The first day of the GT World Series 2026 Milan round hadn’t even started its main events before Polyphony dropped a sizeable piece of news: a “Hypercar Update” is on the way next month (Thursday, June 11), and it brings four of the current WEC Hypercar-class prototypes into GT7 alongside the official WEC safety car.
The four headline cars cover all four of the major manufacturer flavors of the current top class (two LMDh entries and two LMH entries), which is about as complete a snapshot of the category as you can get in a single update.
Porsche 963
The 963 is Porsche’s LMDh challenger, built on the Multimatic chassis. It runs a twin-turbo 4.6-litre V8 paired with the spec Bosch/Williams hybrid system common to all LMDh cars.
Worth noting: Porsche has confirmed it is ending its works WEC Hypercar programme, so the 963 enters GT7 just as it departs the world stage in Europe. It will continue racing in IMSA, and the customer 963s have been a fixture of the WEC’s privateer entries, including the JOTA cars that took the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams.
Peugeot 9X8
The 9X8 is the most unconventional of the trio, both visually and mechanically. It debuted as the “wingless” Hypercar, with Peugeot initially designing it to run without a rear wing before a major evolution added one and fundamentally revised the aero package. As an LMH car, its hybrid system powers the front axle while a twin‑turbo 2.6‑litre V6 drives the rear, giving it four‑wheel drive when the hybrid is active.
On track, the 9X8’s WEC career has been turbulent, with outright victories proving elusive and performance heavily dependent on circuit and Balance of Performance, even though it has managed a handful of podium finishes. It remains a fascinating car to drive on its own terms, and its radically different concept makes it a particularly distinctive addition to GT7’s Hypercar grid.
Ferrari 499P
The 499P is the car of the moment. Ferrari’s return to the top class of Le Mans produced a win on debut, and the 499P has now taken multiple consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans victories, including a recent win for the privateer #83 AF Corse car.
Mechanically it’s an LMH like the Peugeot, with a twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 driving the rear wheels and the hybrid system feeding the fronts. Of the four headline cars in this update, the 499P arrives in GT7 with by far the strongest real-world resume.
BMW M Hybrid V8
The M Hybrid V8 is BMW’s first top-class prototype since the V12 LMR won Le Mans in 1999. Like the Porsche, it’s an LMDh, sharing the Dallara chassis platform used by Cadillac and built around the same Bosch/Williams hybrid spec. The engine is BMW’s own twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8, derived from DTM-era racing hardware.
BMW topped Manufacturers Cup qualifying for the second year running in the virtual world, so the timing of its real-world Hypercar entering GT7 alongside a Milan-hosted GTWS round dominated by BMW in sim form is a nice piece of symmetry.
WEC Porsche Safety Car
Rounding out the five-car set is the official WEC safety car, a 992-generation Porsche 911 in full series livery.
It’s a fitting companion piece to the four prototypes, since it’s the same car that paces the real-world WEC field, now sitting in the GT7 garage alongside the cars it leads. It also gives Porsche fans a second entry in this update by default, even with the 963 already on the list.
When and What’s Next
The Hypercar Update is scheduled for June. Polyphony hasn’t announced the version number or a specific release date yet, and there’s no word on whether any tracks, world circuit events, or additional cars are bundled in.
We’ll have full patch notes when the update goes live. In the meantime, the discussion is already underway in the GTPlanet forums.
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