French car maker Citroën drove its "GTbyCitroën" concept car from the perpetually "coming soon" Gran Turismo 5 around London streets recently. It toured the the real-life version of a street track from the game and, wouldn't you know it, people everywhere were going nuts. Busting out cameras, mouths agape staring while the car rumbled past -- it's as if they'd never seen such a purty car before.

Oh right! That's because they haven't ever seen the car before, because it's still a concept, unveiled at last year's Paris Auto Show as a collaboration between Polyphony Digital and Citroën. We have the full video after the break, but as you might imagine, it's not exactly nailing apexes and drafting opponents so much as slowly winding around pedestrian-filled British streets. With any luck, we'll have a more ... erm ... action-oriented video of the car soon for your viewing pleasure, as it'll be making an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this coming weekend.

While perusing through the Joystiq Pile o' E3 Trailers™, we realized we had forgotten to post this gorgeous direct-feed footage of Gran Turismo 5. It flashed by too quickly during the Sony press conference for us to truly understand all the new features hidden in the trailer. Here's what we noticed:

• Damage!
  We captured this still frame from the trailer, showing off what appears to be a new damage model for vehicles. Look at the bent hood, the crack on the car's side. Are those scratches in the car's paint? We think so.
• FIA World Rally Championship
  The off-road challenges in Gran Turismo 5 look absolutely gorgeous, showcasing the engine's impressive ability to render particles.
• NASCAR
  This is a huge license for GT5 to feature as NASCAR fans are as hardcore as they come. With EA Sports slowly pulling away from the franchise, hardcore racing enthusiasts will turn to GT for their fix. The vehicle liveries look accurate -- important for the NASCAR fan.
  
• New cockpit view
  Finally, we were treated to a second of footage from what appears to be a new cockpit view. The camera seems to be pulled farther back, revealing more of the drivers inside. It doesn't seem practical for races, but it is very dramatic.

What else can you pinpoint in the trailer? Check it out after the break.

Here's our new weekly feature, Cool Stuff for Sunday (a pretty straightforward name, we think). Here, we'll highlight some of the cool things we couldn't get to during the rest of the week.

• Hitler responds to Killzone 2 reviews (NSFW)
• What would Gran Turismo 6 look like?
• Fan-made portable PSone
• Killzone 2 "Super Bowl" ad
• Weekly Trophy Portal update
• PS Nation podcast - Episode 98 "Dumped"

Thought playing Gran Turismo 5 in 2160p wasn't insane enough? Then how about playing it in 3D? How about combining the two ... er, we're getting a little too excited about the future here -- let's get back on track. At CES in Las Vegas, Sony had been showing off some 3D tech tie-ins for the PS3, displaying WipEout HD and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue running in true 3D.

Ars Technica went through the whole orgasmic experience recounting it as "one of the best demos of 3D technology [they] have ever seen." But hold your horses, folks; Sony says it's all for show ... for now. "We're not going to talk about specifications," said a Sony rep. "This is just a look at what 3D could look like if Sony decided to move in this direction."

The black shades the gent is wearing in the picture is the 3D goggles for gameplay. It's not as dorky as Ars thinks it is ... imagine wearing those horrid red/blue specs, ew! The blur screen is no doubt an effect of the 3D and, well, we're dying (as much as you are) to know what it actually was like. Guess we'll never know for quite some time.

[Thanks Julian A. and Erico316!]

Despite what series creator Kazunori Yamauchi had to say to us on the topic during E3, Spanish newspaper El Financiero quotes SCEE executive James Armstrong as stating that Gran Turismo 5 (the full, real deal – not Prologue 2 or some-such) will be released in Europe "by Christmas 2009." This is, of course, concerning a series that's been historically fast and furious loose with release dates.

GTPlanet – which is part of the chain of custody on this rumor – speculates that, if true, we could see a summer 2009 release for GT5 in Japan and a late 2009 / early 2010 launch in the West. This scenario would certainly follow the staggered roll-outs of previous Gran Turismo titles to a (Model) T.

[Via Evil Avatar]

What happens when you take four PS3 systems, one copy of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, and a Sony SRX-110 projector and put them all together? Well, you get one incredible GT experience. At the 10th Anniversary Party in New York City, Polyphony Digital ran an interesting experiment, where they were able to render the game in a glorious 2160p resolution. That's four times the resolution of the current maximum standard for HDTVs: 1080p.

The application is surprisingly simple. Each PS3 is dedicated to rendering one part of the enhanced 2160p image, with each PS3 rendering one full 1080p image. When combined, all four images turn into something that would make videophiles cry.

That wasn't the only fun and games at the event. No, Polyphony also ran another experiment with 4 PS3s: they were also able to create a 240 fps experience. Each PS3 would render alternating 60 frames per second, so that the end result would be blisteringly fast. At that point, we doubt the human eye would be able to appreciate such fluidity.

So, guys -- how 'bout you stop partying and making amazing 2160p tech demos, and uh -- you finish Gran Turismo 5? Please?

[Via PlayStation Boards]

The SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show was home to this year's Gran Turismo Awards. Winning vehicles of the Gran Turismo Awards will be included in future Gran Turismo games -- maybe even the mythical will-it-ever-release Gran Turismo 5. Series producer Kazunori Yamauchi judged the five finalists to select the "Best of Show" winner.

This year's winners include:

• "Best Japanese Import" - JR Rocha with his custom 2007 Infinity G37
• "Best Truck/SUV" - John Wargo for his 1938 Chevy
• "Best European Import" - Robert Gal this year for his Volkswagon Concept car.
• "Best Domestic" - James Shipka for his 1967 Chevrolet Camero Rally Sport "Big Red."
• "Best Hot Rod"- Jason Lavigne for the Factory Five Racing 1933 Hot Rod.