- 303
- Las Vegas
- OneDJYouLike
TLDR: I know there are multiple 80+ page threads on this race. But I wanted to make a thread specifically for beginners who are struggling to place 1st in this race and/or get the Clean Race Bonus (CRB). I thought it was nearly impossible to complete this with auto transmission and previously was unable to place 1st before learning to drive with shifting. This was the guide I needed before learning to drive a manual. My top 3 car recommendations are included with tuning suggestions so that you can easily pass this race and the CRB with an automatic.
To be more clear this event is found under the Asia-Oceanic World Circuit at the Tokyo Expressway in Japan. This circuit appears after you Complete Menu Book 8. It is the World Touring Car 600 race that is PP600 / 12 Lap(s) with a 550,000 credit reward not including the CRB. The 600pp is not suggested but the maximum PP allowed. You can use any car in your collection as long as it is under the 600pp limit and does not have nitrous enabled. You can have nitrous installed, but must disable it in the car settings to race the car in this event. It is a race that will wear your tires down and cause you to expend fuel, so most cars will require you to manage the fuel map settings and also require you to make at least one pit stop. Because of the fuel management, it rules out any electric vehicles. This race is known for being the best race in the game when it comes to credits per hour without exploiting any current glitches. But for it to be the most efficient credit grind, you must also get the CRB.
- Players refer to it as the Tokyo Rain event because you start the race with the course wet from recent rain.
- It will not rain during the race and the track starts to dry up within the first few laps.
- The quicker you get into 1st place without ramming or clipping another car, the easier it is to maintain the CRB.
- There are 3 places you will lose the most time or position. The first turn, the last turn, and the long straight between them. The 2 cars recommended here do not have a weakness in the long straight. The car I see recommended the most for this race, the Aston Martin DP-100 VGT, struggles in the long straight when using auto transmission. That car also sucks for VR which is my preferred way to experience GT7.
- There are plenty of threads here recommending numerous vehicles and strategies for this race, most of the recommendations I have found require you to have intermediate to advanced skills and drive with a manual transmission.
- Both cars recommended here require a simple Fuel Map 1 setting (the default) that doesn't ever need to be changed. But you must match all the suspension settings, body kits, racing parts, engine tuning parts, and custom gearbox settings found in these posts for the cars to work as intended for this race.
- Porsche 911 GT3 (997) '09 - 600 PP - Sport Hard Tires - Tokyo Rain - SWAP - 1.39 - Collector Level 50 Required
Credit to @KipDog for testing and discovering this vehicle to be one of if not the best options for beginners using an Automatic transmission. You can complete the entire race utilizing the default Fuel Map 1 and no pit stop is necessary. All the other vehicles here require one pit stop after laps 6 or 7. The DP-100 VGT is a vehicle that others might recommend for a no-pit stop run but you need to use manual transmission for that and this vehicle is faster regardless if you have learned to use shifting. Plus you can drive in the Cockpit view if that is your preference and that view is unavailable for the DP-100. The only issue is this tuning does require an engine swap. To open up the ability to buy any Engine Swap you need to reach Collector Level 50. Unless you happen to win the M97/80-911 with a roulette ticket. That is the only way before reaching Collector Level 50 that you can tune this car in the manner required for it to perform as a top vehicle here. - Lamborghini Miura P400 Bertone '67 - 600PP - Sport Hard Tires - Tokyo Rain event - 1.39 - Collector Level 6 and Menu Book 17 Required
@praiano63 describes it as "In my opinion the best option for this event, speed x driving pleasure x easy to manage x wonderful drivable cockpit view and sound." I agree and this has been one of my favorites for this event and was happy to discover it provides an easy win with automatic transmission following the strategy tips below. The only issue is its cost and limited availability in the Legend Car Dealership. Legend Car Dealership opens up after Menu Book 17 and not all cars are available all the time. They rotate on a 2-3 month schedule. I provided the Porsche below for this reason, but you should do everything to buy this car as soon as you see it available. - Porsche 911 GT3 (996) '01- 600PP - Sport Hard tires - All Track / Tokyo - 1.32 - Collector Level 6 required
Praiano describes this as a very performant and pleasant drive in Tokyo. I agree and it is less than a VGT car including all the upgrades and available at any time in the Porsche Brand Dealership. I still prefer the Lamborghini whether driving manual or automatic, but this is a great early-game alternate option if you can't purchase that car yet.
* Tested these vehicles again on 2/19/2024 for the entire race to ensure Update 1.42 didn't nerf them. They are still the best options for this guide.
** More vehicles have been suggested throughout the thread if you are having any issues with these. I have also tested and added 6 additional vehicles below in this main post. The guide is also here to help you add this race to your credit grind so you have more variety instead of only grinding Sardegna over and over again with the same vehicle every time. Eventually, you should be learning to drive with manual transmission and checking the other longer threads for this race where advanced players are suggesting even more vehicles.
- For Assist Settings I recommend Traction Control 1, ABS Weak, Auto-Drive Off, Active Stability Management (ASM) Off, and Countersteering Assistance Off. The other assist settings are up to your preference.
- You should go full throttle from the start of the race into the first turn. Stay to the left of the traffic and get close to the left wall when you enter the recommended braking area. DO NOT brake, instead, you will scrape the wall or wall-ride into the first corner. You can wait until the last second to touch the wall. Coming out of the first corner you should be down to 2nd gear and then you can follow the driving assist line. You do not need to wall-ride the 2nd corner.
- You should manage your throttle and braking throughout the main turning sections until you start to go downhill into the last turn. If you start to spin out you are using too much throttle. After each time on the brakes, you should not slam on the throttle but ease into it.
- The only other wall you should consider wall riding is closer to the end of the lap. It is the upward right turn into left turn combination before the final hairpin (Thanks to @Meythia for that tip). So you would ignore the braking zone on that turn and go full throttle and touch the wall at the last possible moment before it turns. Other than the 2 walls mentioned you should avoid hitting walls as they will slow you down. However, hitting any other walls by mistake though is not a reason to panic and start over. You can still win with the occasional wall tap or mistake. There are multiple times in the middle part of the race where you can and should go full throttle, but just as many points where you should be using less than full throttle.
- (From @KAlex122 ) Don't get hasty on your first lap. I am testing cars in Tokyo at the moment and after the first corner, I am normally not better than 10th and still win relatively easily. Just try to be relatively close to the top 3 (Kokobun, Gallo, Suswillo) after the first couple of laps. Gallo pits twice and especially Suswillo seems to get slower over the race length.
- The last turn's braking start point can vary from vehicle to vehicle. With the Lamborghini and the Porsche (997) '09, you can start braking after the recommended start point. But with the Porsche (996) '01, I would start braking where it recommends. In that last hairpin turn, you will slow down enough that you should be in 1st gear during the hairpin turn. Go easy on the throttle coming out of the turn and gradually start to increase it. This is where you are most vulnerable to spinning out with too much throttle, especially in the first few laps. Going slow through this turn is always better than screeching your tires or sliding off the track. You can lose the CRB if you hit the cones so be careful of that as well.
- You can see how wet the track is at any point by looking at the gauge to the left of where you see your tire wear. Specifically just to the left of your back left tire.
- With the Lamborghini, you should be able to be in 1st place straight after wall-riding that first corner. If you fall back a few positions on the last turn after being in first on lap 1, don't panic and restart. You're still OK. You should pit stop after Lap 6 and do not change tires. I refuel for 1 lap beyond what is recommended to finish the race. Then you can stop refueling for a quicker pit stop. If you somehow mess up and miss the pit stop, it is fine, you don't need to quit and restart. You can technically pit stop after lap 7 or 8 as you have plenty of fuel before then.
- With the Porsche (996) '01, you should be able to grab 1st place easily in lap 2 after wall-riding that first corner in Laps 1 and 2. You should pit stop after Lap 6 and same tire and fuel suggestions as with the Lamborghini. Technically you can get 7 laps without a pit stop if you are not full throttle the whole race. But forgetting to pit before lap 8 and you may run out of gas.
- With the Porsche (997) '09, it may take a few laps to grab 1st from wall riding, but typically by lap 5 you should be able to grab 1st and maintain that with no pit-stop. The other racers will all pit stop at least once but some will do it multiple times. If you get passed in the long straight don't panic because you can grab P1 right back at the wall ride towards the start of each lap.
- EDIT: I suggest doing the Circuit Experience for the Tokyo Expressway before doing this credit grind. At least the East Clockwise one. Also for each sector you get a Bronze in, it increases your reward in custom races by 2%. For each sector you get Gold in, it increases your reward by 8%. Plus it teaches you how to be faster on the track. Not to mention all the credits earned just from the Circuit Experience.
- As much as I could have used this guide before, I am grateful the repeated failed attempts at this race forced me to learn to drive a manual transmission. My first P1 win on this race was with the Aston Martin DP-100 VGT, but only after being able to short-shift and do a no-pit stop race. I think the Lamborghini above is a much better vehicle for this race even with it requiring the 1 pit stop. Before creating this guide and discovering the Miura, I was battling from behind too much of the race and it was much harder to get the CRB. I highly recommend biting the bullet and learning to drive manually once you have conquered this race. It opens you up to a wider variety of cars and strategies to include in your credit grinding. Grinding the same race and the same car every day can get boring quickly.
- If you are struggling to match the PP from Praiano's tuning, make sure you have matched the racing parts and rim suggestions at the top of the post. Also, make sure you have the right tuning parts like the Racing Transmission instead of the Manual Transmission or Vice Versa.
- These are vehicles I have confirmed that you can complete the race in 1st place while still driving in Automatic Transmission and staying on Fuel Map 1. They all are a notch down from the top 2 suggestions I gave you, but one of these might end up being your preference. You would still want to pit stop sometime after laps 6 or 7 to grab some more fuel to make it to the end of the race. Same deal as far as tire change. Do not waste any time from your pit stop with a tire change.
- Collector Level 6 Required
- Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo '91 - 600PP - Sport Hard/medium Tires - Tokyo/Nordschleife - 1.41
- Honda NSX Type R '02- 600PP - Sport Hard Tires - Tokyo rain event - 1.42
- Honda NSX '17- 600PP - Sport Hard tires - WTC 600 Tokyo Rain - 1.41
- Lancia Stratos '73 - 600PP - Sport Medium tires - Tokyo/All Tracks- 1.31
- Collector Level 50 Required
- Ford GT '06
- Nissan R34 GT-R VSpec II Nur '02 - 600PP - Sport Hard tires - Nordscleife/Tokyo - 1.40
Out of those 6, the Mitsubishi is the fastest with both top speed and acceleration. But it will take some practice laps to get used to its handling on this course. It is a tuned vehicle that likes to drift through turns. How much throttle you use and brake points will be quite different from most other cars. But still worth practicing and learning because you are rewarded with its speed and fun factor to drive. Even if you start to lose control or get bumped off the road, I have observed it to be one of the better cars in the game for dealing with adversity and course-correcting when things start to go bad.
Last edited: