10 of our favourite cars in Gran Turismo 5

Oh, how sweet it tasted when Lamborghini finally debuted in the Gran Turismo (GT) series. OK, so true anoraks will remember that an LM-spec Diablo showed up in the Japanese version of GT3, but for the rest of us, GT5 remains the true initiation, where a strong roster of eight supercars featured. We’ll choose the LP670-4 SV, thank you very much. 

Had Mazda brought the double-rotary-engined RX-8 LM to life, we reckon you would’ve lasted all of two laps before its noise burst your ear drums. Likely would have been epic, since its projected 493bhp was tasked with carrying just 1.1 tonnes around.

Ah yes, the poster car for GT5. The road-going version was a real thing at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, but never really took off beyond that. No bother, because the V8-powered GT can touch 250mph in race trim forever more in GT5.

You’re going to grow tired of the word ‘debut’ by the end of this story, but you can blame Kaz for introducing so many heavyweights in this title. Ferrari is another, and we were torn between choosing the legendary 330 P4 racer and this: the F40. We opted for the latter since it’s significantly easier to obtain.

Another debut in the GT franchise, and one we didn’t know we needed. It doesn’t matter which NASCAR you choose, because the feeling of hurling one of these massively overpowered, horribly handling monsters around never grows dull. We suggest tackling the Nordschleife in Jimmy Johnson’s blue Impala if you really fancy a bit of comedy.

While our reason for excluding the 330 P4 was its ridiculous 20-million-credit price tag, we feel very much justified in including the utterly gorgeous Giulia TZ2… because it costs just 10 million credits. Talk about thrifty in-game decision-making. Just don’t expect it to go like a 10-million-credit car, because its 168bhp inline-four makes it more tailored to photo mode than actual racing.

The third and final road car on our list, and yet another debutant. That the McLaren F1 wasn’t featured in GT until the fifth game feels like a bit of an injustice for its small legion of fans. Guess you can't blame GT - who's even heard of the McLaren so-called F1?

The car that took Sebastien Loeb to a second-place finish at the 2005 24 Hours of Le Mans. Powered by a 5.0-litre naturally aspirated V10 sending over 900bhp to the rear wheels, it became something of a cult hero for fans as the left-field option to the hugely popular Audi R10 TDI.

The penultimate car on our list, and what a car. We already know how wild the Zonda R is, but given that it’s practically off-limits for any real racetrack due to noise regulations, we’ve never truly known how it would compete against other hardcore racers - until GT5. Because Horacio’s skunkworks project has enough grunt and handling ability to match just about anything else in the game. Except…

The result of Adrian Newey getting a bit bored during a Christmas break. The path to ownership is a difficult one: you need to get at least all silver stars in a time trial gauntlet put down by Sebastian Vettel himself. This was also right at the height of his Formula One domination spree, so to get yourself an X2010, you need to be good. Very good. Or just someone with 20 million credits to spare.