Want to drive the new Bugatti years before it comes out? You can play it in Gran Turismo.
At the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show Monday, Bugatti unveiled its Vision Gran Turismo, a virtual race car for the Gran Turismo racing game and a preview of Bugatti's future design directive. Consider this a preview for the successor to the mighty Veyron.
The Bugatti Veyron remains the fastest production car in the world, but it's not a race car. It was designed to be at home traveling luxuriously at warp speed (top speed: 267 mph in Super Sport trim) on the Autobahn, not to tear up a racetrack.
That's why this Vision Gran Turismo concept is so interesting. Bugatti says it's the first step towards its next car, so the choice to make it a race car could indicate a significant departure from the Veyron.
The gameplay screenshots of the Vision Gran Turismo are a nod to 24 Hours of Le Mans. Le Mans is one of the most grueling auto races in the world, and since it's held in France, an important one for a French automaker like Bugatti.
While the Vision Gran Turismo has some subtle nods to cars of Bugatti's past -- most notably the roof fin from the Type 57 Atlantic and the large number 16 in the radiator grille -- it's not retro in the slightest. Instead, it takes the general proportions of the Veyron and moves them towards the future.
In terms of aesthetics, the Veyron is a striking car, but few would call it beautiful. The Vision Gran Turismo brings the visual drama that the technologically-stunning Veyron always needed. Since this is a race car, the body is decorated with big wings, splitters and air duct. The giant NACA duct on the roof should make car geeks very happy.
Its interior is pure race car as well, complete with a deep bucket seat, a four-point harness and a steering wheel that looks like it came from a Le Mans racer of the future.
Even though this car exists primarily in the virtual world (aside from Bugatti's one-off show car), Bugatti engineers lent a helping hand to its design to make it as real as possible. The teams collaborated for six months on the Vision Gran Turismo, with Volkswagen racing engineers weighing in to check the realism.
Other cars in the Vision Gran Turismo series, which sees automakers designing cars for the Gran Turismo game, have been rather farfetched, but the Bugatti seems like a car of the near-future, not sci-fi.
As is the case with the Veyron, the Vision Gran Turismo has a 16-cylinder engine sending power to all four wheels. Bugatti is fairly tight-lipped about its virtual specs, but it does say it easily hits 250 mph at Le Mans, putting it on par with the fastest race cars to grace that track.
Concept cars can sometimes overhype a car that's still years away from production, so don't expect the Veyron successor to look and be exactly like this. Still though, this does promise great things to come.
Bugatti has a tough act to follow in the Veyron; while it was misunderstood by many, its technological achievements remain unsurpassed, an impressive feat for a car that began production 10 years ago.
If it can capture the spirit of this concept, it'll be a sure hit.