Toyota’s New GT3 Racer Skips the Road Car’s Hybrid, Goes Pure V-8

Toyota’s eventful presentation today at the Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Japan featured not just the street-legal GR GT and the reborn Lexus LFA but also a track-only machine. Considering the Lexus RC F GT3 is already a decade old, it’s safe to say the GR GT3 can’t come soon enough. However, despite hosting the world premiere, Gazoo Racing won’t launch the race car until “around 2027,” when its road-going companion is also scheduled to go on sale.

Although the two GR GT models are cut from the same cloth, there are some notable differences. For starters, the racing machine does away with the electric motor integrated into the road car’s transaxle. Consequently, the GT3-spec race car is a pure V-8 machine with a variation of the newly developed twin-turbo 4.0-liter engine.

Toyota is targeting a curb weight of 1,750 kilograms (3,858 pounds) or lower for the version with a license plate. As you can imagine, the GT3 will be much lighter, following the removal of the electric motor and the stripped-out cabin. It will have to meet class regulations, so it must adhere to a minimum weight figure based on the balance of performance (BoP). For reference, the aging Lexus RC F GT3 has a base weight of 1,250 kg (2,755 lbs).

The new GR GT3 adopts a far more aggressive, aero-driven body with a massive rear wing and front fender louvers. It eschews the road car’s rear-mounted quad exhaust tips in favor of an arguably more spectacular side-exit setup, echoing its predecessor. Predictably, the interior is far less civilized, having been stripped down to the bare essentials.

Photo by: Toyota

Compared to the street car, its cousin in racing overalls is slightly longer, wider, and lower. It measures 188.3 inches (4,785 millimeters) long, 80.7 in (2,050 mm) wide, and 42.9 in (1,090 mm) tall. You’ll also spot Rays centerlock wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport track tires instead of a five-lug setup with Pilot Sport Cup 2 road-legal rubber. Both have Brembo carbon-ceramic brake discs front and rear.

Toyota doesn’t say anything about power, but once again, that will depend on the BoP. For the road-legal GR GT, engineers are targeting at least 641 hp and 627 lb-ft (850 Nm), though those figures also include the extra oomph from the electric motor.

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Source: Toyota

Since the car won’t be ready until 2027 at the earliest, the venerable Lexus RC F GT3 will race for at least another season. The new track machine has been a long time coming, considering a concept was first shown in January 2022 at the Tokyo Auto Salon. Although it bears some resemblance to the four-year-old showcar, the real thing looks significantly more hardcore.

Toyota calls it an “under-development prototype,” so some details may still change once the GR GT3 is finally ready to go racing.

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