Official GT5 Nurburgring “Reality Check” HD Video

Jordan Greer · · 75 Comments

Sony Germany has published an official HD video comparing Gran Turismo 5’s Nurburgring with the real “Green Hell” and – needless to say – it’s pretty impressive. There’s no snow flurries, though!

UPDATE: GTPlanet user davissi has shared his own ‘ring comparison video here – take a look!

See more articles on , , , , , and .

Comments (75)

  1. Lawndart

    Great video, but I find it interesting that it doesn’t appear they used the 24 hour version that has a lot more of the tents and trailers more consistent with the real life video…

  3. Obsidian-2

    Too bad they used the AMG challenge (full lap) version of the Nordschleife for comparision … that one is dark and foggy. Would have been better to use practice or arcade mode with no weather. Still looks great, but that’s one reason the game footage looks dark.

  4. Magic Ayrton

    Fantastic graphic detail.. now, SORT THE SOUND OUT!! and replays in 2 player split and online, and of course I want a Gearbox where I can modify all the gear ratios and not have that straight cut gear whine!

    Still the best game available and I have tried iRacing, GT5 is more fun. Thanks KAZ.

  5. JohnH2005

    And all of that glorious track you see was because of Land Surveyors. I love my job! I would kill to be the one that got to scan all of that in!

  7. Dustyr

    Looks great but when will we have more tracks a spec races and more special events. Iran in gt4 it had tones of rally. And alot of extras and when I put in the gt5 disc i find it missing things. I want to race the top gear test track in the reasonably priced car. Go head to head with the stig. Try and break 10 minutes on the pikes peak hill climb and maybe see tracks like abu dabi 24 hrs. Baha trucks would be nice but I would love to see ai that can race. I think the historic Indy and f1 tracks would be nice and also fia gt1 class races

    1. Dartdoktor

      The problems that we have to less F1 and FIA courses belongs to Mr. Ecclestone. Because they are under license of the FIA. So they can allow or deny.

  8. Christian

    Every time i drive this track its a blast, espeacially in online races, it’s a real equalizer, even when i loose i throw my hands in the air like i dont care

  12. nitro_c4

    It just goes to show how good GT5 is graphically and precision wise. Heck it shows how good it is as a whole.

    Great job, PD, & thank you, Jordan.

  14. nothingreal

    It looks pretty damn good for sure..

    ..but at the risk of being seen as down on GT5’s graphics.. I think that most other recent driving sims that feature the ring would probably look about as good when presented like this.

    I think the thing that keeps most game graphics from looking truly ‘real’ isn’t necessarily the pin point precision and resolution of the graphics – though that’s important.. it’s the real-life ambient variables like patches of fog, dust and smoke that can make a scene come alive.. imperfections.

    that and like pretty much every PS3 title, the graphics seem a little washed-out. blacks aren’t quite black enough.

    Still, in a way, it’s nice to be able to nit-pick about such minor details.. GT5 is still a great looking game.

    2. nothingreal

      @BMX i agree.. but not as far as the modeling of the track itself goes.. The premium car models in Gt5 are beyond anything else.. but they aren’t shown in the video.

      I don’t find the tracks themselves to be that much better than the competing video games.. not that GT5 looks bad – it’s definitely as good as any other recent releases.. but it does suffer from the same limitations of all the other driving sims do .

  17. TokoTurismo

    Watching this video, makes me want to go on the Nurburgring again and again in GT5. I got to watch the full ending movie again.

    Thanks Jordan. :)

  18. TokoTurismo

    Watching this video, makes me want to go on in again and again in GT5. I got to watch the full ending movie again.

    Your the best Jordan. :)

  20. VBR

    The Nurburg Ring is GT5’s crowning glory & that comparison video shows just how good it really is. All the people who critisized Kazunori San (for wasting his time racing on The Ring instead of developing the game), may now begin to realise that all the driving he done there has improved some aspects of the game, namely the realism of this most awesome track!

  23. Jack

    The ‘Ring looks great, it’s my favorite track and GT5 definitely does it justice. A side-by-side comparison of an entire lap would be far, FAR more useful than that video though. The constant switching back and forth really diminishes its value.

  24. GTP_Davey07-O37

    What a great video. Love this track, and my favourite of all. The video just compounds how brilliant GT5 really is…;-))…

  30. Craigles

    They people should’ve taken the HUD off though in the gamplay one.

    Jordan. Any idea when this standard to premium update is comming? Because i was soo disapointed in my only bought yesterday
    formula gt i almost sold it straight away. It just looks so bad (that and there is no cockpit but i did no that when i got it) i wish i waited for the ferrari 2010 f1 car.

  33. Madman Apex

    would you expect anything less from PD?? if you had the time, energy and resources you could make a similar video like this with ALL the real life tracks in GT5.

    1. infamousDee

      Other games developers have the same resources, and neither is anyone forcing them to spend any less time on their games, but still PD’s attention to detail is unrivalled. Coincidence? I think not.

    1. StogyBear

      I think this problem with GT5 is the Field of View. Not only does it make tracks look narrow it also makes the car look like its going slower than it actually is.

    2. Vesartis

      I think the real life camera is little lower, more like a bumper cam. while GT5 is higher, more like cokpit or hood level. This might make the real life track appear wider and increases the sense of speed.

      All in all, the detail and accuracy is amazing. I feel confident enough to do drive the real track using only my GT5 practice.

    3. RoboKrikit

      The real bumper cam is using a wide angle lens with heavy barrel distortion. Watch overhead at the starting line around 2:00 for an example. GT5 is not constrained by the physics of real-world optics, so no funky angle of view is created.

  37. edward cullen

    I own both gt4 &gt5 and i used wheel on this game, as a racing driver in real life, i’d say its very very accurate. but i’d still driving alot and practicing on Gran turismo 4, for my racing preparation and incharge of getting me an IS license graduate in racing that conly cost $2000, so thanks to gran turismo 4, i will be sticking to this game, because this is where i based my driving style

  39. Keith

    Thankfully they actually made the attempt to match up the FOV!

    Its still not the same FOV, I don’t think though, but its a lot closer than the ridiculous BMW Nurburgring video.

    The best comparison would have come from cockpit mode extra zoom, as it is the closest you can get to things looking as they are in real life, and not being stretched to fit curved peripheral vision on a flat screen.

  43. IchiYamamoto

    Wow, this is amazing.
    Aside from the trees,
    there’s really little difference.

    So, GT6,
    fix those trees and landscapes.

    1. VEYRON STANDARD? WTF

      people talk about shadows but really the trees and backgrounds are worse. I’m not trying to complain, but especially on tracks like deep forest, trial mountain, and autumn ring, the backgrounds are awful 2D low res crap. I don’t think most peope notice that stuff so maybe I’m OCD but if you see them, they do look pretty bad. Most of the trees are bad too. They’re just 4 2D flaps of tree. the course maker has some legit 3D trees though. Not important though, I’m really enjoying the game

  44. SHIPARCH

    Just today, once again I was racing through the ring and saying to myself: this looks damn real. Of course there are technical limitations but for the most part it does look like the real ring, and it puts a smile in my face win or lose.

  45. Bernd

    That was great! Take that speedo away and you barely can tell the difference.
    I missed the typical smell of steaks and Bratwurst, guess I’ll have to add this myself, cheerio :D

  46. G

    Watching it for the 4th time now… if it wasnt for the HUD there would be no difference at all… Even the texture of the track is spot on… This should be played for all GT5 doubters who claim the PD team have been slacking off while making the game!

    1. roninhyde

      I was thinking the same thing … It would’ve been much better if they’d just turned off the HUD. Though this video was probably made before they had the option.

    6. FlareKR

      Me too, I could only tell which one was GT by the HUD, otherwise I’d be pausing and taking three looks.

  47. racer dee

    Just watching this,makes me forget about GT5’s graphical problems like the lego-like shadows and the standard cars… (:

    1. Rsection8

      I got lost a couple of times which was real and which was CG, what a well done video.. That was excellent..

Comments on this post are now closed.

About the Author
More Videos
Subscribe to GTPlanet on YouTube!
Related Articles

Gran Turismo 5 Turns 10 Today

Andrew Evans · · Comments
November 24, 2010. That’s the day that Gran Turismo 5, the first full Gran Turismo release on the PlayStation 3, first launched.

The Real Story Behind the Mysterious Cat in Gran Turismo 5

Jordan Greer · · 30 Comments
When Gran Turismo 5 was released, something unusual in the game’s Kyoto Photo Travel Location caught the attention of our community: a curiously detailed little cat. He blinked, turned his head, looked around, and generally drove people crazy.