Sony has answered the hopes and prayers of many Gran Turismo 5 fans, by bringing the infamous Spa Francorchamps circuit, as well as an in-door karting arena to the game.

Spa and the karting arena are available as part of the new 'Course Pack', available to download now for €3.99 (£3.48) from the PlayStation Store.

Spa 5
Spa Comes to GT5

European Brand Manager Penrose Tackie said: "Spa is an awesome circuit recreated with Yamauchi-san's customary attention to detail. Out of La Source hairpin, downhill to cross the Eau Rouge stream and then uphill through the Eau Rouge left-right-left combination, flat out with a blind summit, always ranks right up there as one of, if not THE, best racing experience of any driver."

The Course Pack is joined by the Racing Car Pak (€7.99), which includes 12 new cars from Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota and Dodge, as well as three new bespoke karts, along with a never-before-seen Red Bull X2011 Prototype.

Several smaller packs are also available to purchase, including the 'Special Paint Pack' offering 100 new car paint colours for €1.99, the Racing Gear Pack, which brings 15 new race suits and helmets, as well as race gear worn by top Nascar and WRC drivers. The Racing Gear Pack is €1.99.

GT5 Kart Arena
New karting arena for GT5

All of the above packs can be purchased in the Complete Pack for €11.99, but there is also a special PlayStation Plus bundle price of €8.99 available for one month.

These packs come at the same time as a major update to Gran Turismo 5, known as Functionality Update 2.0, which brings the much-requested interior view to every car, but "the level of detail will vary from car to car".

Update 2.0 brings the ability to save mid-way through an endurance race, and then continue where you left off at another date. This will be welcomed for gamers who are put off by the 24-hour long races.

Players can fine-tune the weather of each race, setting a start weather and end weather as they chose.

Other smaller updates include:

  • Photo Travel Mode updates
  • Shortening of load times and improved menu response
  • Improved car physics simulation, further evolved A.I.
  • Improved and enhanced user interface
  • Support for the Logitech G25/G27 steering wheels
  • New features in the Online Lounge
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