Born in a PlayStation game, brought alive by VW
The headline is of course this vehicles engine. It’s a 3.0 litre BiTurbo V6 TSI (out of the Touareg) producing a whopping 503 bhp and 413 lb ft of torque, complete with a seven speed DSG gearbox and VW’s ‘4MOTION’ all-wheel-drive system.
Because it only has to propel a kerbweight of 1420kg, the GTI Roadster is capable of accelerating from 0-100 km/h in 3.6 seconds (an FF will do it in 3.7 seconds), and top out at 308 km/h. Better wear a helmet, because you may have noticed there is no roof.
There are 20in wheels. There are monster 380mm ceramic discs up front (356mm at the back). There are LED daytime running lights. There is a carbon monocoque interior with two ‘race-shell’ seats partitioned by a central bar. The instrument display is on a V-shaped wing on top of the steering column, itself longer, like a racing car.
“When Sony asked us if we would develop a Vision GT vehicle exclusively for the game to mark the 15th anniversary of Gran Turismo we didn’t hesitate for a moment,” said Klaus Bischoff, Head of Design at Volkswagen. And for good reason: GT creator Kazunori Yamauchi used to own a Golf GTI, so he’s a fan.