There are many cars that can win this event. 👍
The usual cause of failure is driver skill. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if you've come through the rest of the game relying on tuning your car to be way more powerful than the opposition to win races, then this is where you'll come unstuck. (I'm not implying that
you personally have done this, but it's been a common theme around here for a long while, so don't take this the wrong way.
) In this series the AI cars are being driven relatively well and you'll need to be able to drive fast, clean laps to keep up.
There are a few little secrets to beating this series though.
Allow me to divulge....
52 lineups of the Gran Turismo World Championship - PAL VERSION This is a really useful list for picking a lineup for this series, since, after resetting you PS2, the first 52 lineups listed here will always be the same regardless of car that you enter. If you're in an NTSC region (US, Canada or Japan) then the only difference is that the Nissan R390 GT1 Race Car '98 and Toyota GT-One Race Car (TS020) '99 are switched from what is listed here. Personally I like to race against lineup 6, but if you're after an easy ride here, lineup 10 is the answer, since it has the aforementioned Nissan or Toyota as your only real competition (but does yield very low A-spec points because of this.) Bear in mind though that the Nissan or Toyota don't pit in most races since they're dainty on their tyres, so practice driving until you can keep up with whichever one you face on each circuit.
The fastest cars here aren't necessarily the best.
The Sauber C9, Jaguar XJR-9, Toyota 88C-V, Nissan R89C and Nissan R92CP all seem really quick, however, they munch tyres and hence do stupid things like pitting on lap 9 of a 10 lap race at Tokyo! (and most other places, except Sarthe!) The Mazda 787B generally doesn't pit as frequently, so it's worth watching out for him!
A car such as the Bentley Speed 8, Audi R8 or one of the Pescarolos fitted with R2 tyres should easily see you through each of the races here without pitting, so provided you're within 20s or so of the leaders you don't need to worry about overtaking too much, since you'll blow by them when they stop in the pits!
Lastly, someone will come along soon and recommend that you do the El Capitan 200 miles endurance to win the Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89, slap on a stage 4 turbo to give almost 1200HP and win it that way.
Don't for one second believe this is an easy way out either. Driver Skill >>>>> More Power any day of the week, and frankly you'll probably just end up frustrated by the fact that 1200HP = horrendous wheelspin, and insane speed which results in you missing braking points and losing races anyway.
This is a list of cars and drivers from the
Stock car race comparison/challenge thread that've won 1 or more of these races in unmodified cars, just to prove it's possible.
Car: Mazda 787B (R1 tires) / MR / 690?HP / 830kg / 1.2 kg/HP / 200 A-spec by jdw
Car: Mercedes Benz CLK GTR '98 / MR / 837HP / 1000kg / 1.2kg/HP / 200 A-spec by General Gravy
Car: Chaparral 2J Race Car '70 (R2 tyres) / MR / 659HP / 821kg / 1.2kg/HP / 200 A-spec by AMG
Car: Toyota GT-ONE Race Car '99 (Black used, R1 Tyres, oil changed) / MR / ?HP (774HP on garage screen) / 900kg / ?HP/kg (1.2kg/HP using garage value) / 200 A-spec by mynameissport
Car: Nissan R390 GT1 Race Car '98 (Black used, oil changed, R1 tyres) / MR / 787HP / 1000kg / 1.3kg/HP / 200 A-spec by mynameissport
Car: Mazda 787B (R1 tires, oil changed, min. downforce) / MR / 790HP / 830kg / 0.9 kg/HP / 200 A-spec by mynameissport
Car: AMG Mercedes Benz CLK GTR '98 (Oil changed, R2/R1 tyres, 38/53 downforce) / MR / 837HP / 1000kg / 1.2kg/HP / 200 A-spec by mynameissport
Car: Mazda 787B '91 (used, no oil, R1/R2 tires) / MR / 715HP / 830kg / 1.2kg/HP / 200 A-spec by alhajoth
Car: Peugeot 905 Race Car '92 (R1/R1 Tyres, 63/76 downforce) / MR / 799HP/ 750kg / 0.9kg/HP / 200 A-spec by mynameissport
Car: Peugeot 905 Race Car '92 (R2/R1 Tyres, 63/88 downforce) / MR / 799HP/ 750kg / 0.9kg/HP / 161 A-spec by mynameissport
Car: Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03 (R2 Tyres) / MR / 786HP / 900kg / 1.1kg/HP / 131 A-spec by Smallhorses
I'm currently running this series again in the Nissan R390 GT1 Race Car '98 in stock form with 1/2 downforce settings against lineup 6 to claim some of the points I left out first time through. It's tough, but definitely possible at most races.
If you could let us know what cars you have, and what you've already tried here, that'd help us to help you too.
As people have said before, you should have a read through all the threads that we've linked to for your benefit and see what information and advice you can glean from them too.
Also take a look through here:
GT4 Race Report Reference Thread as there's tonnes of write-ups on this series which should allow you to get an idea of the sort of laptimes you'll need to be competetive here, and also which AI cars you can expect to pit in! All of which you'll find useful information for planning your attack here!
