Peugeot joins the Vision GT club

PEUGEOT has wheeled out its latest concept revealing a sleek, ultra-high performance supercar that will never hit the road – at least in the real world.

As expected, the previously teased Peugeot Vision Gran Turismo has been created exclusively to do battle in a digital arena, and will only appear in the Polyphony Digital driving simulator game Gran Turismo.

The French car-maker is the latest in an ever increasing line of brands to create radical concept vehicles for the Vision GT project, which asks manufacturers to submit outlandish designs unbound by conventional restrictions and rules.

Before Peugeot, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mitsubishi, Mini, Subaru, Chevrolet, Volkswagen, Nissan, Aston Martin, Toyota, Infiniti, Mazda, Lexus and Renault have all showcased extreme racing machines in the game, with the new models progressively becoming available with periodic online Playstation console updates.

With each of the respective manufacturer's teaser campaigns, rhetoric surrounds the concept with speculation of a new road car, so to keep a lid on any undue excitement let us warn you that car-makers Audi, Honda, Hyundai, Lamborghini, SRT, Tesla, Daihatsu, Ford, General Motors, style houses Giugiaro, Zagato and Bertone, and even Nike are all due to launch vehicles in the game.

Peugeot's contribution follows the trend of other Vision GT concepts with baffling figures. Its 3.2-litre mid-mounted and turbocharged V6 sends 652kW to all four wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox and weighs a featherweight 875kg.

The result is zero to 100km/h acceleration in an impossibly quick 1.73 seconds and deceleration is dealt with by Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, which are housed in wheels measuring 22 inches at the front and an inch bigger at the back.

Ironically, while this vehicle is bound by the computer screen, the game will make a very real career for one talented gamer. The GT Academy will take the winner of an online racing series from their armchair and into a bucket seat, and the chance to drive for one season as a professional racing driver.

Wannabe racers simply log a virtual time around the United Kingdom's Silverstone circuit in a Nissan GT-R for the chance to be flown to the track for a final-six shoot-out.

Players of Gran Turismo can expect to see the new Peugeot concept appear on-screen soon, following the next software update.