Lamborghini knows how to make a proper reveal. During the World Finals of the Gran Turismo Championship, an esports competition for Gran Turismo, which was held in Monaco, the company revealed the brand new Lambo V12. Luxury car owners should hold their expectations a bit, though. The Lambo V12 has excellent aesthetics and top-of-line features, but it will only appear in the virtual world.
Racing Like a Pilot
The whole philosophy, according to lead designer Mitja Borkert, is for the model to make the driver feel like a pilot. It even has a front section that lifts up, allowing the driver to slide in like a pilot on the cockpit-looking driver's seat.
"I always call our philosophy 'feel like a pilot,'" says Borkert in an interview with TopGear. "You need to have control over the car and with our Gran Turismo car we are going in a very consequent direction."
The Lambo V12, known officially as the Lamborghini's Vision GT car, ticks all the needs of a racer. For its engine components, the Lambo V12 is based on the Sián, which combines a supercapacitor to the Aventador's 12 cylinder block. The Lambo V12's new ratings aren't out yet, but the Sián had a 6.5-liter V12 naturally aspirated engine, with a hybrid 48-volt for a grand total of 819 horsepower. It can accelerate to 62 mph (0-100 kph) in just 2.8 seconds and can run as fast as 217 mph (350 kph).
Read More: Lamborghini Releases Super-Exclusive Aventador SVJ 63 Roadster and Huracán EVO GT Celebration
The Lambo V12 adds more flair and finesse on the car's exterior, meant to look futuristic. The fact that the car will only launch digitally adds less worries for the designers to make the design even more extreme. "We were saying, okay, it's a racing game, so let's do a monoposto," says Borkert. A monoposto is a car with wheels protruding from its body, very much like the classic F1 racecars and Tamiya vehicles, for those not familiar with the actual cars.
The racecar also has intelligent features embedded on its interior dashboards, including a holographic display and a dedicated factory driver AI that gives context-sensitive advice to the driver on how could they go faster and shave their lap times.
Borkert confirms that the model is still not final, as the Lambo V12 will still receive further refinements down the road.
Drive the Best Monoposto... Ingame
Quite fittingly, albeit somewhat disappointingly, this beast of a racecar can only be piloted in the digital world. The announcement, after all, was made during the Gran Turismo Championships World Finals.
The FIA Gran Turismo Championships held its culminating tournament last weekend, Nov. 22–24, in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The event's Nations Cup winner is German–Turkish Mikail Hizal of Team Redline Simracer. The 20-year-old also claimed the Nations Cup on two separate occasions, back in October 2018 in Madrid and in September 2019 in Salzburg.
The Lambo V12 Vision is set to race in digital racetracks starting next Spring. It will release for the PS4 game Gran Turismo Sport, which is the same game played in the Gran Turismo Championships.
