So Far Beyond Cool: Yes, it’s an FR-S Rally Car!
Toyota is slowly trying to kill me. Not by me hooning my FR-S, or having a beige mobile slam into me. No, they are trying to kill me by slowly putting pictures of their FR-S spec Rally car on their Twitter page.
Meant to race in WRC in the 2WD class, the FR-S rally car is a return for a top level automaker in rally using a RWD car. As of July 1st, the first prototype car entered production and will undergo testing throughout the summer with a hopeful completion and sale date of next year. Toyota has already achieved Group A homologation, and now is seeking the FIA R3 stamp of approval.
The cars normally aspirated engine will gain a definite increase, most likely due to either better internals, or a turbocharger. The interior is stripped and fitted with a FiA spec roll-cage. And the car loses its 6 speed manual transmission in favor of a DCT 6-speed sequential box. Along with a whole other host of awesome upgrades.
We will get to see the entire car hopefully in the latter half of next month, but the car will become available to purchase in the first quarter of 2015 in kit form, with a potential fully prepped car ready later that year.
I’ve been waiting for Toyota to bring a fully prepped FR-S rally car ever since Nameless Performance built theirs! Now with these pictures slowly populating the interwebs, my fervor is getting worse and worse. When the last picture came out, I asked Toyota if I could just send mine back for the full works package. They still haven’t responded. I will continue to wait for their response.
Photo’s via TMG Motorsports