Virtual concept previews next Nissan GT-R

We got our first tantalising look via a teaser image last week and now Nissan has lifted the virtual veil from a digital concept that provides the first official clues to Nissan's next-generation GT-R.

Dubbed the NISSAN CONCEPT 2020 Vision Gran Turismo, the virtual supercar celebrates the 15th anniversary of the Gran Turismo video game, which has 'brought to life' a number of pre-production prototype vehicles in recent times.

It was created in collaboration with Gran Turismo developer Polyphony Digital, the 2020 Vision GT concept will be available to download and 'drive' via the GT6 driving simulator on PlayStation 3 from July.

But it also provides the first visual clues for the next-generation R36 GT-R super-coupe, which could emerge as soon as late 2015 – nine years after the existing R35 model's global release.

"This is a look at what a high performance supercar from Nissan may look like in the future," said the Japanese brand of the 2+2 virtual supercar, which features a radical new aerodynamic body.

The company says the virtual concept began life as "a dream project for Nissan designers who were given free rein to create their dream supercar for their own Gran Turismo fantasy garage.

"Created by a team of young designers at Nissan Design Europe in London, England, the model was considered to have so much potential that it has benefited from input from an advanced engineering team based at Nissan Technical Centre in Atsugi, Japan.

"As a result, NISSAN CONCEPT 2020 Vision Gran Turismo gives hints as to how a supercar of the future might look.

"But as a specialist in automotive design in three-dimensions, Nissan believes that the real-world is ready for the NISSAN CONCEPT 2020 Vision Gran Turismo. Watch this space…"

While the new GT-R is unlikely to look exactly like the wild concept when it emerges in the second half of this decade, Nissan has already indicated it will take a radical new direction by using hybrid power to be quicker, faster and more fuel efficient.

Nissan will enter the 2015 World Endurance Championship with a top-flight LMP1 program to take on Audi, Porsche and Toyota, using the NISMO GT-R as its basis.

But to be eligible for the outright LMP1 class, it will have to be hybrid-powered and will most likely employ technology pioneered this year by the controversial ZEOD RC (Zero Emission On Demand Racing Competition), the wild wing shape of which is outlawed by class regulations.

“The three manufacturers in LMP1 have brought three different types of technology and we are going to bring a fourth,” said NISMO's global head of brand, marketing and sales, Darren Cox at Le Mans on the weekend.

“This is the place where future road technologies are proven.”

At Le Mans, the ZEOD RC exceeded 300km/h on electric power down the Mulsanne straight and completed an entire lap of the 13.629km circuit running solely on battery power.

Powered by a 1.5-litre triple-cylinder turbo-petrol engine and two electric motors, the ZEOD is a forerunner to a staggered-track production sports car previewed by the BladeRunner, which will create a four-car Nissan sports car line-up also including a showroom version of the compact IDx coupe and next year's new 370Z.

However, Nissan's next GT-R, which will continue to be Nissan's sports flagship, is 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 current 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).

Nissan says that makes the NISMO GT-R the fastest 'volume production car' to lap the Nurburgring, since the 918 is a limited-edition model, as is McLaren's upcoming P1 GTR, which also has the target of a sub-seven-minute Nurburgring lap.

So the next GT-R has big shoes to fill.