Hero Programmers Are Adding New Cars To The Greatest Racing Game Of All Time

Now, 24 years after its release, an "A Spec" version of Gran Turismo 2 adds cars, events, and more to the Playstation's best game.

BMW Gran Turismo 2

08:51

Chris Bruce

By: Chris Bruce

Dec 15, 2023 at 1:36pm ET

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Gran Turismo 2 is among the greatest racing video games of all time. With 650 cars and 27 tracks, the PlayStation game wasn't just the most complete racing game when it was released in 1999, but it was enthralling for years beyond its debut. Now, a fan-made mod dubbed Project A-Spec releases Saturday, December 16 on Discord, adding new cars and events to the game 24 years after its release. It looks truly terrific.

While the 650 cars the game came with were impressive, this mod adds dozens more. Rather than including current vehicles, A-Spec only adds machines from before 2000, so nothing feels out of place from Gran Turismo 2's original 1999 aesthetic. The diverse array of additional models consists of the Toyota Tacoma Pikes Peak racer, Mazda RX500 concept, Daihatsu Copen concept, R50 Mini Cooper concept, Plymouth Prowler, first-gen Mitsubishi Eclipse, and many more. Plus, there are updated liveries for some existing machines.

While no new tracks are added, the mod adds new events, including additional one-make races and a 99-lap endurance run. The team behind Project A-Spec also plans to add more features down the line. Arcade mode is no longer available, but that's okay. The career mode of GT2 was the centerpiece, so that seems like a small price to pay.

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Project A-Spec will be playable on the PlayStation emulator Duckstation. We don't yet know what the exact installation process for this mod is like. CD-based games like the ones on the PlayStation generally come in .iso or .bin/.cue formats. You would extract the individual files from them, add the modification content, and then re-compile things.

More than two decades after Gran Turismo 2's release, it's fantastic to see new life breathed into the game. Many of us, myself included, learned that certain cars even existed because of GT2, and then spent hours racing them while listening to Rob Zombie's Dragula. Project A-Spec is the opportunity to experience even more cars from this era that we couldn't before. I can't wait to take a McLaren F1 around the Autumn Ring or go all-out on the Super Speedway.