Toyota Hybrid-R concept
Yes, 'Toyota', 'hybrid' and 'PistonHeads' on the same page shocker!
In case you were wondering - and you probably weren't - Toyota dealers are promising 'a pleasant surprise' for hybrid sceptics willing to take a test drive in a Prius or one of the two Auris Hybrid variants this month. And the pay-off for this automotive lobotomy? You'll get your car cleaned while you're out. Pass the bucket and sponge, I'll do it myself and skip the hybrid experience, ta.
Ping! 'Frankfurt Motor Show first news: debut of new Hybrid-R Concept!' Another one for the bin? Actually perhaps not, even if it's perhaps the shortest press release in history:
"Toyota will showcase an exciting new concept for road and track at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show, featuring Toyota Hybrid System-Racing (THS-R) technology.
"THS-R technology has been used in the TS030, Toyota's FIA World Endurance Championship car, which achieved second place at this year's Le Mans 24 hours. More information on the concept will be available in the coming weeks."
And that's it.
Now if the words Toyota and hybrid have your head full of greenwashed eco piety, CVT-linked Hybrid Synergy Drives and the very antithesis of all that PH stands for ... you'd be half right. But the Toyota Hybrid System-Racing is rather different to that in the Prius and Auris Hybrids, the LMP1 TS030's 530hp 3.4-litre V8 getting a 300hp electric boost to the rear wheels from regenerative energy stored under braking in a 'super capacitor' next to the driver. Good enough to give the Audis a run for their money (almost) at Le Mans this year, the Davidson/Buemi/Sarrazin finishing runner up at this year's 24-hour.
How does THS-R relate to a 'a concept for road and track' exactly? We're not sure yet. A GT86 with a 100hp electric boost to the rear wheels? It'd be an unexpected response to the 'not fast enough!' doubters. And have us considering popping down to the Toyota dealership to bag that free car wash.
However a small / light / compact (not often associated hybrid systems) supplimentary system similar to the recently featured mk1 Honda Insight drivetrain, that provided and extra 40 bhp and 40 lb/ft through the rev range and allows an overall increase in engine efficiency would seem to me to be more credible than a "full fat" hybrid than could operate on electric only power (the Insight couldn't)
I confess that if I was shopping for a small car, I would like something more hot hatch than shopping basket, and the current small hybrids are concerned more with efficiency than performance. Makes me wonder though if tuners of the future can tweak these cars to give them more oomph than MPG as electrical motors can certainly give a pleasant shove to a car's performance that is more than a match for forced induction. Hybrids - embrace them, they are not a bad thing, believe me.
Just because I drive one doesn't mean I like to sniff petrol frequently. I'd go for a sport one if it appeared on my company car list.
i dont get it
The purpose of hybrids in almost all circumstances is to give a good power to economy ratio.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff