Performance Points

Performance Points, abbreviated PP, is a system that measures how competitive a car is in comparison to other cars. The Performance Points system debuted with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec II update, and is later included in Gran Turismo 5 version 1.06 and Gran Turismo 6 at launch, and Gran Turismo 7.
Performance Points can be used to limit what car could enter a race event. While this only applies to Seasonal Events and online lobby races in GT5P and GT5, in GT6's career events and selected races in GT7's World Circuits are also restricted by PP. Vehicles may be detuned to meet a maximum PP limit, depending on the vehicle, by adjusting the power and weight of the car. In GT5, most single race Seasonal Events awards the player with a Handicap Bonus if the player competes well below the event's PP limit. Conversely, in GT6, some cars with extreme amount of PP cannot enter any of career races as their power or weight cannot be adjusted enough to meet the PP limit. PP-restricted races can also be found in GT7's Sport Mode on very rare occassions.
Performance Points calculation is done internally. While Polyphony Digital has not publicly explained in depth what takes into account into PP system, the following factors can affect a car's PP:
* Power and torque
* Weight
* Weight distribution (can be altered via ballast position)
* Power/weight ratio
* Downforce (except in GT6, however active aerodynamics still count for base PP calculations for cars such as Chaparral 2J '70 and the Red Bull X-series cars; additionally installing Flat Floors in GT6 or rear aero parts in GT7 from GT Auto can also affect a car's PP rating)
* Tire compounds (GT5P, GT5 version 1.06, and GT7 only)
* Suspension set-up tuning (GT5P only; also in GT7 until version 1.23)
* Transmission setup (GT5P only; also in GT7 until version 1.15)
* Differential settings (GT7 until version 1.23)
In GT7, the car's settings screen displays the acceleration performance, stability rating, and rotational G-forces from the car's current setup. These factors are calculated from the factors described above. If the game is unable to properly calculate the car's PP as a result of its tuning, a warning symbol will appear, replacing the numerical value of the car's PP. A car with the warning symbol cannot enter any PP-restricted race until the issue is rectified.
The PP system was planned to appear in Gran Turismo Sport according to the E3 2016 gameplay trailer, but was removed in favor of a category-based system and a car statistics meter where properties such as speed, acceleration, cornering, braking and stability are measured from a 0.0 to 10.0 scale, depending on the car's performance. This statistics system was previously used in the Arcade Modes of the first three games in the series, as well in Gran Turismo Concept.
The system returned in Gran Turismo 7, alongside GT Sport's category system (as of the second trailer, only for race cars) and the car statistics scale. There is one big change introduced in GT7 where a car's PP system will also include decimal values, and that the PP values have been adjusted somewhat, where for example, a Gr.3 car would have an average of roughly between 700 to 800 PP. Performance Points rating in the game is also subject to change by game updates.
==Records==
Using the PS3-era PP calculation method, the Lunar Roving Vehicle LRV-001 '71 (used only in the Lunar Exploration mode) has the lowest amount of PP in the PS3-era games, at 172 PP, while the Red Bull X2011 Prototype '11 has the highest PP in the series at 972. 
The change in PP calculation formula in GT7 (that also added decimal values) handed the title of the car with lowest and highest PP to Fiat 500 F '68 (87.56 PP, with Comfort Hard tires by default) and SRT Tomahawk X Vision Gran Turismo (at 1380.18 PP, with Racing Soft tires by default) respectively (as of version 1.49); additionally, some other cars, such as the SRT Tomahawk GTS-R Vision Gran Turismo, also now have four-digit PP rating.
==Trivia==
*While not shown to the player, the Performance Points system also appears in GTPSP for its multiplayer-only Shuffle Race mode in order to assign performance ratings of each car that can be randomly assigned in that mode.
*In GT7 version 1.13, many cars' PP ratings were recalculated due to changes in the PP calculation method, to fix exploitable issues involving specific configurations of certain cars' power limiter and gear ratio. This was changed again in 1.15, which also removed gear ratios from PP calculation altogether, in addition to version 1.23 removing suspension and differential settings. Another change occurred in versions 1.31, 1.49, and 1.55 as part of physics-related changes introduced in each version.
==Further reading==
*Performance Points on GT6 Online Manual
*Performance Points and BoP on GT7 Online Manual
*"Reverse Engineering" on PPs (GT6) - GTPlanet
*GT5 Performance Points Chart - GTPlanet
*GT5 Pro Tips: Using PP to your advantage - Formula-Digital.com (Wayback Machine)
*List of per-tire PP for GT7 cars at stock (except grouped race cars)
Category:Gameplay