Regional Differences

This is a sub-page of Gran Turismo 4.

As with all PlayStation and PlayStation 2 era Gran Turismo games, there's bound to be regional changes. Most notably, the Western releases gained a fair amount of extra content and features over the Japanese and Asian versions.

Intro Movie#

The game's intro is different in every region. Every version starts with an orchestral arrangement of "Moon Over The Castle". The Asian version, including the Korean release, uses the rock version of "Moon Over The Castle" for the second part of the intro. Meanwhile, the North American version plays "Panama" by Van Halen while the European version uses "Reason Is Treason" by Kasabian. The North American and European intros were recut with different clips in a different order to suit the altered songs.

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Prize Car Changes#

A number of prize cars were changed between the Japanese/early Asian version and other releases:

Because of this change, the black Formula GT was made available by achieving 100% completion of the game in international versions of the game.

Additionally, the Korean version replaces Chrysler Prowler '02 with the Hyundai Tuscani CCS '03 as the prize car for the Spider & Roadster event.

Dealership Changes#

• Chaparral, Lexus, HPA Motorsports and Proto Motors are completely absent from the Japanese and Asian versions. Unused manufacturer description text can be found in Japanese and Chinese for them.
• The Audi Abt Audi TT-R Touring Car '02 is not in the Audi dealership in the Japanese and Asian versions, as it is a prize car.
• Acura is an American manufacturer in the Japanese/Asian release and Japanese in the international versions. (Previous and later games treat Acura as an American brand.)
• Scion appears only in the North American release.
• Vauxhall appears only in the European version. For the first time in the series history, both Opel and Vauxhall are available at the same time.
• The Chrysler Prowler '02 is purchasable with the price of Cr. 47,430 in the Korean version, due to the prize car change as described above.

Car Changes#

Please elaborate. Having more detail is always a good thing. Specifically: Describe the JDM/USDM/EUDM Honda S2000 changes.

The Toyota ESSO ULTRAFLO Supra (JGTC) '01 is absent in the North American version. This is due to Esso not existing in America, where the Exxon name is used instead. Although Polyphony Digital could have created an Exxon version, they chose not to in this case. The car never appeared again in the series as later games would exclusively use Exxon versions of returning car models, up until Sport, with the Honda RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT '16 having Esso branding in its rear hatch regardless of region.

Another regional change that is to be expected are the different names for some of the cars used. An obvious one is how the Opel Speedster in the American version is also known as the Vauxhall VX220 elsewhere; however the European version of the game features the car under both names. Another name change is the JDM Toyota VITZ, which is known as the Toyota Yaris in the European version. In the American version meanwhile, the Toyota bB 1.5Z X Version '00 and the Toyota ist 1.5S '02 are replaced with Scion xB '03 and Scion xA '03, which causes problems for the Japanese Compact Cup event as the Scion versions are flagged as American cars, preventing the player from using these cars even though the AI uses them.

Additionally, the Mini Cooper 1.3i '98 only appears in the Japanese and early Asian releases for some reason. In reverse, thirteen cars were not included in the original Japanese (and Asian) release:

• Alfa Romeo GT 3.2 V6 24V '04
• Audi Auto Union V16 Type C Streamline '37
• Audi Nuvolari quattro '03
• Audi Pikes Peak quattro '03
• Chaparral 2D Race Car '67
• Chaparral 2J Race Car '70
• Chrysler 300C '05
• HPA Motorsports Stage II R32 '04
• Jaguar XJR-9 Race Car '88
• Mazda MX-Crossport '05
• Mitsubishi Eclipse GT '06
• Peugeot 905 Race Car '92
• Proto Motors SPIRRA 4.6 V8 '04

Lastly, the Korean version adds four exclusive cars:

• Lexus IS 200 GT-1 Race Car '04
• Hyundai Tiburon Turbulence '99
• Hyundai Tuscani CCS '03
• Hyundai Click Type-R '04

Most of the Korea-only cars would make their worldwide debut in the PSP game, while the Click Type-R had to wait until Gran Turismo 6. Its price is Cr. 10,000, meaning if the car is purchased as the player's first car, the player is left with literally no money, a rare situation.

Like in previous games, all regional variations of the cars, including the Mini, but not the Korea-exclusive cars, are included in all copies of the game for ease of localization. However, the body for the Esso version of Peugeot 905 Race Car '92 and Vauxhall Astra Super Touring Car '00 are missing or not yet coded in the US version of the game, possibly as neither were in the Japanese version of the game.

Other car-related regional changes:

• The Ford GT '05 has an unlisted drivetrain in the Japanese version.
• The FPV GT '04 has missing side stripes in the Japanese and Asian versions. The stripes are however present in the Japanese Online Test Version as it uses the 3D models from the later releases.
• The Dodge Viper GTS-R Team Oreca Race Car '00 uses the ALMS version (#91/Dodge windshield banner) in the American version and the Le Mans (#51/Chrysler windshield banner) in other versions, the same with the previous game. The same also applies to Esso/Exxon badged versions of Toyota GT-One Race Car '99, Peugeot 905 Race Car '92, and Peugeot 206 Rally Car '99.

Car Name Changes#

Several cars saw name/badge changes within each version:

License Test Changes#

The Japanese version of the game had the player drive the Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo-Courage - Judd GV5 Race Car '04 in License Test S-11 and Mercedes-Benz Sauber Mercedes C9 Race Car '89 in License Test S-16, each a one-lap trial around Opera Paris and Nürburgring Nordschleife respectively. Outside Japan, both cars were replaced by Clio Renault Sport V6 Phase 2 '03 and Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5 - 16 Evolution II Touring Car '92 respectively. The required times were also adjusted accordingly.

Car Stats Changes#

Each region of Gran Turismo 4 has its own SpecDB database containing car statistics, many of which are not shown in-game. This includes chassis grip stats, drag coefficients, weight distributions and many more car-defining stats. While most cars have consistent stats across regions, some have slight differences:

• The Toyota GT-ONE Race Car (TS020) '99 (Exxon) in North American versions has a lower drag coefficient (22 vs. 28), a more rear-heavy weight distribution (49:51 vs. 50:50) and less chassis grip (1010 front / 1050 rear vs. 1020 front / 1060 rear) than the Esso variant in other versions.
• The Peugeot 206 Rally Car '99 (Exxon) in North American versions has a lower drag coefficient (33 vs. 36) than the Esso variant in other versions.
• The Acura DN-X '02 in North American versions has a lower drag coefficient (23 vs. 27) than the Honda DUALNOTE '01 in other versions.
• The Dodge VIPER GTS-R Team Oreca Race Car '00 in North American versions has a lower drag coefficient (28 vs. 36) than other versions.
• The Nissan 350Z Concept LM Race Car '02 in North American versions has a lower drag coefficient (28 vs. 36) than the Nissan Fairlady Z Concept LM Race Car '02 in other versions. It also has a lower base power ouptut.
• The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C2) Race Car '63 in the Japanese version has lower chassis grip (880 front/930 rear vs. 900 front/950 rear) than other versions. It also has a higher base power ouptut.
  • As its front chassis grip is below 900, it causes an overflow which gives the car unnaturally high front grip, making it near-impossible to control.
• On the Japanese Online Test Version, some cars have much higher chassis grip compared to other releases, including the Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V-spec II Nur (R34) '02 (1040 front / 1040 rear vs. 1020 front / 1020 rear) and the BMW M3 GTR '03 (1030 front/1070 rear vs. 1000 front/1050 rear).

Tuner Village Parts#

In the Japanese version of the game, the Tune Shops in the Tuner Village offered identical parts to dealerships elsewhere. In other versions, two new upgrades were added to Tuner Village tune shops that were made available for a select number of cars:

• Original Turbo - this usually provides a power increase slightly lower than the car's highest-available turbo upgrade, but offers far more torque output at low-to-mid-RPMs, resulting in a less peaky torque curve at high-RPMs and better cornering potential.
• Original Suspension - this provides stiffer spring rates and lower ride heights than the fully customizable suspension kit, but lacks shock bound / rebound adjustment.

Driving Mission Changes#

Mission 34 has a 123 second gap in the American and Japanese versions of the game. This gap was reduced by 8 seconds to 115 seconds in the European version, making this mission easier. As well, due to the European version running at 50 FPS and having fewer physics calculations per second, the SLR McLaren used in the mission feels lighter and easier to rotate.

Music Playlist#

The Japanese and Asian versions feature 100 songs. The European version replaces Masahiro Andoh songs with "Can't Get Enough" by The Infidels, "I Predict A Riot" by Kaiser Chiefs, "Michael" by Franz Ferdinand and "Swollen Summer" by The Bravery. In total there are 97 songs. The North American playlist is the shortest, featuring just 65 songs. Unlike in Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, where the North American soundtrack mostly consists of songs exclusive to that version, Gran Turismo 4's songs in the North American version exist in the Japanese and European versions of the game as well. The Korean version is based on the North American soundtrack, but re-adds Masahiro Andoh's songs to the playlist.

Other Changes#

• The Japanese (except the Online Test Version) and Asian versions by default has 16:9 option enabled.
• The Progressive (480p) and HDTV (1080i) video output options were made inaccessible in the European version of the game. It is possible to forcibly enable the video outputs by setting memory address A57E70 to 1 (for 480p) or 2 (for 1080i), but doing this also switches the game's frame rate to 60 FPS, thereby speeding up the game by 20% in the process, as the game's code does not have a delta time mechanism.
• The Japanese and Korean versions includes car descriptions in the garage and in the dealerships (for new cars, after the color has been chosen; for used cars, when the car is being displayed). On other regions, the space is left blank due to the lack of description text files for any of the remaining languages.
• In Japanese (including the Online Test Version), Asian and oddly even the North American Public Online Beta versions, weight is also displayed on the car settings screen from Garage; in other versions, only power is displayed.
• It is not possible to switch between A-spec and B-spec in the pit menu in the Japanese/Asian version.
• In Japanese and Asian versions, it is not yet possible to jump to the next license test from a current license test's overview menu.
• The Japanese (except the Online Test Version and Korean version) and Asian versions have a different placement of car dealers and events, where the closest to garage are Asian manufacturers.
  • Similarly, the order of the car regions in the Arcade car selection menu prioritizes the cars from the region of the game version. For example, the European version places all European regions with numerous car brands first, starting with the UK.
• In the Japanese and Asian versions, the player can set ASM and TCS to 21, reduced to 20 in later versions (including the Online releases).
• In the Japanese version, acceleration will stutter briefly at 100km/h during rolling starts. It can also occur during normal driving if TCS is enabled. This makes some licence tests slightly more difficult than other versions, as the stutter means that the car has less speed upon starting the test.
• The Japanese and Asian version has restricted autosave mode set to trigger only on when a car is sold, instead of when changing cars. This results in an exploit where if the player has multiple cars in the garage, the player can save the game from the garage, upgrade cars, switch to another, and reboot the console with the upgrades present but credits intact.