Those who have been holding off on grabbing Sony’s flagship racing sim are in for a treat. Sony announced today the Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition, a $40 version of the game that includes loads of extra’s. The XL Edition is slated to hit store shelves on January 17th in North America. No international versions have been announced for other territories.

According to the Playstation Blog, the Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition includes:

• Original Gran Turismo 5 game, featuring more than 1,000 cars, 20+ locations with 70+ track layouts, diverse racing styles including rally, track, karting, NASCAR, and more, deep online community features and online racing, plus Gran Turismo TV, Course Maker and more.
• All of the new and improved features and functionality from all free downloadable game updates up through Spec 2.0 included on the disc.
• Voucher good for over $20 worth of DLC content, including the Racing Car Pack, Car Pack 2, Course Pack, Racing Gear Pack, and Paint Pack.

As an added bonus, the box art is reversible  and features the new Red Bull X2011 supercar (see below).