The Gran Turismo games have always tried to link the real-world automotive landscape and sim racing. Whether that’s been the GT Academy competition that took PlayStation drivers and created Nissan motorsport stars, as depicted in the Gran Turismo Movie, or the Vision Gran Turismo Programme where manufacturers created concept cars just for the game. In the case of McLaren, it even turned one into reality with the Solus GT.
Now, developer Polyphony Digital has worked on the interior of Nissan’s forward-looking electric supercar, potentially previewing the future of the fabled GT-R nameplate.
The Nissan Hyper Force was revealed at Tokyo’s Japan Mobility Show 2023, as a part of a five-car battery-electric concept car showcase. As it’s not a production road car, for now, Nissan touts a possible output of 1,000 kW fed through a version of its e-4ORCE all-wheel system first available on the Ariya.
The heavily sculpted body is made from carbon fibre in a design that pays “homage to Nissan’s high-performance cars,” according to the Japanese company, with an aerodynamic package created by its NISMO racing division that includes a patent-pending ‘dual-level’ rear diffuser.
At the rear, there are four round lights that are distinctly reminiscent of prior GT-R sports cars, and there are theoretical drive modes labelled “GT” (grand touring) and “R” (racing).
The inside is just as outlandish, where a combination of screens and head-up displays forming a ‘Graphical User Interface’ that changes the information displayed and colour depending on the selected drive mode – blue for GT and red for R.
It’s this element that has been created in partnership with Gran Turismo creators Polyphony Digital.
When in the sporty setting, the Polyphony team has created graphics that show stats such as tyre pressures and temperatures, brake rotor temperature and power distribution on screens that move towards the driver to create a “cockpit feel around the driver,” according to Nissan.
The more subdued cruising mode lessons the aggression, not only changing colour but retracting the viewing panels and displaying more subdued information such as cabin temperature and audio settings.
Nissan has then gone all-out with the concept car rhetoric. It says that hypothetically while the car is stationary, there could be a virtual reality-equipped helmet for the driver to race in an unspecified game with and the use of ‘skeleton visors’ for an augmented reality time trial competition. Sure, Nissan. Sure.
This is far from the first time the Gran Turismo creatives have worked with Nissan – the current road-going GT-R (R35) features a user interface for track data designed in conjunction with the fêted game team.
The car will be on show at the event for the public between 20th October and 5th November in Japan. Does this mean the vehicle is confirmed for Gran Turismo 7? Not yet…
