Gran Turismo 5 Message Board

In advance of online support shutting down for Gran Turismo 5 at the end of May, Sony is removing all DLC for the game from the PlayStation Store on April 30. Some, but not all, DLC will be re-downloadable through PSN after then if you already own it. See this link for more details.Read more...

Online play for Gran Turismo 5 is set to expire in May, but the company has announced it's pulling the plug on the game's DLC early. On April 30, all Gran Turismo 5 DLC will vanish from the PlayStation Store.

In order to access Gran Turismo 5's "Racing Car Pack" and "Course Pack" after April 30, PS3 users will need to download and install a free supplemental piece of DLC called "Family Upgrade." Sony points out that, after online services have been terminated, some DLC can be re-downloaded through PSN even if local game data is erased from the hard drive - but not all of it.

Sony also announced Gran Turismo TV is shutting down on March 14. Gran Turismo TV is a video-on-demand service where users can access a variety of car-focused content, including pay-per-view videos. [Image: Sony]

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Gran Turismo, reader Ilya made this tribute clip that rivals anything developers Polyphony Digital have made for the series over that time. It took him three months to make, was shot entirely in Gran Turismo 5 and features 50 cars racing on over 30 tracks. So pretty. 15th Anniversary of Gran Turismo [Ferino Design]

The Sony-managed website gran-turismo.com now features a product listing for the as-of-yet unannounced Gran Turismo 6. Currently, the link in question leads to its own unique (if empty) page; further URL manipulation produces generic results.

The discovery yields no details, but Sony is expected to announce a new entry in Polyphony Digital's driving simulation series at an anniversary event tomorrow in the UK. Drivers, start your...waiting.

[Thanks, Szczesny!]

#granturismo Despite what looks like a screenshot from the game, above, the E-motion concept car is not available to drive in Gran Turismo 5. It's not even a real car. More »

Welcome to this week’s PlayStation Community Update, where we shine the light on some of the most interesting content that is inherently owned and provided by you, the gamers. Last week, you may have checked out the Battle Bowl, a massive Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 tournament between 2 competitive communities: FraggedNation and Urgent Fury. This tournament is going on all month so you can still sign up today!

This week, we’re shining the spotlight on the legendary Gran Turismo series and some marquee community events that any racer might want to get involved in. We reached out to Gran Turismo 5 fanatic MasterGT to give us a breakdown of Gran Turismo 5 community events. If you love the series as much as millions of other gamers do, read on. Whether you’re a newcomer to Gran Turismo 5, or a racing vet, don’t hesitate to jump into some of these fantastic community races.

Don’t forget to download the 2014 Corvette Stingray Final Prototype, the latest DLC for Gran Turismo 5! Click here to add it to your cart from the SEN Online PlayStation Store.

Visit the Gran Turismo Events space in the PlayStation Community forums to join in the events, find new friends, and compete in an incredibly welcoming community.

The PlayStation Community forums are home to a lot of different things, but within the Gran Turismo 5 community, we’ve made a nice little home here by being able to meet racers new and old through a multitude of different events. So to start with, make sure you book mark it!

So that’s step 1; swing in and get to know the Gran Turismo community, filled with amazing players (some of which have been finalists in the GT Academy reality series), great Photo Mode artists, or racers who are generally knowledgeable of GT or cars and racing. In fact, for the past two years, this community has been using Gran Turismo to bring players of all abilities together on-line, no matter what type of racing interests them. Rally racing, NASCAR, F1, drifting, pick-up type racing, GT, Touring Car and just about any other type of high speed fun has been available here. Gran Turismo has the variety of cars, and the millions of drivers, to make this possible. Because of the depth of the GT community the GT Events forum always has something new going on, including the fresh Sunday Cup series of races!

And that brings us to Step 2; the races! Here’s how you can get in on the action with us. Two weekly events are specifically designed to attract racing fans from the broader forum membership and have had support from the PlayStation Community Management team, dedicated PlayStation Community forum members, and other special guests.

The Saturday Afternoon Events are run by GT community member, cr0wlft0fdmurder. Click here to visit the event page.

The Saturday afternoon races normally are longer races, taking up to about one hour to finish. That gives everyone a chance to settle in for a more measured and natural race, and we feel it captures the essence of racing cars. You can join in as soon as tomorrow, 2/9! Click here to check out the events page on the Saturday Afternoon Events.

The Monday Night Events are run by me, MastrGT. Click here to visit the event page.

The shorter Monday Night races have also been quite popular because they allow many players to race whenever they can during a weekday evening. The race program allows using virtually any and all of the 1,100 cars in GT, depending on each night’s race details: small street cars, then small race cars; bigger street cars, then bigger race cars. Anything is possible, no matter which car or track we use. The cars are usually very easy to find and down time between races is meant to be short, so the tempo is kept high. The open lobby can be very popular, but we can race over two, sometimes three, hours, making it very easy for you to join in on the fun.

Thanks MastrGT, representing the Gran Turismo community! There are a lot more racing events to be found, and you can find out about all of them by visiting the Events page in the PlayStation Community forums. If you’re a racing fan who’s looking for a great community with some heated competition, hop in to these areas and feel the GT Community love.

Chat with fellow PS gamers in our Forums! There’s plenty to talk about, with different sections including:

PlayStation Plus

PlayStation Home

PS Trophy Leaderboard

Whatever you want (aka Off-Topic area)

Win PlayStation games and products every Wednesday on Twitter! Next week we’re giving away voucher codes for the PS3 and PS Vita versions of Urban Trial Freestyle. Winners will also get a signed tshirt from French motorbike rider Julien Dupont, who is featured in the game.

Follow @HeyPlayStation on Twitter to be eligible to win this, and other prizes from PlayStation.

Friday, February 8th

Battle Bowl I – Qualifying Event

Saturday, February 9th

Battle Bowl I – Qualifying Event

Sunday, February 10th

Battle Bowl I – Qualifying Event

Monday, February 11th

Battle Bowl I – Qualifying Event
Gran Turismo: Monday Night Racing
Urgent Fury Aftermath Black Ops 2 League

Tuesday, February 12th

Battle Bowl I – Qualifying Event
Uncharted 3: Lab Update
Black Ops 2: Target Locked

Wednesday Febraury 13th

Battle Bowl I – Qualifying Event
Starhawk Wednesdays
Urgent Fury Aftermath Black Ops 2 League

The 2014 Corvette Stingray final prototype, free to download today for everyone suddenly remembering they still own a copy of GT5.

The latest Corvette model, the 2014 Corvette Stingray, will be available to you for free ... in Gran Turismo 5. It'll be released at no charge tomorrow as DLC. Technically, the car was already available, in a camouflaged "prototype" form; however, now you'll be able to both drive a Corvette and look at a Corvette.

The in-game reveal comes closely after the unveiling of the real car at the North American International Auto Show. On the PlayStation Blog, Sony noted that the new 'Vette gets more than 26 miles per gallon, the best gas mileage of any car in the line. The Gran Turismo version performs infinitely better in this regard.

Arriving exclusively for Gran Turismo 5 this Tuesday, the 2014 Corvette Stingray DLC will be available for free through PlayStation Store.

Officially announced at the LA Auto Show last November, Polyphony Digital and Chevrolet worked very closely for months in developing an exclusive firsthand driving experience of the Corvette C7 in Gran Turismo 5. Since its introduction, nearly 500,000 people around the world have driven the camouflaged Corvette Test Prototype. And now, only just the day after the Corvette Stingray’s world debut at the North American International Auto Show, the DLC will be available exclusively through PS Store starting Tuesday.

During the creation of the virtual Corvette Stingray, careful attention was paid to the tiniest details of the new design inside and out, as well as to the enhanced performance and driving characteristics — right down to the shift schedule for the 7-speed manual transmission.

The Corvette Stingray will produce an estimated 450 horsepower and 450 ft. lbs. of torque, is capable of accelerating from 0-60 in less than four seconds and will achieve more than 1g in cornering grip. It will also be the most fuel-efficient Corvette ever, exceeding the EPA-estimated 26 MPG of the current model.

For more information and video content, check out www.one13thirteen.com. Enthusiasts can join the conversation about the next-generation Corvette and keep track of new announcements on Facebook and Twitter.

For weeks now, members of GTplanet and PlayStation.Blog have been speculating about the mysterious appearance of a camouflaged Corvette C7 appearing in Gran Turismo 5‘s screen saver.

Well, the rumors are true – officially announced today at the LA Auto Show, Chevrolet and Polyphony Digital have been working very closely for months in developing an exclusive first-hand driving experience by offering a camouflaged Corvette C7 Test Prototype in Gran Turismo 5. The DLC is now available for free through PlayStation Store.

With spy photos valued at an estimated $100,000, Chevrolet has gone to extreme measures to disguise the test car. In fact, a designated Corvette design team was tasked with developing custom camouflage to conceal the new design elements. The concealed test prototype continues to undergo extensive performance and durability testing in preparation for final production. Millions of hours will be accumulated through thousands of rigorous performance trials before the car is released later in 2013.

Until now, only a handful of the most skilled drivers on the Corvette team have been authorized to push the test prototype to the limits on the most challenging tracks in the world, including the infamous Nurburgring Nordschleife – one of the core testing grounds for C7’s driving dynamics.

Now you can also be part of that exclusive experience by heading over to PlayStation Store and downloading the exclusive Corvette C7 Test Prototype, then taking it to the track in Gran Turismo 5. Be sure to share your best lap time on the Nurburgring Nordschleife through Corvette’s Facebook page.

Chevrolet will introduce the 2014 Corvette on Sunday, January 13th, 2013. For more information and video content, check out www.one13thirteen.com. Enthusiasts can join the conversation about the next-generation Corvette and keep track of new announcements on Facebook and Twitter.

The Gran Turismo sales-o-meter is now at 67.89 million, according to the latest stats published by developer Polyphony Digital. Meanwhile, Gran Turismo 5 is in the slipstream of double figures, now up to 9 million units sold worldwide. While it still ranks as the lowest-selling main entry in the series (on PS3), it's closing in on fourth-placed Gran Turismo 2 (9.4 million).

The majority of those 67.89 million series sales come from Gran Turismo 3, Gran Turismo 4, and the original Gran Turismo, speeding in at 14.9, 11.6, and 10.9 million respectively. As impressive as those figures are, Gran Turismo isn't the best-selling racing series out there. That accolade belongs to Need for Speed, which drove past 100 million sales back in 2009. We somehow suspect the two series' sales-per-game figures tell a different story.

The latest Gran Turismo 5 update makes various tweaks and improved the engine sound of the Honda Weider HSV-010. More here. More »

While we wait patiently for Spike’s airing of GT Academy 2012 this fall, we have three new pieces of DLC and Update 2.08 releasing on Tuesday, September 25th to keep you guys battling in Gran Turismo 5.

Nissan GT-R N24 GT Academy ’12 ($.99)

Relive the victory with the Nissan GT-R N24 GT Academy ’12, winner of the SP8T class in the 2012 Nürburgring 24-hour race.

The GT-R N24 GT Academy was developed by the GT-R development team of Nissan, and set up by software engineers of Gran Turismo. Driven by Gran Turismo series producer Kazunori Yamauchi and the first European GT Academy winner Lucas Ordonez, Team GT Academy won top victory in the SP8T class. Relive the victory at the Nürburgring with this signature GT-R N24.

Subaru BRZ S ’12 ($.99)

Enjoy the natural feel of a compact front engine rear wheel drive (FR) sportscar by adding the Subaru BRZ S ’12 to Gran Turismo 5.

Sharing the specifications of the Toyota FR-S, the production model prototype was announced at the Tokyo Motorshow in November 2011. In addition to the different front grill and foglights, the driving feel of the suspension settings focuses more on stability, and reflects the sports car philosophy of Subaru. In the BRZ, you can enjoy the feel of an FR layout sportscar — a rarity in today’s automobiles.

Honda weider HSV-010 (SUPER GT) ’11 ($.99)

Add the official Honda Weider HSV-010 (SUPER GT) ’11 that competed in the GT500 class of Japan Super GT series to Gran Turismo 5.

The HSV-010 debuted in 2010 as the heir to the Honda NSX-GT. The car is a front engine rear wheel drive powered by a 3.4 liter V8 based on an engine designed for the Formula Nippon. The car achieved a double title win in its debut year, and this 2011 model utilizes side radiators to optimize weight distribution, further improving its cornering performance. Add this high performance Honda Racing machine to your collection.

Update 2.08

A free downloadable update coming next week will add several new enhancements to GT5, as well as correcting some reported issues. A few examples of the update 2.08 include:

• Now possible to select “Disable collisions” in the [Event Settings] of online races.
• ID’s are now shown above cars when watching online races.
• Response of the clutch pedal when using the steering wheel controllers “G25 Racing Wheel”, “G27 Racing Wheel”, “T500RS” and “TH8RS” has been adjusted.
• Rate of tire wear in endurance races has been slowed (excluding formula cars).
• Amount of air resistance change when altering aerodynamic wing settings has been increased.
• Autopilot has been adjusted to prevent colliding with the wall when exiting the pit lane on the Tsukuba circuit.
• Adjusted the changes in control characteristic when altering vehicle height from standard height. (Vehicle height can be changed by adjusting ride height, either by installing a suspension kit or adjusting a full customizable suspension kit.)

The city of Cologne, Germany, home to the country's annual Gamescom convention, is full of beautiful cars (proof!). During our week-long stay, I counted at least six Audi R8s in the wild. That includes this one, used to casually control a game of Gran Turismo 5 (by an underage driver, no less).

As you might imagine, a line held steady around the massive, moving Audi R8 shell. It certainly didn't hurt that the device was smack in the middle of a street fair many blocks away from Gamescom's enormous facilities on the other side of the Rhine. We can only imagine the line had it been anywhere near the hundreds of thousands of Gamescom attendees!

Gran Turismo 6 is in development, but don't expect series producer Kazunori Yamauchi to dare tread on the delicate ground of discussing release windows or specific dates for the game publicly.

Andriasang reports the franchise overseer has learned his lesson, saying at the recent Gran Turismo 5 Asia Championship, "If I carelessly say when it will be released, you'll end up with people saying things like 'it's been delayed again!?'"

Gran Turismo 5 was notorious for its long development and delays, which didn't just apply to the game, but to its DLC as well.

[Photo credit: Frank Filipponio; GIF source: jockamo]

This fall marks two years since Polyphony Digital's latest Gran Turismo screeched onto retailer shelves, and four years since the company partnered with Nissan on its GT Academy. As a result, the developer's celebrating with a special edition release of Gran Turismo 5 - "Academy Edition" - replete with the various car packs released since the launch in 2010.

More specifically, you'll also get Polyphony Digital creative lead Kazunori Yamauchi's fancy Nissan GTR that he raced in real life during the most recent Nurburgring 24-hour race. If you bought it in real life, it'd cost like a trillion dollars, so this is probably the best way to get access.

When the "Academy Edition" of Gran Turismo 5 launches this September 26, it'll cost €29.99/£19.99. The game doesn't have a price or launch date in the US just yet, but we expect to hear more on that front in the coming days.

Hello Everyone!

It’s always a pleasure when I get to share details of incoming new content for Gran Turismo 5 and today is no exception. We have some exciting new content due to be published on PS Store this Wednesday – so read on to find out what’s in store and hopefully destined to find a home on your hard-drives very soon.

First up is the Twin Ring Motegi Pack, a much cherished legacy circuit that will evoke fond memories amongst GT fans and which was seen recently in the final stages of the GT Academy contest.

For the uninitiated Twin Ring Motegi is a circuit located in Japan that has both an oval and road course in its configuration. The 2.4km oval ‘Superspeedway’ is mainly used for American motorsports, while the 4.8km road course is used for races like the Super GT and Formula Nippon. This pack not only contains these two tracks, it also includes the West and East courses that are formed by separating the first half and the latter half of the road course, letting you enjoy the different technical layouts of the Motegi track. Motegi is a track that a lot of fans have been asking for and we hope you’re excited to see its reappearance.

Next up for your downloading consideration is the Scion FR-S ’12 – and although I say consideration, since this awesome motor is free to download, hopefully there won’t be need for too much consideration.

The FR-S ’12 is a compact FR (front engined, rear wheel drive) sports car debuting from the American motoring brand Scion. Those petrolheads amongst you may well recognise the car which is specially configured derivation of its stablemate, the Toyota 86 which launched recently in Japan.

It’s a car for driving purists built from the ground up with sports driving in mind, so why not put one in your garage – at no extra charge!

So there you have it, even more to make your experience on the real driving simulator that bit more entertaining.

We hope you will get hold of both new pieces of content.

See you on the track!

Welcome to week four of this year’s GT Academy competition! By now you’ve probably learned the basic fundamentals of the racing line, variable high-speed cornering, continuous elevation changes, and multi-radius acceleration, all while trying to maintain the highest grip possible to maximize corner exit speed.

If you achieved a Gold Trophy in all five events within a round, you will unlock the GT Academy-spec Nissan used in the trials of that round. Prizes will be distributed one week after the online competition of GT Academy ends, which is on or after July 4th, 2012. Here are the four cars you can unlock in Rounds 1 through 4:

• Round 1 – Nissan Leaf (GT Academy) ’11
• Round 2 – Nissan Silvia spec-R AERO (GT Academy) ‘02
• Round 3 – Nissan Skyline GT-R Vspec II (GT Academy) ‘94
• Round 4 – Nissan 370Z (GT Academy) ‘08

*** Each of the subsequent vehicle prizing will be unveiled as Round 5 and 6 are unlocked on May 28th and Round 7 and 8 on June 11th

Drivers who clear all eight rounds of the competition with a Bronze Trophy or better will receive the special “GT Academy 2012” racing gear – the head-turning GT Academy racing suit

You can claim your prizes (including the GT Academy racing suit) on or after July 4th, 2012. To add these items to your collection, start up Gran Turismo 5 or Gran Turismo 5 XL, select “GT Mode” on the main menu, select “Community and Gift”, and your earned prizes will be shown on the right side of the screen. For a detailed description, please head to the official site here.

For now, be sure to learn as much as you can for each of the events as the final Round 8, Event 5 race is only a few short weeks away. Good luck!

Attention GT Academy competitors: we are now in the third week of the 2012 season, and the competition is heating up. Since May 1st, nearly 600,000 competitors have driven more than 51,000 miles and reattempted 52,000 times for their chance to become this year’s GT Academy Champion.

As you may already know, Round 3 and 4 became available this week – offering faster and more advanced technical driving challenges to prepare you for the final eighth round starting in June.

To give you a leg up on the competition, TwitchTV will be doing a live webcast with the first US GT Academy Champion Bryan Heitkotter today at 6pm Pacific Time. Be sure not to miss this as Bryan will be providing some inside tips for each of the round challenges and his predictions for this year’s winner.

Here’s a quick reminder for each of the challenges from Round 1-4:

Round 1: Nissan Leaf (Current Leaderboards)

• Simple Right-Hand Corner
• Simple Left-Hand Corner
• Simple Series of Corners
• Series of Blind Corners
• Driving with Opponents

Round 2: Nissan Silvia Spec-R Aero (Current Leaderboards)

• Long Banked Corner
• Hard Braking Before a Corner
• Series of Corners on the Rome City Course
• S Curves 1
• High-Speed Approach to a Series of Corners

Round 3: Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II (Current Leaderboards)

• Rotary Corner in the Madrid City Course
• S Curve at Suzuka Circuit
• Continuous Corners and Elevation Changes
• Variations of Corners
• Maintaining Stability in High-Speed Sections

Round 4: Nissan 370Z (GT Academy) ’08 (Current Leaderboards)

• The Nurburgring’s “Kallenhard” Section
• Low Speed ‘S’ Curve with Changing Radius
• ‘S’ Curves 2
• Suzuka Circuit’s “Spoon Curve”
• The “Variante Ascari” and “Parabolica” at Monza

Remember, in case you haven’t started, GT Academy 2012 is available as a free downloadable through the PlayStation Store until the end of the competition on June 24th. See if you have what it takes to become the next GT Academy Champion!

More information on GT Academy is available through the official site and our Facebook page.

It’s time to gear up for GT Academy 2012! The competition starts on May 2nd and will be open to all entrants through June 26th.

Developed for racing fans of all levels, GT Academy 2012 will offer a newly designed eight-step training and qualification program accessible as a demo based on the hit Gran Turismo 5. The demo will be made available for free on PlayStation Store via PSN and will maximize the potential of all users, from beginners to advanced drivers. All participants will compete in a series of virtual driving trials using Nissan cars, and the best of the best will compete in the National Finals in July. The action will then jump from the virtual cars of the PS3 game to actual Nissan sports cars when the winners of the National competition are invited to take part in the intense international Race Camp competition in August, where one ultimate GT Academy winner will train with elite racecar drivers and race as part of a professional team.

Entering its second season, GT Academy USA is a national competition designed to recognize elite Gran Turismo drivers and give them the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fulfill their virtual-to-reality racing dream of becoming a professional racecar driver. The grand prize for the GT Academy winner is a spot on a racing team to compete in a real race, including all the training and licensing he or she will need in order to prepare. From there, it’s up to the winner’s passion, determination, and skill.

Last year, Bryan Heitkotter from California was crowned the first US winner of GT Academy at Silverstone, beating out 53,000 racing hopefuls in becoming a professional racecar driver and now racing a Nissan 370Z Nismo RC in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series in the top GS (Grand Sport) class.

“Being able to use our GT Academy graduates in our ever-growing range of top-level motorsport activities is another example of Nissan’s innovative approach to everything we do,” explains Darren Cox, General Manager Nissan in Europe. “If we didn’t believe in the drivers they wouldn’t be in those seats, but GT Academy has exceeded our original expectations and each year has provided us with some outstanding driving talent. As our drivers continue to impress on a world stage, GT Academy continues to expand. I would urge anyone that feels they have the talent to get involved and give it a go. GT Academy is a real, credible and exciting route into motorsport that will not cost you anything thanks to our partnership with PlayStation.”

Kazunori Yamauchi, President of Polyphony Digital, adds: “It makes me very proud to see the graduates of the GT Academy racing around the world with Nissan. This year we are aiming to make GT Academy bigger and better than ever before and so I am creating a new series of driving challenges open to anyone with a PS3 (Note: terms and conditions will apply). You don’t have to be an expert to have a go.”

So practice up on either Gran Turismo 5 or Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition and be sure to mark your calendars and get ready for GT Academy 2012 starting on May 2nd.

More details to come on the official site and Facebook.

It’s time to gear up for GT Academy 2012! The competition starts on May 1st and will be open to all entrants through June 24th.

Developed for racing fans of all levels, GT Academy 2012 will offer a newly designed eight-step training and qualification program accessible as a demo based on the hit Gran Turismo 5. The demo will be made available for free on PlayStation Store via PSN and will maximize the potential of all users, from beginners to advanced drivers. All participants will compete in a series of virtual driving trials using Nissan cars, and the best of the best will compete in the National Finals in July. The action will then jump from the virtual cars of the PS3 game to actual Nissan sports cars when the winners of the National competition are invited to take part in the intense international Race Camp competition in August, where one ultimate GT Academy winner will train with elite racecar drivers and race as part of a professional team.

Entering its second season, GT Academy USA is a national competition designed to recognize elite Gran Turismo drivers and give them the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fulfill their virtual-to-reality racing dream of becoming a professional racecar driver. The grand prize for the GT Academy winner is a spot on a racing team to compete in a real race, including all the training and licensing he or she will need in order to prepare. From there, it’s up to the winner’s passion, determination, and skill.

Last year, Bryan Heitkotter from California was crowned the first US winner of GT Academy at Silverstone, beating out 53,000 racing hopefuls in becoming a professional racecar driver and now racing a Nissan 370Z Nismo RC in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series in the top GS (Grand Sport) class.

“Being able to use our GT Academy graduates in our ever-growing range of top-level motorsport activities is another example of Nissan’s innovative approach to everything we do,” explains Darren Cox, General Manager Nissan in Europe. “If we didn’t believe in the drivers they wouldn’t be in those seats, but GT Academy has exceeded our original expectations and each year has provided us with some outstanding driving talent. As our drivers continue to impress on a world stage, GT Academy continues to expand. I would urge anyone that feels they have the talent to get involved and give it a go. GT Academy is a real, credible and exciting route into motorsport that will not cost you anything thanks to our partnership with PlayStation.”

Kazunori Yamauchi, President of Polyphony Digital, adds: “It makes me very proud to see the graduates of the GT Academy racing around the world with Nissan. This year we are aiming to make GT Academy bigger and better than ever before and so I am creating a new series of driving challenges open to anyone with a PS3 (Note: terms and conditions will apply). You don’t have to be an expert to have a go.”

So practice up on either Gran Turismo 5 or Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition and be sure to mark your calendars and get ready for GT Academy 2012 starting on May 2nd.

More details to come on the official site and Facebook.

A member of the GTPlanet forums has uncovered significant evidence suggesting the famous Mount Panorama race circuit is on its way to the Gran Turismo series...

Most of us, in real life, must stay content with occasionally going 10 miles over the speed limit in our used 2004 Pontiac Sunfires. We'll never know the thrill of triple-digit speeds, or experience the bowel-shattering roar of an Italian V12 engine; the harsh reality of reality is precisely why games like Gran Turismo 5 exist.

This Tuesday, equal doses of commuter sensibility and murderous horsepower will be available in Car Pack 3, the latest $5.99 DLC bundle of bumpers for GT5. The pack includes the Lamborghini Aventador, the Aston Martin V12 Vantage, the endurance-tuned Jaguar XJR-9 LM, as well as the more sensible Mini Cooper S Countryman, all-electric Nisan Leaf and button-cute 1966 Volkswagen 1200.

In addition to the new whips, there's also a new course to test them on. Route X, available separately for $3.99, is a specially designed oval track with banked curves intended for speed testing. The track allows the user to measure their quarter-mile times, g-force and acceleration, so it'll be helpful for obsessive compulsives (read: us) who obsess over the tiniest of modification details.

#granturismo On January 17, Gran Turismo 5 owners will get two news pieces of DLC to purchase, one of them a pack with six new cars, the other a new test track. More »

Hey, GT fans! I’m happy to announce our third batch of premium downloadable content coming to Gran Turismo 5 next Tuesday, January 17, along with some updates to the game itself.

The first piece of content is Car Pack 3 for $5.99, featuring six new cars from both past and present. Download Car Pack 3 to get your hands on Lamborghini’s latest flagship model, the Aventador, along with the Jaguar XJR-9 LM racecar, Aston Martin V12 Vantage, the 66′ Volkswagen 1200, Mini Cooper S Countryman, and the new Nissan Leaf.

The second piece of new DLC is the Speed Test Course Pack featuring the Route X test course, which will be available for $3.99. If you caught the PDI-made promotional trailer for the new Acura NSX Concept vehicle (that’s right, the NSX is back!!), you’ve already seen a sneak peek of this new track. Route X is a massive oval with giant banking corners, allowing you to test your vehicles’ maximum speed and performance, plus some beautiful vistas to rush by at 200mph. You’ll be able to use this track online, and in Arcade and Practice modes.

And since the Speed Test Course Route X is the perfect proving ground to test the performance of your vehicles and all of the custom tuning and modification you’ve done, we’ve gone one step further and made that even easier for you. You’ll be able to track things like your mile and quarter-mile time, acceleration and g-force.

Also coming next week is the XL Edition of GT5 for $39.99, along with a minor update to Gran Turismo 5 via free downloadable patch. Check here for more details on the new improvements coming in next week’s patch.

If you’ve missed the first two DLC drops in October and December, check here for more information about all the great new content available for Gran Turismo 5, including the new car and track packs.

Finally, GT Academy USA winner Bryan Heitkotter is gearing up to take on the 24H Dubai endurance race this weekend, taking turns with fellow GT Academy Europe winners. Follow GT Academy on Facebook to find out how they do in this grueling 24-hour race.

As prognosticated by retailers last month, Sony has officially revealed Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition. As expected, the game packs in the original GT5 with a host of extra content, including every update through Spec 2.0 right on the disc and a voucher for five pieces of downloadable content.

Finally, if you're looking for a little extra flair, the Blu-ray case will include a reversible insert that features the Red Bull X2011 supercar.

Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition launches January 17 for $40.

As prognosticated by retailers last month, Sony has officially revealed Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition. As expected, the game packs in the original GT5 with a host of extra content. Specifically, the new edition includes every update through Spec 2.0 right on the disc and a voucher for five pieces of downloadable content. Finally, if you're looking for a little extra flair, the Blu-ray case will include a reversible insert that features the Red Bull X2011 supercar.

Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition launches January 17 for $40.

#granturismo If you were one of those driving fans that passed up Gran Turismo 5 at launch in favor of waiting for a more complete edition of the game at a lower price, your patience pays off January 17 with the Gran Turismo 5: XL Edition. More »

I’m happy to announce Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition, a brand-new version of Gran Turismo 5 packed with even more features, functionality, and content. Here’s what you can expect to find inside when it rolls out to stores starting January 17th:

Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition Contents

• Original Gran Turismo 5 game, featuring more than 1,000 cars, 20+ locations with 70+ track layouts, diverse racing styles including rally, track, karting, NASCAR, and more, deep online community features and online racing, plus Gran Turismo TV, Course Maker and more.
• All of the new and improved features and functionality from all free downloadable game updates up through Spec 2.0 included on the disc.
• Voucher good for over $20 worth of DLC content, including the Racing Car Pack, Car Pack 2, Course Pack, Racing Gear Pack, and Paint Pack.

The XL Edition will also feature a new reversible inside coversheet featuring the new Red Bull X2011 supercar, to add a different look to your game library shelf.

You’ll be able to pick up the XL Edition of Gran Turismo 5 after January 17 for just $39.99. Watch the blog and the official GT website for more news about Gran Turismo, DLC, and new Gran Turismo TV content available exclusively within the game.

We're going to go out on a limb and assume that Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition, a mysterious new version of GT5 that's recently turned up on Amazon, Newegg and Buy, isn't a DLC-packed Game of the Year-esque compilation re-release, but rather a literally extra-large version of the original. Bigger cars, bigger tracks, bigger disc, bigger box ... it probably even requires an extra-large PlayStation 3 to play it.

If you're a market analyst looking to make safe predictions, we guess you could infer that GT5 XL Edition is actually the stateside title for Japan's upcoming Gran Turismo 5 Spec II rerelease, but we prefer living on the edge and thinking outside of the box -- until Polyphony Digital makes an official announcement, of course, at which point all knowledge of this post will be disavowed.