Late in 2017, Toyota Gazoo Racing released a shadowy teaser image of its mysterious new GR Super Sport Concept. And now the Japanese automaker has revealed the concept, billing it as a preview of its next-generation sports cars.
The GR Super Sport Concept, which will be on display at the Tokyo Motor Show, is essentially an LMP1 car for the road, incorporating hybrid technology the brand developed for participation in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
Indeed, Toyota says its new GR Super Sport Concept is composed of “mostly the same main parts” as the TS050 Hybrid racer that competes in the WEC. The Toyota Hybrid System-Racing (THS-R) powertrain uses a 2,4-litre twin-turbo V6 and “high-efficiency” electric motors, with a combined power output of 735 kW.
“Rather than developing production cars into sports cars, we aim to work out how to incorporate the know-how developed through races and rallies into production cars amid various restrictions, and this is how competing contributes to Toyota Gazoo Racing’s efforts toward making ever-better cars,” said Shigeki Tomoyama, president of Gazoo Racing.
“Thus, this is the starting point for Toyota’s completely new challenge to develop sports cars from active race cars. Although it will be some time before you all have the opportunity to get behind the wheel, I hope that the GR Super Sport Concept will give you a taste of what we aim to achieve with our next-generation sports cars,” he said, adding that he is “strongly determined to make sure that cars will be fun for the next 100 years”.
