Toyota has confirmed a 5.2-litre capacity for the Supercars version of the quad-cam 2UR-GSE V8 that will power its Gen3 Supra, unveiled this evening in Sydney.
That’s achieved with a square 94×94 (bore and stroke) specification, while the engine runs hydraulic variable valve timing (VVT) and a bespoke inlet manifold.
Toyota claims a string of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts are used including the block, cylinder head, main caps, valley plate, valves, cam followers, piston squirters, timing chain and crank bolt.
The commitment to run a V8 engine was at the core of Toyota’s announcement last year that it’s finally ready to enter the tribal Ford versus GM battleground.
Speaking at a press briefing in Sydney ahead of the car reveal, WAU co-owner Ryan Walkinshaw affirmed the element of the engine that will mean most to fans.
“It sounds f***ing good,” he said.
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Toyota recently teased the sound of its V8 contender by releasing a clip via social media of the engine running on a dyno, believed to be during initial testing in the UK.
WAU orchestrated an international effort to put the engine together, led by its team principal and UK native Carl Faux.
Months of silence from WAU on the program triggered speculation about its status, with Walkinshaw admitting it proved a bigger task than anticipated.
“To try and make this engine program come to life was a lot more complicated than we initially thought it was going to be,” he said.
“It did require a lot more work and a lot more input from Toyota than was expected.
“But they are fantastic partners and, you know, it’s been nice to work not only with Toyota Australia, but various other departments from all over the world.”
Those other “departments” included Swindon Powertrains, whose managing director Raphaël Caillé attended the Townsville 500 with the team in July.
With track testing yet to kick off, Walkinshaw noted durability is set to be a major focus in the coming months.
“The engine’s been on the dyno and works very, very well,” said Walkinshaw.
“It’s going to have a lot more work that’s going to go into it to ensure the reliability is there as well.
“Obviously, with the Toyota brand and the GR brand attached to our race car, with such a long history of reliability being such a selling point for Toyota, we need to make sure that that’s a real top priority of ours.”
Supercars is also known to have been testing a version of the 2UR-GSE at its engine shop to get a head-start on parity analysis.
Engine parity has been a major point of contention since the Gen3 rules debuted in 2023, with GM fielding a 5.7-litre, pushrod V8 against the 5.4-litre, quad-cam Ford.
WAU will supply the Toyota engines for its two Supras plus the four to be campaigned by Brad Jones Racing.
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