GRAN TURISMO 3: RALLY LICENSE GUIDE by Jamie Stafford/Wolf Feather feather7@ix.netcom.com FINAL VERSION Initial version completed: May 20, 2002 Current version completed: July 10, 2002 ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== JOIN THE FEATHERGUIDES E-MAIL LIST: To be the first to know when my new and updated guides are released, join the FeatherGuides E-mail List. Go to http://www.coollist.com/group.cgi?l=featherguides for information about the list and to subscribe for free. ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== CONTENTS Spacing Permissions Introduction Riding the Walls License R-1 License R-2 License R-3 License R-4 License R-5 License R-6 License R-7 License R-8 Contact ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== SPACING For optimum readability, this driving guide should be viewed/printed using a monowidth font, such as Courier. Check for appropriate font setting by making sure the numbers and letters below line up: 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ==================================== PERMISSIONS This driving guide may only be posted on: FeatherGuides, GameFAQs.com, f1gamers.com, PSXCodez.com, Cheatcc.com, Games Domain, gamesover.com, Absolute-PlayStation.com, RedCoupe, InsidePS2Games.com, CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat Empire, gamespot.com, ps2domain.net, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru, ps2replay.com, cheatingplanet.com, neoseeker.com, RobsGaming.com, ps2fantasy.com, gamespot.com, and vgstrategies.com. Please contact me for permission to post elsewhere on the Internet. Permission is granted to download and print one copy for personal use. ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== INTRODUCTION Gran Turismo 2 introduced rally racing to the most popular auto racing series for PlayStation. Gran Turismo 3 continues the rally racing series for PlayStation2. However, as in GT2, GT3 requires that drivers first acquire a Rally License to participate in Rally Events - even the wet-based events which do not use dirt. This guide is designed to provide tips in acquiring a Rally License in Gran Turismo 3; the goal, therefore, is to assist drivers in earning a Bronze Medal. The Rally License is actually the easiest of the six licenses to earn (but just as difficult as the others for obtaining Gold Medals in all eight tests), but those new to driving on dirt are nonetheless likely to find rally racing a bit tricky. Please note that rally racing in GT3 is very different from real-world rally racing. GT3's Rally Events take place on 'circuits,' in that the ending point is the same as the starting point; most real-world rally racing takes place on stages, where the starting and ending points are somewhat far apart. Also, in GT3, drivers race each other; in real-world rallying, drivers race the clock and rarely pass another car on the stage (cars all start each stage at a fairly wide interval from each other). For a game which is much closer to real-world rally driving, buy World Rally Championship; however, skills obtained in either Gran Turismo 3 or World Rally Championship can be helpful in the other game as well. ==================================== RIDING THE WALLS This tactic can be very useful, both in the License Tests and in actual competition in Gran Turismo 3. The game does not include damage modeling, so scraping the walls, cliffs, and other barriers will only slow a car (and accelerate tire wear if applicable to a particular race). Riding the walls entails placing one side of the car against the wall or other barrier and letting the curve of the obstruction change the car's direction. However, in the License Tests, this must be done VERY carefully, as hitting obstructions with much force will result in automatic failure of the test. The best way to engage in this practice is to gently edge the side of the car against the obstruction at a very gentle angle. Keeping the accelerator fully engaged, the friction will slow the car, but will still generally allow for a greater speed than braking and cornering normally - and in a racing situation, can result in passing one or more cars performing 'normal' cornering procedures. Exiting the corner, however, can be tricky when riding the walls. Depending on the car, the terrain, the speed at exit, and the obstacle itself, a car may want to keep going in the direction at which it had been turning. Therefore, always be prepared to quickly countersteer on exit; lifting off the accelerator just before corner exit may also be of use in this situation. ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== LICENSE R-1 Skill: Rally Driving Basics I Car Used: Peugeot 206 Rally Car Gold Time: 0'15.600 Silver Time: 0'16.000 Bronze Time: 0'17.300 This first Rally License test - taking place at the beginning of Tahiti Circuit - requires cornering during the transition from pavement to dirt. On the positive side, braking on pavement is generally better than braking on dirt, as the tires generally find more grip on pavement. On the negative side, turning too much can cause the car to spin once on the dirt; similarly, carrying too much speed from the pavement to the dirt will cause the car to slide toward the outside wall, thus requiring heavy braking to stay off the wall and likely resulting in failing the test (time will expire). The trick here is to balance both braking and cornering as much as possible. ==================================== LICENSE R-2 Skill: Rally Driving Basics II Car Used: Toyota Corolla Rally Car Gold Time: 0'29.200 Silver Time: 0'29.600 Bronze Time: 0'31.800 This test at the end of the Smokey Mountain venue (the new rally venue in the series) begins on gravel, and then transitions to pavement just beyond the final (crested) corner. The key to successfully passing this test is a thorough knowledge of the width and apexes of this section of the circuit. The previous test venue was essentially flat; this test venue combines multiple consecutive corners with significant elevation changes, resulting in blind corners created by crests in the circuit and the barriers at the valleys, all in an effort to obscure a driver's vision of the circuit. In general, keep tight to the apex of each corner, and try to keep from drifting all the way out to the walls on exiting corners. Once the test venue has been very well committed to memory, it is possible to straightline several of the corners before the tunnel. The final corner (at the exit of the tunnel) can be tricky. Most likely, drivers will brake for this corner, and the test can indeed be safely completed by braking here IF the rest of the test venue has been cleared flawlessly. However, the best bet is to keep on the accelerator and turn hard early, using the natural slope of the corner to help keep the car near the apex and prevent it from sliding up the gravel banking. This should shave at least one second off the test time, and should vault Bronze Medal drivers up to Silver Metal instantly. ==================================== LICENSE R-3 Skill: Rally Driving Basics III Car Used: Ford Escort Rally Car Gold Time: 0'22.300 Silver Time: 0'22.700 Bronze Time: 0'24.000 This test takes place at Swiss Alps, one of the most difficult venues in all of Gran Turismo 3. The most difficult aspect of this license test is successfully clearing the S-curves; the difficulty lies in the long shadows across this area of the circuit, making flawless knowledge of these corners and their limits absolutely key to passing this test. On exiting the final S-curve, there is ample swing-out room, which can be very beneficial is braking was not used in the S-curves, but swinging out too far can be detrimental in terms of time. Braking can be used here to help slow sufficiently for the corners, but will almost certainly result in only a Bronze Medal. ==================================== LICENSE R-4 Skill: Practical Rally Driving I Car Used: Toyota Celica Rally Car Gold Time: 0'22.400 Silver Time: 0'22.800 Bronze Time: 0'24.300 This test occurs in the final third of the Tahiti Circuit venue, with the three consecutive hairpin corners. Holding a tight apex is key to saving time here, but will usually mean shedding A LOT of speed well before corner entry. It is possible to never use the brakes and still pass this license test, but doing so will require sliding through corners and still somehow managing to countersteer well enough to keep off the walls on corner exit. ==================================== LICENSE R-5 Skill: Practical Rally Driving II Car Used: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI Rally Car Gold Time: 0'26.850 Silver Time: 0'27.300 Bronze Time: 0'29.600 Returning to Swiss Alps, this test begins where test R-3 ended. This is a very tricky portion of the circuit: a long straightaway followed by a ninety-degree right-hand turn followed instantly by a sharp left-hand hairpin which causes the car's rear end to want to swing out violently; this is followed by a brief straightaway and a wider right-hand hairpin before the final (short) run to the Start/Finish Line. Fortunately, the circuit is fairly wide, and widens even more to accommodate cars spinning around while trying to handle the hairpin corners. Braking is almost certainly a requirement for the first corner of the license test, but the rest of the test section can be cleared with precision driving and superhuman reflexes. ==================================== LICENSE R-6 Skill: Drifting Techniques I Car Used: Lancia Delta HF Integrale Rally Car Gold Time: 0'29.400 Silver Time: 0'30.000 Bronze Time: 0'31.800 The R-6 test takes place at Tahiti Maze, by far the most difficult rally venue in Gran Turismo 3. This test requires clearing a set of four hairpin corners joined by brief straightaways; making matters worse, the Lancia Delta HF Integrale Rally Car always wants to spin on exiting corners, so throttle management and countersteering are very important here. There are really two strategies for achieving a Bronze Medal in this test. The first is to drive semi-normally, sliding the car through the hairpins and braking only as necessary (usually to avoid smacking the walls when exiting the hairpins). The second is to ride the walls (explained above), which itself has its own risks. ==================================== LICENSE R-7 Skill: Drifting Techniques II Car Used: Subaru Imprezza Rally Car Prototype Gold Time: 0'22.400 Silver Time: 0'22.800 Bronze Time: 0'24.600 This test uses another section of the Tahiti Maze circuit, again with multiple hairpins connected by brief straightaways. This time, however, the entire test area has a downhill slope. Also, there is a semi-sharp right-hand corner immediately after the beginning of the test area, and a transition from dirt to gravel just before the end of the test area. Again, riding the walls is probably a good option here, especially since the Subaru Imprezza Rally Car Prototype has more power than the Lancia Delta HF Integrale Rally Car from test R-6. Braking will likely be needed for virtually all the corners, although experts should be able to simply slide the car around all the corners. ==================================== LICENSE R-8 Skill: Rally License Final Exam Car Used: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII Rally Car Prototype Gold Time: 1'58.700 Silver Time: 2'00.000 Bronze Time: 2'08.000 This is the most difficult Rally License test of all: a full lap at Tahiti Maze. Fortunately, the Bronze Medal time is sufficiently high that one or two corners can be taken fairly poorly and the test still passed successfully. Riding the walls will certainly help to shave time, although some of the straightaways between consecutive hairpins are so short that there is virtually not enough room to gently edge up against the wall before reaching the next hairpin. ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== CONTACT INFORMATION For questions, rants, raves, comments of appreciation, etc., please contact me at: FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM; also, if you have enjoyed this guide and feel that it has been helpful to you, I would certainly appreciate a small donation via PayPal (http://www.paypal.com/) using the above e-mail address. To find the latest version of this and all my other PSX/PS2 game guides, please visit FeatherGuides (http://www.angelcities.com/members/feathersites/). The latest version will always be posted at FeatherGuides, while other Web sites may lag behind by several days in their regularly-scheduled posting updates. ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== ======================================================================= Wolf Feather Jamie Stafford ======================================================================= Just as there are many parts needed to make a human a human, there's a remarkable number of things needed to make an individual what they are. - Major Kusanagi, _Ghost in the Shell_ ======================================================================= What isn't remembered never happened. - _Serial Experiments Lain_ =======================================================================