Did you remember in Gran Turismo #11 : The Suzuki Escudo Dirt Trial Car '98 (Pikes Peak Version)

The description from “Gran Tursimo”

The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, held each summer on the Pikes Peak Highway near Colorado Springs, USA, is the world’s largest hill climb race.

It is a 20.0 km course that rises 1400 m from 2800 m to 4301 m, featuring 156 corners ranging from highly technical 60 km/h hairpins to spectacular 200 km/h high speed corners. There is a temperature difference of 20 degress from starting point and the finish line, and the conditions are severe at best for the competition car.

The Suzuki Escudo Dirt Trial Car, was a monster machine purpose-built for this race.

Constructed on an aluminium space-frame designed completely new from scratch, it was equipped with a fully tuned 2.5L twin-turbo V6 pushing 981 BHP (974 HP) with a maximum torque of 95 kgfm (932 nm) .

At 800 kg, the Escudo was a featherweight, so to push the car down into the slippery gravel of the course, it was given a massive front spoiler and colossal rear wing that were wind-tunnel tested and designed. The base Escudo was lost completely in its transformation into this overwhelming beast.

It was also driven by a man who was called a monster, Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima. A master of dirt tracks with 7 All-Japan Dirt Trials Championship wins in a row, he would first challenge Pikes Peak in 1989, and then go on to become the first Japanese overall winner in 1995.

Supplement of me

In GT4, before the Group C cars (R92CP, Sauber C9,…) and the Belgium Gillet Vertigo of the FIA GT, the Suzuki Escudo is the most powerful car in the game ! In GT4, You can win by a rally race : The Yosemite Rally, on Hard. I think we should have a lot of talent (and a steering wheel) to unlock it easily.
Well, the Escudo is a impressive car for this 0-60 mph dispatched in just 2.3 seconds (because 4WD). His maximum speed is 168 mph (270 km/h) and even….

After, I must say that this car did not win the Pikes Peak, because this is another Japanese car: The Toyota Tacoma, driven by Rob Millen, who imposed since 1996 (until 1999). The 2.5 L DOHC V6 Twin-Turbo must make sacred “Turbo Lag” !

The weight/power ratio of the Escudo Pikes Peak is 0.8 kg/ch, the equivalent of 2 Formula 1 car : A 1984 Ferrari 126 C4 (661 hp) or a 1999 Ferrari F399 Standard (760 hp).

The car also appear in RalliSport Challenge 2 (2004); Runabout 3: Neo Age (2002); Stunt Rally (2014); Colin McRae: DiRT (2007); MotorStorm: Pacific Rift (2008); Advance Rally (2002) and Sébastien Loeb Rally Evo (2016) (and probably Just Cause (2006)).

A video on YouTube of this model IRL :

A video on YouTube of this model In a Gran Turismo :