Despite the unusually early announcement for the latest Gran Turismo 7 update, 1.49, Polyphony Digital has stuck with its regular update cadence in revealing a little more about the update which arrives on July 25.
Courtesy of that original reveal, which would ordinarily only be posted the day before the update, we do already know a lot about 1.49, but there are some additional details now. Of course we won’t know everything about the update until it lands, at around 0600UTC on Thursday July 25 (and even then some changes will not be documented), so keep an eye on GTPlanet for all the latest.
Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.49 New Track
Yes, for the first time in what seems like forever, a Gran Turismo 7 update is bringing a brand-new track to the game — and it’s an old favorite in a new set of PlayStation 5-friendly clothes.
Eiger Nordwand, after skipping out Gran Turismo Sport, returns to the game almost 18 years after its debut as the only course in Gran Turismo HD.
Unlike other returnees, which have seen significant layout reworkings, Eiger Nordwand appears to have come back almost entirely intact and with the same course length as the original at 1.51 miles (2.43km).
There are a couple of notable changes though. The primary one is a relocation of the pit lane from its previous spot around the hairpins to a more normal position off the side of the main… well, straight is a bit strong, but certainly the longest period of acceleration.
It occupies the outfield side of the bottom half of the uphill section, and runs through a dedicated tunnel. As the start-finish remains in its original position, this makes it a rare course with a pit lane that does not intersect the finish line.
Scenery changes look to have eliminated the off-road courses at the location — with the “Short Track” name dropped to revert back the naming from GT5: Prologue — and it appears that the yump just after the finish line has been flattened or at least made less severe.
The course will be available in both forwards and reverse directions, which you’ll get to experience in some new races. We ought to see a new Circuit Experience at the venue, but this has yet to be confirmed.
Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.49 New Cars
The teaser video of course revealed the six cars coming in the update, comprising race, rally, and road machinery, and it’s going to be a little while until we can definitively say what the availability and pricings of the six vehicles will be.
One that’s likely to land in Legends Cars is the WRC98 model of the Subaru Impreza. This was Colin McRae’s ride for the 1998 World Rally Championship, and secured the last three of his wins for Subaru before he moved to Ford’s new team for 1999.
The E36 generation of BMW M3 fills in a long-standing blank spot in Gran Turismo’s M3 range, marking the car’s series debut. It was the first of the straight-six cars, establishing the recipe for all but the E90 models since. Given its age and series production nature, this is probably going to appear as a Used Car.
All of the remaining four vehicles ought to appear as new vehicles — although again the age of two means that they will be both new and used. That’s the track-special Ferrari F430 Scuderia and the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, two Italian supercars from the mid-00s.
While once common, it’s been rare to see Ruf appearing in racing games for quite some time. The brand originally substituted for Porsche when the better-known marque was tied up in an exclusivity agreement, and the end of that era coincided with Ruf’s sidelining. GT Sport added the bespoke Ruf CTR3, but the new RGT 4.2 coming in update 1.49 is the first we’ve seen of a Ruf vehicle derived from an existing Porsche (the 991 GT3) in quite some time.
Finally there’s the racing version of the Genesis Vision Gran Turismo car, officially called the X Gran Racer. This ought to be a Gr.1 category representative for Genesis and, given the rumors of a real-world LMH entry from Hyundai under the Genesis marque, may preview something we’ll see on the track soon. In racing guise the car has its power wound up to almost 1,500hp (courtesy of a bigger electric motor) and the additional aero trickery should tame the original’s Speed 12-esque driving manners.
Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.49 New Physics
This is probably going to be the most significant aspect of the update, but currently remains the most mysterious — and something we’re not truly going to discover until we get on track.
The drivers at the recent GT World Series event in Montreal did just that, and there were plenty of comments about how things handled under the new system. Perhaps the most notable was a change to how tires heat up and degrade, but generally there’s a increase in pace across the board.
For its update preview, PD notes that there’s new suspension physics which, along with the tire model, means that the handling will be “more natural” with regards to weight transfer. We’ll be digging into what this means over the coming days.
Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.49 New Races & Menu Books
Five new races are noted in the update preview, largely and unsurprisingly comprising events at Eiger Nordwand. The new circuit will receive visits from the World Rally Challenge Gr B series (again not a shock given the preview video), the Jimny Cup, and the European Sunday Cup.
Additionally there’ll be a new event, long overdue, in the Ferrari Circuit Challenge at Monza, while the tuner-special World Touring Car 600 adds Road Atlanta to its venues. Credit rewards for the races are unclear at the moment.
It’s a little disappointing that there’s no new Bonus Menu Books — especially as some of the Weekly Challenge Special Events are crying out for it and several have had the requisite three events (or more) — but there is a new Extra Menu Book with a collection task.
For this you’ll need to pick up the famous McLaren F1 (a 20m purchase from Legends Cars), the McLaren MP4-12c, and one of the Ultimate Vision Gran Turismo cars — although it’s not clear yet if that’s the base car or the Gr.1. The reward for collecting these cars hasn’t been stated, but given the hefty buy-in we hope it’s similar to the Jaguar book from update 1.44…
Finally there’s an expansion to the Gran Turismo Sophy offering. You’ll now be able to race against this advanced AI at the Autodrome Lago Maggiore Full Course (surprisingly not added sooner, given that one of the exhibition races was there) and the Nurburgring 24h layout.
Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.49 New Scapes & Other Changes
Naturally the Eiger area is added as a new Scapes location, fulfilling what we expected from the Sony Creators Conference video in August 2023. It looks like this will comprise ten locations, including the Kleine Scheidegg railway station which forms part of the Eiger Nordwand course.
In a rare addition, there’s new options for wheel customization too. Los Angeles-based Pokal Custom Felgen now features as a wheel manufacturer, with what looks like around 15 new options for your wheel upgrades.
That’s accompanied by rebranded tires in GT Auto. The standard rubber now sports Michelin logos, appropriate to the game’s official tire partner — although it seems that some vehicles (possibly those with existing manufacturer/tire licensing agreements in the real world) won’t have this option available.
Doubtless there’ll be other changes that are as-yet unrevealed (or will only be listed as “various other changes”), but we’ll discover more when the update arrives at around 0600 UTC on Thursday July 25.
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