it sounds like weshould look for a used 1980-something Miata.


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Heading to the Historic Showroom, I can find only one Miata. It's an 89 model with almost41,000 miles on it, and it'll cost me almost Cr. 6,000. But, I need it, so I'll get it. Firstthing we need is new oil, so head to the GT Autocenter and get an oil change to get yourHP back. While we're here, let's add a wing. Since this is the last car I need to buy for alittle while, I can spend most of my remaining Cr. 25,000 on this car. Stage 1 weight

reduction will cost Cr. 1,000, the Racing Chip is another 1,000, a stage 2 Turbo will costCr. 12,500, and that'll bring the HP up to 194. The Semi-racing exhaust upgrade isanother 2,800 and a sports flywheel will cost Cr. 400. That still leaves Cr. 8,500 in thebank. Try the car out on theJapanese 80's Festival. It's a 40 point race (at least that's whatit told me), and you might just win it. If you didn't get the suspension, you would noticethat this car is bouncing all over the place. With the Cr. 3,000 from this win, we can getboth the suspension and the S3 tires and still have enough left for lunch...Head back tothe 80's Festival, remember to lower your ride height and equip those softer tires beforeracing. I lowered the ride height to 119mm (from 128), and set the camber angle to 2 inthe front and 1.5 in the back. Also set the downforce to 7 and 21, and the driving aids to

all 5's. I ran into some trouble winning the last race in that series, so I also purchased theClose transmission. That, along with tuning down the HP on the car to 198HP by usingthe Sports Exhaust rather than the Semi-Racing exhaust put me in a differentclassification, and the added acceleration from the close transmission appears to havegiven me the edge I needed to win it. I spent a lot more money than I hoped for, butsuch is Gran Turismo.

Once you've won the Japanese 80's Festival, you'll get theMitsubishi HSR-II Concept'89car.

Next, head to the Mazda dealer and enter the One-Make race. With this car, you shouldbe able to win the NR-A Roadster cup. This is a championship race, so you'll get pointsbased on how you place in the race. With 5 races, you can get a maximum of 50 points,and you don't actually have to win every race to win the championship. When doingchampionship races, you also get the option of a "practice" session. That allows you torace around the track in search of the best lap time. With the best lap time, you get poleposition, so there's no starting at the back any more. It also means you can familiarizeyourself with the track and fine-tune your car.

In addition to the individual winnings from each race (Cr. 3,000), you get Cr. 15,000 for

winning the championship, plus aMazda MX-Crossport'05.

Next, let's do the Japanese Compact Cup. I've removed some of the power upgrades forthis race, as well as purchased the Stage 2 weight reduction, the carbon driveshaft and thesemi-racing flywheel. In it's current configuration, I got 127HP, and that is plenty to winall the races in this championship. You'll get Cr. 2,000 per race, Cr. 15,000 for winningthe championship as well as a 1972 Honda Life Step Van.


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Spider & Roadster race. I was starting to think that I had picked the wrong car for thisrace. With a Stage 2 Turbo and other power upgrades, I thought I would have enoughpower to outrun the other Roadsters. But I was wrong. The trick to the Roadster race isrealizing that power isn't everything, and that less HP may put you in a group with carsthat you can actually beat. So, I removed the Turbo, and ended up with 129HP. That put

my in the 127HP group, and hopefully I could beat these cars. Looking over the list ofopponents, I noticed that the Lotus Elise wasn't on it anymore, so that hopefully meantthat I would have a shot. Once I got started, it said this was a 141 A-Spec point race.Now, that sounds like a lot, but it turned out that it was doable. With the S3 tires, the

wing and the new transmission, the race was easier than I thought. I overtook the leadcar at the curve exiting from the long tunnel at the end of the long uphill straight on thefirst lap. After that, it was only a matter of keeping the line through the curves and cruisearound for another lap.

I am still concerned that perhaps the Miata is not going to be able to win this race. I've

spent time and money on different upgrades and tuning, and I can't seem to getsomething that'll do the trick. This really annoys me, as I know I've beaten this race withthe Miata before, but that was a brand new '04 Miata.

Next race of the Miata is the FR Challenge. Do an oil change, and put all the power backon. With the Stage 2 Turbo, Racing chip and Semi-Racing Exhaust, the Miata is packing201HP, which should be enough to win all the FR Races. They'll come out to between 85and 95 A-Spec points per race, and once you've won them all, you're awarded withaNissan Skyline 2000GT-B'67. And that's it for the Miata for now.

Use theMitsubishi HSR-II Concept'89 car to compete in the 4WD Race in the Beginners hall.It won't give you many A-Spec points, but you'll win without having to buy any upgradesfor the car. Prize money isn't that good, but you'll get a free car at the end; theToyotaMotor Triathlon Race Car'04. At this point, it's more of a looker than anything you'd wantto drive.

As I pointed out earlier, you can also use the Nismo 400R or the Toyota RSC Raid Rallycar for this race and win with a comfortable margin.

Back to the Spider & Roadster race again, you'll need the Full Customize transmission

for the Miata to win this race. This will allow you to set the individual gear ratios tosomething that will give you the acceleration and speed you need to win this race.

There are still the MR Challenge and the Sports Truck race. I suggest waiting with theTruck Race. You need to buy a truck for this race only, you don't win a lot of moneyfrom it, and you win another truck at the end.


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For the MR Challenge, start looking for a Renault Clio V6 among the used cars. The oneI found cost me about Cr. 25,000, but it was worth it. With this car, you can compete inthe French Championship, the Euro Hot Hatch championship and the MR Challenge.

Just get the basic upgrades (oil change, wing, racing chip and suspension), and it shouldbe good to go. You can also enter the Clio Cup with this car, but the competition there is

hard, so you need to get some more upgrades before going there. But this car should beable to be competitive in some of the races in the Pro hall as well, including the Race ofNA Sports and the Tuning Cup.

Small Tuning Guide

Since I've suggested a couple of tuning changes be made to the cars, I'll try to explainwhat some of them are and what they do.

Downforce.

By adding a wing to a stock car (race cars comes with wings already), you can adjust thefront and rear downforce. Adding downforce will push the car down towards theground, which helps with traction. More traction translates into more braking power, lessspinning wheels when accelerating, better turning and a higher speed during turning. Onthe flip side, more downforce causes more drag which literally sucks the power out ofyour car. This meansa lower top speed. The 25/75 settings that I've used gives you a little downforce in frontto keep those front tires on the ground, and more on the back to ensure that the cardoesn't spin out. For a FF car, you can reduce the downforce in the back, but you may

want to test it before entering a race. Also, these are suggestions, and not rules written in

store. Experiment a little and find the settings that are best for you and your driving style.

Ride height.By lowering the car, you are reducing the airflow under the car. This reduces drag andalso helps keep the car down on the ground, which in turns helps on traction. Thedownside is if you move your car down too far. You then risk having the bottom of thecar hit the ground when going over bumps or curbs. You also risk having the wheels hitthe wheel wells if/when you hit a bump. Setting it at 10% is a decent guideline. You cantry setting it lower and see how that goes, but what works on one track may not work onanother. Also, if you tend to go over the curbs or rumblestrips, you risk bottoming out.

Camber angle.The Camber angle lets you tilt the wheel slightly, so instead of the tire standing upperfectly vertical, it's angled a little in (or out) along its vertical axis. This is done toincrease the surface that is touching the ground during turning and also makes tire wearmore consistent over the whole surface of the tire.


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TCS and ASMThese are tools designed to reduce slipping of tires during acceleration (TCS) and turning(ASM). Basically, when the computer detects slipping tires, it will attempt to correct thisby reducing throttle (TCS) or reducing the RPMs (ASM) so that the tires can regain grip.

This can help you avoid spinouts, and also prevents excessive tire wear. But, it also slows

you down! You are better off learning how to brake before entering a turn, how to brakeduring a turn and how to accelerate. The controls are analog, so you don't have to give100% throttle all the time.

Gran Turismo 4 Endurance races

E ndurance races can be so much fun, but only if you are racing with a car that issuited for the race at hand. Entering every endurance race with the Audi R8 might ensurea win, but if you're racing against regular production cars, where's the fun in that? So, I

have put together this guide that will tell you all you need to know about each endurancerace before you enter it, so you are better prepared with regards to your choice of car.

G r a n d V a l l e y 3 0 0 K M

This is a 60 lap race at the Grand Valley Speedway. The cars are all Touring cars or JGTCcars, so pick car accordingly. Plan for 3 pit stops, just about every 15 laps, or you can do4 stops, with a couple of short but fast stints to get a gap, and then cruise through therest. This can be risky, especially if you calculate your stops poorly, and end up having tomake a fifth stop.

The toughest competitors in this race are the Mazda RX-7 LM Race car, the NissanMotul Pitworks Z (JGTC), the Mazda RX-8 Concept LM Race car and the Toyota

Woodone Tom's Supra (JGTC). These cars all put in fastest laps under 1:55.0, so youneed to be able to match that. This does in no way mean that the rest of the competitionare pushovers. The Honda Loctite Mugen NSX clocked in only 0.1 second outside of1.55, and the 2000 Ford Falcon XR8 was only 0.1 seconds behind the Loctite.

Here are a list of likely competitors, the fastest laps, and expected laps between pitting.

# Car Best Laptime Pits every

1Mazda RX-7 LM Race car 01:53.453 15

2Nissan Motul Pitwork Z (JGTC) 01:53.772 15

3Mazda RX-8 Concept LM Race Car 01:54.134 12


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4Toyota Woodone Tom's Supra (JGTC) 01:54.813 14

5Honda Loctite Mugen NSX (JGTC) 01:55.099 13

62000 Ford Falcon XR8 01:55.237 11

7Abt Audi TT-R Touring Car 01:55.526 14

8Opel Astra Touring Car 01:55.593 15

9Toyota au Cerumo Supra (JGTC) 01:55.714

10Mercedes CLK Touring Car 01:55.717 15

11Nissan Pennzoil Zexel GT-R (JGTC) 01:55.766

12Nissan Xanavi Hiroto GT-R (JGTC) 01.55.769

13Toyota Castrol Tom's Supra (JGTC) 01:55.824 13

14Honda Takata Dome NSX (JGTC) 01:55.848 13

15BMW M3 GTR Race Car 01:55.866

These are the fastest laps I've observed with these cars. There are other cars as well, butthose appears to be the fastest 15 cars.

Tire recommendation: Hard racing tires. Keep some super-hard and mediums on hand incase you need some extra speed or you need to run a few extra laps before pitting. Thehard racing tires should keep you out for 15 laps or so, unless you are driving really hard.

Other suggestions: Don't take on more fuel than you need for the number of laps youneed to go. Also consider using different tires on the front and back if your tire wear isuneven.

L a g u n a S e c a 2 0 0 M i l e s

This is an American muscle car, 90 lap endurance race at Laguna Seca raceway. You'llprobably be pitting in every 15-20 laps, depending on your driving style and choice oftires, so that'll put you at 5 or 6 stops.

The toughest competition in this race will come from the Ford GT '05, the Saleen S7 '02,the Shelby Series 1 Supercharged '03 and the Proto Motors Spirra V8. These cars will dotheir fastest laps under 1:32; and I've seen the Ford go under 1:30 as well.


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It's difficult to pass at Laguna Seca, so cars often gets stuck behind slower cars, so laptimes vary tremendously.


1Ford GT '05 01:28.881 16

2Proto Motors Spirra V8 '04 01:30.328 16

3Saleen S7 '02 01:30.758 22

4Shelby Series 1 '03 01:31.081 17

5Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 01:32.248

6Chevrolet Corvette Z06 01:33.508 21

7Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sports '96 01:33.562

8Dodge Viper SRT10 '03 01:33.570

9Callaway C12 01:33.599

10Dodge Viper GTS '99 01:33.776 18

One would think that the Saleen S7 would prevail with its very long stints, but the FordGT is the probably the biggest threat here. It's only marginally faster than the Saleen, butit drives incredibly fast also on cold and worn tires, and may catch up to the Saleen in the6 laps between when it pits and the Saleen pits.

Tire recommendation: Hard racing tires should give you 15 laps or so, and good laptimesas well. Super hards will give you longer stints, but your laptimes will drop, and thatmight move you out of contention.

Car recommendation: If you want to win easily, pick any of the top 3 cars on the listabove. If you want more of a challenge, pick one of the bottom 3, the Pontiac GTO orthe Ford Mustang SVT Cobra...

R o a d s t e r 4 h E n d u r a n c e

This is a Mazda Miata race. You have to pick a Miata to be able to enter. There's really noserious research necessary for this one. All the Miatas will do laps around 1:15 - 1:16,

with the occasional dip into 1:14, so there's your target time.


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Tire Recommendation: Hard sports tires. No racing tires allowed in this race, and thehard tires should give you enough speed and endurance you'll need to win this race.

Car Recommendation: Pick the Miata with the color you like best. At least it will lookgood on replay...

If you are afraid that you won't be able to win with a stock Miata, put a racing chip in it.That'll give you a few extra horses, which will bring your car over the top.

T ok y o R 2 4 6 3 00 K M

Again, a JGTC/Touring Car race. Pick car accordingly.

I'm not going to put out a list of cars for this race. It's the same list as for the GrandValley 300 KM race at the top of the page. Lap times here are around 1:40 - 1:43,depending on the car. The fastest car list appears to be very similar, with the NissanMotul Pitwork Z and the Mazda RX-7 and RX-8 putting in the fastest laps. Most carshere go for two stops, with stops between laps 24 and 29, again depending on car. Forinstance, the Pitwork Z pits on lap 28 and 56, the Toyota au Cerumo Supra pits on lap 27and 54.


1Nissan Motul Pitwork Z 01:39:837 28

2Mazda RX-7 LM Race Car 01:39:885 28

3Mazda RX-8 Concept LM Race Car 01:40:172 22

42000 Ford Falcon XR8 01:41.080 22


6Toyota au Cerumo Supra 01:41.138 27

7Honda Loctite Mugen NSX 01:41.281 26

8Toyota Castrol Tom's Supra 01:41.811

9Honda Takata Dome NSX 01:41.848 27

10Audi A4 Touring Car 01:42.235


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11Honda Mobil 1 NSX 01:42.247

Tire recommendation: Super-hard racing tires. These are the only tires with enoughendurance to ensure you get only two pit stops. Betting on three stops is very risky, and

should only be done if you know your car will make up the time lost on the extra pitstop.

This whole guide is also available as atext file.


T his is part two of the Endurance race guide, and it covers the next 4 endurance races,starting with the Super Speedway 150 Miles.

Due to the enormous amount of research going into this (hundreds of laps raced, dozensof cars to test out), this is very much a work in progress.

S u p e r S p e e d w a y 1 5 0 M i l e s

This is truly a high speed race. The incredibly short and smooth track along with thefastest cars in the game are sure to get the adrenalin pumping. Bring out your best racecars, because this is a race where 10ths of seconds matters.

The toughest opponents here are going to the be two Nissan race cars (R89C and

R92CP), the Sauber Mercedes C 9 and the Minolta Toyota 88C-V. That doesn't meanthat the other cars will be pushovers, but those 4 cars show up very frequently, and theyalways drive fast!

Here's a little table showing some of the faster cars and their fastest laptimes.


1Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car 00:29.2 43

2Nissan R89C Race Car 00:29.2 41/42

3Nissan R92CP Race Car 00:29.2 40

4Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car 00:29.3 38

5Bentley Speed 8 Race Car 00:29.7 44
http://www.hansenonline.net/Files/Competitor_data_Endurance.txthttp://www.hansenonline.net/Files/Competitor_data_Endurance.txthttp://www.hansenonline.net/Files/Competitor_data_Endurance.txthttp://www.hansenonline.net/Files/Competitor_data_Endurance.txt


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6Peugeot 905 Race Car 00:29.7

7Mazda 787B Race Car 00:29.8 48

8Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car 00:29.8 33

9Audi R8 Race Car 00:29.9 50

10Toyota 7 Race Car 00:30.3 49

11Toyota GT-One Race Car 00:30.3

12Pescarolo Courage C60 Race Car 00:30.4

13BMW V12 LMR Race Car 00:30.6 49

Tire Recommendations: Hard racing tires might seem like a gamble, but it does look likeeveryone pits twice. So, as long as you can make your tires last 34 laps, you can you getaway with using hard tires. Since these have more grip, you can maintain a higher speedduring those corners, and that might give you the edge you need... You can also short-fillon fuel, which means you'll shave a couple of seconds off your pitting time.

N u r b u r g r i n g 2 4 H r E n d u r a n c e

Welcome to my nightmare. I hope you're gonna like it.

This is quite possibly the most difficult race to win (A-Spec), and only a very few havewhat it takes to race for 24 hours. Not only does it take 24 hours to race, but you cannotsave your progress. You can pause it, and leave it on, but not save...

This is another Touring Car/JGTC car race, and the cars that appear here are the same asthose appearing in other similar races, like the Grand Valley Endurance race.

There is one almost unbeatable competitor you might encounter in the race: theChaparral 2D Race car. If you see that on the list of car, you might as well want to backout and try again. It's incredibly fast, and it last 6 laps between pitting, and its tires are not

even worn out enough to make it wipe out anywhere.

So, let's take a look at the competition.



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1Chaparral 2D Race Car '69 7:00.072 6

2Abt Audi TT-R Touring Car '02 7:16.980 6

3BMW M3 GTR Race Car 7:19.747 6

4Nissan Falken GT-R Race Car '04 7:20.023 5

5Audi A4 Touring Car 7:21.752 6

6Alfa Romeo 155 2.5 V6 TI '93 7:22.947 5

7Opel Calibra Touring Car '94 7:28.029 5

8AMG Mercedes 190 E Evo II 7:33.439 6

I've left out the JGTC cars here, because none of them appear to pose any real threat tothe cars on the above list. Also, the Opel Astra did not show up in any of the races that Istarted, so I was unable to clock a time for it. I would suspect that it would come inbetween 3rd and 6th on this list.

Tire recommendation: Super-hard tires will likely give you 5 laps, hard tires will give you4 laps, but with much better lap times. Bring both, and see how you do with either. 4

very good laps may be better than 5 mediocre laps, even if some of the competition aredoing 6 laps between stops.

Other recommendations: Your car will suffer from rigidity degradation. Consider gettingthe rigidity upgrade before you start the race, or you may find yourself with a car that gets

very difficult to handle after about 8 hours of racing.

N u r b u r g r i n g 4 h o u r e n d u r a n c e

This is one of the easier endurance races. The cars are all regular production cars, so thespeeds aren't too high, and navigating the Ring isn't too complicated. The duration of therace is also not too long, and it can be completed in one sitting.

This list contains the most frequently seen cars that has a fastest lap under 8:30. Theseare your biggest and most likely competitors.


1Lotus Elise 111R '04 7:40.107 5


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2ASL Garaiya '02 7:47.753 6*

3Opel Speedster Turbo '00 7:49.981 4*

4Honda NSX Type R '02 7:56.532 5

5Honda NSX Type S '01 8:00.713 5

6Clio Renault Sport V6 Phase 2 '03 8:05.150 4*

7Subaru Impreza Sedan WRX STi sp.c '04 8:08.545 5

8Jaguar XKR-Performance '02 8:11.994 5

9Mazda RX-8 Type S '03 8:14.183 5

10Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII GSR '04 8:14.197 4

11Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport '96 8:16.115 6

12Ford Mustang SVT Cobra '00 8:17.972 5

13BMW M3 '04 8:20.150 5

14Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II '00 8:20.279 5

15Audi RS 4 '01 8:20.729 5

16Jaguar S-Type R '02 8:20.853 5

17Chevrolet Camaro SS '00 8:21.571 5

18Mercedes CLK 55 AMG 8:27.203 5

The Opel Speedster should pit every 4 laps, but its tires are so bad at the end, that it willcrash when going down the hill towards the pit-in. Because of this, it will consistently

miss the pit-in, and have to do a fifth lap on really bad tires, losing about 4 minutes onthat lap. Because of this, the Opel is not really as big a threat as it may look, as it will onlybe able to pick up 30-40 seconds on the next few laps.

The Clio Renault has some significant problems on the last lap before pitting, causing asignificant time loss. So, even if it does take off leaving you in the dust, you should beable to make up a minute or two every 4 laps...


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The Lotus also has some control problems, especially on lap 1 and 5. Most cars lose 30-40 seconds on the pit-in lap, while the Lotus is likely to lose between 50 and 70 seconds.However, due to its high speed, it's a difficult car to beat.

The ASL Garaiya does run into some trouble on the last lap before pitting, but not

enough to take it out of the race like the Opel and the Renault. In all the tests that I'vedone, this car has only come up once, so it may not be a frequent show for you either,but if it does show up, it will be as big a threat as the Lotus.

Tire recommendation: Hard sports tires. The medium sports tires doesn't have thedurability to be of much use here. Try the hard tires and aim for 5 laps between stops.

Other tips: Pick a car you enjoy to drive, and keep its engine stock. Any engine upgradeswill sink your A-Spec points, and make the race too easy. If the Lotus (any Lotus,actually) shows up, consider re-starting the race. It's not unbeatable, but the Honda NSX

should be competitive enough for most.

S u z u k a 1 0 0 0 K M

Yet another JGTC/Touring car race, and this is definitively a track that favors theJapanese GT car. The car list and ranking is almost identical to the Grand Valley list.Some of the cars didn't show during my tests, but it's safe to assume that the top 5 carsfrom the Grand Valley list will also be very competitive in this race.


1Mazda RX-7 LM Race Car '01 02:03.617 15

2Nissan Motul Pitwork Z 02:03.974 14

3Mazda RX-8 Concept LM Race Car 02:04.159 11

4Toyota Woodone Tom's Supra 02:04.408 13

52000 Ford Falcon XR8 02:05.516 11

6Toyota au Cerumo Supra 02:05.642 14

7Mercedes CLK Touring Car 02:05.753 14

8Nissan Xanavi Hiroto GT-R 02:05.845 14



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10Honda Takata Dome NSX 02:06.200 15

11Nissan Penzoil Zexel GT-R 02:06.213 14

12Abt Audi TT-R Touring Car 02:06.674 14

13Audi A4 Touring Car 02:06.850 14

14BMW M3 GTR Race Car 02:06.931 12

Tire Recommendation: Suzuka is a track where grip is essential, so you may want toforgo the super hard (R1) tires on this one, and go with the hard (R2) tires instead. Itappears like the competition are on hard tires as well, at least that seems to match up

with B-Spec Bob and his speed and pitting. Attempting the race on super hard tires maygive you longer stints, but the cost of 2-3 seconds per lap in lost time is going to be hardto make up...

Other tips: As always, only fill up as much fuel as you need for your next pit stop. Go outhard on the first lap to try to pass at least two of the slower cars into the first corner. Becareful with the two right hand corners before T1; if you can't make either of thosecorners, you'll end up in the sand pit, and lose a lot of time.



T his is part three of the Endurance race guide, and it covers the next 4 enduranceraces, starting with the Motegi 8 hour Endurance.


M o t e g i 8 h o u r E n d u r a n c e

The Motegi Endurace race is a race of tuner cars. The list below is, as far as I can tell, theonly competition you will see in this race. The various incarnations of the Honda S2000are probably going to be the toughest competition. The Amuse S2000 R1 goes 32 lapsbetween pitting, and that might be difficult to top.

Here's a little table showing some of the faster cars and their fastest laptimes.


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1Opera Performance S2000 02:12.683 29

2Amuse S2000 R1 02:13.657 32

3Opera Performance 350Z 02:14.545 21

4Spoon S2000 02:16.291 22

5Nismo Fairlady Z S-Tune Concept 02:16.811 23

6Mugen S2000 02:17.623 22

7Tom's X540 Chaser 02:19.656 19

8Nismo GT-R LM Road Going Version 02:20.371 26

9Trial Celica SS-II 02:21.133 14

10Spoon Civic Type R 02:22.110 12

11Spoon Integra Type R 02:25.965 11

Tire Recommendations: Hard sports tires will keep you out on the track for a long time,but grip may be an issue. For a challenge, try N2 tires. My B-Spec driver (you didn't thinkI was A-Spec'ing all these races to collect this info, did you?) did 40 laps in the OperaPerformance S2000. He wasn't winning, but once I turned the speed up, he was keepingup with the best of them.

T su k ub a 9 ho ur E nd u ra nc e

Finally a regular car race. This is a short track with some surprises. It appears that somecars are having some trouble passing, while others are hard to pass. Because of this, theorder may change quickly after some cars starts to pit, and the car to look out for maynot be the one you first thought.


1Lotus Elise 111R '04 01:02.003 33

2Honda NSX Type R '02 01:03.682 33


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3Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A '02 01:04.183 36

4Clio Renault Sport V6 Phase 2 '03 01:04.281 22

5Nissan 350Z '03 01:04.422 31

6Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II '00 01:05.455 24

7Toyota Supra RZ '97 01:05.741 28

8Subaru Impreza Sedan WRX STi '02 01:05.799 21

9Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII '03 01:05.823 22

10Subaru Legacy B4 2.0GT '03 01:05.913 20

11Mazda RX-8 Type S 01:05.994 30

12Audi A3 3.2 Quattro '03 01:06.194 23

13Alfa Romeo GT 3.2 V6 24V '04 01:06.669 16

14BMW 330i '05 01:06.746 26

15Alfa Romeo 147 GTA '02 01:08.900 15

As far as I can tell, that is the complete line up for this race. I'd suggest trying to avoidracing the Elise and the NSX. Their consistent fast laps makes it almost impossible tokeep up with them. Bring hard and medium sports tires. Start with the hard tires, andchange to medium if you need a little extra speed.

C i r c u i t d e l a S a r t h e I 2 4 h o u r E n d u r a n c e

The second of three 24 hour Endurance races, and this on the infamous Le Mans circuit.The cars are all (with a few exceptions) LMP1 race cars, which are the fastest cars inGran Turismo 4. I don't know why they sometimes would include the Corvette C5R and

Panoz Esperante GTR-1, as they are not LMP1 cars, they compete in the LM-GT1 class.Along with the Nissan R390, these poses no threat at all, and are just obstacles that haveto be passed every 10-12 laps.

The (almost) complete list of cars along with fastest observed laptimes follows:



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1Sauber Mercedes C 9 Race Car '89 3:26.140 7

2Nissan R92CP Race Car '92 3:26.984 7

3Nissan R89C Race Car '89 3:28.172 7

4Mazda 787B Race Car '91 3:28.808 8

5BMW V12 LMR Race Car '99 3:30.747 8

6Audi R8 Race Car '01 3:30.942 8

7Playstation Pescarolo C60 Race Car '04 3:31.867 8

8Toyota GT-One Race Car '99 3:32.285 9

9Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 3:33.430 9

10Nissan R390 GT1 Race Car '98 3:38.647 8

11Panoz Esperante GTR 1 Race Car 3:47.831 8

12Chevrolet Corvette C5R '00 3:58.300 9

Recommendations: Any car in the top 7 will do, with a little tuning. The Pescarolo, withthe proper tuning can give the Sauber a run for its money, and it's not just because it runsa lap longer before pitting. All of these cars in the hands of a decent a-spec or b-specdriver can do laps under 3:26. Bring along both Super-Hard and Hard tires, as you mayneed to make some changes unless you have done some preliminary testing. ThePescarolo will do 8 full laps on Hard tires, so there shouldn't be necessary to use theSuper Hard tires. It has to stop every 8 laps to refuel anyways...

No Minolta Toyota? That's right. In all the test runs I did, the Minolta never showed.The above are all the cars that showed up in 15 line ups. However, the Minolta will showin the ...

C i r c u i t d e l a S a r t h e I I 2 4 h r E n d u r a n c e

More or less the same track as above, but there are no chicanes on the back straight,which makes the track about 15 seconds faster. The track is very bumpy, especiallytowards the end of the long straight, so make sure there's room in your suspension toabsorb it.


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And, everyone's favorite race car, the Minolta Toyota, is here.

Here's the list of cars and observed best laptimes.



2Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89 3:12.342 8



5Mazda 787B Race Car '91 3:15.139 9

6Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88 3:15.244 8

7Peugeot 905 Race Car '92 3:16.067 9

8Ford GT40 Race Car '69 3:53.291

That's all the cars that I've observed. Any of these cars can win the race (with thepossible exception of the Ford...). You can also use the cars from the other Sarthe race,and they'll have a good shot at winning too.

The lack of a chicane on the back straight reduces fuel consumption and tire wear, somost cars will last one extra lap. Bring Super Hard and Hard racing tires and maybe evensome mediums. Do a rigidity refresher before starting, if necessary, and considerinstalling the as well. This is an extreme race, and your car will go "soft" if you don't havethe extra cage.

This whole guide is also available as a


T his is part four of the Endurance race guide, and it covers the next 4 enduranceraces, starting with the Fuji 1000KM Endurance race.



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F u j i 1 0 0 0 K M

Don't like the Fuji racetrack? Well, here are 288 laps of it, again with the LMP1 cars. Thisrace appears to have the same choice of cars as the Sarthe I race. This track is fast, andeven small errors will quickly end up being valuable seconds that will be hard to catch

up.

The list of cars along with fastest observed laptimes follows:





4Mazda 787B Race Car '91 01:18.411 19


6Audi R8 Race Car '01 01:19.104 20

7BMW V12 LMR Race Car '99 01:19.435 21



10Playstation Courage C60 Race Car '03 01:19.965 22


12Nissan R390 GT 1 Race Car 01:22.520 18

There are other cars as well, but none of the clocks laps under 1:20, so they're rather

irrelevant in the big picture.

Tire recommendation: Bring your Hard and Medium racing tires. I suspect the carspitting every 15 laps are running on Mediums, and the ones pitting later are running onHard tires. My car during testing (Pescarolo) did 22 laps (same as the other Pescarolos)on hard tires, so I think it's a fairly safe assumption.


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I n f i n e o n W o r l d S p o r t s

More fast cars on another fast track. More LMP cars on a track that really plays havoc onyour tires. The Sauber and the Nissan R92CP are again the two fastest cars on the track,and it's really hard to keep up with anyone on this track...

The mandatory list





4Mazda 787B Race Car '91 01:23.171 16


6Audi R8 Race Car '01 01:24.100 18


8BMW V12 LMR Race Car '99 01:24.373 17

9Playstation Courage C60 Race Car '03 01:24.526 17



12Nissan R390 GT 1 Race Car 01:27.102 14

13Panoz Esperante GTR-1 01:30.273 14

14Dodge Viper GTS-R Team Oreca '00 01:30.769 15

15Chevrolet Corvette C5R 01:32.243 15

Tire recommendations: Consider hard tires on the rear and medium up front, or step itup one hardness level. The problem is that putting the super-hard tires on the rear takeaway a lot of grip, and you'll end up with too many trips in the grass.


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E l C a p i t a n 2 0 0 M i l e s E n d u r a n c e

This is a sports car race with a very nice prize car: The Minolta Toyota Race Car. Thetrack is very unforgiving with lots of twists and turns and nice changes in elevation.Probably the most scenic of all the tracks, but who has time to look at the scenery?

With the sports tire restriction, tire wear is the biggest concern. There will be quite a fewpit stops, so you can probably save some time by sort-filling on fuel and only fill up asmuch as you need. In addition, carrying less fuel means less weight, which is good news.

And now for the car list


1Lotus Motor Sport Elise '99 01:54.229 12

2Proto Motors Spirra 4.6 V8 '04 01:56.059 11

3Pagani Zonda C12 '00 01:56.123 19

4Shelby Series 1 Super Charged '03 01:56.742 14

5Lotus Espirit Sport 350 '00 01:57.054 14

6TVR T350C '03 01:58.043 11

7TVR Cerbera Speed Six '97 01:58.043 11

8Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C5) '00 01:58.684 16


10Dodge Viper GTS '99 01:59.204 14

11Dodge Viper SRT10 '03 01:59.484 17

12Mercedes SL 65 AMG '04 02:00.069 11

13Callaway C12 '03 02:00.348 16

14Aston Martin V8 Vantage '99 02:01.546 11


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Tire Recommendations: Bring hard and medium sports tires. You may need a fast stintevery now and then, and having the option to pit more often but shave 1 1/2 second ofyou lap time might come in handy.

I would suggest avoiding the Zonda and the Elise. Even if the Zonda isn't that fast, it will

only pit three times (lap 19, 38, 57), while most other cars will pit at least 4 times. Thisgives the Zonda at least a 20 second advantage on everyone else, in addition to its highspeed.

N e w Y o r k 2 0 0 M i l e s E n d u r a n c e

Only 200 more miles to go, and it's all over. And these are not just any 200 miles, thesemiles are in the Big Apple, Manhattan, New York City. And, no pedestrians allowed.

The cars in this race are sports cars, very much the same list as for the El Capitan

endurance. However, this track is very different with all of its right-angle corners. Thisseems to change things around a bit. The Lotus Motor Sport that did so well on ElCapitan doesn't seem to like these corners at all, but the Corvette and the Dodge ViperSRT10 seems to do better.

So, here's the list of cars and lap times.


1Pagani Zonda C12 '00 01:45.630 31

2Proto Motors Spirra 4.6 V8 '04 01:46.831 19

3TVR Cerbera Speed Six '97 01:47.254 18

4Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C5) '00 01:47.724 26


6Dodge Viper SRT10 '03 01.48.522 28

7TVR T350C '03 01:49.419 19

8BMW M5 01:49.526 23

9Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R '09 01:49.618 19

10Mercedes SL 65 AMG '04 01:49.665 18


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11Callaway C12 '03 01:49.856 26

12Lotus Motor Sport Elise '99 01:50.027 23

13Dodge Viper GTS '99 01:50.101 23

14Aston Martin V8 Vantage '99 01:52.163 17

Tire recommendation: You have to use Sports tires, so that puts a big damper on theselection. Bring Hard and Mediums; you might just be able to run the last stint on softertires, giving you more speed to either build a bigger lead or to catch up a few seconds onthe car(s) ahead of you.

So, there it is. The "incomplete" complete guide to all the endurance races. It is entirelypossible that you may face a car that is not listed anywhere here. I've tried to make it ascomplete as possible, but I can only do the same race so many times before I have togive up.


Gran Turismo 4 - Beyond the beginner s tages

T he first guide only covered the beginner races and some of the other easier races.Once you get passed those, there are more challenges waiting in the Pro Hall. These

races are a bit more challenging than the ones in the Beginner Hall. The cars are usuallymore powerful here, and offer a little better opposition.

Before I get started, there are a couple of things I should point out. At the time I wasmaking the notes that eventually turned into this guide, I was really enjoying driving theMazda RX-7. It may not be a good car for you, but it should still give you some measureof what you need to have to win the races.

Although I didn't tune the cars much in the previous guides, some tuning will be neededto win races here. In this case, tuning does not just mean adding more power to the car,

but also adjusting suspension settings and gear ratios.

And, one last thing. For most of the Pro Hall races and every race hereafter, the term"standard upgrades" refers to the following:

Sports Suspension. Twin Plate Clutch.


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Racing Flywheel. Carbon Driveshaft. FC Transmission, if needed.

The FC Transmission is rather expensive, so don't go spending the money on it unless

you either need it or can afford it.

R a c e o f T u r b o S p o r t s

At the start of this game, I purchased a '96 Mazda RX-7 Type RS. For this race, my RX-7was sporting 405 horses, coming from a Stage 2 Turbo, sports intercooler, racing chipand semi-racing exhaust. In addition to this, I had a clutch upgrade, the carbon driveshaftand soft sports tires. Yes, it is expensive, but oh so fun. With all this extras, the RX-7 willnet about 50-70 A-Spec points per race, depending on the competition, and it should notbe too hard to win.

One thing about the RX-7, especially if you buy a used one with some miles on it. Ittends to get a little unstable at speeds over 120MPH. This is very unfortunate on the long"straight" at Tokoy R246, as there are these little kinks in it, and if you're not careful, thatis enough to throw the RX-7 sideways in a heartbeat. The fix is easy, but expensive:Rigidity Refresher Plan...Or, you could add a wing for some extra downforce. That wouldhelp keep the car on the ground, but would also hurt your top speed.

Other settings: ASM should be set to 0/0, while traction control should be at 2 or 3.Don't turn it up too high, or you will lose your acceleration, and don't turn it too low, oryou'll struggle with spinning wheels.

C l u b m a n C u p

Now, why didn't I start here? Well, the Turbo race looked much more fun, and I wasmaking plans for what car to use here, and it just didn't work out, so I took the RX-7here as well.

This time, without all those power upgrades. Off with the Turbo, the intercooler and theExhaust, and that leaves a 276HP RX-7. The trick to win here is knowing who you canbeat and who you cannot. You cannot beat the Lotus (there's actually a couple of

different Lotus models showing up here), the Opel Speedster, and maybe not the ToyotaMR2. If you avoid these cars, you should be able to win with 50-80 A-Spec points in thiscar.

Other settings: Leave the ASM at 0/0, and traction control on 2 or 3. That just helpsprevent the wheels from spinning freely if you lose traction, and may save you from aspinout.


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Also try: The Japanese 90's Challenge should be a cakewalk with this car.

Also try: The Mazda Club "RE" One-Make race. Bring your HP back up to around 330or so, and you should be able to win this race as well.

Wo r l d C o m pac t C ha mp i o n s h i p

This is one of the frequently asked questions: What car to use for this race. People seemthat have a hard time finding a car that fits the restrictions in this race. Well, there aremany cars that can do this one, you just have to know what to look for. No, the RX-7can not compete here, so we'll pick something else; a Peugeot 206.

This car can be found used for a reasonable penny, and this race is just the place to takeit. I brought it up to about 150 horses, did a weight reduction on it, as well as thestandard drivetrain upgrade (clutch, flywheel), and the car moves pretty well.

Other settings: ASM off (0/0), TCS between 0 and 2.

Also try: French Championship. More upgrades are needed for this race, namely a stage 1NA upgrade, stage 2 weight reduction and the FC Transmission. Don't race against theHormel, the Clio Sport Phase 2 or the Renault Turbo 5.

Also try: European Hot Hatch. Add a stage 2 NA upgrade. Try to avoid the Clio Sportand the Peugeot 106. It's a championship, so qualify for each race to make it easier foryourself.

R a c e o f N A S p o r t s

So, what is "NA Sports" anyways. Well, it's essentially "non-turbo". No turbos orsuperchargers here, thank you very much. The BMW M3 is one of my favorite cars, andthis is an excellent race to whip out the ultimate driving machine for some workout. It's alittle bit on the expensive side, but if you've managed to get here, you should haveenough for this car and then some.

I suggest a couple of upgrades before trying this race; a stage one weight reduction willhelp on pretty much everything, and if you want to make it a little easier on yourself, get

the stage 1 NA Upgrade as well as a couple of other power upgrades (chip + semi-racingmuffler). That should give you a little less than 400HP, which should get you somewherebetween 30 and 70 points, depending on the competition. The Nissan 350Z is likely to bethe toughest competitor.

Other settings: ASM to 0, TCS to 1 or 2 to keep them wheels from spinning. If you gotthe sports suspension, lower the rideheight to about 5 above the bottom.


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Also Try: BMW Club "M" should be fairly easy with this car. Take the stage 1 NAUpgrade off for a more competitive race. Watch out for the M5, it's wicked fast on thestraights. This race will earn you back all the money you spend getting the M3...

T u n i ng C ar G r a nd Pr ix

Tuning Cars are those cars that are bought in the Tuning Shop. Since these are still a littleexpensive, I recommend a car you already have: The Mazda BP Falken RX-7 (D1GP)that you won in the Turbo Sports race. You didn't sell it, did you?

The car is a drifting car, so in order to tame the beast, replace the suspension, and justlower the ride a bit. It's not going to score you a lot of points, but it'll get the job done.

Add some ballast if you feel adventurous. The hardest competition here is probable theOpera Performance S2000 and the Ruf BTR. Watch out of the S2000 at Tokyo.

Other settings: Again, turn ASM off (or at least down to 1/1), and leave just a hint ofTCS. Lower the ride height down to +5 front and +7 rear. Make sure downforce is set atfull.

Also try: Tsukuba Wet Special Condition (Normal). Take the ballast off (if you put someon), and try your skills on the slippery wet Tsukuba. I faced a Saleen S7, and I'm not sureif that's the only competition, but it's not all that easy...

Wo r l d C l a s s i c C ha m p i o n sh i p

The problem with this race (as with many of the "classic car" races) is that there's a wide

range of cars entering, so it's almost impossible to pick a car that'll make you any points.

If you've done the Japanese 70's Classic race, then the Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R that youwon there will take care of this race without any problems.

Other settings: Seriously? I have to repeat this: Lower ASM and TCS

Also Try: Japanese 70's Classic: Most Japanese cars from the 70'ies will work here. Thecompetition isn't anything spectacular. I used the Mitsubishi Galant GTO '70 for thisrace, with a FC Transmission upgrade (it's a must!)

B o x e r S p i r i t

This actually is one of my least favorite races. I haven't found a boxer car I like to drive.Your choices are Subaru and Ruf, with the Impreza WRX STi probably being the betterchoice. Make sure you get a boxer version!


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This car still needed some upgrades; a stage 1 turbo, intercooler, racing brakes and brakecontroller. Keep trying until you get all Subaru's in the lineup. It's still about 80 points perrace, but very winnable once you figure out how to handle this 4WD car. The trick hereis very much cornering; slow in, fast out. Any other way, and you're dead meat.

I would suggest doing some practice laps with the Subaru before you enter into theBoxer Spirit race. Take the car for a spin at Deep Forrest, and keep going until you've gotit. It doesn't help if you're fast on the straights if you cannot get through those S curves

without losing all your speed.

This is pretty much the end. Wait, you say, there's two more races? Yes, there are twomore races, but I strongly suggest you move onto some other races before trying the nexttwo races. Finish the Japanes races, the Euro races and the American Races. Also doaway with some of the Special Condition races and Driving missions. Anything you cando to gain racing experience and money. Lots of money!

T his is not going to be a comprehensive Special Conditions race guide, but I'll touchon some of the races, and make a couple of recommendations. There are 4 types of racesin the Special Conditions races: Asphalt rally, gravel rally, snow rally and wet rally, andthey come in three difficulties: Easy, Normal and Hard. One really annoying feature hereis the 5 second penalty. It's not just because you get the penalty for some bumps but notothers, but because the AI car doesn't get the penalty even if he clearly slams into you.So, he can rear-end you and slam you into something, which gives you a penalty, while heis speeding away... So, be careful.

C a p r i R a l l y ( E a s y )

This is probably the easiest of all the rallies. It has a couple of hairpin turns that you needto be very careful in. Go too fast, and you won't make it without almost stopping; slowdown too much, and the AI car might ram you into the wall anyways...

Car suggestions: Options are plentiful. The Toyota MR2 1600 G-Limited Super Charger'86 will give you a bit of a challenge. It's about 100 points against the Lancia Delta. I didbest with TCS off on this car. If you just want to win, take the RX-7 or if you just don'tcare, take the M3... For some fun, get the Spoon Fit Racecar...

The prize car here is a real money maker. The Toyota RSC Rally Raid car will net youabout 270K when you sell it.


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G e o r g e V . P a r i s ( E a s y )

This race is only slightly more difficult than then Capri Rally. Most of the corners hereare hard, ninety degree turns (give or take a few degrees. The competition isn't toodifficult, but err on the side of caution, and bring something that moves...

U m b r i a R a l l y ( E a s y )

Although it is listed on top, it is not the easiest of the rallies. The track is rather difficult,going through an old Italian town with narrow streets, sharp corner and some blindcorners as well. Know your car before you bring it here. You simply must havesomething that handles well to get around in these streets. But, the competition isn't toohard.

S w i s s A l p s ( E a s y )

This is probably the easiest of the gravel rallies. Traction here is fairly good, and there'sno complex corners to speak of. If you haven't tried gravel rally before, this is probablythe best place to start, at least until you get a real rally car. 4WD cars are recommendedfor the gravel rallies, so if you have a Subaru or Mitsubishi Lancer in your garage, youshould take it to a test drive on this track before entering...

C a p r i R a l l y ( N o r m a l )

What's this doing here? Well, it's the best way to win a decent rally car! The prize car hereis the Subaru Imprezza Rally Car Prototype '01, and also 20K in prize money. Yes, it's a

tad more difficult than the easy race, and it's three laps, but it can also be fun if you havea car that you really like... Do this race, and the rest of the gravel rallies will be acakewalk. The Subaru rally car might be overkill on the easy ones, but who's counting?

Now that you have a good rally car (hint: checkwww.gtvault.comfor a good setup for it), youcan do the rest of the rallies. Do the rallies in this order (easy to hard): Swiss Alps,Cathedral Rocks, Tsukuba Wet, Tahiti, Grand Canyon, Ice Arena, Chamonix.

D riving missions can be very frustrating. You don't get to pick a car, and you don't getto adjust ASM and TCS or anything else. I guess that's the challenge... Anyways, alwaysdo the first driving mission first! There's a bug in the NTSC version, and if you do anymission before the first, then the first mission will not be marked as completed, andyou'll end up with only 99.8% completion despite the fact that you finished the firstdriving mission.

I definitively recommend you try most of the driving missions before going back tofinish the Pro Hall. After you've done the first two, try some of the three-lap draft
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battles. The Nissan Skyline battle can be frustrating until you figure out the trick:leapfrog! Draft and pass the cars, then pull in right in front so that they can draft you.Once one or two cars pass you, pull in behind then, and draft them to get your speed upand pass again. Repeat until you eventually catch up to the front running. You should beable draft him in the last turn on the last lap, giving you enough speed to pass him before

crossing the finish line.

Have you hit 25% yet? If so, you may want to try some of the Endurance Races. A goodplace to start would be the El Capitan 200 Miles, or the Roadster 4 hour race. For the ElCapitan, try a BMW M3 GTR with a full drivetrain upgrade (See top of page) and acouple of power upgrades (sports muffler, chip). This should give you a little over400HP. Try to get a lineup without the Pagani Zonda C12, Proto Motors Spirra andLotus Elise '99. Check myEndurance Guidefor some more insights. The El Capitan race will

win you the Minolta Toyota race car.

The Roadster race is a real test of patience. A bunch of Mazda MX-5 Miatas at Tsukubagets rather repetitive, but you certainly get practice racing. The prize car is sweet, too.

Time to get back to it? Ok.

S u p e r c a r F e s t i v a l

Ok, this is a race! Really. Until now, it's been all fun and game, but now it's for real. Youneed to bring your best game here, or you'll eating pie. I would suggest the BMW M5 forthis race. It packs about 500 HP, but that's not enough. The M5 have great stocksuspension, but you should still consider upgrading to the full racing suspension, and afull drivetrain replacement (racing flywheel, triple-plate clutch, carbon driveshaft, FC

Transmission), and soft sports tires as well. This is still not going to be a cakewalk. Youhave to know the competition, who you can beat and who you can't.

Keep restarting until you find a lineup that you think you can beat and give it a try.There's no substitute for experience here. You must know how to drive to win this race.The other cars have plenty power as well, and adding more power is likely to make thecar more difficult to handly. If you are having trouble, try reducing the weight rather thanadding power. And, make the ride height as low as you dare. You really need to behugging the ground going around Infineon.

G r a n T u r i s m o W o r l d C h a m p i o n s h i p

This is the first race where you'll be needing a real race car. That means a Group C orLMP1 car. There's no substitute. Yes, the Toyota GT-One is fast, but for most people,it's not going to cut it here. The LM Race cars won't do it, nor will the Panoz or the

Viper GTS-R.
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The best cars for this race are as follows:

Nissan R92CP Nissan R89C Mazda 787B

Audi R8 Minolta Toyota

The Toyota is in there for two reasons: It's the easiest car of this caliber to win. The ElCapitan 200 Miles race will get you this car. The second reason is that it is a capable car.However, it has a tendency to wear out the rear tires very quickly, so be sure to put some

TCS on there to prevent any kind of wheel spin. The others have to be purchased for agood chunk of money. The Mazda is 3.5 Million credits, while the others are 4.5 Million.

Whichever car you pick, make sure you check outwww.gtvault.comfor a good setup for your

car. Just "throwing it out there" isn't going to cut it. These cars are all fast, and one littlemistake may lose you the race. You need every advantage you can get, and having a greatsetup for the car will help you immensely around the track. 18 laps at high speed aroundHong Kong in a car with 1000HP is scary. Or, you can B-Spec it.
http://www.gtvault.com/http://www.gtvault.com/http://www.gtvault.com/http://www.gtvault.com/

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