With four new cars, some new scapes and two extra menus, the latest content update for Polyphony Digital’s racing game for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 is a little more subdued than March’s, but there’s still plenty to dig into.
Four new cars
Let’s start with the headline for April and the new vehicles. While it’s technically four, two are the same save for a different engine:
- Jaguar XJ220 ’92 – 592.62pp – 615,000cr – Legend Cars
- Mercedes-AMG GT3 ’20 Gr.3 – 736.18pp – 480,000cr – Brand Central
- Dallara SF23 Super Formula / Toyota ’23 – 950.79pp – 1,000,000cr – Brand Central
- Dallara SF23 Super Formula / Honda ’23 – 950.79pp – 1,000,000cr – Brand Central
As we discussed in our preview article, the XJ220 was a malign supercar in its day, but its brutish character adds to its legacy as time marches on. Once, the fastest production car in the world.
Meanwhile, the AMG GT3 is a contemporary facelift for Mercedes’ current GT3 challenger, joining the 2016-spec model and SLS GT3 within Gran Turismo 7.
The two Super Formula single-seaters are some of the fastest open-wheel race cars in the world, used by the Japanese real-world race series. With a choice of engines, there’s a push-to-pass system and pulverising levels of downforce. Like the AMG, these join older versions in the game, with the SF19 already present.
A new Café Menu Book
The main ‘career’ in Gran Turismo 7 has expanded once more with a new addition just for the Super Formula Cars.
Complete three events and win a prize: Six-star Roulette Ticket
This also means the following three races have been added to the single-player World Circuits experience, but you must start the Menu Book first before they appear:
- Watkins Glen International – Super Formula – SF19 Honda/Toyota or SF23 Honda/Toyota, 12 laps, 4x fuel usage, 8x tyre wear – Maximum reward 160,000 credits
- Circuit de Sainte-Croix – Super Formula – SF19 Honda/Toyota or SF23 Honda/Toyota, 10 laps, 3x fuel usage, 14x tyre wear – Maximum reward 160,000 credits
- Fuji International Speedway – Super Formula – SF19 Honda/Toyota or SF23 Honda/Toyota, 15 laps, 3x fuel usage, 12x tyre wear – Maximum reward 200,000 credits
Two new Café Extra Menus
The Extra Menus within the Café pertain to car collecting, and another two have been added. We’ll update this with the prizes handed out once the update lands on 27th April, but for now here are the titles and the required cars.
Extra Menu No. 20, Collection: Shelby
Collector Level 41 and above.
Own the:
- Shelby Cobra 427 ‘66 – Legend Cars
- Shelby G.T.350 ’65 – Legend Cars
- Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R ‘16 – Brand Central
Prize: Six-star Roulette Ticket
Extra Menu No. 21 Collection: Alpine
Collector Level 35 and above.
Own the:
- Alpine A220 Race Car ‘68 – Legend Cars
- Alpine VGT Race – Brand Central
- Alpine A110 ‘17 – Brand Central
Prize: Five-star Roulette Ticket
Fresh World Circuit event
Three new events have been added through the aforementioned Super Formula Café Menu Book, see above, but there’s also a fourth new World Circuit event now available too:
- Interlagos – Hypercar Parade – Road car, no PP limit, seven laps – Maximum reward 95,000 credits
Updated Fuji Speedway track
While the track layout and scan remain identical, the surrounding furniture has been revised to keep it in line with 2023. The following items have changed:
- Fuji Speedway Hotel
- ROOKIE Racing garage
- Podium
- Billboards and other items
Sport Mode menus
A small tweak, but a long overdue one. Previously if you had finished, or backed out of, a Sport Mode Daily Race or Online Time Trial, the game would take you all the way back out to the main Sport Mode menu, and not within the race or time trial sections.
Now, it keeps you within each subsection, which is ideal if you’d like to hop between the listed races or time attacks. Most people won’t appreciate this, but we do!
Three Online Lap Time Challenges
For a limited period only, there are three new Online Time Trials. Two are in the ‘regular’ format, with 2,000,000 credits up for grabs if you make it within the top three per cent of global times. These run from 27th April to 5th/11th May 2023.
Qualifying for the Olympic Esports event is now also open and in the form of a third Lap Time Challenge. Sneak into the upper echelons here, and 4,000,000 credits could be yours – although with this being an open esports competition, the top times are likely to be alien-like.
Mercifully, 500,000 will be paid out if you make the top 50 per cent. This is open from today (27th April) to 8th April and will determine who travels to Singapore for an in-person final.
Auto-start online lobby races
Another small, but necessary change. Up to this point, the host must press the ‘start race’ button to begin proceedings, but now you can select an ‘Auto Start’ button so the race begins on its own after a timer has counted down.
This can be set between one and ten minutes.
North Yorkshire
As a (West) Yorkshire resident, further scape locations within the neighbouring country is rather pleasing. It helps that the east coast of Whitby and the surrounding area is really rather pretty, and now you can see that via Gran Turismo 7‘s scapes. There are also scenes from the Japanese Miyazaki region.
Full Changelog
The full changelog is below from the Gran Turismo website, let us know your thoughts about this update in the comments below.
Main Features Implemented
1. Cars
- The following four new cars have been added:
・Jaguar XJ220 ’92 (Purchasable at ‘Legend Cars’ from 27 April March)
・Mercedes-AMG GT3 ’20
・Dallara SF23 Super Formula / Honda ’23
・Dallara SF23 Super Formula / Toyota ’23
2. World Circuits
- The following new events have been added to ‘World Circuits’:
・Watkins Glen International
- Super Formula
・Circuit de Sainte-Croix
- Super Formula
・Fuji International Speedway
- Super Formula
・Interlagos
- Hypercar Parade
3. Scapes
- The ‘North Yorkshire’ and ‘Miyazaki’ locations have been added as featured Curations in Scapes.
4. Café
- The following Menu Book has been added:
・Menu Book No. 47: ‘Super Formula’ (Collector Level 31 and above)
- The following two Extra Menus have been added:
・Extra Menu No. 20: ‘Collection: Shelby’ (Collector Level 41 and above);
・Extra Menu No. 21: ‘Collection: Alpine’ (Collector Level 35 and above);
- Added new sets of conversations with the Car Designers and Characters appearing in the Café. These new conversations can be accessed by changing to the following cars in ‘Garage’ and speaking with the Characters in the Café:
CHARACTERS
- Chris
・Jaguar XJ220 ’92
- Jeremy
・Mercedes-AMG GT3 ’20
・Dallara SF23 Super Formula / Toyota ’23
- Stella
・Dallara SF23 Super Formula / Honda ’23
5. Brand Central
- New Museum entries for ‘Super Formula’ and ‘Brembo’ sections have been added.
6. Multiplayer
- Auto-start function added to races in Lobby.
Other Improvements and Adjustments
1. Physics Simulation Model
- Fixed an issue wherein using a steering controller the wheel would turn by itself when travelling under 5km/h.
2. Sound
- Adjusted the engine sound of the following car:
・Audi RS 5 Turbo DTM ’19
3. Cars
- Adjusted the wheel items available for the following car:
・Toyota Alphard Executive Lounge ’18
4. Tracks
- The following objects have been updated on Fuji International Speedway:
・Fuji Speedway Hotel
・ROOKIE Racing garage
・Podium
・Billboards and other items
5. Multiplayer
- Lobby
・Added the ‘Settings’ button to the Quick Menu during Qualifying.
6. Sport
- The screen displayed after quitting an event has been changed for each type of event in Sport mode:
・Daily Races
After finishing a Qualifying Time Trial > Entry screen
After finishing a Daily Race > Daily Race selection screen
After viewing a replay on the Qualifying Time Trial rankings board > Rankings board
・Championships
After finishing a Free Practice > Entry screen
After finishing a race > Championship top screen
After viewing a replay on the Free Practice rankings board > Rankings board
・Online Time Trials
After finishing a Time Trial > Entry screen
After viewing a replay on the Online Time Trial rankings board > Rankings board
7. Trophies
- The following cars have been added to the requirements for the ‘Formula First Timer’ trophy:
・Honda RA272 ’65
・McLaren MP4/4 ’88
・Dallara SF23 Super Formula / Toyota ’23
・Dallara SF23 Super Formula / Honda ’23
8. Localisation
- Fixed various text localisation issues.
9. Others
- Various other issues have been addressed.