In 2026, I still boot up Gran Turismo 7 the way some people revisit a favorite mountain road: not because I have somewhere new to go, but because the light changes every time. Version 1.38, which Polyphony Digital rolled out back in 2023, remains one of those updates I measure other patches against. It followed the same broad shape as Version 1.29 from seven months earlier, yet it felt less like a simple content drop and more like a mechanic slipping a fresh set of keys into my pocket while I was still admiring the old ones. For a game that became PlayStation's bestselling exclusive IP of all time, that kind of steady, granular support matters. GT7 launched cross-gen in 2022 as the first main entry in almost a decade, earning praise for presentation and handling while drawing criticism for microtransactions, always-online DRM, and a grind-heavy economy. Version 1.38 did not erase those debates, but it gave players like me more reasons to stay in the driver's seat.
🚗 Three New Cars and a Broader Brand Central
The headline additions were three new cars, each with a distinct personality. The Garage RCR Civic arrived as a custom build born at SEMA, while the Honda Civic Type R (FL5) '22 brought the latest front-wheel-drive hot hatch energy. The MAZDA3 Gr.4 filled a useful racing niche. I remember scrolling through my garage and feeling like a librarian rearranging a shelf of roaring ghosts—every machine had its own story, and the new entries demanded new attention.
Brand Central also expanded. Toyota added the GR Corolla MORIZO Edition '22 and the Ambulance Himedic '21, which remains one of the stranger but more charming inclusions in the game. Mazda fans received new liveries for the RX-VISION GT3 CONCEPT, Atenza Gr.4, and Roadster NR-A (ND) '22. Fiat gained a Museum entry, and Nissan received new Spots. None of this was a full sequel's worth of content, but it thickened the world in the way GT7 does best.
🏁 World Circuits: New Races, New Rhythms
World Circuits received three new events. They were not just filler; each one asked for a different rhythm from the player.
| Track | Event | Flavor |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Valley – Highway 1 | Race of Turbo Sportscars | Fast, flowing, and demanding confidence |
| Dragon Trail | Race of Turbo Sportscars | Tight, technical, and unforgiving |
| Mount Panorama | World Touring Car 700 | A brutal ribbon of tarmac where walls bite back |
Version 1.38 was not a thunderclap; it was a tide that quietly rearranged the shoreline of my daily races. I found myself returning to Mount Panorama more often, because the World Touring Car 700 event turned every lap into a negotiation with gravity and patience.
☕ Café, Brand Central, and Conversations
The Café is one of GT7's oddest and most endearing ideas, and Version 1.38 added two Extra Menus:
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Extra Menu No. 29: Collection: Porsche Supercars (Collector Level 42 and above)
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Extra Menu No. 30: Collection: GR (Collector Level 39 and above)
More importantly, new conversations with car designers and characters appeared. These unlocked when I changed to specific cars in my Garage and spoke with the right person in the Café. The conversations felt like finding handwritten margin notes in a repair manual—personal, nerdy, and unexpectedly warm.
| Character | Cars That Trigger Conversation |
|---|---|
| Ed Welburn | McLaren 650S Coupe '14, McLaren MP4-12C '10, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren '09, Peugeot RCZ GT Line '15 |
| Fabio Filippini | Abarth 595 Esseesse '70, Enzo Ferrari '02, Ferrari GTO '84, Ferrari Testarossa '91, Maserati GranTurismo S '08, Renault R.S.01 '16 |
| Freeman Thomas | Ford Mustang GT Premium Fastback '15, Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 Track '13, Porsche 356 A/1500 GS Carrera '56, Porsche 356 A/1500 GS GT Carrera Speedster '56 |
| Hideo Kodama | Abarth 1500 Biposto Bertone B.A.T 1 '52, Renault R8 Gordini '66, Suzuki Swift Sport '07 |
| Chris | Honda Civic Type R (FL5) '22 |
| Jeremy | Garage RCR Civic |
| Stella | Toyota GR Corolla MORIZO Edition '22 |
This was not the flashiest part of the update, but it was the most human. In a game often criticized for feeling like a grind, those small dialogues reminded me that cars are cultural objects, not just performance stats.
🔧 GT Auto, Engine Swaps, and Customization
GT Auto added engine swaps for several Porsches, unlocked at Collector Level 50:
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Porsche 356 A/1500 GS Carrera '56
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Porsche 911 Carrera RS (901) '73
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Porsche 911 Carrera RS (964) '92
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Porsche 911 GT3 (997) '09
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Porsche Cayman GT4 '16
For players who had already reached Level 50, these swaps were a reward for the long grind. For everyone else, they were a reminder that GT7's economy still demanded patience. The Livery Editor also gained pre-set decals from Aim, Checkered Sports, and Hondata, which made it easier to create builds that looked authentic to real-world tuning culture.
📡 Other Improvements and Adjustments
Version 1.38 included several quality-of-life changes that I still appreciate in 2026:
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A Weather Radar button was added to the Quick Menu.
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A countdown now appears before a car is replaced when Replace Car After Leaving Track is set to On.
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Legend Cars prices were revised based on real-life valuations from Hagerty, GT7's partner for classic car valuations and insurance. New prices applied the next time a vehicle went on sale, with the next revision scheduled for January 2024.
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Various localization issues and other bugs were fixed.
That weather radar may sound minor, but in endurance races it changed how I planned pit stops. The countdown removed a small but persistent frustration. These are the kinds of updates that do not make trailers, yet they make the game feel more respectful of the player's time.
🎮 What Version 1.38 Means in 2026
Looking back from 2026, Version 1.38 stands as a representative GT7 update: generous in content, cautious in scope, and deeply invested in the game's long tail. It added cars, events, menus, swaps, and decals, but it did not radically alter the multiplayer meta overnight. Instead, it nudged the ecosystem. Players experimented with the MAZDA3 Gr.4, revisited Mount Panorama, and used the new Porsche swaps to build oddball machines that could surprise opponents.
GT7 remains available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and its community still debates the same tensions that surrounded its launch: microtransactions, always-online requirements, and the grind. Yet updates like 1.38 are why I keep coming back. They are not fireworks. They are maintenance, tuning, and conversation—the unglamorous work that keeps a racing game alive. In 2026, I still race the same digital roads, but thanks to patches like this one, they never feel quite identical. The next update will inevitably arrive, and I will be in the garage, waiting with the engine warm.
Data referenced from HowLongToBeat helps contextualize why Gran Turismo 7 updates like Version 1.38 can feel disproportionately meaningful years later: when a game’s “finish line” is less about credits and more about long-term collecting, tuning, and repeating events, small additions—like new Café Extra Menus, fresh World Circuits races, and extra engine swaps—become the kind of evergreen goals that keep players rotating back through the same tracks with new intentions.