Drive the 2014 Corvette Stingray today

The slack jaw, the glazed expression, the saliva dripping at your feet after seeing the Detroit Auto Show unveiling of Chevy's 2014 Corvette Stingray... Common symptoms of "exotic car desire syndrome".

There is a temporary cure however.

If you own a PlayStation 3 and a copy of Gran Turismo 5 then that pool of drool and stained shoes will not be a problem, because Sony has released a virtual version of the seventh generation 'Vette as free downloadable content for the serious driving simulator game.

It's expected the new 2014 Corvette Stingray can cut some fast laps in stock standard form in GT5, and if the previous camouflaged Corvette prototype download was anything to go by - almost half a million people have driven it - this new car download will be hotter than hot cakes.

The latest iteration of the iconic US muscle car is powered by a 6.2-litre V8 engine that produces 335kW and 610Nm, good enough for a 0-100km/h dash in less than 4.0 seconds claims Chevrolet.

Chris Perry, vice president of Chevrolet Marketing, was pumped about the digital launch of the new Corvette, which is a powerful promotional tool for would-be buyers and dreamers alike.

"Through this unique collaboration with Gran Turismo, Chevrolet is able, for the first time, to give performance car enthusiasts access to such an exclusive driving experience the day after the Corvette Stingray's world debut."

The trick of getting all the car data to the game developers ahead of the car's launch - and keeping it secret - is no mean feat. But the GT5 crew, Digital Polyphony, manage to do it time and again, as Kazunori Yamauchi, president of Polyphony Digital Inc, explains.

"The Polyphony team has had an unforgettable experience getting to know the Corvette Stingray, inside and out, and bringing it into Gran Turismo 5," he said.

The Japanese game developer, which has sold more than 68 million Gran Turismo games for the Playstation game consoles thus far, mentioned that creating a digital Corvette Stingray was not easy, and that "careful attention was paid to the tiniest details". This of course includes driving dynamics with things like the seven-speed manual transmission being faithfully mapped into the game.  

"We're excited to share our experience with fans and let them feel, explore and drive the Corvette in a way that wasn't possible until now," explained Kazunori-san.

GT5 fans looking for a bit of shiny virtual action in the final prototype of the 2014 Corvette Stingray can point their PS3's to the PlayStation Store or head over to Gran Turismo central for more information.