There are times when the automotive industry amazes you to no end that you just have to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. Take what Nissan did recently in partnership with Sony in the promotion of Gran Turismo Sport for, example. Not content with just sticking with the usual PR and market scripts that we’ve so gotten used to, Nissan decided to take it to another level by modifying an actual Nissan GT-R and turning it into a full-sized remote-controlled car. Not only that, but the automaker even brought it to Silverstone for a few laps, all while being controlled by nothing more than a stock Playstation Dualshock 4 controller. Fantastic!

So how exactly did Nissan manage to do this? Well, the first order of business was to fit the GT-R - now called the GT-R/C because, you know, awesome - with four individual robots, each controlling specific features of the actual car, including steering, transmission, brakes, and throttle. Once that bit of technical wizardry was accomplished, the unmodified PS4 controller was connected to a micro-computer, which in turn was in charge of interpreting the controller inputs and then transmitting them to the car. Adding to the scope of the stunt was professional racer and GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough, who hopped into the passenger seat of a helicopter and controlled the GT-R/C from there with his PS4 controller. If that’s not the absolute best view to play with a life-sized Nissan GT-R remote-controlled car using a PS4 controller, then I don’t know what to tell you.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

Nissan should take the concept of the GT-R/C further and start a remote-controlled racing series!

To say that this stunt is nothing short of incredible would be an understatement. It’s the stuff that people think about in their daydreams, except that Nissan actually brought it to life. The sight of seeing a life-sized, remote-controlled car already makes me want to turn my car into one. But, I won’t because I can’t. Instead, I’ll marvel at how Nissan was able to accomplish this, which by the way didn’t end by just turning Godzilla into the GT-R/C. Jann Mardenborough, a man of professional racing fame, actually drove the car around Silverstone, completing a lap of 1:17.47 in the process while averaging 76 mph and clocking in a top speed of 131 mph. Epic stuff.

Mardenborough seems to thinks so too. “This was once-in-a-lifetime, truly epic stuff,” he said. “The GT-R /C has brought my two worlds together – the virtual of gaming and the reality of motorsport – in a way I never thought possible. The response from the car when using the controller was far more engaging than I thought it would be.”

He’s absolutely right in that regard. The Nissan GT-R/C brought a kind of synergy between virtual gaming and real-life motorsport racing in a way that has never been done before. It seems obvious to think that the next stop in this new frontier would be to build a number of Nissan GT-R/Cs and have them race against one another as their drivers control the cars from the comforts of their own paddocks. I don’t know the logistics behind it or how much that kind of endeavor is going to cost, but it is brilliant on some levels. For one, nobody’s going to have to worry about driver’s safety anymore, and another, it’s never been done before. Imagine the spectacle of something like that coming to life.

I’d certainly pay to see it, and I’m quite sure that I won’t be the only one who’d love to see it happen.

References

Nissan GT-R

Read our full review on the 2017 Nissan GT-R.

Read more Nissan news.