Toyota Unveils the GR GT Sports Car and GR GT3 Race Car, along with a New Name for the Lexus Sport Concept

• The GR GT is a production sports car built with the automaker’s first all-aluminium body frame and a new twin-turbo hybrid V8.

• The GT GT3 is an FIA homologation version of the GR GT made for “all customers who want to win races.”

• The Lexus Sport Concept, now named LFA Concept, shows what the same platform can do with electric power alone.

After months of speculation and teasers, Toyota has unveiled its latest sports car: the GR GT.

Built on an entirely new platform shared with the Lexus LFA Concept, formerly known as the Lexus Sport Concept, this new model will replace the Supra as the brand’s flagship performance product, but it isn’t a direct successor.

Indeed, the GR GT has been pushed much further in terms of innovation and aspirations, embodying the automaker’s desire to make better performance cars and race cars than its European competitors, guided by three key principles.

These are a low center of gravity, low weight and high rigidity, and a focus on aerodynamic performance.

To achieve the first and the last, the GR GT relies on a sleek design that pushes the limits of the “long hood, short trunk” concept often applied to sports cars.

These proportions are required by the front mid-engined configuration, which places the engine behind the center of the front wheels, helping to distribute its weight more evenly across its long wheelbase.

Another weight distribution measure is the rear-mounted 8-speed automatic transaxle, which sits between both rear wheels and is connected to the engine by a torque tube that runs between the driver and passenger.

To further reduce the center of gravity and enhance the vehicle/driver connection, the driving position has been lowered and fine-tuned.

In order to remain lightweight while being very rigid, the Toyota GR GT also benefits from its maker’s first use of an all-aluminium body frame, which is paired with carbon-fibre reinforced plastics in key areas.

The suspension is made up of double wishbones front and rear, and braking is handled by carbon ceramic disks. The GR GT will grip the road with 265/35ZR20 tires at the front and 325/30ZR20 at the rear.

The main attraction is, however, the engine, which is an all-new 4.0L twin-turbocharged hybrid V8, which targets an output of over 641 horsepower and more than 627 lb-ft of torque.

While Toyota has hinted that a tamer version of this engine will be available in luxury cars and possibly pickups, it seems clear that the new V8 has been engineered with competition in mind.

For example, the version used in the GR GT features a dry sump lubrification system and a “hot V” configuration that places both turbochargers in the valley between the cylinder banks.

The electric motor/generator is located inside of the rear-mounted transaxle, which uses a wet start clutch instead of a traditional torque converter and features a limited-slip differential.

Unlike in most sports cars, Toyota didn’t target a 50:50 weight distribution, choosing instead a 45:55 split it says promotes the “ease of vehicle handling” for a rear-wheel drive car.

Toyota is also making sure that this new V8 engine, developed using race driving simulators, remains legal for sale globally in the face of emissions regulations that could become significantly more restrictive over the next few years.

The company is also hedging its bets by offering a fully electric variant, which will only by offered by Lexus at first.

Indeed, the production version of the Lexus LFA concept will make use of an electric powertrain that will show the potential of electric performance vehicles, according to its maker.

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More details will be coming later, as this model is still only a concept, as opposed to the Toyota branded sports car.

Finally, the automaker also unveiled a race-prepped version of the GR GT, called the GR GT3.

As its name suggests, this race car is engineered to comply with FIA (Fédération Internationale d’Automobile) rules for the GT3 category, which is the most extreme division for road-going cars.

The aim of this car is simple: win.

To do so, it will rely on all of the same principles as the GR GT and the LFA Concept, with even less weight and likely a more powerful version of the 4.0L twin-turbo V8.

The full details for all three models have yet to be finalized as Toyota only expects to launch the GR GT in or around 2027, with the Lexus expected to follow at a later date.