NISMO Increases GT6 GPS Data Logger Functionality and Track Count

Gran Turismo 6

For tech-heads, Gran Turismo 6’s GPS Data Logger function is something quite exciting, but for the gamers it’s something that appears limited in scope at first glance.

Since it was introduced in the v1.06 game update in April, the feature has been somewhat of a niche curio. With the data-gathering part of the feature limited to only a pared-down version of Toyota’s 86 coupe, only sold in Japan and only covering three of Japan’s top tier race tracks – Fuji, Suzuka and Tsukuba – the chances of gamers being able to use the full breadth of the logger’s scope have been somewhat slim.

The first aspect of NISMO’s involvement don’t appear to make matters much better. Nissan’s version of the vehicle hardware interface, dubbed “NissanConnect NISMO Plus” is set to debut in December with the official launch of the £125,000/$152,000 Nissan GT-R NISMO 2015 – which GTPlanet drove at Silverstone this summer. However, it also marks a significant swelling in the ranks of available circuits and the first signs of manufacturers making reference laps available, as NISMO will release the GT6-compatible telemetry of Michael Krumm’s 7’08 Nürburgring Nordschleife lap for download to gamers.

With a standalone smartphone app available for telemetry analysis, NISMO plans to have GPS Data Logger information available for 178 of the world’s top racing circuits and has already mapped 17 of Gran Turismo 6’s tracks across Japan, North America and Europe. If you’re one of the very few buyers of the GT-R NISMO, you can race against your own data gathered from the following circuits:

  • Ascari Race Resort
  • Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
  • Brands Hatch Circuit GP
  • Circuit de la Sarthe
  • Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
  • Daytona International Speedway
  • Fuji Speedway
  • Indianapolis Motor Speedway
  • Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
  • Mount Panorama
  • Nürburgring Nordschleife
  • Red Bull Ring
  • Silverstone
  • Suzuka Circuit
  • Tsukuba Circuit
  • Twin Ring Motegi
  • Willow Springs International Motorsports Park

The technology isn’t just limited to the NISMO GT-R, however. It’s a relatively simple interface that stores data that’s already gathered by vehicle CANbus systems – a standard communications system since 2001 – in an appropriate format for Gran Turismo 6’s GPS Data Logger function to read. NISMO doesn’t plan to limit it to the GT-R and the system should trickle down to other NISMO products – 370Z, Juke and, though only a concept currently, Pulsar – while it could conceivably be offered by Nissan as a NissanConnect package enhancement on any model in the manufacturer’s range.

In addition, CANbus is standard protocol on new vehicles since 2001 so, while Nissan and Toyota are amongst the first manufacturers to make this GT6-compatible interface available, it could appear in the infotainment packages of any manufacturer in the future if they are so inclined!

Also worth noting is that NISMO mapped the circuits for the feature in a very specific manner, driving equipped vehicles around the tracks mentioned at a steady pace. This is remarkably similar to how a GPS Course Creator would function and indeed the confidence NISMO places in the GPS Data Logger ought to be taken as a proof of concept of such a future feature.

GT6 Photomode image courtesy of mohammad708.

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Comments (68)

  1. ccaranna

    I can’t wait and try to match Krumm’s lap time. It’s interesting how slow a 7’08” lap appears in real life. Meanwhile I can get a GT-R in GT6 around the Nurb in 7 1/2 minutes and it seems like I’m out of control. This is amazing stuff and I’m excited about the future.

  2. Phathead555

    So essentially a complete waste to anyone who has bought a car outside of Japan or doesn’t have a deposit on a Nismo GT-R. How about concentrating on the actual game instead of including wasteful plug-ins that consume memory and could be available on a separate platform. Nobody needs the data logger, but the GPS course creator could be a welcome addition. Hell, any course creator would be nice. Y’know, like the one promised in the beginning.

    1. Famine

      Your first statement ought to be a question, and the answer to it would be “No”. Actually reading the article would tell you why.

    2. Aussie_HSV

      Famine wrote: “Actually reading the article would tell you why.”

      Best of luck with that.
      It would seem that any and every news item is regarded as an invitation to an open stage for complaining.
      Regardless of the content of the news item and/or the corresponding relevance of the complaint.
      It’s pure open slather.

      Disrespectful to the news author in my opinion.

  3. dannaryan

    After watching this video I gotta say that the GTR here and in game do sound really quite alike, although to be fair I haven’t driven my GTR in ages and I’m just going off of the top of my head.

    Good job on that one PD!

  4. HuskyGT

    I didn’t buy the game for this stuff… PD has forgotten that Gran Turismo is s game. And as many developers, they have forgotten what makes a game fun.

    1. ironman44321

      This article has nothing to do with PD…This is an article about what NISMO is doing with a feature in GT6.

      Did anybody bother actually reading this article? Anybody?

    2. HuskyGT

      I don’t care if it is or not. It is GT6-ralated news and that’s what matters to me. And no; I read just like the first two lines and figured I couldn’t care less.

    3. Griffith500

      I don’t care about logic or reason, I just want to cry. In the article is mentioned a gamey aspect: race real life “ghosts”. Maybe that’s not why you bought the game either, but that’s hardly PD’s fault.

    4. ironman44321

      So you just need a place to whine and this seemed to fit? Try not to have any tantrums between this and the next news piece eh?

      I’m going to admit I have little patience for those who lack substance.

  5. Kurei

    Must be a slow week for GTP, they’re back to reporting irrelevant news for GT6 fans.

    “Confidence in a concept” doesn’t mean much to many, when the game is closing in on a year of age, and it still doesn’t have advertised features.

    1. TexRex

      What makes a GT6 fan? I’ve completed the game 100% with a Platinum trophy, while I have yet to touch 20% trophy awards in any other game at my disposal. It may be irrelevant to you but you’re not everybody–I even dare say you’re not anybody.

  6. Lou_Bitgewd

    Cool more features I’ll never use… A Car only sold in Japan….. for over 100k…. Yea…. What a joke…. Game is missing a good 50-75% of its Promised features, and this is the jackwagons focus? *very long and drawn out sigh*

    1. Lou_Bitgewd

      “If you’re one of the very few buyers of the GT-R NISMO, you can race against your own data gathered”

      “NissanConnect NISMO Plus” is set to debut in December with the official launch of the £125,000/$152,000 Nissan GT-R NISMO 2015

      This is remarkably similar to how a GPS Course Creator would function – Key word WOULD

      What did I miss exactly?

    2. Famine

      The feature is already in the game – it has been since April. You can find it on the far right of the main menu screen. So the article has nothing to do with what Sony or PD are doing with the game.

      The car is not sold only in Japan. Indeed a GTPlanet member in the USA just took delivery of his.

      The technology is not limited to the car, merely being launched in it. Nor indeed is it limited to the brand – there’s two paragraphs disclosing why that is.

      Nissan will be releasing the replay data from Michael Krumm’s 7’08 lap to the GPS Data Logger feature for gamers to use (well, except you, since you’ll never use it).

    3. Lou_Bitgewd

      “With the data-gathering part of the feature limited to only a pared-down version of Toyota’s 86 coupe, only sold in Japan and only covering three of Japan’s top tier race tracks”

    4. Famine

      NISMO don’t make the Toyota 86. Toyota do.

      When the GPS Data Logger was launched in April, it only covered three Japanese tracks and was only available in the Toyota 86 “Racing”. Now NISMO has joined in and it isn’t. That’s literally the entire point of the article.

    5. Lou_Bitgewd

      Yea and about 90% of the people who play GT cant afford to buy a car just to use the feature. Game is nearly a year old, and it still doesn’t have advertised/core features.

      Perhaps I’m jaded at this point. but I’m just disgusted with the lack of action on KAZ/PD’s part. Little to Zero communication… Crying about hardware limitations, Talking up GT7 when GT6 is even remotely close to being finished.

      I mean come on…. GT6 doesn’t even have OFFLINE arcade race settings for Pete’s sake….

    6. Famine

      You don’t HAVE to buy a car just to use the feature. You’re getting it completely backwards.

      GT6 is the ONLY piece of commercial software in the world with the feature. That means that if you buy the car, you have to buy GT6 to use it, not the other way about.

      This will become readily apparent when Krumm’s lap is released. Did you do the lap? No. Did you buy the car? No. Are you using the feature? Yes.

      This article is nothing to do with Sony/PD’s actions, any updates, any features that haven’t been released yet. It’s to do with NISMO making the feature that already exists more useful for gamers. And yet people are complaining about it…

    7. liv4hardstyle

      @Famine, I hate to be “that guy” but the man (Lou_Bitgewd) still has a point. We were presented with information of community features, track creator etc and coming up to a year without completion is bordering on lying. Yes, its not relevant to this specific article but fans are to get annoyed (myself included)

    8. liv4hardstyle

      *fans are annoyed, I’m patient but the longer PD takes, the more people will bring it up, even on irrelevant articles..

    9. Griffith500

      Sometimes, I really have to admire the persistent tenacity people exhibit when clinging fearfully to their own ignorance and prejudice.

      50% of the features missing? Hardly. The features “coming in a future update” were not the only features advertised for, or present in, the game (at launch)! Oh wait, ignorance and prejudice; right.

      Screw the facts, let’s get emotional.

    10. GBO Possum

      So where did you get the idea that the game is missing 75% of its promised features? Show us how you calculated 75% please.

      And how is this relevant to an announcement of a Nismo product, albeit one that uses a game that some of us enjoy?

      Why are you bringing up issues about your disappointment with Polyphony Digital when the article is about upgrades to a Nismo product which just happens to use features of GT6 which were released many months ago?

      All this high pitched whining reminds me of vacuum cleaners.

    11. Lou_Bitgewd

      GT5, b-spec was literally HALF the game… you played through on A-spec, and then still had a whole nother play through on B-spec, 50% of the game missing right there… Now add in the Course Creator, Community Features, OFFLINE RACE settings… that’s an easy 25% missing.

    12. Griffith500

      So, given you quote 3 features (it was features you mentioned first, not content) being worth 25%, B-Spec is therefore worth 6 “features” at 50% (despite being only one feature and some content), and there are as a result only 12 features in the whole game (“promised” or otherwise)?

      I was right: ignorance. And that’s being kind.

  7. sneakypete123

    So where/how would you stand taking one of these round the Nurburgring as its illegal to use timing equipment round there during public sessions?

    1. Famine

      It’s not ad hoc timing equipment, per se. Certainly it records your inputs and position, but you can’t use it in that manner.

      That said, some manufacturers do offer in-car chronometers (Porsche most notably) which is used for recording lap times.

  8. TRLWNC7396

    My take on this is what I said from the beginning:

    This technology has something to do with the GPS track generator.

    THAT is why I’m interested in this!

    BRING IT ON!!!! :)

    1. TRLWNC7396

      (Facepalm….) Did you ACTUALLY read the last paragraph? It’s not rocket science to make a (very blatantly hinted at) connection.

      What is wrong with people here?

  9. JacoJa

    Is there any point in having Bathurst included? It’s a two-way public road with cyclists and pedestrians behind every blind corner.

  10. FoxHound

    Wow it’s just unbelievable how PD even dares to do this. What about all the features the games was ADVERTISED with, but are still MISSING? (after what, a year now?)

    They are simply digging their own grave. GT5 was a dissapointment and didn’t live up to the hype created (it was what, 5 years or more in the making?). It still was a fun game, but they the content delivered did not meet the expectations of customers.
    GT6 is the first game in the series i skipped (due to gt5 being a dissapointment for me, see above). However, judging from the posts on this forum and the anger of these gamers/customers towards GT6 and the flaws of it, it seems like it’s a subpar product (like GT5 was) and I’m glad i skipped it (remember before you call me out: each and every gamer that has bought this game has the right to rant on it, since it was hard earned money spend on a product. If a product does not satisfy a customers needs/expectations, than it’s obvious the customer will not be happy).
    The fact that they’re going to continue with the standards in GT7 is an insult to anyone who knows what the true value of money is. They advertise almost every installment of the game with ‘great graphics’, the disk cases only showcase pictures of the premium cars in PHOTOMODE (better rendering, lightening, and thus not real time rendered in game), and when creating the hype they use these same tactics. However, as soon as a customer actually plays the game and uses a standard car, man the dissapointment hits me right in the feels.
    Keeping the standards is nothing more than a marketing trick for PD to advertise ‘hey, we have over 1xxx cars in our game! Buy it!’. I hope people will see this trick by now and be wiser before they spend their hard earned cash.
    Now looking at other games, it seems as the GT-series has been surpassed in almost any way possible, gameplay wise (and OVERALL graphics wise). PD seems to put most of their resources in delivering ‘stunning’ graphics with only a handful of cars (i.e., the premiums and some tracks), but seem to neglect other, much more important aspects of a racing game in todays era (i.e., AI, good online, realistic optical and mechanical damage (yes, no matter what you say, this SHOULD be a gameplay feature for a game that advertises itself as ‘the real driving simulator’), weather conditions on every track, etc. Other aspects, like livery editor, track creator, are also important for a game, but not as much as the previously mentioned things (remember: PD advertises their product as ‘the real driving simulator’).

    Yet, what does PD do after almost a year? They update the game with a feature that only an extremely small fraction of the userbase will be able to use. Talk about ‘being out of touch with the customers’….mind = seriously blown at the way this company runs things…

    1. Famine

      There is no part of the above article that even mentions PD, so while I’m sure that rant was cathartic it’s not especially relevant. It’s about NISMO exploiting a feature that’s already in GT6.

      The feature was added to the game in April. NISMO is merely the latest company to exploit it and they’re doing so in a manner that is better for Gran Turismo fans by releasing official testing telemetry for download. GT6 remains the only commercially available piece of software with this feature.

      Also, read the last paragraph.

  11. ironman44321

    I really like the idea of being able to download racing driver replays to race against. The tech is probably a few years off of being really useful for those of us who won’t own a compatible car, but it’s nice to see it moving along and it’s not like anything anyone else is trying to bring to racing games.

  12. Griffith500

    I’m a little confused on the details, although admittedly I’ve not been following it all that much (because I was convinced at the outset that a GPS course creator is both feasible and well on its way for GT6).

    If the data collection is for comparison to real laps, why are they driving so slowly? And if it’s for reference for the game (say, for lat/long limits etc.), why is Nissan / NISMO doing it?

    Also, bearing in mind I already “know” the GPS course creator is coming, I don’t actually get how collecting “track data” for the data logger is explicit confirmation (“ought”) that the GPS course creator is a real and actual thing.

    Aside from the obvious, of course. ;)
    Mind you, a nod’s as good as a wink…

    1. motokroy

      GPS gets it’s precision from triangulating upwards of 6 satellites (sometimes twice as many) at once. In other words, the slower they drive, the more detailed the picture becomes, thus narrowing the divide between virtual and reality.

    2. Griffith500

      Sure, I get that part. It was more the fact that the tracks are already in the game, and the fact that Nissan / NISMO is doing it not PD.

      But it’s OK, the article seems to really be a vehicle for that big fat hint at the end. :)

  13. 05XR8

    Mount Panorama would be awesome if it was closed for press to drive the GT-R NISMO. I’m sure there will be car magazines trying this out soon enough. If their data could be shared, it would add a bit more comparison for us that don’t have access to these cars.

    That’s useful data for GTPlanet “tyre testers”.

  14. MatskiMonk

    “NISMO Increases GT6 GPS Data Logger Functionality and Track Count”

    Looks around…

    “HEEY!! NISMO Increases GT6 GPS Data Logger Functionality and Track Count”

    Turns back to face PD…

    “See, Nobody cares…”

    THE END.

    1. MatskiMonk

      I’m Mister Positive, I don’t badmouth PD in any threads, but to relate this to GT6 like anyone cares anymore is stupid. Most people have written off the game in favour of next gen… sorry I mean, current gen titles. we are unlikely to see the benefit of this until GT7, so excuse me for not getting excited over it.

    2. Thomas2012

      Cool technology but I have to agree with you, not many people will care. Hopefully PD are busy on an update to come soon

    3. Famine

      It’s related to GT6 because the function is already in GT6. It’s over on the far right of your main menu screen. GT6 is, in fact, the only current piece of commercial software in the world capable of reading this data.

      There’s now 6 times as many tracks supporting the data collection on three times as many continents and twice as many manufacturers – and Krumm’s ‘lap record’ ghost becoming available is the first step of manufacturers and professional drivers providing replay telemetry to us gamers without having to go buy anybody’s cars.

    4. MatskiMonk

      Famine, I totally appreciate the potential is there. But right now, is GT6 in it’s potential phase? It needs to be in its delivering phase, and I mean delivering to the masses, not to the few. I love the tech, I just wish it was a bolt-on to what was already an astonishing game, rather than just a potentially great bolt-on to a potentially awesome game.

    5. TexRex

      There are those that DO care about it, though. I saw the news article and knew I wanted to read more about it before I was even close to clicking it. The technology fascinates me, and further reading revealed the fact that this can now be utilized by those currently unable to record such data. I’m thrilled. Then I look at the comments an see that people are complaining about things that have NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ARTICLE!!! Nobody cares that you don’t care and your own apathy does not give you the right to speak for the masses.

    6. MatskiMonk

      Believe me, I care about the tech, but it’s like telling people you have this amazing new cure for their wounds… it’s called salt.

      Without the announcement of other features relevant to the masses, such as those indicated that will come on the website and the packaging, this is more like a “Nah Nya.. we got cool toys and you don’t!” ..

      On isolation it’s great, but in the context of a game that hasn’t yet delivered on it’s promises in the face of next gen opposition it seems like a silly thing to start getting excited about.

      But It totally hope you get hours of fun with it.

    7. MLRSparco

      This isn’t a feature PD should be focusing on seeing as it’s only going to be used by a extremely small portion of people,this is a feature you would focus on once everything else is done and all promised features released and 100% working.

    1. TeamCZRRacing

      The GPS technology is to a point where it can be used to accurately trace a route around the Nurburgring. That means that the technology has progressed quite a bit.

  15. zzz_pt

    The majoraty of GT gamers are not tech-heads. We want stuff for the game, not this “tech” stuff that only a samll fractions of gamers will use.

    We’re still waiting by the Curse Maker. Almost 1 year after launch.

    1. TexRex

      It may as well be the ‘Curse Maker’ as at this point it’s just fodder for the cursed complainers. “NISMO doesn’t plan,” “NISMO mapped the circuits,” and “confidence NISMO places” are statements indicative of NISMO’s involvement in this–not solely Polyphony’s. There’s no course maker? Get over it!

    2. zzz_pt

      Get over it? PD and Kaz promised over and over. They are failing their audience. I always complain when I pay for something and I don’t get it. If you don’t , that’s your problem.

    3. TexRex

      Then write a nasty letter to the company responsible for this failure you speak of. Crying on a forum won’t further your cause and doing so in a location lacking any correlation between the topic at hand and what you’re crying about is about as imbecilic as it gets. Whether you call it a Curse Maker, a Course Maker, Course Creator, or Little Bo Peep–it has nothing to do with expanded GPS Data Logger capabilities.

  16. Amac500

    Is this a joke? Indianapolis does not have track days and the layout in the game doesnt exisit anymore and the road course was completely reconfigured for the IndyCar GP. Daytona too, we run a layout that doesn’t exists. The long bus stop used in GT6 hasn’t been used in years and it disappeared completely when they repaved the track a few years ago. You also can’t do Le Mans because the track is part public road and part closed off; even if you get on one you can’t get on the other. This is hilarious.

  17. Ameer67

    “…as NISMO will release the GT6-compatible telemetry of Michael Krumm’s 7’08 Nürburgring Nordschleife lap for download to gamers.”

    Ah man that’s going to be cool!

    1. BOSS_335

      So if 178 tracks have been logged by Nissan! Does that mean when the course maker goes live we can have access to that data to create simplified versions of all those circuits? If so, GT6 will explode PS3 or not.

      Make it happen PD and Nissan. I don’t care, I’ll run time trials in the the NISMO all day!!

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