Nissan promoted the latest “Gran Turismo” installment by bringing the game to life.
In honor of both the Oct. 17 release of “Gran Turismo Sport” and its 20th year involved with the gaming series, Nissan turned a GT-R into a full-size remote-controlled car. It handed the car, dubbed the GT-R/C, over to NISMO factory driver, and 2012 GT Academy winner, Jann Mardenborough to really put it through its paces.
The 26-year-old gamer-turned-racer piloted the GT-R/C around the National Circuit at Silverstone from a helicopter, posting a best time of 1:17.47. Although Mardenborough probably would have been closer to the one-minute mark had he been driving — according to fastestlaps.com — his lap time was about as fast as one set in a Ford Fiesta ST, which isn’t bad considering he was controlling the 565-horsepower coupe using a PlayStation 4 controller.
“This was once-in-a-lifetime, truly epic stuff,” Mardenborough said in a statement. “The GT-R/C has brought my two worlds together — the virtual of gaming and the reality of motorsport — in a way I never thought possible. The response from the car when using the controller was far more engaging than I thought it would be. JLB Design has done an incredible job at making everything respond really well.”
Given how much engineering it takes to create a life-size RC car, Nissan understandably isn’t going to have the GT-R/C sit on display at its headquarters. The Japanese manufacturer instead will bring it to schools across the U.K. in 2018 as a way to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.
Thumbnail photo via Nissan
