Whether Gran Turismo 7 is your first full game in the series or your eighth, it plays a little different than everything that’s come before it.
Players starting out in GT7 will have very little available to them; in fact, once you’ve got through Music Rally, you’ll only have a Used Car Dealer on the central World Map at first.
You will have to navigate through a distinctly linear single-player mode, which gradually allows you access to more and more functions, features, and even tracks, before you can truly enjoy everything that’s on offer.
With so many things dependent on game progressions, it’s little wonder that one of the most common questions from new users is “How can I unlock” a given track or map icon. We’ve put together this guide to help.
Table of Contents
- World Map
- World Circuits
- Tuning Shop
- Missions
- GT Cafe Bonus & Extra Menu Books
- Other Features
- Driving Gear
World Map
The World Map is your Gran Turismo hub; it’s how you interact with every gameplay feature of GT7. To start with it will seem a little sparse, but as you progress, more areas of it will become available.
Initially you’ll only have a Used Car icon, towards which the game guide “Sarah” will direct you. You’ll need to pick up one of three cars in the dealer here — a Honda Fit, a Mazda Demio, or a Toyota Aqua — to get things started, and that will give you access to the Garage and the GT Cafe.
From this point on, it’s all about GT Cafe. The Cafe owner, “Luca”, will give you challenges by way of “Menu Books”. Each contains a task — which could be collecting cars of a certain type, competing in race championships, or even just washing your vehicle — and completing the tasks gives rewards which can include new areas of the World Map.
The full list of map markers and how to unlock them is as follows:
- Brand Central
- Complete Menu Book 4 (GT Cafe)
- Cafe
- View your first car in Garage
- Garage
- Buy your first car from Used Cars
- GT Auto
- Complete Menu Book 7 (GT Cafe)
- Legends Cars
- Complete Menu Book 17 (GT Cafe)
- Licence Center
- Complete Menu Book 1 (GT Cafe)
- Missions
- Complete Menu Book 12 (GT Cafe)
- Multiplayer
- Complete Menu Book 9 (GT Cafe)
- Scapes
- Complete Menu Book 7 (GT Cafe)
- Showcase
- Start Menu Book 1 (GT Cafe)
- Sport Mode
- Complete Menu Book 9 (GT Cafe)
- Tuning Shop
- Complete Menu Book 3 (GT Cafe)
- Used Cars
- Unlocked at start
- World Circuits
- Start Menu Book 1 (GT Cafe)
World Circuits
You’ll only have access to three of the 34 circuit locations in GT7 when you first visit, one on each continent. Which ones you’ll visit depend on which of the three starter cars you bought, as you’ll need to win the other two to complete the set.
The venues that are initially unlocked are Autodrome Lago Maggiore (Europe), BB Raceway (Asia-Oceania), and Northern Isle Speedway (Americas). All the rest will need to be unlocked by progressing through GT Cafe’s Menu Books.
As you can imagine, the shorter, simpler circuits will unlock earlier, while the longer, more challenging, and more famous locations will be much nearer the end. If, for instance, you want to drive the Nurburgring, you’ll need to complete Book 21, while Spa is Book 30, and the Circuit de la Sarthe — now called the 24 Heures du Mans Racing Circuit — is Book 38.
The full list of track venues and the Menu Books you need to access them is as follows:
- 24 Heures du Mans Racing Circuit (Circuit de la Sarthe)
- Complete Menu Book 38 (GT Cafe)
- Alsace
- Complete Menu Book 6 (GT Cafe)
- Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos)
- Complete Menu Book 28 (GT Cafe)
- Autodrome Lago Maggiore
- Buy your first car from Used Cars
- Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
- Complete Menu Book 24 (GT Cafe)
- Autopolis
- Complete Menu Book 17 (GT Cafe)
- Blue Moon Bay Speedway
- Complete Menu Book 13 (GT Cafe)
- Brands Hatch
- Complete Menu Book 2 (GT Cafe)
- BB Raceway
- Buy your first car from Used Cars
- Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
- Complete Menu Book 33 (GT Cafe)
- Circuit de Sainte-Croix
- Complete Menu Book 31 (GT Cafe)
- Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
- Complete Menu Book 30 (GT Cafe)
- Colorado Springs
- Complete Menu Book 25 (GT Cafe)
- Daytona International Speedway
- Complete Menu Book 14 (GT Cafe)
- Deep Forest Raceway
- Complete Menu Book 10 (GT Cafe)
- Dragon Trail
- Complete Menu Book 21 (GT Cafe)
- Eiger Nordwand
- Collector Level 25 (11950pt)
- Fishermans Ranch
- Complete Menu Book 36 (GT Cafe)
- Fuji International Circuit
- Complete Menu Book 17 (GT Cafe)
- Goodwood Motor Circuit
- Complete Menu Book 2 (GT Cafe)
- Grand Valley Highway-1
- Collector Level 15 (3710pt)
- Kyoto Driving Park
- Complete Menu Book 18 (GT Cafe)
- High Speed Ring
- Complete Menu Book 3 (GT Cafe)
- Lake Louise
- Collector Level 22 (8950pt)
- Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta
- Collector Level 20 (7200pt)
- Mount Panorama
- Complete Menu Book 18 (GT Cafe)
- Northern Isle Speedway
- Buy your first car from Used Cars
- Nurburgring
- Complete Menu Book 21 (GT Cafe)
- Red Bull Ring
- Complete Menu Book 21 (GT Cafe)
- Sardegna Road
- Complete Menu Book 6 (GT Cafe)
- Sardegna Windmills
- Complete Menu Book 36 (GT Cafe)
- Suzuka Circuit
- Complete Menu Book 4 (GT Cafe)
- Special Stage Route X
- Complete Menu Book 26 (GT Cafe)
- Tokyo Expressway
- Complete Menu Book 8 (GT Cafe)
- Trial Mountain
- Complete Menu Book 16 (GT Cafe)
- Tsukuba Circuit
- Complete Menu Book 4 (GT Cafe)
- Watkins Glen
- Collector Level 17 (4950pt)
- WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
- Complete Menu Book 13 (GT Cafe)
- Willow Springs
- Complete Menu Book 13 (GT Cafe)
Tuning Shop
The Tuning Shop is where you’ll head to buy new performance parts for your cars. It’s one of the locked map icons to start with, but once you unlock it with Menu Book 3 from GT Cafe, you’ll find that there’s various tiers within it — containing more advanced and potent upgrades — that are also locked behind game progress.
This time however, it’s not Menu Books you need to focus on. Instead it’s Collector Level, which is essentially a measure of the value of the cars in your Garage.
Every time you buy or win a car, its value is converted into Collector Points. For every full 1,000 credits a car is worth, you get one Collector Point; the 13,000cr Honda Fit is worth 13 points, while the 12,500cr Mazda Demio is only worth 12. Gain enough points and your Collector Level will increase.
The list of Tuning Shop areas and how to unlock them is:
- Sports
- Complete Menu Book 3 (GT Cafe)
- Club Sports
- Collector Level 4 (250pt)
- Semi Racing
- Collector Level 5 (390pt)
- Racing
- Collector Level 6 (550pt)
- Extreme
- Collector Level 7 (730pt)
- Ultimate
- Collector Level 50 (54450pt)
We should also note that one significant tuning feature, Engine Swaps, is actually in GT Auto rather than the Tuning Shop. You’ll need to be Collector Level 50 (54450pt) to access this function, and it’s only available for select vehicles — for which you can find a full, current list here.
Missions
As with previous GT games, GT7’s Missions features some slightly different challenges, varying from fuel economy tests and the traditional cone-hitting events to some unique races that you won’t find in the career mode.
Once you’ve unlocked the Missions area of the World Map by completing Menu Book 12, you’ll find only the first set of six Missions available. As with the Tuning Shop, these are unlocked not by more Menu Books but Collector Level.
You will need to get a pretty large car collection going though, with the final set of Missions needing a garage worth more than 6.4 million credits! The full list is as follows:
- The Magic Mountain
- Complete Menu Book 12 (GT Cafe)
- Beyond the Horizon
- Collector Level 10 (1510pt)
- Rolling Stone
- Collector Level 12 (2240pt)
- Moby Dick
- Collector Level 15 (3710pt)
- Gone With the Wind
- Collector Level 17 (4950pt)
- The Sun Also Rises
- Collector Level 19 (6400pt)
- The Human Comedy
- Collector Level 23 (9900pt)
GT Cafe Bonus & Extra Menu Books
In addition to the 39 main Menu Books of the GT Cafe career mode, there’s “Bonus” and “Extra” Menu Books that offer new races and car collection tasks with further rewards.
To access either of these sets of books requires that you complete GT Cafe Menu Book 39 first, however there are some additional special considerations for those that contain new race events — and this may affect your ability to complete the Weekly Challenges as mentioned elsewhere.
- Extra Menu Books
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe)
- Bonus Menu Book 40: Lightweight K-Cup
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe) & Collector Level 20 (7200pt)
- Bonus Menu Book 41: Vision Gran Turismo Trophy
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe) & Collector Level 20 (7200pt)
- Bonus Menu Book 42: Gr.1 Prototype Series
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe) & Collector Level 30 (17950pt)
- Bonus Menu Book 43: Neo-Classic Competition
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe) & Collector Level 33 (22150pt)
- Bonus Menu Book 44: Hypercar Parade
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe) & Collector Level 35 (25200pt)
- Bonus Menu Book 45: The Silvia Sisters
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe) & Collector Level 27 (14200pt)
- Bonus Menu Book 46: Historic Sports Car Masters
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe) & Collector Level 29 (16650pt)
- Bonus Menu Book 47: Super Formula
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe) & Collector Level 31 (19300pt)
- Bonus Menu Book 48: World Touring Car 900
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe) & Collector Level 39 (31900pt)
- Bonus Menu Book 49: X2019 Nations Cup
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe) & Collector Level 50 (54450pt)
- Bonus Menu Book 50: Jimny Cup
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe) & Collector Level 28 (15400pt)
Other Features
There’s a handful of other significant features, mostly those added during the game’s second year and in the Spec II update in November 2023, that also require some progress to unlock.
- GT Auto – Engine Swaps
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe)
- License Center – Master License
- Complete Normal License S-10 at Bronze or better
- Used Cars – Car Valuation Service
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe)
- World Circuits – Weekly Challenges
- Complete Menu Book 39 (GT Cafe)
Driving Gear
You can once again customize your avatar with new racewear items — a feature first added in Gran Turismo 5 — and GT Auto will allow you to edit your suit’s design just as it did in GT Sport.
Acquiring these items is again associated with your Collector Level. At present this is the complete list, which also accounts for all of the driving gear items present in GT Sport, but there may be others still to come in game updates.
- Alpinestars Suit No1
- Collector Level 11 (1850pt)
- Alpinestars Suit No2
- Collector Level 18 (5650pt)
- Arai GP-6 GT helmet
- Collector Level 8 (950pt)
- Arai GP-6 metallic helmet
- Collector Level 13 (2680pt)
- Arai GP-6 metallic GT helmet
- Collector Level 16 (4300pt)
- Arai GP-6 RC Carbon helmet
- Collector Level 23 (9900pt)
- Puma Suit No2 Racing Suit
- Collector Level 14 (3170pt)
