How Gran Turismo introduced a generation to sim racing

For many people, Gran Turismo was more than just their first racing game. It was an introduction to car culture, and an appreciation for regular cars that you could find on any street, as well as celebrating legendary race cars and supercars.

Long before dedicated racing simulators became mainstream, Gran Turismo encouraged players to drive smoothly, learn racing lines, and understand how weight transfer affected a car's handling. It showed that being fast wasn't about aggressive inputs, but about precision and consistency. For countless players, it was the beginning of a lifelong passion for sim racing.

The racing simulation genre was already gaining momentum on PC in the early 90’s, but the original Gran Turismo launch in 1997 on the Sony PlayStation was one of the biggest moments for the industry, standing clearly apart from the arcade racers available on games consoles at the time. Its extensive car list, realistic circuits, license tests, and detailed vehicle physics offered something many players had never experienced before.

Whether you spent hours earning gold licenses or saved credits for your dream car, Gran Turismo rewarded patience and improvement. It was a philosophy that inspired a generation of enthusiasts to look beyond controllers and discover steering wheels.

Fanatec played a significant role in the early days of sim racing hardware, launching the first ever officially licensed PlayStation sim racing product, the Speedster 2.

The release of Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec in 2001 on PlayStation 2 was a landmark title, not only for the stunning presentation, but as the first in the series to support force feedback. Feeling the steering load up through a corner or vibrate over curbs transformed the way people experienced driving on console, introducing countless gamers to the idea that a steering wheel could communicate with you, rather than just being an input device.

Over the years, Gran Turismo has licensed hardware from different sim hardware manufacturers, with each generation bringing players closer to the sensation of driving a real car.

As Gran Turismo Sport arrived on PlayStation 4 in 2017, expectations of sim racing hardware had changed dramatically.

The Fanatec CSL Elite Racing Wheel for PS4 (featuring the CSL Elite Wheel Base+) became one of the most advanced officially licensed PlayStation wheel bases of its time, delivering exceptional belt driven force feedback that allowed players to experience the subtleties of the game's physics in greater detail.

The next major leap came with the Fanatec Podium Racing Wheel F1, the world's first officially licensed direct drive system for PlayStation. For GT Sport players, it was also the first opportunity to experience direct drive technology on the platform, setting a new benchmark for realism and responsiveness.

That evolution continued with the Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Pro, developed in collaboration with Polyphony Digital as the first officially licensed direct drive wheel created specifically for Gran Turismo. By bringing direct drive technology to a wider audience, it helped to make one of sim racing's most significant technologies more accessible than ever before.

The current flagship Gran Turismo product, the Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Extreme, is a high-end, 18 Nm direct drive system with FullForce - Fanatec’s haptic technology that allows fine motor effects to be merged with the main feedback signal for extra immersion - and a premium, 300 mm wheel designed in collaboration with Polyphony Digital.

In recent years, the Vision Gran Turismo project has inspired the entire automotive industry to create concept cars specifically for the game, including the Porsche Vision Gran Turismo. Fanatec developed a sim racing version of the steering wheel from this car - the first project of its kind.

Today, Gran Turismo remains the gateway to sim racing for millions of players around the world. Its combination of accessible gameplay and authentic driving continues to inspire newcomers, while an ever growing selection of licensed steering wheels gives players more choice than ever before.

Regardless of which Gran Turismo first sparked your interest, its greatest achievement may be that it changed the way people think about racing games.