Toyota GR GT + new Lexus LFA

Toyota's 470kW GR GT Hybrid Supercar: limited allocation confirmed for South Africa

Toyota South Africa will import a limited number of its new GR GT flagship, a hybrid V8 supercar engineered from the outset as a road-legal race machine and set to redefine what Gazoo Racing represents locally.

Toyota says they have a provisional allocation, but that it’s subject to final production allocation.

Speaking about the car’s arrival next year at the recent State of the Motoring Industry indaba, Leon Theron, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Toyota South Africa Motors, said that it’s not a conventional halo model, but something far more specialised.

“The idea is that customers buying a R7 million to R8 million car definitely want a different experience,” Theron explained.

“You can’t have a normal salesman at a dealer selling and delivering this car. This car is so high-tech, you need engineers to actually explain to the customer how this car works.”

The GR GT will be handed over directly at Toyota’s dedicated GR facility, where owners will also receive servicing and technical support tailored to the car’s complexity.

Hybrid twin-turbo with more than 470kW

At the heart of the GR GT lies a new 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, paired with a hybrid system and rear transaxle. The result is a combined output exceeding 470kW and more than 850Nm of torque.

The engine is a compact “hot-V” layout that places the turbochargers between the cylinder banks, reducing engine height and improving responsiveness. Dry-sump lubrication allows the engine to sit lower in the chassis, providing a lower centre of gravity.

Power is sent through a carbon-fibre reinforced torque tube to a newly developed eight-speed automatic transmission with a wet-start clutch, designed to deliver immediate response and uninterrupted acceleration.

The hybrid assistance enhances performance, improving throttle response and delivering instant torque when exiting corners or accelerating at speed.

 
UP CLOSE WITH THE TWIN-TURBO V8 TOYOTA GR GT: "A LONG BONNETED THUNDERSTORM"

Toyota, better known for flogging Corollas in their millions, has unleashed a supercar... this we had to see for ourselves

The slightly confusing bit here is that while the world was waiting for a new LFA, Toyota has actually birthed... two. The GR GT feels more like a literal successor – combustion engined, rear drive, two seat supersports with utterly Japanese sensibilities – while the Lexus LFA Concept becomes the intellectual son, sporting more involved and forward thinking tech, more expense and sophistication.

One is the everyman thrasher enhanced by a real world racing car programme, the other the cultured science experiment. But whichever way you look at it, Toyota isn’t just talking about this stuff – it’s actually doing it. Bringing the drama back into the lineup, being brave, exciting and V8 powered. And we’re absolutely here for it.

Toyota GR GT
Price: £160,000 est
Powertrain: 4.0-litre biturbo V8, 641bhp, 627lb ft
Transmission: 8spd auto with transaxle-mounted single e-motor
Performance: 0–62mph in <4.0secs est, 199+mph
Weight: 1,750kg

 
Bye bye V10, hello solid state: the Lexus LFA will return as a cutting edge BEV

One of the car world's worst kept secrets is nearly ready

And so to the third part of what Toyota is calling ‘The Trinity’: after the GR GT and the GT GT3 comes this Lexus LFA Concept. The car previously known as the Lexus Sports Concept in what was probably the worst kept secret in... well, ever. There’s also been confirmation that the car is a fully battery powered vehicle, again confirming the pretty obvious lines of speculation and inflaming the V10 enthusiast portion of the internet.

This will become the car that actually carries the LFA badge, while the GR GT feels like the more immediate physical manifestation. Toyota’s basically been heavily pregnant with various secrets, and we’ve got non-identical twins. Or triplets if you count the GT3.

So how has the endless ‘concept’ of the LFA actually changed? Well, let’s say it’s evolved. We now know that it’ll be a BEV, despite sharing the GR GT’s basic structure and core competencies. And no, it’s unlikely to get a hybrid V10 even if technically you could probably get an engine in there.

Given Toyota’s research and development programmes, it’ll get solid state batteries with triple the energy density of traditional lithium ion, have all wheel drive and lots and lots of horsepower. Probably. But that’s not the entirety of the point. This is a more sophisticated, mature and exclusive kind of car – and not one you’ll be overly tempted to thrash around a track.

The profile has become more fully realised than previous iterations, and some of the detail has started to emerge – a smoother, more resolved front with very strong headlight and DRL graphics, some sculptural vents in the bonnet. Again, a cab-rear stance, but beefed up with proper flying buttresses on the C-pillar (very OG LFA), bleeding back into a modern representation of the original LFA’s triangular rear bumper corner treatment.

OK, so it’s also got a quadcopter drone frenched into the rear windscreen, but it’s safe to say that probably won’t make production. All in all though, it’s a slick looking thing – even if it doesn’t massively embrace the packaging possibilities of a full EV drivetrain.

 
Opinion: the Toyota GR GT's 641bhp is just the right amount of power

The new GR GT is anything but meek, says Jethro, and points to a bigger issue with modern performance cars...

The world appears to love the new Toyota GR GT. I love it, too. A front engine, rear drive, twin turbocharged V8 powered supercar that channels the Lexus LFA and calls to mind the fabulous Mercedes-AMG SLS Black Series. As I write this column, the Top Gear video presented by my magnificently hirsute colleague Tom Ford has been viewed over 3.5 million times and shows no sign of slowing down. Left field, motorsport infused and with all the JDM cool that is so popular right now, the GR GT has hit the desirability jackpot.

To me, everything about this car feels about right. Which sounds like damning with faint praise, but really isn’t. What I mean is that every detail – from the GT3 racing plans to the front-mid engine and transaxle layout to the 641bhp output – feels perfectly judged and really enticing. So, I was surprised to find a few people messaging me soon after its reveal that it might be ‘a bit slow’. These people – all potential customers – were fully onboard with the concept and aesthetic but felt that ‘just’ 650bhp was a bit meek.

And, they’re right. On paper. In a world where the range topping Porsche Taycan has 1,020bhp, the new Corvette ZR1 has 1,064bhp and AMG’s top line sports coupé, the GT 63 S E Performance, has 805bhp and 1,047lb ft, it does feel a bit like Toyota is launching the GR GT into 2014. The world has moved on. I drove a standard production pickup with 1,025bhp a few weeks ago for God’s sake.

Perhaps it’s moved on too far? Firstly, let me assure you that it will feel properly rapid on road and track. However, those messages did make me wonder if it was time to look to Toyota’s home country for inspiration and revisit JAMA’s (Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association) tactic in 1989 when it tabled and approved the ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ to limit the power of all production cars to 276bhp. From Skylines to Supras, STis to Evos, Japan’s domestic market cars would all adhere to this agreement (which wasn’t actually legally binding) to prevent a full scale horsepower war.

 
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