Gran Turismo 5 (グランツーリスモ 5, Guran Tsūrisumo Faibu, commonly abbreviated as GT5) is a 2010 sim racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3.

World Rally Championship, NASCAR and Super GT licenses are utilized for the first time in the Gran Turismo series.

[7] The game also won multiple awards and turned some players into real-life professional racing drivers with the GT Academy competition.

[4] Dunsfold Aerodrome, located in the United Kingdom – the test track of the British automotive television show Top Gear – is included in the game.

In the Spec 2.0 update, there is the #71 Schulze Motorsport Nissan GT-R which Yamauchi drove in the 2011 24 Hours of Nürburgring and the new stock car designs of the 2011 NASCAR Season.

Sony Computer Entertainment has certain control over the release dates of their games, which could be one of the contributing factors delaying Gran Turismo 5.

[32] Gran Turismo 5 was shown off extensively at E3 2010 including a new trailer, a North and Latin American release date, playable demos on the show floor and various private press conferences revealing new information about the game.

Overall, Gran Turismo 5 took more than five years to complete, with a total cost estimated at $60 million, although Polyphony Digital did release four other games during this period.

[34] Yamauchi has expressed the difficulty of developing for the PlayStation 3, specifically mentioning how the extensively different (at the time) architecture of the Cell processor had made programming extremely challenging and time-consuming.

[35] This greater than expected difficulty to program for the Cell processor is speculated by some people to also be part of the reasons why Gran Turismo 5 was delayed a number of times.

Nevertheless, it showed what progress had been made since Polyphony Digital's previous game, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in terms of graphics, physics and other aspects of game-play and design.

The preliminary virtual rounds tested of driving skills in Gran Turismo 5 using pre-selected Nissan vehicles and all entrants would receive free digital content for playing.

[41] Sony and Polyphony Digital have confirmed that the Gran Turismo 5 Academy events would be available for European players to participate in from March 4, 2011.

[48] Many of the updates have improved the multiplayer racing, including weight and power restrictions on which cars can be driven in an online session, a car performance rating system, handicaps such as ballast and engine restriction, mechanical damage, and the ability to use the built-in course maker in online multiplayer races.

A new update for Gran Turismo 5, called Spec 2.0 was released on October 11, 2011, featuring 11 new NASCAR vehicles, a new downloadable opening movie[54] (no longer available after the server shutdown in 2014), the ability to save during endurance races, weather intensity control and AI improvements.

All online activity closed on May 20, 2014,[61] but a special event was held from April 30 to May 30 that allowed players to unlock five additional cars for Gran Turismo 6.

[64][65][66] On November 14, it was revealed that Sony had teamed with Swiss watchmaker Tissot to host the official countdown timer for the launch of Gran Turismo 5.

[67] In February 2011, a real version of the Polyphony Digital-designed Citroën GT was floated by the Rialto Bridge in Venice, recreating a location in Gran Turismo 4.

[70] Sony producer Taku Imasaki said that the reason for the delay was that series creator Kazunori Yamauchi and Polyphony Digital want to "make certain they are creating the perfect racing experience".

[72][73] It was later claimed by a Blu-ray forum moderator that the delay was due to Sony's decision to release the game under the newer 3.50 SDK firmware standard (to combat piracy), rather than 3.41 as originally intended.

[74][75] While at the Specialty Equipment Market Association Show on November 2, 2010, Yamauchi confirmed to automotive blog Jalopnik that GT5 had entered final production for release.

The behavior of the cars is startlingly faithful to their real-life counterparts, so they respond accordingly to poor driving and when you miss critical braking and turn-in points".

[113] The inclusion of a track generator, karts, licensed World Rally Championship and NASCAR vehicles was also received positively, as was the new dynamic time and weather effects.

[114] CGMagazine claimed that the detail of the games track's combined with the weather effects add up to "some breathtaking driving experiences with sunset on the horizon and dirt being kicked up around your car, or rain drops hitting the windshield in cockpit view with uncanny realism".

[118] Destructoid commented positively on the lightning, weather and particle effects, stating that "watching snow blow onto and over the windshield was so lovely that it was almost distracting.

The AI was also criticized for still making CPU-drivers brake unexpectedly and not being aware of the player's car on the track, just as in previous games in the series.

[134] In Japan, Gran Turismo 5 debuted in the software chart at number one, and this helped PS3 console sales more than double for the week ending November 28, 2010.

[144] Four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon appears in the game as a mentor to the player, guiding them in the skills of slipstreaming specific to the sport.

In partnership with Alpinestars, a downloadable pack released in October 2011 features replica helmets and overalls worn by drivers such as Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Petter Solberg, Mikko Hirvonen and The Stig.

In January 2013, Johnny Herbert mentored 6 players in a primetime ITV4 reality series, with the aim of taking them to the Dubai 24 Hour race as real drivers.