zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
The TS050 Is The Toyota Hybrid Worth Having A Poster Of On Your Wall
The TS050 Is The Toyota Hybrid Worth Having A Poster Of On Your Wall-October 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:33

Prius, Schmius. There’s one Toyota hybrid that’s relevant to our interests, and it’s the brand new Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 Hybrid Le Mans prototype. This is the third car Toyota has built for the World Endurance Championship’s top LMP1 class, and the car that carries the hopes for season championship.

We already knew some about the 2016 TS050, such as Toyota’s move up to the most powerful 8-megajoule hybrid class of regulations. We’ve seen the as well, which showed Toyota Gazoo Racing’s multi-motorsport corporate livery on a rendering of the TS040, plus some teaser shots of the car itself.

Now we know even more. The TS050 is powered by a 2.4-liter direct injection twin-turbo V6 petrol engine—perhaps larger than we expected given the talk of them following Porsche’s lead, but that’s still downright itty bitty for a V6.

The move away from a V8 was mourned by several Toyota employees I’d spoken with because it sounded so cool, but given that the WEC LMP1 regulations stipulate that the 2016 TS050 uses less fuel per lap, it was the right choice.

Toyota General Manager of the Motor Sport Unit Development Division Hisatake Murata that the 2016 regulations reduce the TS050's energy consumption by about 7.5 percent, which is right in line with what Porsche and Audi have been saying. The turbocharged engine combined with the meatier hybrid system, Murata argues, will give them the increased torque they need to be competitive again.

The team also claims that this direct-injected turbo V6 will have more relevance to their road cars, too. Toyota stressed the relevance to their road cars when mentioning that front and rear generators on the TS050 capture energy under braking, which is then stored in a lithium-ion battery to release whenever the car needs to get back on the power.

Like Audi, they’ve traded in their supercapacitor-based energy storage for big, powerful batteries this year, as Porsche proved by that it’s the best way to go.

Now if only we’d get a sleek lightweight wing in place of that heavy glass hatch on the Prius, and perhaps a few hundred more horsepower that isn’t all fed to the front wheels, too. Get crackin’ on that, Toyota.

Make no bones about it: the TS050 is an all-new ground-up race car build centered around its new source of power. The transmission has been beefed up to handle the additional torque of the TS050's turbocharged powerplant. The suspension has been redesigned to be easier on tires—a must when turbo and electric torque constantly want to nuke said tires into oblivion.

Furthermore, the front motor generator for the hybrid system has been relocated for better underfloor airflow. The entire aerodynamic structure of the front of the car has changed significantly and was optimized for more downforce to keep the TS050 truly .

Is this the right car to take Toyota back to the podium in 2016? Here’s a better look at the car so you can decide for yourself.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Twenty Stolen Red Bull Racing Trophies Found In A Lake
Twenty Stolen Red Bull Racing Trophies Found In A Lake
About twenty of the over sixty from Red Bull Racing's factory in Milton Keynes have been recovered from the bottom of Horseshoe Lake on Monday. Unsurprisingly, several have been damaged and Thames Valley Police are working with Red Bull Racing to determine exactly how many were recovered. Team principal Christian...
Oct 17, 2026
Gene Haas Is Bidding On Marussia's Assets For The Haas F1 Team
Gene Haas Is Bidding On Marussia's Assets For The Haas F1 Team
Per , Haas F1 team head Gene Haas is bidding on the assets from the Marussia F1 team. Haas plans to use Ferrari power units in 2016 just as Marussia did this year, so scoping out a former Ferrari-powered team's resources makes sense. The auction is taking place today and...
Oct 17, 2026
NASCAR Driver Brian Vickers To Miss Start Of 2015 Due To Hole In Heart
NASCAR Driver Brian Vickers To Miss Start Of 2015 Due To Hole In Heart
In unfortunate news that neatly coincides with , Sprint Cup driver Brian Vickers' body is rejecting an artificial patch meant to repair a hole found in his heart in 2010. He underwent surgery on Saturday to repair the hole again, and the recovery time will cut into the start of...
Oct 17, 2026
These Onboard Rally Videos From WRC 1997 Will Break Your Brain
These Onboard Rally Videos From WRC 1997 Will Break Your Brain
I was not sure race cars even could go this sideways. This is just a collection of onboards from different cars and different events from the 1997 WRC calendar. Unreal. ...
Oct 17, 2026
The Raddest Dudes In United SportsCar Could Race An LMP2 At Le Mans
The Raddest Dudes In United SportsCar Could Race An LMP2 At Le Mans
The Automobile Club de l'Ouest released its at-large invites to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Wayne Taylor Racing received one of them. Only problem: the team's Daytona Prototype isn't eligible to run at Le Mans. So, the team is looking at picking up an LMP2-class car. Sweet. LMP2...
Oct 17, 2026
Esteban Gutiérrez Lands At Ferrari As A Test Driver
Esteban Gutiérrez Lands At Ferrari As A Test Driver
Esteban Gutiérrez mentioned something about taking a move to get out of the midfield in Formula One, and now we know what that was. He starts as a test and reserve driver for in 2015. Let's be honest: even though Sauber gave Gutiérrez race time, this is a clear step...
Oct 17, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved