Despite being delayed for a over a year and a half, Gran Turismo 4 is considered by many to be one of the best games in the series, and one of the best racing games of all time. Featuring over 700 cars and 51 tracks, this one adds a lot more content than its predecessor, and was one of the 2 games on the PS2 to be capable of having 1080i support (the other one being Tourist Trophy, also created by the developers).

This game is also where the controversial Standard cars in the PS3 games originate. Yeah.

To do: Well, here we go. Check if unused tracks exist (other than the photomode tracks) and any unused cars. List the other region differences, as I'm sure there's others. Try to find any revisional differences, like the Greatest Hits versions. Maybe do a section on the Online Test version of the game that was released in Japan. Document the First Preview demo and the newly dumped MX-5 Edition demo, the latter is which based on the final game and therefore not considered a prototype build. Check out also this thread: Xenn's GT4 Research Topic on GTPlanet.

Unused manufacturer

Vemac: The Vemac brand was established in 1998 in order to realise the long-held dream by R & D Sports of creating a road-going sports car. Up to this point their work had been concerned with mainly race cars and electric cars. The RD series was developed as a combination of a unique chassis mated with a Honda engine, and its release is highly anticipated. Before the release of the road car, the advanced development car will enter the All Japan Grand Touring Championship (JGTC). Although it will be constrained by race regulations, the vehicle has amazing potential and will undoubtedly show the way forward for the company.

This suggests that an additional manufacturer, Vemac, which made the RD320R Super GT racing car, was going to be in GT4. No other evidence of Vemac exists in the game's code, apart from manufacturer string. An empty dealership exists however, with sample, placeholder pictures and the name "vermac" in default white text.

Regional Differences

Starting out, we have the usual region changes as found in other games.

Intro Movie

As for changes in the intro, 3 different songs were used for each region, but they all start out using the orchestral version of "Moon Over The Castle", before cutting into the main song halfway through. In the US, the intro uses "Panama" by Van Halen. In Japan, it uses "Moon Over The Castle" the entire way through. And as for Europe, the song used is "Reason is Treason" by Kasabian. All 3 intros also use different clips and different ordering, most likely to better fit the songs that were used for each region.

Car Changes

One car, the Toyota ESSO ULTRAFLO Supra (JGTC) '01 is seen in the NTSC-J and PAL versions of the game, but is clearly absent in the NTSC U/C version. This is due to Esso not existing in America, as the Exxon name is used instead. Although Polyphony Digital could have created an Exxon version, they chose not to and the car never appeared again as other games use only Exxon versions of cars that have Esso/Exxo branding issues.

Additionally, the Mini Cooper 1.3i '98 only appears in the Japanese and early Asian releases for some reason.

Another regional change that is to be expected are the different names for some of the cars used. An obvious one is how the Opel Speedster in the American version is also known as the Vauxhall VX220 elsewhere; however the European/PAL version of the game features the car under both names. Another name change is the JDM Toyota Vitz, which is known as the Toyota Yaris in the PAL version.

The Korean version adds four exclusive cars:

• Lexus IS 200 GT-1 '04
  


• Hyundai Tiburon Turbulence '99
  


• Hyundai Tuscani CCS '03
  


• Hyundai Click Type-R '04
  

All of the Korea-only cars would make their worldwide debut in the PSP game, except for the Click Type-R, which have to wait until Gran Turismo 6. The Click is priced at Cr. 10,000, meaning if the car is purchased as the player's first car, the player is left with literally no money, a rare situation.

Like in previous games, all regional variations of the cars, including the Mini, but not the Korea-exclusive cars, are included in all copies of the game for ease of localization.

License Test Changes

The Japanese version of the game had player drive the Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo-Courage - Judd GV5 Race Car '04 in License Test S-14 and Mercedes-Benz Sauber Mercedes C9 Race Car '89 in License Test S-16, each a one-lap trial around Opera Paris and Nürburgring Nordschleife respectively. Outside Japan, the use of Le Mans racers in such tight courses were deemed overkill, so both cars were replaced by Clio Renault Sport V6 Phase 2 '03 and Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5 - 16 Evolution II Touring Car '92, respectively. The required times were also adjusted accordingly.

Drivable Photomode Tracks

As it turns out, you can drive on some of the places used in Photo Mode by cheat methods. However, you can only go so far, as it's very limited on what you can actually drive on.

Beacon Hills - Can only drive on some of the roads before hitting the invisible walls here.

Grand Canyon - By the size of the map here, it really shows how far you can go, which isn't much. You can drive on and off the cliffside though, so that's cool.

Times Square - You can actually go down most of the main strip here. And a bit unsurprisingly, the map is actually placed to the right of the New York course, as its logo is shown before you start and the map is displayed while driving.

Brooklyn - Like the Grand Canyon map, it's very short and you can only drive on the dock you're on, as there are barriers surrounding it.

Tsumago - Short and cramped is the best way to describe this one, and you can only drive on some of the village's 'roads', not all.

BMW 1 Series Virtual Drive

To do: Since this build is between final and Prologue, should this be moved into proto section?

Hey, what a surprise! Like the other PS2 games in the series, this one has a special release, this time in Europe. As the title suggests, the cars featured here are from the BMW's 1 Series, and this version was used to promote them, even including a little video showcasing them and a demo replay around the Nurburgring before the title screen even appears. There are three tracks, the Nurburgring, New York, and Costa di Amalfi, all with a time limit of 180 seconds (or 3 minutes). This version also seems like a fusion between the final and its Prologue version, recycling some aspects like the menu music.

Unused Car

Hidden in the game, a BMW M5 can be found, however here it's listed as the "BMW Concept M5", like the name listed on its nameplate. This was later changed to just the M5 due to the actual car being finished by BMW before the final game came out.