Toyota GR Supra GT4 Concept

GR Supra GT4 Con­cept | Photography by Toyota

Devel­oped for poten­tial motor­sport role

• World debut of the new GR Supra GT4 Con­cept at the 2019 Gene­va Motor Show
• Designed and engi­neered to com­ply with inter­na­tion­al GT4 com­pe­ti­tion reg­u­la­tions
• The GR Supra GT4 Con­cept explores how the new Supra could be used as the basis for an afford­able and com­pet­i­tive car for pri­va­teer rac­ers

Toy­ota presents the world debut of the new GR Supra GT4 Con­cept at the 2019 Gene­va Motor Show on 5 March. It is a design and engi­neer­ing study that explores how the new­ly launched fifth gen­er­a­tion of the leg­endary Supra sports car might be devel­oped as a com­pet­i­tive machine for inter­na­tion­al GT4 rac­ing, acces­si­ble and afford­able for pri­va­teer rac­ers and small teams in line with Toyota’s world­wide sup­port for grass-roots motor­sport.

The road-going Toy­ota GR Supra has essen­tial qual­i­ties that make it an attrac­tive propo­si­tion for GT4 rac­ing, with its per­fect­ly bal­anced chas­sis, two-seater cab­in, high­ly rigid and light weight body, rear-wheel dri­ve and very low cen­tre of grav­i­ty. The com­bi­na­tion of the short wheel­base and wide track gives it an ide­al 1.55 “gold­en ratio” for excel­lent sta­bil­i­ty and agili­ty, which are valu­able assets in a series where the reg­u­la­tions use a bal­ance of per­for­mance cal­cu­la­tion (adjust­ing weight accord­ing to engine pow­er) to ensure even com­pe­ti­tion across the field.

The con­cept mod­el, devel­oped by TOYOTA GAZOO Rac­ing, is instant­ly recog­nis­able as a Supra and main­tains the road car’s low, mus­cu­lar shape, but with increased length and low­ered height. A spe­cial­ly-designed front dif­fuser and rear wing have been added to the GR Supra GT4 Con­cept to improve air­flow around the chas­sis, reduc­ing drag and opti­mis­ing down­force. Both items are con­struct­ed using com­pos­ites made from nat­ur­al fibres such as hemp and flax, replac­ing the tra­di­tion­al car­bon fibre in order to reduce the impact on the envi­ron­ment. Orig­i­nal alloy wheels have been replaced by five-hole OZ 11 x 18in rac­ing wheels.

The MacPher­son strut front and mul­ti­link rear sus­pen­sion design is car­ried over, but with the addi­tion of com­pe­ti­tion springs, shock absorbers and anti-roll bars. The high-pow­er decel­er­a­tion required for rac­ing is pro­vid­ed by high-per­for­mance Brem­bo brakes.

Under the bon­net, the GR Supra GT4 Con­cept retains the 3.0-litre straight-six-cylin­der petrol engine with sin­gle twin scroll tur­bocharg­er, cou­pled to an auto­mat­ic trans­mis­sion. Per­for­mance is increased with help from a motor­sport-grade ECU and bespoke wiring looms. There are also motor­sport-spec­i­fi­ca­tion dri­ve shafts and lim­it­ed slip dif­fer­en­tial.

The stripped-out cab­in is fit­ted with a high-strength roll cage and FIA-stan­dard fire extin­guish­er and OMP rac­ing seat. The con­cept car is also equipped with a motor­sport-spe­cif­ic fuel tank and a fast refu­elling sys­tem.

GT4 is one of the world’s fastest-grow­ing motor­sports cat­e­gories, with nation­al and region­al com­pe­ti­tions in Europe, North Amer­i­ca, Asia and Ocea­nia. Estab­lished since 2006 and sanc­tioned by the FIA, it is designed to be a val­ue-for-mon­ey series for both pro­fes­sion­al and ama­teur rac­ers, and a poten­tial step­ping-stone to GT3 com­pe­ti­tion.

TOYOTA GAZOO Rac­ing will eval­u­ate the inter­est shown by poten­tial cus­tomers in the Supra GT4 Con­cept before decid­ing on future devel­op­ment of the vehi­cle.

GR Supra GT4 Con­cept | Photography by Toyota

GR Supra GT4 Con­cept | Photography by Toyota

GR Supra GT4 Con­cept | Photography by Toyota

Via Toy­ota Europe News­room

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Originally published at jlpress.com on March 1, 2019.