Sony Computer Entertainment will bring a playable demo of the fifth Gran Turismo instalment to the PS3's online store this autumn, ahead of its release in Europe next year.

This is all according to French website Jeux-France, who report that Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be on Japanese shelves before the end of this year.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, as the download version is called, will be apparently offer several cars and circuits as well as online play via the Gran Turismo network. It's not specified at this point whether it will be free or paid-for content.

Polyphony previously pointed at a 2008 date for the fifth racing instalment, after cancelling Gran Turismo HD as a full disc-game.

Further more, Jeux-France also reports that Gran Turismo HD will be available for download from the PS3's online store at European launch on March 23.

When we picked up the phone to ask Sony about the GT5 report it was unfortunately unavailable for comment, but we'll let you know as soon as it gets back to us.

via cvg