Hmm... how come this wasn't in the Japanese version? Or anyone who had played the import of it hadn't done spoken about this.

sigh.. Warhawk was a full install to.. you people need to realize this is the age we are in. Just remember to clear out useless data or upgrade your HDD eventually.

 there are already guides... and there are guides to upgrade the intenal drive.  Upgrading the internal drive is cheaper anyways.

 The Warhawk install was 1GB and took about 3 minutes on my console, those installs I can deal with. 

No, it's just the age you want to believe we're in but we're not there yet. As consoles take longer to setup and configure and more PC characteristics are added I don't doubt that such an age is a possibility in the future.

I love PC gaming, pure and simple, but there are things it can keep. Post release patching and bug fixing along with installations are among them.

 read the OP, I imported the Japanese version and yes it has the install.  However, I remember mine being a little under 5GB and this one is over, so there might be some minor differences in the game.

I don't like the idea of upgrading a console, no matter how easy it is to do.

I bought a 60GB PS3 and the idea that I should keep at least 10GBs open at any point in case the next game I buy needs an install is annoying. I also don't feel like upgrading the HDD. That's annoying, too. I may as well go back to PC gaming if that's the kind of stuff I'm going to be dealing with in the new console world.

If HDD tech was cheap enough where Sony put 200GB drives into every PS3, this wouldn't be a big deal. As it stands now, if anyone buys a 20GB PS3 (used or new, if they find one), they may as well write off another $50-100 to upgrade the drive so they can play more than two games without uninstalling and reinstalling software. 

if its 5 gigs for just prologue, how much memory would u need to use for the actual game. I remember gt4 took up almost an entire ps2 memory card. Still, this game is a must have for me.

The whole game plays off the HDD, so chances are the full GT5 will take less space to install.

Also, as for the NA release being larger than the Japanese, weren't there additional cars added?

The best part of console gaming for many is arguably the low entry cost.  Forced upgrades to just keep playing negate that advantage as well.