New Toyota GR GT Supercar: V8, RWD & 911 GT3 Money! | 4K

To be honest, I wasn't really sure what was happening here in Japan other than that Toyota had some news. Really rather

big news.

Coming up, we've got the full story on Toyota's new petrol-powered supercar, the GRGT, which I thought was the replacement for the legendary LFA. A

look at the racing version. Spoiler,

it's got spoilers. and a lowdown on the actual electric replacement for the LFA, which is going to be even faster and more powerful than this thing. And it's

also electric.

So, we're here at Fuji Mountain Speedway during a live track day to get straight down to business with this, the Toyota Gaz Racing GRT. And let's face it, this

is our kind of Toyota.

So, what have we got? Well, it's a front mid-engineed, very long bonneted with a tut rear tail. GT kind of super sports car with a V8 in the front. It's

two-seater and it's rear wheel drive.

It's made up mainly of an aluminium space frame, but there's lots of carbon in there as well. So, the bonnet, the roof, bits of the rear bulkhead, and the trunk lid are all carbon to keep it strong but light. It's kind of like a

Japanese Mercedes AMGT or a Dodge Viper or any of the other cars that have got this kind of layout, but it's definitely got street presence. And it is a car that's going to make you rethink what

you know about Toyota. The front does remind me of American stuff, though, just flatter and lower. In fact, it's a very low and rectangular car. And just

take in the length of that nose. Toyota

reckons this is one for the drivers. So,

it's gone to a lot of trouble to keep the fundamentals right. And that means functional arrow and a really low center of gravity. And if I stand here, you can

of gravity. And if I stand here, you can see just how squat and wide this car really is. It's just above my knees. So,

really is. It's just above my knees. So,

if we take it from the front, you've got big gaps for intercoolers and radiator cooling. Then there's a big hood scoop,

cooling. Then there's a big hood scoop, a bit like an old rally car that vents out of these triangular vents on the bonnet and up over the windscreen.

There's shades of LFA in there. And then

as you come down the side of the car, you notice just how low it is. Then

there's a big outlet here which lets all the turbulent air flow go past and out past the 20-in wheels. As you move further down the car, it's very sculptural. It's very long. Just drink

sculptural. It's very long. Just drink

in the length of that bonnet. And then

it comes back into a little intake here, which is slightly flying butressy, which again is a little bit like the old LFA.

And then as we get to the back, you've got this kind of big double movement duct tail spoiler. But it's notable that there's no active arrow on this car because that would add weight higher up and compromise that low center of

gravity. And it also adds complication.

gravity. And it also adds complication.

This car feels quite simple. In there is the gearbox and the electric motor and then quad exhausts in their own little pods. There's sort of a Venturi down

pods. There's sort of a Venturi down there, but it's nothing too aggressive.

But compared to some of the other stuff that's on the road, this has got real street presence. But the big news is

street presence. But the big news is what's under the bonnet and the rear wheel drive setup. So, I thought I'd use the big cutaway model to explain a few things. And it is a completely bespoke

things. And it is a completely bespoke setup. So, up front you have a front

setup. So, up front you have a front mounted but midship kind of setup for a 4 L V8 with two turbos which are in the hot V of the engine. That produces about

650 brake horsepower and 627b feet of torque. The car itself weighs 1750 kilos

torque. The car itself weighs 1750 kilos or less. Toyota's being a bit kind of cy

or less. Toyota's being a bit kind of cy about that. Then there's a big thick

about that. Then there's a big thick structurally important torque tube which goes all the way back to the rear axle through the electric motor which is just

here which provides accelerative support and during gear changes as well. So

there'll be no torque drop in between.

It then runs into an 8-speed gearbox.

And because they wanted to keep the back of the car really short and tightly packaged, it then has a set of conicle gears which shoves power back forwards into the limited slip diff and then out

to the two rear wheels. It should be very driver focused and it looks like good fun.

>> Speed, well, expect sub 4 seconds to 62 mph and around 200 mph top speed.

Although again, Toyota is being a little bit ky. And in terms of suspension, it's

bit ky. And in terms of suspension, it's double wishbones all round with carbon ceramic brakes by Brembo, which are reassuringly massive. But you know

reassuringly massive. But you know what's really striking here? This GT is actually quite simple. back to basics kind of thing. No mad adaptive suspension and multiple electric aero

devices. The V8 might be a very mild

devices. The V8 might be a very mild hybrid, but it's not excessively boosted. It's all about getting the

boosted. It's all about getting the fundamentals of balance and drivability in place. As does the fact that it's not

in place. As does the fact that it's not a limited run. This will be mass production. And when you get inside,

production. And when you get inside, it's lovely, but it's not actually that insane. If we start at the beginning,

insane. If we start at the beginning, these carbon buckets are mounted quite low, so you stare out an absolute plane of a bonnet, but they're carbon with loads of padding on, so you feel quite

low and comfortable and connected to the car. And they've been positioned so that

car. And they've been positioned so that you can properly see the digital dash, and that's because you've got the shift lights in there, and you need those when you're on a track. It's got a relatively small flat bottom steering wheel with a

couple of different mode buttons on it.

This one's for drive modes. And I've

noticed that it says sport, boost. So,

there might be a little bit of extra hit there somewhere in the thing. And if I tweak it there, we've got different modes, custom, normal, sport, and track.

Again, it's only four. It's quite paired back, but one assumes that they do different things. Increases throttle

different things. Increases throttle response and reduces the sensitivity of the traction control. And also on this side is a traction control little rotary switch that goes from negative to

positive, but it has expert levels. So,

I assume when that's fully off, you're in expert territory. Um, little digi dash in front of you as a driver's display with all the important information. And then a relatively small

information. And then a relatively small touchcreen in the middle with some physical buttons underneath. Now, that's

important if you're in a car and you're driving quickly. You need to be able to

driving quickly. You need to be able to to hit the buttons you want straight away. It's a car that feels very

away. It's a car that feels very dedicated to driving. Even the cup holders seem to be in exactly the wrong place. Um, again, the transmission

place. Um, again, the transmission tunnel, which I'm not used to having in cars these days, is quite big and thick and wide, and then it's got the paddle for the gear selector in the middle. It

feels like you can wedge your shoulder into these seats and really get a good solid driving position, but again, it's one of those cars with a super long bonnet. The front wheels are a long way

bonnet. The front wheels are a long way ahead, and it feels like you're sat near the back axle, so it feels super sporty, super low. I feel like I'm basically on

super low. I feel like I'm basically on the ground. Again, this interior feels

the ground. Again, this interior feels relatively simple from the excellent driving position with the paddle shift and pedals to that simple dash arrangement. It's comfortable GT spec

arrangement. It's comfortable GT spec with hints of hardcore. And yes, that cup holder definitely feels like a bit of an afterthought. And we know that Toyota is fully committed because it's

also launched the racing version at the same time. This is the FIA compliant

same time. This is the FIA compliant GRT3 and it does have all the spoilers.

It's been built to win. This will

compete in the World Endurance Car Championship or WEC, replacing the Lexus RCF LM GT3, and it looks mighty. We

actually saw hints of this design way back in 2022, which looking back may have been the hint that it wasn't going to be badged a Lexus at all. There is

always something slightly wonderful about a naked race car without a livery, and this looks completely boss. But the

GT3 does share exactly the same structure as the GRGT except it doesn't have the mild hybrid element. So it

should be a lot lighter. However, it

does have a massive front grill, a huge front splitter and cans. A front vent you could lose a child in extra knackaducts,

cheese grater front wings, centerlocks and sls, whatever that is.

side pipes, race fuel filler, more dots, huge gooseeneck spoiler, which is exactly the same width as the car. It's

also got your typical racing car interior, which is mostly roll cage, all the switches, and one of those cut down race wheels. All of which will probably

race wheels. All of which will probably form the basis of some sort of GR GTR in the future. But for now, this is just

the future. But for now, this is just for the track, and we cannot wait to see it and hear it race. But that's not all.

Toyota and sister company Lexus wanted to show us here at Fuji Speedway, because there was another car lurking in one of the pit garages that I was itching to have a good look at. The

Lexus Sports Concept, now renamed the LFA Concept and confirmed as fully electric, neither of which was true before. Now, I'd been see this car a

before. Now, I'd been see this car a couple of years ago and got very excited to see what Lexus could do with a fully electrified replacement in theory for the LFA supercar. But there's only one

problem with trying to replace a naturally aspirated V10 with an EV, and it's this and the fact that the LFA was just one

of those cars. A Toyota/ Yamaha bespoke V10, a carbon body, and mostly carbon chassis, advanced arrow, and handbuilt with just 500 cars. It pushed the limits for little financial gain. It's a

strange and wonderful concoction even to this day. So, what's changed in the past

this day. So, what's changed in the past 2 years? Well, it's got a bit more real.

2 years? Well, it's got a bit more real.

It's been confirmed that this car is directly related to the GRGT in terms of its structure and core competencies, and that it is also fully batterypowered and

called the LFA. Up to this point, we didn't know that. But the Lexus is more sculpted, more sophisticated, less aggressive than the GRGT. It just looks

like a much more sexy car. Let me take you through some of the bits. Because

it's a battery electric vehicle, it doesn't need the massive grill in the front. So, the front is much more

front. So, the front is much more superformed, a lot slicker looking. The

headlights are stacked. It just looks like it's been formed by the aerodynamics. And it looks quite good.

aerodynamics. And it looks quite good.

Instead of having just cutouts in the bonnet, it's got these big slashes which go right the way to the windscreen which look a lot more sophisticated. And if

you come down here, you'll see that the side of the car, it's just got less aggressive moments in in terms of the design. It's very slick, very concept

design. It's very slick, very concept car rear view mirrors. And then when it arcs over the back of this car, this is a proper Flying Butch. Now, you'll

recognize this from the concept cars that came before it. It gives it that kind of exciting element. It's got

character and that's what I like. And

then at the back, it's again got more explicit connections to the LFA. These

triangular shapes down here. Up there,

it's got a quad set of little holes which are a bit like the exhaust. This

one's got active arrow, which is more sophisticated, more technical than the GRGT. That one's for the drivers. This

GRGT. That one's for the drivers. This

is for the people who want something a little bit more special. In fact, this car looks spectacular. And that quad exhaust thing on the roof is actually a drone that can fly around and take pictures, which is pure concept

nonsense. But generally, this is much

nonsense. But generally, this is much more involved, sophisticated, and very likely expensive than the GRGT.

And then as far as the interior goes on the LFA concept, it's kind of the same format as the GRGT. It's got a long bonnet, which you view out of there, and the same seating position, which is low

and back, but then it feels again much more sophisticated. So, it's almost got

more sophisticated. So, it's almost got a separate driver's pod, which is this pale material with this kind of butchers that comes down and separates you from the passenger with a yolk steering wheel

where all the controls are kind of small and thin and delicate and then this OLED panel which sort of swoops around and delivers all the information but on this

kind of very cool looking wave of a digital display. A lot of this does

digital display. A lot of this does actually feel like it's got Lexus design cues in it. So, even the drive selector looks like a Lexus version. And these

kind of uh speaker cone things all look like things that we see in modern Lexus except evolved and elevated. It's a

really kind of expensive feeling interior where the GRGT is more of a kind of practical street/ supercar. It's

a completely different flavor, albeit coming from the same set of sensibilities. But this is Lexus

sensibilities. But this is Lexus spreading its technological wings and going super pricey. While the GT feels like a practical day-to-day street/track car that will be priced in line with

stuff like Mercedes AMG GT and other GT3ish sports cars. What I find interesting here is that in the GRT, Toyota Gazu Racing has produced a car

that's V8, two-seater, rear wheel drive, and for the drivers that feels very much like the spiritual successor to the LFA.

And then Lexus has gone off and produced a battery electric vehicle with mega horsepower that feels like some sort of giant science experiment. Whatever,

Toyota as a company is definitely bringing the drama back into the lineup and we're very much here for it.