GT7 Update 1.40 ‘Spec II’ – 7 New Cars, New Track, And ‘AI Sophy’ Added

Developers Polyphony Digital have released what many have lauded to be the most comprehensive update patch for its Sony Playstation-exclusive driving game title Gran Turismo 7. Rolling out from 2 Nov onwards, Update 1.40 ‘Spec II’ brings no less than seven new cars, a new track, plus a bevy of other changes.

No less than seven cars have been added, and it includes new and familiar real world cars, icons, as well as long overdue fan favourites.

Starting with the cars, the game welcomes the 1968 Dodge Charger R/T 426 Hemi and 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon muscle cars duo, the long-overdue 2010 Lexus LFA, the legendary 1991 Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II, the mighty R33 Skyline GT-R-based 1995 NISMO 400R, the latest 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, and the 2023 Tesla Model 3 Performance EV.

On top of which, Polyphony Digital also notes that rare, limited edition manufacturer-tuned cars and ultra high-performance sports vehicles showing up in the game. Certainly, these assortment of new vehicles will keep players busy for a while, as will the bevy of other changes performed elsewhere around the game.

Also new is an original fictional snow-covered track called Lake Louise, and it features three main layouts for players to race and rally across.

Along with these new cars comes a brand new original track - Lake Louise. Loosely based on the Canadian Rockies, this fictional locale is set in a ski resort setting where players can race using snow tyres across three snow-covered layouts: Lake Louise Long Track, Lake Louise Short Track, and Lake Louise Tri-Oval, which has just three corners.

Beyond the new cars and venue, Polyphony Digital has also revamped GT7’s offline ‘Arcade Mode’ that promises to be more user friendly under its now renamed ‘Quick Race’ moniker. Next, five standard and two expert level races have been added to the single-player World Circuits Pavilion, along with three new challenging Café mode Menus (or side missions).

New vehicles and venue aside, the raft of changes covers a wide spectrum, all aimed towards improving user-friendliness, enhanced online and offline experiences, as well as heightening overall gameplay.

Online players weren’t neglected, and Polyphony Digital have added a new Event Directory menu. This will now allow players to search for and join races more easily, making it simpler to join the game’s weekly challenges as well. Whilst on online playing features still, the ‘Meeting Place’ function has also been renamed as the ‘Paddock’, bringing forth increased interactivity here.

Moving on to the ‘Scapes’ photography mode, a new slower shutter speed has been added, thus improving the sense of speed in the images captured here. In addition to that, the Polyphony Digital Tokyo Office has been added as a new background location here, which also doubles up as a minor ‘Easter Egg’ for the series’ loyal fans and followers.

For the game's 'Scapes' photography mode, developers Polyphony Digital have even added their own office space, which doubles up as an 'Easter Egg' of sorts of loyal and die-hard fans of the title.

Moving on to updates made specifically for the game’s Playstation 5 (PS5) version, Polyphony Digital have incorporated its ‘Gran Turismo Sophy’ AI that can drive faster than even the best human sim racers. To help players pick up their pace and challenge said AI, a new Master License class has been added too featuring 50 new difficult tests for players to pursue and complete.

Lastly, the PS5 version will now be able to show up to four players on the same monitor or TV when playing in multiplayer mode as well, thus making the game more party-friendly in a sense.