Gran Turismo 3 Arcade Mode is the main non-career game mode of Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec. The Arcade Mode is located at the top of the main start menu of GT3 and consists of the following game modes and options:
Single Race[]
Single Race mode is a mode where a player can choose a track and car to race against 5 AI cars of similar class. Once Single Race is selected and a difficulty (Easy/Normal/Hard/Pro) is chosen, the player is presented with a selection of tracks. At first, only the first six circuits are available. Other circuits are unlocked, 5 or 6 at a time, on successful completion of the previous set of races. A full breakdown of these circuits can be found here. The player may then choose from a number of cars, organised by class (C/B/A/S/R) (see Car List) or choose from their own Career mode garage or a garage stored on a memory card (see Load Garage). The race then begins with the AI driving vehicles of similar class as the player.
Time Attack[]
Time Attack/Time Trial mode places the player in a predetermined car on a specific circuit. The player must then drive the circuit to set the fastest legal laptime possible. In each case, a Gold, Silver and Bronze time are presented, set by the developers.
There are 10 time trials in total. If a player records a gold time on all 10 circuits, they are presented with a Panoz Esperante GTR-1 Race Car '98 for use in Career mode.
The Time Trials are:
| Circuit | Car | Gold Time | Silver Time | Bronze Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-Field Raceway | Lotus Motor Sport Elise '99 | 1'25.553 | 1'26.952 | 1'27.355 |
| Trial Mountain Circuit | Mazda MX-5 1800 RS (NB, J) '00 RS | 1'47.968 | 1'49.021 | 1'50.756 |
| Tokyo R246 | Honda S2000 Type V '00 | 2'02.270 | 2'03.839 | 2'05.110 |
| Deep Forest Raceway | Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V • spec II (R34) '00 | 1'25.350 | 1'25.998 | 1'27.264 |
| Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca | Dodge Viper GTS R Concept '00 | 1'22.716 | 1'23.865 | 1'25.217 |
| Apricot Hill Raceway | Toyota Castrol TOM'S SUPRA (JGTC) '00 | 1'17.447 | 1'18.902 | 1'20.005 |
| Grand Valley Speedway | Honda Castrol MUGEN NSX (JGTC) '00 | 1'48.795 | 1'50.649 | 1'52.888 |
| Swiss Alps | Subaru IMPREZA Rally Car Prototype '01 | 1'23.104 | 1'23.901 | 1'25.238 |
| Tahiti Maze | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII Rally Car Prototype | 1'59.459 | 2'01.050 | 2'04.647 |
| Complex String | RUF RGT '00 | 4'52.716 | 4'57.795 | 5'07.919 |
Free Run[]
Free Run allows a player to drive freely on any unlocked circuit with any car in their garage. Fastest laps for each circuit are saved on a leaderboard.
2 Player Battle[]
2 Player Battle is a free race mode between two players on the same console. The screen is split into two halves (top/bottom). The choice of circuits is limited to those which have been unlocked in Single Race mode. Any car from Arcade mode or from the players garage can be used.
Clear Status[]
The "Clear Status" screen gives a graphical representation of the races completed in Single Race mode. Each page contains one level of tracks, and each subsequent level is unlocked when the previous one is completed.
The bottom of each page of this screen shows the rewards of Single Race mode (cars are not "won", but are unlocked for use in Arcade Mode):
- All races completed in Easy Mode unlocks:
- Group F Races
- Ending Movie A
- Group F Races
- All races completed in Normal Mode unlocks:
- Group A Races
- Group B Races
- Group C Races
- Group D Races
- Group E Races
- Group F Races
- Dodge Viper GTS R Concept '00
- TVR Cerbera Speed 12 '00
- Ending Movie B
- All races completed in Hard Mode unlocks:
- Group A Races
- Group B Races
- Group C Races
- Group D Races
- Group E Races
- Group F Races
Load Garage[]
This option allows players to import a career garage from a memory card, for use in Arcade Mode. The garage belonging to the lead memory card is automatically preloaded into memory, so anyone wanting to load a garage from a secondary memory card must use this option.
I.LINK Battle[]
The I.LINK battle is a 2+ player game played across a network of PlayStations, connected by Sony I.LINK cables or FireWire cables.