Gran Turismo 5 will feature a lobby like online section called ‘My Lounge’. Through it you can access all the games online features. Supporting voice chat for up to 32 players it also lets you host 16 player races for you and your friends.
As well as being a lobby, My Lounge has community elements which include bulletin boards, your stats and any recent mail you have recieved. All in all a great way to help you check progress and challange other players.
GT5 is slated to be released in november later this year and has been looking great for the last few years.