Swindon Powertrain develops Toyota Supercars V8

There's a Supra racing Down Under in 2026, but it has some roots much closer to home...

By Matt Bird / Thursday, 5 February 2026 / Loading comments

Sometimes it’s best not to think about the Repco Supercars Championship - the jealousy will simply get the better of you. V8 tin tops racing at places like Bathurst, Surfers Paradise, Adelaide and even as a support race for the F1 at Melbourne will do that. The days of Commodores against Falcons might be done, but Camaro versus Mustang is a more than adequate substitute. Plus, for 2026, they’re being joined by Gen3 GR Supras. Because of course Toyota is getting involved in another very cool brand-building motorsport endeavour - someone’s got to…

What makes Toyota’s participation in the 2026 Supercars season is the involvement of Swindon Powertrain. Yep, the company famous (to us, at least) for building championship-winning BTCC engines, the wild red-top for the Caterham JPE, and some of the EV bits for Caterham is lending Walkinshaw TWG Racing its expertise in making a race-ready V8. Not just tweaking some spec engine either, but an evolution of the 5.0-litre 2UR-GSE that did such a stellar job in cars like the LC 500 and RC F. In the Supercars Supra, it’ll be 5.2-litres and around 600hp strong.

Swindon’s involvement has been focused on maximising durability and longevity; even by touring car standards, the Supercars season is a gruelling one, from the 1.19-mile Conrod Straight at Mount Panorama to the punishing kerbs of the Gold Coast. There’s also the temperature to factor in, plus the fact that a lot of races are hundreds of kilometres long. Over a year each car will cover around 12,000 km (or 7,500 miles) on track, so they need to be tough.

According to the Swindon Powertrain team, the square nature of the V8 (94mm bore and stroke) is good for durability, and actually the standard head, block and timing chain are used in the Supra. Its modifications have been focused on combustion (including a new 3D-printed inlet tract), calibration, crank and valvetrain.

Walkinshaw TWG Racing are then going to build and maintain these uprated V8s for five Supras that are on the 2026 grid. So Swindon won’t be able to claim all the glory, though they’ve certainly played a key role in a fascinating project. Walkinshaw’s Team Principal Carl Faux said it has been “fantastic” working with them, adding: “There’s been a mountain of work and development undertaken to ensure the 2UR-GSE is Supercars ready, and importantly, meets all the regulations of the category that are so strictly enforced. To be able to have the Swindon Powertrain expertise and production capabilities has been great.

“While the final assembly and servicing of the engines all happen in-house here in Clayton, to have a programme that has been able to run day and night due to time zones has been essential in meeting deadlines and bringing it to life. We are all looking forward to the first official race in just a few weeks’ time.” That being Melbourne in March, ahead of the F1 season opener. Don’t be at all surprised if it’s a better spectacle than the main event - have you heard what a 5.2-litre Supra sounds like?