After learning the subtle nuances of Laguna Seca in Gran Turismo 2, series creator Kazunori Yamauchi revealed that his real-life laptimes on the circuit had improved dramatically.
Seven years after its launch, some of GT's youngest fans are getting their licenses and racing on real circuits. It is important to remember that the lessons learned in the game can be put to use on a real track as well. The tuning guidelines that follow will tell you how to squeeze the most potential out of any car, be it virtual or real.

Now, I've heard lots, talked to lots, and told lots of people that their concept of a bigger bang (HP boost) isn't necessarily the best FIRST upgrade. My father used to race open wheeled Formula 2000, now known as the Mazda Series I believe. This was a few years ago, but none the less, he learned a lot about driving. He went to the Spenard David racing school and entered in a few races, didn't get any first places, but for a 'rookie' he blew the doors off 95% of the drivers out there.

Having passed his knowledge down to me when I was 14; at that time I was playing Gran Turismo 1 & 2. It helped me understand why the car turned better when I increased downforce, but lost some straight-line speed in exchange. I can confidently say that all those kids out their talk lots about nothing but power upgrades, double de-clutching, a term born in my opinion with the first "The Fast and The Furious" movie. A modern Gearbox is built with a sequencer in it (called Synchromesh). This keeps the gears spinning while the engine is not connected, so that when you change gear you do not get nasty noises due to gears trying to engage while going at different speeds. You double de-clutch if:

A: You drive a semi, or a transport truck (though Synchromesh is now quite common on trucks).

Or

B: If your car lacks Synchromesh or it's "broken".

Double de-clutching is a waste of time. If Formula 1 wasn't so close to a video game, and if it had 3 pedals, an actual gear shift, not computer controlled throttle blipping and so on. You wouldn't see Michael Shumacher pressing his foot down twice.

To make my point: Any idiot can drive fast in a straight line, my area of "expertise" is more along the lines of braking, cornering and accelerating. Top speed plays little role. Unless you're on the salt flats, cornering is critical.