As revealed in today’s PlayStation State of Play, Kazunori Yamauchi has announced the next major update for Gran Turismo 7: Spec IV. The update is so large it will arrive in two parts, this October and December.
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Kazunori Yamauchi framed Spec IV as the opening act for the 30th anniversary of the original Gran Turismo, which lands in 2027. Across the two releases, players can expect two new circuits, 12 new cars, a pair of new online modes, a new “Family Mode”, and a set of changes to how cars are bought, viewed, and collected.
Spec IV is, of course, the third in a series of milestone updates, following Spec II in November 2023 and Spec III last December. It’s been hinted at since April, when an invitation-only PlayStation survey asked players directly about a “Spec 4” update, and a second survey followed in July. Today, we finally find out what came of it.
There’s a lot to cover, so let’s dig in.
Autumn Ring Circuit
Autumn Ring, one of the original 1997 Gran Turismo tracks and a mainstay of the series through GT6 (and one of my own personal favorites) is coming back!
The original layout is faithfully recreated, and Polyphony has extended the track with a new, “larger circuit that offers a variety of new ways to drive,” says Kazunori Yamauchi. He also mentions “you can race Autumn Ring with its original layout and scenery faithfully recreated,” so we can drive down memory lane in 4K, too.
Of the fictional circuits that have yet to return in GT7, Autumn Ring has been near the top of most wishlists, so this one will land well with longtime players. It will arrive in the later Spec IV update this December.
It’s also been hiding in plain sight this week. The LEGO PlayStation set that leaked on Tuesday contains a tiny Gran Turismo diorama that, on close inspection, depicts Autumn Ring Mini, complete with autumn foliage and rumble strips. With today’s announcement, the timing looks rather less like coincidence.
Sportsland Sugo Circuit
Spec IV brings a new track in October, and it’s Sportsland Sugo in Japan.
Sugo is a fixture of the domestic Japanese racing calendar, hosting Super GT, Super Formula, and Super Taikyu rounds, and it’s a track with a lot of character.
The lap is short at around 3.7km (2.3 miles), but it packs in a big elevation change, a long, fast run through the back section, and a tight uphill final complex that funnels into the pit straight. It’s a circuit where mistakes are expensive.
This is the first time Sugo has appeared in a Gran Turismo title, which makes it a notable addition for a series that has otherwise covered Japanese circuits pretty thoroughly.
New Cars
Twelve cars are confirmed for Spec IV, and it’s a classically broad mix. Only the first six have been revealed for now, presumably the batch coming in October:
- BMW M5 (E60): the 2004-2010 M5, and the only one to carry a V10. The 5.0-liter S85 made 500hp, borrowing its layout from BMW’s Formula 1 program of the era. It last appeared in Gran Turismo 6.
- Honda Mugen Motul Civic: the Group A Japanese Touring Car racer, last seen in the series in Gran Turismo 6.
- Citroën 2CV Charleston: the two-tone special edition of France’s most famous economy car.
- Honda Stepwagon Spada: yes, a minivan. Polyphony has never been shy about everyday Japanese cars, and this one continues that tradition.
- Mazda RX-Vision GT3 Evo: revealed by Mazda last month, an updated take on the RX-Vision GT3 Concept that first arrived in GT Sport in 2020.
- Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo: the Chinese tech giant’s VGT entry, first shown in February, finally makes its in-game debut.
Shuffle Races
For a lot of longtime fans this will be the big headline: Shuffle Racing is back!
For those who missed it the first time around, Shuffle Racing was a lobby mode introduced in Gran Turismo 5 in which players don’t choose their own cars. Each race instead hands everyone a machine of broadly similar performance at random, which levels the playing field, forces drivers to adapt on the fly, and produces the kind of chaotic, grin-inducing racing that made it a cult favorite.
The mode disappeared after GT5, and players have been asking for its return more or less continuously in the 13 years since. The July survey may well have had something to do with this.
Quite how “Shuffle Races” will work in GT7 remains to be seen, both in terms of whether it follows the GT5 formula exactly and where it will sit within the game’s online structure, but we do know it will at least contain randomized cars. Shuffle Races will be added in the December update.
Online Drift Challenge
The second new feature is “Online Drift Challenges”, which Polyphony describes as a way for drivers to test control, precision, and style against each other.
Drift Trials currently exist only as single-player Mission-style events, so a proper online version is a meaningful addition for that corner of the community. It will also arrive in the December update.
Concierge, Car Viewer, and Progression
Beyond the two modes, the blog post lists four further features without much explanation: new “Driving Experiences”, an expanded Car Viewer, new “progression elements”, and a “Concierge” feature for buying cars.
The existing Used Car and Legend Car dealers rotate their stock, which means waiting for a specific car to appear. A concierge service implies you’ll be able to request what you want instead.
Family Mode
Coming in the December release, “Family Mode” is pitched as a more accessible way to play GT7 with family and friends, and a welcoming starting point for players with different levels of driving experience. Yamauchi also suggested it will offer “something fresh and fun” for existing players.
There’s no detail beyond that, but the framing is notable. Since launch, GT7’s onboarding has been the Café and its Menu Books, which is a fine structure for a solo player and a poor one for handing a controller to a relative. A dedicated mode for that situation is long overdue.
“Family Mode” sounds similar to My First Gran Turismo, the free, stripped-back demo released in December 2024. It was built for exactly this audience, with only a few cars and a retro-style menu. At the time, Yamauchi said he wanted to “continue to update” it.
Nearly two years on, it hasn’t received a single update, and Polyphony hasn’t mentioned it since, so Family Mode may well be where those plans ended up. Folding the idea into GT7 itself, where the full car list and physics already exist, makes more sense than maintaining a separate title. That’s our reading rather than anything Polyphony has said, but the timing and the description line up neatly.
More Changes and Updates
In addition to the major headline features, more updates have been confirmed, including:
- A new Spec IV opening cinematic intro.
- The next evolution of Gran Turismo Sophy.
- A new Power Pack difficulty level.
Release Date
As mentioned, the first part of Spec IV lands in October, with the second in December.
The next batch of information arrives during Round 3 of the Gran Turismo World Series in Singapore on October 3, where Polyphony has promised more on the cars, circuits, modes, and features in both parts of the update. In the meantime, head over to the GT7 forums on GTPlanet to share your thoughts on Spec IV!
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