Toyota's New V8 Supercar is Here

After many rumours of an impending LFA replacement, Toyota Gazoo Racing has finally revealed the GR GT, and it’s fair to say this is the most serious performance car the brand has built since the legendary Lexus in 2010. It’s positioned as a road-legal supercar with clear connections to Toyota’s motorsport programmes, the sort of project that exists because engineers and racing drivers wanted it to — not because the marketing team asked nicely.

It’s worth noting that it is the GR GT, not the Toyota GR GT, and is Gazoo Racing’s own ground-up creation, intended as a road-legal race car. It is built around a new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 paired with a single electric motor, creating a hybrid system designed more for response and uninterrupted power delivery than for economy stats. We’re also promised that V8 will have a voice thanks to a ‘meticulously crafted’ exhaust to ‘ensure the distinctive racing sound of a twin-turbo V8 engine’.

Toyota says it’ll make at least 650hp and more than 850Nm, all sent to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic that swaps the usual torque converter for a wet-clutch setup. It’s a serious drivetrain, backed by the sort of development you’d expect from a company that spends its weekends at the track.

Despite the road-legal race car intetion, Toyota actually wants this to be approachable for driver’s, rather than an unruly animal. Under the skin, the car uses Toyota’s first-ever all-aluminium monocoque and a traditional double-wishbone suspension layout and carbon-ceramic brakes at each corner. The suspension is said to be developed for linear response and a high level of controllability, whether daily driving or pushing to the limit. Despite a hybrid system and a big V8, Toyota is aiming to keep mass below 1,750kg, and with the engine mounted as far back as possible along with the use of a transaxle at the rear, weight distribution is actually 45:55 in favour of the back end.

The proportions tell the same story. Long bonnet, low roofline, broad hips and a visual aggression that suggests the GR GT has been shaped as much in wind tunnels as in design studios. And sure enough, the GR GT is totally unique and is bound to divide opinion in its appearance, but in my eyes, that’s better than being a rip-off. Toyota has launched it alongside the dedicated GR GT3 race car, which gives you a good idea of where the priorities have been, and the two don’t look a million miles apart.

Where the GR GT sits in the wider supercar landscape is an interesting question. It has echoes of the AMG GT in layout and intent but feels closer in philosophy to the old Lexus LFA — engineered for precision, balance and longevity rather than momentary headline chasing.

There are still gaps in the story — pricing, final performance numbers and the complete production timeline — though 2027 seems to be the year to circle on the calendar. Even so, the preview alone tells us Toyota is making a proper statement with the GR GT. After years of GR hot hatches and sports cars, this is the flagship they’ve clearly wanted to build: a supercar with genuine racing pedigree and a level of engineering ambition even top-end manufacturers reserve for their most expensive projects.

If the production version delivers on the development targets, the GR GT could give Toyota something it hasn’t had in years — a true icon to sit proudly at the top of the range that will leave a long-lasting legacy. Time will tell, but an all-new, totally different, V8-powered supercar can only be something to be excited about.