With a few hours to go until it’s officially revealed, a first look at the Skoda Vision Gran Turismo car has leaked out courtesy of one regional PlayStation site jumping the gun — along with the other contents of the upcoming update 1.46.
It’s looking like a regular three-car update, set for Thursday April 25, with the game set to hit the 500-car mark through the first Skoda vehicle in a Gran Turismo game, Sony’s own first production car, and a classic muscle car making a welcome return from previous GT games.
Update: This has also been further confirmed by an unusually timed Tweet from GT series creator Kazunori Yamauchi, as well as a more routine blog post and video from PlayStation:
PlayStation Poland let the overview of the update’s contents slip in now-removed posts on its Facebook and Twitter accounts, showing the Skoda Vision GT in multiple colors and revealing the broad strokes of the vehicle:
The Skoda Vision Gran Turismo is, as we expected, an updated version of a 2022 concept designed by Skoda independently of the Vision GT program but coincidentally bearing its name. It’s inspired by the company’s sleek 1100 OHC convertible from 1957, although with some modern touches.
Absent a full presentation of the car, which will be coming later on today and with Polyphony Digital in attendance at a special live unveiling in Czechia, we still don’t know a great deal about the Skoda Vision GT — or Skoda’s future plans for a presence in the series.
However, we can say that the VGT is an electric single-seater, with a curious set-up that appears to integrate the driver’s helmet and an augmented reality display in with a fairing. We’ve seen the car presented in multiple colors too, with the original red (from the 1100 OHC) joined by what looks like two different greens and a silver version with blue livery lines.
Alongside the Skoda there’s a second new manufacturer making a debut, and it’s almost a case of Sony marking its own homework with the 2024 Afeela Prototype.
Sony revealed its first car — the Vision-S — way back in 2020, and while nobody outside of Sony really expected it to actually become a real car, that’s more or less what’s happened. To realize the ambition, Sony joined forces with Honda to form the snappily titled “Sony Honda Mobility”, to produce an evolution of the vehicle under an all-new “Afeela” brand.
Perhaps unsurprisingly it’s an all-electric vehicle, sporting a pair of 180kW (241hp) motors for a combined 482hp. As there’s one on the front axle and one on the rear, it’s also all-wheel drive — and apparently you can drive it in the real world with a DualSense controller, as demonstrated by SHM chief operating officer Izumi Kawanishi.
Finally, and perhaps as an antidote to the other electrifying options, there’s a classic muscle car making a return from previous Gran Turismo games. That’s the awesome Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454, packing a 449hp, 7.4-liter LS6 V8 driving the rear wheels alone.
With the information leaking out early, we still have to wait on the Skoda presentation to find out more about the Vision GT and any future plans for Skoda models in Gran Turismo 7 (and beyond).
This is also only a preview of the vehicle content for update 1.46, with any further information on other content and features under wraps until the official PlayStation Blog/Gran Turismo website post and the patch notes.
We’re expecting more information on the Skoda at around 1600 UTC today, April 24, with the update notes at or around the same time. The update itself is likely to become available at its usual time, around 0600 UTC on Thursday April 25.
Thanks to alienisko for the tip-off!
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