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CONTENTS
Spacing and Length
Permissions
Introduction
Finding Car Set-ups
Qualifying
Circuit Tips
General Tips
Suggested Car Set-Ups
Adjusting Car Set-Ups
Sample Race Performance
Contact
SPACING AND LENGTH
For optimum readability, this driving guide should be
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Check for appropriate font setting by making sure the numbers
and letters below line up:
This guide is well over 25 pages in length in the Macintosh
version of Word 98 using single-spaced Courier 12 font. It
may not be a good idea to print this guide in its entirety.
====================================
PERMISSIONS
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RobsGaming.com, ps2fantasy.com, and neoseeker.com.
Permission is granted to download and print one copy for
personal use.
INTRODUCTION
Of all the race series in Gran Turismo 3, Formula GT is
without question the most difficult set of races in
Simulation Mode. In all other races and series, even when
restrictions on acceptable cars exist, it is still possible
to find at least one car which can outclass the competition
to allow for relatively easy wins.
However, with the Formula GT competition composed solely of
F1 cars - by far the best cars in Gran Turismo 3 - Formula GT
is ROUGH at best. With all six cars so closely matched, a
player's driving skill must be at an EXTREMELY high level in
order to even have a chance at winning each race - this means
that proper braking zones, judicious acceleration, flawless
racing lines, expert cornering, thoughtful pit strategy, and
rapid reflexes are absolutely crucial to success in Formula
GT. Also, the series becomes more and more difficult with
each race; this is largely due to the very noticeable
decrease in horsepower (and top-end speed), since there are
no opportunities to change the oil during the series.
This guide presents how I was able to win the Formula GT
series using the F686/M (Nigel Mansell's Williams car from
the 1986 F1 season). What is presented here may or may not
work for others, depending on chosen car, driving style,
level of concentration, positioning of the planets, etc.
Also, I play with a standard controller; these suggested car
set-ups may need to be modified for those using racing
wheels.
FINDING CAR SET-UPS
Like other series races in Gran Turismo 3, each race can be
entered as part of a series or individually. To find car
set-ups, it is best to enter each race event individually,
work on car set-ups, save appropriate set-ups for each
circuit, and move on to the next individual race venue.
Once any desired changes have been made to car set-up, they
can be tested by going into Qualifying mode. This is great,
because one's personal best lap time will be displayed along
with the current Pole Position time, providing incentive to
continue trying to attain the fastest possible lap times. If
more changes need to be made, simply exiting Qualifying and
returning to Settings will permit making more changes to the
car set-up.
Gear ratios can be adjusted to fit one's personal driving
style, and this can be one of the best things to change in
terms of car set-up in order to maximize car performance at a
given venue. For most circuits, a fairly low gear ratio is
best, providing excellent initial acceleration for the
standing starts, and excellent acceleration exiting tight
corners. However, for Test Course and Super Speedway, a
rather high gear ratio (combined with the lowest possible
settings for both Ride Height and Downforce) is best to
provide a faster top-end speed; in this case, riding the
walls or purposely bouncing off the walls to force cornering
may be necessary at Super Speedway, especially if the tires
are very worn (orange tire indicators) or practically non-
existent (red tire indicators).
Downforce is also extremely important in car set-ups.
Raising downforce will assist with cornering, but will also
lower top-end speed. Lowering downforce will increase top-
end speed, but cornering will be more difficult. For F1
cars, downforce can be adjusted for both the front and rear
of the car. Ride height also works in the same manner as
downforce, although its effects are generally minimal in
terms of cornering and top-end speed.
Later in this guide, a suggested car set-up is presented for
each race venue. The presented set-ups may or may not work
for everyone, depending on chosen car, driving style, level
of concentration, positioning of the planets, etc.
For those concerned about keeping a car's mileage as low as
possible, try this tip for finding car set-ups. Set-up files
are saved independent of the game progress file. Therefore,
use the chosen car to work on car set-up for a specific
course, save the car set-ups when satisfied with it, then go
back to the game's main menu (where the selection between
Arcade Mode and Simulation Mode is made) and reload game
progress. In this manner, the car 'will not have been used,'
but a saved car set-up will still be available :-)
====================================
QUALIFYING
In the original Gran Turismo, players had a tremendous
incentive to qualify for races, as players could earn extra
money (which was especially important when first beginning
the game) by qualifying on Pole Position (P1). This was
discontinued in Gran Turismo 2, and still had not been
reinstated for Gran Turismo 3. For this reason, it generally
is not advantageous to qualify in Gran Turismo 3, especially
if using a car which outclasses the competition in a race.
However, in Formula GT, qualifying is important, especially
in the latter races in the series. If at all possible, it is
important to qualify P1 (Pole Position), or at least on the
front row, to get ahead of the pack as quickly as possible,
as there is usually a traffic jam at the first corner of each
venue (this is especially true at Cote d'Azur/Monaco).
Qualifying begins from Pit Lane, with players forced to make
an Out Lap (a.k.a. Warm-up Lap) before qualifying actually
begins. At most race venues, players will exit Pit Lane in
front of the competition as they prepare to qualify; at other
venues, it is best to leave Pit Lane, pull aside, and wait
until the other five cars have safely passed and created some
distance, to ensure that players will have as little traffic
as possible to try to place as high on the starting grid as
possible.
There is no time limit nor lap limit for qualifying in Gran
Turismo 3. However, the longer a player attempts to improve
lap times, the better and better and better the CPU-
controlled cars perform in qualifying. Therefore, once a
player qualifies on Pole Position, it is best to immediately
quit qualifying to ensure that other cars cannot best that
lap time; continuing to run laps to gain an even lower lap
time could very well result in one or more of the CPU-
controlled cars besting the player's Pole Position time.
====================================
CIRCUIT TIPS
Here are some tips for driving each circuit in Formula GT:
Midfield Raceway: Take extreme care with the accelerator on
exiting the sharp left-hand J-turn
entering the lower tunnel. Too much
acceleration here will produce wheelspin,
which in turn will unduly accelerate
tire wear.
Seattle: The long three-tiered climb can be fun
for sending cars airborne, but it is very
dangerous due to the sharp perpendicular
right-hand turn at the top. As tire
wear increases, this corner in particular
becomes more and more dangerous,
requiring earlier and earlier braking.
Grand Valley: Grand Valley is the longest race venue in
Grand Turismo 3. As such, keep a close
eye on the tire indicators; if a tire
shows red early in a lap, it will be a
long and heart-stopping drive back to Pit
Lane to change the tires. Also, be very
gentle on the throttle exiting the final
chicane (just after the final tunnel), or
else wheelspin will cause undue
acceleration of tire wear.
Super Speedway: Use the walls to force the car to turn;
however, countersteering will likely be
necessary in order to keep the car from
spinning, especially as tire wear
accelerates.
Rome: This is a somewhat long venue as well, so
if a tire shows red early in a lap,
expect a lot of trouble getting back to
Pit Lane to change the tires. On the
final corner, be constantly on the
lookout for VERY slow cars, as they are
making the hard right-hand J-turn into
Pit Lane (Pit Entry is very poorly
placed at this venue).
Test Course: Once the lights turn green, stand on the
accelerator for twenty-five continuous,
non-stop laps without ever stopping to
change tires. The Test Course venue is
sufficiently wide and the corners
sufficiently gentle that there is NO
reason to bump other cars or the inside
or outside barriers.
Laguna Seca: The trick to a fast lap time is to
safely get through the Corkscrew AND the
final corner (extremely tight left-hand
right-angle corner with steep rumble
strips on the inside and a wide patch of
kitty litter on the outside). It is
perhaps best to slow greatly for both
areas, and accelerate quickly when the
sectors have been safely cleared.
Apricot Hill: The hairpin behind the Paddock is a VERY
slow corner; any speed above 60MPH is
certain to cause the car to slide and/or
spin. The final chicane MUST NOT BE
SHORTCUTTED, as the sand on the inside of
each of its tight corners will very
quickly wear down the tires, thus making
it extremely difficult (if not absolutely
impossible) to stay ahead of the
competition.
Tokyo R246: The front portion of the circuit is quite
wide, but the back portion is rather
narrow. It is very easy to bump a wheel
on a barrier or against another car while
on the back portion of the circuit.
Precision driving as well as patience are
very important on the back portion of the
Tokyo R246 venue.
Cote d'Azur/Monaco: Gran Turismo 3 presents a version of the
real-world Monaco circuit (used annually
for the F1 Grand Prix of Monte Carlo)
which is generally a little wider than
in reality and in most other racing
games. However, having visited Monaco, I
can state that the 'feel' of the city has
been captured quite well.
While GT3's version of this circuit is
a bit 'wide,' the circuit is still VERY
narrow. There is really no place to
attain high speeds, and passing is
extremely difficult even in the best
circumstances. Even expert drivers will
certainly bump barriers and other cars
rather consistently - which will increase
tire wear with each bump.
High downforce and ride height
settings combined with shot gear ratios
and A LOT of patience are required at
Cote d'Azur/Monaco. If at all possible,
wait to pass competitors as they go to
Pit Lane.
====================================
GENERAL TIPS
If this has not yet been done, players should save the
default/stock set-up of the chosen vehicle before changing
car set-ups. This is a good practice for ALL cars in GT3, as
some races require only non-tuned vehicles. This is also a
good idea in case - while fiddling with car set-ups - a
player really adversely changes the car's set-up, and
reverting back to the default set-up allows the player to
start over.
For those concerned about keeping a car's mileage as low as
possible, try this tip for finding car set-ups. Set-up files
are saved independently of the game progress file, which can
be used to a player's advantage. Therefore, use the chosen
car to work on car set-up for a specific course, save the car
set-ups when satisfied with it, then go back to the game's
main menu (where the selection between Arcade Mode and
Simulation Mode is made) and reload game progress. In this
manner, the car 'will not have been used' as far as the CPU
is concerned, but a saved car set-up will still be available
for use later :-)
Unfortunately, F1 cars can only use Medium Tires (and are the
only cars in Gran Turismo 3 which are limited to just Medium
Tires). This means that the tires will usually wear out
after six or seven laps. Therefore, pit strategy is very
important for each race. It is necessary to try to make the
tires last as long as possible between pit stops, thus
resulting in fewer pit stops. In general, a pit stop will
cost 20-25 seconds (shorter at Test Course, since Pit Lane is
essentially non-existent; longer at Super Speedway, since Pit
Lane - including Pit Entry and Pit Exit - is essentially a
full lap long), so if a player can make one or two fewer pit
stops than the CPU-controlled cars, that will certainly give
the player a significant advantage time/distance. It is
possible to use non-F1 cars in Formula GT, with the advantage
that ANY tire compound can be used, including the longest-
durability/lowest-grip Super-slick Tires; however, there are
NO other cars in Gran Turismo 3 which are inherently as fast
AND agile as the F1 cars, so success through the Formula GT
series with non-F1 cars is very slim (some individual races,
such as the Test Course race, can easily be won with non-F1
cars, such as the 1,000,000Cr Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak
Version).
On the Out Lap (Warm-up Lap) in qualifying, it helps to
purposely drive off the pavement and/or slide the tires a
bit, especially on the shorter circuits such as Super
Speedway. This will raise the tire temperature faster, so
that the tire indicators should show all four tires as green
by the time qualifying begins; this will provide maximum tire
grip. Since most players should only need one or two
qualifying laps anyhow to attain Pole Position if they have
followed the strategy of pre-determining car set-ups before
entering the Formula GT series, tire durability is not really
an issue in qualifying, so it is best to make use of this
fact to attain the best possible pavement grip for
qualifying. Note that the off/slide tactic is not needed at
Test Course, where tires are not an issue.
For each race, I have specified the laps on which I made my
stops to change tires. However, this often means that the
last 1-2 laps before stopping will be very harrowing, as the
tires will be EXTREMELY worn. This pit strategy is largely
based upon trying to either stop on the same laps as the
toughest competitors, or one lap LATER than the fastest
competition. Those with extensive experience driving with
Super-slick Tires will likely have less difficulty with these
final laps before stops, as they will already be quite
familiar with driving with severely-reduced pavement grip;
those without extensive experience driving with Super-slick
Tires may wish to delay participating in Formula GT until
they feel comfortable driving at high speeds with the lowest-
grip tire compound.
Just prior to entering the Formula GT series, it is important
to change the oil and wash the car. Changing the oil will
provide a temporary boost in horsepower (thus delaying the
time at which horsepower reduction due to dirty oil begins),
while washing the car should help slightly with the
aerodynamic flow around the vehicle (thus assisting with
acceleration and top-end speed).
There is a formula which dictates when it is possible to
cancel out of Formula GT and still win the bonus money and
one of the bonus cars. If the player's lead is AT LEAST (10
x the remaining number of races) + 1, then the player can
safely cancel out of the remaining races and still win the
series. Should a player and a competitor both end the series
tied for the points lead, the player WILL NOT receive the
bonus money and one of the bonus cars; therefore, the 'extra'
one point is a crucial advantage, one which players must take
strides to achieve. This also means, however, that if only
the final single point is required to guarantee winning the
series, then a player need only participate in and COMPLETE
one of the remaining races, as finishing in last place in
Gran Turismo 3 still results in attaining a single point
(this is not the case in some other racing games, such as
Newman-Haas Racing).
SUGGESTED CAR SET-UPS
These are the car set-ups which worked for me in Formula GT
using the F686/M. Note that only the default/stock parts
were used. In most cases, I was able to qualify on Pole
Position (P1).
ADJUSTING CAR SET-UPS
Gran Turismo 3 allows for significant car customization.
However, I find that there are just a few things which will
provide great changes in car handling when adjusted:
Brake Balance: Brake strength for each axle can be adjusted
independently. I personally like strong
braking ability (Level 20 or higher), to
allow for late braking zones to pass other
cars on corner entry.
Downforce: This is the single most important item which
can affect car handling in corners. Downforce
on an F1 car makes use of the front and rear
wings; thus, downforce can be adjusted for the
front and rear of the car independently.
The downforce can be raised to improve
cornering ability, but this will result in
lower top-end speed and slower acceleration.
Conversely, lowering downforce will make
cornering at high speeds more difficult (thus
requiring slower cornering speeds), while
improving acceleration and top-end speed.
Gear Ratios: Gran Turismo 3 provides two methods for
adjusting gear ratios: the auto setting (the
lowermost slider on the Gear Ratios screen)
and manual setting (the smaller sliders on the
Gear Ratios screen). In general, using the
auto setting slider is good enough; experts
may prefer to fine-tune each gear using the
smaller manual setting sliders above.
Raising the gear ratios (moving a slider
toward the right) will result in higher
speeds before gear changes, and thus a higher
top-end speed overall; however, acceleration
will be slower. Lowering the gear ratios
(moving a slider toward the left) will result
in lower speeds before gear changes, and thus
a lower top-end speed overall; however, this
creates faster acceleration. Those using the
smaller manual setting sliders can essentially
mix-and-match gear ratios; perhaps the lower
gears can be set for faster acceleration while
the higher gears can be set for faster top-end
speed. Note that Final Gear affects all the
other gears in addition to how each individual
gear has been set.
Caution: Using too high a gear ratio in the
higher gears can cause a car to have some
difficulty climbing into the highest gear,
and/or drop from the highest gear to the
next-lowest gear very quickly. This is due
to the engine not being able to keep up
enough revs to climb into or stay in the
highest gear. If such a high gear ratio is
important, try lowering the front and rear
downforce and ride height as much as possible
while still attempting to maintain car control
in cornering; if this does not work, then the
gear ratio will need to be lowered.
Ride Height: Ride height is adjustable for both the front
and rear axles. Whereas downforce controls
the flow of air over the car, ride height
handles airflow underneath the vehicle. As
with downforce, raise ride height to improve
cornering at the sacrifice of acceleration and
top-end speed; lower ride height to improve
acceleration and top-end speed while
sacrificing high-speed cornering ability.
Often, making adjustments in one aspect of a car's set-up
will require adjusting other aspects as well in order to
maintain a good balance for car handling. Adjustments will
almost certainly be necessary; the set-ups provided in this
guide are simply suggestions based upon my rather-aggressive
driving style, and will likely require some fine-tuning for
use by others.
SAMPLE RACE PERFORMANCE
Here is my sample race performance in Formula GT. For Start
and Finish, I designate positions in FIA style: P1 for First
Place/Pole Position, P2 for Second Place, P3 for Third Place,
P4 for Fourth Place, P5 for Fifth Place, and P6 for Sixth
Place. Also, points are awarded in FIA style: ten points for
P1, six points for P2, four points for P3, three points for
P4, two points for P5, and a single point for P6; in order to
receive points, a car must finish a given race (in other
words, canceling out of a race is not permitted).
* For the 25-lap Test Course race, it is best to NEVER make
any stops to change tires. The course is so wide that
there is always enough room to make passes (especially
when drafting), and the banked turns are so incredibly
gentle that there is to reason to worry about needing
tires for braking and cornering. However, with the
suggested car set-up for Test Course, the left-rear tire
will wear down far faster than any of the other tires,
meaning that for three or four laps, the car will
constantly want to edge to the left until the other three
tire indicators also show red; near-continuous
countersteering will be required for the straightaways,
and extra care will be needed if running high on the
banking.
** Entering the race at Tokyo R246, I only needed one more
point in order to guarantee winning the Formula GT
series (the next closest car in the series was exactly
20 points behind entering the penultimate race of the
series). Therefore, I did not bother truly trying to
compete, as finishing in last place would grant me the
single point I needed. This accounts for finishing in
last place and making so many pit stops in comparison
with the length of the race (25 laps); going six or seven
laps between stops would have made driving rather
difficult on the back side of the course with its many
high-speed twists and corners.
*** Since the series was won following the penultimate race
(at Tokyo R246), I purposely canceled out of Cote
d'Azur/Monaco. The series having been won, I instead
intend to complete this race as an individual race at a
later date. This will also allow me to participate in
the Cote d'Azur/Monaco race with a car fresh from the
Car Wash and with fresh oil.
CONTACT
For questions, rants, raves, comments of appreciation, etc.,
or to be added to my e-mail list for updates to this driving
guide, please contact me at: FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM; also, if
you have enjoyed this guide and feel that it has been helpful
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address.
To find the latest version of this and all my other PSX/PS2
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=======================================================================
Wolf Feather Jamie Stafford
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Just as there are many parts needed to make a human a human, there's a
remarkable number of things needed to make an individual what they are.
- Major Kusanagi, _Ghost in the Shell_
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What isn't remembered never happened. - _Serial Experiments Lain_
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