The Infiniti Concept Vision GT made its first-ever appearance outside of China yesterday at the Copper Box Arena in London’s Olympic Park.
Its UK debut came at the launch of the new Sony Playstation game - GT Sport. Displayed alongside seven other full-size concept cars also in the game, the largest ever gathering of GT concept vision cars in one place, the vehicle provides a visualisation of what a high performance Infiniti could look like in the future.
The car was developed through close collaboration with the creators of Gran Turismo, the racing game franchise developed by Polyphony Digital Inc. that has sold more than 72 million copies worldwide. The Infiniti Concept Vision Gran Turismo will be featured in the new GT-Sport game when it is released in November.
The project started as an ambitious global Infiniti Design competition to "design a pure Infiniti GT car". The winning model was born from the theme put forward by Infiniti's Design team in Beijing. Part beauty, part beast, its shape is powerful, sensual and audacious – a mix of a track machine, described as 'the dream of the Chinese design team to create an ambitious racing language for Infiniti'.
The process of developing the design started with hand sketching, then refined digitally, refined again by hand sculpting, and then returned to digital for final refinement.
This project went much further than being a just design exercise. It included thorough examinations and calculations of technical features such as aerodynamics and engine performance. The front mid-ship/trans-axle powertrain enables the finely distributed 45:55 front/rear weight balance that fills users with the joy of driving by actively drifting the rear.
As for aerodynamics, the under-floor airflow control, front and back diffusers, and uniquely shaped rear spoiler enable this car to demonstrate high performance 'without compromising the impact of the body design'.