Official: Toyota’s GR GT3 Concept will become the GR GT production car

[sl0519]

How about something also Japanese?

https://www.nissanusa.com/shopping-tools/build-price?models=gt-r&modelYear=current-year

How are the specs of this car barely more competitive than a vehicle that has two less cylinders and is older than the LFA?

Because it’s a Lexus~ You know it’s gonna be stupidly reliable, it’ll just keep running forever without breaking, and it’ll literally outlive you and roll right into the coffin with you.

 

[blackjack214]

I personally hate the interior. It looks instantly dated.

I kinda agree. Toyota/lexus design peaked with LC. They have nothing left to give.

 

[Gor134]

Beautiful side view, at the very least.

 

[blackjack214]

Lexus should be moving increasingly upmarket if anything. The Toyota+ models should be what their new "Crown" line of cars is for (and please don't make Crown it's own brand). The range should start from the IS and the NX, both of which need significant improvements. Everyone says Lexus is irrelevant now that Century is, but Century is targetting Bentley, which was never Lexus's fight anyway. If I were in charge of Lexus id be gunning for the Mercedes/BMW and Porsche (C-Klasse/3-Series and above).

No shade to you… can we all stop pretending century is “challenging” bentley and RR?! No one eyeing the prestige and quality of a rolls is going to cross shop with a FWD based 200k piece of ****. Maybe i’m just being a hater, but I genuinely don’t understand the hype around century. The sedan looks vintage, that’s about it. The SUV is just a boxy genesis with poor proportions. I’d rather have the softest leather, fine stitching, knurled metal trim, with bespoke details over wool carpet all over the place. To each their own I guess.

 

[blackjack214]

Small detail but the GRGT also has the same accelerator pedal / foot rest design from Lexus F products…

 

[DarkSpace6383]

I remember the lowest number was 900-950, with 986 being the quoted total combined system output, but it was purported to hit four digits. This is the same Toyota that (according to rumors) temporarily paused development because the new AMG GT was a four-seater, not a two-seater. The point is... their priorities are in the wrong place.

Toyota and Lexus used to be an order of magnitude more boring before, but for the LFA they crafted a masterpiece. It was a focused product... cost was no object. Today, Toyota is an exciting brand that is all the rage for different customers, enthusiasts, and journalists alike, but it seems like some aspects are less... focused and is very haphazardly decided on.

I will immediately walk back on my qualms for this product if the price is under 200k USD, but if they're claiming 250k... and rumors are saying that executives are not even flinching at 300-400k USD prices...? Well this is an even bigger mistake than the LFA when it comes to pricing. At least the LFA came out with some world-beating characteristics like design, craftsmanship, and that engine. This car... on the other hand... well... this new car seems to be positioned as a really good racecar but not a very good road car.

Mercedes-Benz (or should I say, Mercedes-AMG) botched their new AMG GT and this was Toyota's opportunity to swoop in and make them look like total amateurs. Instead, Toyota told Mercedes-AMG to hold their beer and off they went to create a product that is compromised. I have full faith that this will be an insanely badass racecar though.

Oh yes. This car fumbled in so many ways. I don't think this will be a fighter for anything besides a corvette, higher variants of a mustang, and maybe the upcoming ford performance car. AMG GT and 911 are far more luxurious than this car, which is where had a Lexus variant with the TTV8 Hybrid come in, it could have done very well. The styling on that car is beautiful, and 650 would have still been a decent starting point, as it is right in line with the GT63.

 

[DarkSpace6383]

No shade to you… can we all stop pretending century is “challenging” bentley and RR?! No one eyeing the prestige and quality of a rolls is going to cross shop with a FWD based 200k piece of ****. Maybe i’m just being a hater, but I genuinely don’t understand the hype around century. The sedan looks vintage, that’s about it. The SUV is just a boxy genesis with poor proportions. I’d rather have the softest leather, fine stitching, knurled metal trim, with bespoke details over wool carpet all over the place. To each their own I guess.

I mean whether it succeeds or not remains to be seen, but that is at least the goal of century, and it should at the very least do well in asian markets. Also the century is really nice inside, it basically has the features you were describing.

 

[DarkSpace6383]

View attachment 10790
Beautiful side view, at the very least.

It could look really good in white with a big GR logo down the side

 

[LCLFV]

No shade to you… can we all stop pretending century is “challenging” bentley and RR?! No one eyeing the prestige and quality of a rolls is going to cross shop with a FWD based 200k piece of ****. Maybe i’m just being a hater, but I genuinely don’t understand the hype around century. The sedan looks vintage, that’s about it. The SUV is just a boxy genesis with poor proportions. I’d rather have the softest leather, fine stitching, knurled metal trim, with bespoke details over wool carpet all over the place. To each their own I guess.

The fact that Akio owns a bespoke Century GRMN just feels like trolling at this point.


He'll steal a car from Lexus to prop up his beloved new GR brand, but have them mass produce his own car? Nah, not for us peasants. Oh and Century doesn't get it either, just a reskinned Grand Highlander will be sufficient.

 

[bogglo]

If anyone ever had doubts, it's clear this engine is 7-8 years old and was designed for LS F, LC F, etc. because it would have actually been competitive in 2020 - 2023, but not anymore. 650hp in 2027 and beyond is nothing.

Lexus could have had a full generation of an LS F, LC F, and whatever else "F" with this engine from 2020 - 2026 because it appears it's just been sitting on the shelf for that long.

Actually with all the issue plaguing the Tundra LX GX, I hope working on this 6-8 years was to make sure it's has bulletproof as the V8 they are retiring.

Also I believe they know the power figure they put out is nothing to write home about is why they are saying "or greater" and "or lesser" for the weight.

I will give them an extremely tiny benefit of the doubt they find a way to increase those numbers especially if they have Porsche in sight.

Although the moment I heard the presenter said "power isn't everything" I was already laughing.

 

[CRSKTN]

The fact that Akio owns a bespoke Century GRMN just feels like trolling at this point.


He'll steal a car from Lexus to prop up his beloved new GR brand, but have them mass produce his own car? Nah, not for us peasants. Oh and Century doesn't get it either, just a reskinned Grand Highlander will be sufficient.

He didn't just make it for himself. He made it for himself and a handful of his other rich nepo baby friends.
That whole project was a "me me me" project for toys for him and his other didn't-earn-any-of-it buddies.
There are a number of those cars out there.

 

[ssun30]

"Vehicle packaging for an ultimate low center of gravity"

Package the battery in the highest place possible

This is 2026 and Toyota still doesn't know how to package power inverter and the battery pack into one unit.

In case you are wondering how it's supposed to be done:

 

[ssun30]

Super car engine that redlines at 7000rpm

 

[CRSKTN]

Super car engine that redlines at 7000rpm
View attachment 10803

That is crazy, LC500 is 7,300.

Wild. How is a company this well resourced and staffed this bad at stuff?

The battery positioning relative to the AMG is comical


EDIT:

I'll also say this, Toyota doesn't engineer as much in house as you think. Even their cars like the Camry rely heavily on firms in India and elsewhere to actually do the engineering of the project, working with Toyota to their spec. Even their door handles are third party. The liners, the foam parts around the trunk, all those little minutiae too.

They intentionally hide this, too.

I have a feeling internally Toyota has more technology and process debt than they have the intelligence to deal with.

 

[Motor]

 

[LCLFV]

"Vehicle packaging for an ultimate low center of gravity"

Package the battery in the highest place possible

This is 2026 and Toyota still doesn't know how to package power inverter and the battery pack into one unit.

In case you are wondering how it's supposed to be done:

This shows that the hybrid is pretty much just a last minute duct tape job since the GT3 was designed first and foremost to be purely with the TTV8 and this road-going version with a battery slapped on was cobbled together to have it qualify. No wonder they were so reluctant to mention the hybrid in the press release.

 

[NomadDan]

Rear transaxle is an interesting design. I wonder how easy it would be to swap the two gears at the rear for varying gear ratios? It looks like there is a small cover over these gears, reminiscent of the old quick change rear ends.

 

[DarkSpace6383]

Actually with all the issue plaguing the Tundra LX GX, I hope working on this 6-8 years was to make sure it's has bulletproof as the V8 they are retiring.

Also I believe they know the power figure they put out is nothing to write home about is why they are saying "or greater" and "or lesser" for the weight.

I will give them an extremely tiny benefit of the doubt they find a way to increase those numbers especially if they have Porsche in sight.

Although the moment I heard the presenter said "power isn't everything" I was already laughing.

He didn't just make it for himself. He made it for himself and a handful of his other rich nepo baby friends.
That whole project was a "me me me" project for toys for him and his other didn't-earn-any-of-it buddies.
There are a number of those cars out there.

CRSKTN: I am pretty sure Toyoda is probably allowed to get a Century GRMN, considering the goal of Century is to be extremely bespoke. My guess is the vast majority of these cars sold will be bespoke

bogglo:
The problem with the GRGT is that it is not a luxurious car in the slightest. It is just a very raw sportscar. It reminds me more of the Corvette, where it is a supercar from a premium, but not luxury brand. I think the only way they were targetting porsche was with the LFR/LFA. I honestly dont mind the Electric version existing, the concept seems interesting. I just mind it being ONLY electric yk?

 

[LCLFV]

He didn't just make it for himself. He made it for himself and a handful of his other rich nepo baby friends.
That whole project was a "me me me" project for toys for him and his other didn't-earn-any-of-it buddies.
There are a number of those cars out there.

This is something that has been bothering me for some time as well, even though I have been fighting the urge to blame all of it on Akio for a while. But it is hard to ignore the evidence that supports the theory that Akio's only true goal with Toyota as a company is to flex as a rich kid and shape the company in his own image that he wants to sell the public. He is not selling Toyota, GR, or Lexus to the public- he is selling himself and how much of a "badass tough guy" he is.

The GR GT is kind of a perfect encapsulation of all this. Akio wants to put more emphasis on motorsports because he thinks it makes him look cool when he dresses up in his racing cosplay and runs laps for the camera. He had the GR GT built with racing as its first priority, consumer accessibility be damned. He had an expensive racetrack built for himself so he could have a "Nurburgring at home" to play with, under the guise of it being a testing ground for Toyota. And at the press conference for the GT, he finally admitted what we all knew but never wanted to say out loud, which is that his greatest upset at the LFA is that it wasn't named after himself.

The above may be a bit reductionist and simplifying certain details, but it also explains why there has been such a seismic shift at TMC where a car that has a jiffed up hybrid system that only exists to meet a bare minimum to be sold to the public is now going to launch an entirely new brand on the same scope as Lexus while potentially costing half a million dollars. It's not for you or us - it's a token for people who are committed not to Toyota, but committed to Akio himself.

What made the LS400 so great was that it was a product where Toyota truly put the customer first, going so far as sending their employees to live in the US for almost a year and observe the habits and lifestyle of their targeted consumer for the car. What made the LFA so great is that it was an engineer's dream project where money was no issue, and the end goal was to create a car that demonstrated the very peak of Toyota's engineering at the time, and with exotic materials to boot. Meanwhile, the GR GT... exists so Akio can pose next to it with his race team on Instagram while cosplaying as a race car driver.

 

[DarkSpace6383]

This is something that has been bothering me for some time as well, even though I have been fighting the urge to blame all of it on Akio for a while. But it is hard to ignore the evidence that supports the theory that Akio's only true goal with Toyota as a company is to flex as a rich kid and shape the company in his own image that he wants to sell the public. He is not selling Toyota, GR, or Lexus to the public- he is selling himself and how much of a "badass tough guy" he is.

The GR GT is kind of a perfect encapsulation of all this. Akio wants to put more emphasis on motorsports because he thinks it makes him look cool when he dresses up in his racing cosplay and runs laps for the camera. He had the GR GT built with racing as its first priority, consumer accessibility be damned. He had an expensive racetrack built for himself so he could have a "Nurburgring at home" to play with, under the guise of it being a testing ground for Toyota. And at the press conference for the GT GT, he finally admitted what we all knew but never wanted to speak out about, which is that his greatest upset at the LFA is that it wasn't named after himself.

The above may be a bit reductionist and simplifying certain details, but it also explains why there has been such a seismic shift at TMC where a car that has a jiffed up hybrid system that only exists to meet a bare minimum to be sold to the public is now going to launch an entirely new brand on the same scope as Lexus while potentially costing half a million dollars. It's not for you or us - it's a token for people who are committed not to Toyota, but committed to Akio himself.

What made the LS400 so great was that it was a product where Toyota truly put the customer first, going so far as sending their employees to live in the US for almost a year and observe the habits and lifestyle of their targeted consumer for the car. What made the LFA so great is that it was an engineer's dream project where money was no issue, and the end goal was to create a car that demonstrated the very peak of Toyota's engineering at the time, and with exotic materials to boot. Meanwhile, the GR GT... exists so Akio can pose next to it with his race team on Instagram while cosplaying as a race car driver.

This is going to be a hot take but for GRGT I am honestly okay with the racing-first philosphy. Typically a racing car translates better into a roadcar than a roadcar does into a racecar. The Toyota testing grounds are good, and Akio is infact a racing driver. I don't think all of this is that bad. I like what he has been doing overall for Gazoo Racing (which I think is good as it's own brand). For me the problem lies solely with Lexus being a sacrificial lamb. I don't think the car is costing half a million dollars. I think it will be around 150-200k. What troubles me is that there is a way to do this but not at the expense of the Lexus brand. Simone Humphreys would be a cool guy to talk to I have some ideas for him haha.