GGGGG TTTTT 33333     TTTTT IIIII RRRR  EEEEE SSSSS
G       T       3  *    T     I   R  R  E     S
G  GG   T     333       T     I   RRRRR EEEE  SSSSS
G   G   T       3  *    T     I   R   R E         S
GGGGG   T   33333       T   IIIII R   R EEEEE SSSSS

By

Wolf Feather/Jamie Stafford
FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM

Version:   1.0
Completed: July 31, 2001

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CONTENTS
Spacing and Length
Permissions
Introduction
Tire Selection
Tire Care
Two Exceptions
Contact

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SPACING AND LENGTH
For optimum readability, this driving guide should be
viewed/printed using a monowidth font, such as Courier.
Check for appropriate font setting by making sure the numbers
and letters below line up:

1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

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PERMISSIONS
This guide may ONLY be posted on FeatherGuides, GameFAQs.com,
PSXCodez.com, Cheatcc.com, Absolute-PlayStation.com,
InsidePS2Games.com, RedCoupe, CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat
Empire, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru, cheatingplanet.com,
vgstrategies.com, ps2fantasy.com, hellzgate, and
neoseeker.com.

Permission is granted to download and print one copy for
personal use.

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INTRODUCTION
Why a guide devoted specifically to tires in one specific
game?  As a recent Michelin commercial (shown in the States)
states, the tires are the only safety features on the road
which actually TOUCH the road.  Implicit in this commercial
is the message that special care must be given to tires.  In
the case of Michelin, this means that choosing Michelin tires
is far safer than choosing any other brand of tires.

In the case of Gran Turismo 3, this same implicit message -
the tires are the only safety features on the road which
actually TOUCH the road - means that special care must be
given to the tires to keep them from wearing out too quickly.
This is especially important given that the only reason to
enter Pit Lane in GT3 is to change tires - fuel, damage
repair, etc., are not at issue in GT3.

Of course, there are instances where tire wear is never an
issue.  None of the Arcade Mode races use tire wear.
Similarly, the Beginner races and some Amateur races are too
short for tire wear to be an issue.  Tire wear is also not
involved in Rally races.  Many Amateur and ALL Professional
and Endurance races, however, do include tire wear as one of
the 'features' of each race.

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TIRE SELECTION
Tire selection is very important.  This is the first variable
in race performance (if based on tires alone).

For non-racing cars, Normal tires are standard issue.  While
Normal tires may work well on the highway and on city
streets, they are virtually worthless in an actual racing
situation.  Normal tires do not provide adequate grip to be
effective in racing.  This is most noticeable when trying to
corner at relatively high speeds with a vehicle with Normal
tires.

Simulation tires supposedly give a more accurate feel of what
it is like to drive a racing-tuned car.

Sports tires are a little better than Normal tires.  When
first playing Gran Turismo 3, one of the best things you can
do to improve your chance of success is to upgrade to Sports
tires as soon as possible.  This will improve your cornering
ability, and provide a little more grip for acceleration
(especially from a standing start).

Dirt tires are required for dirt-based Rally events.  All
rally cars come with Dirt tires.  Many non-racing cars can
also be equipped with Dirt tires.  For example, I used a
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII GSR(J) equipped with Dirt
tires - with a lot of money spent on parts and time spent in
tuning - to compete in and win ALL the dirt-based Rally
events.  (The same car also won in ALL the wet-based Rally
events.)

Racing tires come in an array of 'flavors,' with each tire
compound giving a varying level of grip countered by an
inverse level of durability.
   Super-slick    Least grip, maximum durability
   Slick
   Medium-slick
   Medium*        Average grip, average durability
   Medium-soft
   Soft
   Super-soft     Maximum grip, least durability
* For F1 cars, Medium tires are the only option (likely due
to the lack of an FIA license for GT3).  All F1 cars come
equipped with Medium tires.

A very important issue in tire selection actually involves
horsepower.  The chosen tires need to have some measure of
durability, or else you will be stopping in Pit Lane to
change tires after virtually every lap of the race.  For
example, a maxed-out Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak Version
(1841HP) will be putting down so much power on the road that
Super-soft tires will almost instantly become worthless.  In
other words, don't allow the car's horsepower to overdrive
the tires' ability to function properly.

In the event that the chosen tires wear out too much (orange
or red tire indicators), cornering at any respectable speed
will be virtually impossible, instead causing a nearly-
uncontrollable slide into a barrier or into another vehicle.
Strong acceleration will likely cause the vehicle to spin.  A
good driver will not let this happen very often; an expert
driver will NEVER let this happen.

Choose your pitting strategy so that your tires never become
too worn.  A set of tires needs to last AT LEAST 5 laps in
order to give you a chance of winning a race.  Of course, the
greater the durability of a set of tires, the longer you can
stay out of Pit Lane, thereby reducing your number of Pit
Stops in a race; however, greater durability means less grip,
which in turn means that you are quite likely to slide more
often unless you take VERY good care of the tires.

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TIRE CARE
At the beginning of a race and immediately after a Pit Stop,
the tires are brand new ('stickers') and need to be brought
up to temperature as quickly as possible so that they can
provide the best possible grip.  This is noted by dark blue
tire indicators.  During this period, sharp turns or
extremely-fast cornering will almost certainly cause the car
to slide, and perhaps even spin.  However, slides and spins
will bring the tires up to optimum temperature even faster,
so you may wish to purposely induce slides when entering
corners, IF the tire indicators are dark blue.

Once the tire indicators are green, the tires have reached
their optimum temperature, thus providing you with the best
possible grip for that set of tires.  The amount of time the
tire indicators remain in the green color range depends on
your driving style, the amount of time off-course (in the
grass or sand) or banging the barriers (or other cars), and
the selection of tire compound.

As the tire indicators switch to yellow, you need to start
taking better care of your tires.  You may experience slides
when cornering.

Orange tire indicators are a warning to get to Pit Lane to
change tires as soon as you possibly can.  You will be
sliding around a lot more.

Red tire indicators are effectively Game Over.  Unless you
have a HUGE lead, you will not have a chance of winning the
race, whether you stop to change tires or not.  Essentially,
you are driving on pure ice, and the only way to 'reliably'
get around the circuit is to ride the rails.

Note that not all four tire indicators will be the same color
at all times.  If even ONE tire shows a red indicator, you
need to limp back to Pit Lane to change tires as soon as
possible.

Traction Control affects tire durability.  With a low
Traction Control setting, the tires will spin for a while
(especially on a standing start or when under strong
acceleration) before they actually grip the pavement; the
friction of the pre-grip spinning wears away at the tires.
With a high Traction Control setting, wheel spin is reduced
or even eliminated, thus extending the durability of the
tires.

One of the best ways to reduce the durability of the tires is
to corner at high speeds.  The GT3 manual gives an excellent,
detailed description of what occurs with the tires when
cornering.  In sport, cornering at high speeds causes a high
percentage of the tire to be used for speed, and a low
percentage to be used for the actual cornering.  To combat
this and thus extend the durability of the tires, try to
brake in a STRAIGHT line before reaching a turn, thus
reducing overall speed and providing a lower percentage of
the tires to be used for speed, and a greater percentage used
for cornering.

Note that if the percentage of the tires used for speed is
too high compared to the percentage used for cornering, the
car will slide and/or spin.

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TWO EXCEPTIONS
There are two circuits where tire wear need not be an issue:
Test Course and Super Speedway.  For both circuits, the car
should be tuned for maximum speed, which usually means a high
gear ratio, and low downforce and ride height.  If you can
select the tires you want, you may as well go with Super-
slick tires, as they will last the longest.

For Test Course, the two banked turns are so extremely gentle
that if you slide at all, the banking will usually prevent
you from sliding up into the outer barrier.  Even if you do
hit the outer barrier, simply ride the rails until you can
regain control of the car.

For Super Speedway, simply ride the rails if necessary.  In
the Endurance race at Super Speedway (100 laps), you may wish
to stop once or twice to change tires, but with a really fast
and powerful car (such as a maxed-out Suzuki Escudo Pikes
Peak Version), you will EASILY win - in my case, I won by
more than 30 laps over the second-place car.

For both circuits, change parts to gain maximum horsepower
output and speed off.  In my own experience, virtually any
car above 650HP will either be in contention to win the race,
or will simply lease everyone else in the dust based on
horsepower alone.

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CONTACT
For rants, raves, etc., contact me at FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM

To find the latest version of this and all my other PSX/PS2
game guides, visit FeatherGuides at
http://www.angelcities.com/members/feathersites/

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