– Toyota continues its preparations for the rule changes in the World Rally Championship for 2027. The Japanese brand recently tested the latest version of its prototype in Spain.
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Toyota is so far the only major manufacturer to have committed to building a new car according to the new technical regulations that will come into effect next year.
Under the new FIA framework, the cars will be built with a cost cap of 345,000 euros. They are largely based on the current Rally2 vehicles.
They will feature a double wishbone suspension configuration, with braking and steering systems derived from the current Rally2 specifications.
Toyota began testing a first prototype last year. Images and videos of the vehicle first appeared on social media in February during a test in Portugal.
These images showed a car with a significantly different shape than the current GR Yaris. All Toyota drivers have tested the car, except for nine-time world champion Sebastien Ogier.
In addition, Toyota has also enlisted the services of 2019 world champion Ott Tänak for development testing. The team has so far remained silent about the exact model designation of the car.
Lead engineer Kevin Struyf described it before the completion of the final version of the 2027 vehicle simply as a “prototype.” This week, more images and videos from a test in Spain have surfaced.
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They show a Toyota prototype for 2027, whose shape more closely resembles the GR Yaris, although the rear of the car bears similarities to the road vehicle Toyota C-HR.
Struyf confirmed during the Croatia Rally in an interview with Motorsport.com, a sister platform of Motorsport-Total.com, that the team is building a new vehicle for further testing after the first prototype tests.
“At the moment, it is just a prototype of a rally car. For 2027, the regulations in rallying have changed for the first time so that the bodywork can be largely freely designed.”
“Therefore, the manufacturer’s decision on which direction we want to go is not yet entirely clear, so it is simply a basic test carrier, a prototype. Many people speculate about a specific model.”
“But at the moment, there is no concrete model yet, it is just a prototype,” said Struyf. “Basically, we are continuing the development of the test carrier that we saw in Portugal.”
“The car will continue to undergo some tests this month [April]. Very soon, another chassis will be under construction. We will, let’s say, test the final model a little more.”
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“The problem is that there were some technical elements that were not very clearly or precisely defined by the FIA [when we started development].”
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