Mercedes brings virtual reality to life

MERCEDES-BENZ has created a real-life version of the racing car it designed for the Playstation 3 racing game Gran Turismo 6. Called the Mercedes-benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo, the full-size concept car previews the one that will appear in the computer game.

The real-life racer takes its inspiration from Mercedes’ 1950’s racing cars, except the Vision Grand Turismo has LED lights where the classic racers had louvres. This includes the distinctive front grille that can display different patterns thanks to the number of lights fitted.

Inside, the Vision Gran Turismo has a cockpit influenced by Mercedes latest Formula One racing cars. There are red seats and bare black floors.

Gullwing doors are borrowed from the Mercedes AMG SLS coupe.

A twin-turbo V8 engine powers the one-off Gran Turismo and offers 585bhp, though Mercedes has not released any real world performance figures for the car.

However, Mercedes’ engineers have worked very closely with the creators of the Playstation game to generate the right engine sound for the game to make it as lifelike as possible for players.

Gorden Wagener, Vice President Design Daimler AG, said: ‘The design of this concept car reflects to extreme effect the perfect symbiosis between emotional, sensuous contours and intelligently presented high tech.’

By Press Association reporters