7 Reasons GT5 is Better than GT6

Gran Turismo 6 has been out for over two years now, and in that time, it has undergone updates, had cars added in, and has been enjoyed by millions worldwide, myself included. When the game was released in December 2013, I would have racing binges, and play for hours on end to obtain cars, build them, and race them online. Within a month, I had 100% game completion, a garage of over 200 cars, and countless hours invested into my GT6 career. However, after having a similar experience with GT5, I felt that GT6 was missing something; GT5 always had something to keep me entertained, but I don’t think the same can be said about GT6.

Now, before I get into criticizing GT6, I must say, it really is a great game. The overall driving physics were vastly improved over GT5, as well as the sounds of some vehicles (still in great need of improvement), and the tire models were changed completely. Using a racing wheel and a half-decent cockpit setup, GT6 was the closest I have ever felt to being a true sim-racer.

Physics aside, GT6 has its shortcomings, many of which are features excluded from the title. However, all of these features were present in GT5, and loved by many, so it begs to question, why did Polyphony Digital leave out features that so many people loved?

So, without further ado, here are 7 reasons GT5 is better than GT6.

1. Speed Test

The Speed Test DLC was a welcome addition to GT5 when it was released, allowing players to do straight line runs, in order to determine their 0-60 and quarter mile times, and vehicle top speed. I always aimed to beat my previous records, building cars and running them through their paces on Special Stage Route X, attempting to beat cars on the leaderboard. This was a great feature, as players could get accurate numbers, rather than having a rough idea from doing the calculations themselves. The absence of the Speed Test in GT6 was quite the letdown, as it leaves players with no option to obtain exact numbers for their cars’ performance. Although it doesn’t make or break the game, it is definitely a feature that is missed, and would be great to see make a return in the upcoming GT7 game.

2. Ferrari Formula 1

At the time of GT5’s release, I was watching every Sunday morning F1 race that was on TV. After watching the pros do their thing, I would hop on GT5 and go for some hot laps, trying to match the times from the race I had just watched, using the multi-million credit Ferrari F2007 and F10 cars, as they provided the most realistic experience. Upon GT6’s release, I was disappointed to find that the Ferrari F1 cars had been removed. Now this might have been something to do with Codemasters’ F1 game, but it was definitely a disappointment. Although the legendary Formula Gran Turismo remained in game, and Aryton Senna’s Lotus 97T was added in as part of the special event, they just don’t have the same modern feel as the Ferrari cars had.

3. Used Cars

Now, not everyone will agree on this one, but it’s definitely worth mentioning. The Used Car Dealership and the Online Car Dealership were home to standard cars, and was updated every time a race was completed. Cars ranged from your run of the mill Mitsubishi, to high end exotics and collectibles. This made cars more unique, as some were very rare to see in the Used Car dealership, and almost required strategy, in order to have enough money when that car you’d been searching for finally turned up in the dealership. In GT6, all of the cars were incorporated into one dealership, so as long as you have the money, you can buy the car. While there still are some stupidly expensive cars in the GT6 dealerships, the collectibility factor is significantly diminished when the car will always be available for purchase.

4. Community

The community feature in GT5 was awesome, and gave it a much more interactive feel than GT6 ever had. The community tab in ‘My Home’ allowed players to view their friends’ profiles, join their online races, and share cars with one another. The gifting and sharing of cars is probably the feature missed most by GT enthusiasts, as it allowed players to post cars on their profile for their friends to ‘borrow’ for career mode races, and also for players to gift cars to one another. This feature ties in with my last point, because in GT5, certain cars were rare, so it was nice to have the ability to trade cars online with other players. While cars in GT6 have no real collectibility factor, being able to send cars to friends still would’ve been great to have the option to do.

5. Top Gear

The Top Gear Test Track allowed gear heads to take their favourite cars out on the popular track in Dunsfold, and take a shot at beating The Stig. It really was one of the most entertaining features of the game, but unfortunately, due to an agreement with Forza Motorsport, the Top Gear Track was not included in GT6. Although nothing was able to be done about this, it really is a shame that it was only ever featured in the GT5 title. I can remember spending countless hours on the track, because it was perfect for everything; from drag racing, hot lapping, and even doing donuts around the tire wall and cones, you could do anything you desired. I miss it so much, sometimes I still go back on GT5 just to get my Top Gear fix. Now that Clarkson, Hammond, and May have moved on from the BBC program, it doesn’t seem to be a huge deal, but upon the release of GT6, the Top Gear track was definitely missed.

6. Special Events

GT6 had the Senna tribute events, and a couple of others here and there, but nowhere near the abundance of special events featured in GT5. GT5 featured karting events, NASCAR events, the seemingly impossible RedBull challenge, and even the GT rally, which was a personal favourite of mine. The rally featured numerous stages, and required you to listen to your co-pilot, as his pace notes were your only sense of direction. The special events proved to be difficult at times, but were a total blast, and you were rewarded very well for a gold medal finish. While the GT6 special events were meaningful and planned out, it would’ve been nice to see some more events included from the get go, rather than through updates after the release.

7. Endurance Races

Once again, this is one that some people might not agree with. GT5 featured some next-level endurance races, from racing a Miata for 4 hours around Tsukuba (which was incredibly painful), to a full fledged LeMans style 24 hour endurance race. I was a fan of the races that were a couple of hours in length, but I’ll admit that the 24 hour races weren’t for me. However, when GT6 was released, to the surprise of many, the longest endurance races were only 24 minutes in length, and were set up to simulate a 24 hour races. While this was good news for those that weren’t a fan of longer races, but still wanted 100% game completion, the 24 hour lovers were left with a race that seemed far too short.

Overall, GT5 and GT6 are both phenomenal games, both with their quirks. As a fan of the GT series, there are certain features I’ve grown to like, and was disappointed to see excluded from GT6. With Gran Turismo Sport in the works, and the GT7 release hopefully coming closer and closer, the anticipation is becoming higher than ever.

Let me know what you think down below! Do you agree with my points, or do you have any that you think I missed? Make sure to leave them down below!

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