Actually the so called premium cars are not that future-proof. Sure, they are high-poly but:
[*]They lack a good damage model. Glass doesn't break and the cars are melting!
[*]Mechanical Parts are not modedeled so when the car is damaged you don't see the mechanical parts but the road (rally cars are the exception)
[*]Suspension parts are not modeled and the wheels which have a solid black interior face are awful!
[*]Car upgrading is not realistic or fun:
[*]You make a weight reduction and the cockpit of the car remains the same (no seats are removed, no bucket seat are placed, leathers are not replaced with carbon fiber, etc)
[*]Likewise exterior chrome detailing is not removed and only the hood is replaced with a carbon fiber hood. Car upgrading doesn't make the car feel like a racing machine, but more like a pimped-out ride with a funny bad-taste spoiler at the back.
[*]You make a rigidity improvement and a roll-cage is not installed.
[*]And when these are fixed a livery editor, even a basic one, should be introduced.
[*]The cockpit lacks reflections on the windscreen and it doesn't seem like there is a windscreen.
And then there are the shadows and the blocky smoke which make the cars look bad during gameplay. Yes, in photo-mode the cars of GT5 look better than any other game in the hands of a talented virtual photographer. But I think that since the core of the game is driving and racing (well to be honest I don't think that racing is part of the game...) they should have made sure that cars look good during gameplay.
Anyway, I get the feeling that 1080p and the extremely high-poly are making the game look worse. It's good that PD let us have 16 car races (8 cars are way to little) but they should have made the game more balanced.
As for the standard cars in GT5 they will live forever!!
I don't believe that there is any profit for PD or Sony to upgrade standard to premium. We bought the game!
There are reports on the contrary but I believe that they are bad translations or wishful thinking! Just like there were reports about the most advanced damage model ever prior to GT5's release and we all have seen how that turned out! 👎
As for potential future games, which are not a given (and come on, GT5 just got released and you are already getting hyped for the next one?!), I believe PD (or whoever else is the developer for Sony's next sim-driving-racing-game) will drop ALL standard models and will model new cars with cockpit and a more realistic damage model from scratch (outsourcing maybe?), hopefully including some historic cars that give so much character to GT5.
