Friday, December 19, 2014

Gran Turismo 6: Chaparral 2X vs. Infiniti Concept

City of Arts and Sciences - Night_1

Two new Vision GT cars have arrived in the latest GT6 update. One represents the future of Inspired Performance while the other revives a legendary marque that Gran Turismo fans truly remembered for its bizarre aerodynamics. The Infiniti Concept VGT and the Chevrolet-Chaparral 2X VGT are now here and here's your chance to try out these two new machines only on GT6.

High Speed Ring

Let's talk about the Chevrolet-Chaparral 2X first and this Vision GT could be our new favorite because for the first time, this concept racer features a unique powertrain that no racecar in the history has ever done before. Don't be surprised but this racecar's powered by laser pulse shock waves generated by an advanced propulsion system made by Chevrolet. That's right. This car's laser power...and it's diabolical indeed. The laser pulse shock wave generates an equivalent of 905HP of power and because it weighs 405kg, its power-to-weight ratio is on its explosive levels. Yes. Calculate that and that power-to-weight ratio is an exploding 2011 horsepower-per-tonne. WOW! No such car can get that kind of ratio! Not even the Bugatti Veyron!

Apart from its unique powertrain, it comes with a very unique cockpit where the driver has to lie down like a flying squirrel to operate it. That driving position looks awkward but when it's already in motion, this driving position for a future racing machine is worth thrilling. It's like you're on a free-fall from the sky, except you're going horizontally.

The bodywork is made up by its "layup schedule" which lets the whole structure to act alongside with its suspension and its super-ridged propulsion structure ensures optimal thrust parabola to the laser pulse cone. With the combination of the multi-vane adjustability and the lower Thrust Vectoring panel, the Chaparral 2X provides a greater downforce that fits on any track.

It's the hallmark of Jim Hall's legacy of motorsport innovation that was carried from his past creations such as the 2D and the 2J.

Willow Springs International Raceway - Big Willow

Now, let's talk about the Infiniti Concept VGT. You see, a group of a well-talented and creative men behind the project have been gathered at the Infiniti Design Beijing studio to design this one-of-a-kind Infiniti machine that carries out the luxury marque's Inspired Performance tagline. With its beautiful silhouette and its monstrous performance, this one-of-a-kind Infiniti dream machine liberates every driver to experience the full freedom of driving on the open world. The folks from Beijing worked really hard to bring this fantasy machine into virtual reality at their own hands and they did. Needless to say, this car is surprisingly Asian because this GT machine is packed with the "motorsport passion of Asia".

This car is rear-wheel drive and it's powered by a 4.5L V8 engine, which is the kind of engine Nissan no longer makes, and it's connected with an electric motor and a battery. Which means that the Infiniti Concept VGT is a hybrid sportscar with the combined power output of 535HP while mated with a 6-speed gearbox. Because it weighs 1680kg, the power-to-weight ratio is over 335 horsepower-per-tonne. That's more than what the TVR T350C gets. Not only that, its weight distribution is well-balanced enough to have this car do drifting on the corners just for fun.

With me being one of the many GT6 players who acquired both of these machines via Seasonal Events, I think it's time for me to compare these two and to do that, I went to Suzuka Circuit with the 2014 update in it, Yep. The revised one with the same layout as before.


Suzuka Circuit 2014_1

First up is the Infiniti Concept Vision Gran Turismo. Because of its balanced weight distribution, this car feels so well-balanced on its mobility and it's very stable as well, although a little too much might cause some oversteer, suffering its lap time record until you can counter it. Still, this is a lot fun to drive than any other European VGT concepts I tried over a few months. There's no need to fighting over to get it through the bends and it feels so...easy to drive even for a rookie.

Suzuka Circuit 2014

Now, for the Chevrolet-Chaparral 2X. The sound of the laser generating is like fireworks on New Year's Day or some popcorn popping when you get the hammer down but despite its popping-like sound from the laser, it's probably hard to handle when going too fast, giving it a tendency to understeer. Even this car is a concept machine, its mobility and stability are on the same level as a NASCAR, so if you're a rookie, this racing machine is not recommended but if you're a highly skilled driver, it's just fine. The trick is not to overdo it aggressively when cornering because this is highly difficult to corner when going too fast.

After driving these two, here are the results:

Infiniti Concept VGT - 2:09.378
Chevrolet-Chaparral 2X - 1:39.758

City of Arts and Sciences - Night

Yes. This Chevrolet-Chaparral 2X is almost half a minute quicker than the Infiniti Concept VGT but it doesn't matter. Those records didn't matter to these anyway but what matters most is that these machines truly demonstrate the future of driving in different but exciting ways. The Infiniti Concept VGT ventures to the future of the brand's Inspired Performance tagline while the Chevrolet-Chaparral 2X puts a new twist to the legendary motorsport marque with three unique features; its powertrain, its driving position, and its aerodynamics.

Hope you'll look forward to driving both of these new VGT machines only on GT6!

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