After completing the Nürburgring 24 Hours in June, the GR Yaris returned home for Round 5 of Super Taikyu. The race also provided an update on the midship model that was originally slated to compete.
Next, the long-awaited debut!
During a roundtable discussion at the event, President Takahashi also provided an update on the midship model that had not been ready in time for Autopolis.
President Takahashi
First, I apologize for saying that the midship model would race at Autopolis, which turned out to be wrong.
We currently face two major hurdles.
One is heat.
Because the engine bay is in the rear, we simply can’t get enough airflow through, causing the engine to run hot and lose power. Figuring out how to draw in cool air and cool the engine has been a real challenge.
The other is the vehicle’s dynamics.
Naturally, with the car’s center of gravity moved to the middle, it corners more easily. However, the difficulty lies in distributing power between the front and rear wheels to make the most of the four-wheel-drive configuration.
This being Toyota’s first attempt at a midship layout with four-wheel drive, we have run up against a wall, with control proving extremely difficult.
I’ve come to realize that the development we have undertaken is so technically challenging that saying “see you at Autopolis” was almost embarrassingly naïve.
Some three months have passed since Takahashi’s team found itself “up against a wall.”
The GR Yaris midship model was announced among the entries for Super Taikyu’s Round 6, to be held at Okayama International Circuit on October 25-26.
We are eager to see how it performs, and how Toyota’s engineers overcame those formidable challenges.