The Jaguar Vision Gran Turismo SV

The latest all-electric virtual race car developed for Gran Turismo, and built-in the real-world as a full-scale design study. The Jaguar Vision Gran Turismo Coupé - the first all-electric Jaguar sports car created for the globally-renowned Gran Turismo series, revealed in October 2019 - has already proved highly successful, attracting gamers with its radical, heritage-inspired design, driver-focused interior, and outstanding ride and handling.

Yet to the team from Jaguar Design, SV and Jaguar Racing, the Vision GT Coupé represented only the starting point for the development of the Vision GT SV. It was an opportunity to re-evaluate everything that could improve performance and in doing so, re-think what an electric Jaguar endurance race car could be.

Fundamental to that process was a detailed analysis of gamer feedback from online videos and forums. This virtual world testing combined with many hours behind the wheel enabled the design and engineering teams to determine exactly how to optimise the Vision GT SV to create the perfect electric gaming endurance race car. 

Designed as the ultimate virtual endurance racer, the Jaguar Vision GT SV pays homage to its illustrious forebears not only in a host of styling and surfacing references but in its unique circuit board livery which nods to milestones such as the Le Mans debuts of the C-type and D-type in 1951 and 1954 respectively.

The streamlined, lightweight composite body structure now houses four Jaguar Racing and SV-designed electric motors to the Coupé's three, generating a combined output of 1,903PS (1,400kW) and 3,360Nm of instant torque with the traction and dynamics benefits of intelligent all-wheel drive and torque vectoring. Acceleration from 0-60mph takes just 1.65 seconds, on the way to a maximum speed of 255mph.

The task of harnessing the Gran Turismo SV's power to deliver an even more exhilarating racing experience for gamers fell to Jaguar's SV engineering team. 

The Vision GT Coupé's elegant silhouette is still clearly recognisable in the GT SV, including the curvature of the C-type and D-type-inspired fenders, and - even with the additional motor driving the front axle - the wheelbase remains unchanged at 2,721mm.

Measuring 5,540mm from nose to tail, the GT SV is 861mm longer overall - a change driven entirely by aerodynamics. To deliver the increased downforce needed for greater traction for faster cornering and increased high-speed stability on long straights, the GT SV has a new front splitter and a new deployable rear wing.

To solve the often conflicting requirements of increasing downforce while also minimising drag, the SV team worked with Jaguar's designers to develop a full suite of features which work together to improve dynamics, stability, performance and efficiency.

In addition to the larger, more effective splitter - which produces downforce over the front axle - apertures in the front valance channel air across the face of the front wheels to reduce turbulence and help air to flow cleanly towards the rear of the car. The air passing through the wheel wells is also smoothed towards the rear via exit vents in the fenders.

The completely enclosed, sculpted underbody - which includes a keel element behind the front axle to aid high-speed stability - accelerates the airflow, reducing its pressure and therefore helping to reduce lift, before it exits at the rear via a large venturi.

The single most effective aero feature developed for the GT SV is its deployable rear wing, inspired by endurance racing cars from Jaguar's rich lineage, including the XJR-14. Meticulously developed from concept to final design through many iterations, the wing's main, fixed, section wraps over and around the back of the car, blending smoothly into the rear haunches.

The wing is designed as an integral element of the sculpted bodywork while also providing the aerodynamic performance required for endurance racing: two moveable sections automatically rise at speed to deliver extra downforce when needed but drop back to their nominal positions to minimise drag.

As a result, the GT SV has a drag coefficient of Cd 0.398 - remarkably low for a race car - but also generates 483kg of downforce at 200mph.