GT5 New Time and Drift Trials

New Time and Drift Trials have just gone live in Gran Turismo 5‘s Seasonal Events, placing the spotlight on French cars.

Time Trial No. 37

• 450PP French Cars: Madrid City Course Time Trial
  Period of Availability: 2012/05/30 23:00 – 2012/06/13 23:00
  Gold: Cr.250,000  Silver: Cr.150,000  Bronze: Cr.100,000

• 550PP Toscana Reverse Time Trial
  Period of Availability: 2012/05/30 23:00 – 2012/06/13 23:00
  Gold: Cr.250,000  Silver: Cr.150,000  Bronze: Cr.100,000

Drift Trial No. 37

• French Cars: Tokyo Route 246 Drift Trial
  Period of Availability: 2012/05/30 23:00 – 2012/06/13 23:00
  Gold: Cr.250,000  Silver: Cr.150,000  Bronze: Cr.100,000

• High Speed Ring Drift Trial
  Period of Availability: 2012/05/30 23:00 – 2012/06/13 23:00
  Gold: Cr.250,000  Silver: Cr.150,000  Bronze: Cr.100,000

 http://www.gtplanet.net/french-cars-featured-in-gt5s-new-time-drift-trials/

GT Academy 2012 Rounds 5 and 6 Now Available

Two new rounds of time trials have just been unlocked in the free GT Academy 2012 mini-game, just as participants log nearly 50 million miles driven in the simulator. Here’s a closer look at the new challenges:

Round 5 – Nissan Skyline GT-R V spec II Nür (GT Academy) ’02

• High-Speed S Curves with Steep Elevation
• Continuous Hairpin Corners with Steep Elevation
• Spa-Francorchamps, ‘Pouhon’
• Suzuka Circuit, ‘Degner Curve’
• Series of Corners at Dusk, Low Visibility

Round 6 – GT-R Black edition (GT Academy) ’12

• Nürburgring, ‘Pflanzgarten’
• Sections with Rapid Elevation Changes
• Top Gear Test Track, ‘Hammerhead’
• Downhill S Curve
• Sarthe at Night, ‘Hunaudieres’

 http://www.gtplanet.net/gt-academy-2012-rounds-5-and-6-now-available/

New GT5 Seasonal Events

Polyphony Digital diverts from their usual pattern with the latest GT5 Seasonal Event, featuring FF cars with no more than 430PP.

• 430PP FF Challenge: Tsukuba Circuit / 7 Laps
  1st: Cr.142,400  2nd: Cr.86,700  3rd: Cr.76,200
• 430PP FF Challenge: Daytona Super Speedway / 5 Laps
  1st: Cr.132,000  2nd: Cr.80,500  3rd: Cr.70,700
• 430PP FF Challenge: Cape Ring Outer / 5 Laps
  Cr.181,600  2nd: Cr.110,600  3rd: Cr.97,100
• 430PP FF Challenge: Clubman Stage Route 5 / 7 Laps
  1st: Cr.166,100  2nd: Cr.101,100  3rd: Cr.88,900
• 430PP FF Challenge: Eifel (Kart) 103B / 7 Laps
  1st: Cr.199,400  2nd: Cr.121,400  3rd: Cr.106,600

Keep in mind that due to the new “Performance Difference Bonus” introduced in update 2.06, cars with a lower PP value will receive greater reward
http://www.gtplanet.net/ff-challenge-comes-to-gt5s-seasonal-events-introduces-performance-difference-bonus/

GT5 2.06 Update Out Now

A new update for Gran Turismo 5, version 2.06, has just been launched and is now available for download.
475MB
 
Updates and New Features

• It is now possible to adjust the race BGM and sound effect volume from “Quick Options” during a race.
• A save data backup feature has been added.
• Compatibility for the sequential shift mode of the Guillemot “TH8 RS” gear shifter has been added.
• A “Performance Difference Adjustment” has been added to the rewards for seasonal events (Applies only to seasonal events held after this update).
• Force feedback for the “Driving Force GT”, “GT FORCE Pro”, “G25 Racing Wheel”, ” G27 Racing Wheel”, and ” T500 RS” steering wheel controllers have been improved.
• A car with racing modifications applied are now categorized as a Racing Car (previously Tuned Car).
• The off-track shortcut penalty has been tweaked.
• The GT5 Photo Stream service has just been launched for all players worldwide. To view the latest images taken and shared in the game are now available here.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a problem where Karts and Ferrari F1 cars could drive together with other cars in the Lounge
• Fixed a rarely occurring issue in which the system freezes when exiting the lounge
• Fixed a problem where you could purchase tires for the 125 SPL racing Kart in the tuning parts shop (Tires purchased previously will now become invalid)
• Fixed a problem in which the straight-line stability of the Lancer Evolution X was decreased when using a steering wheel controller
• Fixed an issue where wrong color dirt and snow tire wheels were displayed on some cars when the wheels were changed
• Fixed delay when launching electric cars using controllers other than a steering wheel controller pedal
• Fixed a rarely occurring issue where the system would freeze at the end of a race
• Fixed an issue where it becomes difficult to hear your own car when driving with other race cars in online races, etc.

 http://www.gtplanet.net/gran-turismo-5-update-2-06-brings-photo-stream-new-features-bug-fixes/

GT Academy 2012 Rounds 3 & 4 Now Available

The third and fourth rounds of GT Academy 2012 have just been unlocked in the free downloadable mini-game which is hosting the international competition. 
As expected, the new rounds bring faster cars and more technical driving challenges:

Round 3: Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II

• Rotary Corner in the Madrid City Course
• S Curve at Suzuka Circuit
• Continuous Corners and Elevation Changes
• Variations of Corners
• Maintaining Stability in High-Speed Sections

Round 4: Nissan 370Z (GT Academy) ’08

• The Nurburgring’s “Kallenhard” Section
• Low Speed ‘S’ Curve with Changing Radius
• ‘S’ Curves 2
• Suzuka Circuit’s “Spoon Curve”
• The “Variante Ascari” and “Parabolica” at Monza

http://www.gtplanet.net/gt-academy-2012-rounds-3-4-now-available-attracts-half-a-million-players/

Twin Ring Motegi Coming To GT5?

It looks like GT5 will get a new Race Track and will be playable at Round 8 from the GT Academy 2012. 

Twin Ring Motegi

http://playfront.de/about/gta-academy-season-2-shots/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Ring_Motegi

GT Academy 2012 Starts Today

The search for the next generation of GT Academy champions begins today! 
This year’s competition will be bigger than ever before, open to players in more than 15 countries in four different regions:

• Europe:
• Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg
• France
• Italy
• Spain and Portugal
• Switzerland
• Austria and Poland
• UK and Ireland
• The United States of America
• Russia
• Germany

Here’s how everything works  

The exclusive Gran Turismo content will be available to download from PlayStation Store, free of charge, from 17.00BST / 18.00CEST on May 1 until 23.59BST / 00.59CEST on 24 June. You can download and take part at any time during this period, so even if you miss the start you can still play catch up and get involved.  

Once you have downloaded the content, Polyphony Digital will release new rounds approximately every two weeks; in total there are eight rounds and within each round there are five sections.

Here’s a list of the rounds and when they will be available:

Round 1 and 2: 1/5 (Tue) 17.00BST – 24/6 (Sun) 23:59 BSTRound 3 and 4: 14/5 (Mon) 00:00 – 24/6 (Sun) 23:59 BST Round 5 and 6: 28/5 (Mon) 00:00 – 24/6 (Sun) 23:59 BST Round 7 and 8 (ROUND 8 IS FINAL/QUALIFICATION EVENT):  6/11 (Mon) 00:00 – 24/6 (Sun) 23:59 BST

A champion will be crowned from each region, with each getting the chance to drive for Nissan in the 2013 Dubai 24 Hours. Players in other countries will likely be able to download and play the demo, but will not be eligible for the competition’s main prize. As of writing, however, no official confirmation of this has been announced by Sony.
GT Academy 2012 will be available on the PlayStation 3 as a free, downloadable mini-game via the PlayStation Store. The game will consist of eight consecutive time trial events over the next eight weeks.
Good luck, everyone!
http://www.gtplanet.net/gt-academy-2012-launches-today-in-15-countries/