Listen To The Toyota / Lexus GR GT3’s Ferocious Twin-Turbo V8

Update June 4: We’ve added new spy shots as well as new videos of the prototype successor to the Lexus RC F GT3. The race car has been filmed undergoing high-speed testing at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgioum before its motorsports debut in 2026.

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Toyota has been working on its next-generation GT3 car for quite some time now. The racer, currently known as the GR GT3, will likely be badged as a Lexus and takes heavy inspiration from the GR GT3 Concept unveiled at the start of 2022. It is almost identical in shape and size to that concept and, in news that’ll excite enthusiasts, it will spawn a road-going production model.

Watch: Is This A New Toyota GT3 Racer With A Twin-Turbo V8?

This prototype looks like one spotted testing at Fuji Speedway twelve months ago. It’s bathed in camouflage but there’s no hiding the massive front grille, the huge front splitter, and the long hood. Other key aero elements visible include a gaping-wide rear diffuser and a rear wing with swan-neck uprights. Like the concept, the prototype also has side-existing exhausts. That brings us to the engine.

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The new race car is tipped to receive a twin-turbocharged V8, and based on sound alone, that seems to be precisely the type of engine this prototype has. The engine emits a throaty and bassy sound and should have plenty of power. Lexus is thought to have started work on a new twin-turbo V8 as far back as 2019.

While speaking about the car to SportsCar365 earlier this year, Toyota Racing Development president David Wilson said he would like to see the GR GT3 debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2026.

“The timeline [for the new car’s introduction] is still 2026-ish, and development continues to go well,” he said. “The credibility we’ve earned racing here in North America racing the RC F and winning the first GT3 title for Lexus has allowed us to participate indirectly in the development of this new car, providing a lot of feedback and setting the performance targets.

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