(quick edit -- my friend has posted a description of his setup for using the Logitech Force Feedback Pro wheel. Check it out.)

I was talking to a friend about how far I'd gotten in Gran Turismo 4, and he suggested that I blog about it. So here are some tips I've discovered through the web and through my own experimentation.

If you have not done this yet, go to the "Special Conditions" hall, and do the first series. It's easy to win, and the reward is a Cadillac Cien. Go to your garage and get in the Cien. It's good for winning the NA series in the Professional hall. But that's not where we are going.

Go back to the Special Conditions hall. Win the second series with the Cien. Take the car you win and sell it, you'll get over $200K for it. Now do it again. You should have close to $500K now.

Go to the German hall, and buy a top end Mercedes SL series. I think the SL66 will do nicely. Use the extra cash to max it out (always go for weight reduction first if you are short on cash -- it's the only thing that will improve power, handling and brakes all at once). Win the "Legend of the Silver Arrow" series with it (the race is in the Mercedes Only section). You will win a Mercedes CLK Touring Car in race form. Use your extra cash to pump it up a little bit.

Now here's where the real cash nozzle is -- Go to the European hall, and enter the German Touring Car Championship series (it's called the Deutsch something something series). Go ahead and run this series in b-spec, the hopped up CLK will walk away from it, be sure to use "Fast" and "Overtake" as your b-spec settings, stay away from "Push." You will win a car that you can sell for $700K. With that, and the money you get from winning the races, you will be clearing over $800K per series.

Since you know where to get the money now, you should be able to do whatever you want. Personally, I did the german touring car series twice, and got $1.6MM. I used $1.2MM to buy a Chaparral 2J, and gave it a tune up. The Chaparral will win all of the American hall races, with the exception of the Muscle Car series. For that, you want to buy and hop up a 1962 Buick Special. That car is a dream come true -- it'll break 200mph, and handles better than you expect for a muscle car. That same car will win the "Classics" series in the Professional hall.

Quick hints: I maxed out an SSR to win the truck race in the Beginner hall. I used a top-end Renault Clio to win the Compact Car series in the Pro hall. The Ford GT, with the right settings, will walk away with the Supercar Challenge, and most of the other races in the Pro hall. I maxed out an RUF to win the Boxer Challenge.

I made a run at the Gran Turismo World Championship, but the cars in that race are just scary fast, and the races are long enough that tire and pit strategy are needed. I'm currently working my way through the Japan hall, and will probably do the European hall next. I figure I need at least a Mazda 787b to be decently competitive in the GTWC, and I'll need $3.5MM to pick one up if I don't win one on the way.

And if I do win a Mazda 787b on the way, I'll know a quick way to make $3.5MM!

That's it for now...

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