Nürburgring at Night Confirmed for Gran Turismo 5

There’s some good news confirmed in a new article from Auto Express – a “secret” demo was apparently at last weekend’s 24-hour race, which showed the Green Hell at night. They were also able to confirm that the race-spec Lexus IS-F which Yamauchi drove in the event will be included in the game:

The V8-powered saloon will appear in the new game – which Owen got to try during the event. Our man took the controls of a Sony PlayStation 3 to sample the complete Nürburgring 24 Hours circuit – for the first time in video game history. And he even got to try the new night racing feature.

Plus, for the first time, gamers will be able to fully experience the Nürburgring, recreating the 24 Hours race, which uses both the grand prix track and the 15.2-mile Nordschleife. The latter – dubbed Green Hell – can also be driven at night, to get an idea of what the pros go through during one of the world’s toughest races.

The article still does not confirm a dynamic, changing day/night cycle, and it’s interesting that they specified only the “latter” circuit, or the Nordschleife, can be driven at night. Hopefully we will know more details soon. Thanks to Krymzen18 for the tip!

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Comments (151)

  1. Dave-o

    @Bernd
    Yeah I agree that mechanicals can be absolutely soul crushing in the real world so you probably don’t want them modelled in the game. I was just trying to emphasize the point that up until now the GT series racing hs been so predictable. If your AI competition pits on lap 6 you can guarantee 100% they will pit on lap 12, 18, 24 etc, even if its a 25 lap race. To me, that’s a crying shame, and dynamic weather etc would go some way to fix this and some drama and interest, which is why I think it is essential.

  2. Bernd

    @Dave-o
    Not sure about mechanical failure. After a crash – yes. But I know, it happened once at the 24h Le Mans, the leading car had a failure when there were only 15min to go ! Imagine the feelings of these poor guys

  3. the stig

    @yanfloist

    ok forza is kids stuff…
    but lets see what gran turismo 5 will be like,when it comes out.
    then we gonna talk.

  4. Pete

    i dont see what the big deal is…. its not like we’ll ever get to play the game anyway….. we’ll all be long gone by the time its released :P

  5. Dave-o

    I think dynamic weather and day/night transition are both essential. Dynamic weather because I have always felt the whole GT series has been too predictable to be considered “the real driving simulator” (i.e. no crashes, no pace cars, no black flags, no mechanical failures, no change in weather – and hence no changing race strategy). And as for day night cycle, how can you have perpetual daylight (or pertual night as may be the case now) for a 24 hour race and claim to be realistic.

  6. Dom

    Not THAT excited. We all knew there will be night racing in GT5 (at least after the last trailer it was more than clear). This news however unleashes some doubts, if all tracks will have a night version.
    Moreover, the chances for dynamic weather + day/night cycles are rather reduced with this information, as it was not an option in the Demo. Well, the name says it, it was only a demo.
    But from a personal viewpoint, I guess we won’t see rain and we wont see a dynamic 24h racetrack simulation. Not terrible bad, but the progress PD makes is simply not good enough, considering the endless waiting time…

  7. JayKayEm

    Can anyone just imagine the day…. that sacred day… when we can just play the game rather than checking this site, everyday after work for x-amount of years now.

    Can you just imagine unwrapping the film from the new game box?

    With news round the corner, it still all seems an age away!

  8. Cuarache-GTR

    dynamic weather could mean R11 in the day time wow or even London or r246 at night okay I just cum in my pants – all we need now is confirmation and released yaaay – could you imagine F458 italia ssr5 daytime – raining

  9. AMG

    nuburgring 24 hours gt5, 2 things dynamich day and night cycle, or day and loading to dawn , loading to night ingame time 24 hours loading cycle

  10. cuco33

    The more they announce, the more I want this game. Looking really forward to it. The night racing at the ‘ring is OK in my book. Def a nice feature and one that can bring a huge challenge once a bump big enough happens to bust out the headlights. I believe the 24hr race there that happened the other weekend is the only night event (and not really all that popular worldwide). After all the track normally closes between 7-8pm all year long, when day light is still out. Night racing at La Sarthe (Le Mans) though, that is a DEFINITE HELL YEAH for me and I’d bet money it’s available from the get go!!! I want to experience what it’s like on those long straights in a very powerful race car. I have to admit though, I want to hear more about weather/rain than night racing. Significantly more racing occurs in the wet than in the dark and it’ll add a big difficulty level to the racing.

  11. LeStique

    I always hoped this would make it in the game. All we need now is a d/n-cycle and changing weather conditions.
    Ah and a release date! But I read that they will soon announce a final date (E3?) and that they will not push it again. This being PD and Sony, I’d never dare to believe this, but I want this to be true so badly.
    For all of you who don’t believe me: Here the article (if you can read german at least) http://www.gamezone.de/news_detail.asp?nid=85316

  12. nintandrew

    Does anyone else doubt there will be dynamic weather? I mean, it would be awesome, but I just don’t think they could do it. There could be track variations where it is wet, or it is raining the entire time, but I don’t think it will be dynamic. Also, day/night cycle I guess could happen, I think that that would be easier to do than weather, but the track may just have day/night variations. I know the article said you can recreate the 24hr race, but I think they just meant you can race on the same track as the race now and there is also a night option. Any thoughts?

  13. AaronAnonymous

    @pegaz2507 haha yeah of course it is wanted all over the world, it’s going to be the best.
    As for Croatia, I forgot to mention that every summer I go since my ma and siblings live there near zagreb. I could see how many Croatians are looking forward to it since my little brothers want it also.
    –back on track (no pun intended)– I’m hoping for the inclusion of dynamic weather/time change, and since it seems to be such a central theme to so many GT fans i’m sure that Kaz wouldn’t over-look it.

  14. icant55

    @ whatevaman: i dont think it does… neither the nurburgring or the le sarthe if i remember right, that makes it all the more challenging…

  15. pegaz2507

    @AaronAnonymusSays GT5 is wanted all over the globe, and in places you didn’t even know they exist! It really is great to see how many of you folks is looking forward to play this game. For me, GT5 is the best game of this genconsoles,but not everybody likes racing games. GT is more than just a game! BRING IT ON KAZ!!! And dynamic weather please …

  16. AaronAnonymous

    @pegaz2507 I didn’t know that there was anyone from Croatia on here; it’s nice to see people from all over the world on here :)
    As for putting my word in on things, even if GT5 is like GT3 with up-rated graphics I would still get it. I know there will be many improvements besides graphics, so I’m not worried. Time flies when you don’t think about it.

  17. Mike

    ”Plus, for the first time, gamers will be able to fully experience the Nürburgring, recreating the 24 Hours race, which uses both the grand prix track and the 15.2-mile Nordschleife. The latter – dubbed Green Hell – can also be driven at night, to get an idea of what the pros go through during one of the world’s toughest races.”

    The Nordschleife is actually 12.9 miles long, its the 24h version thats 15.2 miles. So that suggests its the 24h version that can be driven at night, which makes sense.

  18. KilzoneGeneralStrife

    GT 5 is honestly going to sell +15 million.considering GT3 sold 13 million.It might sell 20 million.and a few million ps3s.how on earth can T10 compete with this monster of a game.

  19. pegaz2507

    This is awesome!!Cant wait for E3,it’s gonna blow our minds!!I bought myself red dead redemtion to keep me busy till GT5 is unleashed!!!YEAAAA!Greetings from Croatia!Lot of GT fans here!

  20. AMG

    imagne what pd can do with PS4 quad hd 3D GT7 more power means more beter realistic in GT7 all trees will be in the 3D weaving with the wind

  21. WFC

    just looked at the list of gran turismo courses on wiki. is there any truth about some of it. like lots of the current f1 circuits?

  22. Big Ron

    There are night races at Laguna Seca…lok at the ALMS. And in between: the track do not need any track lights for night rcing…..only the car need lights ;)

    Those night lightning is just a design style of those shitty modern F1 tracks

  23. Watevaman

    Does Laguna Seca even have track lights for night racing? I heard it didn’t, and if that’s so, then I imagine the corkscrew will be the hardest turn to master in the game at night.

  24. icant55

    OK if the “ring is gonna be @ night is there a chance that “Spa” if in the game and the “la Sarthe” also will be @ night too…damn even Laguna seca okay let me just relax and wait until E3…. i bet we will get a look @ that demo !

  25. prazza

    hope it has that opel astra that took part in the nurburgring 24 hours in 2004 as seen in enthusia,that car is the bomb,anyway,day/night cycles will be awesome for endurance races,i wish we had opel in the uk,the stupid vauxhall badge is a cornball.

  26. Watevaman

    I’m hoping there might be wrecks where the car is sitting on the side of the road and all we see coming around a corner are a couple of headlights and a bunch of smoke. Damn, that’d be so much fun.

  27. marcus

    don’t really care about day/night cycle but this is still great news albeit rather unimportant. I do care about the day/night cycle in circuits like this. It may be a hint at something like what grid did with le mans. A 24 minute version of the full thing

  28. Jos

    anything less then dynamic time of day change on an 24H circuit is fail in my opinion.

    gtr2, a game from 2006, by a small company called simbin has it. + dynamic weather changes. but then again the ps3 probably couldnt handle all that because of the ridiculous poly’s on the car models.

  29. blademask

    Pedz, *yawn*

    The PS3 runs more advanced engines than any game console out. It doesn’t rely on memory, which is why it can. If Killzone2, Uncharted2, Gran Turismo 5, MGS4, God OF War 3, Little Big Planet isn’t proof of this. Alan Wake, Forza3, and the Unreal engine sure as hell isn’t. I mean think about it… Forza3 has to ‘tint’ the low polygon in-game vehicles windows to keep a stable framerate at 720p. 8 cars, little to no particles. The damage is just model-swapping for a damaged part… Not to mention it has a different model for the menu, a different model for the start of the race with the cameras shooting around the vehicle, when you start the race, and when you take pictures in photo mode…

    and you want to make the case that the PS3’s memory is holding it back from running 16 more detailed cars & interiors w/lighting at 1280×1080 upscaled to 1920×1080 @ 60fps, and now running in stereoscopic?

    Come on, thats nonsense.

    I just bring up competition titles because there isn’t a single game that can run with PS3 engines, especially the titles that stream load. Sony’s made the investment into its developers to push the technology, with the whole parallel processing, its kinda proven that you don’t need to rely on ram as much as you do with a more traditional setup.

    GT5 just needs to be released to be an ‘almighty’ game. Its specifications alone that we already know with wrc,nascar,supercar,open wheel,production car, night, detail, online, already makes it so. And we don’t even know anything about the game, which is the amazing part.

    Nothing out on the market like it.

  30. Pedz

    @Bernd

    The PS3 has the processing capability, but its the RAM that lets the whole system down in the quality and ease of making games for the thing. 500mb shared ram just isn’t really enough tbh. But It should be able to cope with spray, as it can cope with 16 cars off track causing dirt to spray up, not sure why water spray would be much different. Dynamic weather would test the ram limits I guess and therefore cause frame drops etc, probably won’t be in the game if they don’t want to jeopardise their 60fps.

    But anyway back to the news, which sounds good but I do have the feeling its not going to be the almighty game we’ve been hoping for these past few years >.>.

  31. Bernd

    I see, HLRJigsaw writes PGR2 had night and rain on the Nordschleife. I was wondering, if all the spray coming from 16 cars would affect the frame-rate. But if an Xbox can handle that, PS3 should do with ease. What do you guys think ?

  32. Mickle Pickle

    @ Red Baron, i too wish since GT2, that the E30 M3 will finally be featured PD’s game! That’s a must! I would be like missing one of those Skylines… the E30 is iconic!

    and add the E36 for that matters too :P

  33. Bernd

    This will be our final mission to get the S-License, and you have to do it under 6:20 in a ’66 Ford GT !!

  34. Mickle Pickle

    Hit the road Jack, you will certainly not feel disappointed, it will feel like a finished games, with things to be improved and added for GT6 ;)

    As for the wait we have been forced to endure even now, there is one positive thing i can see from it: I just admire the fact that Kaz is thoughtful enough to share with us his luck and the feelings he had driving the Green Hell 24h. If the game was released earlier, i dont know if Night feature would have made it for the Nurb’! and the fact that his Raced Lexus is also in the game now, certainly was not in the original list! So to make up for the wait they torturing us with, Kaz is certainly giving us something to make him forgiveable… Dont you think? Kaz does go out and have fun on his own, but at least he is coming back with things to tell us, and to give us so that we can have that same experience throught the PS3.

    Personally, that’s this attitude of free giving and generosity from Kaz that wins me over other game developers too foul mouths….

  35. lado

    Yes! :D so we have night @ the nordschleife, so we have night @ all tracks i hope! A dynamic weather change would be interesting too and the night and day change could be important and usefull for 24h events.

  36. CeeJay

    Great news but I want to SEE IT! We’ve been told so much about GT5 over the past few years it suuuuure would be nice to actually SEE this w/ our own eyes. This all better be on display @ E3! C’mon PD!!

  37. Leondrift

    This is just awesome news :) but we still ain’t seen the dynamic wheather, but it would be brilliant with night racing on the ring with it pouring down with RAIN :))

  38. jack

    I’m kind of worried; I’m certaintly estatic for everything they announced for GT5, but I really want them to be consistent more than anything. I can pass on some cars not having a full damage model, that’d take too long and there’s licensing issues. I’m glad for having night racing and weather, but seriously, make it available to all tracks. As was said earlier, I’d be rather disappointed if I can only race SSR5 at night or Nordschliefe at day. As much content as GT5 is already confirmed to have, I don’t want to play the game and feel like it’s ‘unfinished.’

  39. DarthStigq

    I really can’t wait….will have to see it before judging. I really hope they have full working beams, not street lamps, and I hope the sky is pitch black, not sunset etc

  40. fade

    Waiting for this is getting tough. My favourite track was always Monaco, dunno why, but hope it makes an appearance. I know it’s on the “not confirmed” list.

  41. HLRJigsaw

    I’m going to get flamed for this, but it needs to be said. Let me pad this by saying I own a PS3 (only) and I am very much looking forward to GT5.

    PGR4 had the full circut. PGR2 (Xbox 1) had night and rain. These might be the first time on a GT game, they are not the first time ever.

  42. ICEMANZIDANE

    1.Thats AWESOME
    2.i dont need much tracks
    i need some cars and the NS (+night)
    that is all what i want

  43. HKS racer

    PLEASE REMEMBER TO ADD THE SAVE MODE IN ENDURANCE RACES!!!!!!!
    I’M NOT GOIN TO PLAY ANY 24H RACE WITHOUT A SAVE FUNCTION!!!!!!

    SO REMEMBER THAT THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  44. Bananaman

    Been a long time since we haven’t got good news!!!!
    I’m checking this site regurlarly for any little piece of info and knowing we’ll be able to drive around the nurb’ at night is simply amazing. KY and his team are geniuses!! Can’ t wait to play GT5!

  45. Manthey

    @ DrTrouserPlank “so I can compare my lap on the game with the next time I go to Fuji and race around the track there… as I do every weekend”

    If you race around Fuji every weekend then why are you waiting for a European release date?

  46. GTP_CerealKiller

    Sorry to be a jerk, but technically this doesn’t state that he tried the Nurburgring at night, just that he tried them separately. :)

    In any case the most logical conclusion is that it was the ring at night, and that is just awesome news. Thanks for the post, made my morning!

  47. ozakiito

    people… this is the indication of the BEST AI the world will ever see…

    think about it.. in the videos we saw so far the AI would ocationally bump you from behind for no reason… now imagine that happening at night.. it will be so unREALISTIC… & stupid….
    now i m confident that GT5 WILL BE THE BEST THING EVER!!!!!!!!

  48. Eggman

    @ Big Ron,

    Couldn’t agree more, I for one am looking forward to the very close pack racing Nascar offers. I tend to ignore TrouserPlanks comments as they’re usually negative and offer nothing constructive, as he already seems to ‘know’ that it doesn’t have a day/night cycle(Has this been confirmed or denied yet? No) and judging by his comments he has nothing but a hate filled negative view of this game already. If you think it’s gonna be that bad…don’t buy it…simples!!! I for one am reserving my judgement of the game til it gets released

  49. ICWUDT

    TokyoDrift

    you make a good point but I disagree because of the sentence construction, much like at the time of premiums and interiors blah blah

    ”Plus, for the first time, gamers will be able to fully experience the Nürburgring, recreating the 24 Hours race, which uses both the grand prix track and the 15.2-mile Nordschleife. The latter – dubbed Green Hell – can also be driven at night, to get an idea of what the pros go through during one of the world’s toughest races.”

    It just says that the combinaison of both tracks recreates the one for the 24h hours, but only the latter (not the 24h GP + shleife) can be raced at night, thus not proving any day night cycle.

  50. [UK] ANDYW

    A real bummer Kazanouri gives the motor industry & media better information than the gaming industry.. I know E3 is coming, but why the hell has he shown a ‘secret demo’ to a car magazine and not IGN / Gamespot / GTP?!!?!?!?

  51. Big Ron

    @DrTrouserPlank
    Whats your problem with NASCAR in the game? It is not everybodies taste. But there are a lot of fans out there happy about the NASCAR feature in GT5, me too.

    If you don´t like it, don´t play it. But don´t get on our tits with your hate parade.

  52. MSH

    Very very nice :) . With this confirmed I don’t really care if a real day/night cycle will be included too.

    Now suppose that weather is adjustable for every track too… The big ‘Ring at night, in the rain…

  53. TokyoDrift

    Well, that is great to hear, but if the cycle is not dynamic, this statement is not true:

    “gamers will be able to fully experience the Nürburgring, recreating the 24 Hours race”

    If it doesn’t cycle, you won’t be able to recreate it. So, on the assumption that it IS dynamic, in the case of a 24 hour event, the cycling will be real-time. I therefore suspect that we will be able to speed up that cycle by x10 for example, so compressing a 24 hour event into 2h 24m.

  54. DrTrouserPlank

    Yeah that’s great, until in a month’s time when they change their mind as they do with everything else and just take it out or say it was a mistranslation.

    We know they’ve cut a few things from this game already, so if I don’t see a nailed-down release date for Europe at E3 I’m going to be very annoyed. It’s still very annoying that they couldn’t be bothered to implement a day-night cycle, or spent too much time pissing around with stupid promotions or gimmicks that they ran out of time to implement something that is pretty simple.

    Still at least it’s got 3D which by the time I buy a 3D TV will be obsolete technology (next year *snigger*) and a GPS logger so I can compare my lap on the game with the next time I go to Fuji and race around the track there… as I do every weekend.

    And finally, thank god for all those soul-less NASCAR’s that handle like refrigerators sliding down a hill. I just don’t think this game would have been worth buying if I couldn’t fall asleep at the desk with the wheel turned left for 300 laps.

  55. Z06onGT5

    Ballin news I jus dammed near pissed my pants…anyways if there is dynamic weather how do you guys think it will be implemented? Maybe as simple as going to settings and adjusting the game clock like in madden? Wait if you have internet it already sets the game clock and date huh? Wow I’m so excited and curious I swear I’ve been counting the days off to E3 so much I ripped off my fingerprints….

  56. NBH

    This is great news, even if it doesn’t change from day to night it will still be interesting to take a car and see how the lap times vary from day to night, then practice during the day and put blind faith in your car to try and match it in the dark.

  57. ARDA_TIRMAS

    in article says “GT5’s release date has been pushed back several times, but when it arrives later this year, it will feature more than 1,000 cars, 20 tracks (including the Dunsfold circuit in Surrey, used by TV’s Top Gear). It will also be one of the first games ever that can be played in stereoscopic 3D”

    20 tracks or misunderstanding ?

  58. Big Ron

    Hopefully, those endurance races are not part of any events in Gran Turismo-Mode. In GT4, there were some races, you needed to race 2 hours and more. I never races those events, to freaking boring for me.

    But night racing on Nordschleife with those graphics? Here I come ;)

  59. PaTrond

    God, you’ve heard mye plea I forgot to do!
    I can’t wait, just hope they will implement rain too. Would be awesome with a Enzo or similar at night in rain, just for the challenge. ^^

  60. zevehcj

    @RPR101
    Sign me up. Imagine a full grid of dtm or le mans prototypes……. Finally my dream race, that I always wanted to replicate, could become a reality.

  61. kekke2000

    I think he talks about this certain demo when he mentions night racing. I bet the full game will have day/night cycles. Can only wish for dynamic weather aswell.

  62. GlobeKIDD

    @Rattlehead: looks like we’ll be leavin forza for a long while won’t we. And doin some classic dtm and group c. Omg.

  63. RPR101

    who is down for a 24 hr le man race on the nurb online?!!!!!! i, for one, cant wait to drive that sweet sweet looking IS-F on the nurb at night!!

  64. oscartron

    oh my goodness gracious…. this is just the sexiest news…. blasting through the dark at the ‘Ring with just your headlights to guide you ahead….. AHHHHH sounds so beautiful and scary at the same time…… I CANT WAIT WOOOOOOO

  65. alba

    While that is a super awesome news, in my head the second thought I had was, what about SSR5 at daytime? :P

    Man, I can’t wait :o

  66. Springrate

    Sorry ill fester and explode if i dont say this…
    Mercedes 190 evo ll touring car, scrambling in the dark at THE NURBURGING.
    Does anyone see what i see?

  67. Springrate

    This is so gr8…
    It would be even perfecteR if we can manually switch the lights on,dip them,full beam,etc.
    GRAN TURISMO/NURBURGRING emotion lets go…

  68. terminator363

    YEAH BABY YEAH!!! Now we just need the Day/night cycle and weather and I’m happy! So far so good!

  69. zevehcj

    Awesome news!!!! I can’t wait to see the ring at night.

    Wait…….do you hear it? I think I hear the complain train coming. Nevermind, maybe its just my imagination(it better be my imagination).

  70. James

    also, anyone who is serious about gran turismo, add me, my ps3 screen name is “ha-roller”, we can maybe have a few races on gt5 when is comes out?

  71. James

    I just wet my pants!
    Day that fades into night, night that fades into day, OMG can it get much better!?
    The sole reason i bought my ps3 was for gran turismo, they have made me wait for so long, but despite my extreme frustration at not being able to play one single decent racing game, i still dont mind waiting for the BEST EVER racing game to be released. Im not sure how many hours of my life i will waste staring at a screen when it is released, but all i know is, those wasted hours, in my view, will NOT be waste.

    and btw, im better than lucas ordonez :p

  72. Alvin

    OMG, Night race in GT5 , this is awesome men … this is totally a damn good news for all the GT fans, can’t wait for it

  73. John Marine

    Tell you what… if you’re not already excited about Gran Turismo 5, you will be now after reading this deal! Granted I’m no ‘Ring fanatic, this just sweetens an already interesting pot. A night race around the Nordschleife is going to make this deal even more intense. I’m already a terrible racer there in any game featuring the Nordschleife. Now I’ll need to train more than ever to master this beast.

    And if we do get dynamic day to night cycles, all that’s needed now to really make this a hit would be weather conditions.

  74. Bernd

    YES ! YES ! YES ! It’s coming closer, and all the whiners’s jaws will drop to bottom, hehehe
    Guess, we’ll have “Le Mans at Night” too

  75. GlobeKIDD

    Fan-freakin-tastic news!!!!! I remember waiting for forza 3 to come out and everyone getting all butt-hurt when night racing was confirmed as not being in the game. Glad to hear the rival game has it though!

  76. CanAm1968

    I cant believe Im the first one…but I will go ahead and say what everyone else is going to say…..Nurburgring at night is a unexpected beautiful surprise! I hope that the night will fade into the day and vice versus. I hope it does that for all the endurance races because if its anything like GT4, you know endurance races will be something to do enroute to getting the reward of finishing the game 100% complete. The pic of the IS-F is cool and it should be fun driving in the game. I think I will prefer the BMW M3 over it though…we shall see soon enough :)

  77. urbanglowcam

    ahhhhh! Night racing at the Nurburgring! Please have dynamic day/night cycle and weather! Ahhh lol

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