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mikeyb
07-06-2006, 10:20 AM
http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/07/toyotags450hracecar.jpg (http://www.sard.co.jp/race_r/r2006/news/20060704.html)

Toyota Motor has announced that it has entered a race-prepped version of its Lexus GS450h hybrid sedan in Japan's Tokachi 24-hour endurance race. The car (shown above in preliminary livery) will be raced by Sigma Automotive Racing Division (SARD (http://www.sard.co.jp/race_r/r2006/news/20060704.html)), a group that races Toyotas in the Japanese Super GT series.

The GS450h racecar is spec'd at a maximum hybrid system output of about 345 hp, with peak output of the gas engine of 295 hp, and peak electric motor output of nearly 200 hp. The race-ready Lexus races in a class with a relatively hefty minimum weight of 3,417 lb, and has received the usual top-to-bottom list of race modifications, including:

reworked suspension
wheels and tires
rollcage
fuel cell
limited-slip differential
uprated brakes
aero modificationsThe Tokachi 24-hour race is part of a race series for production-based cars, broadly similar to the U.S. SPEED World Challenge.

[Source: Toyota]

Rainman
07-07-2006, 04:37 AM
I think that this is an awesome idea. Much of the greatest automotive innovations arise out of the racing field so it is wonderful that hybrids are starting to make their way into racing.

R