GT5 Prologue PSN download is 1.9GB

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is set to weigh in at 1870MB on PlayStation Network when it goes on sale next Thursday, 27th March.

That's how big the game was when we downloaded it to put together our exclusive review of the PAL version, and Sony has confirmed to Eurogamer that it will be the same when the game goes live on the PlayStation 3 Store.

1.9GB isn't exactly huge, especially given that PS3 games can take advantage of Blu-ray's 50GB if they choose, so how do they do that?

One way Prologue reduces its footprint is by leaving cinematics on the server until you choose to download them from GT TV. You can choose to download the opening movie at any time, and when you finish Event series you're told that you can now download the end movie from the in-game high-definition TV download page.

According to a Sony spokesperson, both movies will be included on the Blu-ray disc version of the game.

Playing through the European version of Prologue also gave us a chance to check out some of its new features, like the Quick Tune mode.

New to the PAL release, Quick Tune is unlocked when you finish C, B and A-class races in Event mode, and lets you adjust tons of car settings before each race, giving you a performance-points score based on the balance you strike.

You can also store up different configurations to switch between in real-time during races. These configs can be assigned to buttons on the Sixaxis or Driving Force GT steering wheel.

For those of you who care, the options you can adjust using Quick Tune are: power, weight, tyre, aerodynamics, ride height, spring rate, damper, toe angle, camber angle, brake balance, traction control, max turning angle, ABS, torque balance and gear ratios. The Quick Tune page also shows you graphs of power/torque and gear ratio to help you see what you're doing.

Advanced players can also opt for Professional physics rather than Standard, as they could in the Japanese release, while other assists (for correcting oversteer and preventing skidding) are offered along with the traditional driving line, which now benefits from displaying target speeds over the far end of red braking sections to help you work out exactly when to reapply acceleration.

For more on all that, check out our Gran Turismo 5 Prologue PAL review. The game's due out on PSN on 27th March and at retail on 28th March.