TEASED: Nissan's next GT-R?

Nissan has become the latest car-maker to reveal a futuristic virtual-car for the Gran Turismo 6 PlayStation 3 video game, and in the process it could also have provided the first tantalising look at its next-generation GT-R.

Raising more questions than it answers, this teaser image of the aggressive new super sports car, which will be officially revealed on June 16, was accompanied by a one-sentence statement from Nissan USA this week.

"On Monday, June 16, we will reveal the next chapter in our Nissan story to an audience that has always shared our passion for performance," said Nissan.

Various car-makers have used Sony's Gran Turismo driving simulator to preview potential future models since its release in 1998, most recently Mitsubishi with its XR-PHEV Evolution concept and Volkswagen with its radical GTI Roadster.

Meantime, Nissan has always stated it will deliver a replacement for its new-generation R35 GT-R, which was first revealed in concept form at the 2001 Tokyo motor show and went on sale in Japan in 2007 after a six-year gestation period.

After a two-year wait, the current GT-R finally went on sale in Australia in February 2009, making it more than five years old here. Since then Nissan has produced numerous model year updates and released the top-shelf GT-R NISMO, which like the rest of the NISMO range remains unavailable here.

Nissan's global product chief Andy Palmer told motoring.com.au at April's New York motor show that the GT-R would continue to sit atop a new four-car sports line-up from the brand, including next year's all-new 370Z successor, an entry-level sportster based on the compact rear-drive IDx coupe and a production version of the quirky Blade Glider concept.

The wild virtual racer seen here is one of the most aggressive designs ever seen from Nissan, but incorporates clear links to the current GT-R including narrow, back-swept headlights and a hexagonal motif on its sharp nose.

However, wrapped in a bulging, low-slung two-door body, the visionary Gran Turismo concept adds even more angular bumper and body-side surfaces, a dramatically sloped bonnet and massively flared front and rear haunches.

Development of Nissan's next-generation R36 GT-R is being led by R34 senior engineer Hiroshi Tamura, who last year replaced 'Mr GT-R', Kazutoshi Mizuno.

Nissan said Mizuno had reached mandatory retirement age, but there are rumours he wasn't happy that the next GT-R will head in a different direction to the "supercar for the average man" image that he had championed for so long.

Either way, the next GT-R will be lighter, quicker, faster and more fuel efficient when it emerges as soon as late 2015 – nine years after the existing model's global release.

It's expected to be powered by a hybridised version of the existing model's 404kW/628Nm twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6 co-developed by NISMO and nine-times Formula Once constructor's champion Williams.

It's believed Williams Hybrid Power (WHP), which created the electromechanical composite flywheel system now used by Porsche and Audi racers, will use the state-of-the-art technology to increase the new GT-R's power output to as much as 600kW.

Combined with specialised aero parts and materials previewed by the GT-R NISMO, the next 'Godzilla' will weigh significantly less than the R35 (1740kg), spelling improved fuel consumption, quicker acceleration, a higher top speed and better racetrack times.

The 441kW/650Nm GT-R NISMO lowers the R35's claimed 0-100km/h acceleration time to about 2.5 seconds and set a new Nurburgring lap time of just 7:08.679 – 30 seconds better than the 2007 GT-R (7:38) and just 11 seconds slower than Porsche's 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid (6:57).

Despite GT-R NISMO production being capped at about 200 per annum, Nissan says that makes it the fastest 'volume production car' to lap the Nurburgring, since the 918 is a limited-edition model.

Whatever the case, if Nissan's new digital concept is any guide, the next GT-R should be one of the world's most striking, most potent and most technically advanced supercars available.

Watch this space next Monday for further details.