Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something comes along which pushes the envelope of racing pod construction even further.  GTPlanet member GTP_joeninety has built a fully-enclosed driving simulator for his living room.  No corners were cut, with the ‘box’ featuring everything from interior sound proofing to forced-air ventilation.  It also includes…

Professional drifter and rally car driver Tanner Foust announced his involvement with an online Gran Turismo 5 Prologue competition.  It’s pretty straightforward – just set the best time in the new “Tanner Foust Racing Competition” online event, taking place on the London city track in a Nissan 350Z with Professional physics.  The fastest time at midnight on November 2 will win a trip to the Red Bull Drifting World Championship in Long Beach, some head-to-head racing with Tanner in GT5:P, and a few laps around the real course in his car.  Second and third place drivers get an autographed copy of the game and a Gran Turismo T-shirt.  It’s good to see Sony encouraging these competitions, using the game’s online functionality to scout out the best players.  Hopefully, we’ll see a GTPlanet member hanging out with Tanner in a few weeks.  Best of luck to all!

The above image of a damaged Renault Clio in GT5 Prologue has provided a hilarious (and slightly disturbing) look at how quickly misinformation can spread throughout the internet.  Not one popular media article has accurately cited the source of the image, so this post should clear things up once and for all

Hardly a day passes in our Gran Turismo 5 Prologue forum, when someone does not lament the lack of skill that plagues many online competitors in the game.  Today, we may just have discovered the reason…  Logitech G25 steering wheels can now be purchased with a very special feature: a beer keg.  The new racing cockpit, created by Dream Arcades, include a tap conveniently placed above the cup holder.  Of course, you’ll probably want to drink after you pay for this thing: $7,000.  Of course, that includes a 120-inch projector, 5.1 surround sound system, PC, and a new G25 wheel.  Looks like the official GT Pod finally has some competition!

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In case you missed Amar212’s thread, you can now view in-game rankings directly on Polyphony’s Japanese web site.  Of course, the language barrier is an issue, but as Amar pointed out, basic functions can be easily discerned thanks to English track logos, buttons, and table headers.  Click on a user’s name to see the details about the time, or click on the Course name to only show times from that circuit.  It provides a quick way to check on the standings even while you are away from your PS3, and hopefully provides a look at future online functionality.  Thanks for the heads-up, Amar!

Despite continually being written off by the popular gaming press, another mention of the game has been stirring PSP owners everywhere.  This time, it’s not from Kazunori Yamauchi, but from the head of Sony Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida.  In an interview with Eurogamer, Yoshida acknowledged the game is still “in Polyphony Digital” and under development.  When asked about the delay, unsurpsingly, he cited work on Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Gran Turismo 5 as the primary culprits…

GTPlanet’s own alexwrc managed to dig up some photos showing the process of bringing the Citröen GT out of Gran Turismo and into the real world.  If you like the car, don’t miss this great photography.

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The October update to GT5 Prologue was made available for download just a few hours ago, and although it does not include highly anticipated features, it has just enough surprises to keep things interesting.  First of all, three new cars have been introduced: the Citröen GT, the Ferrari California, and the Lotus Evora.  Each can be purchased now for 1 million, 300,000, and 100,000 credits, respectively.  The difficulty of race events has been “adjusted” along with an increase in prize money awarded.  Other changes include Time Trial penalty adjustments, bug fixes, and new game physics.  The update is brand new, so impressions are just now forming in our GT5 Prologue forum.  Grab the update and share your two cents!

The long-shrouded Citröen GT, developed jointly between the French car maker and Polyphony Digital was finally unveiled today at the 2008 Paris Motor Show.  After all the teasing, it doesn’t disappoint, and so far has been well received by both the press and GTPlanet users.  More importantly, we can confirm that the car will be available in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, so we’ll all be driving it before long.  Official word on the powerplant is hard to come by – expect some type of hydrogen/electric technology outputting upwards of 646hp.  According to these screen shots released by Polyphony, the car went around High Speed Ring in 1’01.570, and hit 212 km/h downhill on the Eiger.  What do you think?  Do you like the concept, or would you prefer Polyphony focus more on Gran Turismo 5 development?  Sound off and join the conversation in our forums.

A pleasant surprise from Polyphony Digital today – a new update to Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is coming in the “first part of October”!  Details have yet to be disclosed, but all indicators point to an update in line with what we saw last August.  The download itself will be around 116MB in size, ruling out the inclusion of vehicular damage.  Other hotly anticipated new features, such as private race rooms and voice chat, could still make the unlikely cut.  The most probable addition will be Polyphony Digital’s Citröen Concept Car, the unveiling of which is (conveniently) set for October 2nd at the Paris Motor Show.  Regardless, all of your car settings will be lost after this update is downloaded, so grab one of our Quick Tune Record Sheets and save all your hard work!

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Who could have imagined that a “demo” would be one of the year’s best selling PlayStation 3 titles?  Marketing research company NPD Group today released U.S. sales data for each console, and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue landed a spot in the PS3’s top 5.  This is fantastic result for the game, especially when you consider the ranking does not include PSN downloads.  While our recent poll indicated that most GTPlanet users bought the hard copy, it would still be interesting to see what the actual numbers look like…

Our own chief race organizer, Sphinx, has started things off with GTPlanet’s first officially-sanctioned GT5 Prologue race competition!  We begin with a run of the 1960 Art Morrison Corvette at the Daytona Speedway Road Course with “professional” physics.  The competition actually takes place within the S4 event in the game, so tire selection is pre-determined.  Other tuning options, however, are completely up to you.  Just remember to save your replay at the end of your best time, and have fun!  This competition is only open to GTP_Registry members.

Thanks to GT5 Prologue’s new method of online time and replay verification, we are beginning to see the rise of legitimate competitions endorsed by business and “old media”.  This time, Australia’s Tarmac magazine is fueling the fires of the age old rivalry between the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and Subaru Impreza STi.  It’s simple enough to participate – just set your best time at London and upload it to the game’s online database.  Then, enter the competition and see if your time holds up.  The fastest drivers of each car will receive either a Mitsubishi or Subaru prize pack.  However, there does appear to be an oversight in the rules, as the use of Professional or Standard physics is not specified.  Tarmac editors posted on our forum that “it’s up to the driver”, but this seems a bit preposterous considering the vast differences between the two modes.  Either way, give it a go, and be sure to use your GTPlanet Registry PSN tag!

Back in March of this year, we first learned that Polyphony Digital and Citröen were going to collaborate on a “virtual” concept car to make an exclusive appearance in the Gran Turismo series.  Since that time, Polyphony has been dropping hints to remind us of the project, but the images and videos amounted to little more than artistic looks at the in-game circuits.  Today, however, our very own alexwrc uncovered a mysterious upload to photo-sharing site Flickr from user “GT by Citröen”.  Sony regularly uses Flickr to upload high resolution screenshots, and alexwrc confirms this is certainly the real deal.  We will share more photos as they become available…until then, enjoy the teaser!

GT series creator Kazunori Yamauchi was on hand at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance last month to award the first “Polyphony Digital Trophy”.  As an honorary judge, Yamauchi was given the chance to recognize his favorite vehicle from the hundreds of elite and storied competitors at the event.  His final selection, a 1967 Lamborghini Miura P400 Bertone prototype, is certainly an exceptional automobile, but it got people talking in our forums.  Could his recognition of a Lamborghini be a sign of things to come?  It’s a fun theory, but don’t hold your breath.  Instead, consider this unprecedented event a landmark for Polyphony Digital, and one of the highest recognitions the Gran Turismo series could possibly ever receive.  Who could have dreamed the first new award in more than 7 years at Pebble Beach would be in the name of a video game developer?  This respect and recognition is a testament to the professional, mature style that Polyphony and Yamauchi have crafted into the GT series over the years.  Check out more details about the event after the jump…