To mark Gran Turismo’s 15th anniversary last year, Kazunori Yamauchi, Gran Turismo creator and president of Polyphony Digital Inc., invited leading automobile manufacturers to contribute to the successful game series. Design departments were called upon to look into the future and share their ground-breaking concept models with the gaming community. The virtual cars will be gradually integrated into the new Gran Turismo 6 game through online updates.
BMW was the first automaker to announce its Vision Gran Turismo concept, one of a series of virtual cars designed exclusively for Gran Turismo 6. The Vision GT looks like something BMW could actually deliver if they wanted to.
Looking like an even more extreme version of the M235i Racing, the BMW Vision Gran Turismo concept builds on “the tradition of the successful BMW touring cars of the 1970s”. It’s got more extreme aero than the aforementioned M235i Racing and a striking take on the M division’s signature light blue, dark blue and red stripe over white livery.
The imaginary specs are very impressive. The BMW Vision GT’s 3.0-liter, twin-turbo inline six-cylinder makes 549 hp and 501 lb-ft of torque, which is channeled to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox. It tips the scales at just over 2600 lbs, with a 50:50 weight distribution.
“The development of the BMW Vision Gran Turismo combines our many years of motorsports experience with signature BMW Design. The race car anticipates future racing trends and allows gaming fans even more to experience BMW racing quality,” says Andreas-Christoph Hofmann, Vice President Brand Communication BMW, BMW i, BMW M.
Karim Habib, Head of Design BMW Automobiles said: “The BMW Vision Gran Turismo is pure BMW sportiness and dynamics. It’s a precise driving machine engineered and designed to race and win.”
“I was eagerly awaiting what kind of car the people at BMW would come up with. The resulting Vision Gran Turismo car was a sports car that was so clearly BMW, that really shows the DNA of BMW. What makes the Vision GT car so recognizable as a BMW, is in things like its compact size, its wide front and rear overfenders. It maintains the strong angular forms from the past, but the car is also given modern, elegant lines”, said Yamauchi.
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