Toyota Team SARD returning to Tokachi with Supra HV-R hybrid racer
Click image to enlarge
Last year, Toyota Team SARD contested and completed Japan's Tokachi 24-hour endurance race with a specially-prepared Lexus GS450h. The car finished 4th in class and 17th overall. And now, Toyota Team SARD's heading back with some upgraded firepower. The team announced that it will enter the Denso SARD Supra HV-R in this year's race, scheduled to go down July 15. The Supra HV-R is a hybrid whose Super GT-spec 4,480cc V8 is augmented with regenerative braking, a pair of 10kW in-wheel motors up front and a 150kW motor in the rear. The engine's output is rated at 480 horsepower and 376 lb-ft of torque, and the car's weight will come in at a little over 2,300 pounds.
The provisional racing livery is shown in the artwork above, and we'll report back when SARD unveils the finished car. Until then, we'll sum it up with one word:
Cool.
[Source: SARD]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jeremie 11:15AM (6/18/2007)
If a racing team is using electric motors in the wheels... It must be a good thing.
It just goes to show... believe what you will... but a first place will say it all.
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Mark 6:50AM (6/19/2007)
"..in-wheel motors.." hmmmm I thought the unsprung weight of in-wheel motors made them a very bad idea. Here they are in auto racing. It will be interesting to see how it does.
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