Gran Turismo 5 vs. Real Life Comparison: Laguna Seca in a Turbo Miata

In case you didn't know, I've been a fan of the Gran Turismo series since GT1. The fact that I drive on racetracks in real life is partly because of these games. And after 5 years of waiting since GT4, GT5 is finally here. I had to see for myself how far the Gran Turismo series has come to perfecting its driving physics.

For this comparison, I recreated my real-life Mazdaspeed Miata (MSM) in GT5 to best detail I could manage to see how close my best GT5 lap time is to my real best lap time. I did about 15-20 laps in the game before I could conclude with a result.

And... The result is shocking and spooky to say the least... See for yourself. There are some interesting things to be said about this and they are:

1. For the in-game lap, there are extra downshifts for the entries of turns 3, 5 and 11 compared to my real lap. I don't know why I did that in the game, but it didn't seem to affect the result too much.

2. My virtual MSM's handling behaved eerily similar as my real life car.

3. In the game, I don't have a clutch or an H-pattern shifter. Instead, I had only a sequential shifter with no clutch pedal. I need to do this test again in the future with a Logitech G25 or G27 steering wheel and pedal set.

4. The red strips on the apexes at Laguna Seca are not recreated in the game correctly. In the game, you can run over them with little to no consequence. In real life, if you hit them, you are going upset the car greatly through the corner, not to mention also bending a wheel in the process.

5. I noticed that my real-life MSM was faster overall from the exit of turn 3 to the entry of turn 6 and the GT5 MSM catches up going up the hill into turn 7 (the Corkscrew). I suspect that the extra downshifts on turns 3 and 5 was actually superfluous causing a slower cornering speed on those turns. To explain why the GT5 MSM is faster up the hill to the Corkscrew, it's down to bravery. Turn 6 is very scary (and IMO, the toughest and most critical corner of the whole lap) as you can hook-oversteer at high speed from the right-side rubble-strip or the dirt to the wall on the left. I usually take it easy through there, but in the game I can afford to be a tiny bit more aggressive. As a result, the ground I gained in real-life is erased by the faster entry and exit at turn 6.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• gran
• turismo
• GT5
• Playstation
• PS3
• mazda
• raceway
• laguna
• seca
• MRLS
• NB8C
• roadster
• mazdaspeed
• miata
• mx-5
• turbo
• oversteer
• grip

[Lucag120]

What tyres were you using in real life??

Luca

[VagaXt]

@Lucag120

Nitto NT01, 225/45/15, as said in the specs at around 0:12.

[yuletak]

@yuletak Nevermind. I went over some pictures I had of that day. those strips are like maybe 1/3 the height of the parking lot stoppers. They really shouldn't be there.

[yuletak]

@yuletak (continued...)

I do agree that it comes down to bravery. This is prob what separates the pros from really good amateurs. If GT5 is as realistic as you think it is, then I should be able to hit in the low 1:50s/high 1:40s in my WRX (based on being able to hit 1:46 or so in a Volvo C30 using sport tires and the car being similar in terms of power, though I have suspension and brake mods). Alas, my real time was only 2:00.9 in my fastest lap for a track event.

[yuletak]

Why would hitting the red strips upset the car much at all? Obviously you have more experience than me, but since most of the weight is on the outside anyways, the inside should be of little to no consequence to the car. The red strips are painted just like the berms (sp?), so it doesn't reason that they'll affect the car anymore so, IMO.

[APRperformance]

really nice comparison good job.

[bdub232]

@VagaXt - Try the lap again w/ Spec 2, the physics are greatly improved.

[suchafool990]

just goes to show the level of detail and quality of Gran Turismo. very impressive

[spirit75752000]

I absolutely love my PS3 and GT5, especially now they have enhanced it with Spec 2.0. It gives people like myself a real chance to learn such wonderful real life tracks like Seca, Suzuka and Nurburgring. Thanks for posting this video it just goes to show how close the times are to RL. Check out my new video "Mambo Like Columbo" leaked out on you tube now !!! sexy bellydance

[TurboTylerT]

Thx for the video. Kinda of a shocker to me but not really. Thx again good work! GT5 4 LIFE!!!

[grrumpff]

Holy shit, I actually though that was the GT5 car overtaking at 0:53! xD