GT Times

Sort of a random question, but were you ever put against an AI pack in GT3 consisting of one or more upgraded race cars? While you faced tons of upgraded road cars in both GT3 and 4, GT4 never put you up against upgraded race cars. Did GT3?

Don't think so mate.

If my recollection is right; in GT4 you simply couldn't upgrade race cars, and in GT3 only by means of the Editer program.

I could be wrong tho.

I seem to recall there was a cup where cars were indeed upgraded. Think it was the pro all-stars. Like The Wind also featured upgraded racecars. A stock GT-ONE Race Car (TS-020) didn't do 240+ MPH to my knowledge.

Oh, but it does! Just tried it out. It'll pull up to 239/240 on it's own, and bounce off the limiter at 241, but I did get it to 242 in some drafting.

Some race cars could be modified, but it was mostly a third or fourth stage turbo, and chassis stiffening(and refreshing). Some allowed more mods, others allows less.

This is something I haven't thought about, but I did remember it bugging me when I knew that a stock car that I was racing against could NOT really be going as fast as it was, back in GT3, or GT2? Can't remember which, or if it were both.

That's what I want to avoid! Can I take a stock 787B, R390 GT1, or TS020 through, say, all of the professional league race series excluding the Formula GT and expect to be put against equal cars at best?

In GT2 in the Trial Mountain Endurance occassionally, the A.I. would put you up against the Vector M12 race car which would slay just about any road car that was legal for the race. However, I did once encounter a glitch in GT3 whereby a plain jane NSX was able to keep pace with my F090/S. It was the Mid-engine cup, and I was lapping the NSX near the end of the final lap at GVS and the NSX clinged to my rear like it was magnetically attached. XtremeD63 has seen this replay and blown away by the amazing speed of the NSX. Apparantly GT3 won't let you lap certain cars in certain races if it can help it.

! Is that replay posted online somewhere?

I remember a Grindelwald(sp?) race in GT2 that was with the classic cars and every once and a while there'd be a GT40 tossed into the mix, if I remember correctly. I was always trying to find a car that could beat it, through a combination of being really lightweight(it was power limited, wasn't it?) and my driving skill. I don't know, all I know is that I played GT2 a LOT because I kept playing it well into GT3's time. I didn't get a PS2 until after GT4 came out, and only played GT3 on a friend's PS2. GT2 is by far my favorite though, loved it. And then there were some very cool aspects to GT1 as well.

Can't wait for GT5!!!!!!

Yup, I remember a Seattle race where the Raybrig was doing consistent 1:11 laps as well. It out-accellerated my fully-tuned Denso on the straights and I couldn't keep up in the corners either. And I'm pretty sure it wasn't because of a lack of driving skill.

A bit off of the topic, but I'm almost positive that the most recognized case of this in GT4 is the Opel Speedster one-make race. The AI there is upgraded beyond what is available to you, as directly evidenced by the fact that a fully upgraded entry car gains >60 A-spec points. My guess is they have a stage 4 turbo (which is essentially just a coefficient on engine power), an upgrade not flagged as available to the player.

Another instance is an Elise variant that pops up in the El Capitan endurance race, which clearly makes more power than any Elise available to the player.

Back on topic, I might have to experiment with this in GT3!

I hope that a Stage 4 Turbo is NOT just a coefficient on engine power, for the sake of realism. I'm thinking it also shifts the power band upwards noticeably, and narrows it, at the possible expense of low-RPM torque (depending on the engine). I think there are even words to this effect in the descriptions of the upgrades.

It depends on the car. Some DO skew the torque curve toward the high end, but you'd be shocked how many cars in GT4 simply provide a vertical stretch to the entire curve. Particularly the race cars. Those power curves were never one of GT4's high points, in my mind. Terribly unrealistic, especially in relation to real life. Take a look at the Honda S2000, with its 2.0L inline four providing an a nearly flat torque curve, whereas the huge 7.0L+ muscle cars have mountainous peaks and valleys.

The giant turbos in GT3 and 4 never felt like they had disadvantages!

From a programming standpoint, the vertical stretch seems like the lazy way out—where most players won't notice or care.

Agreed, especially the part about "lazy way out" and "won't notice or care".

Agreed! The power curves are pathetic and so are the suspension settings! For the most part.

I'm reminded of what I believe is one of the flattest torque curves in the whole game... the Suzuki Concept S2! Yep, that's right. Flat as Kansas.

Anyway, for my current GT3 game, I'll be trying all of the Professional League series as stock-power Le Mans prototypes at best. I'll keep you guys informed if I run into unusually tough competition.