Gran Turismo is one of gaming's marquee driving series and a triple-A system seller ever since it debuted on the original PlayStation back in 1997. It also started a tradition for credits grinding as it offered a superb collect-a-thon as players won events to earn credits to save up to purchase more cars and to tune them up.
The latest entry, Gran Turismo 7, is no different. Althought the grinding experience has been cheapened somewhat with the introduction of microtransactions as players can use real-life money to exchange for in-game credits, and Polyphony has been criticised for making the grind that bit more difficult, it did walk back some of its earlier changes as it continually updates the game. Meanwhile, the community of players that have formed around the title are sharing tips and advice on the best ways to grind out those all-important credits.
Over on the Gran Turismo subreddit, players quite frequently share their strategies for how to farm credits more efficiently. The rationale is often 'how long it takes to complete the race' over 'the amount of credits earned' among other factors.
One of the latest tips comes courtesy of user Salt-Sir3511. They are using the World Touring Car 600 Tokyo Expressway series to earn in excess of 800,000 credits in what they say takes them less than 25 minutes. This is not a bad return on the time invested. Other commentators quickly realised the value of this tip but were keen to know what tuning the player utilised on their Subaru WRX STI Type S '14. Sadly, the OP has not yet updated the full settings, but did offer this much:
"As it is now, I know it's Sport Hard front, Sport Medium rear, high rpm turbo, standard transmission (does 198 on the straight) lowest front aero, probably highest rear aero".
It makes for interesting reading especially for players who may not have considered using different sorts of tyres on the front and rear and making such adjustments to a car's aerodynamics before.
While this is one tip that has surprised players with the rapid lap times being posted, another GT7 fan posted a much more in-depth guide to grinding credits on Reddit a while back. The 'Best Races for Grinding Credits' guide was created by user Sinakaru in the summer and offers a full list of times, prize money, and cars used, among other columns, giving players something far more comprehensive to work with.
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Over on YouTube, content creator naffantait is offering handy guides to the grind, with their latest video uploaded just yesterday. It's been tailored to GT7's latest Update 1.27 so it's a good guide on the most up-to-date grinding techniques including which specific cars to use. The new video focuses on a 700pp build for the Alfa Romeo Guilia GTAm so do check it out for all the fine details here.
It's great to see the dedication and camaraderie that has formed around Polyphony's racer, which should never be taken for granted by developers. While the studio did risk losing part of the fan base early in the game's post-launch it has rectified some bad decisions it made while continuing to add new races, cars, and features to the game, for free, and will do so in the new year and likely beyond. It's a turnaround for Gran Turismo 7 while a feeling remains that it has greater potential still waiting to be realised. We'll be sure to track the game's progress in 2023.