One of the best parts about Jalopnik is that cool people reach out to us all the time about fun stuff they’re building or doing with cars. A few days ago, one such reader emailed me a link to a video he made about autocrossing his Mazda3 Turbo. Only, it’s not just a watch-me-go-fast dash cam video; it’s a full on real-life tribute to Gran Turismo 4.
It’s delightfully accurate. The weird breathy synth string noise that punctuated every car purchase in GT4 (is that a person’s voice or an instrument? Always wondered); the accelerated car wash sequence; the part upgrade screen with “Mr. 4WD” playing over top; and the pre-license test menu with all the proper icons in place, complete with an explainer on the course. It’s perfect. The car’s even labeled a “Mazda Mazda3,” keeping in tradition with the franchise’s historical penchant for redundant car names.
The video’s creator, Kyle, told me that Gran Turismo inspired him to get involved with motorsports — something I can totally relate to because it inspired me to have this job. He’s toying with the idea of making a series of videos like this provided the interest’s there, which sounds pretty rad because he’s clearly good at it, as this proof of concept demonstrates.
This is also the only footage I can find on YouTube of someone autocrossing a Mazda3 Turbo. That makes it worth checking out if you’ve been curious how the handsome semi-hot hatch handles itself when motivated.
And Kyle: I believe there’s definitely a market for these sorts of videos. Five years ago someone made a tribute to Gran Turismo redone with remote-controlled cars, called “Gran Turismo: RC-Spec.” Today it sits just shy of a million views. They later did the same thing with Colin McRae Rally, which stands at about a quarter of the views but might be even cooler.
Anytime I see real-life car culture and racing games mashed together like this, I’m going to share it because it makes me smile. It’s that simple. If the creator decides to make more of these, I’ll be watching.