Toyota has turned the new Prius into a race car. Following the introduction of a one-off sporty GRMN version back in June, the company has introduced a new full-on racer that just competed in the Thailand 10-Hour Endurance Race.
This Prius looks like a proper racing machine. The competition-spec Toyota wears a larger front splitter, canards on the corners of the nose, and a tall rear wing. It now rides on 10-spoke wheels, with slotted brake rotors are visible behind. The ride height also appears to be a lot lower than stock.
Toyota isn’t providing specifics about the Prius race car’s powertrain just yet. The revised engine runs on carbon-neutral fuel and makes more power than the road car, according to Car Watch Impress. There’s reportedly a higher-capacity battery for the hybrid system and modifications to the cooling system, too.
The Prius race car finished 11th place overall out of 63 starters and 6th in class in the Thai endurance event, 21 laps behind the winning vehicle. There’s no information available yet on whether Toyota intends to take this machine into competition again, or if this event was a one-off test.
This Prius will be among several Toyota race cars on display at next year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, which will run from January 13 through 15. The brand’s machines from the World Rally Championship, World Endurance Championship, Super GT, and more series will be there, too.
Toyota previously raced the Prius in Japan’s Super GT series for several years, but those cars only had limited ties to the road-legal version. The various iterations used 3.4-liter and 5.4-liter V8 engines and had different hybrid systems, including one with a supercapacitor. While we doubt this one has eight cylinders, we’re still glad it exists.
