"This document Copyright 2001 Nathan Norris"
      ________  _______  _________
.   / ______/ /_   __/ / _____  /
.  / / ____     / /   /_/  __/ /
. / / /_  /    / /   _    /_  /
./ /___/ /    / /   / /____/ /
/_______/    /_/   /________/

***********************************************************************

          Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec - Tuning Guide Version 2.0
    By: Minesweeper (Nathan Norris) Email:  minesweeper1@hotmail.com

***********************************************************************

Last updated:  9/10/01

Table of Contents

1:  Introduction
2:  Revision History
3:  Parts Guide
4:  Tuning Guide
5:  Thanks for Reader's Notes
6:  Thanks
7:  E-mail Policy
8:  Copyright

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

1:  Introduction

Gran Turismo is the best racing series ever according to most gamers, yet a 
large part of this game is not understood by most people who play this game, 
called tuning.  To most people, "tuning" is simply purchasing and then 
installing a lot of expensive parts on a car, then racing it.  This may win 
most races, but wouldn't it be nice if those people with the bottomless 
wallets could squeeze even more performance from their vehicles?  This is 
where this guide comes in, to help you tune up your cars to your liking so 
that you can win even more races easily.  Move on to...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

2:  Revision History

Version 1.0 8/3/01 - First Edition.  There isn't much here yet because I was 
in a rush to beat everyone to the punch who was planning on working on a 
tuning guide.  Don't worry, I will improve on it later.

***********************************************************************

Version 1.1 8/4/01 - Now that my document is up, I can breathe easy and 
start actually putting quality information into it.  I also added an ASCII 
header and posted a tip from James Puckett.

***********************************************************************

Version 1.5 8/11/01 - I was updating my Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 
walkthroughs today, so while I was at it, I decided to put in some notes 
from my readers.

Speaking of readers, I have a general announcement for all of you who are 
reading my document.  This document is not complete.  I would like for you 
to share your experiences in GT3 with me concerning tuning.  I could put 
your notes into my guide and as such this would become a kind of "melting 
pot" for all our information.  I'm serious, it will make my life easier, and 
maybe many other people's tuning lives easier.

***********************************************************************

Version 2.0 9/10/01 - I added a reader's note, Bryan Ogden, and added a 
couple of things that I didn't realize were missing.  Also I reformatted the 
tuning FAQ to make it easier to read.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

3:  Parts Guide
___      __  __  __      __   __
|__ |  ||__ |__||__ |\ ||__ ||  ||\ | _|_
___||__| __||   |__ | \| __|||__|| \| \|
___  __  __     __  __
|__||__||__||_/|__ |__
|__||  \|  || \|__  __|

These parts are a critical part of any high-speed machine, no matter what 
others might say.  That juiced-up engine isn't going to do you much good on 
a curvy track if you don't have good brakes to slow down.  Suspension is 
also critical unless you want to rattle your teeth and your car every time 
you hit something larger than a pebble, causing you to potentially lose 
control.

*****************
SUSPENSION/SPORTS
*****************
Average price:  3,200
My comments:  I do not buy this, the SUSPENSION/FULL CUSTOMIZE is standard 
equipment when it comes to my suspension needs.  Plus the 
SUSPENSION/SEMI-RACING offers lots more options for only about 3,000 credits 
more.  But, if you are on a tight budget and aren't willing to shell out an 
extra 12,000 credits, then buy this.

**********************
SUSPENSION/SEMI-RACING
**********************
Average price:  7,400
My coments:  I seldom buy this, as I settle for only the best parts except 
for when I am having a major cash-squeeze.  It will serve you better than 
the SUSPENSION/SPORTS, allowing you to adjust several other suspension 
related settings.  You should always choose this over SUSPENSION/SPORTS if 
you can or don't have the cash for SUSPENSION/FULL CUSTOMIZE.

*************************
SUSPENSION/FULL CUSTOMIZE
*************************
Average price:  17,000
My comments:  OH YEAH!  This is what I'm talking about!  You can alter 
almost anything suspension-related.  This will be critical if you want to 
improve your car's cornering more and lessen it's bouncing every time it 
mounts a curb.  You won't regret making this purchase for a car that you use 
often.

*************
SPORTS BRAKES
*************
Average price:  4,800
My comments:  A vital part of any high-speed vehicle.  The standard brakes 
are typically rather poor for use in races.  These will be very much needed 
in cars that have a hard time turning (*cough* Suzuki Escudo *cough*).

************************
BRAKE BALANCE CONTROLLER
************************
Average price:  11,000
My comments:  This will be important in tuning your car's cornering 
abilities to your liking, as the description suggests.  Standard equipment 
on all of my vehicles.
___      __       __
|__ |\ || _ ||\ ||__  _|_
|__ | \||__||| \||__  \|
      ___  __     __   __     __ ___  __
||\ |  |  |__||_/|__  |__ \_/|__  |  |__ |\/|
|| \|  |  |  || \|__   __| |  __| |  |__ |  |

If you are like most people, this category is probably the one that you like 
to spend the most money on, and it's also one of the most important 
categories of upgrade parts in the game.

****************************
MUFFLER & AIR CLEANER/SPORTS
****************************
Average price:  1,700
My comments:  Ignore this and get the MUFFLER & AIR CLEANER/RACING, it's not 
THAT expensive.

*********************************
MUFFLER & AIR CLEANER/SEMI-RACING
*********************************
Average price:  3,000
My comments:  Same as MUFFLER & AIR CLEANER/SPORTS's comments.

****************************
MUFFLER & AIR CLEANER/RACING
****************************
Average price:  5,000
My comments:  This should be one of your first upgrades for any car as this 
part is cheap and adds a decent amount of HP.  Standard equipment on all my 
cars.  I recieved a note from a reader called Allen Ano, and he had this to 
say about mufflers.  It could be worth a look from you:

First a curious tip about mufflers.  I was racing a tuned VW New Beatle
2.0 with NA tune up stage 3, various other engine upgrades, and muffler
& air cleaner/racing.  I found to my horror that the poor thing could
barely go from 0 to 2000 RPMs.  I guess there was just not enough low
end torque.  It would litterally just sit there powerless.  I was
baffled.  Since it doesn't shift into any gear, not even 1st, when its
revs are so low, changing the gear ratios didn't help.  Luckily, I
stumbled onto the answer.  I downgraded to muffler & air
cleaner/semi-racing.  Not only did that fix my low end torque problem
but it also boosted my HP!  There may be other cars that would benifit
from the semi-racing muffler instead of the full racing one, I don't
know.

******************
NA TUNE UP/STAGE 1
******************
Average price:  4,900
My comments:  Buy this only if you are on a cash squeeze.  NA TUNE UP/STAGE 
2 is a LOT better.

******************
NA TUNE UP/STAGE 2
******************
Average price:  13,000
My comments:  This is a terrific upgrade for its price.  Your acceleration 
and speed improve dramatically.  It's a LOT less expensive than NA TUNE 
UP/STAGE 3, yet it delivers a respectable amount of HP.  This is standard 
equipment on most of my cars, unless they can use NA TUNE UP/STAGE 3 or can 
only use turbos.  I like NA Tune much better than turbos.  NA doesn't have 
as much wild acceleration, giving it easier control.

******************
NA TUNE UP/STAGE 3
******************
Average price:  80,000
My comments:  Good luck trying to scrape together enough cash to buy this 
bad boy.  But if you can, prepare to be blown away.  You car will have 
eye-popping peformance in terms of speed and acceleration.

***********
PORT POLISH
***********
Average price:  5,500
My comments:  This upgrade is cheap for the amount of HP it delivers, about 
like the MUFFLER & AIR CLEANER/RACING, only this time the upgrade is 
permanent.

*********************
FULL-ENGINE BALANCING
*********************
Average price:  12,000
My comments:  This may seem overpriced, but it will help your top speed 
some, especially with slow cars.  Read below for James Puckett's word on 
this:

First off, thanks for doing a tuning guide! It is really needed out there, 
and you have given people a great base to add more detail. Anyway, I just 
want to bring up the full engine balancing. You list this as overpriced for 
the HP it gives. The FEB is actually a good deal for a car with a low top 
speed, as the balancing does a good job improving top speed, especially with 
a customized transmission. This is especially helpful for cars that have a 
slow time on the test tracks.

***************
DISPLACEMENT UP
***************
Average price:  6,000
My comments:  Almost no car can use this upgrade, so I can't say much about 
it.  Uhh, it increases your HP.  :)

***********
RACING CHIP
***********
Average price:  1,500
My comments:  This is a very cheap upgrade, so it should be one of the first 
things on your shopping list when you start buying parts for you car.  
Standard for all my cars.
__  __       __ ___  __  __
| \|__||\  /|__  |  |__||__|||\ |
|_/|  \| \/ |__  |  |  \|  ||| \|

Do not scoff at this category because the parts are cheap, it is vital for 
tuning your car's acceleration and top speed to your liking.  Also you will 
need it for more effective gear changing.

*************
CLUTCH/SINGLE
*************
Average price:  1,800
My comments:  Ignore this and get the CLUTCH/TRIPLE PLATE, as its not that 
much more expensive.

*******************
CLUTCH/DOUBLE PLATE
*******************
Average price:  2,700
My comments:  Same as CLUTCH/SINGLE.

*******************
CLUTCH/TRIPLE PLATE
*******************
Average price:  4,900
My comments:  This is needed in conjunction with the FLYWHEEL/RACING, to 
improve your acceleration.  It should be easy for you to afford this part, 
as its super-cheap.

***************
FLYWHEEL/SPORTS
***************
Average price:  450
My comments:  Ignore it and take the FLYWHEEL/RACING.  It's super cheap and 
far better than this thing.

********************
FLYWHEEL/SEMI-RACING
********************
Average price:  700
My comments:  Same as FLYWHEEL/SPORTS.

***************
FLYWHEEL/RACING
***************
Average price:  1,200
My comments:  Buy this, as you need it with the CLUTCH/TRIPLE PLATE to 
improve acceleration.  Another super cheap part that anyone should be able 
to afford.

*****************
DRIVESHAFT/CARBON
*****************
Average price:  3,000
My comments:  Like most everything else here, this is super cheap as well.  
Get it for better acceleration.

*******************
TRANSMISSION/SPORTS
*******************
Average price:  5,700
My comments:  Ignore this item.  The TRANSMISSION/SEMI-RACING is better and 
it is also generally the same price.

************************
TRANSMISSION/SEMI-RACING
************************
Average price:  5,700
My comments:  If you can, ignore this item as well and buy the 
TRANSMISSION/FULL-RACING.  It offers lots more in the way of fine-tuning 
your car than this.

************************
TRANSMISSION/FULL-RACING
************************
Average price:  11,000
My comments:  This is a MUST for every tuner.  It will allow you to mess 
around with the gear ratio, giving you the ability to fine-tune your cars 
acceleration and speed to suit the track.  Never drive a car without it!  
Standard, of course, on all my vehicles.

*****************
LIMITED-SLIP/1WAY
*****************
Average price:  4,500
My comments:  Ignore this and get the LIMITED-SLIP/FULL-CUSTOMIZE SERVICE,  
it only costs about 2,000 credits more and offers far more options for 
tuning acceleration, deecceleration, and turning.

*******************
LIMITED-SLIP/1.5WAY
*******************
Average price:  4,500
My comments:  Same as LIMITED-SLIP/1WAY.

*****************
LIMITED-SLIP/2WAY
*****************
Average price:  4,500
My comments:  Same as LIMITED-SLIP/1WAY.

***********************************
LIMITED-SLIP/FULL-CUSTOMIZE SERVICE
***********************************
Average price:  6,600
My comments:  Take this over all the other similar parts, as it provides 
more tuning options, and that's what we're after in this guide :)  Allows 
you to adjust acceleration, deecceleration, and handling.
___      __  __  __       ___   __     __ ___  __
.|  |  ||__||__||  |  |_/| |   |__ \_/|__  |  |__ |\/|
.|  |__||  \|__||__|  | \| |    __| |  __| |  |__ |  |

Duhhh, Duhhhhh, DUHHHHH....DU DUMMMMMMMM!!!  Yes, this is the category that 
everyone has been waiting for, the turbos!  It goes without saying that 
having one of these provides some big benefits on the track.

*****************
TURBO KIT/STAGE 1
*****************
Average price:  5,000
My comments:  Take this only if you are on a tight budget and can't afford 
any better kits.  It provides a good dose of HP for its price though.

*****************
TURBO KIT/STAGE 2
*****************
Average price:  14,000
My comments:  This will likely be the most common kit you will buy, either 
because the better kits aren't compatible with your vehicle or you don't 
have the cash for the super expensive kits beyond this one.  It will help 
you out quite a bit in lots of races.

*****************
TURBO KIT/STAGE 3
*****************
Average price:  45,000
My comments:  This is where the kits start to get super-expensive.  You will 
not be disappointed in the HP you get from this thing.  This is typically 
the kit I buy the most, as the TURBO KIT/STAGE 4 is super expensive plus the 
extra power can be a disadvantage on tight, twisty tracks like Rome.

*****************
TURBO KIT/STAGE 4
*****************
Average price:  85,000
My comments:  This is the most expensive upgrade you can purchase in this 
game.  It will give your car mega speed and all, but I would much rather 
take TURBO KIT/STAGE 3 as the power it gives you is more controllable than 
what you get with this monster, not to mention I don't have to shell out 
almost 100,000 credits for it.  It's not compatible with hardly any cars 
anyway.

******************
INTERCOOLER/SPORTS
******************
Average price:  1,800
My comments:  Ignore this item and take INTERCOOLER/RACING.

******************
INTERCOOLER/RACING
******************
Average price:  3,000
My comments:  This will give your turbo a small boost in power.  Uhh, that's 
about it.
___   __  __  __
.|  ||__||__ |__
.|  ||  \|__  __|

The type of tires you put on your car is EXTREMELY important, as the manual 
says, your tires are the only way your car's power gets it to move.  Without 
wheels, even a car with 10,000 HP is worthless.  You should be picky about 
what kind of rubber is going over those wheels.  Your choice of tires is 
especially important when you get to Professional League, when all the races 
are 10 laps at the minimum and creating a lot of wear and tear on your 
wheels.

****************
SIMULATION TIRES
****************
Average price:  6,000
My comments:  For people who really want this game to be realistic, they 
will want this.  For the rest of us, we should disregard it as it will only 
make winning races even harder than it already is.  No sense in giving the 
computer more advantages over us than they already have.

************
SPORTS TIRES
************
Average price:  6,000
My comments:  Forget these cheap pieces of engineering, they will do you 
little good beyond the Beginner League as they have a short life and 
mediocre turning ability at best.

************
RACING TIRES
************
Average prices:
  -SUPER-SLICK:  10,500
  -SLICK:        13,500
  -MEDIUM-SLICK: 16,500
  -MEDIUM:       22,500
  -MEDIUM-SOFT:  27,500
  -SOFT:         35,000
  -SUPER-SOFT:   47,500
My comments:  The tires higher on the list provide a longer life, but less 
cornering potential.  The lower on the list you go, the more cornering 
ability you get, and the lesser amount of life you get.  After Beginner 
League, I recommend you don't even CONSIDER buying anything on the lower 
half of the list, as the tires down there simply don't last long enough for 
you to finish races without pitting, costing precious time.

In fact, I recommend you stay away from the lower half period and get right 
into MEDIUM-SLICK tires or lower in Beginner so you can get a feel of the 
lesser cornering power and learn how to deal with it while the competition 
is not so fierce.  You will have to deal with these tires a lot in Amatuer 
and especially in Professional if you hope to win.  So, you should get used 
to it at the start of the game before things get rough, not to mention 
you'll save a lot of money on this expensive rubber.

*****************
DIRT RACING TIRES
*****************
Average price:  22,500
My comments:  These will allow your car to race on dirt.  Umm, that's about 
all I have to say :)
___  ___  __  __        ___       __  __      ___  __  __
|__   |  |__||__|||   |  |  \_/  |   |  ||\ |  |  |__||  ||    _|_
___|  |  |  ||__|||__ |  |   |   |__ |__|| \|  |  |  \|__||__  \|
___  ___      __  __  __
|  |  |  |__||__ |__||__
|__|  |  |  ||__ |  \ __|

*****************
LIGHTWEIGHT/STAGE 1
*****************
Average price:  1,300
My comments:  You should buy this as one of your first upgrades, as it helps 
with most every performance category of your car.  Not to mention it is 
quite cheap.

*****************
LIGHTWEIGHT/STAGE 2
*****************
Average price:  5,500
My comments:  Same as LIGHTWEIGHT/STAGE 1.

*****************
LIGHTWEIGHT/STAGE 3
*****************
Average price:  22,500
My comments:  I recommend not getting this one, as the money you pay will 
not make up for what you get for this upgrade.

**************
AYC CONTROLLER
**************
Average price:  10,000
My comments:  I have yet to find a car that can use this, please email me if 
you find one.

****************************
VARIABLE CENTER DIFFERENTIAL
****************************
Average price:  10,000
My comments:  I have changed my mind about this item, as it is vital for 
improving a 4WD vehicle's handling to your liking.  It really helped me out 
tuning my RUF CTR2's cornering.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

4:  Tuning guide

Ahhh, yes, this is the real bulk of the walkthrough, and I am asumming over 
half of you came to look at this.  Fear not, I will help you make yourself a 
master tuner and guide you through these confusing menus and meters.  I will 
not tell you preset settings for cars here (though I may add one in its own 
section if anyone would like to submit some), I will teach you how to read 
these menus and become an effective tuner yourself.

___      __  __  __      __   __
|__ |  ||__ |__||__ |\ ||__ ||  ||\ |
___||__| __||   |__ | \| __|||__|| \|

***********
SPRING RATE
***********
This is one of the most influential settings you can adjust.  The higher the 
number, the stiffer your springs.  Stiff springs will help your car corner 
better, but your car also won't react well if you go over the curb.  If its 
too stiff, you car may even jump into the air if it goes over a curb.  You 
should have stiff springs on tracks that aren't very bumpy or twisty.  If 
your course has lots of ups and downs, like Seattle for example, then you 
should soften up the springs.  This will make the car harder to steer, but 
at least you won't go flying if you jump the curb.

***********
RIDE HEIGHT
***********
In general, you want the ride height as low as possible to reduce the center 
of gravity and air resistance, and also to boost cornering.  If you do lower 
your car, make sure you have adequate suspension to reduce the side-effect 
of the car bouncing when going over a curve.  Be sure to increase the shock 
bound and the shock rebound to cover the lower height.

***********
SHOCK BOUND
***********
This adjusts the shocks' movement in compression.  It should be set about 
the shock rebound's level divided by 2.  If you make this too strong, the 
car will be stiff and will bounce over corners instead of smoothly crossing 
over them.

*************
SHOCK REBOUND
*************
This adjusts the shocks' movement in expansion.  It should be set about 2 
times as high as shock bound.  Both shock bound and rebound are critical 
when making your car's ride height lower.  Here is a note submitted by Brian 
Ogden:

Bound & Rebound:
doing what you suggested is a good rule to correct oversteer...you 
see...these two suspension settings are probably the most effective in fine 
tuning your car to handle exactly how you want it to handle through the 
turns:

using your rule; setting the rebound higher than the bound makes the car 
have more oversteer....doing the opposite can actually make your car go 
through the turns with more understeer....but it doesn't stop there....you 
can actually controll it more than that:

-low rear rebound, and high front bound makes your car very loose into turns 
(oversteer)
-low front rebound, and high rear bound makes your car very loose out of 
turns (oversteer)
-high front rebound, and low rear bound makes your car very tight our of 
turns (understeer)
-high rear rebound, and low front bound makes your car very tight into turns 
(understeer)

so you can actually set up your car to handle in and out of turns just how 
you like it

also downforce can have a huge affect on your cars high speed cornering: 
more downforce in the front of the car will make the rear of your car swing 
out more for oversteer....and clearly, doing the opposite: more downforce in 
the rear will keep the rear of your car tighter to the ground...which can be 
used to correct oversteer, or just make your car handle with more understeer

************
CAMBER ANGLE
************
This lets the tires lean a little to the side.  Adding to the camber will 
allow the car to make more effective use of the wheels while cornering.  
Setting it too high will reduce braking power, but not if you only adjust 
the front and back to around 3 and 4 degrees.

******************
TOE IN AND TOE OUT
******************
Tow means the wheels are parallel to each other.  Toe out (positive number) 
means the wheels are slightly sticking out from the car on bottom, while toe 
in (negative number) means the tires are slightly sticking towards the car 
on the bottom.

If you give your car toe out, then this will help reduce oversteer, but this 
will also cause greater tire wear.  If your car has understeer then give 
your front tires some toe in and adjust your rear wheels to toe-out.

If its the other way around, your car is oversteering, then do the opposite. 
  Give your front wheels toe out and your back wheels toe in.  This ought to 
be left alone as it increases tire wear.

***********
STABILIZERS
***********
Stabilizers are like the springs.  If you make both stiffer together, then 
your car will handle better, but this will also reduce stability on a bumpy 
road.  If they are softened together, then you will have better stability on 
bumpy roads, but less steering ability.  There are other effects if you 
alter the front and rear separately.

If you stiffen the front and soften the rear, then there will be less over 
steer.  If you do it the other way around, soften the front and stiffen the 
rear, then understeer will be reduced instead.

Be careful with this setting, as if you set it to reduce too much oversteer, 
then your car will turn like a brick.  And if you turn too hard like this, 
you car can spin out.  If you get rid of too much understeer, then your car 
will be easy to turn, way too easy to turn.  So easy that spin-outs will 
become quite common.
___  __  __      __  __
|__||__||__||__/|__ |__
|__||  \|  ||  \|__  __|

*************
BRAKE BALANCE
*************
This is used to adjust how powerful your rear and frontal brakes will be.  
If they are adjusted to the same level, a higher setting makes the brakes 
more powerful, but also cuts back on turning ability, while lower settings 
reduce braking power, but this will improve cornering.  So, if you set them 
at the same level, you should give your car the lowest setting you can 
handle.

On the other hand, adjusting the brakes separately will produce other 
effects.  If you make your back tires have more powerful brakes than the 
front ones, cornering is improved some, and your car will be more able to 
turn in the corners if you brake while turning.  Use this if you like to 
brake in the turns.  If you make your frontal brakes stronger than the rear 
ones, then you car will have excellent braking power, and better cornering, 
but never use your brakes in a turn as this will cause the car to tend to 
slide outward.  Use this if you prefer to brake early and don't use brakes 
in a turn.
__  __       __ ___  __  __
| \|__||\  /|__  |  |__||__|||\ |
|_/|  \| \/ |__  |  |  \|  ||| \|

***************************
LIMITED-SLIP INITIAL TORQUE
***************************
This will raise or lower the initial torque, which gives better stability in 
ordinary driving.  This is not ordinary driving, so this will make the car 
hard to turn if you do not brake while turning.  If you enjoy braking while 
turning, then you may want this to be high up.  If you brake early a lot, 
and like to go through corners with the accelerator off then blow out of the 
turn at the end of it, then set it low.

*************************
LIMITED-SLIP ACCELERATION
*************************
This helps you in exiting corners as well as helping get rid of wheel spin 
if strengthened, but it also reduces cornering ability if you prefer to 
brake late and in turns.  Set it high if you prefer to go through turns not 
braking and instead just keeping your foot off the accelerator.

*************************
LIMITED-SLIP DECELERATION
*************************
This is the opposite of LIMITED-SLIP ACCELERATION.  This will help you enter 
turns more easily.  If this is adjusted higher, it will allow you to use 
late braking and braking in turns more effectively.

**********
GEAR RATIO
**********
Ahhh, now this is what I like the best to modify.  You could set each of the 
gears individually.  The further to the left, the quicker the gear change.  
However, this lowers the top speed.  The further to the right, the slower 
gears will change, but this will get you higher speeds.

I would prefer to go to the AUTO SETTING at the bottom of the menu and 
adjust it there.  If the line is closer to "sports" on the meter, then the 
car will have better acceleration and less top speed, and if it is set 
closer to "wide," then the car will have better top speed but less 
acceleration.

This feature can be used effectively to tune your speed to make it 
appropriate for the track you are racing on.  If you are a beginner at this 
tuning, then only adjust the final gear if you want to complete it manually. 
  I'll let JLL explain about turbo lag as I am a novice on the subject:

FYI, turbo lag exists when a cars turbo charger only spins up to a usable 
RPM at high engine speeds (generally when a higher diameter turbo is used), 
creating the condition of an engine that is underpowered through most of its 
powerband, then takes off at high RPMs. The "lag" is waiting for the turbo 
to spin up.
___  ___      __  __  __
|  |  |  |__||__ |__||__
|__|  |  |  ||__ |  \ __|

*********
DOWNFORCE
*********
Think of a knife cutting through steak.  The sharper the knife, the more 
easily it cuts through the steak, while if it is duller, you have a harder 
time cutting the meat.  This is similar to how race cars must cut through 
air to get better speed.  The "sharper" the car is angled, the more easily 
it can cut through the air,  which will allow it to travel faster.  
Downforce alters the angle of your car's body to alter the way air flows 
over the car's body.  If you have high downforce, your car will move more 
slowly due to the fact it is not as aerodynamic, but this will also improve 
traction in corners.  If its the other way around, downforce is low, then 
your car will be faster than before due to improved air flow.  But, be ready 
for the consequence of less handling.

**************
AYC CONTROLLER
**************
Dunno what this does, as I STILL have not found a car yet that can use this 
feature.  If somebody knows of a car that can use it, then please email me!

***********************
TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM
***********************
This adjusts the throttle on all the drive wheels to fix wheelspin.  It 
reduces acceleration but also gets rid of wheelspin.  Good for a 
way-overpowered car that has RWD.

***************************
ACTIVE STABILITY CONTROLLER
***************************
This controls the braking power on all the wheels.  Don't set it too low or 
it won't do anything.  The higher the setting the faster your brakes will 
kick in.  Experiment to see which setting you like the
best.

**************************************
VARIABLE CENTER DIFFERENTAL CONTROLLER
**************************************

I didn't realize I forgot to put this in, but it's here now.  This option is 
for 4WD cars ONLY.  It will allow you to adjust how much power goes to the 
front wheels and the back wheels.  The percentage is how much power is going 
to the front wheels of the car.  If you give the front less power, your 4WD 
car will behave more like an FR car.  This is VERY critical to getting rid 
of the stiffness of 4WD cars and giving the wheels more freedom of movement. 
  This is at the sacrifice of some stability though.

On the other hand, if you adjust it closer to where the power distributed 
between the wheels is nearly equal, then your car will be very stiff and 
hard to turn.  This will help if you take your car to rally races a lot, but 
for road racing, it can make turning a HUGE pain.  Then again, you won't be 
able to make your stiff 4WD spin out on pavement if you tried to do it on 
purpose!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

5:  Thanks for Reader's Notes

This is where I will put your name if you submit a tip that could be good 
for making this document more accurate, more thorough in exploring tuning, 
whatever, as long as it improves this walkthrough.  I also wouldn't mind 
hearing tips from the rest of you either, it would help me out big time as I 
don't have the time to do everything, and it would also help out other 
readers with their problems.

- James Puckett for the small tip about the Full Engine Balancing

- Allen Ano for the information about the mufflers

- JLL for the correction about turbo lag.

- Bryan Ogden for the hints about shock rebound and bound.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

6:  Thanks

- Thanks to myself because if it wasn't for me, this FAQ wouldn't
exist!
- Thanks to my dad for giving me jobs to do to pay for my Playstation 2  and 
this game!
- Thanks to Polyphony for the greatest racing series ever!
- Thanks to all the people who have submitted information to me!
- Thanks to you, because you took the time to read my guide!
- BIG, Big thanks to GameFaqs, THE best video game site on the net!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

7:  E-mail Policy

I have recieved a lot of stupid e-mail in the past, but now it is starting 
to get ridiculous so I am going to start enforcing what kinds of messages 
will and will not get answered.

Please DO:

- read the whole document before sending a question.  If you have time to 
waste your life away on video games, then you have enough time to scan my 
document for a few minutes for an answer to a problem.

- put the name of the game in the message topic.  It makes it A LOT easier 
for me to pick out which messages are on games and which are not.  Also if 
the name is not there, I might accidentally delete it, thinking it is junk 
mail.

- spell correctly.  I won't be able to help much with your problem if you 
send me something like "Hy mn cn u hlp me wth ths 1 prblm, I cnt bt ths 1 
lvl ok thnks gby."

- send a message in English.  I can barely read Spanish, let alone translate 
Japanese.  You wouldn't believe how many messages I have recieved in some 
foreign languages that I don't even know which continent they are from.

- be polite.  Any mail with excessive flaming will be instantly deleted.

Please DO NOT:

- write the title of the message as "About your walkthrough" or something 
similar to that.

- flame.  I hate flaming.  Especially messages with the f-word or the 
s-word.  These will be instantly deleted.

- send advertisements.  These will be considered junk mail and will be 
deleted instantly.

- ask me something that is already answered in the walkthrough or the 
manual.  C'mon, would you rather spend a few minutes skimming my guide, or 
would you rather spend a few hours, days, or even weeks waiting for me to 
get back to you?

- forget to include the name of the game in the message or on the title.  I 
am not a psychic.  I cannot tell what game you are after if you do not 
include the name in it.

- send me a message in any language other than English.  The only other 
language I can barely understand at all is Spanish, and even then, I can 
hardly form simple sentences.  So don't send the message in any language 
besides English or I simply won't be able to help you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

8:  Copyright

This guide is the sole property of Nathan Norris, author of this guide.  
Don't rip off this guide in part or whole, or I will be forced to act 
against you.  Don't rip off this guide then alter it to death and claim it 
as your own.  This guide may not be used for ANY profitable reasons 
whatsoever, even if no money is made.

I'm tired of all these websites requesting my guides for their sites, so 
from now on, these are the only sites which may use my guides:

www.gamefaqs.com
www.neoseeker.com
www.gameadvice.com

This makes it very simple for me to keep track of what state each version is 
in each site.  If you find this guide on some other site, and it is 
incomplete, go to www.gamefaqs.com. before requesting help from me.  Since 
gamefaqs.com is the first place I send every piece of my work, they are sure 
to have the most up-to-date version of my guides.

I bid you farewell.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
