In an interview with IGN back in 1998, Ubi Soft revealed that VR 3000, short for Vivid Racing 3000, was indeed the working title for S.C.A.R.S and it was never intended to be the final title for the game even though some magazines listed the game as VR 3000.

SCARS is by the way a short name for "Situational Computer-generated Animal Racing Simulation" which I'm glad they desided to shorten.