Technocraft Archives - Club4AG

Toyota Gazoo Racing GRMN Specialty Cars Rumors for upcoming models in 2021

MotoP — Wed, 13 Nov 2019 16:30:04 +0000

Rumors:

Toyota's Japanese (Global) branch arm Gazoo Racing Brand, which is making a few headlines in recent years, have been leaking bits of plans for late 2020 and into 2021.

Before we get to the list, let me mention that "GR" is a limited edition package for lightly tuned cars.
"GRMN" is usually given to cars which have extensive modifications and are VERY limited, and are set far above the price of the sibling cars in normal line up, and usually built off-line by hand.

On the list of cars to be sold (not confirmed official) are...

Supra GRMN, with upgraded engine, rigid chassis tune, and revised brakes and suspensions.

Base "builder's SZ package" Supra for those who customize or prepare race dedicated cars.

A GT4 Customer Package (non street) racing car program for professional GT4 teams.

CH-R GR Edition, with retuned suspension and interior/exterior packages.

Corolla GR Edition and Touring Wagon (also with GR Edition)

And faint clues on a $40,000-ish "GRMN" Full Performance edition Corolla, complete with significant driveline differences and very limited numbers to be built at the Tahara factory. (Those of you who aren't versed in Toyota factories, this is one of two elite crafting site, along with Motomachi plant, produces some of the most precious Toyota cars like LC, LS, Land Cruisers, and skunkworks cars like the LFA and where A80 Supra and Celica GF-FOUR were built in the past.

The Century GRMN is also rumored to become available complete with performance upgrades used on Akio's own concept car, as well as the Emperor's protected model.

A Yaris GRMN, also related to the GRMN Corolla above, which might also be the shared sister platform limited edition from Tahara.

And of course the continual updates on the progress of the 2 million buck, GR Super Sport ultra-super-extreme-oh-my-god car which is basically a tamed street package of the TS050 LeMans LMP1 car....

(Based on periodic reports by "Best Car Magazine Web (Japanese media)

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TOM'S KP47 Starlet, that's Tachi-Oiwa Motorsports

MotoP — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 12:06:24 +0000

The KP47 Toyota Starlet here was carefully built and assembled by Tachi-Oiwa Motorsports. That's TOM's Racing, for most of you who've seen their logos on 40 years of race cars in Japan and abroad. Always one step ahead of everyone with making Toyota cars go faster around the raceway.

This was the car in 1973, launched the brand, and the outfit that will grow to being one of Toyota's right hand teams to set the world straight on how to build a fast car.
The KP47 by Tom's won Japan's Grand Championship series with it's fully modified and meticulously honed and balanced K-series engine that revved sky high at 11,000 rpm. This engine, 3K-R was the benchmark reference for all of the Toyota DOHC engines that followed from the 4A-G, 3S-G, 5M-G, 7M-G, G-G,and JZ-G. It was a puny 1300cc, that packed over 190 horses breathing natural atmosphere. No turbo.
With maximum torque at a very narrow peak and 100 lbs-ft at that, those who could drive it fast was far and few in between.

This car comes out of the TOMS's Shop for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival in November, once a year, to let everyone hear the screaming engine along the Fuji Speedway main straight.

Perhaps for a Toyota fan, this is another experience on your "Bucket List"

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Toyota's History in Racing in short summary...

MotoP — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 11:24:53 +0000

So when did Toyota start racing?

At the Toyota Museum in Nagoya sits a very normal looking and archaic Toyopet Crown from 1957. It has looks almost like a standard black chauffeured sedan for a company official of a firm, which the Crown was in those days, when Japan's average monthly income was about $200 for most people. It needs to be noted that this was only 12 years since Japan was leveled in a 4 year battle with the world, I mean not a building was standing not only in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but a dozen other cities. Tokyo was hit the worst and the firebombing displaced and killed far more people than the Atomic bombs collectively that exploded in rural areas. Japan was in a rapid rebuilding, and it was this era when Japanese car making grew to the form we call big manufacturers today.

Anyway, to get back to the story, this Crown was invited to the "Mobil Gas Round Australia" continental crossing rally-raid.
It was the first ever motorsport event for Toyota.
The putting little sedan made of truck chassis parts and 2/3rd scale BelAir, actually had tons of issues in this rally, but it managed to finish in the rally in 47th place, 3rd in the invitational class.
It was this car and this event that put the hair on the grown man's chest for Japanese racers. Finishing the race in cheers and crying joy, the members who prepared and funded this pack of guys were the companies and suppliers, 3 divisions of Toyota Sales, Toyota Manufacturing, Denso, Yamaha, Daihatsu. They called themselves the Team Toyota, or more colloquially as "The Nana-gi" (Seven Tech Squads of Racing). They later organized as a company division as TMSCR which would partake in random small rallies, from Asia, to Africa, and with hopes to reach the level required for World Rally. But the 1971 Oil Crisis would put an end to this. And at the same time, all remaining resources were handed to Ove Anderson of Team Toyota Europe to continue Rallying. That is the start of TTE in World Rally Championship, which we all know, continued till the famous Celica and Corollas that dominated in the 1990's.

By the late 1960's, things were very active on pavement too.
Specialty vehicle maker Technocraft started TRD in 1964 with an earlier name TOSCO. This company sprouted from making ambulances and police cars, taxi and such. They expanded to the USA in 1979 as TRD USA.
About the same time, two dealership networks competed and funded their own operations rivaling each other. Sigma Automotive started SARD Racing in 1972, and Tachi-Oiwa and company, founding TOM'S in 1974. Sard entered LeMans in 1975, and TOMS's in 1982, accompanied by DOME.

Also a little bit before that, famous Carroll Shelby of Ford GT, Ford AC Cobra and series of edition Mustangs, also campaigned the then-new, remarkable little sports car called the Toyota 2000GT in 1968 piloted by Davy Jordan. That's probably the first ever Toyota race car that ran in the USA in any major racing. SCCA C-Class Production.

With many more partners throughout the years, Toyota has been in more than 40 countries racing, from deserts of Sahara to the Indy 500, from Monaco to Fuji, and all up and down every continent on earth. Rod Millen, TTE, Sard, TOMS, Toyota F1 and WEC, Joe Gibbs Racing, TRD NASCAR, TRD NHRA, Precision Prep Inc, Tommi Makinen Rally Team, Toyota F1, Atlantic Series, Toyota Swiss, Dan Gurney, AAR, Netz, Cerumo, Can-Am, Hino Dakar, Team ACP Paris-Dakar, Anderson Motorsports, INDYCAR, Ivan Stewart Baja1000. I really can't name them all, but in no way is this list anything near exhaustive.

But I think the most amazing and puzzling thing about this huge history of racing by Toyota cars, that Toyota doesn't reflect much on them in a very collective way.
I hope with rekindled passion now being touted about the current CEO who holds his own FIA International Class A racing license, Akio "Morizo" Toyota, that such history becomes bound in a single timeline. But for now, he is too busy training each day for his next Nurburgring 24 or Japan Rally outing.
May the Force be with him!

Just like Toyota's racing cars, SUVs project an image of power, capability, and endurance. Dealers across the globe are seeing a surge in demand for suv cars second hand, as budget-conscious buyers seek out the utility and prestige these vehicles offer. A well-maintained, pre-owned SUV can be a fantastic option, and Toyota's reputation for reliability makes their used models especially attractive. So, while Akio "Morizo" Toyota hones his skills on the track, perhaps a strategic shift towards highlighting Toyota's racing pedigree could benefit both racing enthusiasts and car shoppers alike, especially those in the ever-growing market for second-hand SUVs.

While racing cars capture the thrill of speed and performance, having a reliable everyday vehicle is equally important for many drivers. This is where a well-chosen crossover or multi-purpose vehicle can make all the difference, offering practicality without sacrificing style or capability. Car dealers are increasingly recognizing the value of highlighting both high-performance models and dependable multi-purpose vehicles to meet the diverse needs of their customers. For example, desmeules & dubois, excel in providing a wide range of vehicles, from sports cars to pre-owned options, ensuring that buyers can find a car that fits their lifestyle and budget. By emphasizing the versatility and reliability of these versatile vehicles alongside their racing heritage, dealers can attract a broader customer base and satisfy the needs of those looking for a dependable vehicle for daily use.

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AE86 N2 Challenge, Keeping the foundation of Japanese Motorsports

MotoP — Sat, 01 Jul 2017 20:03:33 +0000

AE86 N2 Challenge, Keeping the foundation of Japanese MotorsportsWhat drives Japanese motorsports... The base foundation of their spirit and mannerism, as well as rules of engagement is portrayed in places like Semi-vintage N2 AE86 racing...

N2 is honed to a point today, to where managing it takes a skill of a complete and utter specialist, and even they are less confident than many cars when dicing at such handling and speed edges. It's part of what makes the N2 so special... as it just weeds out the folks who can and can't go there... Very tenaciously arranged end links, rods, and alignment, and tuned for sheer grip and peaks, and special tires aligned to peak contact and not for forgiveness. It's a handful when it is setup as such.

Engines based on the 4A-GE are peaky, with analog controls and sharpened still, by hand of the crafters with balancing, edging, knifing, and carving the perfect hand-ground camshafts and rods. Cranks are balanced to Formula Atlantic specs and allow the archaic engines to breathe effectively and nominally at 9000 rpm, sometimes beyond. Each body is brought down to bare shell, panels shaved in micrometer thickness accuracy, and frame gusseted in strategic areas known only to N2 specialists.

Crafting each car in the same care taken to forge a katana sword taught by centuries of metallurgy and forging mastery. That's called "takumi" in a single word, in Japanese language. It is a word reserved for the most esoteric of building, from purification of the mind and soul, to the last stroke of the polishing hand to reach that limit of Earthly perfection. Mr.Sakurai of TRD Technocraft was the father of such agenda in the days of the AE86 N2, and is survived by his followers who cherish the flame of his spirit to this day.

The N2 is this level of racing. It is something fought with pride of craftspeople who all have a mutual respect for each other, and isn’t driven by politics and investors. It is a private series that teams follow a order of fundamental rules. No one cheats or brings in technologies unfair or unmannerly to N2’s historic values and ancestors of N2 immortal talents, they regard highly.

It's the reason people like Keiichi Tsuchiya regards the AE86 so highly, as he lived in the era of N2 racing, and while he aspired to race in them, he was just 1 year too late to get a seat in the famed N2 cup. It is why he wanted to start the N2 Vintage Racing series under Hot Version label sanction a full decade later, to get others to partake in this unique Japanese era of racing, where the most talented and passionate of Japanese drivers and teams would spend sweat and time honing one car to master-crafting, and race at the ragged edges of skills. Crafting simplicity to the most acute of performance edge.

American culture is somewhat different and people get bloody-thirsty for winning, and folks get litigious too with rules interpretation. So it's a different community. 　 Someday though... N2 is unique in that it is a blend of historic racing type ritual, but taking in serious competition... It's one of those things where there is a mix of Japanese uniqueness of comrades, community, utter respect towards opponents, and isolated colloquialism, and spirit of founders...

Something like this doesn't translate well in a culture like America where people just have very different backgrounds of mixed nationalities and standards toward winning and losing. We, Americans tend to battle for personal reasons above community goals. It's not wrong really, just different. And it is certainly rather a unique mind-set for sure.

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Dissecting the TOYOTA 86 14R-60 Limited Production

MotoP — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 06:03:22 +0000

Dissecting the TOYOTA 86 14R-60 Limited Production
Yes, it is a production car, though very exclusive and limited...

I guess Japan listened to all of the enthusiast voices that understand the "concept" of the FT86 from the inception, a lightweight sports car.

This car has EVERYTHING we would do to this car to prepare it for a raceway tuner challenge, except a turbo. (still a big question for future models as Toyota works out how they relate to FHI who builds these cars)
It's rather a very expensive limited run model becausae of this, since all of these 14R60's are made by hand, off-line away from the assembly line, and fitted with these exclusive TRD Technocraft parts.

Read this list, and tell me what you think.

It's derived from the Griffon Concept
Production Limited to just 100 cars. (Japan ONLY)
While the engine stays close to normal production engine, there are unique features that set this car apart, and here are some of the attributes:

TRD Intake system,
manifold cover,
center output muffler,
air core engine oil cooler,
stiffer bushing engine mount,
mechanical 4 pinion 1.5 way differential,
triple puck TRD clutch disk, and lightened flywheel,
close ratio 14R-60 original transmission gear set,
quick-shift lever mechanism.

revised front performance rods
rear V-brace
adjustable height coil-over monotube suspension
revised rear trailing arms
front / rear lower arm revision
front toe control arms
lightened front window

front canards
carbon fiber roof
rear diffuser
rear wing
side skirt
front wide fender
lower arm air deflectors
4/2 pot Mono-block caliper brakes 2-piece rotor
Alloy magnesium ultralight wheels
Bridgestone "Spec 14R60" Tire
EPS-CAN Engine computer box

Full Bucket Seats (TRD by BRIDE)
Carbon interior Panels
Steering wheel (Alcantara)
Rear seat-delete panels
Alcantara shift lever knob
Scuff plates
Takata "TRD" 4 Point Harness.
Titanium license plate bolt.
Radio and AC delete
Transmission Scuff Plate
Green tint side glass
Revised Quick ratio electric power steering.

Did you catch the color code? The original new paint too for this car, a white called Crystal Pearl and coded not the usual J37 but K1X (and it's the only color available)

And you want to know how much this costs to the lucky 100 buyers?

It's a reasonable Y 6,300,000 Japanese Yen. (Approximately $60,000)
Before you gawk and throw a fit, you must understand that I have half of this done by custom fab or with aftermarket parts, and at MSRP for the parts, it's at $55,000 plus. So with lots of further development, and several things I can't even replicate, I think it's totally reasonable. (keep in mind, I never said 'affordable")

Just released from Toyota Technocraft and announced on Toyota Japan website below.

http://toyota.jp/customize/86/14r-60/

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