The Alphard, Toyota’s luxurious high-powered minivan, will be the latest addition to Sony PlayStation’s first-party driving simulator, Gran Turismo 7. The car will be included in an upcoming major patch, Version 1.31, which is gearing up for release on both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game sometime this week.
Despite being shown as a mere silhouette via a very dark teaser image shared by Gran Turismo head and Polyphony Digital CEO Kaz Yamauchi on Twitter, the car can be easily identified by its shape alone. Further solidifying this is the Toyota Alphard’s iconic grille and insignia, which are revealed by boosting up the brightness of the photo.
Nevertheless, this would be the first time ever the Alphard is included in a Gran Turismo game, joining other minivans (luxury and performance notwithstanding) such as the Honda Odyssey, Renault Avantime, and Volkswagen Type-2 Samba Bus. Suffice it to say, it will be an interesting choice to take out for a ride on a virtual race track in-game, especially with its 3.5L V6 engine.
Along with the Toyota Alphard are four other vehicles which, again, are only shown as silhouettes in the provided teaser image. Fans speculate them to be a Porsche 904 GTS, Porsche 959, Audi RS5 Turbo DTM, and a Mazda 3. From the lot, the DTM appears to be the only touring car introduced in the upcoming patch.
Updates is coming next week.
来週、アップデート来ます。東京は桜の季節。#GT7 pic.twitter.com/dqPWf5Ebnt— 山内 一典 / Kaz Yamauchi (@Kaz_Yamauchi) March 25, 2023
It is not known when exactly the Version 1.31 update for Gran Turismo 7 is expected to be released. But as promised by Yamauchi, it is expected to roll out sometime this week, so fans wouldn’t have to wait too long before they can own the virtual race tracks in their very own Toyota luxury van.
(Source: Kaz Yamauchi [Twitter])
