How to Get Two Million GT7 Credits in Just Over 73 Seconds

With any luck, I'll also drive on the Transalpina touge with my rotary buddies. That's two bucket list items in one month. It might not sound like a lot. But it's worth more than 10,000 miles (~16,000 km) of sitting behind the wheel of my daily driver. (Yeah, I love driving a lot). Waiting for these events, I find myself sitting in the comfort of my home.

Being that it's Friday, you know what that means! It's time for a new Gran Turismo 7 Online Time Trial, as it just went live less than 24 hours ago! Before I cut to the chase, I wanted to see how things were like with the two previous experiences. The Nissan Silvia S14 at Brands Hatch was the older one, and it ended. I was in the Top 28,000 players worldwide when I had originally finished the test. Over 160,000 people registered for this challenge, and my 1:49.821 lap was ultimately good for P51,818.

It's not my proudest result, but I'll take it. As for the Porsche challenge, I don't think anyone can challenge the two fastest players. (both needed less than 450 seconds to lap the Nordschleife). I'm still 30 seconds behind them, but my ranking has dropped several spots. Almost 10,000 people outpaced me in less than a week.

I expect to be even lower down the grid by the time it's over. Getting 250,000 credits from the S14 challenge meant I had more "cash" to buy cars,so I figured I'd go for a Ferrari F430 '06. I got it from the Used Car lot and immediately painted it the same color as my custom FC RX-7. Using the controller on a poor first attempt, I lapped Tsukuba in over 65 seconds.

Let me tell you, this car is quite tail-happy, and I opted for a host of other upgrades to make it faster. I didn't go for anything too crazy: a new exhaust, brake system,adjustable suspension, and racing soft tires. Right away, it feels more like a race car than a road-going vehicle. Once I connected my steering wheel, I could complete a lap in less than 58 seconds. It just goes to show how much potential this vehicle has. But enough about that. You probably know that Polyphony has released Update 1.48 for Gran Turismo 7. It contains five new cars, and I will focus on one in this story.

Honda Civic Time Trial

That's because the 1993 Honda Civic SiR II (EG) happens to be the designated vehicle for the latest Time Trial. Seeing that Tsukuba was the playing crowd, I had two reasons to be happy as I'm rather experienced in driving there. It's my testing ground for every new vehicle in GT7, and I'm always excited to see which cars can lap it in less than 60 seconds.

I knew it wouldn't happen for the EG6, at least not in stock form. I drove one of these cars many years ago, which made my inner Honda fanboy happy. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to take it to a racetrack, but I have seen many people in my area build them into time-attack and hillclimb racing vehicles.

I know some people like to pick on Civic owners as their engines are rather small in displacement. However, the B16A2 on this vehicle is not to be taken lightly. I'd call it a race engine in disguise, even though it packs less than 170 horsepower. But it likes revving to the moon, it has VTEC, and the car also weighs next to nothing at 2293 lbs (1040 kg).

Less than six hours into the new Time Trial, the fastest lap took the driver over 71 seconds. That record has fallen since, and I suspect we've yet to see the fastest people in the world attempt the challenge. I opted for a Milano Red finish, like the car I drove, and got to work. I instantly realized how much I missed VTEC and driving an EG6.

The VR2 gets you every time, and I felt transported back in time for a minute. I stopped the clock at 1:15.219 on my second lap but knew I could do better. Eight laps later, I managed an important breakthrough with a 1:13.144. That was 0.23 seconds above the line, which meant that I could hope for the Gold Reward for the first time since I started these Time Trials.

That's right, if you're fast enough, you can score an extra two million credits in 73 seconds with this event. I knew staying there wouldn't be safe, so I pushed on for five more laps. With FWD, you can expect a bit of understeer, and I tried to keep it in check with some left-foot braking. Keeping the car in the VTEC zone all the time is crucial if you don't want to fall back.

I finally stopped the clock at 1:12.775, even though I recorded my fastest sectors across two laps. My top speed down the main straight was 155 kph, and when I stopped playing, I was down in P 3,690 overall. I almost feel like using first gear in Turn 11 is a good idea to power out of the corner, but I may be wrong.

I use third gear for Turns 3, 4, 7, 8, and 12 and second gear for all the other corners. I wanted more and faster, so I bought an EG6 for 52,100 credits from the Used Car lot and opted for a few upgrades. With performance figures up to 184 hp, weight down to 984 kg, and semi-slick tires, I lapped it in 1:08.

It already feels like a completely different car, and it's quite exciting to drive. If you have been following any Tsukuba Time Attack events in the real world, you'll know that a Civic like this is the fastest NA car on the Japanese track. The red Aslan Spirit EG6 set a record of 54.930, which is amazing. I'll return with another Time Trial update in less than a week: can we have Mount Panorama or Spa next?