Since the retirement of the Lexus LFA in 2012, the world has been waiting for a new halo car from Toyota. Now, after years of rumors, leaks, spy shots, and teasers, it’s finally here. The GR GT is an all-new, all-Toyota sports car, and feels like an especially worthy successor.
The GR GT uses the LFA’s same front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, with an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission mounted at the rear for optimal weight balance. Under the hood is not another V10, but rather an all-new hybridized twin-turbo V8 (not as exciting, sure, but considering how many hypercars are EVs these days, I’ll take it).
Most importantly, the GR GT isn’t some heavyweight, ultra-complex hypercar. It’s a more pure, relatively lightweight sports car focused on thrills, not performance figures.
Let’s Get The Numbers Out Of The Way
I’d argue numbers are more insignificant than ever in the performance segment, seeing as how EVs can outrun anything in a straight line these days. But they’re still important for comparison’s sake. So let’s talk about them first. The V-8 is a 4.0-liter unit combined with a single electric motor, making a total of 641 horsepower and 626 pound-feet of torque. Mind-blowing figures? Absolutely not. But considering this car weighs 3,858 pounds, it should deliver excellent dynamics.
While that number isn’t nearly as light as, say, a Miata, it’s pretty damn good for a hybrid with an onboard battery. That weight figure is thanks to an all-aluminum chassis—Toyota’s first, ever. There are also carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic body panels in place of metal. Power is routed to the rear wheels via a carbon-fiber torque tube to an eight-speed transaxle mounted out back, for better weight distribution.
Toyota makes a big deal about the GR GT’s low center of gravity. The engine uses a dry sump oiling system, so Toyota could get the whole drivetrain positioned lower within the car.
It Looks Absolutely Awesome
Design-wise, I think Toyota hit it out of the park. The classic front-engine, rear-drive proportions shine here, with a long nose and a compact passenger cell. The company managed to finesse its corporate grille fascia into this car elegantly. There are elements of Supra in the headlights, though the nose itself reminds me, weirdly, of the Daihatsu Copen GR Sport. There are some clever aero channels towards the rear that funnel air through the space behind the windows and out the back of the car:
The interior looks unlike any Toyota or Lexus I’ve seen, with a bulky steering wheel, a set of knobs for adjusting vehicle settings, some big paddle shifters, and lots of red leather. The shifter is, unfortunately, a very tiny rocker switch in the center console, though thankfully, I can see plenty of physical buttons for important features.
Weirdly, it looks as if there are zero actual Toyota badges anywhere on the car, inside or out. Toyota seems to want to emphasize this is a pure GR product, through and through.
The Big Questions: How Much, And When?
When the LFA debuted in 2009, it commanded a starting price of $375,000 (over $560,000 in today’s money). Paying that much for any Toyota product, Lexus badge or not, was a tough sell for most people, which is why it took a few years for Lexus to sell every example.
I don’t think the GR GT will cost that much, but it will definitely be the most expensive Toyota by a long shot. The company hasn’t released pricing details just yet, but says the car will launch in 2027. It’ll launch alongside a racing version called the GR GT3, which the company plans to field in the FIA GT3 category.
My judgment will, of course, be reserved for when I actually get behind the wheel. Toyota had plenty of opportunity to screw this up, but going by what I’ve seen tonight, it’s very much on the right track.
Top graphic image: Toyota
Nah.
Very strange proportions.
Whatever.
If I’m looking for a car in this class, AMG GT. I don’t see what this offers that the Merc offering doesn’t, and the Mercedes looks much better.
For the length of this hood, it should have an H-16.
Why can’t Toyota see their value in offering 85%% of the performance for 60% of the price?
It’s the same size as an AMG GT so I’m curious to how it looks in real life. Has that prototype racer aesthetic where you think it’s a lot bigger than it is.
Astonishgly good is an incredibly low bar for the company that makes the GRC and Supra, but yeah. This is dope no matter what design studio it came from.
Disclaimer: Brian, and pretty much everyone else who writes for The Autopian knows way more about cars than I ever will. My lack of expertise doesn’t seem to deter me from having opinions though. 😉
With that said, my reaction to the GR GT is a little on the ‘meh’ side. Sure, it’s fast and probably fun to drive at 9/10ths on a track, and of course I’m glad that it’s got an actual ICE powerplant. The bright red leather is a bit garish in a 1980 Italian sofa sort of way, but it’s forgiveable, despite the fact that the slightly darker, almost crimson-colored leather in BMWs and Mazdas would have been so much nicer.
However (and this will annoy some I expect): I think the nose is actually just a little bit too long… almost like a caricature of a powerful, front engine, rear wheel drive car. And what is it about modern performance cars that requires them to all have that hulking massive sort of look, especially at the rear? Is this trend one that can be traced back to various Lambos over the past few decades, or perhaps something earlier? I know that even relatively light cars weigh a lot, but must they necessarily look like they were milled from a solid block of depleted uranium?
And that nose: it’s not awful, but the main impression it makes is that of a second-gen Toyota Mirai, which is an OK looking car, but hardly known for its beauty or grace. The small greenhouse is simple and a bit generic, shared with so many other cars from various Mustangs to high-end Mercedes coupes… it’s fine, I guess.
Of course I’m actually quite glad that Toyota made it, but I’d be so much more impressed if they brought a small, affordable, and actually lightweight performance car to market for many potential drivers to enjoy, rather than just the relatively small handful of rich guys who’re going to pay premiums over MSRP to dealers for one of these.
Say, something like this: https://www.slashgear.com/1575344/toyota-s-fr-what-happened-everything-we-know-about-concept-car
Fun fact: the rounds usually shot from the gatling gun cannon in the nose of an A-10/Warthog are in fact spent uranium and are so heavy that the recoil can make that plane get down to stall speed in a few seconds. Pilots would usually go in high over the intended target and then kind of dive down towards them to avoid the stall. I have chatted with a few and they all loved them. And I have seen first-hand what they can do.
And I agree with you that interior color is pretty garish.
It would be interesting to see what Toyota could do to make a Miata competitor, but there must be some agreement that they won’t.
But that’s just an intellectual exercise for me. I drive a sedate sedan that is already getting to be a bit of a challenge for me to climb out of. I won’t be buying something so low that I need to ask someone for a hand back up.
The only reason I already knew those A-10 factoids is that I’m an unrepentant A-10 fan and it’s been my absolute favorite warplane since I was a wee lad when it was new. 🙂
I’m not too proud to admit that part of the reason I don’t drive my Miata as much as I ought to is due to the fact that the seat so damn close to the ground. 😉
The A-10 is an awesome plane. What pilot doesn’t appreciate a titanium tub under his butt. My favorite US fighter jet was the F-4 Phantom, but I like a cool SAAB Viggen as well. That’s from an aesthetic standpoint. Time marches on and I’m sure the newer F-x planes are far more capable.
Saab Viggens are awesome too for sure. 🙂
I’ve seen some recent marketing ads for Viggens (on Youtube of course, and probably orginally intended for use at those shows where companies sell military hardware to countries) and I was charmed at how they made a case for the Viggen as a practical choice. It needs less technicians, smaller trucks, less preparation time, etc… to get off the ground. The efficiency of it somehow is appealing to me. 🙂
Given the currently testy relationship with the US, there are rumors that Canada is reconsidering its purchase of F-35s and maybe splitting the fleet buy with SAAB Gripens.
Gripen vs. F-35: a tug-of-war for Canada’s aerial future
Isn’t the GR-86 their Miata competitor?
Their last attempt at a direct competitor was the MR-S, and the happy piglet only lived for a few years.
You’re not wrong. I really had forgotten about that car and it’s Subaru cousin. But, again, very low cars are not on my list anymore. 68 years of wear and tear on one’s skeleton will do that. Kudos to those fortunate to have not messed something up. My lower spine is a mess and it’s a hinderance. Some days are worse than others.
You’d think there would be space for 2 rectangular battery packs left and right of the drive shaft, under the seats for perhaps more space and a better COG… Two thinner packs should also be easier to cool with plenty of ride wind going under the car to take advantage off. But there were probably plenty of reasons to do it this way (e.g. shorter wiring to the engine etc).
There have to be other considerations.
What is the density of a human butt vs a battery pack? They may come out ahead by putting the butts lower and the batteries higher.
My butt is pretty dense, but I understand you want to consider butt shapes ‘n form. Then again, most seats in most cars are pretty high (mostly because of the electric motors) and they can definitely be much lower. However then your legs would be way too much forwards, like in an F1 car and most people don’t like that. It’s not the butt, it is the well for your feet which has to be very low. I could imagine a situation where the battery IS below our behinds and the seat’s electronics are partly mounted beside the seat or even behind the seat. With some gears and belts I’m sure they can be moved around a bit, so the seat will be pretty low, so there is (more) space for batteries. Anything compared to stacking a battery 3 feel above the road, IMHO.
That engine is giving BMW S63 vibes.
Excellent application for hybrid setup.
THIS is the new LFA, not the EV! Why is this not a Lexus? That seems like a late decision because the car has all Lexus styling cues and even uses the steering wheel from the new 2026 ES. The front looks like it’s related to an RX even… the LFA, on the other hand, is not that great looking. The rear is okay, but nothing else is really a wow and its proportions are off, which is unnecessary on an EV… Call it the LFE or something, but the other car should be a Lexus and clearly was going to be, but they want to spin off a new sub-brand instead. Even more head-scratching is that there are GR Corollas and GR Land Cruisers already and they’re Toyotas, but for some reason this car that’s a follow up to the actual Lexus LFA is now a different brand, the GR GT instead of the Lexus GR-LFA (or something similar)? A Toyota can wear a GR badge, but the obvious Lexus can’t and necessitates its own brand? My guess is in focus group research they determined the Lexus brand didn’t resonate enough with the target audience, which is a shame because the LFA kind of fills that hole in Lexus, but whatever I’m off my soap box now.
The LFA has no legacy. It was a fail at every step for Lexus. There is no reason to let one non-selling model set a precedent.
Long hood good. Activates the lizard brain with its phallicness.
@brian Silvestro, it has an 8-speed automatic with a wet “start clutch” instead of a torque converter. It’s not a dual clutch transmission.
Also, interesting that the engine has the same bore diameter as Toyota’s original famous 1UZ V8 from 1990. Although I’m sure this engine has zero in common with that engine, it’s still an interesting coincidence.
Looks good, and I’m sure it will be amazing. I look forward to Chris Harris flinging it around and expounding upon it’s brilliance, but I have no interest in actually owning an expensive sports car with an automatic.
Very cool
I stop short of “astonishingly” good but I’m glad it exists and I like the look of it.
The front clip still has a lot of Toyota DNA, but the rest is fantastic. This is the car Jaguar should have designed.
It’s giving Batmobile vibes
That is a very long nose. Kinda reminds me of how the OG Supra was a long nose Celica.
or the Dodge Viper…or the AMG GT….or the Aston Martin Vantage(though I think they don’t have quite as much front overhang)
You and I have quite a different definition of astonishing.
I’ve noticed that a lot of the writers on this site have a bit of a hard on for Toyota and that everything they do seems to be really cool.
I’m a bit of a Toyota fanboy myself…but I’m not going to pretend their cars are very good looking these days, never mind astonishing.
Has anyone decoded the license plate, or is it just random?
After reading your comment I scrolled to the top of the article and saw the photo with the rear plate that said “GR GT” and thought “this guy must be new to the car scene.” lol. Then I saw the other photo. Here’s what Google AI says, FWIW: “ A “Japanese oar hoo” likely refers to the Eku (or Eiku/Iyeku), a traditional Okinawan martial arts weapon (Kobudo) that is literally a fisherman’s boat oar, used for striking, blocking, and even throwing sand at opponents, adapted from the original Okinawan term ‘agu’.”
Here’s a few things I do not understand:
Why is the hybrid battery pack perched up high atop the rear motor/transmission rather than down low where it would make more sense from a packaging and weight distribution standpoint?
Why does it have the proportions of a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren? What is the point of the super-long nose which probably contains just a massive airbox/snorkel?
And with such extreme proportions – Why is the weight distribution still 45:55?
Not even going to ask about the contorted, over-designed appearance….
It doesn’t seem like there’s much room to put the pack anywhere else. The entire rear is taken up by the transaxle – you also have to keep in mind that the whole car is extremely low. Even with the pack mounted higher up I doubt it’s high up enough to negatively impact the CoG.
You’re also going to want a little bit more weight over the rear wheels in an FR performance platform, so that weight distribution seems ideal to me.
Vertically behind the rear seats?
There don’t appear to be any rear seats. The pack doesn’t look like it’s mounted noticeably higher up than the engine, anyway.
Sorry – I meant behind the seats
looks like the engine timing chains stop about midway of the front wheels, so unless it is for Aero, or to offset the electric motor/battery in some way, it most likely is just to exaggerate the Long Low Look.
I’m also gonna chime in and say since this is going to race in GT3 this shape responds well to aero for the speeds they are going to run it at, it may simply be form of over function.
> And with such extreme proportions – Why is the weight distribution still 45:55?
Because in a RWD car, that’s almost always better? Rear weight bias is almost always good, and this is edging towards a mid-engine weight balance without the engine behind a cabin.
Won’t dig out of corners or on a launch like a 911, but it’s better than the current AMG GT, and it’s nearly where Porsche’s mid-engine cars are.
This will be interesting to see how it plays out. Looks good. The Supra is pretty dang good for what it costs, so let’s see what happens when we presumably are pushing ASPs probably close to (or above) $150K. I know, not accessible. Though for the segment this is going after — which doesn’t have tons of players — it’ll be interesting.
So long as the 86 stays for entry level and hopefully the Supra gets some eventual replacement, they have the line up they need to have something for everyone.
It kinda looks like they may be using the battery pack assembly for some chassis stiffening with it being lined up with the top spring perches. How heavy are the latest solid state statement level batteries next year?