Gran Turismo 7's New Update Brings a Major Physics Overhaul and Four New Cars

The new Gran Turismo 7 update has landed, and while the four new cars were what everyone was watching for, they're not actually the biggest news here. This update includes a genuinely substantial reworking of the physics model, particularly around tyres, and that's going to affect how every single car in the game feels.

Remember that one-week Online Time Trial that raised eyebrows last week? That was the tell. The last time Polyphony shortened a Time Trial like that, a major physics change followed, and that's exactly what's happened again.

The Physics Changes Are the Real Headline

The tyre physics algorithm has been updated with a focus on how tyres behave when they're slipping, which is the moment that matters most to anyone chasing lap time. Alongside that, road surface rolling resistance has been optimised, tyre heating and wear values have been adjusted, and the amount of grip you lose off-track with Grip Reduction set to Real has been changed too.

Engine torque control has also been reworked. Throttle control characteristics while drifting have been improved, and car speed control on partial throttle has been refined, which should make trailing throttle and part-throttle corner exits feel more natural.

Then there's the suspension and steering side. Steering geometry has been optimised on a per-car basis to improve the simulation of turning forces, and damper attenuation characteristics have been changed so that weight transfer and road surface tracking feel more natural. Default settings have been reworked across the board, with initial suspension, differential, and aerodynamics settings and adjustment ranges all fixed, and both Performance Points and individual car parameters have been adjusted throughout the game.

The driving assists haven't escaped either. Traction control intervention behaviour has been optimised, and ABS slip ratio control and cornering brake behaviour have been adjusted. If you run assists, expect them to feel different.

Put simply, if you had a car dialled in before this update, check it again. Setups, braking points and PP values may all have shifted.

What This Means for Time Trial and Sport Mode Times

Because of the scale of the physics changes, ranking boards have been reset in several places. All Circuit Experience target times and demonstration replays have been adjusted with their boards reset, the same has happened across the Licence Centre, and Missions and Music Rally rankings have been wiped too.

There's also a change worth celebrating for anyone who races online: the Shortcut Penalty judgement criteria has been toned down. That should mean fewer frustrating penalties for marginal track limit moments, which has been a long-running gripe.

The Four New Cars

Onto the cars, and all four match what was teased. The Caterham Seven Superlight R500 '08 and Hyundai IONIQ 6 N '25 are both available in Brand Central, with Caterham added as a manufacturer for the first time since Gran Turismo 6. The two JZX100 legends, the Toyota Chaser Tourer V '97 and Toyota Mark II Tourer V '97, are found in the Used Cars dealership, so keep an eye out for them appearing in the rotation.

All four also get engine swap support at Collector Level 50, alongside a handful of existing cars including the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG, the SLS AMG, the Ford Focus RS, the Red Bull X2014 Junior, the Lancer Evolution IX, the Porsche 911 GT3 (996), and the Suzuki Swift Sport.

New Events and a Seasonal Menu

Three new World Circuits events have been added, with the European Clubman Cup 600 at Barcelona-Catalunya GP Layout No Chicane, the World Touring Car 600 at Suzuka, and the Japanese FR Challenge 450 at Kyoto Driving Park Yamagiwa. Circuit Experience also gains the Barcelona-Catalunya Rallycross Layout.

More interesting is the addition of a new Seasonal Menu in the Café, where you collect different cars each season to unlock extra rewards. It appears once you've cleared Menu Book 39 and watched the ending. There are also new Café conversations tied to the new cars, with Chris covering the Caterham and the Mark II, Jeremy taking the Chaser, and Stella handling the IONIQ 6 N.

Scapes gets a new featured Curation in Whistler, and PS5 Pro owners running PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution will now get the latest version of PSSR applied.

Good News for Fanatec Owners

This one's significant if you're on Fanatec hardware. FullForce feedback effects have now been enabled on the Gran Turismo DD Pro in GT7, which resolves the frustrating gap we wrote about back in June when FullForce arrived on the hardware but wasn't active in the game itself. A firmware update is required, so check with Fanatec support if it isn't working straight away.

There's more. The Tuning Menu Auto Setup parameters have been adjusted on the GT DD Pro, GT DD Extreme and Podium bases, so selecting Auto Setup from the wheel's tuning menu now applies an optimised set of parameters specifically for Gran Turismo. That may also need a firmware update to enable. On Podium bases, Auto Setup has been tuned for Low Torque mode, so if you're running High Torque you'll still need to set parameters manually.

Controller users get attention too, with adjustments to analogue stick and directional pad steering characteristics and to throttle and brake response. Wheel users see changes to Force Feedback torque strength and friction, understeer vibration effects, and throttle and brake input characteristics.

Mechanical Damage Gets a New Setting

Collision forces and the effects of damage on driving have both been adjusted, and there's a new Championship setting under Mechanical Damage options. It damages cars the same way as the Light setting but triggers from more minor collisions, and recovery time varies depending on how badly you've been hit. That's a sensible middle ground for competitive racing.

Final Thoughts

This is a bigger update than the four-car teaser suggested. The cars are lovely, Caterham's return is genuinely exciting and the JZX100 twins are a proper nostalgia hit, but the physics overhaul is what everyone will actually be talking about in a week's time.

If you race competitively, set aside some time to re-learn your reference points. Tyre behaviour, throttle response, steering feel, and PP values have all moved, and setups that worked yesterday may not work today. The toned-down shortcut penalties and the FullForce fix for GT DD Pro owners are both very welcome on top.

We'll be putting laps in over the next few days to get a proper feel for how the physics changes land. Let us know what you're noticing out there.