Gran Turismo SPORT, Taycan

In October, a free update for PlayStation 4 (PS4) Gran Turismo SPORT added Porsche’s first EV sports car, the Taycan, to the game. The interior, car behavior, and motor sounds are reproduced with remarkable precision. My husband immediately got the car in the game and started driving it.

Then the other day, after driving the Taycan at Fuji Speedway in the game, he said this to me:

The Taycan is amazing. It’s totally different from the Cayman GT4 or 911 I’ve been using until now. It feels like there’s no gear, so you can accelerate fully in 6th gear anytime, even from low speeds. Because it has motors, the center of gravity is low, and it accelerates like it’s cutting through the air. It’s fast and super easy to drive. I’m getting more and more interested in the Taycan.

I thought, “Oh really…” Then he said, “Mina, why don’t you try driving it too?” Since I had just attended a Porsche Driving School, I decided to give Gran Turismo SPORT a try with the steering wheel controller for the first time in months.

I selected the Taycan and Fuji Speedway in the game. Right away, the motor’s high-pitched acceleration sound was very realistic. Also, the acceleration from low speed was truly impressive. Unlike engine cars, you don’t need to shift gears one by one; it’s fast the moment you press the pedal.

On the home straight, there’s no shifting and the sound is incredibly quiet, yet the speed is fast, which felt quite strange.

As for steering and handling, since I don’t usually play Gran Turismo SPORT (I’ve only driven it a few times before), I can’t really compare, but I found it easier to drive with less sliding when trying to take corners and quick acceleration out of turns.

However, this might be because I recently took the Porsche Track Experience (PTE), so

I was consciously applying techniques like “full braking after acceleration,” “weight transfer before steering,” “holding the steering wheel lightly with ring and pinky fingers,” “outside-inside-outside line,” and “pushing through corners.”

That might be why driving felt easier. After running Fuji Speedway, my lap time was 1 minute 57 seconds.

Slow… (-_-)

Yuta Uemura, who competed in this season’s PCCJ, actually drove this Fuji course and set a course record of 1 minute 40 seconds. Even though the cars are different, I wonder how he manages to be 17 seconds faster… it’s truly amazing.

That said, I don’t fully remember the course or have good racing lines, so I think I could improve with practice. Still, driving the real Fuji course at the same speed as in the game would be scary and absolutely impossible for me, lol.

The World of e-sports

It’s incredible that you can experience a car you haven’t even test-driven yet through a game. I used to think, “It’s just a game, after all,” but even just with Gran Turismo SPORT, the courses and cars are so realistic that it’s apparently not much different from actually driving. (Of course, you don’t feel the G-forces.)

Recently, e-sports has been booming, with more competitors worldwide, truly becoming a global sport. However, I’ve also heard that the world’s motor shows are gradually losing their prominence.

The times are definitely changing.

While cherishing the good traditions passed down through the years, I want to embrace new winds and open doors to worlds yet unseen. That’s what I’m reminded of these days.