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GGGGG TTTTT 33333 TTTTT IIIII RRRR EEEEE SSSSS
G T 3 * T I R R E S
G GG T 333 T I RRRRR EEEE SSSSS
G G T 3 * T I R R E S
GGGGG T 33333 T IIIII R R EEEEE SSSSS
By
Wolf Feather/Jamie Stafford
FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM
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CONTENTS
Spacing and Length
Permissions
Introduction
Tire Selection
Tire Care
Two Exceptions
Input from Others
Wish List
Contact
====================================
SPACING AND LENGTH
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:
PERMISSIONS
This guide may ONLY be posted on FeatherGuides, GameFAQs.com,
PSXCodez.com, Cheatcc.com, Absolute-PlayStation.com,
InsidePS2Games.com, RedCoupe, CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat
Empire, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru, cheatingplanet.com,
vgstrategies.com, ps2fantasy.com, hellzgate, GT3 High Speed,
gamesover.com, and neoseeker.com.
Permission is granted to download and print one copy for
personal use.
INTRODUCTION
Why a guide devoted specifically to tires in one specific
game? As a recent Michelin commercial (shown in the States)
states, the tires are the only safety features on the road
which actually TOUCH the road. Implicit in this commercial
is the message that special care must be given to tires. In
the case of Michelin, this means that choosing Michelin tires
is far safer than choosing any other brand of tires (note
that this series of commercials has been running since LONG
before the Firestone/Ford controversy erupted in 2000).
In the case of Gran Turismo 3, this same implicit message -
that the tires are the only safety features on the road which
actually TOUCH the road - means that special care must be
given to the tires to keep them from wearing out too quickly.
This is especially important given that the only reason to
enter Pit Lane in GT3 is to change tires - fuel, damage
repair, etc., are not at issue in GT3.
Of course, there are instances where tire wear is never an
issue. None of the Arcade Mode races use tire wear, unless
you specifically induce Professional League races (codes
available elsewhere). Similarly, the Beginner races and some
Amateur races are simply too short for tire wear to become an
issue. Tire wear is also not involved in any of the Rally
races, as - again - those races are too short for tire wear
to become a factor. Many Amateur and ALL Professional and
Endurance races, however, do include tire wear as one of the
'features' of each race.
====================================
TIRE SELECTION
Tire selection is very important. This is the first variable
in race performance (if based on tires alone).
For non-racing cars intended for mundane street use, Normal
tires are standard issue. While Normal tires may work well
on the highway and on city streets, they are virtually
worthless in an actual racing situation. Normal tires do not
provide adequate grip to be effective in racing. This is
most noticeable when trying to corner at relatively high
speeds with a vehicle with Normal tires.
Simulation tires supposedly give a more accurate feel of what
it is like to drive a racing-tuned car.
Sports tires are a little better than Normal tires. When
first playing Gran Turismo 3, one of the best things you can
do to improve your chance of success is to upgrade to Sports
tires as soon as possible. This will improve your cornering
ability, and provide a little more grip for acceleration
(especially from a standing start).
Dirt tires are required for dirt-based Rally events. All
rally-intended cars come with Dirt tires. Many non-racing
cars can also be equipped with Dirt tires. For example, I
used a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII GSR(J) equipped with
Dirt tires - with a lot of money spent on parts and time
spent in tuning - to compete in and win ALL the dirt-based
Rally events. (The same car also won in ALL the wet-based
Rally events.)
Racing tires come in an array of 'flavors,' with each tire
compound giving a varying level of grip countered by an
inverse level of durability.
Super-slick Least grip, maximum durability
Slick
Medium-slick
Medium* Average grip, average durability
Medium-soft
Soft
Super-soft Maximum grip, least durability
* For F1 cars, Medium tires are the ONLY tire option
available (likely due to the lack of an FIA license for GT3).
All F1 cars come equipped with Medium tires.
A very important issue in tire selection actually involves
horsepower. The chosen tires need to have some measure of
durability, or else you will be stopping in Pit Lane to
change tires after virtually every lap of the race. For
example, a maxed-out Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak Version
(1841HP) will be putting down so much power on the road that
Super-soft tires will almost instantly become worthless. In
other words, don't allow the car's horsepower to overdrive
the tires' ability to function properly.
In the event that the chosen tires wear out too much (orange
or red tire indicators), cornering at any respectable speed
will be virtually impossible, instead causing a nearly-
uncontrollable slide into a barrier or into another vehicle.
Strong acceleration will likely cause the vehicle to spin. A
good driver will not let this happen very often; an expert
driver will NEVER let this happen.
Choose your pitting strategy so that your tires never become
too worn. A set of tires needs to last AT LEAST 5 laps in
order to give you a chance of winning a race. Of course, the
greater the durability of a set of tires, the longer you can
stay out of Pit Lane, thereby reducing your number of Pit
Stops in a race; however, greater durability means less grip,
which in turn means that you are quite likely to slide more
often unless you take VERY good care of the tires.
====================================
TIRE CARE
At the beginning of a race and immediately after a Pit Stop,
the tires are brand new ('stickers') and need to be brought
up to temperature as quickly as possible so that they can
provide the best possible grip. This is noted by dark blue
tire indicators. During this period, sharp turns or
extremely-fast cornering will almost certainly cause the car
to slide, and perhaps even spin. However, slides and spins
will bring the tires up to optimum temperature even faster,
so you may wish to purposely induce slides when entering
corners, IF the tire indicators are dark blue.
Once the tire indicators are green, the tires have reached
their optimum performance temperature, thus providing you
with the best possible grip for that set of tires. The
amount of time the tire indicators remain in the green color
range depends on your driving style, the amount of time off-
course (in the grass or sand) or banging the barriers (or
other cars), and the initial selection of tire compound.
As the tire indicators switch to yellow, you need to start
taking better care of your tires. You may experience slides
when cornering.
Orange tire indicators are a warning to get to Pit Lane to
change tires as soon as you possibly can. You will be
sliding around a lot more.
Red tire indicators are effectively Game Over. Unless you
have a HUGE (multi-lap) lead or a significant horsepower
advantage over your competitors, you will not have a chance
of winning the race, especially if you stop to change tires.
Essentially, you are driving on pure ice, and the only way to
'reliably' get around the circuit is to ride the rails -
which is inherently more difficult with the open-wheel F1
vehicles.
Note that not all four tire indicators will not be the same
color at all times. If even ONE tire shows a red indicator,
you need to limp back to Pit Lane to change tires as soon as
possible.
Traction Control affects tire durability. With a low
Traction Control setting, the tires will spin for a while
(especially on a standing start or when under strong
acceleration) before they actually grip the pavement; the
friction of the pre-grip spinning wears away at the tires.
With a high Traction Control setting, wheel spin is reduced
or even eliminated, thus extending the durability of the
tires.
One of the best ways to reduce the durability of the tires is
to corner at high speeds. The GT3 manual gives an excellent,
detailed description of what occurs with the tires when
cornering. In short, cornering at high speeds causes a high
percentage of the tire to be used for speed, and a low
percentage to be used for the actual cornering. To combat
this and thus extend the durability of the tires, try to
brake in a STRAIGHT line before reaching a turn, thus
reducing overall speed and providing a lower percentage of
the tires to be used for speed, and a greater percentage used
for cornering.
Note that if the percentage of the tires used for speed is
too high compared to the percentage used for cornering, the
car will slide and/or spin.
Perhaps one of the best things to do to learn to take care of
the tires is to play a racing game (such as the recently-
released F1 2001) in which vehicle damage of available.
Playing with the damage option on will certainly make the
effects of worn tires quite visual. As tire grip wears away
(due to a long run, multiple off-track excursions, etc.),
your car may begin sliding around, potentially resulting in
car damage (broken and missing parts), which REALLY makes
driving a nightmare at high speeds. The Gran Turismo series
does not make this visibly clear, so it is easy to
underestimate the condition of the tires; similarly, without
any car damage (due to licensing concerns), cars in the Gran
Turismo series can simply "ride the rails" around corners
when tire conditions are less than optimal.
However, all of this CAN be thrown out the window, and you
CAN win even an Endurance Race with red tire indicators and
never stopping to change tires. I myself did this is the
Trial Mountain 2 Hours Endurance Race using a Zonda C12S and
Normal (street) tires. The only reason I won, however, was
that I had superior horsepower to the other cars in the race.
While it CAN be done, I very strongly suggest AGAINST
attempting such a feat!!!!!
====================================
TWO EXCEPTIONS
There are two circuits where tire wear need not be an issue:
Test Course and Super Speedway. For both circuits, the car
should be tuned for maximum speed, which usually means a high
gear ratio, and low downforce and ride height. If you can
select the tires you want (which means you are not driving an
F1 car), you may as well go with Super-slick tires, as they
will last the longest.
For Test Course, the two banked turns are so extremely gentle
that if you slide at all, the banking will usually prevent
you from sliding up into the outer barrier. Even if you do
hit the outer barrier, simply ride the rails until you can
regain control of the car.
For Super Speedway, simply ride the rails if necessary. In
the Endurance race at Super Speedway (100 laps), you may wish
to stop once or twice to change tires, but with a really fast
and powerful car (such as a maxed-out Suzuki Escudo Pikes
Peak Version), you will EASILY win - in my case (two
Endurance races, one with the Suzuki Escudo, one with an F1
car), I won by more than 30 laps over the second-place car.
For both circuits, change parts to gain maximum horsepower
output and speed off. In my own experience, virtually any
car above 650HP will either be in contention to win the race,
or will simply leave everyone else in the choking on exhaust
based on horsepower alone.
====================================
INPUT FROM OTHERS
I received a pair of e-mails from PJ (e-mail address
withheld) concerning tires and braking. His information is
rather technical, but is definitely useful to know:
From: "pj"
To:
Subject: gt3 braking & ford racing
Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2001 06:31:23 -0400
enjoy all of your writings which i've read thus far.
most recently read your gt3 tires faq. good stuff.
having had some road racing experience (decades ago when
it was less expensive to race), i would like to share some
info on braking with you.
haven't read the skip barber portion of the gt3 manual yet
so don't know if what i'm about to say is included in it.
perhaps i read your tire faq too fast & didn't notice it
there. if so, please excuse me.
if gt3 is a real sim, then braking should be performed
just as an actual road racer would.
typically, for most turns, approximately 85% of your
braking is performed in a straight line. obviously, this
% varies depending upon the unique characteristics of each
turn. the remaining approx. 15% is performed while
entering the turn, before apexing the turn. this is known
as "trail braking". its purpose is to continue to
transfer weight to the front tires, thus increasing the
tire's contact patch which results in greater cornering
ability. get on the gas too soon and weight transfers to
the rear wheels resulting in the car "pushing" (under-
steering) off-line and perhaps off the course as well or
into a barrier.
i've found that proper "trail braking" allows for carrying
higher speed through the corners, just as it would in real
life. this is a very difficult skill to master.
braking technique & tire management are perhaps, in my
humble opinion, two of the most important aspects of gt3
racing (as they are in real life). Car setup while
extremely important in real road racing, does not seem to
be as important in gt3. it certainly helps, and can help
a great deal, but it is not necessary to winning a race
even with an under powered car. besides, if one doesn't
know what they're doing, they can sure mess up the
handling of a car. the "stock" or standard suspension
settings seem to work just fine with few exceptions.
proper braking allows for carrying higher exit speeds
out of corners and for the most prevalent passing maneuver
in real racing (and in gt3 also), viz. "overtaking under
braking".
while this rarely happens unless i don't select a good pit
strategy, if it's late in a race & pitting might cause me
to lose or i don't want to run 2 laps on super-slick cold
(blue) tires, then i just finish the last lap or two on
orange or red tires. just as in real life, this increases
the braking distance, so the driver (player) must adjust
the braking points accordingly. with care and somewhat
slower lap times (usually 3-4 seconds per lap for most
courses), one can run several laps on red tires. Handling
is very mushy and it's easy to exceed the worn tire's
limits, and the car is twitchy at high speed, but it can
be done.
=================================
From: "pj"
To: "Wolf Feather"
Subject: Re: gt3 braking & ford racing
Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 03:26:18 -0400
forgot to mention that with a close ratio gear-box,
downshifting and pulling high revs can produce "engine
braking" which can be used for "trail braking". this is
especially easy to do in GT3 with a manual transmission
especially since there is no risk of over-revving the
engine and "blowing" or "grenading" it, and since
repeatedly bouncing the engine off of the rev-limiter does
NOT produce the real-world vibrations that can, over time,
damage an engine or crack headers.
WISH LIST
There is really only one thing I would like to see changed
about the Gran Turismo series in relation to tires: more
realistic tire wear. The current method of tire wear (with
tires lasting 5-10 laps on average) is just fine for
relatively short races, but for longer races (such as the
Endurance Races), the need to stop for tires so often is a
very unrealistic aspect of this 'driving simulation' series.
For the typical two-hour race, tire wear should occur at a
rate requiring only 2-3 pit stops during the race.
CONTACT
For questions, rants, raves, comments of appreciation, etc.,
or to be added to my e-mail list for updates to this driving
guide, 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_
=======================================================================
