Real race car drivers use Gran Turismo to train
by Nick Doerr 
{ Jan 7th 2008 at 11:00AM }
Even the creator of the series, Kazunori Yamauchi, went over 1,000 laps on a certain track in his game and then went at it for real. After twelve laps on the real track (the first twelve had him at 90% capacity) he was getting times rivaling the pack of true racers. Sounds like a useful simulator for those aspiring to race cars for a living. It probably helps with general driving knowledge and skills, too. Don't quote us on that, though.
[via Digg]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Byron517 @ Jan 7th 2008 11:05AM
HA!! TAKE THAT CONGRESS!!! WHERE'S YOUR ESRB RATING NOW!! LoL That's awesome perhaps the next Jeff Gordon or whoever will emerge as a PS3 fanboy LOL
Zombie Huggles @ Jan 7th 2008 11:26AM
maybe I'll get laughed at, but I believe Gran Turismo 3 actually helped me learn how to drive better. Braking before turns, the way acceleration, braking, and turning affects your traction, taking the outside in turns, the concept of wide open throttle...
Back in my stupid days...which ended yesterday...I followed a friend in a sports car at "unsafe speeds" with my geo prism. Because we were taking some curvy back roads, my driving skill (Thanks to GT3) allowed me to stay with his speedy, curve hugging, sporty car. As soon as we reached the straight away, though, I didn't see him again until I reached the traffic light.
Point is, GT makes better drives, not just race car drivers. I ride with ppl all the time that seem utterly lost when dealing with "stress" situations in automobiles, but GT trains one, in a safe environment, to respond quickly and wisely. Of course, you might want to tell your children that running a dodge viper into a wall at 300 mph in real life, will not give the same results as GT3.
Byron517 @ Jan 7th 2008 11:33AM
LMAO I don't know why but I laughed when I read your comment!! So true though!! Interesting!! If you realise simulators have become a serious part in "training" Look for example in the Marines the Tank Crew use a simulator style game to simulate battle and the crew learns now to handle the tank!! But that's awesome that games have come so far and aren't just used solely for entertainment but something educational as well!!
Haiddasalami @ Jan 7th 2008 11:35AM
my mom who is learning to drive actually found GT pretty darn accurate. She used to play GT4 on those cold snowy days...
ck @ Jan 7th 2008 1:49PM
I once got my RWD car sideways on a patch of oil, on a three lane road just as I was changing to the outside lane. I'd corrected with some reverse lock before I really realised what was going on, and avoided a head-on collision with the center barrier, even though I'd never had a real car sideways before.
I definitely blame video games for that.
Haiddasalami @ Jan 7th 2008 11:38AM
Didn't all of us who went to drive put the skills learned through GT to use. I know I did...the instructor was actually amazed by that I did not resemble the speedy-stereotype that most young people are associated to nowadays!
Galley @ Jan 7th 2008 12:22PM
Formula 1 drivers have been using PlayStation F1 games to train on new tracks for nearly 10 years.
TheSh0wstopper @ Jan 7th 2008 12:50PM
Yea this is not a new thing. For those of you hardcore and old enough to remember Farrari F355 by sega many professional race car drivers bought the full arcade cabinet (it had 3 screens).
-TheSh0wstopper
emaxximus @ Jan 7th 2008 1:04PM
Gran Turismo is one of my favorite and most played games of all time. But in my opinion g-forces are one of the most vital sensory inputs of driving a real car and no game can simulate that. Just one losers opinion though.
Akamaru @ Jan 7th 2008 1:14PM
My friend whom I consider a really good driver has told me that although, he hates to admit it, GT3 (that's the one we played the most) really helped him when driving here in Chicago.
I agree with you guys in that it really teaches you the relationship between acceleration and traction, braking properly before turning, throttle control and a bunch of other things that previously were only learned through experience.
sam @ Jan 7th 2008 1:25PM
Gran Turismo taught me how to drive a stick shift. I drove for years on an automatic, and was having a great difficulty learning manual. I played, with the intent to learn, on GT3, practicing stops, starts, braking, and driving at city road speeds to see how the engine RPMs reacted to different positions of the clutch.
Swear to God, one week later I was driving stick for reals, no stalls, everything just going smooth from one gear to the next. THANK YOU GRAN TURISMO!!
Darren Tilley @ Jan 7th 2008 3:02PM
But, but, but.. The Xbots tell me that Forza has the more accurate driving simulation.
I don't know what to believe any more.
/sarcasm
Ed @ Jan 7th 2008 7:24PM
Forza 1 is more fun and better looking than GT 4 in my opinion, but GT4 feels less arcadey and more realistic. GT 5 will be my new driving sim of choice, of course, because it's pretty.
Corey @ Jan 7th 2008 5:20PM
This is nothing new. It was even shown in a Top Gear episode with Jeremy Clarkson racing a real-life virtual track in GT4 and then racing the real thing in America. It was a good ep. :)
seansloan @ Jan 7th 2008 9:52PM
shouldnt we be talking about it being delayed again....
sko @ Jan 10th 2008 10:10AM
yeah but in the top gear they concluded that driving in the game really didnt simulate a lot of what goes on in reality. Things like g force and adrenaline were def not the same sitting on your couch. And after running laps he was no where near the time he posted in the game.