Automobiles Review

Tag: Toyota TS040 Hybrid

  • Toyota Shows its 30-Years History at Le Mans in Short Video

    Toyota once again bids to claim one of the biggest prizes in the world of motorsport: the Le Mans 24 Hours victory. And now, to mark the 30th anniversary of Toyota’s first appearance in the world’s toughest race, the brand released a short film, that tells the story of its campaigns.

    Since the 1980s with its involvement as a manufacturer as an engineer supplier for the Dome an TOM’s teams until today’s advanced TS040 Hybrid, Toyota has won its fame as an honorable competitor. The brand has numerous races in its history on the legendary track, but it has yet to mount the top step of the podium.

    SEE ALSO: Toyota Will Celebrate Numerous Successful Events at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

    In fact, as a current World Champions in the World Endurance Championship, Toyota Gazoo Racing has a big chances for success with the two TS040 Hybrid machines. The piloting team includes the British talent Anthony Davidson, the current joint World Champion and Briton Mike Conway

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBv87T_JFB8

    Toyota’s 30 years at Le Mans
    (Chassis name in brackets)

    • “1985    No36 (85C-L): qualifying 29th; Race 12th. No 38 (85C-L): qualifying 22nd; race DNF (mechanical).
    • 1986    No36 (86C-L): qualifying 40th; race DNF (mechanical). No38 (86C-L): qualifying 30th; race 20th.
    • 1987    No36 (87C-L): qualifying 14th; race DNF (mechanical). No37 (87C-L): qualifying 16th; race DNF (mechanical).
    • 1988    No36 (88C): qualifying 8th; race 12th. No37 (88C): qualifying 10th; race 24th.
    • 1989    No36 (89C-V): qualifying 24th; race DNF (mechanical). No37 (89C-V): qualifying 17th; race DNF (accident). No38 (88C): qualifying 25th; race DNF (accident).
    • 1990    No36 (90C-V): qualifying 10th; race 6th. No37 (90C-V): qualifying 14th; race DNF (accident). No38 (90C-V): qualifying 16th; race DNF (mechanical).
    • 1992    No7 (TS010): qualifying 3rd; race DNF (mechanical). No8 (TS010): qualifying 4th; race 8th. No33 (TS010): qualifying 5th; race 2nd. No34 (92C-V): qualifying 11th; race 9th. No35 (92C-V): qualifying 15th; race 5th.
    • 1993    No22 (93C-V): qualifying 10th; race 5th. No25 (93C-V); qualifying 12th; race 6th. No36 (TS010): qualifying 2nd; race 4th. No37 (TS010): qualifying 5th; race DNF (mechanical). No38 (TS010): qualifying 4th; race 8th.
    • 1994    No 1 (94 C-V): qualifying 4th; race 2nd. No4 (94 C-V): qualifying 8th; race 4th.
    • 1995    No27 (Supra LM): qualifying 30th; race 14th.
    • 1996    No57 (Supra LM): qualifying 36th; race DNF (accident).
    • 1998    No27 (TS020): qualifying 8th; race 9th. No28 (TS020): qualifying 2nd; race DNF (accident). No29 (TS020): qualifying 7th; race DNF (mechanical).
    • 1999    No1 (TS020): qualifying 1st; race DNF (accident). No2 (TS020): qualifying 2nd; race DNF (accident). No3 (TS020): qualifying 8th; race 2nd.
    • 2012    No7 (TS030 HYBRID): qualifying 5th; race DNF (mechanical). No8 (TS030 HYBRID): qualifying: 3rd; race DNF (accident).
    • 2013    No7 (TS030 HYBRID): qualifying 5th; race 4th. No8: qualifying (TS030 HYBRID): 4th; race 2nd.
    • 2014    No7 (TS040 HYBRID): qualifying 1st; race DNF (mechanical). No8 (TS040 HYBRID): qualifying: 3rd; race 3rd.”

    Source: Toyota

  • Toyota is Ready for World Endurance Championship

    2015 Toyota TS040Toyota Racing is prepared to defend their title on the World Endurance Championship in Silverstone (10 to 12 April). Let us remind you, that the Toyota team dominated the last championship and claimed five wins out of eight. It is expected to be a hard defense, because the rivals at Audi and Porsche team are also motivated to show their best.

    Actually, there is an addition to the team: Kazuki Nakajima (Japan). The Toyota crew also looks forward to keeping the RAC International Tourist Trophy, which is one of the oldest honours. The first was presented in 1905.

    But this isn’t the final team arrangement. Additional changes are made by Alez Wurz (Austria) and Stephane Sarrazin (France), who are united again with Briton Mike Conway in car No.2. The trio, as you might remember raced together in 2014.

    The machine itself, the almighty TS040 Hybrid has been tremendously redesigned since the 2014 races. Almost 18 percent of the parts and components are further upgraded to bring even higher levels of performance and reliability.

    Upgrades include aerodynamic changes, that bring even higher speed and additional downforce. The powertrain also deserved attention. Now, it roars with more than 1,000 hp (735kW).

    he race weekend will start with two hour and a half practice sessions, qualifying at 12:30 and the start of the six-hour race will be at midday on Sunday.

    Stay tuned for further details and news.

    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid

    Source: Toyota

     

  • Toyota Racing to Defend Two World Titles at FIA World Endurance Championship

    Toyota TS040 Hybrid Under Wraps As you know, Toyota became the first Japanese company to claim the WEC championship last year. The successful season witnessed the share of the first place by two high-performance drivers Sébastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson. The champion winning car, TS040 Hybrid proved to be the hero of the day: the machine, in full harmony with the drivers, has won 5 out of 8 races.

    The Hybrid has been modified and improved for 2015 with redesigned suspension, optimized tyre wear, changed front design for even better aerodynamics and some weight-loss modifications. The art of consuming energy and saving is not unknown territory for the crew, that built the beast. They do know, that in modern age energy and performance efficiency is key feature to have in mind.

    The car itself comes with two packages for 2015 that have already been tested in France. The first package, so called “The Le Mans” is better suited and used for the well-known 24-hour race, while the second one, called “Spring” is specially built to bring high level of downforce.

    As said, the efficiency is well calculated by numerous tests and experiments, that started already on 13 January. The different tracks for experiment really let the team show their best, not only on the test road, but on the championship.

    Team members Davidson and Buemi will share one car. Davidson himself says, that he looks forward to winning the big race at Les Mans in June. He knows what real competiton and competitors mean and he confidently prepares for the race. We wish him luck and alot of occasions for celebrating.

    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid

    Source: Toyota

  • Toyota Racing Confirms Lineup for FIA World Endurance Championship

    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid is to be driven by two brand new drivers included in the lineup for the FIA World Endurance Championship. They are Anthony Davidson and Mike Conway. With the announcement of their addition to the list, Toyota Racing has finally confirmed the driver line-up for this year. The team will be competing with two TS040 Hybrid cars and has the goal of keeping the drivers’ and manufacturers’ world champion titles.

    As a reminder, Toyota was 2014 champion and this means that the cars will be placed at the No1 and No2 plates. And to reach the final goal and stay on the first place, Toyota’s driver line-ups have been fine-tuned.

    Precisely, the No1 car will feature Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi, who jointly claimed the 2014 drivers’ title, alongside Kazui Nakajima. The No2 car will be driven by Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Mike Conway. There will also be a future announcement regarding a test and reserve driver in the coming weeks.

    In addition, the company confirmed that it has plans to return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2017. The Cologne-based Toyota Racing Team said its World Endurance Championship (WEC) campaign would not be adversely affected by its involvement in the WRC project.

    Team president Yoshiaki Kinoshita praised the performances, attitude and commitment of the six drivers and said that they have worked with all our drivers for a long time and have developed very strong relationships. This stability and consistency has been a significant part of the recent success and made it to number one priority in the plans for 2015 and beyond.

    Driver Details:

    ANTHONY DAVIDSON
    Born 18 April 1979, Hemel Hempstead, UK
    Le Mans debut 2003
    Le Mans starts 7
    Le Mans best result 2nd (2013)
    WEC starts 17
    WEC wins 5
    WEC best season 1st (2014)
    SÉBASTIEN BUEMI
    Born 31 October 1988, Aigle, Switzerland
    Le Mans debut 2012
    Le Mans starts 3
    Le Mans best result 2nd (2013)
    WEC starts 17
    WEC wins 5
    WEC best season 1st (2014)
    KAZUKI NAKAJIMA
    Born 11 January 1985, Okazaki, Japan
    Le Mans debut 2012
    Le Mans starts 3
    Le Mans best result 4th (2013)
    WEC starts 16
    WEC wins 2
    WEC best season 8th (2014)
    ALEX WURZ
    Born 15 February 1974, Waidhofen an der Thaya, Austria
    Le Mans debut 1996
    Le Mans starts 8
    Le Mans best result 1st (1996 & 2009)
    WEC starts 20
    WEC wins 5
    WEC best season 3rd (2012)
    STÉPHANE SARRAZIN
    Born 2 November 1975, Alès, France
    Le Mans debut 2001
    Le Mans starts 13
    Le Mans best result 2nd (2007, 2009 & 2013)
    WEC starts 24
    WEC wins 2
    WEC best season 3rd (2013)
    MIKE CONWAY
    Born 19 August 1983, Sevenoaks, UK
    Le Mans debut 2013
    Le Mans starts 1
    Le Mans best result n/a
    WEC starts 10
    WEC wins 2
    WEC best season 7th (2013)
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid
    2015 Toyota TS040 Hybrid

    Source: Toyota 

  • Toyota TS040 Hybrid Race Car

    Toyota Racing has unveiled the new 2014 TS040 Hybrid Race Car, which will compete in FIA World Endurance Championship. The new car, revealed today at the Paul Ricard circuit in the South of France, represents the most advanced hybrid technology in modern racing. Tomorrow it will begin an official championship test session, prior to making its competition debut at the season-opening Six Hours of Silverstone race on 20 April.

    The drivetrain includes a 480HP (353 kW) all-wheel drive hybrid boost and 520HP (383 kW) 3.7 liter V8 petrol engine. The overall power is exactly 1,000HP (736 kW), so the rival manufacturers Audi and Porsche should be very concerned.

    The new powertrain has been developed in line with revised WEC technical regulations, which put an emphasis on fuel economy. Teams are required to use 25% less fuel than in 2013, with savings achieved through changes to powertrains, aerodynamics and driving style. By adopting more road-relevant technology, the WEC will increase the possibilities for the transfer of Toyota’s race-bred technical know-how to its production cars, strengthening is status as the world’s leading manufacturer of hybrid vehicles.

    Toyota Racing have made gains in efficiency and performance by using specialist lubricants they have developed with their official partner, Total. The more open regulations have also allowed the team to engineer a major increase in hybrid power, using a new motor-generator on the front axle in addition to the unit at the rear. Under deceleration, these motor generators apply braking force in combination with the traditional mechanical brakes to harvest energy, which is then transferred via an inverter to a super-capacitor. When the car accelerates, the motor-generators reverse their function, delivering a power boost to all four wheels.

    Toyota TS040 Hybrid Race Car
    Toyota TS040 Hybrid Race Car
    Toyota TS040 Hybrid Race Car

    2014 FIA World Endurance Championship Calendar:

    20 Apr Six Hours of Silverstone (GB)
    3 May Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (Bel)
    14 Jun Le Mans 24 Hours (Fra)
    20 Sep Six Hours of Circuit of the Americas (USA)
    12 Oct Six Hours of Fuji (Jpn)
    2 Nov Six Hours of Shanghai (Chi)
    15 Nov Six Hours of Bahrain
    30 Nov Six Hours of Sao Paulo (Bra)

    Source: Toyota