Mercedes reveals SLS successor – sort of

No, this isn't the successor for the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. But the digital video game creation dubbed Vision AMG Gran Turismo could be a stylised preview of the SLS replacement, which is due for release next year and understood to simply be called the Mercedes-Benz GT AMG.

Previously referred to as the SLC AMG, the all-new GT AMG is also expected to come with similar firepower to the Vision AMG Gran Turismo pictured here -- a twin-turbo V8 engine.

Interestingly, Mercedes-Benz has built a full-sized version of the digital supercar, to be shown at the Mercedes-Benz research centre in Sunnyvale, California, ahead of this week's Los Angeles motor show.

It will also be showcased in the upcoming Sony Playstation 3 game, Gran Turismo 6, the only place where the swoopy supercar can be ‘driven’ -- yet.

Some of the concept car's standout features include a dynamic grille constructed from LEDs, gullwing doors, ceramic brake rotors and an unapologetic exhaust system with eight outlets. Mercedes says the latter provides a "sonorous exhaust note that authentically celebrates the V8's love of high engine speeds".

The Vision AMG Gran Turismo is powered by a twin-turbo V8 engine that belts out 430kW/800Nm (10kW more power and a big 150Nm of extra torque than the outgoing SLS) and is also expected to power AMG versions of Merc’s next-generation models, starting with the all-new C-Class next year.

Ultra-low and very wide, the Vision AMG Gran Turismo concept weighs 1385kg in the digital world, thanks to an aluminium spaceframe chassis. In the GT AMG production car, which will be Mercedes-AMG’s first direct rival for the Porsche 911 Turbo, the latter is believed to be a cut-down version of the outgoing SLS’s alloy spaceframe.

With its 430kW output, the car has a theoretical power-to-weight ratio of 3.2kg per kW, which would put it in exulted supercar company.

Mercedes says the rear-wheel drive car's sinuous form was conceived to pay homage to the classic 1952 300SL, the Vision AMG Gran Turismo featuring gullwing doors and a retro grille motif inspired by its 70-year-old ancestor.

"By virtue of its proportions and expressive appearance, the Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo embodies the brand's defining design philosophy of sensuous purity in a unique way," says Gorden Wagener, Vice-President of Design at Daimler AG, Mercedes-Benz parent company.

"The design of this concept car reflects to extreme effect the perfect symbiosis between emotional, sensuous contours and intelligently presented high tech," says the Benz design chief.

The Vision AMG Gran Turismo will be available as a downloadable vehicle for the upcoming Gran Turismo 6 game on the Sony Playstation 3 console.

It isn’t the first time Mercedes-Benz has used a video game to preview a future model, with the highly-anticipated CLA 45 AMG revealed in the DriveClub Playstation 4 game.