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Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec - Toyota Vitz Guide
Version 1.1
By: Palfy Email: [email protected]

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Last updated: 9/18/01

Table of Contents

1: Introduction
2: Why Toyota Vitz
3: Winning Strategy
4: Tuning Guide for the Vitz
5: Revision History
6: Legal

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1: Introduction

Gran Turismo is one of the most covered games on the Internet. The
following FAQ covers just one car, the Toyota Vitz RS 1.6. It is my
intention to expand this FAQ to include the Vitz Euro Edition as well,
at least as time permits

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2: Why Toyota Vitz

It seems to be universally accepted by almost everyone that the cars to
start with in GT3 Simulation mode are either the Mazda Miata MX-5 or the
Toyota Sprinter Trueno. Yet I found that using the Vitz RS 1.6 as my
starter car gives me more options and allows me to earn credits faster
than I would with any of the other cars. By contributing to some of the
other FAQs on the Net, I learned quickly that there are many racers who
have questions about the Vitz; thus, I decided to write this FAQ.

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3: Winning Strategy with the Vitz RS1.6

Beginner Level:
---------------
Your ultimate goal is to enter the Vitz Race Championship and win it.
By doing so, you will win 5000 credits in each of the 5 races plus the
winner's purse of 10000 credits plus an extra Toyota Vitz Euro Edition
that you can sell for almost 4000 credits. Effectively, the 5 races net
you around 39000 credits or almost 8000 credits per race, thus allowing
you to buy your next car very quickly. This is much more than you get
by racing the Miata or the Toyota Trueno, where you can win a maximum
of 5000 credits per race. Also, you can do this over and over again, in
case you need money quickly.

Following's how I recommend you do it:
Spend 14530 of your 18000 credits on the Vitz RS1.6 and use the remaining
3470 credits to buy the Racing Chip for 1250 credits. Save the rest of
the credits

Race the Sunday league, earn 1000 credits per race and spend it on
upgrades as outlined in the tuning guide in Section 4.

Once you have the Muffler and Air Cleaner/Racing installed, race the
Clubman Cup and the FR Challenge for 2000 credits per win. Do not
upgrade to the Turbo Kit Stage 2 before you won the FR Challenge, since
you will be "kicked out" of the Challenge once you have the Turbokit
Stage 2 installed in your Vitz.

Now head for the Turbo Sports Challenge to get 5000 credits per race
and keep upgrading the Vitz.

Then head for the Vitz Race. Have your driving skills honed, since these
Euro Editions will give you a good fight for the credits. I have yet
to loose a race in the Vitz Challenge, but many of them were won on
the last meter, often winning with less than a second in front of the
runner-up (probably tells you that I'm not the best driver...)

Once you completed the championship, you have at least 40000 credits,
so buy your next car. (I completed it three times to be able to buy
the CLK55 and enter the Mercedes championship for 10000 credits per
race, but that's a different story, then doing the same in Amateur mode
to win the CLK55 Touring Edition)

Professional Level
------------------
The key to winning the Vitz championship in Professional mode is tuning
and pit stop strategy. The competing Vitz cars will be tuned to the hilt,
so you will have no power or weight advantage over them. Thus, tuning
will keep you in the game, and avoiding a pit stop will allow you to win,
since the other Vitz cars will take one.

Step-by-Step instructions:
- First, buy all upgrades for your Vitz to level the playing field with
the other cars.
- Buy Super-Soft or Soft tires only, depending on your driving style.
They should last for 10 laps, so you can avoid pit stops. All other
Vitz cars will take a pit stop.
- Depending on the track, a pit stop normally takes around 25 to 30
seconds. This means that you can afford to lose 2.5 to 3 seconds per
lap and still win. Run each race at least once before entering the
championship. Time your own pit stop time to know how much time you
can afford to lose.
- To prepare for tuning, run each race one or multiple times to figure
out the best tuning parameters for the particular track you are on.
I typically try to win all races before entering the championship
race in order to know the optimal tuning parameters. As always,
these tuning parameters heavily depend on your driving style. Below
are some pointers for tuning the Vitz for championship races.
- Once you know the tuning parameters for all tracks, enter the
championship race. I was able to win the championship on my very
first try.
- Always keep in mind: You do not have to be the leader in every
turn and at the end of every round, as long as you are in the lead
at the end of the last lap. That is what counts!

Tuning guideline for the 5 tracks for racing the professional level.
Please refer to the excellent tuning guide written by Big D and posted
at gamefaqs.com for details on tuning parameters for "PUre Speed" or
"Stable Turning".

In general: I prefer breaking before a corner and accelerating through
the corner, so I always set my brake balance and my ASM settings
VERY HIGH. This forces me to keep a clean line, but then that
is what I prefer.

Rome Circuit II
Only sacrifice speed for acceleration a little bit -- rather try to
drive cleanly to keep your speed up as much as possible. Tune your
car for "Stable Turning" (you hit the walls after the long straights
and you are toast!) Specifically, I set the gear shift auto ratio to
35 and the ride height as low as possible

Laguna Seca
Acceleration is needed here, plus lots of braking. I rather sacrifice
some of my top speed for acceleration on this track. I set my gear
ratio in the twenties, my ASM and brake balance very high, Camber Angle
at 7.5% and 5.5% respectively and up the ride height a bit. Oh, and
practice the corkscrew...

Test Course
Simple: Tune it for "Pure Speed" 'Nuf said.

Special Stage Route 11 II
This was the hardest one to tune, since it requires tons of acceleration,
but you do not want to sacrifice the top speed too much for that long
straight way. I pretty much used the Laguna Seca settings, but with a
bit higher gear ratio. However, if you prefer to not break before
you turn, you rather want to have a lower gear shift ratio, since you
will need all the acceleration exiting those turns.

Grand Valley Speedway II:
Similar to Rome Circuit II, there are many parts where you can go at
full speed, so higher speed is more important than quick acceleration.
Start with the Rome Circuit settings, drive in a clean line and
fine-tune them ever so much!

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4: Tuning guide for the Vitz RS1.6

There's a very good tuning FAQ on the net, which you can download from
the usual sources, such as gamefaqs.com. Please download this guide to
learn all about upgrades in GT3 and how to tune your car. At the end of
section, you can find the priority at which I would apply all of the
upgrades.

Following is my personal tuning guide for the Vitz.

In order to determine my personal settings, I performed a series of tests.
For each test, I started by buying a brand-new car at the dealership, then
applying an upgrade and taking the car to the test track to determine the
gains the upgrade provided, then buying the next upgrade and testing it,
aso. No other upgrades were applied at all, unless specifically mentioned.

Tests included the Top Speed Test on the Test Track as well as the 0-1000
meter acceleration test. During the acceleration test, the time for the
first 400 meters was listed as well.

It should be noted that some of these upgrades provide additional
benefits. However, it is next to impossible to measure these in an
objective way, e.g., how would one devise a break test and measure the
breaking distance of a car or the time it takes to go from 100mph to 0?
Please provide me with your thoughts for additional tests and I will be
more than happy to perform them and publish the results.

Following are the results for the Toyota Vitz RS 1.6:

Stability Control / Toyota Vitz RS 1.6

Gain Gain Credit Top Gain Gain Credit
Cost Weight (kg) % per Kg Speed (sec) % per mph
Normal 940 112.0
Stage 1 1500 911 29 3.1% 52 112.8 0.8 0.7% 1875
Stage 2 5300 874 37 4.1% 143 113.3 0.5 0.4% 10600
Stage 3 21000 836 38 4.3% 553 113.6 0.3 0.3% 70000

Stability Control / Toyota Vitz RS 1.6
400m Gain Gain Credit 1000m Gain Gain Credit
Cost (sec) (sec) % per sec (sec) (sec) % per sec
Normal 18.054 33.432
Stage 1 1500 17.999 0.055 0.3% 27273 33.316 0.116 0.3% 12931
Stage 2 5300 17.909 0.090 0.5% 58889 33.127 0.189 0.6% 28042
Stage 3 21000 17.865 0.044 0.2% 477273 32.990 0.137 0.4% 153285

Conclusion: I would always buy stage 1, and later one not hesitate
to buy stage 2. However, Stage 3 seems to be a waste of credits.

In the following test, parts for tuning the engine and intake system
were acquired, starting with the lowest cost item (race chip) and
ending with the highest cost item. Again, the same testing procedure
was performed after each part was acquired and installed.

Engine and Intake System / Toyota Vitz RS 1.6
Gain Gain Credit Top Gain Gain Credit
Cost HP (HP) % per HP Speed mph % per mph
Normal 108 112
Racing Chip 1250 110 2 1.7% 625 114.7 2.7 2.4% 463
Muffler & Air Cleaner 4600 120 10 9.3% 460 118.6 3.9 3.4% 1179
Port Polish 5250 128 8 6.7% 656 120.9 2.3 1.9% 2283
Full Engine Balancing11000 132 4 3.3% 2750 122.1 1.2 1.0% 9167
NA Tune-Up Stage2 12000 217 85 70.8% 141 137.6 15.5 12.7% 774
All of the above 32850 217 109 100.9% 301 137.6 25.6 18.6% 1283

Engine and Intake System / Toyota Vitz RS 1.6
Gain Gain Credit Gain Gain
Credit
Cost 400m (sec) % persec 1000m (sec) %
persec
Normal 18.054 33.432
Racing Chip 1250 17.893 0.161 0.9% 7764 33.083 0.349 1.0%
3582
Muffler & Air Cleaner 4600 17.521 0.372 2.1% 12366 32.248 0.835 2.5%
5509
Port Polish 5250 17.297 0.224 1.3% 23438 31.746 0.502 1.6%
10458
Full Engine Balancing11000 17.222 0.075 0.4% 146667 31.552 0.194 0.6%
56701
NA Tune-Up Stage2 12000 15.909 1.313 7.6% 9139 28.303 3.249 10.3%
3693
All of the above 32850 15.909 2.145 13.5% 15315 28.303 5.129 18.1%
6405

Conclusion: I would always buy the racing chip. the Muffler & Air Cleaner
Racing and the NA Tune-Up Stage2. It starts to get dicey with the Port
Polish, but I typically go for it. I would not buy the Full Engine
Balancing, though.

Same as above, but this time buying the Turbo Kit 2

Turbo / Toyota Vitz RS 1.6
Gain Gain Credit Top Gain Gain Credit
Cost HP (HP) % per HP Speed mph % per mph
Normal 108 112.0
Turbo/Kit Stage2 13000 216 108 100.0% 120 129.8 17.8 15.9% 730

Turbo / Toyota Vitz RS 1.6
Gain Gain Credit Gain Gain Credit
Cost 400m (sec) % persec 1000m (sec) % persec
Normal 18.054 33.432
Turbo/Kit Stage2 13000 15.945 2.109 11.7% 6164 28.317 5.115 15.3% 2542

Conclusion: This is an absolute no-brainer. Get it, despite some of the
turbo lag you might experience.

Based on all this data, I would recommend the following configuration. If I
would leave anything out, it would be the Port Polish. Please note that in
this test, I also bought the Transmission / Full Racing when I acquired the
Turbo Kit, but no other drivetrain parts were used. I used the racing
transmission to adjust the gear ratio for optimal speed or acceleration.

Palfy's Mix / Toyota Vitz RS 1.6
Gain Gain Credit Top Gain Gain Credit
Cost HP (HP) % per HP Speed mph % per mph
Normal 108 112.0
Racing Chip 1250 110 2 1.7% 625 114.7 2.7 2.4% 463
Muffler & Air Cleaner 4600 120 10 9.3% 460 118.6 3.9 3.4% 1179
Port Polish 5250 128 8 6.7% 656 120.9 2.3 1.9% 2283
TurboKit Stage 2 13000 262 134 111.7% 97 145.2 24.3 20.1% 535
All of the above 22850 262 154 142.6% 148 145.2 33.2 22.9% 688

Palfy's Mix / Toyota Vitz RS 1.6
Gain Gain Credit Gain Gain
Credit
Cost 400m (sec) % sec 1000m (sec) % per
sec
Normal Vitz 18.054 33.432
Racing Chip 1250 17.893 0.161 0.9% 7764 33.083 0.349 1.0%
3582
Muffler & Air Clearner 4600 17.521 0.372 2.1% 12366 32.248 0.835 2.5%
5509
Port Polish 5250 17.297 0.224 1.3% 23438 31.746 0.502 1.6%
10458
TurboKit Stage 2 13000 15.671 1.626 9.4% 7995 27.451 4.295 13.5%
3027
All of the above 22850 15.909 2.145 13.7% 10653 28.303 5.129 18.7%
4455

OK, after all of this data, here's how I would apply the upgrades

- Toyota Vitz RS 1.6
- Racing Chip
- Sports Brakes
- Muffler & Air Cleaner Racing
- Turbo-kit Stage 2
- Racing Tires Slick or Super-Slick, or at least Sports Tires
- Clutch Triple Plate
- Flywheel/Racing
- Suspension / semi-racing
- Leightweight Stage 1
- Transmission/Full Racing
- Driveshift/Carbon
- NA Tune-up Stage2
- Leightweight Stage 2

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6: Revision History

Version 1.1 9/18/01
- Added Professional Level

Version 1.0 8/6/01 - First Edition. Here it is

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7: Legal

This FAQ can only appear on the following sites:

• GameFAQS <www.gamefaqs.com>
• CoreMagazine <www.coremagazine.com>
• GameSages <www.gamesages.com>
• Vgstrategies.com <http://vgstrategies.about.com>
• GameShark.com <www.gameshark.com>
• FAQ Domain <http://nemmysresource.cjb.net>
• Happy Puppy <http://www.happypuppy.com>
• ZDNet/Videogames.com <http://www.videogames.com>

If anyone finds it on any other site, please inform me ASAP.

E-Mail Address: [email protected]

Copyright:
© Copyright 2001 Palfy. This FAQ and everything included within this file
cannot be reproduced (physical, electronical, or otherwise) aside from
being placed on a freely-accessible, non-commercial web page in its
original,
unedited and unaltered format. This FAQ cannot be used for profitable
purposes (even if no money would be made from selling it) or promotional
purposes. It cannot be used in any sort of commercial transaction. It
cannot be given away as some sort of bonus, gift, etc., with a purchase
as this creates incentive to buy and is therefore prohibited.