The record-breaking Yangwang U9 Xtreme supercar is the subject of some interesting rumors today, with the stars seemingly lining up to hint at its inclusion in Gran Turismo 7.
Just in case you’re wondering “the what?”, Yangwang is a brand you’ll want to get familiar with pretty soon, as it’s smashing all sorts of records right now. It’s part of the BYD Auto group, which is the world’s biggest producer of electric vehicles and second-biggest producer of electric vehicle batteries.
Yangwang is really the halo marque of BYD, sitting above premium brand Denza, upmarket SUV brand Fangchengbao, and of course BYD itself. Like Denza, Yangwang majors on technology and particularly autonomous technology, with BYD’s “God’s Eye” (no, not the MacGuffin from Fast & Furious 8) driver assist system giving some uncanny abilities.
The company’s first vehicle was the U8, a large SUV, with the U9 supercar following soon after. In its most basic, $230,000 specification, it sports four in-wheel motors that deliver a combined 1,270hp and an active suspension system named “DiSus” which constantly adjusts the body position and can actually jump the car up off the road for… reasons. And autonomously.
That wasn’t entirely enough for BYD, which subsequently turned up the wick to create the U9 Xtreme. If you didn’t already know by how much and were guessing, you’re probably wrong: this limited-run, track-focused model actually puts out some 2,977hp, making it the most powerful production car in the world by quite some margin.
Yangwang used that, after removing the rear wing in favor of a stabilising sharkfin, to set a new one-way speed record for a production car at a ludicrous 308mph. While that beats the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport by 4mph, neither car set an official record due to only running in one direction.
However, one record that the U9X definitely has is the EV production car lap record of the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Yangwang has been at the Green Hell a fair bit this year, and recently confirmed that one of the test cars acheived a 6:59.157 lap back in August. Not only is that the first sub-seven minute time by a road legal, production-spec EV, the old record was set by a countryman: the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra that we’ve subsequently seen confirmed for inclusion in Gran Turismo.
It’s connected to that effort that we’ve seen the rumor of the U9X coming to Gran Turismo bubbling up to the surface, via Chinese car news site AutoHome.
Referencing the new record, AutoHome plainly states that the car “is also about to join the GT7 racing game”. It also includes an image of one of the at-least three “Track Test” cars on a flat-bed truck sporting Gran Turismo logos — not seen on the official press images of the attempt — sadly not referencing a source for either piece of information.
However, this does come at an unusual time, with GT series creator Kazunori Yamauchi currently in Shanghai helping to promote the official launch of the PlayStation 5 Pro console in China, extolling the virtues of the Pro Enhanced version of Gran Turismo 7.
Not only that, Yamauchi also appeared in the official promotional video for PlayStation China, talking of establishing a “close working relationship” with China’s automotive industry with the hope of allowing GT players to experience the “charm and romance of China’s cutting-edge electric vehicles”:
We’re going to reserve our judgment on this particular rumor for now, as we’ve not seen anything resembling official word from any party this time round — unlike from Xiaomi back in the summer — but it does at least seem like it’s a distinct possibility.
If more information is coming on this front it’s likely to be pretty soon. There’s only a couple of weeks until the next Gran Turismo World Series live event, in Los Angeles on November 8, and these regularly see new content for the future being announced or revealed. There’s also a big “Spec III” update coming for the game in December, and four of the eight new cars coming remain under wraps.
In any case, watch this space for more information as we get it.
See more articles on BYD, Nurburgring Nordschleife, and Yangwang.
