Now the game has been out a while (Premium cars and Standard cars)

[RockinVs]

i get the cars for what they are.

however, i wish you could change wheels on standard cars. cockpit view is nice, but i like to drive with the bumper cam.

also, the basic wings for standard cars are really lame. the premiums have the better molded pieces made for the car.

so, if the car comes in premium, i get the premium over the standard. If it doesnt, i still get it.

i have also found the premiums to be faster. i think it is because of the ability to change wheels. my 450pp 07 rx8 is faster than my 450pp 03 rx8. the only real difference is the 07 is a premium, and has aftermarket wheels. (the engine is the same, even with the year difference) i think the aftermarket wheels are wider, and can have more tire and more grip. maybe i am seeing things, but the numbers dont lie.

 

[Jose']

If it's a premium car, it has every chance to be bought.

 

[TK42OnE]

I guess I still prefer Premiums (I use the cockpit view), but there are a lot of very interesting Standard cars that I love to drive too.

Corvette Grand Sport
Corvette '63 race car
RUF Yellowbird
Mugen Civic Race Car
Taurus SHO
Holden Commodore, etc...

The physics don't seem to be any different, but it is a shame when you look at them on replays. Some of them are pretty horrid.

 

[analog]

"Standard cars are bad m'kay".

Seriously, I hardly use them because I'm a cockpit view addict, I've recently used a couple online with some members here and was forced to use a previous view and it took me quite a while to get used to it again.
I did have fun because of the actual racing, not because these cars provided me with the same thrill I associate with the current gen Premium cars (again cockpit view).
Cockpit view for me is a gameplay feature, not just a graphical element 'put over' bumpercam, it really makes a difference not just in the way it immerses but also the way I drive using it compared to another viewpoint.
If you use any other view than cockpit view I can easily understand their inclusion might not bother you at all, to me driving either a Premium or Standard car feels like playing a different game however and I prefer my games to be on the cutting edge of technology with all current gen possibilities in place.

Don't start the whole "physics are the same" or "I like a lot of the cars which are Standard" arguments I hear frequently.
I also like a lot of the cars (as in their real life counterparts) which now are Standard, a lot of my GT4 favourites are in fact Standard.
But they aren't that attractive to me anymore, using them (believe me I've tried) only reminds me they lack the viewpoint I currently prefer to use instead of offering pure enjoyment (and that's why I play videogames).
The new improved physics can't hide that and yes the physics are largely the same and yes physics are a very, very important aspect of any GT-game, the physics were actually what persuaded me to buy the first GT-game and my first game console after playing it.
It's just that those physics are experienced differently depending on viewpoint, or at least for me they do.
I like the whole package, good physics combined with cockpit view, I won't settle for anything less since I upgraded to the PS3.

So I will occasionally use Standard cars online with some friends if they request a certain type of car only available as Standard as the actual online racing makes driving them "bearable" and makes it feel a bit like playing GT4 online (which is the only real new relevant element aside from improved physics).
If I'm driving offline (and the vast majority of time online too) I only use Premium cars as only they can provide the full current gen driving game experience I expected GT5 to offer.
That's a choice I made and I'm really not that bothered by this whole divide anymore as I was before GT5 was released, it's a fact they're there and you can use them or not.
But they're definitely not the same.

 

[eran0004]

Premiums are great, they are a showcase of the future. That's why they are called premium, they are the creme de la creme. It's awesome to enter cockpit view and find that it looks as real as it can get.

Standard cars are great too. There's an incredible variation and something for pretty much each taste. Sure, there are no cockpit views and the graphics are a bit blurry, but on the other hand it doesn't matter at all when racing because you don't even notice it because in a race and with all the speed you just have time to register the position of the cars, there's no time to read bumper stickers... and in that perspective the standard cars feels just as real as the premium cars do. Yes, you can take a photo of the car during the race and it will be a lot of pixels, but did you buy the game to race or did you buy it to take photos of cars?

Right now I love the standard cars a wee bit more than the premium cars, because of the variety. 800 cars is a lot and there are some true classics in the collection.

But then again, I might just have a too small TV to be bothered counting pixels. Lucky me.

EDIT: And the thing about if it was Forza who had standard cars there would be people laughing at it, well, first of all only it's not matter of graphics at all, it's all due to the rivalty between sad people who can't appreciate that there's a diversity of games in the genre and that some people prefer one game over another. Trust me, if it wasn't due to graphics there would be other flaws invented by the said sad people to flame the game, and it would be just as bad as the bad graphics would be. It's quite naive to believe that just because the graphics get polished, the rivalty between fanatics of each game would just disappear and there would just be a big meadow with flowers on and eternal sunshine of the spotless minds. And icecream for everyone.
Sorry to ruin the dream, but that's not how it works.

EDIT 2: Also, graphics are basically just representations of a real world. They can be more or less realistic, but the brain will read and interpret the visual impressions even when they are as minimalistic as this:

(Jet Slalom, a great online game! Try it)

EDIT 3: What I'm saying is that yes, as realistic graphics as possible are great, but it's not vital to a game.