We’re inching ever closer to seeing the Lexus LFR – or possibly the Toyota GR GT3, or perhaps both – in its final form, after the car made its first sort-of-official appearance in front of crowds at the Goodwood Festival of Speed earlier this year.
The car’s being developed as the basis for a new GT3 racer, which requires a production car as its starting point, and we have a pretty good idea of what to expect. A front-engined layout is pretty obvious given the comically long bonnet of all the prototypes we’ve seen (and indeed the 2022 concept that previewed it), and a twin-turbo V8 seems like a dead cert too.
The final piece of the puzzle is whether or not that V8 will be the sole powertrain component, but the LFR prototype’s latest appearance, at one of the Nürburgring’s secretive Industry Pool closed test days – captured by Statesidesupercars on YouTube – all but confirms that it won’t be.
That’s because, visible in the car’s rear windscreen, is a little yellow sticker. This is something electrified vehicles have to run at the Nürburgring, to warn safety responders that there might be lots of escaped volts coursing around in the event of a crash. It’s this little sticker that has previously provided early tips on hybrid versions of the Porsche 911 and Chevrolet Corvette.
Lexus LFR prototype – front
That’s still about all we know about the car’s powertrain, including whether it’ll be a plug-in or self-charging hybrid. It’ll likely only be the road car that’s electrified, too, as hybrids are banned in GT3 racing. As for the combustion engine, there’s a good chance it could be based on the twin-turbo V8 originally developed a few years ago for a now-cancelled high-performance F version of the Lexus LC.
The other noteworthy takeaway from this video is that Toyota/Lexus appear to be running two different versions of the car. One is the wingless one we’ve seen running all over the world, but another is sporting a sizeable rear wing, a more aggressive front splitter and some big underbody aero strakes. Not to be confused with the full-on GT3 racing version we’ve seen testing before, it suggests that a more track-focused road version is also being developed.
Lexus LFR prototype – rear, track-focused version
We still don’t know exactly when we’ll see the finished car, or indeed whether it’ll be badged as a Lexus, a Toyota or a combination of either, depending on the market. A 2026 competition debut for the GT3 version has long been floated, though, meaning we surely can’t be too far off.
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