Gran Turismo 7 Update Adds New Civic Type R but Skips New Tracks

Gran Turismo 7’s steady updates since its March 2022 launch have been a godsend, and have included some neat cars for exactly $0. For its September update, GT7 is adding an angry trio of hot hatches, including the new Honda Civic Type R, a highly modified EG Civic hatchback, and a Mazda 3 touring car. But we couldn’t help but notice that there isn’t much else.

OK, the addition of the new Civic Type R is something to celebrate. It brings GT7 practically up to date with the modern affordable enthusiast car market and slots in next to the newly added Toyota GR Corolla, and the Subaru BRZ/Toyota GR86. (Still no Hyundai Elantra N, but I’m not holding my breath for that.) Either way, the update makes GT7 the first racing game where players can directly race the Civic Type R and GR Corolla, finally helping enthusiasts answer the very question they've been asking for a year or more from the comfort of their own couch.

Also present in this update is the highly modified Garage RCR Honda Civic that won the SEMA Gran Turismo Award in 2017. The build had been rumored to arrive in Gran Turismo Sport, but Polyphony Digital's immaculate car models infamously take a while to create, so it's now been added six years after the fact. This EG is a serious car, with a forced-induction K20 swap, a sequential gearbox, and a Rocket Bunny widebody kit.

Finally, there’s a new Group 4 race car, in the Mazda 3 Gr.4. This one is actually based on a car Mazda itself fields in Japan's Super Taikyu series, according to our friends over at GTPlanet, rather than the cancelled TCR version teased back in 2019. Of course, there are also a couple of new Scapes showcasing Nissan's Tochigi plant, and new Café menus that involve Porsche's hypercar history and Toyota GR cars. The update will drop in the early morning hours of Thursday, Sept. 28.

While free content is always great, it’s worth noting that it's now been seven months since GT7 added any new tracks. Granted, the last one was the return and reworking of the legendary GT original circuit Grand Valley into an epic California coastline-based venue, which surely took a lot of time to make. It’s better to have a steady trickle of monthly updates than nothing, but the nerds among us are patiently waiting for something big to drop. In the meantime, don’t mind if I slam a new CTR on Volk TE37s.

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