Mercedes’ GT5 Hot-Lap Challenge, Winners Drive SLS AMG

Mercedes-Benz continues to take full-advantage of its newfound affiliation with the Gran Turismo series with cross-promotions and online games, and this may be the best yet! Visitors to the Mercedes-Benz World in Weybridge, Surrey, UK get a chance to drive the SLS on GT5’s Nurburgring Nordschleife, recording an official time. The three fastest drivers (along with two more contestants randomly selected from the top 100 times) get to drive a real SLS AMG on Mercedes-Benz World’s test track.

Unfortunately, I’m terribly late in picking this up, and the competition ends today, Friday, July 23rd, at 6PM. If you’re local, though, and can get there in time, I’d love for a few GTPlanet readers to win this! Learn more about the contest and view the fastest times right here. Sorry for the late notice, and thanks to Hoodie1878 for the tip!

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Comments (83)

  1. Geo_212

    For anyone who played this demo, how are the physics? Does it feel more like a real racing simulator?

    1. SweetshopUnion

      I didn’t notice much of a difference but then again I wasn’t on for very long and I haven’t played GT5P in a while either.

  2. SweetshopUnion

    Seriously, if you actually visit Mercedes Benz World and all you wish to do is play the GT5 demo something has gone wrong in your life.

  3. GT_Prologue5

    Man this bites. It seems UK has gotten all the good stuff (come on, a SLS Challenge AND a Beta testing?). The US is one of the biggest markets for video games, and I like Geo_212’s idea of a PSN competition. And I don’t see Europe, Africa, Australia, Japan, or anywhere else getting a nice gift. Sure, America and France are the only 2 countries to get release dates yet, but we’ve gotten nothing in terms of a nice promotion. Just blowing off some steam.

  4. Hm I Guess I Miss Out

    GT5 should give equal attention to all countries. People in Australia can hardly do anything! The closest we have is basically the Gran Turismo Time Trial Demo and updates on this website. Lol

  5. MarkyMark8609

    I posted this a few weeks back in one of the threads in the GT5 section!

    Went to Pistonheads Sunday Service and spotted the booths, unfortunately the F1 was about to start so didn’t get to have a go :(

  6. davissi

    Just got there in time to do 2 laps in the arcade setting which was quicker unfortuneatly, but nevermind got 3rd place ! Now I need to tell someone that they’ve entered my time in wrong, they’ve added a full minute to my lap time , he forgot to change the 7 to a 6 doh!!

  7. chris

    I was at MBW today! Weird timing for this to appear on the website :s

    Couldn’t enter the compo (not 25), pretty fun just having ago though, can’t wait till november :)

  8. magicayrton

    Yeah, agreed, give us another demo for goodness sakes, we have waited SOoooo very long after all!!

  9. Marky264

    I’ll be posting my full report when Im home, I had an hour and a bit of playtime with a couple clean hot laps, Managed to get myself 5th on the Leaderboard – Mark Kearon, there were two guys from the GT Academy aswell that they were both 2nd and 3rd, Dimitri came first with a quick time they are all displayed on the SLS Link with the names and times, Jordan I’ve caught pictures of the winners a short video shall I send these to you yourself and you publish them?

    1. Maxiboy

      Dude its not just North America thats not getting it … its EVERYONE who doesnt live in Europe. I mean to say that NA gets nothing is ridiculous, its the ONLY area that has a release date. NA gets more stuff than most, and I really think you have nothing to complain about, in fact it annoys me that you have bitched about it.

    2. noko

      woah woah woah, what crawled up your butt? Excuuuuse me for wanting to play a game that I’ve been waiting for for 6 years. You guys have kiosks set up all over the dang continent, and we have an arbitrary number that’s probably going to get changed again. We get the shaft while you get all the rewards.

    3. organdonor

      noko calm down we are all (earth) are waiting for the same game. It has nothing to do with location. We just had E3 with demos. Complain if US gets the game a couple months later than EU, until then you have nothing to complain about except the long wait, which is almost here.

    4. Maxiboy

      Haha I stand by my statement, but maybe the execution was bad. Walked home last night after having a few tins, then got rolled by two dudes, then logged on GTP tipsy, sore and angry. My apologies are extended your way.

    5. BWX

      @Maxiboy: by the sounds of it, you probably deserved it.. Your mouth writes checks your butt can’t cash. Noko has a point.

    6. Maxiboy

      @BWX
      I definitely didnt deserve to have my well earned cash taken off me by a bunch of Filthy searhers who have never had a job in their life, just because I offend someone on GTP. Oh and BTW it sounds like your the only one whos writing checks…
      i never challenged anyones man-hood in the way you just have.

  10. FlareKR

    Apart from the fact I ran a 7:00 flat in the SLR in GT4, imagine what I could do in that ugly reincarnation.
    Oh well, PD lost a good opportunity to put this online. If they would’ve just keep putting competitions on PSN, the sales of GT5 would soar to the top of PlayStation (again).

  11. Max Spooner

    Hi, Im the guy that runs this competition at MB World and the competition is close. 6.50 is the fastest then 6.55, 6.57

    Have some of the guys from GT Academy here too.

    WHY DIDN’T YOU PUBLISH THIS WHEN I TOLD YOU IN JUNE??????

    1. Hoodie1878

      Just had a look Max, can see that quite a few struggled!

      Will the demo still be available there after this date?

    2. Jordan

      Sorry, Max, I get hundreds of emails per day so it’s hard to catch everything. I searched, though, and the only record I have of your contact was on July 4th. You said they had the simulators in the UK, but didn’t mention the competition or provide a link to the website.

    3. Maxiboy

      Jordan, dont stress. We all know you would have told us all minutes after you knew. One man cant do all the GT publishing on the net. You do after all let everyone know more than PD and sony put together!

    4. P37Mac

      Maxiboy’s right, you do a damn fine job Jordan! Without you I’d just be watching fat people falling over on youtube lol

    5. Vulcao

      That happened to me too. I sent very hot tips to GTPlanet 3 days ago (?) showing severe damage and the scans of the OPM-UK August 2010, but nothing has been published yet.

      I understand Jordan perfectly though. Hundreds of emails per day… this is hard o.o

    6. GMDLONDON

      Yes Jordan its easy to say sorry but it was easy to ask where the simulators are?
      But its difficult to relay on GTPLANET news

  12. FlareKR

    Population of Surrey 1,109,700
    Population of Las Vegas 1,865,746
    Population of Miami 5,414,712
    Population of Houston 5,867,489
    Population of Chicago 9,785,747
    Population of Los Angeles 17,786,419

    The Amount of Mercedes Benz dealers in those cities:
    A crap load of them.

    Amount of knowledge of potential customers and videogamers
    Uhh… zero.

    I can go on forever

    And I agree with Geo_212, instead of doing this garbage where you go to no where for these events, put them up online and advertise them. Uhhh… smart?

    1. Hoodie1878

      It’s basic marketing my man. Mercedes want people in Mercedes World experiencing their brand. It’s their promotion and not GT5’s.

      They also want people who aren’t too serious a racer to have a go, probably why two people are drawn out of a hat.

      I’m gutted, been to busy at work to travel down there.

    2. P37Mac

      Yeah I think a small application is the point mate. Mercedes probaly don’t want a shed load of sweaty gamers degrading their brand lol. Anyways how many of these dealers in the cities you mentioned have test tracks to implement the prize on? I might be wrong but I don’t think Mercedes had that many suitable venues to choose from. The ‘ring might have been an option but I don’t think they want their SLS’s written off!

    3. Geo_212

      @P37Mac
      While that may be true, it would still be much better for them to advertise on the PSN, since that would, obviously, make the GT5 sales rise a lot. You’d be surprised at how many people don’t even know what the GT series is. haha

    4. BWX

      @FlareKR
      Population of Surrey 1,109,700
      Population of Las Vegas 1,865,746 <— WRONG
      Population of Miami 5,414,712 <— WRONG
      Population of Houston 5,867,489 <— WRONG
      Population of Chicago 9,785,747 <— WRONG
      Population of Los Angeles 17,786,419 <— WRONG

      Las Vegas, Nevada Population, 2006 estimate 552,539

      Miami-Dade County, Florida Population, 2009 estimate 2,500,625

      Houston (city), Texas Population, 2006 estimate 2,144,491

      Chicago (city), Illinois Population, 2006 estimate 2,833,321

      Los Angeles County, California Population, 2009 estimate 9,848,011

      SOURCE — US CENSUS

      Where the heck are you pulling your numbers out of??

    5. P37Mac

      I would love another demo Geo-212, one that everyone could have a go at. Unfortunatly this is Merc’s buisness not Sony’s so it couldn’t have been anything more than it is; Merc showing off it’s shiny new cars performance to its Surrey customer base.

  13. Geo_212

    Why can’t they just put up a demo on the PSN for a contest like this? I mean, come on, Sony, not all of us GT fans can go to these events!

  14. Luke

    What a shame, they are always doing such great events and i`m never even near those event ares :(
    But they sure know the prices we want :) The standart price for such a competition is a copy of the game itself, but that would be quite boring :)

  15. Berlino Bear

    Its funny all you Americans saying you want to drive these cars on your Ring. I keep reading that. In the UK we say ‘driving by the seat of our Pants’. Its much more polite.

  16. MgG

    @ Hendrik_597

    i think the gumpert apollo is the fastest of the 3…the apollo have 3 versions, 650ps, 700ps and 800ps…but i think porsche and gumpert are not implemented in gt5…

    sorry for bad english^^

  17. Marky264

    Hey Jordan are you definately sure it finishes at 6? I should gett there for around 4ish hopefully, I might call them up, Give me a nice few laps on the ring if its not too busy fingers crossed!

  18. Hendrik_597

    hey ;D november, the new german big 3 Mercedes SLS, AUDI R8 and perhaps Porsche 911 Turbo S?? Gumpert Apollo? does anybody now if they are in gt5? would be awesome to drive them on the ´ring ;D who will be the fastest?

    1. HugoStiglitz_420

      why not the Gumpert? Porsche won’t be in but I’m hoping there will be tuners. Ruf, 9ff, Gemballa. I really wanna drive a carerra gt.

    1. Berlino Bear

      Ah Davissi.. You are the guy who’s cheating in the hugely prestigious PH GTP time trial challenge and comming first. Lets see you cheat at Merc World. ;)

  19. scoop2004

    Won’t it be hilarious when the european release dates is announced at gamescom and turns out to be september lol.

    I hope it’s early november at the latest though!

  20. Marky264

    thankfully i saw this before I set off from Devon! Heading home to Woking so I can catch a train frm Woking to Weybridge to Mercedes Benz World and I’ll Get a few Pictures and a Video or two. I’ll add to the Thread on the GT5 Sub Forum.

  21. DrTrouserPlank

    Wow. I bet the gaming enthusiasts who all buy Mercs will be setting some scorching hot times in that. I’d imagine anything under 20 minutes would win the competition if the standard of driving seen in the trade demo vids is anything to go by.

    Really wouldn’t be much to ask to just release that demo would it? It’s already uploaded to the PSN, all they need to do is flick the switch so we can get it.

  22. smoke1485

    Just wait, because soon they will add one more nascar model or track and we will hear complaints about it how gt5 is catered to north america

    1. LCDR-Beatdown

      I would love for them to add Pocono it would be fun not just for Stock Cars but for all the types of cars.

    2. FlareKR

      To exact the USA’s revenge, I think PD should make all GT5 NASCAR. Even more fun, add ORSCA :D. That would definitely flunk the game in Europe.

    3. Jim

      @FlareKR
      Are you for real? This isn’t a competition as too which region gets a game best suited to them. Typical American xenophobic outlook on the world I guess…

  23. ICEMAN_ZIDANE

    That is a awesome idea but why not in germany ?
    :( I love mercedes benz + AMG but i cant drive to UK now…

    1. Geo_212

      At least you’re not in the US… there’s absolutely no chance whatsoever of going to the UK here! :P

    1. GamerGT5

      Mercedes is from Europe. Even knowing that UK gets the good stuff at least GT5 gets an earlier date in the US which is a good deal. :)

    2. eiGHt.0.fOUr

      True that :) we got an earlier release date, yay!
      I just hope US gets that other Limited Edition Gran Turismo 5 as well. I wonder what Poly/Sony might decide to give us in it.

      ps: sorry for my english :(

    3. Joe J

      Meh, if it comes out in the US first get it shipped to the UK. If it comes out in the UK first get it shipped to the US. Problem solved.

    4. TokyoDrift

      @Il Venturetto, you have absolutely no idea when EU will get the game. It is entirely possible for EU to get the came a few days before the US. That would be SO funny if it turned out like that, but really, I couldn’t give a rats. After waiting so long, a few days/weeks makes zero difference.

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