Toyota Shows Sporty GR

Sep 09, 2023

The concept vehicle wears a carbon-fiber hood and aerodynamic elements inspired by the GR010 race car that Toyota has used to win back to back at Le Mans.

Before the 2023 Toyota Prius debuted last fall, we would've never used the words "Prius" and "sporty" in the same sentence. But then Toyota took the wraps off of the fifth-generation hybrid, which wowed with a sleek new body and a punchier powertrain. Now Toyota has brought out another surprise with the Prius 24h Le Mans Centennial GR Edition, a concept revealed ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend, showing a vision for a high-performance Prius.

Toyota says this special Prius is meant to honor the iconic race, and the hybrid hatchback has been fitted with a variety of motorsports-inspired parts. The GR-modified Prius—which we will henceforth call the GRius—wears dive planes on the front bumper, beefy side skirts that flow into extended wheel arches, and a sizable rear diffuser. There is also an aggressive wing sprouting from the rear hatch, and these aerodynamic add-ons are said to be influenced by the GR010 Hybrid race car that won Le Mans in 2021 and 2022.

The GRius concept also features a wider track that the standard Prius, and the black 18-inch wheels are shod in 235/50 Michelin tires, versus the usual 195-width rubber. The front bumper gains a wide, rectangular grille and square clusters of LED headlamps, while the hood has been replaced with a carbon-fiber unit to reduce weight. Toyota didn't mention any mechanical changes to the GRius, but we would hope that power has been boosted from the Prius Prime's 220 ponies. We doubt that Toyota will actually put a GR-branded Prius into production for the U.S. market, but this concept won't stop us from dreaming.

Caleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan.

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