Last paragraph says it all.

(Another day, another Supra rumor, I know...)

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/18/r...ing-to-lemans/



REPORT: Toyota Supra HV-R GT hybrid coming to LeMans

Toyota's pulled out of F1, but that doesn't mean the company has lost its will to win with cutting edge tech. Rumors suggest it's dusting off the underpinnings of the Hybrid Supra HV-R it used to win the Tokkachi 24-Hour race two years ago, and staring at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a glint in its eye.

The Supra HV-R used a 473-horsepower V8 that gets help from regenerative braking, a quick-charging capacitor, and three additional electric motors: two in the front wheels, one in the back of the car. Toyota would need to upgrade the tech, prep the car for the GT1 class, and test it, so a 2012 race entry is hypothesized were such a thing to happen.

As far as we're concerned, anything that could lead to bringing back a Supra -- even if only in race trim to begin with -- is all right with us. Especially one with 473 horses, gobs of torque and a date with the Mulsanne straight. Toyota, please do this...

 

looks like an LFA

 

Report from Autocar.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsAr...aspx?AR=246038



Toyota's hybrid racer 'to return'

Toyota is set to bring back its hybrid Supra HV-R GT racer as part of an assault on the Le Mans 24 Hours.

This V8-powered Supra with front in-wheel motors won Japan’s 24-hour Tokkachi endurance race back in summer 2007.

The Supra made history by winning that race, but then went underground as Toyota concentrated on other forms of racing.

However, the car - or at least, the hybrid tech that powered it - is still alive. This has given rise to hopes that Toyota may think about building an all-new car to bring the technology up to date and perhaps mount a renewed assault on Le Mans, a race it has tried so very hard to win.

Such a hybrid car would be perfect for the GT1 class at Le Mans and boost the green image that Toyota is already cultivating in Europe with the Prius.

But Toyota will need to get back into profit before any official programme can be contemplated, so such a car may not appear until 2012 at the earliest.

The HV-R from 2007 was based on the ferocious 4.5-litre normally aspirated V8 Supra that Toyota was then running in Super GT, Japan’s biggest domestic race series.

Besides the big, grunty 473bhp V8, the Supra featured an ultra-trick four-wheel brake energy regeneration/drive system, with front-in wheel motors, a rear 150 kW motor and a quick-charging capacitor in place of a rechargable battery. It was complex, but it did complete the 24 hours and take the spoils at the end of the race.

 

I think its cool that they are trying to race in such a large event in a hybrid. They are going to be way ahead of the rest of the car companies in the future

 

Nice article.. Seems like Japan is one step ahead with there Hybrid system..