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Toyota Teasing TS040 Hybrid Le Mans Prototype

With about a month and a half left until the big unveil and first official practice stages for the 2014 World Endurance Championship, Toyota brought another teaser to the surface, showing a bit of the new TS040 Hybrid prototype this time in a video.
Toyota TS040 Hybrid Teaser 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
Actually, is the first time the TS040 Hybrid appears in a video, showing drivers Alex Wurz and Anthony Davidson in action during the first test of the year at Paul Ricard in France.

Despite rivals Audi and Porsche going running a V6 and an inline-four, Toyota decided to stick with the V8 gasoline engine to provide the big chunk of power, while an additional electric motor will power the front wheels, in addition to the one at the rear.

The DENSO motor at the back is the same as before, but the TS040 will have some sort of on-demand four wheels drive, as the front axle was fitted with an Aisin motor/generator. The two units will be fed by electricity from a Nisshinbo super-capacitor. Both motors will function as generators under braking to recharge the batteries.

Regarding other mechanical aspects, Toyota didn’t reveal any more details, but as you can see from the video bellow, the prototype comes with slightly enhanced aerodynamics.

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