Customer Reviews

Versus Books Official Gran Turismo 3 : A Spec Perfect Guide

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The good: Stats and pictures of all the cars; diagrams of the tracks; driving hints; tips on how to get past the driving tests; esoteric cars from small manufacturers like TVR, Lister, etc.

The bad: No mention of the bonus F1 cars; not much on any of the series or the arcade mode; vague advice on how to set up cars; no advice on which cars are the best for particular tracks

The ugly: A whole section on the Logitec steering wheel?!?; reads at times more like a sales brochure for the car manufacturers than a game guide.

Bottom Line: Get it, if for the track diagrams if nothing else. Some good tips, but not nearly enough. It is very easy to be confused by the car setups in GT3; a good guide would have walked you through understanding the how and why.

The Versus manual for GT3 does offer some helpful tips, but at a price. The book is not cheap, and the price will definetly scare off all, but the most die-hard of players (which i consider myself to be one). I bought the manual for the reason of trying to track down those elusive secret cars like the Nissan Z, Acura RSX, and the Dodge Viper (new model). The manual does reveal how to get the secret cars, and also the best way to improve your times on the increasingly difficult driving tests. This is where the magazine gets a little vague. While it offers the best way to pass a test, or how to take a corner on a difficult track, but the solution offered is not foolproof so buyer beware. This is not a end all be all of cheat manuals. You still must drive fearlessly at blinding speeds, and be able to tune your car with the best of them if you wish to win the title of Grand Turismo Champion. That leads me up to my second beef with the book. Since the game is so involved. There are no "One size Fits All" settings when it comes to tuning up your machine. This is not the book's fault, ...I had hoped for a little bit more insight. Overall the book is nicely packaged, and details most of the cars included in the game, but... a hard sell for the younger crowd. Enjoy and see you at Laguna!!!

I bought this hoping for some outside insight into car tuning. The book just lists the same things that scroll by in the game menus in different wording. There weren't even general suggestions as to special adjustments to the suspension for a rear engine car (RUF) which is what I wanted. They have a one page sheet in the back where you can enter your settings and notes. I can do this by myself. The rest of the book only contanins car stats and race suggestions. They have writeups on the different car manufacturers but If I wanted history I'm not going to get it from a video game hint guide. The only thing they add that can't be directly gotten from the game is what cars you win in what races but, this can be obtained from any web site out there. Oh yes they have maps on each course. They have suggestions on how to hande each turn but these are pretty useless as well. They say what gear you should be in and that's about it. Also every car handles differently so each turn should be written in at least four ways. MR FR RR and 4WD but they aren't. If you want to learn the correct way to drive these start a arcade race on professional by holding down L1 and L2 in the difficulty section and then sit there and watch a replay afterwards from the computer's point of view. You can turn on options that show how much brake and gas they use and more. Overall I think this book is worthless and I'm glad I was able to return it. As of yet I have not been able to find good sites or books that give suggestions on car tuning settings for gran turismo 3.

This book is great!... I found this to be an excellent addition to the game. The fact that everything is laid out (in a very nice look and feel, I must add) so I don't have to look at every car trying to remember if it is a "MR" drive type or not is worth the price alone!... If you buy this book and don't find lots of advantages, insights and tips (let alone convenience) then you must be an automobile expert!... This book has allowed me to learn more about the subtle details of cars then I ever have in my life (auto classes included) -- I would never have read every "scrolling text message" to learn this simply because it's hard on the eyes and too slow. I'm glad I took the jump and bought this book -- it has made my GT3 gaming experience much more enjoyable. Hope this helps you and happy racing! :)

Very amazing quantity of data, lots of hot tips on driving, very clear introduction to driving terms and expressions, a basic book for the racing lover, with lots of details on GT3 race courses. The only setback is the absence of tips on how to quickly develop yourself in the game, i.e., where to start recing, which car to pick first, how to make money faster etc...

Nevertheless it is a must for owners of the game. Impressive looks too.

This guide is NOT worth the money. The information contained in it is very intresting, but not at all useful for improving your game. It is more of an advertisement for the cars in the game than anything else. All of the information contained in the book is in the game itself. For example, car weights, horsepower, and cost. I am very disapointed in the "game value" of the guide.

There are course by course giudes to help you learn each track, but the information is not all that great. The book will for example say that turn 4 is a 75% throttle turn for most cars.

There is, however, one good piece of advice in the book. They tell you that the key to a fast lap time is racing your ghost. This is what I have done since the original GT and I have found it to be the best way to improve. A level 4 turbo will not increase your lap times unless you can keep the car on the track.

Forget the guide, save your $ to pay for part of another game instead.

I agree with other reviewers' comments that there should be more information on the arcade mode of the game.

There is a lot of detail about the cars' and the manufacturers' history, but that doesn't help me progress in the game. Where is the concept of the day number explained i.e. day 236.
Nowhere near enough information about how to tune cars; the section describing how to tune the full racing transmission says "there are too many cars to go into detail, so we'll just give you the basics"! If I only needed the basics I wouldn't have bought the book. The front cover declares this book to be the "perfect guide". Not so.

Also there is no mention of how the different leagues are arranged; beginner, amateur and so on.

The track sections are good but again, they could have given detailed tips on EVERY turn, not just a few on each track.

I'd still recommend buying as it gives a nice list of all the cars and how to win them.

This book is great!... I found this to be an excellent addition to the game. The fact that everything is laid out (in a very nice look and feel, I must add) so I don't have to look at every car trying to remember if it is a "MR" drive type or not is worth the price alone!... If you buy this book and don't find lots of advantages, insights and tips (let alone convenience) then you must be an automobile expert!... This book has allowed me to learn more about the subtle details of cars then I ever have in my life (auto classes included) -- I would never have read every "scrolling text message" to learn this simply because it's hard on the eyes and too slow. I'm glad I took the jump and bought this book -- it has made my GT3 gaming experience much more enjoyable. Hope this helps you and happy racing! :)

This book is a must have for anyone new to Gran Turismo, for al those who played any of its predecessor this is a chance to learn about the new cars and tracks. The book gives you information about the tracks, how to take the corners, car tuning tips and most important the car settings. By Reading the book you will become a better player, even the most experienced gran turimothusiassed will learn a trick or two.

sure, they have stuff on all the cars and tracks, but absolutely NOTHING on the Arcade Mode. They mention that it is there, but that's it. I liked the poster though.