A brand new Gran Turismo 7 Online Time Trial is now available, featuring one of the new vehicles added in today’s 1.55 game update.
As we think you can guess from the image above that’ll be the Gran Turismo F3500-A, a fictional car inspired by F1 cars from the early-1990s when the screams of a variety of 3.5-liter engines filled the stands of 16 grands prix every year.
It’ll be the first chance to use the machine in a competitive environment as you try to set the fastest time you can at the “temple of speed”: Monza. This high-speed track is an ideal place to stretch the legs of the 15,000rpm V12 behind you, with the car reaching well over 200mph at times.
Of course, this being a time trial event, it’s not just about how fast you can go. The goal is to get as close as you can to the top time in the world in order to win credit rewards of varying magnitude. Currently the global record is a 1:23.151, set by regular live event attendee Kylian Drumont, which means that the target time to get a gold medal is a 1:25.645.
Drumont’s time is actually a couple of tenths faster than the next-best, leading us to think that there’s probably not all that much left to gain but as is always the case with times close to a whole second there’s a big, tempting target to aim for. If someone does breach the 1:22s, gold will slip down to 1:25.488 or better.
Despite the physics change in the update, the leaderboards in the Ferrari Testarossa time trial at Brands Hatch don’t appear to have been wiped but we still have a week to go and there may be some movemebt to come yet.
The record currently sits at a 1:36.025, placing the gold threshold at 1:38.905. That’s a little slower than we’d expected — high-1:35s seemed on the cards — and early reports suggest the car is a smidge slower now, but even so it’d be worth getting down into the mid-1:38s just in case.
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 usually 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 February 6.
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge January 30 – Monza
- Track: Autodromo Nazionale Monza
- Car: Gran Turismo F3500-A – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (H)
- Tires: Racing Medium
- Settings: Fixed
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge January 23 – Brands Hatch
- Track: Brands Hatch Grand Prix
- Car: Ferrari Testarossa ’91 – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (L)
- Tires: Sports Hard
- Settings: Fixed
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