Polyphony Digital has significantly altered its approach to post-launch support for Gran Turismo 7 with the release of the Power Pack DLC, the franchise's first-ever paid expansion. Priced at $48.95, this PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro exclusive marks a departure from the three years of free monthly updates that fans have come to expect.
While the free Spec 3 update continues to provide new cars and tracks for all players, the Power Pack DLC is a focused addition aimed squarely at the hardcore motorsport enthusiast - and long-term Gran Turismo player - seeking a more authentic and professional challenge.
Arguably the biggest (and best) change the Power Pack brings is the introduction of a formal race weekend structure. For the first time, Gran Turismo 7 has moved away from rolling starts where players begin 40 seconds behind the leader. Instead, each event consists of Practice, Qualifying, and a standing-start Race.
This is your standard race weekend format, with the practice session giving players up to an hour to learn the car and circuit nuances alongside other cars, with guidance provided by the not-at-all-irritating Sarah, (that is sarcasm, by the way - I could happily do without her inputs), while the qualifying session puts you on track with rivals to set a hot lap that determines their grid position.
This brings a new twist to the traditional GT formula, as traffic becomes a genuine strategic hurdle here, while the races are longer than standard sprints and often require careful fuel and tyre management.
A major shift in philosophy is the removal of the faithful old "Retry" button during active races - if you mess up the start or make an absolute bollocks of the final lap, you can’t simply restart the race; you have to begin the entire event - including practice and qualifying - from the very beginning, adding a level of tension and consequence never felt in a Gran Turismo game before.
This more realistic focus is enhanced by the new version of Polyphony Digital’s Sophy AI. The company describes Sophy 3.0 as “the most realistic AI behaviour to date” and it is genuinely aggressive and human-like, defending lines and slipstreaming to stay competitive.
Rather brilliantly she can also become rather vindictive if you race poorly, and can lose focus and make mistakes under pressure. Unlike traditional racing AI that follows a fixed "train," the individual AI-controlled cars will also actively race each other as well as you, making podium finishes feel earned rather than guaranteed.
The end of a race weekend has you sweating and utterly exhausted from the effort (mental and physical), drastically amplifying the thrill of a hard-earned win.
These changes alone make the Power Pack well worth the money for anyone after a seriously realistic racing challenge, particularly those with a PlayStation 5 Pro, a PSVR2 headset and a steering wheel/pedals/race seat set up, which is how I tested it.
In VR with the graphical grunt of the PS5 Pro and your hands wrapped around a steering wheel, the realism of the racing is heavily boosted by the utter immersion and is, arguably, the absolute best way to enjoy the new update.
The end of a race weekend has you sweating and utterly exhausted from the effort (mental and physical), drastically amplifying the thrill of a hard-earned win. The downside is it also makes the losses more crushing realistic as well, but still better than the crushing disappointment of the awful Gran Turismo movie.
Speaking of downsides, the biggest of them with the Power Pack is the fact that you can’t actually use your own cars, liveries or set ups in the races, instead you have to choose between three specific car options (Fast, Mid, or Slow) for each race. Opting for the "Slow" car acts as a manual difficulty setting, rewarding the player with higher credit multipliers for overcoming the disadvantage.
Alongside the paid Power Pack DLC, Polyphony Digital has also released the new free “Spec 3” update for the game. This adds two new tracks - the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, and Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Canada - as well as eight new cars.
A must-buy for GT veterans, the Power Pack is a shot in the arm for the four-year-old title and successfully returns the series to its motorsport essence.
A pair of Ferraris (the 2022 296 GTB and 2023 296 GT3) headline the new additions, along with the 2026 Polestar 5 Performance, 1997 Mitsubishi FTO GP Version R, Mine's BNR34 Nissan GT-R N1 Base, and the 1985 Fiat Panda 30 CL.
A new single seater is also added - the Gran Turismo F3500-B, a V8-powered '90s-style formula car - while the update also sees the long-awaited return of the spectacularly silly V10 F1 engine-powered 1995 Renault Espace F1 to the series.
Alongside the new cars and tracks Polyphony Digital has also added a new telemetry tool for non-racing modes that allows players to analyse racing lines, throttle/brake inputs, and RPM in real-time, as well as the inclusion of Dunlop tyres in the Tuning Shop and as default rubber on select vehicles. The collector level cap has also been raised from 50 to 70, new menus have been added to the cafe along with enhanced weekly challenges.
While $50 for a DLC (the Spec 3 update is free) sounds a bit steep, the inclusion of a 5,000,000 in-game credit boost helps justify the cost, but the real justification is dependent on your set up - playing it on a TV with a controller may make it a bit of a stretch for the price, but if you have a full immersive racing sim set up, the combination of a professional race structure and advanced AI makes it an absolute bargain.
A must-buy for GT veterans, the Power Pack is a shot in the arm for the four-year-old title and successfully returns the series to its motorsport essence, providing a challenging and fair racing experience that makes every lap matter.
