Only those with healthy bank accounts will be sliding behind the wheel of the electric Porsche Taycan when it launches later this year. For those looking to live out their champagne tastes on a beer budget, a copy of Gran Turismo Sport will be the next best thing.
Gran Turismo and Porsche on Wednesday announced a new partnership that will bring the Taycan Turbo and Turbo S models to the video game by October. It will mark the first video game appearance of the Taycan, and in typical Gran Turismo fashion, it looks stunning running on the PlayStation 4.
The studio behind Gran Turismo, Polyphony Digital, worked with Porsche for the past nine months to bring the Taycan to life within the digital world. Not only are the exterior and interior modeled perfectly after the production car, the studio translated its performance and handling characteristics into the video game. Even the sound of the electric motors whirring away is supposed to be identical to the sound of the real-world car.
Gran Turismo Sport treats players to free updates often, and the Taycan may arrive as a solo free downloadable content car, or as part of a wider update in the near future.
In addition to the Taycan, there are two more Porsches coming to the game called "The Real Driving Simulator." One is the 917 Living Legend concept, which was never meant for public viewing, but showed its face earlier this year as Porsche celebrated the original 917's 50th anniversary.
Motor Authority reported in March that the 917 concept never left the clay model state, but it was a full-size concept. Porsche officially laid the concept to rest in 2014, but decided to share the work this year to mark the 917's golden anniversary. Gamers will be able to pilot the race car that never was -- in Gran Turismo Sport in the first half of 2020.
Finally, as part of the Vision Gran Turismo program, Porsche said it will debut its own Porsche Vision concept for the video game series. Often, automakers have created real-life concepts to go with them. The Porsche Vision concept will hold no ties to any current production cars, the automaker said. We'll see the upcoming concept by the end of next year.
