Car Culture

The launch of the Xbox One S has been a resounding success for Microsoft. In the UK, the console has outsold the PS4 for the past 4 months despite Sony’s stronghold on the home console market. Had your eye on the HDR-ready Xbox revision? A promotion between Forza Horizon 3 and Amazon’s The Grand Tour may be able to help if you live in the US of A.

It’s hard to believe, but SEMA has been holding the ceremony of the annual “Gran Turismo Awards” for more than a decade now. What car is going to claim the “Best in Show” at the largest automotive exhibition in Las Vegas this year? We’re going to find out next week — Wednesday, to be precise — when the 14th iteration takes place in Sin City.

We’re sure many of us have some annoyances about certain things — commonly referred to as pet peeves — that puts us in great discomfort every time we think about it. Everyone’s got something that makes them tick, so it shouldn’t be unusual to hear even racing drivers have a few of their own, as they often find themselves in rough and seemingly merciless conditions. NISMO TV has a sampling of the personal bugbears its racing drivers grapple with, including GT Academy grads.

If you are the slightest bit like the crew here at GTPlanet, you have already dreamt of teaming up with a few cronies for a no-holds-barred cruise around the globe, driving whatever and wherever your fancy desires. And, if like us, those dreams are no closer to reality, then it’s time to live vicariously through the white-knuckle antics of three petrolheads playing out that very fantasy.

Fasten your seatbelts — the former hosts of BBC’s renowned motoring show “Top Gear” are back in the driver’s seat for an all-new Amazon Original series “The Grand Tour.”

The #AcrossTheHorizon tour has landed in Northern Ontario. Xbox Canada invited GTPlanet to join in the festivities to celebrate the upcoming release of Forza Horizon 3, and this is the third leg of the cross-country tour. Just as we have on the earlier stops, we need your votes to determine what activity we do next.

We’re coming at you from the largest city in Saskatchewan on the second leg of the #AcrossTheHorizon tour with Xbox Canada. GTPlanet is tagging along on a portion of the trip, which started in Vancouver on Monday.

In case you’ve been living under a particularly large rock, a little thing known as the Olympics just wrapped up in Rio on Sunday. A testament to the capabilities of the human body, the best technology available, and the relentlessness of VISA advertising, it offers a global stage for the absolute best to compete against one another.

Former GT Academy graduate Lucas Ordoñez is auctioning one of his racing suits for a great cause. Lucia Gil Alvaro is an 11-year-old girl who suffers from the rare disease ‘Leber congenital amaurosis’, which causes the person affected to become blind. However, this illness can be treated but must be done so in the USA. For the past 8 years, Lucia has been treated in Philadelphia as explained below in the video introducing the auction:

Every year at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Polyphony Digital award the Gran Turismo Trophy; a token of intent to bring the chosen winner into the Gran Turismo series. The official description of the trophy states the following:

Earlier this week we reported Saudi Prince Badr bin Saud got the jump on other private bidders, purchasing both the one-off Bugatti Vision GT seen above, and pre-production Chiron. Before the prince can take delivery, both cars are currently scheduled to appear side-by-side at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance later this month.

As one of the most famous circuits in the world, Mount Panorama has been a daunting challenge to drivers from around the globe since it opened 78 years ago. Unlike modern auto racing complexes, it runs a single layout, with the current 6.2 km (3.8 mi) circuit hosting major events like the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in February and the Bathurst 1000 in October. That will be changing in the future, with a second layout being added to the East of the existing circuit.

Ginx TV, the UK’s dedicated gaming channel, has undergone a re-branding and change of focus: becoming the world’s first dedicated eSports TV channel. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, Ginx eSports will provide a programme mix that will take footage from eSports tournaments and other relevant events to provide gamers and mainstream viewership alike with the latest from the ever-growing eSports gaming scene.

Join us from 17:00 EDT / 22:00 BST / 23:00 CEST this evening as we air our report from a rather wet 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed where BMW takes centre stage as it celebrates its centenary.

With E3 kicking off this week, and GT Sport events already taking place in London, Nürburg, and Tokyo, fans of the franchise are itching to get a chance for a test drive before the game arrives on PS4 in mid-November. We’ve got good news, at least for UK residents: GTPlanet has teamed up with Sony Computer Entertainment UK to give you the chance to win free admission to GT Sport’s second appearance in the country, at the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed!

If you were a rally car, what kind of life would you like to live after your pavement-punishing career finishes? Would you cruise around local sales auctions, hoping some driver will take you for another exciting motorsport adventure, or would you give yourself over to peaceful days of dust collecting in automotive museums, to the joy and happiness of all the visitors? Our friends over at InsideSimRacing found an even better solution: full-size simulator.

Just last week, we brought you images of the Gran Turismo Hot Wheels collections set to arrive in stores later this year. What we overlooked at the time was that the site responsible for the sneak peak (the T-Hunted blog) also had a smaller, interesting look at the other big console racing tie-up with the diecast giant: Forza.

More news on the Gran Turismo collection from Hot Wheels: It looks like even the world of diecast cars can receive expansion packs!

The latest post made by Polyphony Digital on Gran Turismo’s official website could attract some very dense toy car collector and enthusiast traffic. AUTOart, the popular die-cast model car manufacturer, has released a special 1:18 replica of the speedy Red Bull X2014 prototype!

I believe many of you will recall our report from the 2015 SEMA automotive show several months ago when we closely followed the battle between five 2015 GT Awards finalists, all brought together from various categories. Presented by Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi himself, the ”Best in Show” crown was awarded to a painstakingly-modified Datsun 240Z, which is owned by popular Fast & Furious movie star Sung Kang.