The 641bhp Toyota GR GT Is Finally Here

5 December has been a date we’ve had marked in our calendars for some time, and not just because it’s our esteemed editor Ryan Hirons’ birthday. No, rather overshadowing his big 3-0 (sorry Ryan) is, after years of spy shots, rumours and teasing, the reveal of the Toyota GR GT.

This brand new front-engined sports car is the first of its kind to come from Toyota since the astonishing Lexus LFA, and while that car was purely a ‘because we can’ exercise of engineering prowess, the GR GT has a dual purpose. As well as being a crown to Toyota’s Gazoo Racing performance car range, it’s that rarest of things in the modern car world, a homologation special.

See, Toyota needs a new contender for GT3 racing to replace the ageing Lexus RC F, and the rules say it has to be based on a production car. Et voila. You can read about that racing car here, but for now, the road car.

Under that preposterously long bonnet sits a new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, the turbos nestled between the cylinder banks in a hot vee setup, along with a single electric motor slung out on the back axle. Yep, it’s a hybrid. Seems that gawky original Prius was leading up to this all along. Total system output is 641bhp and 627lb ft, with a speculative ‘or greater’ tagged onto the end of both figures as we await the final numbers. Sent purely to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic, Toyota reckons on a top speed of at least 199mph. Completing the mechanical package that we know of so far are all-round double wishbone suspension and carbon ceramic brakes.

The all aluminium chassis and carbon fibre body help keep weight down to a fairly scant 1750kg or less despite all the hybrid gubbins and the sheer length of the thing – 4820mm, or not far off the length of the thrusting new Aston Martin Vanquish. 55 per cent of that weight is out over the rear axle. Part of the reason it looks the distinctive way it does is that development of the aerodynamics and centre of gravity came first, and the GR GT was styled around those.

We just have a few overview shots of the cabin so far, but it shows a typical modern sports car layout: much leather and Alcantara, the regulation two digital displays (instruments and infotainment) and a huge transmission tunnel dividing the two occupants.

Toyota says that so far, the GR GT has undergone rigorous testing both in a sim and in the real world, driving it until it goes pop to ensure the likelihood of that happening in the real world is as remote as possible. It’ll continue to do that for at least another year, aiming for a full launch at some point in 2027. It can’t come soon enough, frankly.