Toyota’s winning hybrid system
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Three things that aren’t common knowledge:
1. Toyota has raced a Supra with a hybrid engine system.
2. It made history by being the first hybrid-powered vehicle to win a race.
3. The power plant has gone on to win an award -- Race Engine of the Year 2007.
A little expansion: The car in question is the Toyota Supra HV-R hybrid race car. The race in question was the Tokachi 24-Hour Race held July 14-15 this year. The Supra had already been running in Japan’s Super GT series. It differs from the Prius we know and love by having three electric motors augment the 4.4-liter gasoline-powered V-8 -- one in each front wheel and one on the rear axle. The car can recover a greater amount of energy more efficiently during rapid deceleration and braking from high speeds. Because of the high demands made by racing (repeated acceleration and hard braking), it also has a quick-charging capacitor instead of the usual rechargeable batteries.
The award was given by Race Engine Technology magazine (a specialist publication if ever there was one). By going racing with hybrid systems, Toyota engineers will be looking for ways to make them lighter and more efficient. It’s one of the few areas of motor sports where everyone wins.
-- Colin Ryan