Toyota’s daring Le Mans inspired concept car

Le Mans style supercar wows the crowd at Japan’s Auto Salon.

Toyota GR Super Sport concept is based on the Le Mans racer. Pic: Supplied.

As the heavyweights of the global car industry descended on Detroit, the aftermarket tuners were pimping their rides to new extremes at the annual Tokyo Auto Salon.

The show focuses on Japan’s massive tuning culture — drifting evolved from illegal street-racing in highly modified road cars — and takes in radical power upgrades, outrageous interiors and painstakingly complex paintwork.

The Japanese brands roll out modified versions of their latest cars but for once have to take second place behind the manic machinery created by the customises. We look at some of the best models to take the stage.

Toyota’s GR Super Sport concept turned heads at the 2018 Tokyo Auto Salon. Pic: Supplied.

TOYOTA

A 735kW petrol-electric racer is Toyota’s vision of future performance vehicles. The Gazoo Racing Super Sport concept adapts the hybrid technology seen in the maker’s TS050 World Endurance Championship racer to develop astonishing power from a 2.4-litre twin-turbo V6 and electric motors.

Gazoo Racing president Shigeki Tomoyama says the plan is to develop sports cars from active race cars.

“Rather than developing production cars into sports cars, we aim to work out how to incorporate the know-how developed through races and rallies into production cars,” he says.

Toyota’s in-house TRD crew also had a strong presence with visual and performance upgrades. Not surprisingly, the Toyota 86 drew most attention, thanks to a revised aero kit.

The 86 is a cult car in Japan and thousands of owners regularly attend club track days. All Toyota needs to do now is work out how to cram a hybrid drivetrain into the two-seater coupe.

Wild: Honda’s Mugen RC20 GT Civic Type R concept. Pic: Supplied.

HONDA

Renowned Honda tuner Mugen was among many shops fettling the acclaimed Civic Type R. The Mugen RC20 GT is intended to improve performance, aerodynamic downforce and engine cooling, largely courtesy of the huge Audi-esque grille that sucks in more air for the 2.0-litre turbo. The company has yet to disclose how much extra power it has extracted — expect the aero and upgrade figures on its website on the near future.

A less dramatic Civic hatch prototype uses an aero kit and massive wheels to enhance the car’s wide and low stance. It will be on sale in Japan in the near future.

Nissan’s Leaf Nismo highlighted EV performance. Pic: Supplied.

NISSAN

Electric propulsion was the focus, headlined by the Leaf Grand Touring and Leaf Nismo concepts. Nissan design chief Alfonso Albaisa said at last year’s launch of the best-selling electric vehicle that performance versions were under consideration and this pair fits the bill.

Not unexpectedly, GT-Rs also featured prominently. Nismo and new Nissan sub-brand Autech showed interpretations of how Godzilla should look but there was no mention of the output of the retuned twin-turbo beast. Nissan says Autech versions blend premium craftsmanship with sporty driving performance.

Subaru’s Viziv Performance STI concept provided a hint of the future. Pic: Supplied.

SUBARU

The Viziv STI Performance concept dominated, not least because it may show cues to the next STI production car due in 2019. That said, Subaru has form for creating eye-catching concepts that fail to translate into production models. The WRX Concept had a rapturous reception when launched in 2013 yet the WRX released the following year looked nothing like it.

This time around it’s all about the aero parts, highlighted with STI’s signature pink paintwork. Typically, there are no specifications or hints as to what’s under the bonnet. Subaru has yet to announce what will power the next-gen WRX and STI vehicles but a petrol-electric hybrid is the favoured option, given ever-tightening emissions regulations.