Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec

Known as Gran Turismo 2000 during development, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec has less tracks and cars compared to its predecessor, but it went on to become an instant hit.

Prototype Info Unused GraphicsLeftovers from earlier points of development that give some insight on this game's strange development cycle.

Hidden Car Classes#

Watch on YouTubeAs well as the selectable car classes of C, B, A, S, and Dirt, the Arcade mode features two hidden car classes. CLASS_COMPULSARY contains the specific cars used for the Time Trial mode, whereas CLASS_PREVIEW (video shown on the right) contains almost every car in the game, including unused and test cars. This was presumably used as a debugging tool.

Unused Cars#

To do: Document the other unused MX-5s. Retake the images of the Unused Special Mazda Roadsters/Miatas/MX-5s at native resolution.

Hidden cars#

Multiple unused cars exist on the game disc, in varying levels of completeness. Those listed below have complete enough parts and physics data to be purchasable and drivable in the Japanese and North American releases of the game. Their models were deleted in the European release, but the physics data remains.

Car and Notes	Image
Porsche 911 GT3 (996) The only Porsche to appear in the series (albeit informally) until PS4's Gran Turismo Sport. This car cannot be purchased using memory card trade, and is grouped with the RUFs in CLASS_PREVIEW. At the time of the game's release (and still today), Kazunori Yamauchi (creator of Gran Turismo) owned a 911 GT3. Whether the development team recreated the car for fun or testing purposes, or whether there was a serious intent to have Kaz's car playable in the game (for example in the Complex String Time Attack, where the player faces off against Kaz's time in a RUF RGT in the final game) is unknown.
Lancia Stratos Available in road and rally flavors. Neither version can be purchased through memory card trade, and they are also for unknown reasons absent from CLASS_PREVIEW. Screenshots of this car exist from when the game was being developed under the name of Gran Turismo 2000.
Nissan Skyline GT-R M-Spec (R34) A new model of Skyline GT-R that did not officially appear until Gran Turismo Concept.
Extra Mazda Roadsters/Miatas/MX-5s Three modified Eunos Roadster variants exist in the game. The first one is based on the 1989 model and includes a uniquely placed Japanese license plate. The second is based on the 1997 S-Special model and has a roll cage and a Gran Turismo license plate. Finally, the last version is based on the 1996 S-Special model and features both a roll cage and a Japanese license plate. The highly specific nature of these cars suggests they may have been based on the personal cars of Polyphony Digital staff, though no concrete evidence of this has surfaced.
Unused Special Mazda Roadsters/Miatas/MX-5s There are two extra unused MX-5 models that go completely unused in all versions of GT3. The V-Special '93 has three different colours; British Racing Green, Brilliant Black, and Chaste White. It features chrome mirrors, chrome wheels, and a beige interior. In the race, it uses a beige soft-top. The J-Limited II comes in Sunburst Yellow. (Car names are different from stock GT3, images taken from a modded GT3 build.)
Lancer Evolution VI Rally Car Special A duplicate Evolution VI Rally Car, with no visual differences. However, it has several unique physics settings such as steering, stability control and traction control, possibly as an experiment. The car value is also higher than the original at 1,200,000Cr instead of 300,000, however neither can be purchased normally. In the garage, the car is listed simply as LANCER instead of LANCER Evolution VI Rally Car.

"Sample" cars#

"Sample" cars were intended for debugging and testing purposes, and as above have enough parts and physics data to be drivable. There are 10 "sample" cars in total:

Car and Notes	Image
Sample 001 Appears as a Mazda RX-7 LM Race Car with extremely tall suspension. This was a popular engine choice for hybridding because of the car's high horsepower Formula One engine, which can be combined with power multipliers.
Sample 002 A yellow TVR Cerbera Speed 6 (not available normally in this game) for testing Honda colors. Uses Honda NSX Type S' wheels and Goodyear Eagle tire stickers. It should be noted that none of the Cerberas have complete rear lights.
Sample 003 An Acura RSX with a reflection ball hanging over the car and the plate that reads "NISSAN COLOR" on the front and side (the latter is not shown) of the car. As the "NISSAN COLOR" plate implies, it was most likely used to test Nissan colors. Uses Mazda 787B's wheel.
Sample 004 Like Sample 002, but for Toyota colors. Uses wheels from Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI Rally Car, based on the Ralliart logos on the wheel.
Sample 005 Like Sample 003, but for different Nissan colors and has a hollow rim with shadow issues (appears as an odd rim in Arcade Mode and races). The plate simply reads "NISSAN" for this one.
Sample 006 Appears as a grey box in Arcade Mode and a pair of reflection balls in races. Used to test reflections. If viewed in Simulation Mode, the game will no longer load other car models. Perhaps for this reason, this car is not included in CLASS_PREVIEW.
Sample 007 Another Acura RSX with a reflection ball over it used to test Mitsubishi colors. Has a five-spoke racing (centerlock?) wheels with the same shadow issues as 005, too.
Sample 008 No plates or reflection balls here, used for testing Honda and Acura colors.
Sample 009 Another color-tester Cerbera for different Honda/Acura colors, with mismatching wheels; it uses NSX Type S wheel on the rear and a generic five-spoke on the front.
Sample 010 A F090/S that looks like it has misaligned wheels, plus front-wheel drivetrain (all other Sample cars except this one are FR, with the 001 having MR instead). Purpose unknown.

Unused car models#

Several car models with no associated names, parts, or physics settings were also left on the game disc. Note that these models have been swapped onto other cars for the purpose of illustration.

Car and Notes	Image
McLaren MP4/13 A 1998 McLaren MP4/13, as driven by Mika Häkkinen to clinch his first Formula One title. This car has "Test" in place of "West" in the sidepods, but references to West cigarettes remained elsewhere throughout the car. This car does not have a far LOD; it will change to Spoon S2000 Race Car if the car is too far from the camera.
Alfa Romeo 156 Touring Car An lower-spec race car that could have competed with low-power race cars such as the rally and GT300 cars. This particular race car was raced in 2000 European Super Touring Cup, driven by Romana Bernardoni.
"ho0097" Honda S2000 This particular S2000, based on the Special Color variant, has "ho0097" printed as the car's license plate, referring to the model's filename, and default rims as used in Sample 006. Probably meant for testing.

Non-existent cars#

clubsport_r8_00
db7_vantage_coupe_01
delta_hf_integrale_00
eb110_00
eb18_4_veyron_00
r50_00
rx_evolv_00

The game menus include the filenames for several blank and unused car logos. This list includes a Bugatti EB110, HSV Clubsport R8, Mazda RX-EVOLV (mentioned in the Mazda RX-8's car description), and a duplicate Lancia Delta HF Integrale (possibly the road car; re-added in GT4). R50 may refer to the 2000 model first generation Mini Cooper that was launched by BMW after the original Mini brand was retired, however this car didn't appear until Gran Turismo Concept, and even then that was the 2002 model. No other remnants of these cars exist.

Several of these filenames have a year suffix of '00', however this is frequently used in the game for cars with no set model year.

A wireframe model of the Bugatti EB110 can be seen in a GT3 behind-the-scenes video found on the Official PlayStation 2 Magazine-UK Greatest Hits Volume 8 - Special Edition disc. Whether this is related to the car originally destined for GT3, or whether it was, for example, an unrelated model picked by the video editing team behind the promo disc, is unknown.

Unused Rims#

There are three sets of rims that were unused in the retail version of the game:

• enw010_s: An unused, completely functional silver Enkei wheel.
• ozw001_k: An OZ rim that, when installed, will appear very small and slightly away from the car.
• ozw001_w: Possibly meant as an alternate color variant of ozw001_k above; except it is more glitchier as it only appears as white boxes.

enw010_s	ozw001_k	ozw001_w

Unused Audio#

Hidden inside the game's files are some music tracks which go unused.

Unused Grid Slots#

Watch on YouTubeAlthough no races are held at Complex String and Arcade Mode Single Races cannot occur there either, the track does have functional grid positions defined. AI pathfinding is also present; however, much like attempting to use rally tracks in GT2 with more than one opponent, the opponents will make no attempt at passing.

Regional Differences#

To do: Compare the license tests time limits of each version (European version has mostly stricter times compared to other regions) The F686/M has some changes to the white/teal and white/red colors where the upper white parts of those colors (in the Japanese version) becomes the respective secondary color in the US version. Esso branding means that Rally Class FMV has to be changed.

Intro Movie#

As with every Gran Turismo game, regional differences exist. The introduction movie has the usual different background music: the Japanese version used a new Moon Over The Castle arranged by pentagon, the North American version used a specially-mixed version of Lenny Kravitz's Are You Gonna Go My Way (also appears in races), and the European version uses Feeder's Just A Day.

Watch on YouTubeWatch on YouTubeWatch on YouTube

Car Listings and Appearance#

The Lamborghini Diablo JGTC was featured as a prize car and opponent car in the Japanese version of the game. The car was licensed via the Japanese Lamborghini Owners' Club (JLOC), which ran the car in JGTC, rather than Lamborghini itself. Due to the legal risks and uncertainty of using this loophole, the car was hidden in the American version (with all Lamborghini logos removed) before its model was removed in the European version. Lamborghinis officially appeared in Gran Turismo (PSP) but this particular car did not return until Gran Turismo 5.

The Japanese and North American versions had six unlicensed Formula One cars, while the European versions had only two. In addition, the cars are more identifiable in the US and Japanese version of the game, using the FCYY/D format (C stands for cylinder count, YY stands for year, and D stands for driver). The cars in the US and Japanese version of the game are called the F686/M (Nigel Mansell's Williams FW11), the F687/S (Ayrton Senna's Lotus 99T), the F688/S (Senna's McLaren MP4/4), the F090/S (Senna's McLaren MP4/5B), the F094/S (Senna's Williams FW15), and the F094/H (Damon Hill's Williams FW15B). The European versions' F1 cars are the Polyphony001 (an F094/S with higher nose and slightly different rear wing) and the Polyphony002 (the F688/S with different rear wing and more color choices to compensate).

The European version has Vauxhall cars in it, but it requires the language set to (British) English. Also, the US version has Exxon instead of Esso, just like Gran Turismo 2.

An often overlooked difference exists in the Team Oreca Viper: the US version has the car number 91 on the doors and Dodge in the windshield. All other versions has the car number 51 and Chrysler (parent company of Dodge) in the windshield. PlayStation logos are also present in the Chrysler versions, while they are nowhere to be seen on the Dodge. The Dodge version sports a small American Le Mans Series logo on the doors and hood, while the Chrysler version has the 24 Hours of Le Mans logo instead. (These logos were replaced by the Gran Turismo logo from Gran Turismo 4 onwards.)

Note that, with exception for the F1 cars, all regional versions of the cars are stored on all regions' disc, likely to ease localization of cars. (This also occurred in GT2.) However, the regionalized versions of the cars are stored differently compared to in GT2.

Another change from the Japanese version occurs with the Integra Type-R '98's power band. It increased from 0-9,000rpm to 0-10,000rpm in the other regions. This change has the knock-on effect of increasing its acceleration while its HP and torque numbers remain the same. The power band change (but not the acceleration) also affects both the Subaru Impreza WRX '00 and its Sports Wagon STi counterpart.

Furthermore, the listed power of the Celica SS-II '97 in the Toyota dealership was modified from 180ps with a torque figure of 19.5kgm/4800rpm to 200ps (197hp) and 21.00kgm/6000rpm (151.89ft.lb/6000rpm). These changes are cosmetic only, the performance of the car remains the same.

As the Lamborghini Diablo JGTC was removed from the international release, all instances of the Diablo were replaced instead with the Zonda Race Car, including its usage as a prize car in certain events that could grant you the Diablo.

In particular, the Italian Avant Garde event featured both the Zonda Race Car and the Diablo JGTC in its event image in the original Japanese release, alongside being an opponent car one could race against. This event originally allowed all Italian cars to be raced in the event, but was updated in its international releases to only allow Pagani Zonda variants to be raced.

Japan	International

Prizes#

In Gran Turismo/Simulation mode, some prize monies were adjusted between the Japanese and the other versions. Note that in the Japanese version, the prize values are multiplied by 100. They're listed here in their base value for easier comparison. Positions not listed award the same prize.

The bug in which 4th place prize money in the Beginner Evolution Meeting is more than 3rd place remains in all versions.

Arcade Difficulty#

As well as selecting the number of laps, the difficulty levels also nerfs the opposition cars performance to varying degrees. These degrees are also different between regions. Professional level involves no nerfs in any version.

Soundtrack#

The in-race music also differs between the European and North American versions. All three regions use music composed by Daiki Kasho, and the menu music remains the same in all three regions. However, the rest of the music is not the same in all three versions.

Here's some in-race music that wasn't featured in every version:

Prize Car Manipulation#

In the Japanese version, it is possible to manipulate the desired prize car (as well it's colors) from endurance races and championships from certain in-game operations that increments the seed number used:

• One step: Entering options mode
• Two steps: Watching a replay demo; entering or previewing a race/championship (including proceeding to a next race in a championship series); entering a Machine Test or Run & Setting
• Four steps: Entering a license test, entering qualifying before a race
• Ten steps: Returning to GT Mode after receiving a prize car

On a fresh boot, the prize car RNG seed is set to zero. By rebooting the console and enter the desired race immediately (endurances) or having saved in the last race of the championship (championships), finishing (alternatively, if in a championship's final race with enough points lead, skipping) the race and then entering Options several times as desired, the game will choose a prize car from a specific wheel. This trick also can change the color of the prize car, including for events where there is only one prize car: at seed 0, the car is given in the lowest color available, with subsequent seeds for the specific car granting the car in the next available color.

This manipulation trick was fixed in the international versions, but the manipulation being reported on the PSW magazine in the United Kingdom (where the magazine's editorial team played an imported Japanese copy ahead of its European release) resulted in misconception that it also works in all versions of the game.

Explicit Lyrics#

To do: Audio snippets of the lyrics, uncensored and censored.

In the Japanese version, the song "Dead Man Leaving" had its explicit lyrics untouched. The lyrics for the song were cleaned up in the European version of the game.

Miscellaneous#

• The European version of this game calls the reverse variant of each track a reverse track while the North American and Japanese versions call them by the track name, followed by a Roman numeral for two.
• Both revisions of the European version have "10 Rounds" seen at the background of Elise Trophy despite there being only 5 races. This could be a mistake, or a remnant from the earlier phases of the development.
• When trying to delete a corrupted file through "File Operation" menu and it fails, PAL v1.00 says "Save Failed", while PAL v2.00 says "Error!".
• The NTSC-U version fixes an exploit with pre-race screen where the player can gain pole position by simply leaving the pre-race demo play for a lap, then starting and exiting qualifying.
• The PAL version fixes the ability to purchase Racing Exhaust and Air Cleaner for Viper GTS-R Team Oreca for 0 Cr., which does not affect the car's performance.
• The PAL version has a screen centering option through horizontal and vertical movement sliders.

References#