My GT Journal - A Quest For 100k

[NingDynasty]

So I've had GT4 since the day it came out, played with the ds/2 for about 6 months and put the game on the shelf. Got my G25 about a year ago or so and played some GT4 here and there but just arcade mode. Built myself a crazy little cockpit about 6 months ago and started slowly getting back into racing. Once or twice a week since then a few buddies and I would take turns hot lapping.

Back a few weeks ago GT5 was rumored to be postponed until Jan ‘11 and I decided it was time to start off a new GT4 file and finish what I never had before. Of course we all know that GT5 came out earlier then that but I decided to carry on with my unfinished business.

First on my list was to conquer the license tests, as I know that while I had all the licenses previously with the DS/2, I certainly hadn’t gone through posted gold medal times in all of them. Once I’d done that I’d planned on moving on to the driving missions as once again it’s something I know I’d never completed. Needless to say I’d never gotten too 100% completion so thats next up but in the process I’d also like to spend the time to work on getting all those crazy little A-Spec points or at least join the few and the proud that hit the 100k mark.

During my journey so far in GT I’ve loved reading all of the great information those of you in the 200 A-Spec Races forum have posted and the great car ideas you can get from Smallhorses’ and hispeed’s Stock car race comparison/challenge thread. Now I’m not as quite as skilled or as crazy (in a good way!) as those guys there, but it certainly is something I’d like to contribute to, so I’ll be trying to vary my car selection and limit my modifications Hopefully in some instances be able to not use any so I can get my name up on the 200 Club list there. With that said I’m also going to have some fun with it using some cars that I enjoy, instead of ones that everyone knows can do the job in their basic form.

 

[NingDynasty]

Table of Contents

Licenses

Beginner Events

Sunday Cup
FF Challenge
FR Challenge
4WD Challenge
MR Challenge
Light Weight K Cup
Spider & Roadster
Sport Truck Race

Professional Events

Clubman Cup
Tuning Car Grand Prix
Race of NA Sport

 

[NingDynasty]

Licenses

I won’t go into a whole lot of detail here, just gonna post my slow (but gold!) times, but if I had trouble with something I’ll post it up. For anyone who is having trouble, do what I did and head over to the Mission Halls & Driving Tests forum. Each license has it’s own thread there with some great information, trap times and videos that helped me and I’m sure can help you. The Missing Link’s Gold Medal Guide is also an invaluable reference with launch rpm’s, shifting marks, braking points and much much more. I read through the guide for the first few licenses and took what I got from it to the higher ones and only had to use it when I got stuck so believe me when I say it’ll be worth your while.

National B

Test	My Time		Gold Time	Difference
B1	0'10.016	0'10.150	-0.134
B2	0'10.981	0'11.000	-0.019
B3	0'30.819	0'30.900	-0.081
B4	0'29.742	0'29.800	-0.058
B5	1'27.182	1'27.200	-0.018
B6	0'22.698	0'22.800	-0.102
B7	0'26.582	0'27.000	-0.418
B8	0'15.246	0'15.400	-0.154
B9	0'12.488	0'12.550	-0.062
B10	2'14.210	2'14.400	-0.190
B11	0'17.632	0'17.650	-0.018
B12	0'17.374	0'17.500	-0.126
B13	0'22.490	0'22.650	-0.160
B14	0'18.058	0'18.100	-0.042
B15	2'17.134	2'19.000	-1.866
B16	0'23.683	0'23.700	-0.017
Total	10'16.335	10'19.800	-3.465

National A

Test	My Time		Gold Time	Difference
A1	0'30.704	0'30.750	-0.046
A2	0'27.904	0'28.000	-0.096
A3	0'11.882	0'12.000	-0.118
A4	0'21.837	0'22.050	-0.213
A5	1'30.375	1'30.500	-0.125
A6	0'30.755	0'30.800	-0.045
A7	0'17.153	0'17.200	-0.047
A8	0'15.621	0'15.880	-0.259
A9	0'17.155	0'17.200	-0.045
A10	2'46.397	2'48.000	-1.603
A11	0'12.704	0'12.800	-0.096
A12	0'29.250	0'29.500	-0.250
A13	0'44.576	0'44.600	-0.024
A14	0'32.258	0'32.350	-0.092
A15	2'04.398	2'05.000	-0.602
A16	0'54.130	0'54.150	-0.020
Total	12'07.099	12'10.780	-3.681

International B

Test	My Time		Gold Time	Difference
IB1	0'14.178	0'14.440	-0.262
IB2	0'25.112	0'25.200	-0.088
IB3	0'27.491	0'27.600	-0.109
IB4	0'27.981	0'28.000	-0.019
IB5	2'45.015	2'46.000	-0.985
IB6	0'17.635	0'17.700	-0.065
IB7	0'17.666	0'17.700	-0.034
IB8	0'42.837	0'43.200	-0.363
IB9	0'21.959	0'22.000	-0.041
IB10	1'54.919	1'55.200	-0.281
IB11	0'18.013	0'18.200	-0.187
IB12	0'23.795	0'24.000	-0.205
IB13	0'29.663	0'29.700	-0.037
IB14	0'36.066	0'36.350	-0.284
IB15	2'10.013	2'11.000	-0.987
IB16	0'18.710	0'19.000	-0.290
Total	12'11.053	12'15.290	-4.237

International A

Test	My Time		Gold Time	Difference
IA1	0'32.051	0'32.200	-0.149
IA2	0'51.875	0'52.000	-0.125
IA3	0'17.281	0'17.350	-0.069
IA4	0'34.258	0'34.270	-0.012
IA5	2'27.968	2'28.000	-0.032
IA6	0'30.587	0'30.700	-0.113
IA7	0'33.494	0'34.000	-0.506
IA8	1'06.144	1'06.200	-0.056
IA9	0'42.364	0'42.550	-0.186
IA10	2'12.571	2'13.000	-0.429
IA11	0'29.674	0'29.800	-0.126
IA12	0'57.899	0'59.000	-1.101
IA13	0'25.348	0'25.580	-0.232
IA14	0'14.147	0'14.200	-0.053
IA15	8'58.218	9'02.600	-4.382
IA16	1'42.940	1'43.400	-0.460
Total	22'36.819	22'44.850	-8.031

Super

Test	My Time		Gold Time	Difference
S1	2'16.698	2'17.000	-0.302
S2	2'15.911	2'17.000	-1.089
S3	1'24.489	1'24.500	-0.011
S4	2'15.412	2'17.000	-1.588
S5	1'33.643	1'34.200	-0.557
S6	0'56.480	0'57.000	-0.520
S7	1'30.224	1'30.500	-0.276
S8	1'32.204	1'33.000	-0.796
S9	1'47.198	1'47.800	-0.602
S10	2'46.346	2'47.000	-0.654
S11	1'36.204	1'36.620	-0.416
S12	1'55.670	1'55.919	-0.249
S13	1'15.785	1'16.120	-0.335
S14	2'24.294	2'26.500	-2.206
S15	3'17.537	3'19.000	-1.463
S16	7'07.550	7'07.700	-0.150
Total	35'55.645	36'06.859	-11.214

Totals

License	My Time		Gold Time	Difference
Nat B	10'16.335	10'19.800	-03.465
Nat A	12'07.099	12'10.780	-03.681
Int'l B	12'11.053	12'15.290	-04.237
Int'l A	22'36.819	22'44.850	-08.031
Super	35'55.645	36'06.859	-11.214
Totals	1'33'06.951	1'33'37.579	-30.628

 

[NingDynasty]

Sunday Cup

Car: Toyota Prius G Touring Selection (J) '03 / FF / 79HP / 1290kg / 16.3kg/HP / Stock

All 5 of these races were pretty easy and finding a field that granted 200 A-Spec Points wasn’t a problem either. The Prius is such a unique car in this game, from the completely different HUD to the fact that all you hear when your out in front is the rush of wind as the electric motor is almost completely silent.

FF Challenge

Car: Scion xA ‘03 / FF / 108HP / 1020kg / 9.4kg/HP / All non power-weight mods

Looking at some of the cars people had used nothing perked my interest so I went a bit lower on the list and customized this xA. I threw on all of the non power and weight mods, found a setup in the GTVault and cruised to victory.

FR Challenge

Mercedes SLK 230 Kompressor ‘98 / 174HP / 1325kg / 7.6kg/HP / All non power, weight mods

Briefly looking through my options of used cars I picked this guy out and found a setup for it which made it quite an enjoyable ride. Quite a breeze, lol!

4WD Challenge

Car: Mitsubishi 3000GT SL (J) ‘95 / 200HP / 1610kg / 8.05kg/HP / NOS

This car is great and it was pretty easy to rack up the 1000 total points here, not much to be said!

MR Challenge

Car: Toyota MR2 16000 G-Limited SC ‘86 / 140HP / 1070kg / 7.6kg/HP / NOS

This once I found a lineup that gave 200 points this one was pretty easy with the exception of New York and Fuji which I had to do twice because I let the NSX run away on the first try so watch out for him! El Capitan I actually redid without the NOS and won there easily, with this Blue Mica MR2 in it’s stock form.

Light-weight K-Car Cup

R1 - Motorland

Car: Honda Z Act ‘70 / 30HP / 670kg / 22.3kg/HP / NOS

I found a lineup with a Suzuki Wagon leading some Suzuki Alto Works’ and a suzuki cappuccino starting 5th. I got by the Cappuccino quickly and he got held up in the traffic while I went to the front, fun race for this car.

R2 - Tsukuba

Car: Honda Z Act ‘70 / 30HP / 670kg / 22.3kg/HP / NOS

First couple tries the lead cars ran away (Beats, Capps), so I went and did the 3rd race in the series. I went through a few lineups and actually found one with the only “competition”, a Honda Beat, starting in 5th place! Surprisingly enough it offered 200 pts with 0 ballast! The rest of the cars were Suzuki Wagon, Suzuki Kei Works, Daihatsu Move and Suzuki Alto Works.

R3 - Driving Park Beginner Course

Car: Honda Z Act ‘70 / 30HP / 670kg / 22.3kg/HP / NOS , Ballast 115

I found a lineup of an Alto Works, Alto Lapin, Autozam AZ-1, Copen and a Wagon so I figured I could run away from them, slapped on 115 units of ballast (5.5 units ≈ 1 A-Spec PT) and won pretty easily. I actually did this one second so I decided I’d look for a similar lineup @ Tsukuba before I went and did more upgrades to the car.

Spider & Roadster

Car: MGF ‘97 / 130HP / 1185kg / 9.1kg/HP / Nos, Ballast 115

I picked a car that I hadn’t driven before (heck a manufacturer I hadn’t used before) and this ended up being the easiest of the series so far, first lineup each time worked fine and I felt comfortable enough with the car to not even bother checking to see if the ballast was too much for the 2nd and 3rd races. Now that’s not to say it’s stable, as I was slipping and sliding around some of those turns especially at my least favorite track, Trial Mountain.

Sport Truck Race

Car: Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie Hemi Quad Cab ‘04 / 346HP / 2390kg / 6.9kg/HP / Stock

Yeah these 3 races were really awesome... ok so the Ram even in it's stock form makes these races super easy.

Clubman Cup

Car: Clio Renault Sport V6 24V '00 (Used, no oil change) / MR / 225HP / 1335kg / 5.9kg/HP / NOS

These weren't too bad and the Clio is fun to drive, the 1st, 3rd and 5th races I did with no ballast. The 2nd and 4th I did with 100kg and 45kg respectively.

 

[NingDynasty]

Tuning Car Grand Prix

Car: Suzuki GSX-R/4 '01 / MR / HP / kg / kg/HP / All non power, weight mods

These were not easy at all. I ended up trying 3 different cars before I decided on this one, though I really wanted to use to BMW 320i Touring car... Anyway this car is pretty fun to drive slightly loose but I think that just helps it steer better. I found an awesome setup on the GTVault which you can find here courtesy of BTWhite37.

Race of NA Sports

Car: Honda NSX '01 / 281HP / 1340kg / 4.77kg/HP

Infineon Raceway

Mods: S1 Tires

Lineup:
TVR T350C '03
Proto Motors SPIRRA 4.6 V8 '04
Chevrolet Camaro SS '00
Nissan 350Z (Z33) '03
Chevrolet Corvette GRAND SPORT (C4) '96

Info: I enjoy the track a lot and the stock NSX (with S1 Tires) was able to score 200 pts pretty easily. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast here especially through the esses and thats where I pulled away.

S2 - Apricot Hill Reverse

Mods: S1 Tires, 115kg Ballast, NOS

Lineup:
Acura NSX Coupe '97
Nissan 350Z (Z33) '03
Chevrolet Corvette GRAND SPORT (C4) '96
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C5) '00
Audi S4 '03

Info: You'll see higher top speeds more frequently here so the ai will get a much better opportunity to use its horsepower which can cause some problems. Not only that, but I'm also not that great here. I slapped on the NOS kit and headed to the track. Well I sucked against the TVR's and lost a couple times by 1.5 seconds. A few lineup restarts and 115kg of ballast later, victory was mine.

S3 - Twin Ring Motegi - Road Course

Mods:

Lineup:

 

[PF]

Awesome work, thanks for this. Will use it when I clean my PS2 lens and continue the chase.