Toyota Racing reveals updated TS030 Hybrid for 2013
19 February 2013
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| 2013 TS030 Hybrid. Click to enlarge. |
Toyota Racing unveiled the revised TS030 Hybrid car which will run in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) this season. The TS030 made its debut in the WEC in 2012, and notched up three victories in six races. (Earlier post.) Toyota Racing begins the first full test of the 2013-specification TS030 Hybrid at Paul Ricard in southern France tomorrow.
The team will again utilize the Toyota Hybrid System - Racing powertrain, developed exclusively for motorsport by Toyota’s Motor Sport Division in Higashifuji. A supercapacitor-based hybrid system delivers 300 hp (224 kW) of boost automatically, on top of the 530 hp (395 hp) generated by a 3.4-liter, normally-aspirated V8 gasoline engine.
Ahead of a completely new development for 2014 due to regulation changes, Toyota’s Motor Sport Division in Higashifuji has fine-tuned this year’s powertrain to improve power, efficiency, management of component usage and reliability.
There is a major regulation change in 2014 so this year’s car has to be an evolution of our initial concept. The obvious target is to fix all the little issues we have found during the last season. The very first one is that the 2012 car, being a laboratory car, was able to accept front and rear Hybrid systems, so we have redesigned the monocoque to optimize it without the front motor. Last year’s performance was very satisfying and we felt we ticked most boxes so there has been no concept change, just refinement and optimization of the 2012 car.
—Pascal Vasselon, Technical Director
A revised aerodynamic package, including an updated monocoque, will deliver improved performance whilst minimizing the impact of updated regulations in 2013 which increase the minimum weight for manufacturer LMP1 cars by 15 kg (33 lbs).
The major milestones in development of our Hybrid system are 2012, when it was integrated into the TS030 Hybrid for the first time, and 2014, when the technical regulations change significantly. For this year we have achieved some incremental improvements while including some pre-testing of 2014 technologies. We have polished up things like power and efficiency whilst also fine-tuning the powertrain to enhance reliability. Overall we are confident we again have a very competitive and reliable powertrain.
—Hisatake Murata, Hybrid Project Leader
"The TS030 made its debut in the WEC in 2012, and notched up three victories in six races." - nice start.
A friend took a 70's Ford Pinto, added a high pressure turbo(with water injection?), and dusted magnitudes more expensive Porches at stop lights.
"A supercapacitor-based hybrid system delivers 300 hp (224 kW) of boost automatically,"
Make this a Leaf or Prius back axle and upset some oil heads.
Posted by: kelly | 19 February 2013 at 08:11 AM
"Make this a Leaf or Prius back axle and upset some oil heads."
LOL - ignorant much?
Posted by: Rytooling | 19 February 2013 at 08:10 PM
I'm disappointed that they went with a rear wheel only setup for the hybrid. They made the choice not because it was actually the most efficient or the best for performance, but because the rules hamper an all wheel drive setup and don't allow them to use their electric motor below 125kph.
Not a fault of the Toyota squad as they are just adjusting to the rules. The question is why the Le Mans series chose to hamper what could be the best racing setup for some artificial reason? I don't understand that part.
Still love the cars and it's fun to see these beasts in person racing. I hope either Audi or Toyota will go to Petite Le Mans before the MORONIC ALMS/Grand Am folks eliminate the LMP1 category next year.
Posted by: DaveD | 20 February 2013 at 05:50 PM
Another new rule is that "super-exotic materials" will be banned.
I suppose this regulation originated during George W. Bush's administration to slow development of light weight auto structures and increase the use of oil.
Posted by: ToppaTom | 21 February 2013 at 07:52 PM