Did Gran Turismo influence your car buying?
Discussion
We at PistonHeads are off to interview Mr Gran Turismo himself, Kazunori Yamauchi, on Wednesday and one of things we’re going to ask him is the impact of the game on car-buying habits.
This was the series of course that back in 1998 introduced us Brits to some of the weirder, hardcore element of the JDM car scene and gave an extra shove to that whole Impreza/Evo trend.
So my question: did the games themselves end up influencing your car buying habits? Did you see Japanese sports machinery in a new light?
Let us know below and the best answers we’ll include in our GT extravaganza (aka, feature).
Also - did you have any firm favourites among the cars in the early games? Ed Dan Trent tells me he used to get his kicks speccing up fwd Hondas and go giant-killing among heavier, more powerful rwd machinery.
This was the series of course that back in 1998 introduced us Brits to some of the weirder, hardcore element of the JDM car scene and gave an extra shove to that whole Impreza/Evo trend.
So my question: did the games themselves end up influencing your car buying habits? Did you see Japanese sports machinery in a new light?
Let us know below and the best answers we’ll include in our GT extravaganza (aka, feature).
Also - did you have any firm favourites among the cars in the early games? Ed Dan Trent tells me he used to get his kicks speccing up fwd Hondas and go giant-killing among heavier, more powerful rwd machinery.
Did you see Japanese sports machinery in a new light?
Yes, I hadn't even heard of the likes of Nissan GT-R cars before GT1, nor the Toyota Supra, Mazda RX7 and Mitsubishi GTO. I had heard of the Impreza, Celica and Lancer from WRC but I had never seen one on the road the time of GT1.
Nowadays all of the above cars I see regularly bar the Supra.
Did Gran Turismo influence your car buying?
Not to date, but I wouldn't rule it out in the future!
The Honda NSX is a funny one, I had come across it but never taken any notice of it before GT. In GT it was always the car that was fighting for the lead and I found I almost began to dislike them (as a rival!) as it was much easier to win the particular race by choosing an NSX rather than [insert crappy car here]. When I first saw a real NSX a few years ago, I was in awe at in and totally fell in love. I would own one in an instant given the opportunity.
Any firm favourites?
Dodge Viper GTS and TVR Griffith 500 stick out above all others from the early games. Stand out race has to be the Grand Valley 500 from GT1 (or was it 2?), I loved doing that one and my weapon of choice was the Mitsubishi GTO LM
ETA Music!
I love the music from the early GT games. GT along with a few other games at the time are the reason I like Ash, Feeder, Garbage and Cardigans. Great music to listen to in the car. I have these tracks in a Gran Turismo playlist on my iPod
ETA2 to add some firm favourite Japanese cars...
Castrol Supra looked amazing in all the press shots and that was one of the cars I put in an effort to get. Lovely looking car. I had countless Impreza Type Rs for some reason, mostly in blue with gold wheels! I loved the look and fantastic blue of the Mazda RX-7 RB Bathurst (I think it was called) from GT2 (maybe). R34 Skyline in the blue posted above
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Yes, I hadn't even heard of the likes of Nissan GT-R cars before GT1, nor the Toyota Supra, Mazda RX7 and Mitsubishi GTO. I had heard of the Impreza, Celica and Lancer from WRC but I had never seen one on the road the time of GT1.
Nowadays all of the above cars I see regularly bar the Supra.
Did Gran Turismo influence your car buying?
Not to date, but I wouldn't rule it out in the future!
The Honda NSX is a funny one, I had come across it but never taken any notice of it before GT. In GT it was always the car that was fighting for the lead and I found I almost began to dislike them (as a rival!) as it was much easier to win the particular race by choosing an NSX rather than [insert crappy car here]. When I first saw a real NSX a few years ago, I was in awe at in and totally fell in love. I would own one in an instant given the opportunity.
Any firm favourites?
Dodge Viper GTS and TVR Griffith 500 stick out above all others from the early games. Stand out race has to be the Grand Valley 500 from GT1 (or was it 2?), I loved doing that one and my weapon of choice was the Mitsubishi GTO LM
ETA Music!
I love the music from the early GT games. GT along with a few other games at the time are the reason I like Ash, Feeder, Garbage and Cardigans. Great music to listen to in the car. I have these tracks in a Gran Turismo playlist on my iPod
ETA2 to add some firm favourite Japanese cars...
Castrol Supra looked amazing in all the press shots and that was one of the cars I put in an effort to get. Lovely looking car. I had countless Impreza Type Rs for some reason, mostly in blue with gold wheels! I loved the look and fantastic blue of the Mazda RX-7 RB Bathurst (I think it was called) from GT2 (maybe). R34 Skyline in the blue posted above
.Edited by luke111s on Monday 20th August 19:52
Edited by luke111s on Monday 20th August 19:53
Not only did it introduce me to new Japanese hardware that before I had know knowledge of or interest in, GT2 made me want a Vauxhal Tigra.
I did loads of early cash grinding with it and got I it up to full spec with a Race Car conversion (Ice Racing body kit). I used it to win the Gran Tourismo World Championship. It was hard hard work and I didn't even win all the races. I think I won by about 3 points. Just like real racing. I have never forgoten it for some reason.
I did loads of early cash grinding with it and got I it up to full spec with a Race Car conversion (Ice Racing body kit). I used it to win the Gran Tourismo World Championship. It was hard hard work and I didn't even win all the races. I think I won by about 3 points. Just like real racing.
I have never forgoten it for some reason.Edited by Allaloneatron on Monday 20th August 22:56
Aged 8, sat in my PJ's playing Gran Turismo for the first time at 3am on my brothers Playstation while he slept 3 feet away. I was browsing the list, and came across a "Subaru Impreza WRX STI Type R v2".
"A what?" I thought....
farm8.staticflickr.com/7140/7713331888_4325c0577f.jpg
My jaw dropped. The bright blue paint, huge rear wing, gold wheels....In my 8 year old mind, it looked like a supercar! From that day I was hooked on fast jap machinery. I remember being obsessed with anything jap, and looked up everything from Supras and NSX's, upto Charades and March Super Turbos.
The Impreza Type R was one that stuck in my mind though, and come 2009, I was fortunate enough to import a mint 28k kilometre example from Japan, with FSH and a few tasteful mods. I kept the car for 2 years, and would of kept it longer if I didn't move abroad. I'm now settled over here and have started the hunt for another Type R or WR5.
So basically, Gran Turismo has made me bankrupt and given me ruptured ear drums due to an unimpressed girlfriend.
"A what?" I thought....
farm8.staticflickr.com/7140/7713331888_4325c0577f.jpg
My jaw dropped. The bright blue paint, huge rear wing, gold wheels....In my 8 year old mind, it looked like a supercar! From that day I was hooked on fast jap machinery. I remember being obsessed with anything jap, and looked up everything from Supras and NSX's, upto Charades and March Super Turbos.
The Impreza Type R was one that stuck in my mind though, and come 2009, I was fortunate enough to import a mint 28k kilometre example from Japan, with FSH and a few tasteful mods. I kept the car for 2 years, and would of kept it longer if I didn't move abroad. I'm now settled over here and have started the hunt for another Type R or WR5.
So basically, Gran Turismo has made me bankrupt and given me ruptured ear drums due to an unimpressed girlfriend.
It's taken me three hours and ten minutes to get this screenie:
I'm not sure why this one really; I think because it's the first car you win in the game. It was really odd seeing a tall, boxy car like this in 1997 or so since we didn't have anything like it back then. Now of course nearly everything looks like it.
Racing my mates with it and beating them because it went round corners properly was always fun.
I'm not sure why this one really; I think because it's the first car you win in the game. It was really odd seeing a tall, boxy car like this in 1997 or so since we didn't have anything like it back then. Now of course nearly everything looks like it.
Racing my mates with it and beating them because it went round corners properly was always fun.
It hasn't influenced my car buying in that I haven't bought any of the cars that featured in the game, however it is the sole reason that I hold a soft spot for the Toyota Prelude and early Supra as they were the first cars you could buy for same cash/big power 
Also had an affection for the Mitsi Eclipse in the game, but then I saw one in really life...
Also had an affection for the Mitsi Eclipse in the game, but then I saw one in really life...None of the cars I've ever owned have featured on Gran Turismo, so no, it has not influenced my buying habits yet.
Earliest game I played was 3, my favourite car was a pimped Mk1 MX5. In 4 it was a pale blue Elan, that was a true giant killer in that game. I loved racing that car and even published a few rather sad race reports featuring it on GTP.
Earliest game I played was 3, my favourite car was a pimped Mk1 MX5. In 4 it was a pale blue Elan, that was a true giant killer in that game. I loved racing that car and even published a few rather sad race reports featuring it on GTP.
i lost alot of my life to that game. it was the fact you had a "garage" of your own. Even though you wanted to sell it straight away having two cars, (usually a high power old jap car) and the mazda demio was such a thrill. It was the first racing game with real restrictions on what car you could use in each type of race be it FF FR 4WD OR MR. Favourite car the fto lm was a beast as well as the impretza rally car you bought for 500k? However this was in the days before analoge throttle control of a controler and using a 500bhp rwd car was a bit of a handful with on off accelerator control. I personally think it re-invented the car racing genre with restricions in the way halo re-invented the fps by limiting the weapons you could carry to make it more strategic.
also the opening scenes of gt1 and gt2 were brilliant.
also the opening scenes of gt1 and gt2 were brilliant.
I remember seeing my first Toyota Sera in Dublin in 1997, a model I'd only seen previously in GT1&2. In the days before the internet, the Gran Turismo series was our Bible, the only info we had on JDM cars. When JDM imports became popular in the 1990s and 2000s, the GT series was as close as we got to a buyer's guide to rare and unusual JDM models. The return of the "Description" feature in GT5 was one of the highlights of the game, not just for the nostaliga, but for the joy of reading about cars I'd never heard of before.
I currently drive a Eunos Roadster V Spec. I knew I wanted a V Spec after seeing it in the Used Car Dealership in the game, so to answer your question, yes, the GT games have influenced my buying, but that's only a fraction of what it has influenced.
I currently drive a Eunos Roadster V Spec. I knew I wanted a V Spec after seeing it in the Used Car Dealership in the game, so to answer your question, yes, the GT games have influenced my buying, but that's only a fraction of what it has influenced.
vdubbin said:
The return of the "Description" feature in GT5 was one of the highlights of the game, not just for the nostaliga, but for the joy of reading about cars I'd never heard of before.
Yep, it was a great bit to have. Really bad they took it out for GT4...It got put back in for Tourist Trophy at least.
NickGibbs said:
We at PistonHeads are off to interview Mr Gran Turismo himself, Kazunori Yamauchi, on Wednesday and one of things we’re going to ask him is the impact of the game on car-buying habits.
This was the series of course that back in 1998 introduced us Brits to some of the weirder, hardcore element of the JDM car scene and gave an extra shove to that whole Impreza/Evo trend.
So my question: did the games themselves end up influencing your car buying habits? Did you see Japanese sports machinery in a new light?
Let us know below and the best answers we’ll include in our GT extravaganza (aka, feature).
Also - did you have any firm favourites among the cars in the early games? Ed Dan Trent tells me he used to get his kicks speccing up fwd Hondas and go giant-killing among heavier, more powerful rwd machinery.
Yes. It influenced me to buy several Jap cars in the past.This was the series of course that back in 1998 introduced us Brits to some of the weirder, hardcore element of the JDM car scene and gave an extra shove to that whole Impreza/Evo trend.
So my question: did the games themselves end up influencing your car buying habits? Did you see Japanese sports machinery in a new light?
Let us know below and the best answers we’ll include in our GT extravaganza (aka, feature).
Also - did you have any firm favourites among the cars in the early games? Ed Dan Trent tells me he used to get his kicks speccing up fwd Hondas and go giant-killing among heavier, more powerful rwd machinery.
The Toyota Chaser JTCC test car from GT1 was my fave. I also loved the Mitsubishi GTO special that cost 500.000 to buy. The Starlet Glanza V and Demio A Spec were also a right hoot when tuned up.
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