How GT1 Sparked My Passion for Cars

I feel some remorse over how I used my twenties. Spending Gran Turismo not among them. Rewind the clock, and I'd still be in my dorm room, lying on the floor in front of an old used console television. I'd keep running races for such a long time that my roommate would go out for the night and return several hours later only to discover me exactly where he left me. He wasn't involved but understood sufficiently to show me respect by looking before entering my line of sight.

This tale first was published in Issue 30 of Road & Track.

At that time, no racing game could match it. Gran Turismo 1. For starters, the gameplay felt much more realistic. Vehicles operated similarly to how they do in actuality, showcasing clear distinctions between different drive systems and power outputs. This level of authenticity was significantly enhanced by the two small analog sticks found on the Sony PlayStation controller, which allowed for smoother control over acceleration, braking, and steering compared to using buttons alone. It created an ideal formula for becoming hooked—sufficiently realistic to boost excitement, yet without any collision damage, minimizing adverse effects (and allowing you to treat AI-controlled rivals as mobile barriers).

But what truly caused me to sacrifice rest for Gran Turismo His virtual laps were varied. Before YouTube, before TikTok, when digital media hadn't yet shrunk the global car world, the video game allowed me to drive vehicles I wasn't aware of. It was heavily focused on high-performance models available in the Japanese market, Gran Turismo turned me into a JDM enthusiast. With over 600 cars available, Gran Turismo 2 pushed diversity to an extreme degree. It featured not only the turbocharged Subaru Imprezas that were never brought into the U.S., such as the famous 22B STi, but also approximately 30 different Impreza models overall. Plus plenty of other vehicles, like the TVRs I'd heard about in... Top Gear and Car . Additionally, there was a Dodge Stratus.

A variety of car-related pleasures available in the Gran Turismo Games and the instinctive desire to experience every one spilled over into an interest in the strange and obscure aspects of the real world. I had already become enthusiastic about car magazines during my teenage years, but Gran Turismo reprogrammed my brain.

The PlayStation 2 introduced significant advancements in visual quality and vehicle handling realism for Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec but I didn't manage to match the series' growing realism with a wheel-and-pedal system until much later in life. Naturally, in any iteration of Gran Turismo operated using a portable console, you would opt for a vehicle equipped with four-wheel drive—such as an Impreza, a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, or any version of the Nissan Skyline GT-R. This is because, despite the small controls, the quickest path to success involved pressing hard through turns.

In the end, I realized that the quick actions that were effective in the game resulted in poor handling on actual roads. Even now, I tend to favor smoother movements, often sacrificing speed as a result.

Every moment I spent playing the game eventually led to success, as I secured an impressive seventh position in a media contest at the 2018 SEMA Show. As I mentioned earlier, I have no regrets.

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