The new rally car from Toyota, the GT86 CS-R3, will be making its first appearance at a world rally championship next month.
It will appear on the ADAC Rallye Deutschland track, which is where the ninth round of this year’s FIA World Rally Championship will take place. As the car is still in development, it will not be taking part in the race but instead will be used as the official “pathfinder” zero car. This means it will be driven around each stage to test out the safety of the track before the race gets going.
Getting behind the wheel of the car will be Isolde Holderied, who has twice become the champion of the women’s world rally. While driving the car, she will need to evaluate its performance so she can advise on any adjustments that need to be made. Once that is done, then the car can move on to seek approval under the international R3 competition criteria.
Eventually, the finished car will be released for sale to private customers who want to take part in any level of this sport. It will be offered as a competition model that is cost-effective.
Toyota Motorsport (TMG) principal engineer Nico Ehlert said: “It’s important to say that the GT86 CS-R3 which Isolde will drive is not the finished article; we need the data from Rallye Deutschland to finalise our development programme. But it does represent a significant step in the GT86 CS-R3 story and gives a clear indication to our future customers that this project is progressing quickly.”
TMG has been in charge of engineering a competition ready model of the GT86 and it has largely been focusing on reducing the weight of the vehicle, improving its safety, while making sure it is reliable and fun to drive.
Yet owners will still be able to modify the two-litre boxer engine and change the cam-lift and compression ratio, which is expected to increase output to between 240 and 250 brake horsepower.
The first customer cars are due to be released during the first three months of 2015 in kit form. Prices are not going to be announced until the final specifications are released but they are expected to be comparable to other R3 cars.
For more articles like this, receive our weekly e-newsletter, including partner deals and all things motoring, register your email below.
Please note: You cannot subscribe to Smart-Motoring unless you put a tick in the checkbox below to indicate have read and agreed to our privacy policy.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.