For the second week in a row, the new Gran Turismo 7 Online Time Trial event features a brand-new vehicle to the game, added in update 1.46, as well as an entirely new marque.
As you’ve likely guessed (and the picture will help), that’s “Afeela”. This new manufacturer is the creation of the Sony Honda Mobility group, set up to produce the vehicle Sony first showed off at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Originally revealed as the Vision-S, the car is — unsurprisingly, given the roll-out of legislation around the world — an electric vehicle. While specifications have changed a little since the original car (more on this in a minute), it remains a twin-motor, all-wheel drive, five-seat sedan.
It’s intended for production in 2025/2026, but the prototype vehicle is already available to Gran Turismo 7 players. Unusually, it’s also entirely free: there’s no purchase price for the Afeela Prototype, so you could fill up your garage with 1,000 of them without spending a credit.
Even so, if you don’t feel like “buying” one you can borrow a car in standard paint for the time trial. Either way you’ll notice that the car has no power or weight figures, even under BOP conditions. We know that the real thing has approximately 482hp, from a matched pair of 180kW (241hp) motors, while performance figures suggest a weight of around 2,200kg (4,850lb).
Whatever the precise weight, it is a bit of a heavy thing when you consider that the time trial will be running at the 18-turn Autodrome Lago Maggiore Full Course circuit. Keeping the weight transfer under control through the esses in particular will be crucial to a good lap time.
Currently the world record for this is a 2:14.9, and while it is early days we’re not expecting a huge amount of movement here — largely because the lack of gear changes means the removal of a major variable in lap times. A mid-2:14 might be on the cards, meaning that a mid-2:18 ought to be enough to get into the gold bracket.
You can still set a time in the Skoda Vision GT time trial at Watkins Glen too, with seven days still to run. At the moment the world record for that is a 1:33.8 (and held by a Czech driver!), which puts the gold time at a 1:36.7. That hasn’t dropped quite as far as we’d expected, but a mid-1:36 will still be the target for safety.
In order to access the Online Time Trials, you’ll need to unlock Sport Mode, by completing Menu Book 9 (“Championship: Tokyo Highway Parade”) in the GT Cafe single player hub. As it’s just you against the clock and not a direct, head-to-head multiplayer event, PlayStation Plus is not required.
You’ll usually need to be within 3% of the fastest time globally once the event finishes in order to secure “gold” status and a 2m credit bonus prize. There’s smaller prizes of one million for being within 5%, and 250,000cr for bronze at 10% off.
The events update every Thursday, with each individual challenge remaining available for two weeks and the oldest of the two events being replaced each week. You can look forward to the next new Time Trial arriving at 0700 UTC on Thursday May 9.
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge May 2 – Lago Maggiore
- Track: Autodrome Lago Maggiore – Full Course
- Car: Afeela Prototype ’24 – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (M)
- Tires: Sports Hard
- Settings: Fixed
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge April 25 – Watkins Glen
- Track: Watkins Glen – Long Course
- Car: Skoda Vision Gran Turismo – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (M)
- Tires: Racing Medium
- Settings: Fixed
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