After years of looking at disguised prototypes and a lengthy teaser campaign, Toyota has finally revealed the GR GT supercar in both road-going and GT3 racer guises. Shown for the first time at an event at Toyota's Woven City near the Fuji Speedway in Japan, we can finally share images and details on what promises to be a hugely exciting addition to the top of the performance car market. (There's also a radical, fully-electric Lexus LFA concept that will share the same core architecture, but we deal with that in a separate story.)
First comes the need to explain the name. Toyota’s Gazoo Racing sub-brand is making the transition to the front of the marquee: this is the GR GT, and you will search it in vain for a Toyota badge. As Toyota doesn’t have GR dealerships in the U.S., the plan is to sell the GT through Lexus outlets.
Lexus GR GT
Created as a passion project under the direct control of Toyota’s chairman, Akio Toyoda, the GT has been developed under the brief of making a road-legal race cars. To that end, both the production and GT3 race versions were developed alongside each other and together. But although it is an all-new sports car, the GT is also a rather traditional one, with a V-8 at the front driving the rear wheels and only what seems to be a modest level of hybrid assistance.
The GR GT is a two-seater, despite a 188.4-inch length that makes it nearly 10 inches longer than a Porsche 911 Carrera. The GT’s 107.3-inch wheelbase is similarly roomy, that being 10.8 inches longer than the Porsche. Despite its size, Toyota has used an all-aluminum body structure, a first for the company, with this incorporating both casting and extrusions and wrapped with body panels made from both aluminum and carbonfiber reinforced plastic. The weight target is 3858 pounds or less.
Lexus GR GT
Beneath the long hood, the GR GT has its engine mounted in Japan’s favored “front midship” configuration, the block sitting entirely behind the front axle’s centerline. As was effectively confirmed by the exhaust notes of the prototype cars sent to this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, the new motor is a V-8. Specifically, an all-new, all-alloy 4.0-liter V-8 with a relatively short 83.1-mm stroke and turbos mounted in the vee between its cylinder heads. It also has dry sump lubrication, to help with consistent high-g loadings.
Toyota hasn’t shared power figures for the GT’s V-8 by itself, only those in conjunction with the electric motor that adds assistance. The quoted system peaks are 641 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque, although Toyota says those figures are development goals, and may therefore rise further. We don’t have a 0-60 mph claim, but have been told the car will have a top speed in excess of 199 mph. Or, if you prefer, of at least 200 mph.
Lexus GR GT
The transmission is where things turn more complex, this being a rear-mounted transaxle connected to the V-8 through a carbon fiber torque tube. The gearbox is an eight-speed planetary gear automatic, but one that uses a wet clutch rather than a torque converter, AMG-style. Unusually, the transmission sits behind the rear axle to help minimize the GT’s wheelbase, with drive exiting at the rear before being reversed through twin helical gears to be sent back through the transmission by another shaft, turning the back wheels through a limited-slip differential offset to the left of the transmission. It’s a complex, expensive piece of engineering, but one that has helped to give a claimed 45:55 front-to-rear weight distribution.
Other mechanical components are mostly as you would expect. The GT uses twin wishbones at each corner, with additional lateral support links at the rear. Suspension arms are made forged aluminum and look beautiful up close; many of the components are reportedly strong enough to be used in the GT3 car unchanged. Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes will be standard and the GT will ride on bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires.
Lexus GR GT
With so much power delivered exclusively through the rear wheels, ensuring drivability has been a key concern. Obviously, that’s something we look forward to confirming from behind the wheel, but Toyota says that the GT’s stability control system allows multi-stage adjustment of different settings to “help facilitate an enjoyable and secure driving experience.” As well as closely managing the GT project, Akio Toyoda has, in the guise of his racing alter ego Master Driver Morizo, been heavily involved in its development.
Despite having a V-8 instead of a V-10, and being aimed at a less expensive part of the market, there's something strongly reminiscent of the original Lexus LFA about the GR’s stance, proportions and even some design details. Appropriately enough, the new LFA—which is set to be a pure EV—will use the same core structure. Many of the GR’s external details have been defined by the needs of aerodynamics and cooling, most obviously the air outlets set into the huge front fenders and the massive cooling ducts in the rear bumper.
Lexus GR GT
The GR’s interior is un-radical in a good way, without the tech takeover common to freshly-launched halo models these days. It features a digital dashboard and a central touchscreen, but also physical buttons for functions including cabin temperature, audio controls on the steering wheel plus two dials for drive mode and the adjustable stability control.
One thing we don’t have is confirmation of exactly where the GR GT will sit in the market, especially in relation to the most obvious alternatives: punchier versions of the Porsche 911 and the Chevrolet Corvette. We'll share those details as soon as we get them.
Check back for more details as we get the chance to get up close and personal with the new car in Japan.