Brembo has been announced as the ‘Official Partner in Braking Systems’ of Gran Turismo 7 and on the face of it, that may not seem like a big deal.
However, GT7 also sees the return of the Tuning Shop, absent since 2013’s Gran Turismo 6. That in itself is a big deal. But in all previous Gran Turismo games, the parts have not been branded. It’s simply been a ‘fully-customisable transmission’ or ‘racing brake kit’.
So now we know, at least, that when it comes to brake upgrades, you’ll have the choice of a real-world brand.
In a way, this was previously confirmed in one of the Gran Turismo 7 screenshots provided by Sony. In the Understeer Engineering tuning section, a set of Sports Brake Pads was branded with the Brembo logo. However, with this official announcement, if one were to speculate, don’t expect there to be different brands to be available, just Brembo.
Also, it could open up a path for additional supplier partnerships for different parts on the run-up to launch, reminiscent of RiMS Racing in some ways. I certainly hope so, anyway.
The trailer, which you can watch above, also delivered many other juicy details about GT7 too, so let’s dive in.
Multiple brake upgrade options
Then we see the Understeer Engineering again, this time with more plentiful options. For the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, three brake setups were available for purchase: Racing Brake Pads, Racing Brake System (Slotted Discs), Racing Brake System (Drilled Discs). There’s never been as many brake options in a Gran Turismo game before.
This is just within the ‘Racing’ tab too, we suspect more options are available within the four other tabs
Outside of just brake parts, the options seems to be more detailed than before, specifically pertaining to the SLR, suggesting that the specificity has also been a goal of the Polyphony Digital development team and not just quantity. The devil is in the details.
A new car settings page
There’s also a glimpse at the new Car Settings page. Instead of having every element in a big list, it now looks to be broken down into tabs, with brakes falling under the ‘Drivetrain’ category alongside differential, clutch & flywheel and propeller shaft – indicated that all these will be upgradeable parts.
There are also options for the overall braking system – including carbon – and the brake pads separately. Once again, a level of tuning detail that far surpasses previous iterations.
The return of the Museum
Within the trailer, there looks to be a timeline of the company’s major milestone, which in Gran Turismo parlance is called the ‘Museum’. In GT Sport, there’s a Museum for every automotive brand included in the game – plus Lewis Hamilton, Michelin and the FIA. A pleasing return, if not overly essential, for GT7.
Brembo track branding
Not a huge detail, but a lot of the on-track sponsorship banners are now adorned with the Brembo logo, such as the entrance to Ascari at Monza and the steeply-banked hairpin at our favourite Autodrome Lago Maggiore – formerly sponsored by Total. Expect them throughout the game.
As every with a Gran Turismo-related trailer, there’s more than meets the eye. There are also new cars included in here which we’ve also deep-dived on. Keep your eyes peeled, we’ll have more about GT7 on the run-up to its March 2022 release.
