Costa di Amalfi is a street circuit set in Italy, on an island that is based on Capri and the coast of Amalfi. One can get a glimpse of the Mediterranean Sea while racing.
Costa di Amalfi appears in Gran Turismo 4, Tourist Trophy and Gran Turismo PSP. It also appears in Gran Turismo 4 Prologue and Gran Turismo 5, but as a hidden track in both games.
Costa di Amalfi also goes by another name, as seen on the start/finish line pylon, Autodromo di Azzuro.
Characteristics[]
Costa di Amalfi is a very tricky circuit, with both extremely tight hairpins with speeds as low as 30 km/h (19 mph) (such as the double hairpin that leads to the finish line) and fast sections (such as the elevated half of the circuit, the hill that starts the descent to the start/finish straight and the start/finish straight). One of the defining aspects of the track is its big altitude variation, and unexpected bumps and crests in the track that may turn into jumps at higher speeds - making car control particularly tricky. For those and other reasons, inexperienced players may not like this track.
Sections[]
Starting Line Straight[]
This is one of the fastest sections of the track, with speeds well over 200 km/h (124 mph). It has a long, wide sweeper on the middle, and going too fast on it will almost certainly lead to understeer on FWD cars.
Turn 2[]
This corner can be very treacherous, as it is an almost 180 degree turn after a large straight. It is best to do it around 60–100 km/h (37–62 mph), so start braking early or get hard on the brakes. After it, there is a large crest on the road that may cause the player to lose control, so before hitting this crest, do your best to keep the car straight.
Climb[]
This section involves turns 3-11. These are similar to one another - tight hairpins after long upwards straightaways. Cars with low power will struggle to climb and accelerate out of the hairpins. In the reverse version of the track, the car will be going downwards with much higher speeds, and braking points will be far earlier.
Upper Section[]
This involves the higher section of the track and is a high speed section with wide kinks. This section can be done mostly full throttle, taking care to not miss the turn-in points or understeering. One of the things that makes this section a little difficult is the shadow of the mountains, which may make some corners difficult to spot and prepare for.
Downwards Section[]
This section comes right after the Upper one. It involves a very steep downward slope with another very tight hairpin at the end, so knowing the braking points is essential. The following turns are simpler to navigate - being relatively open, sweeping turns. The dip before this section's final double-apex right-hander threatens to destabilize faster cars, making it advisable to take a cautious approach to braking here.
Twin-Hairpins[]
This is the last section of the track and the lowest-speed one. The hairpins are extremely tight, necessitating the use of the full width of the track. Adequate speeds are around 20–35 km/h (12–22 mph). The last of the two may lead to heavy understeer on FWD cars, as well as oversteer on RWD cars - therefore attention should be paid to particularly smooth application of the throttle.
Races[]
Easy[]
- Capri Rally; 2 Laps - Race 1
- Capri Rally (reverse); 2 Laps - Race 2
Normal[]
- Capri Rally; 3 Laps - Race 1
- Capri Rally (reverse); 3 Laps - Race 2
Hard[]
- Capri Rally; 5 Laps - Race 1
- Capri Rally (reverse); 5 Laps - Race 2
Trivia[]
Beta version of Costa di Amalfi map as it appears in the NTSC-K version of Gran Turismo 4 Prologue (unobtainable through normal means).
- This is one of the three courses from the "City Circuit" list to have races in the Special Conditions hall, the other being George V Paris and Citta di Aria.
- In Gran Turismo: Lupo Cup Training Version 1, Gran Turismo: Subaru Driving Simulator Version, Gran Turismo 4 Prius Trial Version, and Gran Turismo 4 Prologue, a slightly unfinished Costa di Amalfi (internally known as
capriin the database) is found hidden in the game files, where it has a slight difference to how it officially appeared in GT4, TT, and GT PSP. The backstraight of the beta track is a straight road instead of a set of sweeping curves.