PedalFaster

Slamnasty, why are you getting your panties in such a wad? I posted a link yesterday to Volkwagen's website describing both the car and the accompanying "GTI Racinggame" (autotranslated) yesterday.

If there's an announcement on the VW website, the car's presumably official in some capacity. You and I both agree that the pictures are computer-generated renders, not actual pictures. I agree upon further reflection that they may not be game shots. I have no idea what made you think I thought these were camera phone shots.

For those who still don't agree that these are renders, not real shots, look at details like:

• The backgrounds in the third and seventh shots are pixel-for-pixel identical, right down to the positions of moving objects in the distance
  
• The windshield is perfectly flush with the trailing edge of the hood and the A-pillars
  
• The lack of detail where the grille meets the headlight surround -- the grille appears to be a texture applied to the model as opposed to part of the model itself
  
• The wheels have the exact same orientation in every picture (look at the angles of the spokes)
  
• The wheels don't have valve stem caps

These are renders, and not even exceptionally good ones.

Anyway, we now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

wickerbill

Does anybody actually believe that those are real pictures?

protokultur

Thank God there are some people with brains left... Those are renders people, the kind of renders that are used to sell a game (not necessarily done in-game). I'm sure this car exists or will exist but those are not photographs.

If 90% of the site can't spot those as fake in a few seconds, I am scared for what the future will be like.

Slamnasty

I don't have any panties in a wad. I was simply contesting your assertion that it was a possible fake, when neither news story I read sent up immediate red flags as to its authenticity, and no video game was mentioned. As for the link you posted abut the video game, I completely missed because we were posting at about the same time. It's a simple matter of timing (5 minutes to be exact) that is producing the "wadding of panties" you speak of. I didn't see your post until after I made mine, and I didn't bother to rescan everything after I hit submit. I was tired and went to sleep.

Regarding the cell phone thing, I wasn't saying they DID come from a phone, or that you said they had to. What I was saying is that camera phone images - generally speaking - are really no better as proof of the existence of a given car (if such photos did indeed exist in this case) because I've seen plenty of convincing photoshops of utterly fake stuff. Combining that possibility with the fact that camera phones have horrible lenses and generally low image quality and megapixel counts, they are as easy to fake as these renders (if it were to be a hoax), and no more or less credible as sources of evidence.

As for some of the details of the images, now that you mention it, one or two look CGI-ish. I don't think the wheel spokes are the convincing argument though; the backgrounds in 6 of the pics are the only truly convincing item you've listed, after reanalyzing everything. The other bullet points can be left up to chance occurence, including the windshield and grill insert, which could be explained away as design choices. Valve stems could be doctoring choices made by the image prep artist as a way of cleaning up the image...like shaving door handles with a mouse instead of a welder or bondo.

RustyShackleford

Look through this thread here fellas:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3240868

Real pics, and video from the unveil.

Page 7 has the real pics from the unveil.

jackalope

not diggin the "tron" interior, but other than that props to vw for making an awesome car that will never be for sale.

HiRpmVTEC

"The purpose of this design study is not known, and production seems unlikely"

Amit

love the roof, but could do without the side vents.

kumainu

FWD or AWD? If FWD, that has got to have some major torque steer.