Gran Turismo 6: Mitsubishi's XR-PHEV Evo

After Mercedes-Benz and BMW revealed their Vision Gran Turismo concepts, and while we're still waiting for the VW GTi Roadster concept to arrive by mid-June, it seems that Japanese carmaker, Mitsubishi Motors, revealed their entry to the list Vision Gran Turismo cars you can find on Gran Turismo 6. What could that be? Let's find out...



This Concept XR-PHEV Evolution Vision Gran Turismo incorporates Mitsubishi Motors' involvement in the world of motorsports while utilizing their PHEV know-how to create a rally monster that has its performance and efficiency in perfect harmony. Well, that's Mitsubishi's claim by the way.



This Vision GT concept is heavily based on the XR-PHEV concept car as seen from the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. The XR-PHEV is Mitsubishi's prediction to what is rumored to be the next-generation RVR compact SUV and it incorporates Mitsubishi's PHEV breakthrough with a downsized 1.1 GDi MIVEC turbo engine. For this Evo version, you can't really tell what improvements this compact rally mongrel had but based on the preliminary sketches...it's powered by a 3.0L V6 Twin Turbo MIVEC engine connected to a high-powered electric motor and an 8-speed DCT. It comes with Mitsubishi's Super All Wheel Control system as applied on the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X as well as its ultra-light and aerodynamic body that weighs to a featherweight 1,350kg, over 200kg lighter than the LanEvo X.

To find out how good this XR-PHEV Evo is, I took on a special challenge where you can keep Mitsubishi's Vision GT concept as a prize just by participating and set a lap time regardless of whether the lap time was valid or not. The venue is Matterhorn Rotenboden and what I am going to do is aim for the Gold target time of 1:34.000.



The Rotenboden segment of the Matterhorn is by no means one of the most challenging tracks in GT6 because of its terrifying elevation where in the downhill part of the track requires an adequate footwork to survive the downfall or face a messy consequence. Upon driving the XR-PHEV Evo, it feels like it's a mashup between a rally-car and a track toy thanks to its 4WD powertrain and its incredibly light bodywork. I believe that this is one of the best handling concept cars I have ever tried on GT6 and I have to say, such lightness comes with a price if you're not paying attention.

As I spent numerous laps round and round this challenging track, I finally managed to beat the Gold target time and I did it in 1:32.721. Not the best so far but this is how I demonstrated how good the XR-PHEV Evo is.



Now for my impressions; although this is more of a hyper crossover that is shaped like a running shoe, the athletic stance of the XR-PHEV Evo really behaves like any other Mitsubishi rally machines from the past and even though Mitsubishi no longer part of the rally community, not to mention that RALLIART scaled down their operations four years ago, this machine still evokes the "Spirit of Competition" both on and off the road. Speaking of offroad...



Yes, the XR-PHEV Evo still making the rounds on dirt courses because this concept car still has the roots from Mitsubishi's rallying past from WRC to Paris-Dakar. You can have so much fun playing dirty in such a very compact car just like playing a game of Snap with a shaolin monk and you win. Like a shaolin monk, the XR-PHEV Evo's reaction times are second to none but it's up to the skill of the driver to brave through its uncanny agility of this bite-sized chunk.

The Mitsubishi XR-PHEV Evo VGT is available on the Version 1.08 Update of Gran Turismo 6 on the Playstation3 so best to update now to get this machine!

MITSUBISHI CONCEPT XR-PHEV EVOLUTION VISION GRAN TURISMO

Make: Mitsubishi Motors
Country of Origin: Japan

Drivetrain: 4WD
Max Power: ???
Max Torque: ???
Weight: 1,350kg

Corporate General Manager Executive Officer Design Office:
Tsunehiro Kunimoto

General Manager/Styline Director Design Department:
Masaki Matsuhara

Senior Expert Public Relations Department:
Hiroshi Masuoka

General Manager Public Relations Department:
Manabu Yamanishi

Expert Public Relations Department:
Takashi Kiuchi

Manager Strategic Management Office:
Shigeru Tsuyuki

Expert Technology Policy Planning Department:
Yasuo Tanaka

Expert Aerodynamic Engineering Development Group:
Masahiro Yoshida

Assistant Manager Strategic Management Office:
Kunitoshi Itagaki

Public Relations Department:
Nobuhiro Kudo

Expert Design Department:
Norihiko Yoshimine

Expert Styling CAD Design Department:
Yuichi Ishikawa
Keiji Takebayashi

Assistant Manager Design Department:
Shusaku Kumagai

Assistant Manager Modeling Design Promotion Department:
Taichi Kawasaki
Junji Nakajima

Design Department:
Shuichiro Yamamoto
Yuichiro Ishizuka

Styling CAD Design Promotion Department:
Atsushi Osada
Masataka Nakamura
Hiroyuki Mashima

Coloring Design Department:
Nozomi Ohkubo



Stay tuned on GT6 for the visit of another Vision GT concept!