I'm sure the Toyota loyalists on this site are going to go bonkers on this. But if GM introduced this CONCEPT VEHICLE, they would be roundly chastised for its severe ugly styling, along with being trounced for intoducing a vehicle that is not utilitarian enough for everyone, in this energy efficient environment we are in.

That being said, I think it is an interesting idea, aero wise. More development in aero is what the majority of todays vehicles need. Perhaps this is the kind of vehicle I need for my daily commute. But with the carbon fiber and kevlar, I am sure it will be over the 10-15K target I am dreaming for in a commuter car.

0wned by Tesla

Good!

Maybe if they keep pounding their heads on the Brick wall they will finally catch on.

It's a lot smarter to put a powerful hybrid system in a sports car rather than a 4-door family sedan, so even if this does come to market it should do better than the HAH.

I'm a Ford (GM & Chrysler) basher objectively coming down on Toyota for this utterly impractical (concept) vehicle, too- OK at least Toyota's not touting the E85 gimmick here.

I will defend Toyota for two reasons.

1. While Ford offers no, non SUV hybrid or alternative fuel vehicle(outside of fleet sale Crown VIcs to cops) Toyota does offer real eco-friendly cars.

Hell even their regular cars get better mileage than Ford.

In other words, this sports car is just another feather in Toyota's cap, another conquest in an empire of alternative fuel cars.

Ford is way behind and attempts to win PR points by showing off a muslce car that burns E-85.

2. Superior tech from Toyota.

Note the 400 HP generated by a 3.5 Liter V-6.

Ford's Muscle concept gets 400 HP but requires a 5 Liter V-8.

Toyota goes out of itsway to design the most aerodynamic car possible.

Ford designs a muscle car with a blunt front end that acts like a wall.

Toyota proves that through light weight design and superior engineering sports cars can still be part of a sustainable tomorrow.

Ford, desperate to find a car America wants floats an old fashioned Detroit monster, in which they shove the biggest engine they can find and proclaim its green because it can burn E-85.

Notice that the most exciting cars from Detroit at last year's Detroit show where the Charger and Camero, cars that harken back to an era in which Gas was all but free and Americans burned it as if the ocean was made of the stuff.

Toyota gains attention with real cars, like the Camry last year, the Corolla next year, as well as the upcoming 3rd generation Prius Plug in.

Toyota is in the position that their trucks and sports concepts are completely offset by real world fuel efficient models and alternative vehicles.

Ford and the rest of Detroit are in the exact opposite position.

They butter their bread with trucks and muscle cars, and then pathetically attempt to offset their destructive designs by building more trucks and muscle cars that can, but probably won't run on E-85.

had a test drive in a prius yesterday , It makes the Ford feel as atractive as a garden shed by comparision!

Lotus Elise chassis with an adapted Prius driveline...taht would be interesting. City mileage would be greater than the Prius but highway mileage would be worse. It would be close to 2000lbs and have performance similar to the older Elise with the junky rover 1.8L engine.

Toyota isn't just a specialty auto company building one type of vehicle. Some of its customers want SUV's, some cars, some want very high mileage, some want performace.

Toyota is using its hybrid technology to deliver better performance for those performance buyers. And by selling more volume cars with batteries and related hybrid parts, they advance that technology.

My one complaint is if they push it as a 'green vehicle'. Seems sort of weak to me.. but they could say listen we know you sports car people want a performance car, and thats what you are going to buy. This car isn't as environmentally friendly as a prius, or an electric scooter, but it is a substantial improvement over what came before in the same segment.

hybrid sports cars are great as concepts, but you quickly run into two problems if you actually want to drive it quickly:

weight: batts are heavy, weight is the #1 enemy of sports cars

lack of energy: if i have a 400 hp corvette and a 400 hp hybrid, the hybrid might keep up with the corvette for the first 2 or 3 miles of flat-out driving. after that, the batts will be dead and it'll be a 400 hp corvette vs whatever the ice is in the hybrid

give me a twin turbo 6 over this any day. it'd be cheaper, lighter, faster, and probably more efficient in aggressive driving

yes, obviously, this is an argument based on racing, which nobody ever really does, but to sell a $150k supercar (price is my guess only) you have to pretend that it could actually go racing and win if it wanted to.

Poke around the net for the other images of the car; I think most would be pleasantly surprised. I'm a Toyota diesel fan, but love performance in a vehicle aimed for the racerboy market. However, this car seems to create a new niche altogether.

That said, on a lot of net communities, the *ahem*, "real" car guys are poopooing the concept, and it seems most here are as well. I think that once we see one in operation, a lot of hearts will be won. Both Toyota and Honda are thinking radically different, and have the money to take risks like this. I applaud them.

The prius has what...a 10 sec 0-60? Doesn't sound like the torque helps as much as you allude it does.

Problem with a hybrid sports car on a race track is that the braking is heavy and quick which means a great amount of energy has to be stored in a relatively short period of time. This means eventually the battery would be depleted as the hybrid is likely to be setup for normal every day driving (not the racetrack). Only those who are SCCA members or are in other similar racing events will run into this type of problem. You shouldn't have any problem running the 1/4 mile with full power out of this vehicle.

BTW- the 3.5L V-6 doesn't have to be setup the same as the avalon as it makes around 306hp in the IS350.

That is pretty much what I was saying, Bud. There are so few members of racing clubs that the hybrid drivetrain won't be a negative for the average person who purchases the car.