Arriving exclusively for Gran Turismo 5 this Tuesday, the 2014 Corvette Stingray DLC will be available for free through PlayStation Store.

Officially announced at the LA Auto Show last November, Polyphony Digital and Chevrolet worked very closely for months in developing an exclusive firsthand driving experience of the Corvette C7 in Gran Turismo 5. Since its introduction, nearly 500,000 people around the world have driven the camouflaged Corvette Test Prototype. And now, only just the day after the Corvette Stingray’s world debut at the North American International Auto Show, the DLC will be available exclusively through PS Store starting Tuesday.

During the creation of the virtual Corvette Stingray, careful attention was paid to the tiniest details of the new design inside and out, as well as to the enhanced performance and driving characteristics — right down to the shift schedule for the 7-speed manual transmission.

The Corvette Stingray will produce an estimated 450 horsepower and 450 ft. lbs. of torque, is capable of accelerating from 0-60 in less than four seconds and will achieve more than 1g in cornering grip. It will also be the most fuel-efficient Corvette ever, exceeding the EPA-estimated 26 MPG of the current model.

For more information and video content, check out www.one13thirteen.com. Enthusiasts can join the conversation about the next-generation Corvette and keep track of new announcements on Facebook and Twitter.

After seven months, 400,000 competitors, and a six-week television series that captured every challenge and human drama of an intense week of racing boot camp, Steven Doherty of Plainfield, IL defeated the rest of the top 16 to win the coveted title of 2012 GT Academy US Champion.

The 29-year old mechanic actually competed in the first US GT Academy competition in 2011, but during the National Finals he missed the final 16 for Silverstone by just six tenths of a second. So in 2012, Steve came back with a vengeance and trained incredibly hard, both mentally and physically, to be a top contender at Silverstone. In the end, Steve came away victorious in the final “Winner Take All” race — and set an all-time track record amongst all previous GT Academy contestants in the process.

Currently in the UK for his intensive racing training for an international license, Steve and three other GT Academy Champions from Europe will team up in two race-prepared 370Zs to race at the Dubai 24 Hour race in the Middle East on January 10th. We look forward to seeing Steve and the rest of 2012 GT Academy Champions follow the same racing success of Lucas, Jordan, Jann, and Bryan.

Go to the official Nissan GT Academy page for full episodes and more info.

Well, the rumors are true – officially announced today at the LA Auto Show, Chevrolet and Polyphony Digital have been working very closely for months in developing an exclusive first-hand driving experience by offering a camouflaged Corvette C7 Test Prototype in Gran Turismo 5. The DLC is now available for free through PlayStation Store.

With spy photos valued at an estimated $100,000, Chevrolet has gone to extreme measures to disguise the test car. In fact, a designated Corvette design team was tasked with developing custom camouflage to conceal the new design elements. The concealed test prototype continues to undergo extensive performance and durability testing in preparation for final production. Millions of hours will be accumulated through thousands of rigorous performance trials before the car is released later in 2013.

Until now, only a handful of the most skilled drivers on the Corvette team have been authorized to push the test prototype to the limits on the most challenging tracks in the world, including the infamous Nurburgring Nordschleife – one of the core testing grounds for C7’s driving dynamics.

Now you can also be part of that exclusive experience by heading over to PlayStation Store and downloading the exclusive Corvette C7 Test Prototype, then taking it to the track in Gran Turismo 5. Be sure to share your best lap time on the Nurburgring Nordschleife through Corvette’s Facebook page.

Chevrolet will introduce the 2014 Corvette on Sunday, January 13th, 2013. For more information and video content, check out www.one13thirteen.com. Enthusiasts can join the conversation about the next-generation Corvette and keep track of new announcements on Facebook and Twitter.

November is quickly becoming the month of Gran Turismo as we celebrate two key milestones for the franchise – the 10th Annual GT Awards, and securing a place in the top 15 best-selling video game franchises of all time, as the series has now topped 67.8 million copies shipped.

The 10th Annual GT Awards was hosted at the SEMA (Speciality Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas, with a headlining performance by hip hop icon Snoop Dogg (AKA Snoop Lion).

The judging process started with Kazunori Yamauchi, Creator and Producer of the Gran Turismo series, visiting all of the individual category winners, including:

• Best Truck or SUV: Antron Brown’s Family Dragster Toyota Sequoia
• Best Hot Rod: David Eckert’s Ford Mach 40
• Best Domestic Automobile:2014 Ford Mustang GT RTR Spec 3
• Best Asian Import: 2013 Scion FR-S Evasive Motorsports
• Best European Import: 2013 Volkswagen Turbo Beetle (VWVortex.com 2013 Super Beetle Project)

In the end, after heavy deliberations over the top category winners, the judging panel and Yamauchi-san crowned David Eckert’s Ford Mach 40 as the 2012 “Best of Show” winner – securing a permanent place in the Gran Turismo franchise.

David Eckert and his team created a one-of-a-kind combination by taking advantage of the unique Mustang Mach 1 styling and complementing it with a massive 2006 Ford GT V8 5.4 liter dry sump unit with a four-liter Whipple supercharger, resulting in a healthy 600 to 850 horsepower masterpiece modulated by a custom designed “adjustable HP dial.”

Nissan GT Academy is back for a second season, seeking to determine which of America’s best Gran Turismo players has what it takes to become a professional racing driver.

The first of the six-part episode will air on Spike TV beginning Thursday, November 1st at 11:30pm Pacific Time . The remaining episodes will air at the same time each Thursday night and will be available on the Nissan YouTube channel the following Monday. GT Academy will also be screened on MTV2, one week after the original airdate on SPIKE TV. For a preview, visit GTAcademy.com.

In July, after three months of online competition, the top 32 out of 400,000 registered Gran Turismo online gamers met at Comic-Con in San Diego to determine the 16 finalists for GT Academy 2012. After two days of virtual racing competition on identical gaming sleds, the fastest 16 were invited to the legendary Silverstone Racing complex in England to begin an intense boot camp that combined physical and psychological challenges in addition to on-track driving in a variety of performance vehicles.

The six-week GT Academy 2012 television series, hosted by ex-NFL player Dhani Jones will capture every challenge and all of the human drama of a very intense week. At the end of each episode, competitors’ performances are evaluated and critiqued by pro racers Danny Sullivan, Maryeve Dufault, and Boris Said. Those who don’t make the cut go home. One winner emerges and remains in the UK to undergo intensive professional racing training that will qualify them to earn their international competition license.

Nissan GT-R N24 GT Academy ’12 ($.99)

Relive the victory with the Nissan GT-R N24 GT Academy ’12, winner of the SP8T class in the 2012 Nürburgring 24-hour race.

The GT-R N24 GT Academy was developed by the GT-R development team of Nissan, and set up by software engineers of Gran Turismo. Driven by Gran Turismo series producer Kazunori Yamauchi and the first European GT Academy winner Lucas Ordonez, Team GT Academy won top victory in the SP8T class. Relive the victory at the Nürburgring with this signature GT-R N24.

Subaru BRZ S ’12 ($.99)

Enjoy the natural feel of a compact front engine rear wheel drive (FR) sportscar by adding the Subaru BRZ S ’12 to Gran Turismo 5.

Sharing the specifications of the Toyota FR-S, the production model prototype was announced at the Tokyo Motorshow in November 2011. In addition to the different front grill and foglights, the driving feel of the suspension settings focuses more on stability, and reflects the sports car philosophy of Subaru. In the BRZ, you can enjoy the feel of an FR layout sportscar — a rarity in today’s automobiles.

Honda weider HSV-010 (SUPER GT) ’11 ($.99)

Add the official Honda Weider HSV-010 (SUPER GT) ’11 that competed in the GT500 class of Japan Super GT series to Gran Turismo 5.

The HSV-010 debuted in 2010 as the heir to the Honda NSX-GT. The car is a front engine rear wheel drive powered by a 3.4 liter V8 based on an engine designed for the Formula Nippon. The car achieved a double title win in its debut year, and this 2011 model utilizes side radiators to optimize weight distribution, further improving its cornering performance. Add this high performance Honda Racing machine to your collection.

Update 2.08

A free downloadable update coming next week will add several new enhancements to GT5, as well as correcting some reported issues. A few examples of the update 2.08 include:

• Now possible to select “Disable collisions” in the [Event Settings] of online races.
• ID’s are now shown above cars when watching online races.
• Response of the clutch pedal when using the steering wheel controllers “G25 Racing Wheel”, “G27 Racing Wheel”, “T500RS” and “TH8RS” has been adjusted.
• Rate of tire wear in endurance races has been slowed (excluding formula cars).
• Amount of air resistance change when altering aerodynamic wing settings has been increased.
• Autopilot has been adjusted to prevent colliding with the wall when exiting the pit lane on the Tsukuba circuit.
• Adjusted the changes in control characteristic when altering vehicle height from standard height. (Vehicle height can be changed by adjusting ride height, either by installing a suspension kit or adjusting a full customizable suspension kit.)

Nearly 400,000 gamers across the United States entered the second iteration of Nissan and PlayStation’s innovative gamer-to-racer competition this year. The top 32 gamers faced off in July at the National Finals at Comic-Con in San Diego, and only 16 advanced to Silverstone Circuit in August for the one-week challenge at GT Academy Race Camp. After seven days of intense challenges, racing Nissan 370Z and GT-R race cars, a new U.S. Champion now joins the ranks of the 2011 GT Academy Champion, Bryan Heitkotter.

Want to know which of the top 16 is the new 2012 GT Academy Champion? Be sure to tune into Spike TV starting November 1st, as every moment of the week-long competition will be aired as a six-part reality show. Be sure to keep your eyes glued to the official GT Academy Facebook page, as we’ll have daily updates on GT Academy Race Camp — including behind-the scenes videos of various challenges — and interviews with the Top 16.

On Sunday, August 26th, 16 of the fastest Gran Turismo drivers from the San Diego National Finals arrived at Silverstone Circuit in UK. For 7 days, each contender was put through a variety of mental and physical challenges designed to test fitness, driving skills, reaction speeds and performance under pressure.

The GT Academy Race Camp Judges and racing veterans, Danny Sullivan, Boris Said and Maryeve Default had the difficult task of gradually reducing the field of 16 down to selected few who had what it took to compete in the final “Winner Takes All” head-to-head championship race. Victory is anyone’s, but only ONE will be the 2012 GT Academy Champion and become a professional race car driver for Nissan.

Lock and load: the newest addition to the ever-growing PlayStation Collection library will be Killzone Trilogy — hitting stores on October 23rd, 2012 for $39.99 (MSRP).

Like the Collection line-up so far, the original Killzone has been treated with the signature 720p HD makeover, along with full Trophy support.

In addition to Killzone HD, the Trilogy also includes Killzone 2. Act 2 in the series brought an even more ambitious sense of scale, storytelling and action to the franchise. Finally, the breathtaking last installment — Killzone 3 — rounds out the set. It’s an endless cinematic warfare experience in one jam-packed bundle.

Not only will the Trilogy include the three games, but it will also include all the Killzone 2 and 3 multiplayer map packs free of charge. The full map package is as follows:

Check back often — there will be more news as we march toward launch, and you’ll find it here on PS.Blog.

The top 16 virtual racers will fly to the world-renowned Silverstone racing circuit in the UK to participate in a week-long boot camp in August, which will be televised and aired on Spike TV’s GT Academy television series later this year.

GT Academy North America finalists will be judged and eliminated by an expert panel of racing professionals, based on each competitor’s skills, performance and overall aptitude for the requirements to become a professional racer. The top driver will train under the guidance of professional racing drivers and compete in selected races for a Nissan racing team.

Below are the 33 competitors who participated in the tournament, with the top 16 advancing to the final phase of competition in Silverstone (ranked in order of placement).

Taking one step closer to possibly becoming a part of a professional race car team, these 16 finalists emerged from a pool of over 400,000 racing hopefuls who competed for a top spot through Gran Turismo 5, battled their way through two days of intense racing, and earned a spot as one of the final 16. Congratulations from Sony, Polyphony Digital and Nissan North America to these truly amazing 16 individuals.

Congrats to Patrick Crider and Jeff Stuart for dominating the Racer X Challenge, winning the one-of-a-kind GT Academy 2012 designed – HumanRacing® GT Chassis equipped with the Thrustmaster T500RS wheel and pedal set.

Be sure to follow GT Academy (North America) on Facebook for up-to-date info for the 16 finalists traveling to Silverstone later this year!

Congratulations to our Top 32 competitors, who beat out a field of nearly 400,000 participants to compete in this year’s GT Academy 2012 National Finals. The 32 finalists (pending eligibility confirmation) will take part in a live head-to-head competition at the GT Academy National Finals event on Friday and Saturday, July 13th and 14th, at the Jolt’n Joe’s Gaslamp – a short distance away from the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con.

Introducing a new twist in this year’s competition, PlayStation and Nissan are backing up our “Victory Is Anyone’s” message by allowing any gamer to show up and secure one spot in the National Finals to compete against the top 32 finalists. Anyone (pending eligibility) can register at the Oasis Bar inside the Hard Rock Hotel in downtown San Diego on Thursday, July 12th from 10am to 4pm PST and compete for top lap time in Gran Turismo 5. The top competitor of the day will walk away with a one of a kind GT Academy 2012 designed HumanRacing GT Chassis equipped with the Thrustmaster T500RS wheel and pedal set. Additionally, the winner will earn a 33rd spot in the Finals competition, becoming “Racer X” and earning a chance Friday morning — July 13th — to knock out and replace any of the top 32 finalists.

So for those who didn’t make the top 32 in the online competition, this is your second chance to fight for ONE spot in the National Finals and also take away an exclusive GT Academy – HumanRacing GT Chassis and Thrustmaster Wheel! Just be sure to show up early, as the competition will be first come first serve. Since this is only open from 10:00am to 4:00pm, your window of opportunity is very limited, so be sure to show up early and ready to race!

Once in the National Finals Event, the 33 contestants will be divided into individual groups and race in a series of live head-to-head races in Gran Turismo 5. Racing Nissan vehicles, each contestant will earn points based on the place they finish in. As race difficulty increases, the contestants with the fewest points at the end of each round will be eliminated until only 16 remain. These final 16 contestants will move on to Phase Two in GT Academy, taking the racers away from their PS3 consoles and onto the track, behind the wheel of real race cars, for a chance to become a professional race car driver and the official GT Academy winner for the U.S. The winner will have the opportunity to train with an elite racing team, and will work towards a debut as part of a professional team. The competitors’ road to victory will be documented in an innovative new series airing exclusively on Spike TV in late 2012.

More info, including Official Rules for Racer X and National Finals will be available very shortly through GT.com