Our friends at GTPlanet have a 20-year history of helping racers get the most out of Gran Turismo. Their latest tip is a five-minute survey from Mazda, where gamers answer questions about their real-life motorsports interests in exchange for some in-game cheddar. The survey is the perfect place to vocalize support for the manual-gearbox Mazdas still offered on these shores, and the virtual cash is enough to buy one example of each roadgoing Mazda in the game.
300,000 Gran Turismo Sport credits won’t quite buy you the sultry RX-VISION GT3 concept in the post header, but you can buy a manual diesel Demio in every color.
No radio. No wheel covers. No bumper paint. No A/C — a hard sell under the year-round South Texas sun. At just over $10,500, this 1996 Toyota Tercel had no tachometer, either, but it had something no other US-market car offered at any price: a four-speed manual transmission.
The fifth-generation Tercel landed on American shores in 1995. Rounded in front to match the Camry of the day, the sharp, flat-cut rear decklid added a sporty edge to otherwise simple transportation. DX-trim models in period-correct hues of teal and green come to mind, but the base-grade two-door was the only Tercel of the era missing its fifth ratio. Unexpectedly punchy in its class, the 1.5-liter 5E-FE four-cylinder churned out 94 horsepower, put to pavement in the base cars by a C141 four-speed stick.
In 1997, the base Tercel was replaced by a better-equipped CE trim level, thus marking the demise of the last four-speed manual for sale in the United States. Two years later, the Tercel would disappear from America altogether.
With only 143,498 miles on the clock, this tough-as-nails Tercel might seem too young for the crusher — until you walk around back. Is this custom ute conversion the necessity of genius or an affront to what should have been a rolling tribute to the legendary four-on-the-floor? Let us know in the comments.
Car critics around the world call the rally-bred Yaris GR “the best Toyota we’ve ever driven” and “a single superlative.” Gran Turismo developer Kazunori Yamauchi, an industry influencer and racecar driver in his own right, offers us what other journalists can’t: a chance to get behind the wheel.
It's been a while since I've seen a car exciting as this. New update coming this week.
Gran Turismo Sport offers a free update tonight at 10 PM PST, introducing the Yaris GR RZ in a dedicated spec race series hosted at the fictional Sardegna windfarm circuit. Expect four production colors: red, black and two shades of white. Keep an eye out for the historic “turbo” logotype on the engine cover, as well as an exquisitely detailed interior with a manual transmission in the center console.
Toyota USA continues to be coy: the official Toyota GR Yaris microsite insists this heralded homologation special isn’t destined for our shores, but implores handraisers to register their interest in an American-market “hot hatch to call its own.” Rumors suggest America’s quick Toyota will be a five-door Corolla equipped with the Yaris GR’s three-cylinder turbo. Translating the Yaris’s exaggerated rear box fenders and pint-sized three-door charm into a larger form-factor will be a difficult challenge, but as long as a manual transmission makes the cut, consider us on board.
TMGPS JOURNAL 
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