Back in the day you used to be able to roll around in a Dodge Ram 1500 in Gran Turismo 4, but this is taking four-wheelin' to a whole new level. Seriously, how well can a big lug like these luxo-utes handle and why on Earth would you have any interest in racing them in a video game?

Thankfully, this wasn't the only update that Turn 10 provided us today as we now know we'll have the opportunity to drive the Pontiac G8 GXP forever and pretend that GM never killed it. Phew!

Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]

Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]
Check out our continually growing Forza 3 car list HERE. [via Forza Motorsport]

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 addition of cars like the Toyota Yaris, MazdaSpeed 3 and Honda Fit mash nicely with the all-wheel-drive prowess of the Subaru WRX STI, Mitsubishi EVO IX MR and Nissan GT-R SuperGT, making us crave for the official October release of the newest XBOX 360 racer.

Check out the updated (07.01.09) car list HERE.

[via Forza Motorsport, Kotaku]

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]

The most obvious comparison to make is to Sony's Gran Turismo 5 due out on PS3 sometime before the next millennium, most notably the precise and cleanly rendered real-time visuals that Turn 10 Studios have created for their newest console-racer king of the hill.

Looking closely at some of the cars represented in this preview and you'll notice a 2009 Corvette ZR1, Aston Martin DBS, BMW 135i, BMW E92 M3, Audi R8 5.2L V10 among several other new comers and the inclusion of fully rendered and modeled interiors for the first time in the Forza series. The final list of cars will exceed 400 from 50 various manufacturers with each and every one having the ability to be fully customized as we've all come to know and love in the Forza series.

Also included are over 100 true-to-life global racetracks ranging from locations in Spain, Italy and the American Southwest which will feature both standard circuit and oval events as well as the long-awaited and heavily rumored drag racing and drift events. A new feature to the game will be the inclusion of a race calendar in which the player will be able to participate in a personalized 200+ event racing calendar. Cool stuff indeed.

A firm release date is not yet set, but we're guessing Microsoft will release Forza Motorsport 3 just before this year's Christmas season to solidify their crown in the console racing wars. [via Kotaku, YouTube]

Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios recently held a secret developer meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil and a very covered Forza Motorsport 3 logo popped up on the screen during a Powerpoint presentation. CVG managed to capture some video of the event, which has now been removed from YouTube. Regardless, OXCGN was able to get the released artwork, which you can see on the left, depicting Forza Motorsport 3's official logo.

As we reported back in January, Forza Motorsport 3 will feature a total of 400+ cars and over 100 tracks necessitating the game to ship with two seperate discs. It's likely that Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios will show a preview of the game later this year. We can't wait.

[Kotaku via CVG / oxcgn]

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]

Although no official release date has been revealed, the company behind all the pretty in-game artwork has let loose a couple of teaser images of the new Forza Motorsport 3. Microsoft Game Studios has sub-contracted Kaarbo Designs to create menu graphics for all previous Forza Motorsport games and they’ve let loose some early pre-production proofs of Forza 3 in-game race posters. The images were found on Kaarbo Design’s website and then promptly removed adding to the legitimacy of the images. In response to the leak, Kaarbo has said that the posters “are only samples and are not to be used.” Something that may be finalized is the Forza 3 logo in the upper left-hand corner of each poster.

While Forza 2 was big, it’s said that FM3 is so large that the DVD format has become an issue. With a total of 400+ cars and over 100 tracks it will likely ship on two separate discs. A preview of Forza Motorsport 3 will likely be shown later this year at the E3 show. We can’t wait to get our hands on a copy since our thumbs are just now healing from the first game.

[via xbox360 fanboy]

As somebody who rarely sits down with a controller (my newest game system is an O.G. NES) but loves cars and has spent his life obsessing over cars and his adult life futzing professionally with graphics on computers, I was interested in what drove Greenawalt and his team at Turn 10 to come up with the things they do. Forza 2 focuses on two things: realism in the reproduction of the tracks and the car and fostering creativity among the player community, something Greenawalt is adamant about. Hell, some players have even come up with versions of Michael Ross' Polizei Bentley Continental GT.

I asked Greenawalt why while there was such an effort placed on car-customization in the game, while the tracks tended to lag. He replied that it takes about three months to build a track; that they've tried outsourcing and adding people to the teams assigned and that no matter what they do, they can't seem to cut the time down. While they've got head-starts on tracks all over the world, actually putting the touches on the facilities to make them seem real means renting the facility for about half a week and hiring a helicopter. Plus, working in HD presents its own series of challenges; the pixel and poly counts require heavy-duty rendering; one of the reason that Turn Ten has shied away from adding in an in-game track-building application.

Another is that by adding in such an app, it would restrict the developers to using that same application as well, and as Greenawalt noted, Turn Ten isn't necessarily in the business of building an engine to sell. Instead, he wants to offer up the fanboy experience. Outside of well-heeled folks and broke-dick journos with connections, who gets to drive the world's premier tracks? That's an ethos that seems to inform everything that Greenawalt does when considering the game. As a fanboy himself, he wants to offer up a mass-market product that fanboys can adjust to their taste. The ins and out of producing something like this are frankly insane, with all of the vehicle licensing involved, not to mention the time taken to map the track as accurately as possible.

At Laguna Seca last weekend, Forza 2-sponsored driver Jaime Melo popped off a 1:25 lap on the Xbox 360. And in an inverse-Clarkson, he went out onto the track and pulled down a 1:22, setting a record in the process. That's the kind of accuracy Greenawalt strives for. Meanwhile, we're still waiting for them to add a Citroën SM to the mix. C'mon gents, chop-chop!