Toyota Shows the 420hp Yaris Hybrid-R on the Track

The ToyotaToyotaJapan, 1937 > present155 models
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Yaris Hybrid-RToyota Yaris Hybrid-RJapan, 2013 > present is Toyota’s concept for the ultimate hybrid hot hatch that combines a 300hp 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder for the front wheels and three – two for the rear wheels and one between the engine and transmission. It borrows the ultra capacitor charging system from the TS030Toyota TS030 HYBRIDJapan, 2012 > present5 photos
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racecar to provide quick jolts of power to the electric motors.

The Yaris Hybrid-R was developed by Toyota Motorsports GmbH in Germany and uses an racing-spec 1.6-liter four-cylinder turbocharged engine with 300hp, which is very similar to the engines used in the World Touring Car Championship. It also gets three, 60hp electric motors – one located in each rear wheel and one between the engine and transmission. Toyota says that the system gives a total system power of 420hp. With a motor in each wheel, it also gives it an intelligent all-wheel drive system that can direct some of the car’s power wherever it is needed. The electric motors get their power from an ultra capacitor-based charging system that has been adapted from the TS030.

The electric motors can discharge their power in two modes. Road mode releases the capacitors power in 10 seconds but sends 40hp of power to the electric motors. In track mode, the system uses up its power in five seconds but provides 120hp to the motors.

The little car shows off at Eau Rouge

© photo courtesy of: Toyota

The generator for the electric motors is located in the rear. When cornering, the system automatically distributes power from side to side in the rear. The motors can act independently as a motor or generator to accelerate or decelerate the rear wheels separately. Depending on how long the driver stays in the corner, the system will send power to the outside rear wheel to increase cornering speed, or during fast cornering it will send power to the inside wheel to reduce the oversteer effect.

To show the car’s sporty intentions, Toyota added LED headlights, a wider front grill and black and blue trim to contrast with the white car.

It took Toyota 16 years to go from the original PriusToyota Prius Gen.1Japan, 1997 > 20033 versions
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to the Yaris Hybrid-R. In that time, we’ve gone from a world where hybrids were seen as an oddity to a point where hybrid sports cars are racing at Le Mans. If cars like the Yaris Hybrid-R and AudiAudiGermany, 1909 > present83 models
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Sport Quattro concept represent a real possibility for future performance cars, then there is every reason to believe that things are just getting started.