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Last year, Toyota Team SARD fielded a race-prepped Lexus GS450h in the Tokachi 24-hour enduro. The Lexus went the distance, finishing 4th in its class and 17th overall. The 2007 edition of the contest is set for July 15th, and SARD will be back with another hybrid-powered machine. This year, however, it's going to be decidedly racier -- a Supra, to be exact. It would appear that the SARD folks are looking to possibly win it this time around. The newly-announced Denso SARD Supra HV-R began its life as a Supra GT racing car and will be powered by a hybridized Super GT-spec 3UZ-FE V8 displacing 4,480cc that dishes out 480 horsepower and 376 lb-ft of torque.
The hybrid system for the car will incorporate regenerative braking, a pair of 10kW in-wheel motors up front and a 150kW motor at the rear. It'll weigh in at a little over 2300 pounds. The provisional race livery was revealed in the artwork shown above, and we'll have more whenever SARD rolls out the finished car. Not a bad way to make use of a retired racer, eh? SARD currently runs the Denso Lexus SC430 in Japan's Super GT series, too.
[Source: SARD]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
hashiryu @ Jun 18th 2007 12:55PM
.......speechless.
THAT is a hybrid? Keep it coming please, i've got a new race to watch on my race year calendar
doglet @ Jun 18th 2007 1:00PM
racing is the only way hybrid tech is going to be improved to the point that it actually makes sense. it will be a long time before, everything else being equal, a hybrid is faster than a more traditional setup. but its great to see toyota trying to make it work.
spencer @ Jun 18th 2007 1:04PM
What, they can't win with a new Toyota product? Oh that's right Toyota hasn't sold a car with any real performance since the Supra.
Peter @ Jun 18th 2007 1:26PM
After the Supra's demise in '02, the Altezza proved to do quite well, along with the MR Spyder. I'm sure SARD would love an IS-F to thrash, but development takes time and the JZA80 is a proven package to work with. So Spencer, quit trying to find little segues into Toyota bashing.
spdracerut @ Jun 18th 2007 3:55PM
Peter, I agree with Spencer. From an enthusiest standpoint, Toyota has offered NOTHING since the Supra left US shores. Celica? Scion Tc? MR2 spyder? Those were all jokes. What happened to the good ole All-trac turbo Celica? What happened to the turbo MR2? Toyota has had nothing in its lineup that a person wanting a 'sports' car would drive.
This hybrid drivetrain should have a significant performance advantage (assuming the weight of the car is kept the same); adds power/improves fuel economy. Heck, it'll be AWD now too with the motors powering the front wheels.
... @ Jun 18th 2007 4:35PM
lack of demand. no major company really cares about making the best car, only making ones that sell the best.
John P. @ Jun 18th 2007 4:26PM
I wonder if the electric/fuel Panoz Prototypes from 10-15 years ago could be considered hybrids? I believe they ran a few 24 hour races using the technology. From what I remember, the electric motors generated an additional 100hp or so.
chris @ Jun 18th 2007 11:09PM
That weight is pretty impressive, from what I remember the JGTC Supras were about 1000kg stock, with 100kg of ballast to get them up to minimum weight plus whatever other ballast they had due to race results. This is only 40kg up on the 1000kg of the original car, with the same kind of power.
Leopold Porkstacker @ Jun 23rd 2007 11:55AM
Funny how Toyota axed the Supra from it’s consumer lineup, yet the Supra is still alive and kicking in the world of motorsports--this only means to me that the car was deemed "too good" for consumers (along with the Mazda FD-3S and Nissan R34 GTR). Instead consumers get anemic V6 engines (i.e., Nissan *COUGH*Renault*COUGH* 350Z/G35) and blaaah designs.