Aston Martin DP-100 Vision Gran Turismo 2014

Creating Vision Gran Turismo concept cars has become quite the habit among automakers, as they rushed to showcase their design skills and advanced powertrains in the latest iteration of the franchise. 

This year’sGoodwood Festival of Speed brought yet another futuristic supercar to the game, this time from British-based company Aston Martin .

Dubbed DP-100 and developed in-house by a team led by Design Director Marek Reichman, the concept car highlights a brand-new approach for the company, as its engine is mounted behind the seats. 

The Brits have yet to build sports cars in this configuration, except for the B09/60 Le Mans prototype co-developed with Lola, and the DP-100 comes to put an end to that. At least in the virtual world.

The DP-100 joins a large batch of virtual supercars created for Gran Turismo 6 this year, and will be available for gamers to download starting July 2014. 

There are no production plans waiting to turn this virtual racer into a vehicle for the real world, but the DP-100 is a concept worth looking into from a design and technological point of view.

2014

make:

Aston-Martin

price:

$ 250000

Engine:

V12

Horsepower @ RPM:

800

0-60 time:

3 sec. (Est.)

Top Speed:

200 mph (Est.)

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Lexus GS450h - Driven 2014

“Sport” and “hybrid” aren’t often found in the same sentence when talking about anything this side ofMcLaren, Porsche, and BMW, but Lexus makes that claim with its second-largest luxury sedan. 

Things gets plausible when considering the GS450h comes with 338 horsepower thanks to a 3.5-liter V-6 and a pair of electric motors – all of which power the rear wheels.

Despite not coming equipped with the optional F Sport package, the G450h still comes with an adjustable suspension and various drive settings that allow for a range of driving feels, spanning from Eco to Normal and Sport to Sport+. Even the gauge cluster modifies itself to suit the mood – switching from an eco gauge to a full tachometer.

You may recall our own Christian Moe’s review of the GS450h back in the fall.

He walked away pleasantly surprised at the car’s ability to coddle occupants in luxury while getting decent mileage with horsepower in reserve. 

Surprisingly his tester and mine came equipped with exactly the same options, even down to the paint color. 

Only eight GS sedan separated our cars on the assembly line as the VINs were only separated by a factor of 10.

While Moe has the beauty of curvy back country roads snaking through the hills of East Tennessee, I make use of near sea-level lands in central Florida. 

Would the scenery and altitude change the GS450h’s behavior? How well does a child seat fit in the back? 

Two questions among many I aimed to answer during my week with one of Lexus’ premiere hybrids.

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