Gran Turismo, the series of videogames for PlayStation, has been a revelation in every sense of the word. Not only does it give you the thrill of driving any type of vehicle on a race track or in a competition, but it does so in a very realistic way. The best part is that you can do all this in the comfort of your home, without worrying about the high costs it would involve in real life. Anyone can experience it, you just need a console screen and you’re ready.
This has become a great opportunity for automotive brands to show off their latest creations and show them to an audience that is interested in the car and could eventually buy one.
That’s how the Vision Gran Turismo project was born, where if a brand wants — and pays the proper fees — it can present its digital creations that could never be a part of real life. We have already seen some examples of brands such as Subaru, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, SRT, MINI, Infiniti, Peugeot, Dodge, Alpine and Lexus doing this, but without a doubt, one of the most impressive cars recently came to light during the Frankfurt Autoshow.
A creation of Bugatti, the French brand belonging to the Volkswagen Group, the car is simply called Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo. This is the reinterpretation of a futuristic racing car with several characteristic features of the brand like the grille and the wing that takes its inspiration from the 1936 Type 57 Atlantic, the lateral curve that frames the cockpit as it does in the Bugatti Veyron and blue tones of carbon fibre body in honour of Type 57 that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1937 and 1939.
The design is full of sharp angles and aerodynamic elements which function to keep the car close to the ground at over 400 km/h, and also to feed oxygen to the engine which is located in the central part of the car. There’s a giant spoiler on the back that communicates with the fenders and fascia, and acts as the DRS system of Formula 1 cars, in which you change the angle to give more support or speed when the car moves.
The grille is the highlight in the front, along with aggressive new headlamps, which are different to what we have seen of the brand in the past. They are made up of four units each and are half-hidden inside the car’s body.
On the back you’ll find four tailpipes at the centre and an air diffuser on the lower part to create the ground effect required for stability on curbs and on straight tracks.
The spectacular interiors continue the blue theme in different tones, showing the carbon fibre tinted in these colours, a futuristic racing wheel, a seat belt with five points and a central console displaying a small screen for the circuit.
Under the hood we find the impressive Veyron engine with 16 cylinders, 8-litre four turbos and 1,000 horsepower that hits the floor through a complex system of traction.
Let’s not forget that with this engine, the Veyron set a new speed record for a production car in 2010 with 431.072 kmph, so it’s possible the Vision Gran Turismo will be even faster thanks to a much lower weight.
Of course, right now it’s only a virtual concept, but the big surprise is that the car really exists in real life and was in the Frankfurt Autoshow, stealing all the thunder at this important international exhibition.
Rumours are rife that the next Bugatti successor, the Chiron, will look like — this keeping all the luxury and daily usability that the French brand promises. The mechanics will be different, probably using the W16 engine, but will be assisted by electric motors to fill gaps in the thermal power and drive so it can be converted into a super car like the Ferrari LaFerrari and McLaren P1.
While this happens, car fans can now download the package to have the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo on their consoles and use it on the tracks of the game — we get to drive a Bugatti somewhere, right? The brand claims that virtually the car can reach upto 400 km/h on four sections of the La Sarthe Circuit, where the 24 Hours of Le Mans actually takes place. In theory, this means it would be faster than the LMP1 cars — the top category at Le Mans. ■
For the full article grab the May 2016 issue of MAXIM Australia.
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