After years of waiting, the Toyota GR GT is here as the Japanese car giant’s new halo sports car, usurping the Supra and taking the mantle last held by the Lexus LFA.
Introduced as not only the flagship of Toyota but also the centrepiece of the Gazoo Racing street car lineup, the GR GT ushers in a new era for the once middle-of-the-road, mundane brand.
A spiritual successor to the Toyota 2000GT and Lexus LFA, the Toyota GR GT has big shoes to fill, but will bring a number of firsts to the brand’s sports coupes.
Though Toyota claims it is a prototype, it appears the bodywork is production ready, incorporating the hammerhead-style face design seen on the big-selling vehicles such as the Camry, while adopting the aggressive elements you’d expect from a performance hero.
The GR GT certainly doesn’t lack air ducts, with three vents on the bonnet, two huge wheel-arch exits, one entry on the side skirt, another above the rear wheel, and exit vents in the rear bumper.
According to Toyota, “in the case of the GR GT, the ideal aerodynamic performance was established first, followed by consideration of exterior styling”, suggesting the handsome design is a fortunate byproduct of its function.
Big 20-inch wheels are shod in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres (265mm at the front, 325mm at the rear), and sit in front of the massive Brembo carbon ceramic braking system, itself connected to double-wishbone suspension at the front and rear.
Measuring 4820mm long, 2000mm wide and 1195mm tall, the GR GT is about 440mm longer, 150mm wider and sits 100mm lower than a GR Supra Track edition, while its 2725mm wheelbase is extended by 255mm compared to the BMW-based sports car.
The Toyota GR GT marks the introduction of Toyota’s first aluminium chassis, which – when paired with the aluminium and carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) body panels – has led to a target kerb weight of less than 1750kg, with a 45:55 front-to-rear weight distribution.
That makes it quite a bit lighter than a Mercedes-AMG GT63, with the all-wheel drive sports coupe tipping the scales at over 1900kg.
As with many Toyotas but in a first for the GR division, the GR GT is a hybrid, adopting a single electric motor in its all-new dual-clutch eight-speed automatic transaxle.
The electric motor is effectively paired to another all-new element, a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine in a ‘hot-vee’ configuration, one that has been in development for multiple years but is only now seeing the light of day.
Producing 478kW and 850Nm, the V8 hybrid powertrain is the most powerful ever fitted to a Toyota, eclipsing the 324kW/571Nm Supra Final Edition, as well as the Yamaha-tuned V10 in the LFA (420kW/480Nm in Nürburgring Package guise).
Toyota hasn’t quoted an expected 0-100km/h time, though it has said a top speed of 320km/h-plus is likely.
Inside, the interior is unlike any GR model currently on sale, with the driver sitting low in Recaro seats, and looking at a wide digital instrument cluster, while being flanked by an infotainment touchscreen, drive-by-wire gear selector and a handful of physical buttons for various operations.
A price has yet to be put on the Toyota GR GT, though Toyota is aiming to launch its new flagship “around 2027”, when it’ll arrive in showrooms around the same time as its racing version, the GR GT3, hits the track.
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