A-Spec Points

A-Spec Points was a feature used in Gran Turismo 4, as a measure of equivalency between the player car and the AI opponent cars in Simulation Mode. In each race entered in A-Spec Mode, there is a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 200 A-Spec Points available to be won.

What Are A-Spec Points

A-Spec Points, while they cannot be redeemed for any prize cars or credits, can be seen as a measure of a player's skill. The higher a player's A-Spec Point total, the harder the events they race in are. The highest Point total achievable is possibly over 100,000, if 200 Points are awarded in every single race and all Driving Missions are completed.

Earning Points

Points are awarded as a handicap difference between the player's car and the opponent AI, though the true formula on how the game calculates awarded points is unknown. The player must finish first to win any Points.

The player car is weighed against the AI cars. If the selected car completely outdoes the AI's in power-to-weight ratio, amount of downforce, type of tyres used, or horsepower, the player will receive very few Points, to a minimum of 1. If the selected car is on par with the AI cars, you will receive ~60 Points, if the car is slightly below the competition in performance, the player will receive ~100 Points, and if the car is deemed to have a large negative difference compared to the opponents, the player can be awarded up to the maximum of 200 Points. Driving Missions award up to 250 points.

Points awarded in races are not additive, meaning if the player wins a race worth 50 Points, and re-races the same event with a different car and is awarded 200 Points, they will not receive 250 total Points but will receive the difference, an additional 150 Points. Points will not be awarded again if the current attempt yields less than the previous maximum Points won, or if the maximum 200 Points have already been obtained. For example, if the player receives 30 Points from an event, and re-races the same event with a better vehicle, 0 Points will be awarded.

Points earned in Arcade Mode do not add to the Point total in Simulation Mode.

Trivia

• Two vehicles, the Ram 1500 LARAMIE Hemi Quad Cab '04 and the Chaparral 2J '70, when raced, will always be awarded the maximum 200 Points, due to a calculation error of the aforementioned vehicles power-to-weight ratios.
• If the player transitions from B-Spec to A-Spec, or plays B-Spec midway in the race, the player would not receive points.
• There are two possible ways to win up to the maximum rewardable A-spec points, without applying upgrade components to the cars or using cheats:
  • In arcade mode, the player can start a race with a harder compound tire with the rest of the field starting on softer compound tires. Due to the fact that softer tires wear out faster, requiring opponents to pit more frequently (and constantly pitting into the same tire compound used to start the race), the race can be won in a single stint of harder compound tires, provided that the race distance is long enough combined with a highly-skilled player.
  • The player can also apply a different tire specification to a car, such as racing-spec instead of sports-spec tires, which gives the car better traction and allows it to win against above-par opponents. This technique can be seen and be hinted from the 20th Driving Mission.