Seattle Circuit

The Emerald City of Seattle, Washington, USA is the first American city to be featured in a Gran Turismo game. This Pacific Northwestern track is a technical street course complete with many elevation changes, fast straights, and more. This track has been in every Gran Turismo except GT1 and GT5. You can even race it in Tourist Trophy, but unable to race against three other riders. This American city provides a formidable challenge. According to what I've been reading, where the Kingdome is after the backstretch is nonexistent. Though the Kingdome was imploded back in March 2000, it is added to this course in Gran Turismo as a styling touch. The course began as an afternoon drive in Gran Turismo 2. Since Gran Turismo 3, however, the race takes place around sunset.

--- Seattle Circuit ---

(map from: Gran Turismo 2)

Prepare for elevation changes, blind corners, not many curvy roads, high speeds, and a few of jumps on this classic GT course.

Seattle Circuit begins with a high-speed left-hand kink. Take it at full speed, but be ready to slow into just about first or second gear for the very slow, double-apex hairpin. You then go under the highway to make your way uphill after the next corner. That left-hand corner can be taken at full speed, and you can do the same for the next left-hander that has Smith Tower on the right. Three uphill jumps will follow. By the time you reach the second jump, you'll need to think about where to start braking hard so that you don't fly into the wall coming out of the third jump. The next order of business is to negotiate a right-hand kink followed by a fairly wide right-hand corner. The corners between this point and Intermediate 2 consist of a sharp right, a sharp left, and then a very sharp left going downhill. The undulating road will test the balance of your car. It is then full speed as you go uphill through Intermediate 2 down the backstretch. After coming up to where the Kingdome once stood (meaning that the Kingdome was imploded by the time GT3 rolled around), you need to think about where to start braking... and brake hard. You need to carve a smooth racing line that allows you to negotiate five straight 90 corners. Treat the first two 90 corners (right and left respectively) like a wide hairpin, then treat the left-handed corner like a chicane. The fourth and fifth corners should be treated like a smooth chicane. On the way to complete the lap, you must then negotiate a very sharp right-hand corner that leads under a freeway. A left-hand kink follows. Either stay straight to go into the pits, or you have to properly negoiate a very tricky 90 chicane which can completely make or break your lap. Blast ahead to the finish line to complete the lap.

Seattle will absolutely test your suspension and handling limits with its undulating roads and technical corners. It is a course that offers you no breaks. You have to be alert and consistent at all times to land the best lap times on such an abusive course as this one.

--- Seattle Circuit in Videos ---

This is a look at Seattle Circuit in GT games past. Check it out:

Gran Turismo 2.

(NOTE: Turn down or mute the volume for this video because it is loud)

Gran Turismo 3.

This is a racing video around Seattle:

Gran Turismo 4.

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