Here is how my experience has been so far over my first 5 or so hours of GT5.
Install only took about 30 mins and seemed to be pretty accurate in the description of how much time was left. (320gb 7200rpm HD phat PS3)
The first thing I did was go straight into arcade and select a SuperGT car and do a 10 lap race on Indy GP with all the aids off on hard race tires and professional difficulty. I was immediately impressed with the handling and physics. A bit disappointed by the graphics, Indy still looked rough and there was a lot of shadow flicker on all the cars. The sound seemed just fine.
I cut a turn off a little too much about 3 laps in, hit the grass and spun out in the middle of the tarmac and several cars that were already very close to me did hit me pretty hard but other AI cars behind those slowed down and avoided the cars that had hit me. As I got going again another car did a great job of missing my slow ass and successfully passed me and I got him back on the next turn.
All in all that was very promising.
Next was the 380RS SuperLeggera on Cape Ring Periphery (2 laps) using the H gate on my G25. I had a hard time downshifting without losing control on Prologue and I immediately noticed that the clutch does not seem to be on/off and there is actually a progressive activation and I instantly felt much more in control of my shifting. I ended up doing that same race 4 or 5 times and watching a couple of the replays playing around with the different camera angles.
Next was a 370z on a driver's road (Toscana tarmac, dusk) I made with the course editor. I made a 7 section course and cranked up the corner sharpness and complexity all the way up and the road width all the way down. I was blown away by how much fun I had driving that Z on a course I made in less than 5 mins. Awesome elevation changes with cambered turns, gorgeous sky, and a couple of 5 minute laps is all it took for me to fall in love with GT5. It helped with Just One Second Apex Remix starting up right as I finished my first lap.
Did something similar with the Focus WRC on another CE location and while I think there is not as much grip as there should be I found it to be very fun and the FFB from the road surface was pretty darn good.
Made a 1-mile kart track and lapped it 10+ times. I love the karts and can't wait to race them online.
Bought a used Scion XA, got gold on all the national B license challenges; B-5 through B-7 can kiss my ass. Completed the beginner kart challenges and the NASCAR driving school (gold,silver) and browsed through the 189 songs provided.
What a game!
