RE: Toyota to Stay in F1
RE: Toyota to Stay in F1
Wednesday 24th December 2008

Toyota to Stay in F1

Carmaker vows to stay in F1 despite losses



Toyota has vowed to stay in Formula One despite forecasting an annual loss of £1.1bn. The carmaker said this week it was expecting to make its first loss since the 1930s and it was feared the F1 team would be binned as a result.

Honda has already left F1 because of the global economic crisis and other manufacturers were expected to follow. Toyota has committed to continue in F1 but admitted it would have to reduce costs.

Toyota Motor Corporation president Katsuaki Watanabe said: ‘We will continue F1 and other motorsport activities while cutting costs. To keep [spending] up at the current level is extremely difficult.’

The FIA has agreed key cost-cutting measures for the next two seasons to help ensure the future of the sport. The proposals include reducing engine revs to prolong the life of the units and reducing the cost of engines to independent teams.

Author
Discussion

Ed.

Original Poster:

2,176 posts

267 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
I wonder why, what relevance to does it have to the people after reliable but sometimes dull motoring.

DSM2

3,624 posts

229 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
Ed. said:
I wonder why, what relevance to does it have to the people after reliable but sometimes dull motoring.
I think that's an interesting point. Toyota, to my knowledge, don't make any cars with any sporting pretensions at all do they? What benefit is competition, of any kind, to them?

castrolcraig

18,073 posts

235 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
japanese pride. end of.

Snoggledog

9,258 posts

246 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
scratchchin I wonder how many other teams will pull out before the start of the season. At this rate all that'll be left will be Ferrari, McLaren, Red bull & Toyota.

dinkel

27,779 posts

287 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
DSM2 said:
Ed. said:
I wonder why, what relevance to does it have to the people after reliable but sometimes dull motoring.
I think that's an interesting point. Toyota, to my knowledge, don't make any cars with any sporting pretensions at all do they? What benefit is competition, of any kind, to them?
They did:





The Corolla 2.4 XRS is the sportiest of the bunch now. There is a Toyota Racing-button on their website though . . .

. . . and there once was a Celica, MR2 . . . oh the MR2.

Good they stay in F1.

Ipelm

522 posts

221 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
Should go back to Le Mans and ALMS in the States, running their teams through a private team with less interference from the bureaucratic management. Forget F1

Edited by Ipelm on Wednesday 24th December 11:34

massive1

63 posts

249 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all



love the turbos on the back of that thing.


Mojocvh

16,837 posts

291 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
massive1 said:
love the turbos on the back of that thing.
Yep straight out the back that must have been so ***** loud...

silly chap

157 posts

223 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
DSM2 said:
Ed. said:
I wonder why, what relevance to does it have to the people after reliable but sometimes dull motoring.
I think that's an interesting point. Toyota, to my knowledge, don't make any cars with any sporting pretensions at all do they? What benefit is competition, of any kind, to them?
Well, there is the Lexus IS-F soon to be followed by a lightweight version ISF-Racing (if that dosen't get binned in this climate) but i think the main reason that Toyota want to be involved in F1 is because anything that is perceived to be a pinnacle of engineering is something that Toyota want to be a part of.

ndj

222 posts

251 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
Whats the highest place they have finished in the F1 championship? How many years have they been around? I can't be bothered to look it up. Boring midfield team that hold little or no interest for most followers of F1.....Zzzzzz......Zzzzzz.....

dinkel

27,779 posts

287 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
Mojocvh said:
massive1 said:
love the turbos on the back of that thing.
Yep straight out the back that must have been so ***** loud...
. . . and a flamethrower. Epic 5 litre twinturbo: those were the days.

havoc

33,346 posts

264 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
Mojocvh said:
massive1 said:
love the turbos on the back of that thing.
Yep straight out the back that must have been so ***** loud...
Awesome pipework - KISS! biggrin

As for 'yota and motorsport...oh how people forget:-
- Le Mans
- WRC (for years...Celica and Corolla both rather successful)
- JGTC (forever)
- etc...

Right now their only performance cars are the IS-F and the upcoming LS-F, but historically they've done a lot:-
- 2000GT
- Celica (x???)
- Supra (x3 plus the Celica spin-offs)
- MR2 (x3)
...and then there's JDM oddities like the Stagea Turbo and the oh-so-silly Starlet turbo.

Wayney

626 posts

235 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all

As a former Mark 4 Supra TT owner, u cant beat that car for realibility!!

The car done in excess of 100k miles but it still boosted to 1.2 bar and pull 420 bhp on the stock turbos on stage 1 mods. Considering that car was designed and concieved in the early 90s. It can still piss on most modern day sport cars, like your boxster, M3, 360s etc.

You can pic em up for as cheap as £5k

I'm happy Toyota have stuck it out 2009, but with a tough 09 laying ahead, who know how many will put their hat in the ring this time next yr!!

jjwprestidge

36 posts

232 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
Their biggest mistake was to locate the team in Germany - everyone knows that, barring Ferrari, almost every championship winning team in the last fifty years has been based in the UK.

I wouldn't be sad to see them go, to be honest - it's been a case of too much money and not enough common sense.

JP


dxb335d

2,905 posts

224 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
what is that racing car? Love the turbos hanging out back.

Dr Imran T

2,301 posts

228 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
Ipelm said:
Should go back to Le Mans and ALMS in the States, running their teams through a private team with less interference from the bureaucratic management. Forget F1

Edited by Ipelm on Wednesday 24th December 11:34
I think Toyota are going to return to Le Mans very soon. SHould be exciting.

Dr KT

398 posts

231 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
The Toyota Le Mans car from the late 90's/early 00's was stunning.

mainaman

428 posts

214 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
dxb335d said:
what is that racing car? Love the turbos hanging out back.
It's Toyota 7,a late sixties Group 7 car that competed in Japan,but it didn't participate in Can-Am.

splitpin

2,740 posts

227 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
Glad to hear you're staying in Toyota - Well Done - Right Decision.

Now >

Firstly, follow up your investment at Burnaston in the UK by basing your FI Operation here too; no disrespect to the production qualities of the Germans, but the UK (England actually) is where the true motorsport flair and knowledge is and even the Big F can't get by without a fair smattering of Brits onboard.

Secondly, think back and then start making some sporty cars that give 'draw off the street' appeal to buyers, even if most do finish up buying something more utilitarian; just like back in the middish 80s to late 90s/early part of the 2000s when there were MR2s, Celicas & Supras to catch the eye and drool over, all very capable and attractive cars complete with Toyota's legendary reliability.

C'mon Guys, let's be having you/it/them xmas

Bull1t

772 posts

312 months

Wednesday 24th December 2008
quotequote all
havoc said:
Right now their only performance cars are the IS-F and the upcoming LS-F, but historically they've done a lot:-
- 2000GT
- Celica (x???)
- Supra (x3 plus the Celica spin-offs)
- MR2 (x3)
...and then there's JDM oddities like the Stagea Turbo and the oh-so-silly Starlet turbo.
The Stagea is a Nissan (effectively a skyline wagon).
Should also add the Levin to that list. Especially earlier ones like the TE27