Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec

Contents

• Quirks and Features
• The Cars
  • Car List
  • Best Cars - Fully Upgraded
  • Best Cars - Non-Tuned
  • Car Name Differences
  • Vauxhall / Opel
• The Events
  • Track List
  • Events List
  • Recommended Cars
    
• Gameplay
  • Getting Started - First Time
  • Getting Started - Shortcut 1
  • Getting Started - Shortcut 2
  • Restarting - For Pro/Endurance Fans
  • Miscellaneous Gameplay Notes
  • Quick Ways To Earn Credits
    
  • Buying Upgrades
  • Basic Tuning
  • Garage Gamesave
  • Choosing Your Prize Car
  • Collecting Prize Cars
• Miscellaneous Notes

1. Start GT3 with the extra memory card in slot 1.
2. At the Language Selection screen, choose Deutsch (German).
3. Save the game.
4. If you have a GT Concept gamesave, use Bonus #3 to add credits and licenses to your new German gamesave (see Getting Started - Shortcut 2 below). Or, if you have Action Replay or other cheat system, use that instead.
5. Start GT3 with the German gamesave.
6. Use the Trade feature to buy a Polyphony 001 or 002 from your main (English) gamesave. If you want to avoid pitstops, buy an EC20 car fitted with Super Hard tires instead.
7. Buy the Opel Speedster from the Car Dealer.
8. Use the "Choose Your Prize" technique to win the Opel Astra Touring Car in the Amateur DTM championship (A5).
9. Use the "Choose Your Prize" technique to win the Opel Calibra Touring Car in the Professional GT World championship (P2).
10. At this stage, you can either upgrade the 3 cars and then Save the game, or just Save the game without upgrading the cars.
11. Now restart GT3 with your English gamesave (or Load it from the Startup Menu), and then use the Trade feature to buy the 3 Opel cars from your German gamesave.

1. If you're completely new to the Gran Turismo series, I'd recommend spending some time in Arcade Mode > Single Race to familiarize yourself with some of the cars and tracks. The tracks in Single Race are divided into tiers called Areas. Initially, only Area A is unlocked; to unlock the others, you'll need to complete each Area in turn. There are 3 difficulty levels to choose from: Easy, Normal, and Hard. To complete an Area (and unlock the next), winning at Easy level will suffice. After each race, there will be a Replay. A good way to learn the tracks is by watching the AI drivers; use the [Up]/[Down] buttons to select an AI driver, then press [X] for the cockpit view. You can get additional onscreen info by customizing the HUD in Replay Options; the Brake/Accelerator bars are especially useful. Once you've gotten a feel for some of the cars and tracks, you can exit Arcade Mode and enter Gran Turismo Mode.
2. The main screen in Gran Turismo Mode shows various icons on a map. You can get a general idea of what this mode includes by moving the pointer over each icon; the scrolling text near the bottom of the screen will show a short description. Although you don't need a license to get started in Gran Turismo mode, I'd recommend going to the License Centre and getting at least your B and A licenses. If you want to do some rally racing, also get your R license. The B and A license tests provide a very good introduction to driving techniques, and learning them now will make things easier later. Alternatively, you could skip to the next step and get your B license after Step 4 and get your A license after Step 5.
3. Starting out, your choices of cars for less than Cr.18,000 are:
   

   Starter Car	Type	BHP	Kg	PWR	EC	Price
   Chrysler PT Cruiser	FF, N	149, 307	1270	8.466	54,36	17,980
   Daihatsu Cuore TR-XX Avanzato R *	FF, T	63, 174	700	11.111	64,40	11,140
   Daihatsu Sirion X4	4WD, T	118, 187	840	7.118	53,38	13,900
   Mazda Demio GL-X	FF, N	98, 259	960	9.795	58,35	14,660
   Mazda MX-5 (1597cc)	FR, N	118, 323	940	7.966	54,32	17,000
   Mazda MX-5 (1839cc)	FR, N	126, 354	980	7.538	51,31	16,900
   Suzuki Alto Works Suzuki *	4WD, T	63, 226	710	11.269	65,36	12,220
   Toyota Sprinter Trueno	FR, N	123, 344	925	7.520	54,38	13,550
   Toyota Yaris Euro	FF, N	86, 223	850	9.770	58,35	12,880
   Toyota Yaris RS 1.5	FF, N	108, 280	940	8.623	56,35	14,530
   Volkswagen New Beetle 2.0	FF, N	115, 296	1256	11.115	57,38	15,930

   Although it may be tempting to start with a more powerful car, I'd recommend buying either a Suzuki Alto or Daihatsu Cuore. With the remaining credits, go to the Tune Shop and buy a Racing Chip (Engine section) and Turbo/Stage1 (Turbo section).
4. Enter the Beginner League > Lightweight K Cup (B7) and do the Super Speedway race to earn your first credits. Use this race as your current 'money maker' to earn enough to gradually upgrade your car. The next stages to aim for are listed below. You won't need all of them; the later stages are just meant to give an overview of what's available. Items in brackets ([]) apply to the Alto only.

   Stage	Cost	Upgrades
   2	13,500	Turbo/Stage2, Lightweight/Stage1
   3	12,000	Exhaust/Racing, Intercooler/Racing, Lightweight/Stage2
   4	10,500 [13,000]	Port Polish, Clutch/Triple, Flywheel/Racing, [Driveshaft/Carbon]
   5	20,000	Lightweight/Stage3
   6	10,000	Full-Engine Balancing
   7	10,000 [26,000]	Transmission/Full, [LSD/Full], [Variable Centre Differential]
   8	15,000	Suspension/Full
   9	14,500	Sports Brakes, Brake Balance Controller
   10	47,000 [87,000]	[Turbo/Stage3], Super Soft Racing Tires

   The goal is to upgrade the Alto or Cuore just enough to win the Clubman Cup. After each stage of upgrading, go back to the Clubman Cup and retry the races until you've won all three. The prize is a Mazda MX-5 1839cc that you'll be upgrading and using for the next steps. If you're wondering why I didn't just recommend buying the MX-5 as your starter car, there are two main reasons: (1) the Super Speedway race in the Lightweight K Cup is a better 'money maker' than the one in the Sunday Cup, and (2) the prize MX-5 1839cc has slightly more power than the one that can be bought from the Dealer.
5. Earn some more credits until you have at least Cr.12,500 and then take the MX-5 to the Tune Shop to buy a Stage2 Turbo Kit. With the Turbo Kit installed, try the Rev. Midfield race in the Turbo series. Once you've gained enough experience to easily win that race, you can use that as your new 'money maker' to earn Cr.5,000 in about the same time as it takes for the Super Speedway race. The MX-5 is also eligible for other events that will give you the opportunity to learn more tracks and earn more credits. The Recommended Cars list shows which events the MX-5 is capable of winning (although, in its current state, it may only be competitive enough for a few of them).
6. As you earn more credits, you can gradually upgrade the MX-5 until it's fully upgraded. You should also take it to GT Auto to change the oil periodically (every 200km or so). At some point before it's fully upgraded, the car may be competitive enough to win the Super Speedway race in GT World (B20). You can then use that as your new 'money maker' (Cr.10,000 in 4 min.) to help speed up the rest of the upgrading process. A fully-upgraded MX-5 1839cc, although rated as an EC31 car, is also capable of winning events where an EC24 or slower car is recommended (albeit, with some proper tuning and skillful driving), including the event that you'll be doing in the next step. Alternatively, you could buy or win another car to use instead. Good choices for an alternative car to use for the next step are:

   Cars that can be bought	Type	BHP	Kg	PWR	EC	Price
   Chevrolet Camaro Z28	FR, N	276, 642	1561	5.655	40,23	22,830
   Honda Integra Type R 98 spec	FF, N	197, 454	1080	5.482	44,24	25,160
   Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI RS	4WD, T	302, 536	1260	4.172	38,22	25,980
   Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII RS	4WD, T	305, 548	1320	4.327	38,22	25,180
   Nissan 200SX	FR, T	216, 464	1250	5.841	42,24	23,950
   Nissan Silvia Spec-R Aero	FR, T	239, 496	1240	5.040	40,23	25,600
   Subaru Legacy B4 RSK	4WD, T	276, 511	1410	5.108	43,24	26,430
   Toyota Altezza AS200 / Lexus IS	FR, N	157, 374	1310	8.291	50,24	20,600
   Toyota Altezza RS200	FR, N	207, 427	1340	6.504	45,24	24,000
   Toyota MR2 GT-S	MR, T	239, 482	1270	5.162	43,23	27,130
   Cars that can be won	Type	BHP	Kg	PWR	EC	Acquire
   Chevrolet Camaro SS	FR, N	325, 726	1560	4.785	37,22	B8
   Mazda MX-5 1.8i *	FR, N	157, 314	1070	6.687	46,24	B9
   Mazda RX-7 Infini III *	FR, T	202, 442	1200	5.940	42,24	B10
   Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV GSR	4WD, T	263, 496	1350	5.133	41,24	B18
   Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII GSR	4WD, T	305, 565	1400	4.590	38,23	A9
   Subaru Impreza Sedan WRX STi Ver.VI	4WD, T	276, 529	1270	4.456	38,23	A2
   Subaru Legacy B4 Blitzen	4WD, T	276, 527	1470	5.326	42,23	A11

   For the second part of the list, the Acquire column refers to the event where the car can be won. Cars marked with an asterisk (*) can be won using the MX-5 that you already have. Note that, although the Infini looks better on paper, the 1.8i actually feels more competitive (in my opinion), even without the permanent upgrades. For all of the other cars that can be won, you can either use a car from the first part of the list to win the Prize version, or you can buy the Dealer version which has slightly less power. If you have some spare credits and a spare memory card, see Buying Upgrades for a technique that may save you some credits.
7. Once your MX-5 or other car is sufficiently upgraded, take it to GT Auto for an Oil Change, and then try the Amateur League > European Championship (A3). For a better chance of success, see the "Play It Safe" note in the Miscellaneous Gameplay section and Basic Tuning. Also remember that you can use the Replay option (see Step 1) if you don't yet know the track very well. At the end of Race #4 (Rev. Rome), save the game and then use the "Choose Your Prize" technique to win a Gillet Vertigo Race Car. Once you have the Vertigo, you have the means to earn about Cr.350,000 in less than half an hour (just use the same technique to keep winning and selling the extra Vertigo cars). The Vertigo can also be used in events where an EC22 or slower car is recommended, including the Amateur League > American Championship (A2) where you can win a Chevrolet Camaro Race Car. This Camaro can be used in events where an EC21 or slower car is recommended, including a lot of the events in Professional League (once you get your IB and IA licenses). If you bought an Altezza in the last step, you can enter it in the Amateur League > Altezza Championship (A20) and then use the "Choose Your Prize" technique to also win an Altezza LM Race Car. The Altezza LM is in the same class (EC21) as the Camaro and can be used for most of the same events.
8. At this stage, game progress should be a lot easier. When you start running out of events that you're eligible for, it's time to start working on getting your IB and IA licenses. This may take quite a bit of time, depending on how well you know the cars and tracks. Some of the tests are held on tracks that aren't used in any events; for those tests, the only way (that I know of) to practice is by just doing the test over and over again. Once you have your IB and IA licenses, you're eligible to compete in a whole new set of events, including Professional League and Endurance races.
9. For some events, you'll need an EC20 or faster car. The easiest one to acquire is probably the Toyota GT-One Road Car in the Amateur League > GT World Championship (A4). Use the "Choose Your Prize" technique to win it. Alternatively, you could try some of the Endurance races, each of which could potentially award an EC20 or faster car. The easiest ones that don't require a high-end car are: Rome 2 Hours, Trial Mountain 2 Hours, Roadster Endurance, and Super Speedway 150. Or, you could use the Camaro Race Car for some of the more difficult ones. Once you have an EC20 or faster car, game progress will be even easier.
10. Sooner or later, you'll need an S license if you want to be able to do the last 4 events in Professional League. The S license tests are all full circuit tests, and the table below may be useful if you want to practice beforehand. When using a car from your garage, be sure to uninstall all of the parts so that practice conditions are as close as possible to the actual License test conditions. Or, you can buy or win a fresh new version if yours has upgrades that can't be uninstalled.

    	Track	Test Car	Bronze
    S-1	Apricot Hill	Vauxhall VX220	1'44.500
    S-2	Rev. Seattle	Ford GT40 Race Car	1'35.000
    S-3	Trial Mountain	Mazda MX-5 (1597cc)	1'56.000
    S-4	Midfield	Nissan Pennzoil Nismo GT-R JGTC	1'14.000
    S-5	Special Stage Route 5 (wet)	Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-Apex	2'05.000
    S-6	Laguna Seca	Chrysler Viper GTSR Team Oreca	1'22.000
    S-7	Special Stage Route 11	TVR Griffith 500	2'19.000
    S-8	Cote d'Azur	Toyota GT-One Race Car	1'35.000

1. Get your B and A licenses. If you want to do some rally racing, also get your R license. Optionally, also get your IB, IA, and S licenses.
2. Use the Trade feature to buy a fully-upgraded Mazda MX-5 1839cc (Cr.16,900) from one of your other gamesaves. If you want an easier go of it, make sure that the car you buy is a prize version (as opposed to a dealer version) and is fairly new (less than 300km on the odometer) and includes an oil change.
3. Enter the Amateur League > European Championship (A3) and use the "Choose Your Prize" technique to win a Gillet Vertigo Race Car. The Vertigo can then be used in any unrestricted events where an EC22 car is recommended, or you can use it as a "money maker" whenever you need more credits. The Vertigo is also capable of winning a few events where an EC21 car is recommended:

   L.	Event	Useful Prize Cars
   IB	A4. GT World Championship	Toyota GT-One Road Car
   IB	A15. Gran Turismo All Stars	Ford GT40, Honda Raybrig NSX
   IA	A23. Dream Car Championship	any of the 4 random prize cars
   IA	E1. Grand Valley 300 km	any of the 4 random prize cars
   S	P19. Dream Car Championship	Polyphony 001, Toyota GT-One Race Car

1. Start GT3 with a memory card that doesn't already have a GT3 gamesave on it.
2. Save the game to this 'new' memory card. We'll call this the New GT3 MC.
3. Now start GT Concept with the memory card that has Bonus #3 unlocked and place the New GT3 MC in MC slot 2.
4. Go to Game Status, and select Bonus #3 (the third gift box icon). Now you just need to select the memory card that your new GT3 gamesave is on (New GT3 MC in slot 2).
5. Now place the New GT3 MC in slot 1 and start GT3. If all went well, you should have 48 Bronze License medals and Cr.10,018,000 in the kitty.
6. Use the Trade feature to buy your favorite cars from other GT3 gamesaves, or buy new ones from the Dealer.

1. Get your B, A, IB, IA, and S licenses. This should take about 2 hours, assuming you've already passed all of the license tests a few times before.
2. Buy a Mazda MX-5 1839cc (Cr.16,900) in semi-upgraded state (oil change plus all upgrades except the permanent ones bought but not fitted). If you don't yet have a non-tuned semi-upgraded MX-5 1839cc on another gamesave, see the Garage Gamesave section.
3. The MX-5 1839cc is capable of winning 3 of the Endurance events (E4, E7, and E10). I'd recommend starting with the Roadster Endurance (E7) since the car is already in non-tuned state. With the slowest race out of the way, you can then do the other 2 races -- Rome (E4) and Super Speedway (E10) -- using the MX-5 in tuned state.
4. There should now be about Cr.600,000 in the kitty. Since the MX-5 isn't competitive enough for the Trial Mountain Endurance (E5), you'll need to buy a second non-tuned semi-upgraded car for this race. There are a few affordable ones in the Best Cars list. If you want lots of power, I'd recommend either a RUF RGT, Zonda C12S, or Viper GTSR Concept. If you want inexpensive, I'd go with a Griffith 500 or RUF 3400S. If you want something in between, a good choice would be a Tuscan Speed 6 or Motor Sport Elise.
5. The only other race that doesn't require a high-end car is the Seattle 100 (E2). Any car that you bought in the last step should be okay in tuned state. If you won any EC22 or EC23 cars in the last two steps, you also have the option of using any one of those.
6. At this stage, the choice of events to do next depends on which cars you have so far. Below is a list of all the cars that can be won in Endurance Races and some of the events that they can be used for; the cars mentioned in Step 4 are also included. For the Prize Cars column, the events in parentheses are the events where the car can be won. For the Useful For column where Amateur League events (e.g., A16, A23) are listed, it means that the car might not be competitive enough for most of the Enduro/Pro events but can be used in Amateur League to win a more competitive car. For events that aren't listed in the legend, see the legend in Step 7 or check the Events List. For events marked with an asterisk (*), see the Engine Wear note.

   E1. Grand Valley 300 km	E5. Trial Mountain 2 Hours	E9. Mistral 78 Laps
   E2. Seattle 100 Miles	E6. Special Stage Route 11	E10. Super Speedway 150
   E3. Laguna Seca 200 Miles *	E7. Roadster Endurance	P19. Dream Car Championship *
   E4. Rome 2 Hours	E8. Tokyo Route 246: Akasaka *	P20. Polyphony Digital Cup *

   Prize Cars	Useful For
   Chevrolet Camaro Race (E6)	E1, *E3, *E8, *P12, *P19
   Chevrolet Corvette C5R (E10)	E1, *E3, *E8, *P12, *P19
   Gillet Vertigo Race Car (E4)	E1, E2, *P19, A4, A15, A16, A23
   Honda Arta NSX (E6, A16)	E1, *E3, E6, *E8, *P12, *P19
   Honda S2000 LM Race Car (E5, A23)	E1, *E3, *E8, E9, *P12, *P19
   Jaguar XJ220 Road Car (E9)	E1, E2, E4, E5, E10, *P20
   Lancia Delta HF Integrale Rally Car (E4)	E2, E4, E10
   Lister Storm V12 Race Car (E5)	E2, A4, A15, A16, A23
   Mazda MX-5 1597cc (E7)	E4, E10
   Mazda MX-5 1839cc (E7)	E4, E7, E10
   Mazda MX-5 1.8 RS (E7)	E4, E7, E10
   Mazda RX-7 LM Race Car (*E8, A23)	E1, *E3, *E8, *P12, *P19
   Mine's Skyline GT-R (E5)	E2, E4, E10, A16
   Mitsubishi FTO LM Race Car (E9, A23)	E1, *E3, E6, *E8, E9, *P2, *P12, *P19
   Nismo GT-R LM Road Car (E2)	E2, E4, E10
   Nissan Calsonic Skyline (*E3, A16)	E1, *E3, *E8, *P12, *P19
   Nissan C-West Razo Silvia (*E8)	E2, A4, A16, A23
   Nissan R390 GT1 Road Car (E1, *P2)	E1, *E3, E5, *E8, *P12, *P19, *P20
   Pagani Zonda Race Car (E4, E9, *P12)	E1, *E3, E6, *E8, E9, *P2, *P11, *P12, *P19
   Panoz Esperante GTR-1 (E2)	E1, E2, A4, A16, A23
   Polyphony 001 (E1, E5, *E8, E10, *P19, *P20)	E1, *E3, E6, *E8, E9, *P19, *P22
   Polyphony 002 (E2, *E3, E4, E6, E7, E9)	E1, *E3, E6, *E8, E9, *P19
   Renault Clio Sport Race Car (E10)	E2, E4, E10, P17, A16
   Spoon S2000 Race Car (E1)	E4, E10
   Subaru Impreza LM Race Car (E1, A23)	E1, *E3, *E8, *P12, *P19
   Tickford Falcon XR8 (E10)	E2, A4, A15, A16, A23
   Tommy Kaira ZZ II (E2, P5)	E1, E2, *E3, E4. E6, *E8, E9, E10, *P12, *P19
   Toyota Altezza LM Race Car (*E3, P15)	E1, *E3, *E8, *P12, *P19
   Toyota GT-One Road Car (*E8, A4)	E1, *E3, E5, E6, *E8, E9, *P2, *P12, *P20, P21
   Toyota SuperAutobacs Apex (E6)	E2, A4, A16, A23
   Buyable Cars	Useful For
   Dodge Viper GTSR Concept (Cr.300,000)	E1, E2, E4, E5, E10, *P19, *P20
   Lotus Motor Sport Elise (Cr.100,000)	E2, E4, E5, E10, P16, *P20
   Pagani Zonda C12S (Cr.352,440)	E1, E2, E4, E5, E10, *P19, *P20
   RUF 3400S (Cr.76,740)	E2, E4, E5, E10, *P20
   RUF RGT (Cr.160,000)	E1, E2, E4, E5, E10, *P19, *P20
   TVR Griffith 500 (Cr.62,410)	E2, E4, E5, E10, *P20
   TVR Tuscan Speed 6 (Cr.80,780)	E2, E4, E5, E10, P18, *P20

   • Affordable cars. Besides the road cars listed in the "Buyable Cars" part of the list, there are also a few race cars that can be bought for a fairly inexpensive price. At Cr.500,000, the Tommy Kaira ZZ II is the least expensive EC21 race car. If you want an EC21 LM car, you can buy a Honda S2000 LM, Mazda RX-7 LM, Mitsubishi FTO LM, Subaru Impreza LM, or Toyota Altezza LM for Cr.750,000. And, at Cr.785,000, the Pennzoil Nismo GT-R is the least expensive EC21 JGTC car.
   • Mazda MX-5 prize cars. If you win any of these that you want to keep, I'd recommend using the Saving Credits technique since upgrades can cost many times more than the car itself.
   • Non-Tuned events (E5, E7, and P20). If you plan to buy a car for any of these, be sure not to buy one that includes any permanent upgrades. In the list above, all of the cars that have non-tuned events listed in the "Useful For" column were tested in semi-upgraded state for the unrestricted events.
   • Pagani Zonda C12S. The list above assumes that the Cr.352,440 price tag isn't high enough to worry about since the car can easily earn back its cost. However, if you don't mind taking a side-step from Endurance racing, the car can also be won in Race for NA Sports Cars (P9).
   • Polyphony Digital Cup (P20). For this event, you can either use the same car you used in the Trial Mountain 2-Hour (E5), or you can use any non-tuned car listed in the Best Cars section. Since the PD Cup is one of those events that causes permanent engine wear, I'd recommend using either a RUF RGT, Motor Sport Elise, Tuscan Speed 6, Griffith 500, or RUF 3400S; any of these can be bought for less than Cr.200,000 and will give you a fairly easy go of it.
   • Rome and Trial Mountain (E4 and E5). Although not marked with an asterisk, these events can cause permanent engine wear; however, you can easily avoid this by not doing any more laps than necessary. Since the fastest rival will usually do about 73 laps in the 2 hours, you only need to do a maximum of 74 laps to win the race.
   • Route 11 and Mistral (E6 and E9). Although an EC20 or faster car is recommended, there are a few EC21 cars that are also capable of winning these events. If you've done all of the other Endurance races but haven't yet won a suitable car, you can either redo some of the races until you do, or you can buy one; the Tommy Kaira ZZ II (Cr.500,000) and Mitsubishi FTO LM (Cr.750,000) are capable of winning both races, and other cars may also be suitable. A third option is to do either the Dream Car Championship (P19) or Polyphony Digital Cup (P20) and use the "Choose Your Prize" technique to win either a Toyota GT-One Race Car (if you like longer stints) or a Polyphony 001 (if you don't mind lots of pitstops).
   • RUF RGT. The list above assumes that if you want this car, you can buy it in semi-upgraded or fully-upgraded state in whichever color you want for Cr.160,000. However, if you don't mind taking a side-step from Endurance racing and you don't mind a random color with no upgrades, the car can also be won in Boxer Spirit (P8).
   
7. After you've completed all of the Endurance Races, further gameplay basically consists of using different cars to redo your favorite ones. Although plenty of different cars that can be won in the Endurance Races, the list below includes some others that may also be useful but can only be acquired elsewhere.

   A15. Gran Turismo All Stars	A23. Dream Car Championship	P11. Gran Turismo All Stars *
   A16. Japanese GT Cars	P2. GT World Championship *	P12. Japanese GT Cars *

   EC20 Cars	Useful For
   Mazda 787B (P21)	E1, *E3, E6, *E8, E9, *P2, *P12, *P19
   Nissan R390 GT1 Race Car (*P11)	E1, *E3, E6, *E8, E9, *P2, *P11, *P12, *P19
   Toyota GT-One Race Car (*P19, *P20)	E1, *E3, E6, *E8, E9, *P2, *P11, *P12, *P19, P21
   EC21 Cars	Useful For
   Honda Castrol Mugen (*P12)	E1, *E3, E6, *E8, *P12, *P19
   Honda Raybrig NSX (A15)	E1, *E3, E6, *E8, *P12, *P19
   Jaguar XJ220 Race Car (*P2)	E1, *E3, *E8, E9, *P12, *P19
   Nissan Loctite Zexel GT-R (A16)	E1, *E3, *E8, *P12, *P19
   Nissan Pennzoil Nismo GT-R (*P12)	E1, *E3, *E8, *P12, *P19
   Toyota Castrol Tom's Supra (P15)	E1, *E3, E6, *E8, E9, *P12, *P19
   Toyota Denso Sard Supra GT (A16)	E1, *E3, E6, *E8, E9, *P12, *P19
   EC22 Cars	Useful For
   Ford GT40 Race Car (*P2)	E1, E2, *P19, A4, A15, A16, A23
   Ford GT40 Road Car (A15)	E2, E4, E10, A16
   Mercedes-Benz CLK Touring (A19)	E1, E2, A4, A16, A23
   TVR Speed 12 (P18)	E2, E4, E5, E10, *P20, P21
   Vauxhall Astra Touring Car (A5)	E1, E2, A4, A16, A23
   Vauxhall Calibra Touring Car (*P2)	E2, A4, A16, A23

   • Driving for fun. Although the goal in most racing sims is to win, there may be times when winning is less important. If you have any cars that you enjoy driving, regardless of whether or not they're competitive enough, the Endurance races will allow you to get the most use out of them. Alternatively, some of the individual races in some Professional League events may also provide an endurance-like experience.
   • Win or buy. If you want a car that can only be won in an event that you don't particularly enjoy, an alternative is to just buy it. Remember that this section is not about game completion; the only goal here is to keep it enjoyable.
   

• Engine Wear. To avoid engine degradation, it's important to change the oil periodically. From what I've seen, the oil light comes on at around 300km after the last oil change. Driving a car while its oil light is lit can cause permanent engine damage that can make it impossible to restore the car's original power. The events below are all long enough to cause the oil light to burn. For these events, it might be a good idea to use a car that's fairly easy to replace (one that can easily be won, or a car that can be bought from either a dealer or from another memory card).

  Event	Info
  P2. GT World Championship	10 races, 10-15 laps each, 450+ km.
  P11. Gran Turismo All Stars	10 races, 15 laps each, 630+ km.
  P12. Japanese GT Car Championship	10 races, 15-20 laps each, 710+ km.
  P19. Dream Car Championship	7 races, 15-20 laps each, 480+ km.
  P20. Polyphony Digital Cup	10 races, 20 laps each, 710+ km.
  P22. Formula GT	10 races, 25-78 laps each, 1200+ km.
  E3. Laguna Seca 200 Miles	90 laps, ca. 320 km.
  E4. Rome 2 Hours	300+ km. possible after 75 laps
  E5. Trial Mountain 2 Hours	300+ km. possible after 75 laps
  E8. Tokyo Route 246: Akasaka	100 laps, ca. 510 km.

  If you're using a car that's not easy to replace, you can minimize engine wear by not doing any qualifying or practice runs, and by exiting races as soon as they're finished (instead of waiting for the status screens to show the race results). For the timed events (E4 and E5), I'd recommend not doing any more laps than necessary (i.e., no more than 74 laps). For championships, I'd recommend skipping the races held on the longest tracks and just doing the bare minimum to win the championship.
• Good Cars First. The events below may be worth trying early on (ideally, right after acquiring a new license). Each of these can (potentially) award a much better car than the one used to win it (i.e., you can use a low-end car to win a high-end one). Note that, for Endurance races, you may need to do the race multiple times to win the listed car; for Championships, however, you can use the "Choose Your Prize" technique.

  L.	Event	Acquire
  A	A2. American Championship	Chevrolet Camaro Race
  A	A3. European Championship	Gillet Vertigo
  A	A19. Legend of the Silver Arrow	Mercedes-Benz CLK Touring
  A	A20. Altezza Championship	Toyota Altezza LM
  IB	P15. Vitz/Yaris Race	Toyota Castrol Tom's Supra, Altezza LM
  IB	P18. Tuscan Challenge	TVR Speed 12
  IA	P14. Race of the Red Emblem	Nissan Calsonic Skyline
  IA	E2. Seattle 100 Mile Challenge	Polyphony 002, Tommy Kaira ZZ II
  IA	E4. Passage to the Colosseum	Polyphony 002, Pagani Zonda Race
  IA	E5. Trial Mountain Endurance	Polyphony 001, Honda S2000 LM
  IA	E7. Roadster Endurance Event	Polyphony 002
  IA	E10. Super Speedway 150 Miles	Polyphony 001, Chevrolet Corvette C5R
  S	P20. Polyphony Digital Cup	Polyphony 001, Toyota GT-One Race

  For the events below, you'll need a fairly high-end car to start with. It is, however, possible to use a less competitive high-end car (e.g., EC22 or EC21) to win a more competitive high-end car (e.g., EC20 or faster).

  L.	Event	Acquire
  IB	A4. GT World Championship	Toyota GT-One Road
  IB	A16. Japanese GT Car Championship	any of the 4 random prize cars
  IB	P9. Race for NA Sports Cars	Pagani Zonda C12S
  IA	P12. Japanese GT Car Championship	Pagani Zonda Race
  IA	E1. Grand Valley 300 km	Polyphony 001
  IA	E3. Laguna Seca 200 Miles	Polyphony 002
  IA	E8. Tokyo Route 246: Akasaka	Polyphony 001
  S	P19. Dream Car Championship	Polyphony 001, Toyota GT-One Race

• Play It Safe. If you save the game, you can revert to the saved gamestate. This may be useful if you're low on credits and plan to buy a car and/or upgrades that you're not sure about; if you change your mind, you can undo the purchase by reloading the game. Saving the game regularly may also be useful for championships if you're using an under-powered car and you're not sure if you'll win the next race; if you get a bad race result, you can reload the game and try it again.
  
• Rally Racing. If you want to do some rally racing, you'll need either a road car fitted with Dirt tires or a full-fledged rally car. For the latter, you can fit your best car with Super Soft Racing tires and then do the Rally League > Special Stage Route 5 II Wet series (R10) to win a Subaru Impreza Rally Car Prototype. The Impreza should be good enough to get you through the rest of the Rally League events. Or, you could buy or win a Suzuki Escudo if you want an easy go of it.
  
• Rival Cars. For some events, there may be one or more rivals that seem to be in a league of their own. If you're using a car that's less competitive, you can try exiting and then restarting the event to get a different grid line-up. A few of the more difficult to beat rivals are listed below:

  Event	Rivals To Avoid
  B20. GT World Championship	SuperAutobacs APEX MR-S, C-West Razo Silvia
  A2. American Championship	Corvette C5R
  P11. Gran Turismo All Stars	R390 GT1 Race Car
  E3. Laguna Seca 200 Miles	Viper GTS-R Team Oreca

  Note, however, that some rivals may only seem unbeatable at first, but can easily be beaten using a different pitstop strategy. The list below includes rivals that are fast but do very short stints. If you can do longer stints and keep the gap small, you can easily win these events using a less competitive car.

  Event	AI Stint
  P19. Dream Car Championship	FTO LM Race Car: 3-6 laps • ZZ II: 3-6 laps
  P20. Polyphony Digital Cup	Corvette Z06: 2 laps
  E4. Passage to the Colosseum	Clio Sport V6 24V: 6 laps
  E5. Trial Mountain Endurance	NSX Type S Zero: 5 laps
  E7. Roadster Endurance	Mazda MX-5 1.8i: 3 laps
  E10. Super Speedway 150 Miles	RUF RGT: 9 laps • Motor Sport Elise: 12 laps

  Ideally, "longer stints" means two or more times longer than the fastest AI driver. To be able to win on pitstop strategy, you'll need to keep the initial gap small enough to overtake the fastest AI driver when it makes its first pitstop, and then maintain a reasonable lead thereafter.
  
• Tire Wear. For longer races, tire wear can sometimes be a more important factor than a car's power and speed. Every time an opponent pits, you gain about a 20-second advantage by not pitting, so lighter cars with low tire wear can sometimes be more competitive than more powerful cars with heavy tire wear. On some tracks, the tires may wear unevenly. For races that run clockwise, the left tires may wear faster than the right; for anti-clockwise races, the right tires may wear faster than the left. If you notice your right tires wearing down much quicker than your left, you can compensate by pushing harder through the right turns and going easy on the left turns; if your left tires wear faster than the right, push harder through the left turns and go easy on the right turns. Also, if you know you can win on pitstop strategy, you can afford to take it easy for the first few laps and let the tires warm up before battling it out with other cars; if you're using a less competitive car and try to overtake too early on, it may result in unnecessary tire wear that could make the car's handling more difficult later in the race.

• Permanent Upgrades. The following is a list of upgrades that can't be uninstalled. These should not be bought for any car that you plan to use for non-tuned events. For a list of cars that are especially useful in non-tuned state, see Best Cars.

  Section	Upgrades That Can't Be Uninstalled
  Engine & Exhaust	• Port Polish   • Full-Engine Balancing   • Disp. Increase
  Others/ROM	• Lightweight/Stage1   • Lightweight/Stage2   • Lightweight/Stage3

• Saving Credits. When using the Trade feature, an upgraded car costs the same as a stock one. If you have a spare memory card, you can get free upgrades using the steps below. This technique is especially useful if you plan to buy a car and the upgrades cost more than the car itself.
  1. Save the game to MC1 (your main gamesave).
  2. Buy or win a car and upgrade it,
  3. Save the game to MC2 (the spare memory card),
  4. Reload the game from MC1,
  5. Use the Trade feature to buy the upgraded car from MC2.

1. Start GT3 with a gamesave that has lots of credits. I'll call this the 'Original gamesave' hereafter.
2. Sell all of the unwanted cars, and then save the game to the spare memory card. This will be your Garage gamesave.
3. Reload the Original gamesave, and then resume normal gameplay until you come across a car that you want to add to your Garage gamesave.
4. Upgrade the new car as much as you like (including an oil change, if you want more power), and then save the game. Optionally, if you have another spare memory card (a third card; not the ones used for the Original or Garage gamesaves), you can use that as Temporary storage.
5. Reload the Garage gamesave, and then use the Trade feature to buy the new car from your Original gamesave (or from Temporary storage, if you're using 3 cards).
6. Save the game.
7. Repeat Steps 3-6 until your Garage gamesave includes all of the cars that you want.

• For Championships using 2 Memory Cards:
  1. Work your way through a championship until you have enough of a points lead to be able to skip the rest of the races and still win the championship.
  2. After the second to last race, save the game to MC1 (your main gamesave). MC2 (a spare memory card) should be in slot 2.
  3. Continue the championship to collect the prize car.
  4. If you don't get the car that you want, just reload the game from MC1 and repeat the last step until you do.
  5. Once you get the car that you want, save the game to MC2. Optionally, upgrade the car before saving to MC2.
  6. Reload the game from MC1.
  7. Continue the championship to collect the prize car.
  8. If you don't get the car that you want, repeat steps 6-7 until you do.
  9. Once you get the car that you want, go to Home and use the Trade feature to buy the previously-won prize cars from MC2 (you'll need to do this because MC2 will be overwritten).
  10. Check your Garage to make sure everything went well with the Trade (i.e., make sure all the cars are there), and then, if nothing is missing, save the game to MC2. Optionally, upgrade the cars before saving to MC2.
  11. Repeat steps 6-10 until you have all the cars that you want.
• For Championships using 3 Memory Cards:
  1. Work your way through a championship until you have enough of a points lead to be able to skip the rest of the races and still win the championship.
  2. After the second to last race, save the game to MC1, MC2, and MC3. The first memory card (MC1) will hold your car collection, the second (MC2) should be a spare card that will be used as temporary storage, and the third (MC3) should be a spare card that will be used as the backup.
  3. Continue the championship to collect the prize car.
  4. If you don't get the car that you want, just reload the game and repeat the last step until you do.
  5. Once you get the car that you want, save the game to MC1.
  6. Now remove MC1 and replace it with MC3 in slot 1. MC2 should be in slot 2.
  7. Reload the game from MC3 in slot 1.
  8. Continue the championship to collect the prize car.
  9. If you don't get the car that you want, just reload the game and repeat the last step until you do.
  10. Once you get the car that you want, save the game to MC2 in slot 2. Optionally, upgrade the car before saving to MC2.
  11. Remove MC3 from slot 1 and replace it with MC1.
  12. Reload the game from MC1.
  13. Use the Trade feature to buy the newly-won car from MC2.
  14. Save the game to MC1.
  15. Repeat steps 6-14 until you have all the cars that you want.
• For Single Race Series:
  1. Do all the races of a single-race series except the easiest one.
  2. Save the game to MC1 in slot 1 and insert MC2 in slot 2. The first memory card (MC1) will hold your car collection, and the second (MC2) should be a spare card that will be used as temporary storage.
  3. Do the undone race to collect the prize car.
  4. If you don't get the car that you want, just reload the game from MC1 and repeat the last step until you do.
  5. Once you get the car that you want, save the game to MC2 in slot 2. Optionally, upgrade the car before saving to MC2.
  6. Reload the game from MC1.
  7. Use the Trade feature to buy the newly-won car from MC2.
  8. Save the game to MC1.
  9. Repeat steps 3-8 until you have all of the cars that you want.

• Below is a glossary of some of the terms used on this page:
  • Fully-Upgraded: A car in fully-upgraded state includes the maximum upgrades that are available for the car. A fully-upgraded car is basically any car that can't be upgraded any further.
  • Modified: This term is used to differentiate between cars that are eligible for non-tuned events and those that aren't. Whereas a semi-upgraded car can become eligible for non-tuned events by uninstalling all of its non-allowable upgrades, a modified car includes non-allowable upgrades that can't be uninstalled. Examples of modified cars are the Ford GT40 Road Car and most tuner cars (e.g., Mine's, Mugen, Spoon).
  • Non-Tuned: A car in non-tuned state may (optionally) be semi-upgraded, but none of the included upgrades (except tires) are fitted. A non-tuned car is basically any car that's eligible for non-tuned events. Note that non-tuned is not the same as stock. For non-tuned events, you are allowed to make some changes; you can choose your tires, you can change the oil, you can change the ASM and TCS settings on all cars, and you can change the downforce on some cars.
  • PD-Tuned Basically, a PD-tuned car is any prize car. For any car that can also be bought from a dealer, the PD-tuned version (i.e., the prize version) will have slightly more power than the dealer version.
  • Semi-Upgraded: A car in semi-upgraded state may include any upgrades except the permanent ones. Note that semi-upgraded is not necessarily the same as partially-upgraded; cars that include stock upgrades that aren't allowed in non-tuned events are considered modified, not semi-upgraded.
  
• The list below shows some of the things that can affect game statistics:
  • Entering a single (non-championship) race counts as 1 day.
  • Entering a championship counts as 1 day, no matter how many races are in it (i.e., doing 10 races of a 10-race championship still counts as only 1 day).
  • Entering a track in "Run & Settings" counts as 1 day.
  • Entering a License Test counts as 1 day.
  • Entering a Machine Test counts as 1 day.
  • Skipping a race in a championship counts as a lost race (for win percentage).
  • In Arcade Mode, using a car from your Garage (Gran Turismo Mode) puts mileage on that car and affects the "Total Mileage" statistic.
  • The "Trophies Acquired" statistic includes trophies won in Arcade Mode, but not trophies won in License tests.
• When using the Trade feature and viewing cars, some of them may have "----" shown as the price. To find out how much these cars will cost, press [Square] to go back to the Trade list. Then, press [L2] or [R2] until "PRICE" is shown at the top right of the screen. The rightmost column will then show the Sell price. Multiply the Sell price by 4 to get the Buy price.
• In Arcade Mode > Single Race, new Areas (sets of tracks) are unlocked by completing each Area in turn (i.e., completing Area A unlocks Area B, and so on). There are 3 difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, and Hard. To unlock the next Area, a win at Easy level will suffice. However, if you're going for game completion, you can save yourself some time if you skip the first two levels and just do Hard (i.e., you don't need to do each level separately).
• In Arcade Mode > Single Race, if you plan to use a car from your Garage and you want to change the car's setup, you'll need to do that in Free Run beforehand. As far as I can tell, there is no way to get the usual race menu in Single Race. Note that changes in the setup will persist whether the changes were made in Arcade Mode or in Gran Turismo Mode.
• As far as I can tell, there is nothing in Arcade Mode that advances Gran Turismo Mode's Day counter. If you wanted to change a car's setup without entering a race or Run & Settings (which do advance the Day counter), you could change the setup in Arcade Mode > Free Run.