It’s only a week until the release of Gran Turismo 7, so we decided to help out the players who don’t know what car to choose as their first.
Image credit: Polyphony Digital
4 March is just around the corner, and the hype for Gran Turismo 7 is real. For 25 years, the Gran Turismo series has been the leading PlayStation racing title and the newest release is launching for both PS4 and PS5.
One of the unique aspects about Gran Turismo is that it forces players to go through a large variety of cars in order to progress through the game. From little compact cars to the fastest racing cars, GT players will not be tied to just one type of car throughout the entire game.
An ideal first car
In the Gran Turismo 7 State of Play, the used car dealership was showcased and it was mentioned that players would have 20,000 credits to start off with to pick a compact car. This is if players didn’t pre-order the game or get the special edition where those who do so can get an extra amount of credits, anywhere between 100,000 or 1,600,000.
So let’s just assume for a second that a player didn’t get the extra credits for pre-ordering and/or getting a special edition. With the 20,000 credits, what’s the best car to pick up? Especially considering the first few competitions will involve the Clubman Cup where players will have to compete in the usual selection of compact hatchbacks.
From the image above, it would perhaps be safe to assume that’s how it will appear when you load up the game for the first time. However, not only can the cars be different, but even the specifications from what we can decipher. The image above was taken from the official Gran Turismo website, but in the original State of Play broadcast, many of the cars that appear in both have different numbers listed.
For example, the Honda Fit Hybrid which has a Performance Points rating of 343.0 in that image is then said to have 318.5 Performance Points in the State of Play video. That video seems to take place at the start of the game whereas the image we’ve taken from the Gran Turismo site appears to be from a bit later in the game, so there may be some variables here. We’ll use the State of Play video’s numbers to make our judgements.
In any case, the prices are the same. It would seem that whilst the cars could differ and certain players can be luckier with their selection, the first three cars will be the same no matter what. All these cars falling under the 20,000 credit bracket and being compacts, the aforementioned Honda Fit Hybrid, the Toyota Aqua S and the Mazda Demio XD Touring. So these three are the ones we will be taking into consideration.
Which is best?
Judging by the numbers from the State of Play video, Performance Points are 318.5 for the Honda, 335.9 for the Toyota and 301.0 for the Mazda. These points are said to be determined by a car’s weight, engine power, and other factors that affect a car’s racing performance, so it would appear to be a slam dunk for the Toyota, surely? But it’s not that simple.
If we cross reference each car to their figures listed on previous Gran Turismo titles, we can perhaps get a clearer understanding. The Mazda and Honda both appear in GT Sport, so going off the statistics in that game, the Mazda produces 103 horsepower and the Honda puts out 138 horsepower.
The Toyota last appeared in Gran Turismo 6 and whilst the Performance Points indicate it should be clearly ahead, the State of Play video shows that it produces 122 horsepower. This means despite it being more expensive, it is behind the Honda in terms of power.
So does it get those Performance Points back through being lighter? Apparently not! All three cars come in at the same weight at 1,080 kilograms. What we can tell from what we know so far is stay well clear of the Mazda, because even with a turbo it produces by far the least amount of power.
The power outputs for the Mazda and Honda could be different in GT7 but what we can say based on what we know in advance of the game releasing, the car you should select out of these three is the Honda Fit Hybrid.
But of course, if players are lucky and have a bit more money from pre-ordering the game and/or getting a special edition, they could always go for the 161 horsepower Mini Cooper S for 24,600 credits. Although it could very well be too quick for the first few competitions.
So the safe bet is to go for the Honda Fit Hybrid and get started, and begin the everlasting grind to get every one of the 400+ cars in Gran Turismo 7.
What will be your first car in Gran Turismo 7? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
