First, I wanna discuss the classes in GT Sport thus far, and how cars from previous GT games could reprise their appearances as such:
-We know that Gr.4 & Gr.3 are respectively meant to resemble FIA GT4 & FIA GT3. And we also know that GT3 cars often race within the GT300 class in Super GT. So, for Gr.3, the following GT300 cars could be added:
Toyota Prius (and we've seen this one being scanned, too)
Honda CR-Z (the GT300-spec hasn't appeared in GT yet, but you never know...)
Mazda RX-7 FD
Autobacs Garaiya
Subaru BR-Z
Toyota Celica
Toyota MR-S
Lexus IS350
Subaru Impreza (2008 or 2003? Idk which is preferable - though I think the '08 version is more likely to appear.)
Nissan Silvia
Anyway, moving onto Gr.4, it seems like it'd be redundant to add the real-world GT4 cars that already have very similar in-game racers, like the BMW M4 or Aston Martin Vantage. But I do see an opportunity here for KTM to get a representative outside the N-series, as the X-Bow is an actual GT4 racer, as well. There's also the factor that Alpine could be represented in Gr.4 with the new A110 GT4.
-We also know that Gr.1 is associated with cars having 900kg and 1000HP, and only the word "prototype" was mentioned - there does not seem to be an explicit limitation to LMPs, so I wonder if Group C could fit into here? Or perhaps LMP2 racers, or even Daytona Prototypes? All of these would allow a variety of automakers already in-game to be represented in Gr.1, and this includes automakers that only have VGTs to represent them there at the moment. (Not that I mind, personally.) If we look back at cars from various sports prototype classes, we could see the return of the following cars in Gr.1:
Bentley Speed 8
Sauber-Mercedes C9
Toyota GT-One (TS020)
Toyota 88C-V
Peugeot 905
BMW V12 LMR
Mazda 787B
Jaguar XJR-9
Nissan R92CP
Nissan R89C
Audi R8 (2001, or 2005? I'd say the 2005 one has a higher likelihood.)
Audi R10 TDI
-Gr.B is said to resemble the original, real-world Group B rally, and seems to include historic Pikes Peak racers and modern cars interpreted as modern Group B rally cars. I also recall the figure of 500HP was mentioned. I think the WRC license is also out of PD's hands, which could explain the formation of this class, and uses made-for-game rally cars despite some cars in this class having real-world WRC cars. (E.g. the Ford Focus, Subaru WRX STI) As a result, I would imagine older real-world Group B rally cars would come here, including the Lancia 037 that's rumored. Perhaps the classic Escudo Pikes Peak could allow Suzuki to be here, too. But even if we did restrict ourselves to real-world Gr.B cars, the GT series has a few automakers that could appear in this group:
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16
Renault R5 Turbo Rallye
Ford RS200 Rally Car
Audi Quattro S1 Rally Car '86 (I know we already have the Pikes Peak car from the following year, but still....)
However, I do wonder if the more modern hillclimb cars in GT6 (see: Tajima E-Runner, Monster Sport SX4) would fit in here as well? I'd say they would.
-The newer Gr.2 class is known to include Super GT500 cars - but could older JGTC cars (in GT500) be included here, too? And what of DTM racers, especially since Super GT and DTM have been chatting with each other recently? My guess is that FIA GT1 would go here - the Aston Martin DBR9 and McLaren F1 GTR both competed in GT500. Which would likely mean that the following cars from older GT games would go in Gr.2:
Nissan R390 Race Car
Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Race Car
McLaren F1 GTR (GT6 1995 ver.)
BMW-McLaren F1 GTR Longtail
Panoz Esperante GTR-1
As well as the following GT500 racers:
Toyota Supra Mk.IV (Maybe the 1997 one? The 2000 one known for appearing in Gran Turismo 3? Or perhaps the more recent 2005 one that was the only time a Supra was in Super GT?)
Lexus SC430
Nissan GT-R R35 (2008, before either facelift)
Nissan Fairlady Z (Z33) (it was in GT500 for the 2006 season)
Nissan Skyline GT-R R34
Honda HSV010
Honda NSX (1st-gen, 2008)
Honda NSX (1st-gen, 2000)
Lamborghini Diablo GT-1
-I think that the fact that the F1500T is modeled on the classic Lotus F1 racer could have something to do with licensing, though I would really like it for the Senna cars to return in the future. (As well as a bunch of other cars "important to GT," and auto culture, including Andretti's Hudson, the two Leno cars, the SEMA C7 Corvette, the Toyota MTRC, the Nike One, etc...but that's another story!) I'm not sure if it's necessarily related to the licensing of Formula One cars, because the classic Lotus appeared in GT6 whereas the newer Ferrari F1 models from GT5 were out. I think it has more to do with Lotus itself, especially since pre-release screenshots of GTS featured a Lotus Evora in some shots, but the car does not appear in the game. Overall, I appreciate the F1500 as an older analogue to the Formula Gran Turismo, another car that I hope sees a return.
-What classes within GT Sport do you think these real-world classes be placed? Or, alternatively, would they require a new class to be formed altogether? The classes that came to my mind were GTE, and the SP8 class from the Nurburgring 24h. I do recall that GTE is more or less FIA GT2, but that just makes things even more interesting - should this mean something like the Corvette C7R go into Gr.3, or Gr.2, even though the latter is more akin to FIA GT1? I mention the SP8 class because the Lexus LF-A competed in there, and it appeared to look a lot like the Gr.4 cars already in GT Sport. And I wonder what ought to be done with the real-world Group A rally cars, as well? For example, the first-gen Ford Focus rally car, or the Lancia Delta HF? Maybe there's not as much need to include those last ones at all... And what about Australian V8 Supercars?
-I think the only reason why the Jaguar XJ13 and Ferrari 330 P4 were placed in Gr.X is because there isn't a plan to create a class for race cars that are that old. I do, however, get the idea that more cars could come to Gr.2, despite it being only represented with three cars at the moment.
-Finally, if we saw the return of some of the older-made for game touring cars - specifically including the GT5 touring car pack and the GT5 RMs - what classes do you think they'd be placed into? If you ask me, a lot of the cars (in both groups) look like they'd be more at home in Gr.4. I think this would be redundant for some automakers that already have that same model in Gr.4 - such as Mitsubishi and its Lancer Evo X - but I think it'd be neat to see the return of the Corvette C6 RM as a Gr.4 racer.
Some other notes:
-I think that not only should the option to enforce BoP come to creating custom races in lobbies and Arcade Mode, but also should be forced on for the GT League events that use the classes other than the N-series. So this would especially apply to the Gr.1 and Gr.3 endurance events, as well as the Gr.B event in the amateur league. The other thing I want to bring up in this regard, is that I think if an event has a certain N-series class that's recommended, there should be a corresponding enforced maximum power cap - this could be applied to the player and any AI vehicles. Some N-classes for some events could be slightly changed to continue allowing certain cars to compete, such as the Nissan GT-R Cup, and how the R35 cannot be de-tuned to the N-class recommended for that event.
-Finally, as a side note, I've noticed that in some events, when I go to the settings screen, the BoP drop-down menu gets an option, and it says something to the tune of "Road Course (setting enable)". Turning it on seems to just reduce power while not affecting the weight, but does anyone else know what this setting is overall referring to? Does it depend on the car, or track, or some other factor?
EDIT as of Update 1.19:
So with the addition of the Group C racers in Gr.1, we have confirmation that Gr.1 is not limited to newer LMP1 cars, but is indeed open to all sports prototypes. In which case, I think there's tons of potential! If every manufacturer in Gran Turismo 4/5/6 returns in GT7, there are tons of potential Gr.1 cars between the automakers:
-Group C:
Dome S103
TOM'S 86C
Lamborghini Countach QVX
Lancia LC2
-LMPs (note: includes WSC, LMP900, LMGTP, LMP1, and LMP2):
Ferrari 333SP
Ginetta G60-LT-P1
Lotus T128
Alpine A470
Honda ARX-04b
Lister Storm LMP
Chrysler LMP
Panoz LMP07
MG EX265C
Shelby LR-93
Mazda SDR-14 (which could supplement the 787B and the LM55 VGT)
Aston Martin AMR-One
-Daytona Prototypes:
Cadillac DPi-V.R
Acura ARX-05
Chevrolet Corvette (C7) DP
Nissan Onroak DPi (which I think would be a good way to show that the GT-R LM Nismo wasn't the last prototype Nissan ever worked with)
Next, I had a ton of ideas regarding Group B. We know that Group B is basically meant to be like the real-world Group B, with the newer models outfitted for the class just being there as "what-if" sort of models. But even if we just go by real Group B cars, there were a few cars that've appeared in the GT series I forgot about:
Mitsubishi Starion 4WD
Nissan 240RS
Lancia Delta S4
There's that, and there are automakers that did have a car in the real-world Group B, and these models could debut in the GT series within Gr.B:
Daihatsu
Porsche (Also, weren't there plans to have the 959 go into rally? Maybe PD could make a what-if version of the 959 rally car...)
Ferrari (There could be a what-if version of the 288 GTO.)
Subaru
Toyota (How about a what-if version of the 222D?)
Volkswagen
Mercedes-Benz
Citroen
BMW
