GRAN TURISMO 3: IA LICENSE GUIDE by Jamie Stafford/Wolf Feather feather7@ix.netcom.com Version: FINAL VERSION Initial version completed: May 25, 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 IA-1 License IA-2 License IA-3 License IA-4 License IA-5 License IA-6 License IA-7 License IA-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 This guide is designed to provide tips in acquiring an International A (IA) License in Gran Turismo 3; the goal, therefore, is to assist drivers in earning a Bronze Medal. The IA License is somewhat difficult to obtain, and the test venues themselves require strong familiarity with medium- powered vehicles to ensure that proper braking points and racing lines are observed. ==================================== 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 IA-1 Skill: Fast Complex Corners I Car Used: Lancer Evolution VI Rally Car Gold Time: 0'40.000 Silver Time: 0'40.700 Bronze Time: 0'42.500 Taking place on the back side of the Tokyo R246 circuit, this test requires excellent knowledge of the venue, as many of the corners are blind turns. Throttle management is very important here, as it can mean the difference between banging a barrier on corner exit and squeaking through a corner with millimeters to spare on exit. It may help to immediately use the 'ride the wall' technique for the first corner of the IA-1 test area, thus keeping up speed without slowing too much (which is what will likely happen with conventional braking). A solid racing line through the second and third corners of the test area is key to using full acceleration and to keep from banging the barriers exiting this quick-flick chicane. The fourth turn of the test zone is really the only place where braking is necessary, although experts with a solid racing line can possibly speed through with just millimeters to spare. The fifth turn is also a right-hand corner, but the circuit narrows significantly on corner exit, so drivers MUST keep to the left here to avoid banging the narrowing barrier. Riding the wall may also be useful for the final corner. The circuit is still very narrow here, and conventional braking may cost a lot of time. ==================================== LICENSE IA-2 Skill: Fast Complex Corners II Car Used: Spoon S2000(J) Gold Time: 0'15.700 Silver Time: 0'15.900 Bronze Time: 0'16.400 This high-speed test makes use of the final segment of the Trial Mountain circuit. Tapping the brakes means failure due to excessive time, so keep HARD on the accelerator and make good use of the rumble strips while avoiding the apex cones. Keep in mind that the end of the test zone is well beyond the Start/Finish Line for races held at this venue. ==================================== LICENSE IA-3 Skill: Fast Complex Corners III Car Used: Imprezza Rally Car Prototype Gold Time: 0'23.400 Silver Time: 0'23.800 Bronze Time: 0'25.000 This is a very tricky test held in the beginning stages of the Deep Forest circuit, as there is just enough dirt on both sides of the pavement for a car to be considered 'out of bounds' before the steep embankments attempt to force a car to stay on the racing surface. Due to the extent of the corners, a newcomer to this venue will want to brake for each, but this tactic will result in failure due to excessive time. ONLY the final two corners require braking or a lifting off of the throttle, and only A LITTLE at that. ==================================== LICENSE IA-4 Skill: Braking & Cornering III Car Used: Castrol Mugen NSX JGTC(J) Gold Time: 0'32.200 Silver Time: 0'32.400 Bronze Time: 0'34.400 Returning to Tokyo R246, this test begins on Pit Straight and uses the first three corners. The yellow distance-to-corner markers (measured in meters) tend to blend into the scenery, so they can be hard to spot at speed; make use of these markers to determine the best braking zone for Turns 1 and 2 - Turn 3 can be cleared at full throttle with sufficient braking in Turn 2. ==================================== LICENSE IA-5 Skill: Corkscrew Car Used: Viper GTS Gold Time: 0'23.000 Silver Time: 0'23.300 Bronze Time: 0'25.000 Laguna Seca's world-famous Corkscrew simply CANNOT be cleared safely at speed; real-world attempts to do so would almost certainly kill the driver. The problem with the Corkscrew is that the difficulty does not begin with the steep blind downhill Corkscrew itself, but with the crest in the mini- mountain just before the top of the Corkscrew; if a problem with car control is to occur in this test, it will begin with the crest. Once past the crest, keeping tight to the apex is key, especially since the second (right-hand) corner of the Corkscrew is filled with sand on the inside which will certainly slow the car enough to result in failing the test. On exit, however, drivers must quickly go to the right side of the pavement to correctly set up the final turn, a long semi-blind high-speed left-hand corner with a decreasing radius which results in cars wanting to drift off the pavement on exit (or even just halfway through the corner if the proper racing line cannot be kept). ==================================== LICENSE IA-6 Skill: Fast Complex Corners IV Car Used: Zonda C12 Gold Time: 0'20.100 Silver Time: 0'20.400 Bronze Time: 0'21.300 The Rome test takes place on the back end of the course, and begins with a tight left-hand corner. There is NO run-off room and NO widening of the circuit here, so a flawless racing line is key; slight braking or lifting of the throttle may help, but if any subsequent area of the test is sub-par, the result is quite likely failure due to excessive time. Once past the first corner, drivers must quickly get to the left side of the pavement. Fortunately, the course widens from here to the end of the test zone, so it is possible to simply power through the rest of the way so long as the racing lines are tight to the apexes of corners. ==================================== LICENSE IA-7 Skill: Undulating Corners Car Used: Skyline GT-R V-spec II(R34,J) Gold Time: 0'46.000 Silver Time: 0'46.600 Bronze Time: 0'49.500 This test, on the backmost section of Complex String, is essentially a semi-slalom test. Unlike the slalom tests for the IB License (see my Gran Turismo 3: IB License Guide for details), the IA-7 test involves gentler corners with slightly more room between corners, plus the addition of hills and valleys - the left-hand turns crest each hill, while the right-hand turns are in the valleys between hills. However, the initial run up to the semi-slalom section features a long sweeping full-throttle right-hand turn; the section immediately following the semi-slalom area is a pair of left-hand perpendicular corners which are best approached as a wide U-turn, the exit of which will cause the rear of the car to want to slide out. ==================================== LICENSE IA-8 Skill: International A License Final Exam Car Used: Mine's Skyline GT-R-N1 V-spec(R34,J) Gold Time: 1'08.850 Silver Time: 1'10.000 Bronze Time: 1'12.500 This test - run in reverse at Complex String - is by far the most difficult of the tests for the IA License, and cannot be attempted until all of the previous tests have been passed with a Bronze Medal (or better). This test features numerous consecutive decreasing-radius corners alternating between left and right turns. Keeping a tight apex without running off the racing surface due to understeer or knocking over the apex cones due to overcorrection is EXTREMELY difficult. ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== 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_ =======================================================================