Do you remember reading La Fontaine’s “The Cicada and the Ant” as a child? It teaches the importance of saving up for hard times ahead. That’s precisely what I did today, making some vegetable stew which I’ve stored away into 70 jars for the winter. It’ll come in handy when it’s too cold outside to even think going to the supermarket.
I’ve become more diligent with preparing for the “winter” ahead with each passing year. And I’m trying to apply it in all aspects of life. For instance, you probably know by now that Gran Turismo 7’s Spec IV update will arrive in two parts this year: part one in October and part two in December.
That means we’ll have 12 new cars to consider for our virtual collection, and it’s never too early to start saving up. I currently have nearly eight million credits in my “bank” account, and it should cover the price of the first six cars. The Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo will likely cost about one million credits.
The Mazda RX-Vision GT3 Evo should be in the same price range, as it will probably be cheaper than the Ferrari 296 GT3 (which is 1.2 million credits). The BMW M5 E60 should be more affordable than an M4, which is listed at 120,000 credits in the dedicated Brand Central section.
I doubt the Honda Stepwagon Spada or the Citroën 2CV Charleston will be difficult to get, whereas the ‘80s Honda Civic could require you to pay about 120,000 extra credits. It’s a good thing the latest Weekly Challenge offer a bonus payment of 300,000 credits, next to the 6-Star Roulette Ticket included after podiuming in all five events.
Sunday Cup Classic
Photo: autoevolution
Some people will look at a speed limit sign and think it’s a challenge and not a warning. Once you’ve disobeyed it, chances are you’ll get yourself in some sort of trouble.
Luckily for us, we can all go as crazy as we want in the virtual world. If the PP limit isn’t strictly enforced and I’m just doing a speedrun to collect as many credits as possible, why should I even pay attention to it in the first place?
I wasn’t going to use a Unimog for three laps around the Red Bull Ring, even if we’re just talking about the short layout here. I found the idea of warming up in my tuned Ferrari F40 considerably more appealing, which is how I took the lead in just 36 seconds.
Eighteen seconds later I had already completed the first lap, and the Porsche 356A that finished the event in P2 was a full minute behind by the time I was ready to cash in on my “amazing” 25K payout.
European Clubman Cup 600
Photo: autoevolution
For a moment, I considered trying to go for an all-Ferrari experience this week, but it’s not entirely possible due to the next event.
For five laps around the Deep Forest Raceway (Reverse layout), I knew I’d feel right at home in my highly-tuned Enzo. It was only after the race started that I realized it was using SS tires, which isn’t exactly ideal for a car that has almost 1,000 horsepower to work with.
I was sideways already in Turn 2, as you can see in the photos I included. It wasn’t impossible to drive, but just slightly terrifying at times. A Lamborghini Urus was in the lead, and I only needed nine seconds into the second lap to strip it of that position.
Hitting 211 mph/340 kph down the main straight is always exciting, but I barely found the courage to go nearly flat out through Turn One on the final lap. I still lost it at the top of the hill, but still had a comfortable lead of over one minute ahead of the Miura P400. I walked away with an extra 75,000 credits after seven minutes and 47 seconds.
Time Trial
Photo: autoevolution
For a moment, I thought Polyphony had perfectly lined up the European Clubman Cup 600 with this short Time Trial.
But I always get Trial Mountain mixed up with the Deep Forest Raceway, when they’re not nearly the same thing. User holl01 is currently the record holder here, as he only needed 54.704 seconds to finish the event.
The target for Gold sits at 57.800, and anything faster than 63 seconds will get you the Bronze trophy. I was just 0.271 seconds over the one minute marker on my first attempt in the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTAm.
It’s mostly well balanced, with a hint of oversteer that reminded me of a BMW M3. I would definitely buy Italian if I had to choose between the two. After four laps I managed to correct some of my early mistakes, and lapped the short section in 58.987. Tha’s good enough for now.
World Touring Car 600
Photo: autoevolution
I could have made one of my Ferraris work for this World Touring Car 600 event, if I just reduced the ECU output. The F430 was a prime candidate for the job, but ended up in another RX-7 again. I had a tuned FD with no visual upgrades that needed some love, and you can never go wrong with an Initial D replica.
With 488 bhp on tap, I was confident I could take on all the modern sports cars and supercars lined up for the four-lap battle at Suzuka. After all, I’ve already had my warm up session here thanks to the new Time Trial. The SM tires aren’ exactly ideal for this much power and this chassis, and it almost felt like a drift competition to me.
Going sideways through every corner is not something you should aim for when the leader is so far ahead. Halfway through the event I had overtaken a dozen of my opponents, but it wasn’t until the final lap that I managed to catch up to the leader. We had a spectacular moment going three-wide across the finish line and going into the first corner.
It reminded me of a similar situation that happened in the late ‘90s or early 2000s in the Japanese Touring Car Championship. Anyway, I struggled so much with the low grip levels, that I barely finished two seconds ahead of a Lamborghini Huracan after almost 10 minutes of racing. At least I had a blast doing so, and also scoring 95,000 more credits in the process.
Gr.1 Protoype Series
Photo: autoevolution
Update 1.71 arrived with three new events: the European Clubman Cup 600 in Barcelona, the World Touring Car 600 at Suzuka and the Japanese FR Challenge 450 at Yamagiwa. I can’t remember when the Gr.1 Prototype Series event at Yas Marina joined the game, as I somehow haven’t raced here yet. It’s either that or I have completely forgotten about it or GT7’s system didn’t record the progress to begin with.
The good news is that it seems you can go flat out for 15 laps without having to worry about running out of fuel. I can’t say the same thing about the tires, as it depends on the compound you’ve selected and your ability to manage them through the event.
I started on the RM compound, and switched to the sticky RS rubber towards the end in an attempt to set a fast lap. By the way, am I the only one who think this Verde Pino Blenheim paint job looks amazing on the Ferrari hypercar? The leader had a 40-second headstart, and it took me seven laps to catch up. My best one so far was a 1:47, but I improved by an extra two seconds right after coming out of the pits.
Almost 28 minutes since the start of the race, I found myself gaping the Peugeot L750R HYbrid Vision Gran Turismo that was down in P2 by 36 seconds. You can win 300,000 credits here, and then you get to see what’s inside the 6 Star Roulette Ticket. I won the Infiniti Concept VGT, and you probably know how I feel about most Vision Gran Turismo machines by now.