New Toyota Prius GT300 launched

Still a Prius, still a hybrid, now with a 3.4-litre V8 in it...

It's not often that the Toyota Prius features on PistonHeads, for all the reasons you can probably imagine. The last time we wrote about it was with a Nurburgring lap record, and even that was hardly thrilling. The Prius and PH are not really easy bedfellows.

Because racing Prius

But PH and racing cars? Now we're talking. And what you're looking at here is the new Toyota Prius GT300, developed for Japanese Super GT and recently revealed at the Tokyo Auto Salon.

Replacing the old Prius GT300 (yes, they really have done this before), the latest car is based on the fourth-gen Prius and looks suitably bonkers. Indeed, while the Mirari-aping styling may sit rather uncomfortably on the road car, it certainly lends some drama to the racer. That plus the wing emblazoned with 'Panasonic' and standing as high as a tower block.

Don't think this is simply an entry to raise hybrid awareness either. Yes, there is a 'Hybrid Synergy Drive' system in the passenger footwell, but the combustion engine is a 3.4-litre V8 with power "capped in line with GT300 regulations." It's out there to win. Sounds like a PH kind of hybrid!

The car has been built by APR Racing and two cars will compete in this year's Super GT. Having won twice in 2015, the aim is for three victories in 2016 once the season kicks off on April 9 at Okayama. The cars competing in last year's GT300 championship were fantastically diverse, from a Lotus Evora to a Subaru BRZ and Lamborghini Gallardo, so it will be fascinating to see how the new Prius fares. Anyone up for a Fuji trip in May?

Watch the video here.