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Toyota Hypercar Confirmed, Inspired By GR Super Sport Concept

Remember the GR Super Sport Concept from the 2018 Tokyo Auto Salon? It’s happening, ladies and gents, bringing Toyota into a realm it’s never been before! That’d be hybrid hypercar realm, an exclusive club for a mainstream automaker.
Toyota GR Super Sport Concept 7 photos
Photo: Toyota
Toyota GR Super Sport Concept hybrid hypercarToyota GR Super Sport Concept hybrid hypercarToyota GR Super Sport Concept hybrid hypercarToyota GR Super Sport Concept hybrid hypercarToyota GR Super Sport Concept hybrid hypercarToyota GR Super Sport Concept hybrid hypercar
A “next-generation hypercar that uses hybrid-electric technology honed through Toyota’s participation in the FIA World Endurance Championship,” the motorsport-influenced newcomer will be developed with the help of Gazoo Racing. Development has already started according to the automaker, and it is extremely likely the production model will borrow the THS-R system from the TS050 Hybrid.

By THS-R, we’re referring to the Toyota Hybrid System – Racing. And by that, the nitty-gritty comes in the guise of a 2.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 and two electric motors (one at the front axle and another driving the rear wheels). The 8-megajoule (2.2 kWh) hybrid system and lithium-ion batteries drive those two electric motors.

In the LMP1-spec prototype racing car, the THS-R develops 735 kW. That’s 1,000 metric horsepower or 986 mechanical horsepower, whichever of the two floats your boat more. The GR Super Sports Concept, as you can tell from the photo gallery, rides on 18x13J wheels wrapped in 330/710 R18 tires developed by Bridgestone.

“As the automotive industry is approaching an era of big changes, we will continue our passion for making cars that are truly exciting,” declared Shigeki Tomoyama, head honcho of Toyota Gazoo Racing. “No matter how electronics and digital technology will continue to transform vehicles, we will make sure that our cars will not become just another commodity.” Very big and ambitious words, but still, Toyota is a huge automaker that’s likely to win Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship.

The newcomer shouldn’t come as a surprise if you’ve been keeping up with news from the World Endurance Championship. From 2020, the FIA-sanctioned series will replace the LMP1 class with a hypercar-based category of racing cars. The requirement is that those prototype racers have to be based on production models.

Having said that, wanna bet two bucks Toyota will remain in the WEC after the 2018-19 season?

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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