Toyota Reveals Details on The New Concept Set to Make its Debut in Frankfurt

The engine is a turbocharged four-cylinder unit with direct injection, developed by Toyota Motorsport according to international sporting regulations. This means it can potentially be used in a number of different racing categories. While the engine drives the front wheels, each rear wheel is powered by a 60bhp electric motor – the same as that used in the standard Yaris Hybrid.

In combination, the elements in the hybrid powertrain produce maximum power of up to 414bhp (309kW). The two electric motors work as electric generators when the car is braking, and supplement the petrol engine’s performance under acceleration.

Just as in the Toyota Racing TS030 Hybrid race car, energy recovered under braking is stored in a super capacitor. Compared to the standard nickel metal-hydride battery used in Yaris Hybrid, the super capacitor has a higher power density and a fast power charge/discharge speed. This makes it perfectly suited to the demands of track driving in delivering brief, immediate bursts of power.

A third 60bhp motor is located between the engine and six-speed sequential transmissions. This operates as a generator, both during deceleration to feed power to the super capacitor, and during acceleration to power the rear electric motors. The latter only happens when engine power and torque exceed the front wheels’ grip limit. The generator works like an advanced traction control system, redirecting torque as electric energy to the rear wheels, to boost acceleration and improve handling rather than simply to limit engine power.

The rear electric motors can have a big influence on Yaris Hybrid-R’s handling when cornering, by altering the torque distribution between the left and right rear wheels. Each motor can be used independently as a generator or a motor to achieve the same effect as an intelligent torque vectoring differential.

Credits: Oneshift News Team