Gran Turismo 7 Online Time Trial addicts will get something of a treat this week, with an event that will be somewhat reminiscent of one of the most celebrated driving videos of all time.
You’ll be heading to Germany and the infamous Green Hell of the Nurburgring Nordschleife, set with the challenge of beating both the clock and your fellow players through — hopefully — less than eight minutes of relatively stressful driving.
The car in question is, of course, a classic Porsche 911 and doubtless we’re not the only ones to draw a line from that to the Faszination auf dem Nurburgring video from 1989. While subsequently beaten several times, the now 35-year old video shows Ruf test driver Stefan Roser hurling the company’s CTR around the track in loafers and a short-sleeved shirt (not even a crash helmet) in a time of 8:05.
Specialist manufacturer Ruf is probably best known to a generation of fans as a substitute for Porsche in dozens of videogames — thanks to a long-held exclusive licence for the latter brand — due to its official standing as an original vehicle manufacturer. Despite the similar looks, Ruf’s factory models were built from naked, “body in white” shells from Porsche.
However Porsche is now more free with its licensing, and with close to 30 models in GT7 it’s a Porsche that’s your ride for this lap. Specifically it’s the 1995 Carrera RS Club Sport, a track-focused version of the car with a lot of the toys deleted, aerodynamic changes, an integrated roll cage, and different gear ratios. It’s available in the Used Car Dealership right now too, although not for long.
We’re only a couple of hours into this time trial, but it’s going to be a pretty hard one to predict given the enormous track length and time involved. The current world record is a 7:33, making for a gold target of just under 7:47. How far that will fall is anyone’s guess, but we can see the top drivers aiming to beat 7:30 — nice, round numbers make for a tempting target — so you’ll want to look at a low 7:43.
You’ve got one more week to try out the Nissan Silvia time trial at Brands Hatch too. The world record time now stands at a 1:43.6, meaning that you’ll need to break into the 1:46.7s to score gold here. We may see some more movement here, but given the slippery nature of the car it’s not likely to fall a lot.
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 30.
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge May 23 – Nurburgring Nordschleife
- Track: Nurburgring – Nordschleife
- Car: Porsche 911 (993) Carrera RS CS ’95 – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (H)
- Tires: Sports Hard
- Settings: Fixed
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge May 16 – Brands Hatch
- Track: Brands Hatch – Grand Prix Circuit
- Car: Nissan Silvia (S14) K’s Aero ’96 – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (L)
- Tires: Comfort Soft
- Settings: Fixed
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