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A report by The Drive says Gran Turismo 7’s handling changes following update 1.71 have drawn growing criticism from players and competitive drivers. Two GT World Series finalists described excessive tire grip and other changes they say affect cornering, braking and racecraft; Polyphony Digital’s response and any planned adjustments are not established in the supplied material.
Gran Turismo 7’s handling model is drawing renewed criticism from players and competitive drivers, who say changes after update 1.71 have made the cars feel unnaturally grippy and less rewarding to drive. The complaints matter to both everyday players and competitors because physics changes can affect lap times, controller handling and how races are won; Polyphony Digital’s response is not provided in the available report.
The Drive reports that complaints about the handling grew louder after update 1.71, which arrived before the game’s Spec IV update. The report’s author says the criticism initially seemed like a familiar reaction to a major physics revision, but became harder to dismiss after players associated with the Gran Turismo World Series and gaming influencers began speaking out. That account describes a growing debate, not a formal finding that the game’s physics are defective.
Two-time World Series Manufacturers Cup finalist Mikołaj Sedziak, who races for Vanquish eSports, told The Drive that the tires feel “way, way, way too glued to the road.” He also said grip on curbs is comparatively low, a combination he believes encourages drivers to use unusually large amounts of curb to rotate the car and gain time. Sedziak said this can produce odd corner exits, with drivers needing to keep a GT3 car especially straight as they accelerate.
Konstantinos Konstantinou, another World Series finalist, also described excessive rear grip and strong brakes. He said some cars that previously struggled to put power down now accelerate more easily, but that this makes a good corner exit feel less rewarding. He also said shorter braking distances can make it harder to pass by braking later than another driver. These are competitors’ assessments, not published measurements comparing the game’s physics with real-world vehicle data.
Why Handling Changes Affect Racing
Physics revisions can change more than how a car feels: they can alter lap times, racing lines and overtaking opportunities. If the reported grip and braking differences are consistent across cars and events, drivers may need to rethink setups and driving techniques, while established records may become less comparable with results set under earlier physics. The source material does not establish the scale of any such effect across the game.
The complaints also touch on Gran Turismo 7’s appeal to players using controllers. The report’s author says the game had previously felt unusually natural on a gamepad, but describes the current steering response as less consistent. That is a subjective experience, but it points to a practical concern: a change intended to improve vehicle behavior can also make the game feel harder to control for players who do not use a steering wheel.
For competitive drivers, the dispute is about whether the handling rewards the same skills as before. Sedziak and Konstantinou say the balance of grip, curb use and braking has affected how they approach corners. Their views are relevant because they race at a high level, but they do not by themselves settle whether the model is objectively less realistic or whether every player will experience the same problems.
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GT7’s Physics Have Shifted Before
Gran Turismo 7 launched in 2022, and Polyphony Digital has revised its handling model in later updates. The Drive says substantial physics changes have sometimes led the studio to clear leaderboards, since times recorded under different handling conditions may no longer be directly comparable. The supplied report does not give a complete update-by-update technical history or identify a specific leaderboard reset tied to update 1.71.
Sedziak and Konstantinou both told The Drive that the game felt best to them after update 1.49 in July 2024. Konstantinou described that version as having a better balance of grip under throttle, more noticeable trail braking and less understeer than the preceding model. The report also notes that update’s unusual behavior in some vehicles, including bouncing Volkswagen Samba Buses, underscoring that praise for the handling does not mean every car behaved correctly.
The Drive frames the latest dispute as part of a longer pattern: players can disagree over each physics revision, and major changes can make familiar cars behave differently. The current criticism is distinguished in the report by the number and profile of players raising it, but no survey or broader player data is supplied to measure how widespread it is.
“If you can hook yourself right on the curbs, you can gain yourself quite a lot of lap time, it’s honestly quite ridiculous.”
— Mikołaj Sedziak, in comments reported by The Drive
What the Physics Debate Cannot Yet Show
The available material does not include a response from Polyphony Digital or Sony, nor does it say whether a physics adjustment is planned. It also does not provide patch notes detailing exactly which tire, curb or braking parameters changed in update 1.71. The specific causal link between that update and each reported handling problem therefore remains the players’ and the report author’s account.
It is also unclear how broadly the concerns are shared beyond the players quoted, whether the effects vary by car, track, controller or setup, and how the current model compares with real-world performance. No controlled testing, telemetry analysis or representative player survey is included. The claims about grip, braking and reduced enjoyment should be read as attributed observations rather than verified technical conclusions.
Watch for Patch Notes and Testing
The next concrete signs will be any statement or physics-related patch notes from Polyphony Digital, along with independent testing that compares handling across cars and updates. The supplied report does not announce a scheduled fix or give a timetable, so there is no confirmed date for a change.
Until more information is available, players can treat the complaints as a signal of disagreement over the current handling model, not confirmation that a particular adjustment is coming. If the studio changes the physics again, comparisons of lap times and vehicle behavior will need to account for which version of the game was used.
Key Questions
What is the complaint about Gran Turismo 7’s physics?
Competitive drivers quoted by The Drive say the cars have too much tire grip, especially at the rear, while curb grip and braking also feel out of balance to them. They say these conditions affect cornering, acceleration and overtaking.
Which update is linked to the criticism?
The report associates the growing complaints with changes after update 1.71. It does not provide technical evidence establishing which individual physics changes caused each reported issue.
Have Gran Turismo 7 developers confirmed a problem or a fix?
The supplied report includes no response from Polyphony Digital and does not confirm that a fix is planned. The handling concerns are attributed to players and competitive drivers.
When did the game’s cited drivers prefer its handling?
Mikołaj Sedziak and Konstantinos Konstantinou told The Drive that they preferred the handling after update 1.49 in July 2024. That is their assessment, not a consensus measurement of player opinion.
Source: thedrive.com
