Welcome to the very latest in a long, long line of spectacular hypercars designed exclusively for Gran Turismo. Jaguar’s Vision Gran Turismo SV, a development of last year’s Vision Gran Turismo Coupe, is coming to the series next year (remains to be seen whether it’ll come to GT Sport or the as-yet unreleased GT7). But not, sadly, any real racetracks. Boo and indeed hiss.
The aim, says Jaguar, was to create the “ultimate virtual endurance racer”. The hypothetical hypercar, of which Jaguar has built a real-life model, “pays homage to its illustrious forebears” such as the C-Type, D-Type, XJR-9 and XJR-14. The designers also took “gamer feedback from online videos and forums” into account to “determine exactly how to optimise the Vision GT SV”.
In the game the slippery body is made from lightweight composite. Four electric motors – one for each wheel, and one more than you get in the ‘normal’ Vision GT Coupe – develop a combined 1,882bhp and 3,360Nm of torque. 0-100kph takes 1.65 seconds and the top speed is 410kph.
You’re looking at a 2,721mm wheelbase and 5,540mm overall length. In real-life terms, that makes the VGT SV a fair bit longer than a long-wheelbase Range Rover. New aero that treads a fine line between slippery and sticky, is largely to blame for the added length versus the old Vision GT. The wing is adjustable, with two sections that lift at speed to give extra downforce as required
The VGT SV isn’t just a figment of Jag’s imagination. The company developed the aero package using the same kind of “computational fluid dynamics analysis” it uses to perfect the setup on its Formula E cars. Engineers were also called in to do the maths for the powertrain, even going so far as to come up with a battery cooling system that uses liquid nitrogen, no less. A great deal of actual thought has gone into this thing, even though it will never see an actual race track.
