(Obligatory fanboy plug: Long live the E30 M3, long live the Cossie-headed Mercedes, long live the Cosworth Fords, and mad props to Paul "Nockenwelle" Rosche, the coolest engineer this side of a currywurst.)

The next edition in the Gran Turismo line was announced at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo, at which time the developers claimed they had already been working on it for four years in an effort to include every car in the world. The latter now just seems like ambitious hype; the former, if true, is just sad.

No release date was claimed at the game's announcement, but during interviews in the summer of 2008, Yamauchi said the game wouldn't be coming out until late 2009. Sony and Yamauchi had been sticking to this rough date in interviews and press materials until yesterday. As expected as the announcement of more waiting may be, it's still disappointing for fanboys — particularly as the demo for Forza Motorsport 3 is on Xbox Live already, right on time. [GTPlanet]

Polyphony's version is definitely more a lingering look at the new Ferrari, which hasn't always been a part of Gran Turismo. Conversely, including Ferrari was a big deal for Forza in its early days, but they haven't always gotten the legendary Italian cars quite right, with early screenshots of the game earning criticism for strangely long-nosed Enzos. Will Turn 10 get the Italia right?

Here's what the car looks like in the metal.

And here's Turn 10's effort at linking the new Italia to previous Modena icons.

[via GTPlanet]

The demo will feature one track, the fictitious Camino Viejo de Montserrat circuit, and five cars: the 2007 Porsche #80 Flying Lizard 911 GT3-RSR, 2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro, 2009 Ferrari California, 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR, and 2009 Mini John Cooper Works. The demo will have the cockpit view, damage model, and rollover feature from the full game, as well as full leaderboard support for lap times. For those who enjoy dressing up their Live avatars, Turn 10 will also be making helmets, fire suits, and racing shoes available for you on the 24th, although you may want to feel ashamed of yourselves. [Forzamotorsport.net]

Both drivers suffered concussions with Philippe undergoing surgery on his foot at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, said IndyCar spokesman John Griffin. Both drivers were expected to remain in the hospital at least overnight, he added.

The crash started just past Turn 3 on the 12-turn Infineon course when Philippe spun out and came to rest while still on the track. The turn features a slight crest and Philippe stopped just past, or below, that crest.

Another driver, E.J. Viso, then came over the crest and crashed into the front wheels of Philippe's car, and moments later Power followed and also slammed into Philippe's car, littering the track with debris. [LATimes]

The October release date of Microsoft and Turn 10's XBOX 360 racer looms ever closer, reminding us that we'll be spending some quality seat time on our couch this Fall. Check out our ever growing car list HERE to see what other rides you'll be able to pilot, though we think the Audi R8 5.2L V10 is all we'll ever need. [Forza Motorsport]

The announcement that the famed 8.489 Mile, 21 turn Circuit De La Sarthe will be included in the next generation of the famed Forza series has got to get more than just a few enthusiasts excited. Previously the only way you could act out your French endurance dreams was by going to the Playstation-based series, Gran Turismo. Thankfully Turn 10 developers made the trek across the pond to measure, photograph and accurately re-build the famed circuit in digital form for us to create our own epic 24 Hour of Le Mans battles. In fact, Turn 10 Track Team Lead, Matt Collins, apparently collected over 15,000 images to help with the Stateside team's digital replica including images of the track barriers, road materials, rumble strips, vegetation and trackside buildings. The nearly 60GB of source material has been accurately placed with the help of physical data collected via GPS to create ultra realistic digital versions of both circuit configurations, Bugatti and Sarthe.

Also released this weekend was this partial car list of ten included Le Mans Prototypes along with a few detailed images of the exterior and interior of each of the digital versions of these famed racers which you can see below.

We've also compiled a list of the cars that we know will make the game thus far, but remember this is nowhere near the final list as there will be over 400 cars from 50 different manufacturers, all of which will feature full range of visual and mechanical customization. Also, expect to see more parts-flying carnage thanks in part to a more realistic damage model that will also include the ability for cars to completely roll over during a race, a feature not previously attempted in a racing game.

(Updated: 07.15.09) Forza Motorsport 3 Confirmed (Partial) Car List:

Alfa Romeo

* 8C Competizione

Audi

* 2 Audi Sport North America R8
* 2 Audi Sport North America R10 TDI
* 8 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R10 TDI
* 2009 Audi Q7 V12 TDI
* 2010 R8 V10
* R8 V8 FS I
* 2010 S4
* 2009 TT

Aston Martin:

* 2009 DBS
* DB5 Vantage

Bentley

* 7 Team Bentley Speed 8

BMW

* 15 BMW Motorsport V12 LMR
* 2008 135i Coupe
* 2009 M3
* 2009 BMW X5 xDrive 4.8i
* Mini Cooper
* 2009 BMW M5 E60

Cadillac

* 6 Team Cadillac Northstar LMP-02
* 2009 CTS-V

Chevrolet

* 2006 Corvette Z06
* Corvette ZR1

Chrysler

* 2008 Chrysler 300C SRT-8

Dodge

* Challenger SRT-8
* Viper SRT-10 Coupe ACR

Ferrari

* 30 MOMO Doran Racing F333 SP
* California
* Dino
* 2007 430 Scuderia
* 599 GTB Fiorano

Fiat

* 500

Ford

* 2005 GT
* RS200
* 1968 Shelby Mustang GT-500KR

Holden

Honda

* Civic
* 2009 Jazz
* NSX

Infiniti

* 2009 G37

Jaguar

* XKR-S

Land Rover

* 2008 Land Rover Range Rover Sport

Lamborghini

* Murciélago LP640

Lexus

* 2009 IS-F

Lotus

* Elise
* Evora

Maserati

* GranTurismo

Mazda

* 2008 Mazdaspeed 3

Mercedes-Benz

* CLS 63 AMG
* McLaren SLR
* ML 63 AMG
* SL 65 AMG Black Series

Mitsubishi

* Lancer Evolution VIII MR
* Lancer Evolution X GSR

Nissan

* 3 YellowHat YMS TOMICA GT-R (2008)
* 12 Calsonic IMPUL GT-R (2008)
* 21 Nissan R390 GT1 (1997)
* 23 XANAVI NISMO GT-R(2008)
* 2009 370Z
* Sentra
* Skyline GT-R R33
* 2008 Tiida

Pagani

* Zonda C12-S

Peugeot

* 3 Peugeot Talbot Sport 905 Evo 1C
* 8 Peugeot Sport 908

Pontiac

* 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP

Porsche

* Porsche AG 906c
* Porsche 956
* 997 GT2
* 2009 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S

Seat

* Ibiza

Subaru

* Impreza WRX STI

Toyota

* 3 Toyota Motorsports GT-ONE TS020
* 6 ENEOS SC430(2008)
* 25 Eclipse Advan Supra (2006)
* 2009 Yaris

TVR

* Sagaris

Volkswagen

* 2008 Volkswagen Touareg R50

As we mentioned above, the Circuit De La Sarthe will see its Forza debut along with 100 other real life global circuits which will include drift circuits, road courses, oval tracks and the long-rumored drag strip. You'll be able to pick up your very own copy of Forza Motorsport 3 this October. [via ForzaMotorsport]

TRING, UNITED KINGDOM - JANUARY 29: Red Bull Racing Formula 1 driver Mark Webber spends three minutes inside the cryogenic room in tempetures of -135 to help his injured leg during training and rehabilitation after he suffered a broken leg in November 2008 on January 29, 2009 in Tring, Buckinghamshire, England (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

And yes, we have made these pictures into an animated GIF. Enjoy the stasis of Webber’s chest hair:

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

This video's a battle occurring around the seven-hour mark pitting Audi R15 TDI driver, Alan McNish and Peugeot 908 HDI driver, Franck Montagny against one another for overall race lead. It was an eerily similar battle to the one between Flying Lizard's Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and Risi Competizione's Ferrari F430 GT that happened during the final lap of the 2007 Sebring race. [youtube via speedtv]

With enough speed to seal Ken's fourth win at the 100 Acre Wood in Salem, MO, the resulting footage is nothing short of breathtaking. New to our in-car game is a spiffy set of live data gauges telling the viewer exactly what's going on with those pedals.

Up next, we've got video interviews with Block and Pastrana, Behind the Scenes with Subaru Rally Team USA, and, of course, our 100 Acre Wood mega-gallery. Can you contain your excitement? We can't. Keep your browsers locked on our RallyAmerica tag for all this upcoming dirty fun. And as always, Press On Regardless!

Update: As it turns out, the video was just too friggin' awesome to be contained by our hamsters. We've moved it to Vimeo and all should be well. Sorry for those of you who's browsers we've imploded. It'll grow back, promise.

Hint: Skip to the one-minute mark to see the action, everything prior is unnecessary fluff.

We've been patiently waiting for Forza Motorsport 3 which in turn makes us wish we had a working Xbox 360 (stupid RRoD) so that we could play Forza 2.

[via forzamotorsport]

Hot on the heels of Friday’s announcement that Honda’s forlorn Formula 1 team was picked up by technical director Ross Brawn and will be run as Brawn GP comes Sniff Petrol’s take on the new team’s 2009 livery:

While the photo may question the judgment of launching something as frivolous as an F1 team smack in the middle of the Carpocalypse, the lack of branded livery would not be out of place on Brawn’s cars. For the past two years, Honda has run its racers with no advertising, just a painting of the Earth to cover its curves of carbon fiber.

Brawn’s timing may be akin to Cadillac launching its original V16 in January 1930, but we would not be in any particular hurry to underestimate his prowess. You may already have seen our proof that he is endowed with the largest brain amongst us all — even larger than "The Brain" of Pinky and the Brain fame:

Drivers Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button will be testing the new car today at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona in preparation for taking over the world, the season’s first race, only three weeks away. We have just one nagging question: which one of them is Pinky?

Photo Credit: Sniff Petrol

It’s the latter, called Dynamic Performance Control that we’re most interested in. The system is capable of parsing torque both front to rear and side-to-side, directing it to an individual tire even. When we tested the X6 we found that it worked like stability control, but enhanced, rather than reduced performance. For the X6 M, it’s been tweaked to “reduce understeer” which we can only assume increased oversteer. That’s a good thing, we found the V8-engined BMW X6 to be considerably more nose heavy than its 6-cylinder sibling, resulting in a slightly ponderous driving experience.

The other big addition is a high-power version of the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8. No power figures yet, but figure on a healthy increase over the stock unit’s 400 HP, 450 Lb-Ft rating. We don’t think it’s optimistic to expect both numbers to be over 500. It’s also rumored that this engine could be used in the next M5.

It’s fun to watch the ways in which different manufacturers are learning to manipulate the scary new world of the Internet. Porsche’s attempt to build buzz around the Porsche Panamera resulted in a fleet of lightly disguised cars being driven around city centers in the hopes of fan boy photos. BMW seems to want to take the content directly to viewers, using BMW Web TV to promote carefully formulated pieces of propaganda in advance of new product launches. Both are certainly more fun than paying spy photographers to take shots of “secret” prototypes. [via BMW Web TV]

BMW will be offering discounts for US armed forces members, both active and retired, on its line of motorcycles. Discounts for the K-Series run $500, the R-Series $400, and both G- and F-Series at $250. We'd give our eye-teeth for a G-Series fully outfitted for all-road duty, but alas, even $250 off won't put it into a non-stratospheric price range. Oh by the way, if you were interested, that HP2 Megamoto — $25,000+. [Source: BMW]

Suitability Parameters:
Speed Merchants: Yes
Fashion Victims: No
Treehuggers: No
Mack Daddies: Yes
Tuner Crowd: Yes
Hairdressers: No
Penny Pinchers: No
Euro Snobs: Yes
Working Stiffs: No
Technogeeks: Yes
Poseurs: Yes
Soccer Moms: No
Nascar Dads: No
Golfing Grandparents: No

Also Consider:
*Audi RS4
*Merceds C63 AMG
*E39 M5
*Porsche 911

Vitals:
• Manufacturer: BMW
• Model tested: M3 Sedan
• Model year: 2008
• Base Price: $53,800
• Price as Tested: $64,050
• Engine type: 4.0-liter DOHC Double-VANOS V8
• Horsepower: 414 @ 8,300 RPM
• Torque: 295lb-ft @ 3,900 RPM
• Red line: 8,300rpm
• Transmission: 6-speed manual
• Curb Weight: 3725lbs
• LxWxH: 180.4" x 71.5" x 57"
• Wheelbase: 108.7"
• Tires: 245/40 ZR18 front, 265/40 ZR18 rear
• Drive type: RWD
• 0 - 60 mph: 4.7 seconds
• 1/4-mile: 12.9 secs
• Top speed: 155 MPH Electronically Limited
• EPA Fuel economy city/highway: 14/20mpg
• NHTSA crash test rating: n/a

Also see:

• 2008 BMW M3, Part One

• 2008 BMW M3, Part Two

Acceleration: *****
Say what you want about relatively low torque figures, the all-new V8 revs so quickly and evokes so much power that its acceleration is all-consuming. And since when was 295lb/ft of torque relatively low anyways? The engine shares a perfect relationship with the chassis and leaves us wanting for nothing. Quite simply one of the best road-going engines ever.

Braking: ***
Never lacking in power or feel, but still has that ever so slightly not over-braked BMW feeling.

Ride: ***
Firm, but never harsh, the M3 always feels in control but would prefer you took advantage of the fast steering to avoid potholes.

Handling: *****
Simply one of the best handling cars we've ever driven, this is the M3's forté. Where other cars lie about their ultimate capabilities with over-heavy steering or artificial inputs, the M3 doesn't come alive until you're really pushing, its ultimate limits far beyond other fast sedan rivals and even its own grip levels. Want a car that'll drive sideways? This is it.

Gearbox: ****
Unlike other BMWs before it, the gear lever's throw isn't perfection, being both notchy and imprecise unless you're redlining it. An extra star added for the three pedals combined with six-gears. Thank you BMW for offering us the option.

Audio: *****
The radio works, we guess, but it's the engine you'll want to listen to. Neither woofly like a big American V8 nor screamy like a V10, the exhaust note conveys nothing but power and speed in its own unique way. For the M3, hearing is believing.

Toys: *****
There's more acronyms than we could ever list controlling every function and performance variable you could think of, and many you couldn't. When you're driving the M3, you notice none of them, except through the car's sheer competence. All the electronics serve the sole purpose of making it better to drive and giving more control to the driver, which is exactly how all cars should be. iDrive isn't nearly as infuriating as it used to be, you'll be clicking and spinning like a pro after your first day in a car so-equipped.

Value: *****
At $54,575 the M3 isn't a cheap car. But look at it this way: You get a 420bhp V8, one of the best chassis going and five seats for the price of a base Escalade. Or, if you'd prefer, nearly half the price and over twice the seats of a Porsche 911 GT3.

Overall: *****
Many purists will argue the size, weight and complication are the antithesis of an M car. In practice, these concerns aren't borne out. The 2008 model has as much involvement and more speed than any M3 before it. Where rivals are merely range-topping versions of the more pedestrian models below them, the M3 is a bona fide supercar, capable of satisfying the needs of even the most discerning drivers. This much practicality, this much pace and this much involvement from a four-door sedan? To say we're smitten is an understatement.

Also see:

• 2008 BMW M3, Part One

The top six, that's the "Firestone Fast Six" by the way, since everything from the trash cans to the retaining walls are sponsored in racing, will duke it out in a ten minute race for pole position. Naturally we expect next year to have a car carrier race off to determine pit road position and a pit bike race to settle who gets power to the trailers hooked up first. Seriously, how many races before the race must there be? [TSN]

This thought first occurs as I'm shifting from third to fourth on the same wet, windy and narrow road in the Catskills that had the Jaguar XKR tying itself in knots. Burying the throttle well into three figures that thought comes just after I ask myself if this is a bad idea. The answer is no.

The fast cars following disappear into the spray as the M3 crests yet another apex and accelerate out onto the flat corners beyond. The BMW making that impossibly fast, flat cornering believable, redefining the way in which I think a car should perform. I almost feel sorry for whatever it is I have to drive next.

That the M3 eschews conventional fast car wisdom makes it all the more special. Not present is any kind of manumatic or all wheel drive. The traction control is easy to completely defeat even if the power and electronic damping controls are baffling. The push-random-buttons-then-get-on-with-driving-it setting seems to work for me.

Those buttons, located down by your right leg, are the visible front to an achingly long list of in-car technology. A brief look reveals the usual dynamic stability control, as well as switchable throttle maps, electronically adjustable active dampers and regenerative braking. That you notice none of this once you put the owner's manual away speaks volumes for the fundamental right-ness of the design, none of it interfering as I use the throttle to play with the BMW's backend entering and leaving the mountain bends.

Earlier that morning, swamped in Manhattan's gray sea of traffic on my way out of town, there was little to hint at the M3's performance to come. The light clutch and adjusted-for-speed steering make easy work of the stop and go, while the suspension — firm in any setting — never makes the bumps go away, the jolts fail to affect the stiff body. The engine, while fast and flexible, doesn't hint at the performance its capable of. In fact, the whole thing feels decidedly normal. Looks it too, the bulges and droops making the already unappealing current 3-series even uglier. I like to think of the sedan's body as a form of camouflage; helping drivers avoid the attention a car this capable would normally garner. Even with the badges, those sitting one car over in traffic think of you as an upwardly mobile young executive from New Jersey, not someone hell bent on breaking every traffic law ever written.

But it's not city driving for which people will purchase the M3. It's the sheer involvement with which it rewards drivers. To look at it on paper, the BMW would seem a parallel for fast sedan rivals like the RS4, IS-F and C63 AMG. Gone is the lightweight simplicity of its forebears and present in the kind of complexity that'll make used car buyers shudder in three year's time. But, once you put your foot down, that piece of paper will disappear nearly as quickly as just about any other car on the road. It's just that good.

Thanks to: Brian, Tony and Matt at 0-60