Your First Car

You may not realize this, but early on, your first car plays a huge role in Gran Turismo games. You have a certain amount of money for which to spend on getting your first car. Granted you didn't get all-Gold for any group of license tests starting out (usually meaning new car), it is best to find the most powerful car for the lowest price in any Gran Turismo. Your car obviously won't be the best starting out. I'll share some of the first cars I can remember buying in Gran Turismo games to give you some insight.

--- First Car Advice ---

Picking that first car is important. You want something you can work with right away. Here are talking points to help you decide what first car works best for you:

1. Find the most inexpensive car of all available cars early on.
   To gain the best advantage, you need to find a car that is within budget to start off with. So look around for a car that you can work with. You don't want a very inexpensive car because they may not be competitive enough to use early on. However, you don't want a terribly expensive car (within budget) because you want to have something you can work on and work towards. And if you simply pick a car that leaves you with very little Credits left, you won't have enough money for which to upgrade it. As an example, having 10K Credits and spending 9,500 Credits on a car leaves you with only 500 Credits. If that 9,500 Credit car is not a great-performing car, you have essentially wasted all of your money and will need to do some tuning to help it better perform. So put this in mind before getting your real first car.
2. Find the most powerful car of all available cars early on.
   A good-performing car with decent power and performance is more than enough if you seek a very decent car for which you can win early races with.
3. If you have enough finances, shop for tuning parts.
   Do some tuning of your car if you found a car you can work with. Don't go for the most powerful upgrades- just get a few basic tuning parts to get your car at least ready for prime time. A safe way to go is with lightening the car and maybe getting a new muffler. Save the bigger upgrades for when you have more money.
4. Think ahead- take a look at what races you'll be racing in.
   You're going to be doing a lot of racing, so make sure you can find a good amount of races for which to take part in with your current car. The reason why I mention this is because your car may be eligible to compete in many other kinds of races. Always be aware of all the different races you can take part in. Your car may be good enough for the early races, but you may want to keep your current car for which if you want to take on more difficult races.
5. Race eaasier events early on to easily build up money.
   You may have a good front-engined, rear-wheel drive car that can compete in the FR Challenge, but it's best to go with the Sunday Cup early on. Don't go with tougher races unless you're really ready. I would recommend you pace yourself and not take on challenges you're not ready to take on early.

This knowledge alone will help you to have the best possible cars to help you through your Gran Turismo career, especially early.

--- My First GT Cars ---

Each heading indicates the cars I'd go with early on. So have a look!

Gran Turismo 1.

Two cars are great to go with early on. The most powerful cars you can go with early are either the 1990 Mazda RX-7 FC Savanna or a Toyota Supra MKIII. The RX-7 FC Savanna is very cost-effective. Your first car WILL be a Japanese car (unless you all-Gold any or all the licenses) as only the Japanese makes have Used Cars. Obvious advice- do NOT go to Subaru for a Used Car early on because every used Subaru is out of your 10,000 Credit budget.

Think of competing in events like the Sunday Cup early on. Or if you want to get some racing action early, try the Spot Race events early on to build finances.

Gran Turismo 2.

Unlike in Gran Turismo 1, you can actually get a "new" car with your 10,000 Credits. Trouble is... you can get a 22hp Fiat 500R. Yeah. NOT a chance at winning any races early on. Go to East City to shop for Used Cars. Not all Japanese car makers have Used Car lots (like Tommy Kaira). A Mazda RX-7 FC Savanna will cost just over 8,000 Credits used. This will give you enough to actually go and tune to your heart's delight. Plus, you can take your RX-7 to go racing in the RX-7 One-Make race if you're interested in holding onto your FC RX-7.

You may think you're out of options if you are considering getting a Kei car as your first car, but you're wrong. There is one race in the Lightweight "K" Cup that does not require a license. So if you don't have a license in GT2 but still want to race, winning that Kei car race around Rome Short yields 5,000 Credits. That's more you can make from the very first race of the Sunday Cup.

So you actually have some options here. It's recommended, though, you save the Kei car races until you make a good deal of money. You need a powerful enough car to get you through most of your racing until you're ready to purchase better machines.

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec.

My first car in GT3 was a silver Chrysler PT Cruiser. It was a very potent car for its price. Gran Turismo 3 is the only major Gran Turismo that does not have secondhand cars, and it starts you out with the most amount of money to shop for cars- 18,000 Credits. Either Kei cars or a good FWD car will suffice here. If you are looking for a car you can really utilize, try getting a Volkswagen New Beetle. You can hold onto your New Beetle and consider competing in the Beetle Cup whenever you feel you're ready. Just make sure you have a "B" License or higher before competing in the Beetle Cup.

Gran Turismo 4.

You don't really need a new car as long as you get at least all-Bronze for all of your license tests. Just clearing each set of licenses with all-Bronze will give you five new cars from the outset. This will give you some peace of mind knowing you can just concentrate on winning races. The first car I really used was... I want to say the Volkswagen Golf I earned from getting all-Bronze from one of the license tests. I even remember (sadly) that I lost my very first race in Gran Turismo 4 at Autumn Ring Mini in the Sunday Cup. The first car I really remember started winning in was my 1960s Mercury Cougar.

Gran Turismo 5.

Gran Turismo 5 starts you off with 20,000 Credits. When you start a new game, your choices are very limited in the Premium department. Sure... you can pick up the Honda Civic Type R for a good 19,980 Credits; but remember one of the unwritten rules of racing games- don't buy any car early on without having money left over to purchase upgrades. You want the most bang for your buck. Really, if you want to go get the best car your money can buy, do so. Just remember that it will be a slow go to try to build up funds for your car.

One important thing to remember is that you are on Level 0 in the game when starting out. So your options are mostly limited. Your A-Spec or B-Spec must be at a certain level to purchase certain cars.

So in my first play of GT5, my first car is a 1983 Honda Civic 1500 3-door 25i.

--- Your Second Car ---

You have your first car. Great! What about your next car? That is the basis of this section. There are two methods to help you in landing a better car. One method is what I want to call the "Gamble System," and the other is the "Mother System." I will explain both in this section.

For starters, I want to use the term "flagship" to define a car. The "flagship" is your best car or your best-performing car. I always try to have some kind of flagship for any racing game that allows you to collect multiple cars. Early on, the flagship car is only good for the early races. To be a viable contender, you have to give up your first car to go for a much better car to have the best chance of winning races now and in the future.

"Gamble System" Explained.

What I call the "Gamble System" is where you win as much money as you can, then attempt to sell your car for something better. Remember that you earn nothing back for tuned parts, so you are really selling an otherwise good car in hopes of getting something better. You're taking a huge gamble here. The most effective way to do this method is to do some math. With the amount of money you have, add how much money you have by how much your car will sell for. Remember in Gran Turismo 1 that you get the most money back when you sell your car to the manufacturer of your car. In other words, sell your Nissan S14 Silvia to Nissan for the most money. You won't get as much money back if you sold your S14 Silvia to Mazda. Another way for this method to be effective is if you win a good amount of money before selling your car. Using the Gran Turismo 1 example, I win Pole Position for all three races in the Sunday Cup and win all three races with either my FC RX-7 or my Supra MKIII.

Another thing to consider is if you get bonus cars that you don't think will be effective, sell those bonus cars to increase your winnings. The most you can get for cars not sold from dealer lots is 10K Credits at other dealers and 12K from the manufacturer's car. The method here is all about making the most money as possible, then think of what car you can buy with your money. Just keep on racing if the car you're eyeing isn't affordable right now.

"Mother System" Explained.

This is a method I simply call the "Mother System." This is where you take your best car and keep racing with your flagship car by winning races. Think of this system more like nursing a newborn child. The nursing you're doing is in building up finances in Gran Turismo games good towards having enough money to purchase a better car in the future. This is simply about making money.

The Mother System, however, is mostly about keeping your best car while trying to build up money to get a better car to add to your garage. You are simply racing in events that yield the most money so you can get bigger and better cars in the future.

You could also think of this more like fundraising- raising "funds" to get a better car. Of course, fundraisers involve proper campaigns.

Using Both Systems.

Maybe your flagship car isn't good enough. Maybe you are trying to both earn enough money to get a much better car while having a better flagship car. An example here- earn enough money to purchase a certain car while also building up money to get a much better car in the future, getting rid of a current flagship car. This one is long and long-winded. This is for if you are seriously considering getting a powerful car while getting rid of your current powerful car. Don't think about this until you have a good amount of experience in the Gran Turismo you are playing.





Collecting cars is a trademark of the Gran Turismo series. However, it all begins by picking a good first car to help set the tone for a long career of Gran Turismo racing. So shop smart!

Thank you for reading!

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