Red Bull X1 prototype revealed before Gran Turismo 5 debut

Ever wonder what would happen if they threw out the rule book and created a no-holds-barred, we-don't-need-no-freakin'-badges track car? The talented (though time-insensitive) brains behind Polyphony's long-awaited Gran Turismo 5 racing simulator for the Sony Playstation 3 did. Turns out, so did the boffins at Red Bull Racing. The result is the X1 Prototype.

The Red Bull X1 is the brainchild of the team's star designer Adrian Newey, the aerodynamicist who's probably responsible for more checkered flags than any other engineer on the real F1 grid today, with input from the team's star driving talent Sebastian Vettel. We could best describe the result as looking rather similar to the Caparo T1 – that is to say, some freakish cross between an F1 car and an LMP1 racer – but the specs would eclipse both.

Instead of a conventional internal-combustion engine, the X1 packs a (theoretical – remember this exists entirely in the binary) gas turbine driving 1,483 horsepower and 527 lb-ft of torque through a CVT to the rear wheels. Simulated performance stats give it a top speed of 249 miles per hour, while lapping Suzuka in 1:11.540. (For comparison's sake, Vettel's fastest time behind the 2009 F1 car was 1:30.833.) The car's been fully detailed in the latest issue of Car magazine, which has naturally leaked its way onto the interwebs, so check out our first look at the cyber-machine in the gallery below.

[Source: GTPlanet]