- "The revolutionary hybrid-powered racing prototype that waged war at Le Mans and the WEC."
- ―In-game catch text for the car, from GT7's car collection
The Toyota TS030 Hybrid '12 is a LMP1 race car produced by Toyota. It appears in Gran Turismo 6 (as part of Update 1.09), Gran Turismo Sport and Gran Turismo 7.
The car appears to be the #7, driven by Alexander Wurz, Kazuki Nakajima, and Nicolas Lapierre, who participated in the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship. Wurz and Lapierre finished 3rd in the driver standings while Nakajima settled for 13th place. Additionally, Toyota went on to finish 2nd in the Manufacturers' Championship.
In-game description[]
- "The TS030 Hybrid was Toyota's first ever hybrid race car, designed for endurance events. Developed to compete in the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans and World Endurance Championship, Toyota spent years refining its THS-R hybrid system. The final product was realized through a collaboration between Higashi-Fuji Technical Center and Toyota Motorsport. Although its debut at Le Mans fell short the company's expectations, it went on to clain an impressive 2nd place in the WEC!"
- ―In-game description of the car, from GT7's Brand Central
The TS030 hybrid prototype race car waged battle in the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans and the WEC (World Endurance Championship) as one of the first hybrid-powered machines to step onto the international motorsports stage.
As its name suggests, the TS030 succeeds the TS010 and TS020, Toyota's awesome race cars that competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 1990s. What sets the TS030 apart from its predecessors is its hybrid powertrain.
The THS-R system (Toyota Hybrid System-Racing) was developed by Toyota's production hybrid development team and the East Fuji Research Lab's motorsports department. The car utilizes a newly designed naturally-aspirated 3.4-liter V-8 and a Denso motor unit built into the rear gearbox. Power is stored in an electric double-layer capacitor.
The drivers of the TS030 were Alexander Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima. For the 24-hour race, a second car, driven by the formidable lineup of Anthony Davidson, Stéphane Sarrazin and Sébastien Buemi, was added.
At its first Le Mans race, the TS030 ran at the top of its class, but was forced to retire due to accidents and problems. However, the car made up for its shortcomings in the WEC. Of the six races the TS030 ran, it won three times, took three pole positions and set four fastest laps. And although the car didn't partake in every race of the series, it still managed to take 2nd overall at the end of the WEC season.
Acquisition[]
| Game | Purchase location | Credits | Other methods |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gran Turismo 6 (  v1.09+) |
Toyota Dealership | 2,000,000 | --- |
| Gran Turismo Sport | Toyota Brand Central | 1,000,000 | --- |
| Gran Turismo 7 | Toyota Brand Central | 1,000,000 | --- |
Trivia[]
- In Gran Turismo 6, when this car was first introduced as part of Update 1.09, the car's livery originally contained references to the FIA WEC Championship.
- Presumably due to licensing issues, any visual reference to said competition was replaced with barcodes with the release of Update 1.10. The barcodes still persist in GT Sport and GT7.
- For unknown reasons, the car has a noticeably lower quality textures compared to other cars. The quality degradation increases when a custom livery is used in GT Sport and GT7, compared to most other cars with custom liveries.
- A bug exists in which a custom livery does not show up on its visible parts, e.g. the fenders and mirrors, upon starting a race in cockpit view, leaving only the base paint layer. The bug does not apply to other camera views, however.