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Posts tagged toyota racing
Motorsports: Rod Millen to face Monster Tajima in Electric Division of Pikes Peak Hill Climb
Feb 11th
Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Performance, Toyota, Electric
The 91st running of the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb is scheduled to begin on June 30. Like last year’s event, the 12.42 mile course – fully paved these days – starts at 9,390 feet elevation and doesn’t stop climbing until it reaches an impressive 14,110 feet (the air is so thin up there that the FAA requires pilots to use oxygen at that altitude).
There will be an assortment of internal combustion machines racing to the summit, entries from France, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Sweden, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Belgium, but all eyes will be on the electric showdown between Rod Millen and Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima, from Japan. 61-year-old Millen is a familiar name to Toyota racing fans, and he will be driving the Toyota TMG EV P002 (it won the Electric title last year), while Tajima will be again piloting the Monster Sport E-Runner (which was forced out of the field last year after a fire broke out).
Other entrants include Rhys Millen driving a 2013 Hyundai PM58OT and Paul Dallenbach, who will be driving Millen’s Hyundai Genesis Coupe (it set the all-time speed mark last year).
Tickets and camping permits may be purchased online at the PPIHC official site, and the official press release announcing Millen’s run is available below.
Continue reading Rod Millen to face Monster Tajima in Electric Division of Pikes Peak Hill Climb
Rod Millen to face Monster Tajima in Electric Division of Pikes Peak Hill Climb originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Motorsports: Rod Millen to face Monster Tajima in Electric Division of Pikes Peak Hill Climb
Feb 11th
Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Performance, Toyota, Electric
The 91st running of the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb is scheduled to begin on June 30. Like last year’s event, the 12.42 mile course – fully paved these days – starts at 9,390 feet elevation and doesn’t stop climbing until it reaches an impressive 14,110 feet (the air is so thin up there that the FAA requires pilots to use oxygen at that altitude).
There will be an assortment of internal combustion machines racing to the summit, entries from France, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Sweden, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Belgium, but all eyes will be on the electric showdown between Rod Millen and Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima, from Japan. 61-year-old Millen is a familiar name to Toyota racing fans, and he will be driving the Toyota TMG EV P002 (it won the Electric title last year), while Tajima will be again piloting the Monster Sport E-Runner (which was forced out of the field last year after a fire broke out).
Other entrants include Rhys Millen driving a 2013 Hyundai PM58OT and Paul Dallenbach, who will be driving Millen’s Hyundai Genesis Coupe (it set the all-time speed mark last year).
Tickets and camping permits may be purchased online at the PPIHC official site, and the official press release announcing Millen’s run is available below.
Continue reading Rod Millen to face Monster Tajima in Electric Division of Pikes Peak Hill Climb
Rod Millen to face Monster Tajima in Electric Division of Pikes Peak Hill Climb originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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SEMA: Toyota Yaris B-Spec Club Racer
Nov 3rd
Filed under: Aftermarket, Concept Cars, Motorsports, SEMA Show, Budget, Performance, Hatchback, Toyota, Racing
Toyota tucked its Yaris B-Spec Club Racer amongst a flotilla of pickups at SEMA 2011. The slammed hatch is set to compete in the SCCA B-Spec class with BMX guru Jamie Bestwick behind the wheel. The race-ready Yaris was built by SportsCar Magazine and features a stripped-out interior and an Autopower Industries eight-point SCCA roll cage for less weight and greater driver safety. OMP supplied the complete fire suppression system as well as a six-point racing harness and a WRC-style steering wheel.
A Cusco Zero-3 suspension gives the hatch greater grip and Cusco center-lock pillow ball upper mounts provide greater rigidity and less suspension flex than the stock components. Enkei 15-inch wheels shod in Hoosier racing tires help keep the car stuck to the tarmac as well.
SportsCar Magazine gave the Yaris B-Spec Club Racer a little nudge in power as well thanks to an AEM series 2 engine management system, a Beta Motorsports cat-back exhaust and a custom tune by Church automotive testing.
Toyota Yaris B-Spec Club Racer originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Toyota to return to Le Mans with LMP1 hybrid in 2012
Oct 14th
Filed under: Hybrid, Toyota, Racing
Toyota will reportedly challenge diesel-burning entries from Audi and Peugeot at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans by fielding a hybrid prototype LMP1 racer of its own. The Japanese automaker is expected to participate in a handful of 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship races, but its main focus will be on winning the grueling 24-hour event in France.
The LMP1 prototype is a custom-built racer with Toyota Motorsports Gmbh handling chassis development and design duties, while Japan’s Toyota Motor will engineer its hybrid powertrain.
According to Autocar, development of Toyota’s gas-electric LMP1 is “well underway” and the racecar is expected to make its on-track debut in January of 2012.
Tadashi Yamashina, Toyota senior managing officer, told Autocar:
Toyota Motor Corporation has entered Le Mans before but by using our hybrid technology this time will be a completely new challenge. We want to write a new page in the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as in the FIA World Endurance Championship, through our use of hybrid technology.
The last time Toyota competed at Le Mans was with the GT-One (pictured) back in 1999. Toyota has never won the 24-hour event, but hope springs eternal. Let the hybrid versus diesel battle commence.
Toyota to return to Le Mans with LMP1 hybrid in 2012 originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Official: Toyota returning to Le Mans with hybrid LMP1 car
Oct 14th
Filed under: Motorsports, Hybrid, Toyota, Racing
Toyota has announced that it is returning to the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile’s World Endurance Championship in 2012. The car it will be contesting the series with is a new prototype that will use a hybrid gasoline/electric powertrain. We can only hope the experience will equal more exciting future models under the Prius range…
The last time Toyota competed in Le Mans racing was in 1999, just before the Japanese automaker abandoned the GT-One program to focus on Formula One.
We don’t expect Toyota’s new LMP1 racer to have anything in common with the erstwhile GT-One, which was powered by a 600-horsepower 3.6-liter twin-turbo V8 engine. Though always fast, Toyota’s last-gen endurance racer never quite put together a complete race. Here’s hoping the effort produces more consistent results this time around. Check out the official announcement after the break.
Continue reading Toyota returning to Le Mans with hybrid LMP1 car
Toyota returning to Le Mans with hybrid LMP1 car originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Toyota shooting for electric vehicle ‘Ring record on August 29
Aug 6th
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Toyota, Racing
e-Wolf Alpha-1 SRF
Toyota has reportedly announced it will attempt to smash the existing electric vehicle lap record at the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife on August 29.
Some speculate the on-track demonstration by Toyota Motorsport GmbH is a prelude to Toyota’s racing division inking some sort of powertrain deal for an electrified Formula One racing series. Whether or not that’s true remains unknown, but Toyota says its lapping of the Nürburgring will prove that “green thinking motorsport” generates emotion, just as fossil fuel racing has done for more than a century.
The current electric vehicle lap record at the ‘Ring stands at 9 minutes and 1.338 seconds, a time that Toyota says it has already beaten during informal testing. On August 29, Toyota will hit the track with a battery-powered two-seater that soars to a claimed top speed of 162 miles per hours, rips from 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and is loosely based on the radical Alpha-1 SRF, a vehicle developed by Toyota Motorsport GmbH for German firm e-Wolf.
Rob Leupen, Toyota Motorsport’s director of business operations, told the Charging Point, “We are extremely confident we can break the record by some distance, which is an indication of how electric vehicle performance is continuously improving.” Only time we tell if Toyota’s attempt to tame the ‘Ring blows a hole through the existing record, which is held by the spectalur Peugeot EX1. Hat tip to Dan!
[Source: The Charging Point]
Toyota shooting for electric vehicle ‘Ring record on August 29 originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 06 Aug 2011 18:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This 800-hp Toyota Celica beat up Formula 1 cars at Goodwood [w/video]
Jul 5th
Filed under: Motorsports, Toyota, Racing
Jonny Milner’s Goodwood Toyota Celica – Click above for high-res image gallery
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is filled with a variety of machines all battling towards a singular goal. Every driver wants to be the cross the finish line in the least amount of time, and this year the winning car was a bit of a surprise. A bright orange Toyota Celica, piloted by rally champion Jonny Milner, blazed up the 1.16-mile Goodwood hillclimb course in 48.07 seconds. That time bested all of the supercars, and even the Formula 1 racers that participated.
How does a Toyota Celica make the run that quickly? By pumping out over 800 horsepower to all four wheels in a car that only weighs 2,318 pounds. The Celica’s stock engine was replaced with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder unit plucked from a WRC Toyota Corolla. That mill was then paired with both a Rotrex supercharger and Garrett turbocharger, and Iif that wasn’t enough, a nitrous oxide system was thrown in for good measure.
Video of the winning run hasn’t made its way to the Internet just yet, but we do have footage of the car throwing down a 48.99-second run. Click past the jump to watch the clip, and then fast forward to 1:48 for Jonny Milner’s run.
Continue reading This 800-hp Toyota Celica beat up Formula 1 cars at Goodwood [w/video]
This 800-hp Toyota Celica beat up Formula 1 cars at Goodwood [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Toyota targets 45% thermal efficiency for engines in next-gen hybrids
Apr 24th
Filed under: Hybrid, MPG, Toyota, Racing
2011 Toyota Prius – Click above for high-res image gallery
In early April, at the SAE 2011 High Efficiency IC Engines Symposium in Detroit, MI, Toyota‘s Koichi Nakata declared that the Japanese automaker is exploring ways to further reduce the fuel consumption of its upcoming hybrid models. According to Nakata, Toyota aims to develop a gasoline engine that operates at more than 45 percent thermal efficiency for use in future hybrid vehicles.
To put that number into perspective, the engine in the first- and second-generation Toyota Prius had a thermal efficiency of approximately 37 percent and the 1.8-liter mill in the third-gen Prius boasts a thermal efficiency of 38 percent.
Toyota is focusing on two concepts to reach its thermal efficiency goal. Concept 1 is a cooled EGR stoichiometric spark-ignited direct-injection engine that features a long stroke design. The long-stroke setup, according to Toyota, reduces heat loss, increases piston speed and creates more chamber turbulence, which improves combustion. Concept 2 is a turbocharged, lean-burning engine that incorporates the same basic design of Concept 1.
So far, Nakata claims that the engine development team has achieved a 42.4 percent thermal efficiency with Concept 1 and 43.7 percent thermal efficiency using the turbocharged, lean-burning Concept 2 design. Does this mean that a turbo’d Prius may be coming soon?
[Source: Green Car Congress]
Toyota targets 45% thermal efficiency for engines in next-gen hybrids originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 24 Apr 2011 08:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Travis Pastrana wrecks twice in second NASCAR race
Feb 25th
Filed under: Motorsports, Sedan, Toyota, Racing
Motocross, rally and extreme sports superstar Travis Pastrana recently made his NASCAR debut, taking the wheel in Irwindale, California in a NASCAR K&N Pro Series race. In his debut, the fountain-leaping X-Games champ finished a none-too-shabby sixth place overall.
His second race was Thursday, February 24th at Phoenix International Raceway, and this time, however, he didn’t fare so well. Pastrana was running in the top 10 when he crashed his number 99 Toyota Camry, falling back a few positions, but staying in the top 15.
Pastrana then wrecked again with three laps to go, and ended up finishing three laps down in 25th. Pastrana hopes to make his next-level Nationwide Series debut next season, but by the looks of things, he’s much closer to leaping the fountain at Caesar’s Palace than he is to Victory Lane.
[Source: Scene Daily | Image: Getty Images for NASCAR]
Travis Pastrana wrecks twice in second NASCAR race originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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