Vision Gran Turismo concepts often take on
proportions of the outlandish: Le Mans prototypes, almost, without any
regulations or practical considerations to take into account. Honda, however,
has taken a different approach.
The Japanese automaker has released its latest
contribution to the pantheon of digital sports-car concepts in the form of the
Honda Sports Vision Gran Turismo. And while it may not be quite ready for the
showroom, it looks a lot closer than most of its virtual-reality stablemates.
It also looks familiar: distinctly similar, in fact,
to the patent images we saw over two years ago. At that point we thought we
were looking at a baby NSX. And it could manifest into just that. But for now,
it's confined to the imaginary world of the Gran Turismo gaming franchise.
The concept was designed by Honda's studio in
California and developed in Japan. And while it may (for the time being) exist
principally in digital form, a full-scale model was built and tested in a
wind-tunnel – not just in computational fluid dynamics simulators.
The brief calls for carbon-fiber-intensive
construction to help keep weight down to a 1982 pounds. That's
just over half of what today's NSX weighs, a good third less than the old
S2000, and barely more than the tiny S660 roadster.
The other side of the power-to-weight ratio is a
2.0-liter DOHC-VTEC turbo four, we'd imagine to the one found in the
Civic Type R, but tuned to produce over 400 horsepower and mated to an
eight-speed dual clutch transmission. It all sounds and looks great. Fantastic,
even for now. Here's hoping it
manages to leap off our TV screens and onto the street in the near future.
