Hybrid Toyota Supra wins 24-hour race

[overdrayv]

Toyota Team SARD's specially-prepared Supra HV-R hybrid GT racer has won the Tokachi 24-hour endurance race in Japan. The converted Super GT-spec racing car did so convincingly, too. As the only GT-class car in the field, the Denso SARD Supra HV-R maintained a steady lead of several laps throughout the course of the race, and in the later hours, it essentially dialed things up a notch and ran away from the rest of the field. After starting from the pole position, the Supra completed 616 laps in the ensuing 24 hours -- 19 more than the second-place finisher. The victory marks the first of its type for a hybrid-powered vehicle. The Supra HV-R began life as a retired 480-horsepower Super GT racing car, which then had regenerative braking technology and a trio of hybrid motors added to it for this event. What bearing, if any, the success of the Supra HV-R has on Toyota's plans for production sports hybrid vehicles is unknown. With reports that the FT-HS concept is on its way to production, however, we'll likely be seeing how well a production-spec hybrid sports car fares soon enough.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/07/16/hybr ... hi-24-hrs/

[checkered]

Toyota actually is making

a point here without having to say a word, whereas most other F1 manufacturers/teams have mainly been talking about what they're going to do. This is very interesting technology indeed - 150kW rear-axle mounted electric motor, 10kW in-wheel electric motors at the front and a supercapacitor system. Not only that, they've apparently also got a business plan coming along, building on racing hybrids. Case in point, "Son of Supra" FT-HS Concept vehicle.

=D>

Toyota FT-HS (link)
Tokachi24 Supra HV-R in GCC (link)




Edit:

Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive (link)
FT-HS in Gizmag, comments from CALTY designers (link)

[Carlos]

Hmmm.... Hybrid racers. Heres an electric SCCA race car. A converted sedan with Siemen motors - 270HP and 370 ft/lb Torque

http://proev.com/