Advances in microprocessor and electronic-sensor technology have helped turn today’s car into an immersive multimedia experience spread across high-definition screens. But car companies do not limit the technological flash to the inside of the car — high-tech, gaming-inspired marketing pitches are following right on its bumper.

Automakers are offering augmented reality experiences, video displays that involve the viewer and lifelike virtual reality simulations to lure buyers. The most sophisticated executions are developed primarily for events like the New York International Auto Show, opening to the public on Friday.

At shows filled with outrageous concept cars and shiny models making their debuts, it takes more than a pretty car to stand out. Visitors might learn about an automaker’s plans for urban mobility while flying above a make-believe landscape, take a virtual reality sprint around a test track or scream down a drag strip at the wheel of a production-model hot rod.

The Dodge Drag Strip Simulator lies at the point where make-believe meets reality, and where automotive engineering spills over into video game science. The latest version roared to life last year in New York and will appear again at this year’s show. The simulation matches two genuine Dodge Demons — with a multitude of electronic and hydraulic devices packed under their hoods where the engines used to be — in a side-by-side contest on a video drag strip that is seen through the vehicles’ windshields.