You Can Now Drive the New 2014 Corvette C7 on Gran Turismo 5!

A couple of weeks ago, you may remember us telling you about a camouflaged 2014 Corvette C7 prototype that appeared in a couple of demo "screen saver" sessions on Sony's Gran Turismo 5 (GT5) racing game.

As it turns out, there's more to the appearance of the upcoming Corvette in GT5, as today, at the Los Angeles Auto Show, GM announced that starting from today, players of the game can download and –wait for it- drive the C7 Test Prototype!

The Detroit carmaker worked in collaboration with Polyphony Digital, the developer of the Gran Turismo franchise, to create the virtual Corvette C7 prototype.

GM pointed out that "careful attention was paid to the tiniest details from the creases and wrinkles in the soft camouflage used to disguise the new design to specific driving characteristics that are currently being tuned and refined ahead of the vehicle’s official debut", which will take place at the Detroit motor show in January,

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New 2014 Corvette C7 Makes Surprise Appearance in Gran Turismo 5 Demo

There's nothing new about automakers jumping in the bed with digital game developers, but we have to say that we were surprised to learn that the upcoming, seventh generation of the Corvette popped up in a couple of demo "screen saver" session in Sony's Gran Turismo 5 (GT5) racing game.

The Corvette C7's appearance in GT5 was not only confirmed, but also filmed by at least separate three players from the GTPlanet forums, who shared their videos on YouTube.

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DMC Supercharges Maserati GranCabrio to New Horsepower Heights

After the GranTurismo coupe, it's time for German luxury and sports car tuner DMC to unleash a conversion kit of the convertible model of the Maserati series, named GranCabrio.

The comprehensive tune includes engine and suspension upgrades, along with new rims and several carbon fiber exterior parts for the soft-top beauty from Modena.

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DIY: Give Some BMW Pizzazz to Your Logitech G27 Steering Wheel and Shifter

It's been a long time since I last played Gran Turismo but with the release of the GT5 XL Edition I finally jumped on the bandwagon and bought the game, and well, you know how these things go. The PS3 controller turned out to be fun for about 2.3 minutes and then I ended up getting a Logitech G27.

Sure there are many other notable steering wheel, pedal and shifter sets, namely from Fanatec and Thrustmaster, but the G27 is perhaps the best bang for your money as you can often find it in the US$210-$230 region, occasionally even less.

Upon receiving the G27, that little tuning voice in my head told me that I should customize the stock steering wheel and shifter.

You can find plenty of modifications for the G27 online (GTPlanet is a good place to start) with aftermarket steering wheels and shifters (i.e. Momo or Sparco), but I wanted something different and at the same time, more economical with the ability to easily reverse the mods without damaging the device.

So, after shopping around at eBay, I decided to go with a BMW theme for both the steering wheel and the gear knob.

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Realistic Homemade Gaming Cockpit Complete, See How it Turned Out

Earlier this month, we showed you the initial building phase of a homemade racing game cockpit designed by YouTube user "Nbjag".

The project has since been completed and we now have the first video of Nbjag's realistic gaming rig that was built around the internals of a first generation, 1990s Opel Astra.

The simulator is based on a wooden frame, to which the builder attached the dashboard, center console, door panels and a section of the roof from an Astra, along with a pair of leather seats sourced from a Jaguar XJ8, to create an ultra realistic environment while playing racing games like the GT5.

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Man Builds a Gaming Cockpit out of an Opel Astra

If you're into cars, then it's very likely that you're also into racing games like the PS3's Gran Turismo, the Xbox 360's Forza or online sims like iRacing.

Since most auto enthusiasts / gamers want to play in an environment as close to reality as possible, they usually end up swapping the regular controller for a steering wheel, pedal and gearbox set and the couch for a racing seat - chassis combo.

However, some gamers take the idea to far more extremes, like YouTube user "NBJAG" who is currently in the process of creating a real life simulator using the interior and parts of the exterior of a first generation Opel Astra from the 1990s with the Thrusmaster T500 RS steering, pedal and TH8 gearbox bundle.

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