Toyota has taken the wraps off its new Le Mans challenger, the GR010 hybrid, with which it's going to compete withinside the FIA World Endurance Championship till at the least 2025. Toyota is the primary to expose its new Hypercar, destined to make its race debut at the outlet spherical of the FIA World Endurance Championship, scheduled for Portimao in April.
The GR010 is constructed to a completely new set of rules and consequently is longer, wider, heavier, and much less effective than the outgoing TS050. The vehicle is predicted to be around 10 seconds according to lap slower at Le Mans than the TS050, and five seconds slower on an ordinary WEC circuit.
The GR010 is powered by a 3.5-liter V6 engine that produces a maximum power output of no more than 500kW by regulation whether from solely the engine or a combination of engine and hybrid system, a loss of 33 percent compared to the TS050.
The GR010 also carries less technology than its predecessor, making it cheaper to run. It features only one energy recovery system at the front, for example, and the interlinked suspension has gone, replaced by independent suspension on the four corners.
Reduced advantage
A new Balance of Performance system will govern the pace of the Hypercars, reducing the advantage for manufacturers. The development of this racecar will directly influence the roadgoing supercar Gazoo Racing and Toyota showed in concept at Le Mans in September.
The new regulations have targeted a reduction in costs, so fewer rare materials have been used in the construction of the car. The c of g for the gearbox, monocoque, and engine has been defined by regulation, which for Toyota led to extensive re-design work and strengthening of parts for its 2021 challenger when compared to the TS050.
Aerodynamically, the GR010 is particularly striking, with large gaps between the front splitter and the bottom of the monocoque, and at the rear between the engine cover and diffuser. These are designed to ensure adequate cooling while maintaining smooth airflow over the bodywork.
Further cost-cutting regulation is that there is no variant of the bodywork from race to race. So this is the body that will be used at Le Mans, as well as at shorter circuits such as Fuji. Cooling is, therefore, an important consideration as the car will also, race in high temperatures without modification, and without overheating.
The regulations feature a set of performance windows into which each of the Hypercars, be they prototype or road car-based, must fit. One of those is a point on the lift/drag graph that dictates the aerodynamics of the car and is not, according to Toyota, challenging to meet.
With power limited and closely monitored by the FIA using standard telemetry and torque sensors on each of the driveshafts,
this is a totally different animal to the transformer LMP1 car and has been built with entirely new objectives.
All-new engine
The switch from the 2.4-liter engine to an all-new, 3.5-liter unit was largely driven by the fact it will be required to deliver more power than the old TS050. The increase in capacity is also to bring the engine in line with the planned production car, which would have struggled with the smaller capacity engine.
‘The reason [for the change] is there is quite a significant change in powertrain regulation with the switch of power dominance from hybrid side to the combustion engine,’ says Gazoo Racing’stechnical director, Pascal Vasselon. ‘We need to achieve a given power target, which is 500kW at the moment, and we know we can only temporarily use the 200kW of hybrid power, so this means the combustion the engine has to be able to deliver 500kW.
‘Considering that within the Balance of Performance category reliability is even more important than it was before, the decision to go to a bigger engine was quite logical. More power was needed, as were even higher reliability standards.’
The decision to stick to a V6 was also driven by the packaging requirements for the GR010. Even though the wheelbase is slightly longer than the car’s predecessor, the cockpit has been moved back, further away from the centerline of the front wheels, and the mandated battery position is behind the driver. With the fuel cell located in a similar position, there was no option for Toyota to go for more cylinders.
‘It was simpler when we started,’ explains John Litjens, project leader for the Le Mans programs including Hypercar. ‘We had
to do something with the road car and the clear goal from management was to share the main components between the two. So this is a totally new engine.’ One of the challenges for the engine will be the switch from full ICE power to combined power delivery from the hybrid system, which may only take place over 120kph in the dry, and between 140-160kph in the wet in order to protect the two-wheel-drive competitors.
‘The architecture is the most efficient one within the regulations, but we have to bear in mind that we are in Balance of Performance’ Pascal Vasselon, technical director at Gazoo Racing At no point may the power output exceed 500kW, and so the control systems will need to be able to switch seamlessly between the two. ‘The way to handle the hybrid system is totally different compared to LMP1,’
says Vasselon. ‘Now we are talking about a maximum combined power, while in LMP1 the power of the hybrid system was adding to the combustion engine.
Now it is either-or. It means that if we use 200kW from the hybrid, we can only use 300kW from the combustion engine.
TECH SPEC: Toyota GR010 Hypercar
Bodywork: Carbon fiber composite
Gearbox: Transverse with seven gears, sequential
Driveshafts: Constant velocity tripod plunge-joint
Clutch: Multidisc
Differential: Mechanical locking differential
Suspension: Independent front and rear double wishbone, pushrod
system
Springs: Torsion bar
Anti-roll bars: Front and rear
Steering: Hydraulically assisted
Brakes: Akebono monoblock alloy calipers with carbon ventilated
discs
Rims: RAYS magnesium alloy 13 x 18in
Tires: Michelin radial 31/71-18
Length: 4900mm
Width: 2000mm
Height: 1150mm
Weight: 1040kg
Fuel capacity: 90 liters
Engine: V6 direct-injection twin-turbo
Valves: Four per cylinder
Engine capacity: 3.5 liters
Fuel: Petrol
Engine power: 500kW / 680ps
Hybrid power: 200kW / 272ps
Battery: High-powered Toyota lithium-ion
Front motor/inverter: Aisin AW / Denso
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