Toyota has turned the brand new Prius right into a race automotive. Following the introduction of a one-off sporty GRMN model again in June, the corporate has launched a brand new full-on racer that simply competed within the Thailand 10-Hour Endurance Race.
This Prius appears like a correct racing machine. The competition-spec Toyota wears a bigger entrance splitter, canards on the corners of the nostril, and a tall rear wing. It now rides on 10-spoke wheels, with slotted brake rotors are seen behind. The experience top additionally seems to be rather a lot decrease than inventory.
Toyota is not offering specifics concerning the Prius race automotive’s powertrain simply but. The revised engine runs on carbon-neutral gas and makes extra energy than the highway automotive, in response to Automotive Watch Impress. There’s reportedly a higher-capacity battery for the hybrid system and modifications to the cooling system, too.
The Prius race automotive completed eleventh place general out of 63 starters and sixth at school within the Thai endurance occasion, 21 laps behind the successful automobile. There is no data accessible but on whether or not Toyota intends to take this machine into competitors once more, or if this occasion was a one-off take a look at.
This Prius might be amongst a number of Toyota race automobiles on show at subsequent 12 months’s Tokyo Auto Salon, which is able to run from January 13 by way of 15. The model’s machines from the World Rally Championship, World Endurance Championship, Tremendous GT, and extra collection might be there, too.
Toyota beforehand raced the Prius in Japan’s Tremendous GT collection for a number of years, however these automobiles solely had restricted ties to the road-legal model. The assorted iterations used 3.4-liter and 5.4-liter V8 engines and had totally different hybrid techniques, together with one with a supercapacitor. Whereas we doubt this one has eight cylinders, we’re nonetheless glad it exists.
