Automotive

Genesis GR3 Turns The Gorgeous X Concept Into A Race Car For Gran Turismo


Image for article titled Genesis GR3 Turns The Gorgeous X Concept Into A Race Car For Gran Turismo

Image: Genesis

The Genesis X Concept is perfect. This isn’t a stance I can defend with reason, so I’m not going to try. It’s the sort of thing you seeand feel, reminding you that cars can still completely leave you dumbfounded on the basis of their design alone.

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Genesis might make it a reality one day; I pray it does. Until then, the brand has taken to Gran Turismo to envision what a racing version of it could be, if the vehicle ever hit the track. It’s called the GR3 Concept, “GR3″ being short-hand for GT’s Group 3 nomenclature, basically the game’s own fictional version of the GT3 class. It’s complemented by another addition to the roster of fake Gran Turismo race cars, the G70 GR4. It’s the G70 sedan, which also looks unreasonably good, except this one has a splitter and wing to fit in with the Group 4 crowd.


At top, the Genesis G70 GR4; below it, the GR3 Concept.

At top, the Genesis G70 GR4; below it, the GR3 Concept.
Image: Genesis

Both have been done up in a two-tone, matte-metallic bronze-and-black finish. The G70 also has yellow headlights and fog lights, like the best GT cars do. The only thing I’m not entirely on board with are the rear wheels on the GR3 Concept — they sort of look like something pulled off a 350Z in Need For Speed Underground. But the turbofans up front are glorious.


Image for article titled Genesis GR3 Turns The Gorgeous X Concept Into A Race Car For Gran Turismo

Image: Genesis

The GR3 Concept is interesting in the context of Gran Turismo because — and I’m almost 100-percent positive on this — it’d be the only EV in the Group 3 class. The X Concept was said to be electric after all, although the car doesn’t actually exist and therefore technically doesn’t have a powertrain. Polyphony Digital could represent the GR3 Concept in GT Sport the same way it handled the Audi e-tron Vision Gran Turismo, with electric and internal-combustion versions. The electric Audi isn’t allowed in performance-balanced competitive races, but the ICE one is.


A sketch of the Genesis GR3 Concept. Love those headlight pinstripes.

A sketch of the Genesis GR3 Concept. Love those headlight pinstripes.
Image: Genesis

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Genesis is also working on a Vision Gran Turismo concept, which will probably be more radical than either of these. But it’s not done yet. Genesis showed three proposals over the weekend at Monterey Car Week dubbed Alpha, Bravo and Charlie, exclusively in virtual reality. The company didn’t publish photos of them alongside the GR3 and G70 GR4, so only the people who were there know what they look like.

Strangely, Polyphony Digital hasn’t published or shared any information on these cars yet, indicating they might be intended for Gran Turismo 7 rather than due for GT Sport in a future update. GT Sport’s last update in July introduced the new Toyota GR 86. GT7 was originally supposed to come out in 2021, but has been pushed back to next year; it seems as though it will release for both PS4 and PS5, according to our friends at GTPlanet.

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