The Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo concept will come to life on the new PlayStation 3.
It’s going to be a busy week for the auto industry, what with simultaneous auto shows in both Tokyo and Los Angeles. Mercedes-Benz, for example, will debut an assortment of new products, including the new S65 AMG and the SLS AMG Final Edition. Also on top for the German maker: the unveiling of a new supercar concept dubbed the Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo.
Borrowing its gullwing doors from the SLS – and the Mercedes 300 SL before it – the sleek, liquid silver Vision is just a show car for now. But that won’t prevent folks from taking it for a spin. At least, not if they have one of the new Sony PlayStation 3 gaming consoles.
Mercedes has teamed up with the producers of the long-popular Grand Turismo racing game to bring the supercar to virtual life, giving fans a chance to see what it would be like to slip behind the wheel of the 585-horsepower 2-seater.
“By virtue of its proportions and expressive appearance, the Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo embodies the brand’s defining design philosophy of sensual purity in a unique way. The design of this concept car reflects to extreme effect the perfect symbiosis between emotional, sensuous contours and intelligently presented high tech,” says Gorden Wagener, Vice President Design Daimler AG.
The virtual supercar makes 585 hp.
The Mercedes supercar was developed as part of an effort by the developers of the game to get manufacturers to come up with unique designs for the latest update in their racing software, Gran Turismo 6.
(A double-debut for Mercedes. Click Hereto check out the new S65 AMG and the SLS Final Edition.)
The overall design of the AMG Vision Gran Turismo will be familiar to Mercedes-Benz fans, the long hood and short rear deck picking up where the real SLS supercar – now at the end of its production run – leaves off. The design has a more fluid shape, with flowing side panels and rounded wheel arches blending into a decidedly muscular bodyshell. The thin, angled headlamps frame a reinterpretation of the familiar Mercedes grille meant to evoke memories of the 1950s-era 300 SL racecar, Mercedes explains. A pair of cameras are mounted at the end of wing-like stalks and replace conventional rearview mirrors.
The interior borrows its inspiration from Mercedes’ Formula 1 racer, with integral red racing seats and a dashboard that appears to flow into the two gullwing doors. The central display appears a glass surface that floats above the Formula 1-style steering wheel. Switches are meant to operate like a fighter jet, and are mounted at the center of the dash and in a panel overhead.
Mercedes adopted a front-mid engine layout for the big V-8 which produces an impressive 585 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. Weighing in at just 3,047 pounds, that works out to one of the best power-to-weight ratios in the supercar world – or will for those who fire up the Vision Gran Turismo on the PlayStation 3 console.
(Acura debuting new Sport Hybrid technology in LA. Click Here to learn more.)
Might motorists get a chance to test the Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo in the real world? The maker’s Final Edition, as the name suggests, will mark the end of the run for its SLS supercar. There’s been plenty of speculation about a successor, though company officials aren’t discussing their options – but perhaps we’ll hear more in L.A. later this week.