Gran Turismo 2 Tricks and tips
These are non-GameShark hints that will hopefully make GT2 a little more helpful.

Re-arranging the garage: Press "Start" on your D-pad to move cars the top of your garage. You can organize the cars however you wish and stop looking around endlessly. This trick is especially helpful if you're into building hybrids.

Cash cows: Compete against the GT All-Stars at Red Rock Valley for a 50K win and a Speed 12 worth 500K. The Rome and Laguna Seca round of the same series will net you 250,000 Cr for their prize cars. Another one that gets overlooked is the Euro trio and the Pacific trio of events in the GT Series. All those prize cars are worth 250,000 Cr. Check the prize car list for more info.

Prize cars versus bought cars: Some cars get better features when you buy them rather than win them. Other times, the prize car is much better. Check the specs on all the cars to get the information on all them.

Buying your first car: You have 10,000 credits to spend, what are you going to buy? You have several good choices (and a few duds) in the used car lots. The most popular choices are the RX-7 Infini III, Civic Si '93, various Skylines, '93 Supra, and the Trueno. Go to the new car lots if you're willing to suffer for a few hours. Or, you could get gold trophies by getting record license times, and eventually get some nice prize cars.

Buying from another memory card: You can buy cars (for the full price paid, including parts) from another memory card, so you can finally get that rare car you've always wanted from a friend. Just put the card you want to buy from in the second slot, go to Data Transfer, buy cars from other memory card, and let it load the 2nd card. Now you can buy from the list (but you can't look at them until you own it).

Want to set some lap records? Use the Arcade Disk; you can also load two garages in Arcade Mode, giving you up to 200 cars to choose from. The "ghost" options are fun to play with, they will help you improve your lap times.

Extra weight reduction: Racing Modification may sometimes look ugly, but it further reduces the weight of the car, enhancing performance. (Note: not all the cars can get Racing Modification.)

In a hurry? Press the "square" button on the D-pad to speed up the credits going into your bank. It's not as quick as the "triangle" button feautre in GT1, but helpful at times nonetheless.

Playing the game: There's two types of GT2 beginners; the newbie whom hasn't played any GT games before, and the seasoned GT expert.

For the beginner, I advise buying a car that is also part of the manufacturer's events. This way, you can gain experience on all sorts of tracks, even if you haven't received your licences yet. Gain a bunch of credits, and slowly modify your car. You probably don't need 400hp, for example, so go easy on the upgrades at first; full-race tranny is probably the most essential part or any car unless it's very slow. Even if you don't want to figure out gear ratios, the auto-slider will make things easy. Sports (low number) is for short gearing (lower top speed, but quicker acceleration), and Wide (high number) for tall gearing (higher top end, slower acceleration). You certainly don't want to run out of speed half-way down the straight! Get the licenses when you are ready for more serious racing. The more licenses you win, the more races are open to you. Save immediately after a license is won, by the way.

For the expert: You know you want the licenses; so have at it. Some of the same first day cars from GT1 are available, and there's a lot more than in GT3. Take your time, and plan on what races each car is good for. Or if you're really talented; save the dough, and try to win the Spoon S2000 for getting an all-gold B licence. It's not easy, but it's certainly the easiest license car to win. Then you can keep the 10k for upgrades.

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