So normally, I'm not too big on racing games.  What few racing games I do play and what little time I spend playing them are generally arcade-style racers like Mario Kart Wii.  During the roughly eighteen month period I owned a 360, I tinkered with the demos for a couple of racing sims, namely Forza 3 and Dirt, but neither of them really caught my fancy.  All this being said, why in the hell did I pick up Gran Turismo 5?
 
My only experience with Gran Turismo prior to this latest game consists of a few races in GT3 back in college.  Still, my roommates enjoyed it, and I could appreciate what it did so well; simulate the act of driving cars with a ludicrous precision unheard of in previous console titles.  After skipping GT4, I watched the news on GT5 off and on again, and lengthy development cycle or not, it sounded to me like the developers knew what they wanted.  I'm not going to be one of those assholes that expects unreachable levels of quality based on extended development cycles.
 
Anyway, I bought the game this past weekend and gave it a shot.  After some goofiness in the installation process (It turned out that I was actually short on hard drive space.  I didn't realize I had filled that much of my 80GB drive up already.), I got it working and jumped in.  As far as first impression go, I love how newcomer friendly GT5 is.  The B-Level License Tests weren't anywhere near impossible, the leveling system seems apt to keep me from jumping into races I'm not ready for, and there's a wide variety of vehicles to select from, even in the early going.
 
As someone with almost zero experience in playing the previous entries, I'm not really broken up over the implementation of certain features.  It doesn't bother me in the least that I have to level up in order to access damage modeling, or that the game is still being tweaked post-release.  It still feels like a high-quality product end-to-end, and after my previous experiences with the buggy as shit Fallout:  New Vegas, I think that more developers could stand to learn from Polyphony Digital's example and actually take the time to work on their games, rather than ship something that's only half-functional.  Really, at this point, any adjustments or improvements that Polyphony makes to GT5 feel like gravy.
 

They really should've avoided the kitchen sink approach they ended up taking. I mean, I don't mind having an ugly car as long as it's fun to drive, but apparently everybody else does. 
 
Also, despite all else, New Vegas is an awesome game.

I only played the first GT , I liked it but it didnt grow on me as to wait for other installments , but its good that you find it to your liking.

Nice write-up. Kind of mirrors how I feel. I also only played GT3 briefly but now I'm hooked. I'm constantly thinking of what car I want to tune at work lol.

I have never played a GT game, ever... However, I still felt compelled to get GT5 along with a wheel. I don't know why, but I'm looking forward to finally playing it. It looks gorgeous... 
So hearing you say you have limited GT experience and not usually a fan of racing games that aren't "arcadey" is welcoming news. Since I am generally the same way.

Nice to hear it from someone who isn't a racing fan. I think my biggest reservation about it is that I just get bored with racing games after about 4 hours with them. My second reservation is that most people keep saying that you must play it with racing wheel and I don't want to drop that amount of money on something I am not even sure of. Maybe I should just wait for a deluxe edition that will most likely come somewhere down the road. 

My racing experience tends to skew arcade, but I've always been willing to dive into a hard core simulation just to see if I could handle it.  I'd be annoyed about the lack of damage on the outset but I'd probably make that my goal.
 
As to the difference between buggy releases and well-done ones, it almost goes without saying that a lot of current developers basically put out paid-for beta testing slots, with consumers as the testers.

GT5 kicks ass.  I've never owned any of the previous GTs, and it's very addicting.  Great controls plus a very heavy RPG-like car leveling system has me hooked.

first time playing gran turismo game. it is great. my first racing sim was forza 2. those games were great.

I really don't understand the trend, it seems, of hating on GT5. Most reviews I don't even understand, but they are opinions so it's cool. But as far as I'm concerned, GT5 is a massivly good game. 
Granted, I'm a huge fan of the series, so I will admit I have some issues with certain reviews (such as GB's own) and others, but it seems that everywhere you try to get some sort of information about the game from other people on forums - it is lost among the hate.
People gripe about certain features while not getting the whole picture, literally. It's not perfect, but it's ace.
 
If you call yourself a car nut or just looking for a good game to play, GT5 is as good as the next one, and if you take the time to understand the philosophy of it, you won't be disappointed. You just need to understand that what you are getting in to is not your normal action racer, but something quite else. Just need a different perspective, really.
 
Good to hear some people still have a straight head :)