Mazda Gr.3 RX-Vision GT3 Concept rolls into Gran Turismo on May 25

During last year’s World Final of the FIA World Tour in Gran Turismo Sport in Monaco, Mazda announced it would become an official video game partner this year, the automaker’s centenary. The Japanese automaker then teased a sketch of its RX-Vision GT3 Concept, a GT3-class racer based on RX-Vision Concept shown at 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, penned by global design boss Ikuo Maeda and headed for Gran Turismo Sport this year. Polyphony Digital has finished modeling the car and just debuted it on the game’s official site. Now dubbed the Gr.3 Mazda RX-Vision GT3 Concept, the slinky crimson contender will soon become the second GT3-class Mazda in the game alongside the Atenza Gr.3. Polyphony says the race car will arrive on May 25 as part of an online update.  

Usurprisingly, the final product is toned down from last year’s teaser sketch, yet the teaser was so wild that the in-game version retains plenty of extravagance. Drivers can see over the hood now, but the front splitter is even more extreme, the nose more chiseled and angry, fenders and hood drawn with new lines and more character, and a front-exit exhaust pokes out of an aero duct behind the front wheel. Revised struts hold the giant rear wing aloft, and a less outlandish diffuser sheds its tall endplates but still makes a menacing sight from the back.

Mazda’s North American design chief Julien Montousse said last year that designers wanted the rotary-engined Vision GT3 to be a car players really wanted to drive. The specs entice, the coupe boasting 562 horsepower, a 48:52 front-to-rear weight balance, and a 2,756-pound curb weight. Compared to the Corvette C7 Gr.3, the Mazda has 11 more horsepower, is 7.5 inches shorter, one inch narrower, its roof sits 1.6 inches lower, and it weighs 110 pounds less.

Mazda didn’t qualify for the GT Sport Manufacturer’s Cup last year, but this year the manufacturer is confirmed for all World Tour 2020 live events, including the World Finals. Before we get to those finals, now that Mazda’s an official partner for the game, this probably isn’t the only new Mazda we’ll see in GT Sport in 2020.