If getting all golds in the National B license tests was a bit of a challenge for you, then it only gets harder as we go higher up the rankings of the license tests. Next on our list to get gold times on would be the National A license tests.

This National A license actually houses 2 of the more difficult license tests to get gold in, so get ready to be challenged a lot. In addition to this, it also introduces 2 new conditions for you to race in, namely rain and dirt, so be prepared for those tests as well as they bring in different driving dynamics to the fray.

In this guide, we will be looking at how to get gold in all A License Tests in Gran Turismo 7 by once again looking at areas that can be used as braking points, how much throttle needs to be applied, and which lines to take. Basically, just observing each license test to such a degree that you can do them flawlessly and apply them to real racing scenarios.

General Tips on How to Be Faster

1. Assist Settings

Gran Turismo 7 hosts a bevy of driving assists that can help make a car easier to drive, but in turn, make it much slower. A general rule of thumb when going for these license tests is to turn off Active Stability Management (ASM) and Countersteering Assistance.

This is especially true in this series of license tests as some of them will be nigh impossible to pass if you have either of these assists on as these 2 assists offer too much assistance for it to do you any good.

Another assist worth turning down is Traction Control. Turning this off will help you in perfecting your throttle input, which is paramount to driving quicker. If you are having a hard time with corner exit due to excessive wheelspin, you can leave Traction Control to 1, just enough to keep the car tame as it gains grip on the road

Tests that are done in the rain can benefit from having traction control as wet surfaces are slippery and you lose time so long as you do not have any grip going on the tires.

However, you will want to have Traction Control completely off when driving in the dirt though as this will slow you down tremendously since you will want to slide a bit when driving in the dirt. With Traction Control on, it will always try to keep you from sliding therefore losing you a lot of time.

ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) should always be left on Default as it gives you leeway to brake much more effectively even if you are not braking in a straight line. It also almost completely eliminates locking up your tires under braking.

The other assists like Driving Line Assistance, Brake Indicator, and Braking Area can be left on as these are non-intrusive to you and will only help you familiarize yourself with the track. When you get better and are more familiar with driving, you can always turn these off for a more immersive experience and for you to better trust yourself when racing.

Finally, we have Transmission. In general, we would want to have this on Manual in order for you to be able to shift gears yourself to accommodate the part of the track you are in, but it is completely understandable to also leave this on Automatic as the game does a pretty good job of shifting for you.

2. Watch the Demonstrations

If you want to have a clue about what you need to do, you can always watch the demonstrations that are available on the Event Info screen. These demonstrations will show you a gold time and some of them will even have pauses in between the video in order to give you tips on what to do during the test itself.

However, they are not perfect as they do not really detail what happens when you are driving a car. They also do not give you the details of the car you are driving, whether it is FF, FR, MR, or AWD.

They also show the “cleanest” racing line and not necessarily the fastest since there are some corners you can cut in order to shave a bit more time. The inputs they do also mimic that of using a driving wheel, which could be hard to replicate on a controller.

This is where our guide comes in, giving you the little nuisances that can push you to do better. Maybe even beat the demonstration times themselves! Not to mention that these guides are more catered to controller users, which is what the majority of Gran Turismo 7 players will be using.

3. Ghost Settings

Even more supplementary assists in order to further your chances of getting a gold time in the license tests, Gran Turismo 7 allows you to display the ghost of the demonstration video in order for you to follow it as a sort of real-time guide.

It is recommended to set the Ghost Offset Seconds to something a bit more advanced so that you can trail the ghost and watch them in real-time as opposed to trying to beat them side-by-side with no reference points.

The National A License Tests

Like the National B License Tests, there are 10 National A License Tests and their difficulty varies from rather easy to insanely difficult. Get ready to restart some of these tests a fair few times as they are definitely a lot trickier than the National B Licenses.

The tracks featured in this set of tests include Tsukuba Circuit, Dragon Trail – Gardens, Autodromo Nationale Monza, Tokyo Expressway – Central Clockwise, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix Layout, Colorado Springs – Lake, Suzuka Circuit, and Autopolis International Racing Course.

Familiarity with these tracks will definitely help in acing these tests a lot quicker than normal.

A-1 Racing Line: Beginner 1

In this test, you will be driving the ’16 Subaru BRZ STI Sport, an FR car with quite a bit of power, around the final corner of Tsukuba Circuit. The corner is a long right-hander and requires quite a bit of throttle control in order for the car to not start sliding especially since you are driving an FR car.

When approaching the corner, you will want to approach it from the outside. The braking point in this instance is just after the Pit Entry sign on the right side of the track. Brake only a little bit (down to around 73 MPH or 118 KMH) and stay in 4th gear as you let off the throttle and turn in.

Try to go inside, getting as close as possible to the curbs, but not enough to hit them! The car is grippy enough that you can go full throttle throughout the majority of the corner, but if the car starts to slide, just try to control your throttle input and correct your steering to stabilize it.

There is a lot of curb at the end of the corner so do not be afraid to overcook your turn as you have a lot of runoff area to work with.

A-2 Racing Line: Beginner 2

In this test, you will be driving the ’10 Volkswagen Scirocco R, a rather quick FF car, around the final corner of the Dragon Trail – Gardens circuit. The corner is a double-apex left-hander so getting the apex of both corners is definitely key to getting gold here.

Approach the corner from the outside and brake right as you hit the 100m board, going down to 3rd gear and letting go of the throttle in order for the car to turn in since you are driving an FF car.

Try to steer your car as close to the first apex as possible without hitting the curbs while at the same time, trying to set yourself up for the second apex. You can take a wide line for this so that you can take the second apex as straight as possible by attacking the curbs and going full throttle much earlier for a great setup for the straight leading to the finish.

A-3 Racing Line: Beginner 3

In this test, you will be driving the ’09 Abarth 500, a rather peppy FF car, around Monza’s very famous Lesmo corners. These corners are pretty fast right-handers so turn-in is very important to getting gold in this test. Driving an FF car and knowing when to get on the throttle is key for this test.

Get as close as possible to the wall in Lesmo 1 by turning in with the throttle off. Get on the throttle once you have a clear look at the outer curbs at the exit of the corner to have a good run into Lesmo 2.

The braking point for Lesmo 2 will be on the 50m board. Brake until you have reached around 62 MPH (100 KMH), go down into 3rd gear, and turn into the corner.

Get on the throttle as soon as you hit the apex so that you can gain lots of momentum towards the final straight leading to the finish line. The curbs are also pretty forgiving on the outside so the corner can definitely be taken at a much faster speed, but this is enough to get gold on this test.

A-4 Urban Tracks 1

An introduction to closed tracks in these license tests, you will be driving a ’98 Honda Civic Type R (EK), an iconic FF car, around the first two corners of the Tokyo Expressway – Central Clockwise track. These corners are both right-handed, kind of similar to the previous test as they consist of a tighter corner followed by a faster corner.

Do note that even grazing the wall will result in a failure for this license test so the objective here is to try and get as close as possible to the walls without hitting them.

The braking point for the first corner is the arrow sign on the left of the track. Brake down to around 85 MPH (137 KMH), turn in, let go of the throttle for a bit and get as close to the wall as possible and get back on the throttle as fast as possible, trying not to graze the wall on the outside of the corner.

The next corner can be taken flat-out so long as you are able to turn-in as early as possible. Get as close as possible once again to the inner wall and follow through to the final sequence which consists of mostly very fast corners. The turn-in on the second corner is key as your time will be majorly affected by how fast you take the corner.

A-5 Cornering in the Wet: Beginner

The first license test to be done in wet conditions, this test will have you driving the ’96 Nissan 180SX Type X, a very capable FR car, through the Les Combes series of corners in the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Les Combes starts off with a right-leading chicane and flows into another right-hander that leads to a straight.

You will start off in the Kemmel Straight in this test. The braking point for this will be right as you pass the beginning of the curb on the left of the track. From there it is a matter of throttle control as the Nissan 180SX will want to spin and slide around due to the wet conditions.

Try to get as close to the curbs in the corners but avoid them in this test as the wet conditions make the curbs incredibly slippery and will spin your car out. Just stay on the tarmac and control your throttle. The gold time in this test is pretty lenient so take your time and only go full throttle when you feel your tires gain grip.

A-6 Consecutive Corners: Beginner 1

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In this test, we will be driving a ’14 Alfa Romeo 4C, the first MR (mid-engined, rear-wheel drive) car that will be used in these license tests. An MR drivetrain is usually the preferred drivetrain for sports cars as it lends itself to having perfect weight distribution, meaning a more refined driving experience.

The downside of an MR car is that they are more prone to lift-off oversteer. What this means is that when you let off the throttle during a turn, you are more prone to spin out as there will be less weight going through the rear wheels, meaning less grip on the rear tires.

This test takes us back to Monza, except this time we will be tackling the Ascari chicane, which is a rather quick left-right-left sequence.

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The braking point for the entry of the Ascari chicane is right at the 100m board. Brake and you have a choice to either shift down to 3rd gear or to stay in 4th.

Going down to 3rd will lead to a faster time but a feisty car since it will wheelspin more, staying in 4th will make it easier to take the chicane since a higher gear keeps the engine revving low and in turn, the wheels not spinning excessively.

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Turn into the first corner, hitting the curbs but not too much as the inside of the curbs have these sausage curbs that will unsettle the car when you hit them. Repeat that through the following corners while keeping your throttle in check and bring it home towards the straight.

The outer curbs on the final turn are very forgiving so do not be afraid to go a bit faster and abuse the curbs.

A-7 Consecutive Corners: Beginner 2

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One of the trickier license tests in National A, you will be driving the ’03 BMW M3, which is a very capable FR car, around the first sequence of corners in the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya which consists of a right-leading chicane onto a long right-hander.

Think of this test as a mix of A-5 (minus the wet conditions) and A-1, and since you will be driving another FR car, throttle control will definitely be at play here for a gold time.

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The braking point for the first corner will be right as you are alongside the patch of asphalt on the left of the track. Brake down to 60 MPH (97 KMH) and stay in 3rd gear to keep the car from wheelspinning.

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The chicane will be a bit tricky to get but a general rule is to ride the curbs quite a bit on the apex and try and get the sausage curb in the middle of the car so that it does not unsettle your car.

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You will want to do this on both apexes of the chicane to get a quick time. Do this while managing your throttle since the BMW M3, in particular, is really tail-happy. Once you are out of the chicane, straighten out your car and prepare for the long right-hander that leads to the finish line.

Approach the final corner from the middle or outside of the track and try to turn into the inside of the track as close as possible to the curbs. Manage your throttle as you go through the corner and floor it once you can see the track opening up and the grip of the rear tires start to stick.

A-8 Dirt Driving: Beginner

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For the first dirt-based license test, you will be driving the ’19 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, an AWD full-size truck, through the first sector of the Colorado Springs – Lake track layout.

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There are not many tips I can give for this test except to try and hug the corners (go so far as go to the grassy sections even) and go full throttle all the time while trying to maintain speed as you slide through the corners due to the loose surface.

Take note however that going sideways in the dirt is not a bad thing at all, so feel free to try and slide your way to gold in this license test! Saying that, make sure to turn off Traction Control (TCS) on this test as having it one will completely neuter your speed in the dirt.

A-9 Hairpins

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Hailed as one of the hardest license tests in all of Gran Turismo 7, this test features the ’92 Honda NSX Type R, an MR icon, through the hairpin corner of the Suzuka Circuit.

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You will start this test from the exit of Degner 2. Speed up and clip the curb on the right approaching the hairpin. Brake heavily once you are out of the curb and get down to around 37 MPH (60 KMH) while shifting down to 2nd gear. Try to brake as straight as possible in order to slow down sufficiently for the incredibly tight left-hander.

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As you go through the hairpin, try and get to the curbs on the apex and very patiently make your way around it by feathering the throttle a bit to give yourself a bit of momentum while you round the corner. Stay at a constant 35 MPH (57 KMH) while turning in.

Once you are through the hairpin and have straightened your car out, get on the throttle fully and gun it toward the finish line.

Make sure to turn off Active Stability Management (ASM) and Countersteering Assitance when doing this test as it will be insanely difficult, close to impossible even, if they are on.

A-10 Racing Line Basics

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The final exam of the National A license, this test has you driving the ’92 Toyota Supra RZ, a quick but rather heavy FR car, around the first complex section of Autopolis. This test contains 4 corners and they are indeed a bit similar to the previous tests.

The first corner represents A-7’s first corner, the next two corners represent the double-apex corner found in A-2, and the last corner is a hairpin akin to A-9. A perfect blend of the previous tests.

With that said, this test is also considered one of the hardest tests in all of Gran Turismo 7, so be prepared to spend a bit of time here trying to get gold on it.

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The braking point for the first corner is right you are alongside the piece of tarmac (or after the orange railing) on the left side of the track. Brake and shift down to 3rd gear, slowing down to at least 60 MPH (96 KMH). Aim for the apex of the left-hander, but do not hit the curb as you will want to prepare your attack on the next sequence of corners.

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Try and get to the right of the track after exiting the first corner so you can take a straighter line towards the double-apex right-hander. Hit the curb of the first corner and try and finesse your way into a tighter line to the next corner by just controlling your throttle or completely just lifting off in order for the car to turn in more.

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Next would be the approach toward the hairpin. Make your way to the middle or the left side of the track and brake down to around 38 MPH (61 KMH).

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The braking point for this corner is right before you reach the end of the curb on the right. Get as close to the apex and curbs as possible as you turn in, but try not to ride the curbs as much.

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Try and exit the hairpin as smoothly as possible as your momentum would going out of the hairpin is what will determine if you get gold on this test or not.

Again, the most important factor in this test would be your throttle control. Most of the time while going through this complex of corners, you will not even be able to go full throttle for more than a few seconds, so get a feel of the car and try to feel how smooth you can take it in order to get a gold on this test.

This is especially true for the Toyota Supra RZ as it is incredibly tail-happy and has a ton of power for it to get easily wayward when too much throttle is applied.

The Prize for Getting Gold in All National A License Tests

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Aside from getting one step closer to the Hard Work Pays Off trophy, you will also get the ’18 Subaru BRZ STI Sport as your prize car for getting all gold on the National B License Tests. This is the same car you used in the A-1 license test.

Congratulations on getting gold on all National A License Tests! With the credits you get from doing this, it is a fantastic way to earn money in the game. Check out our linked guide for more tips on getting those credits up!