About Team ToyotaUntil last
year, Toyota Motorsports had never supplied an engine to the Indy Racing League (IRL) — let
alone the Indianapolis 500. That was then, this is now. Toyota dominated the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" with Team
Penske drivers Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves providing a 1-2 finish. But we were just getting started. After
winning 10 of our first 14 races, we clinched our first IRL IndyCar Series Engine Manufacturer’s Championship. Then,
in the final race of the season, Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing captured the driver’s championship. For the
season, seven of the top ten drivers were Toyota drivers. Toyota won 11 of 16 races with 31 top-three finishes. All of
these victories are the result of intricate strategies, from fuel mapping and telemetry to when and how to pit. Then
again, there was that blistering 231.725 mph pole position at Indy.
Background
The Toyota Indy V8 is an all-new engine designed from a "clean sheet of
paper" for competition in the Indy Racing League (IRL) IndyCar Series beginning in 2003. The 3. season-opening Toyota
Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March. The Toyota Indy V8 was designed,5-liter, naturally aspirated power
plant will make its racing debut in the 2003 built and developed by Toyota Racing Development (TRD), U.S.A. in its
47,000-square-foot Costa Mesa, Calif., facility. Dynamometer testing began in February 2002, and the engine was tested
in a race car for the first time in July 2002.
Design of the Toyota Indy V8 draws heavily on experience gained with Toyota's successful CART racing
engines. The high-rpm, turbocharged engines earned 21 victories and 23 pole positions from 1999 to 2002, including the
CART FedEx Championship Series Driver's (Cristiano da Matta) and Manufacturer's Championships in 2002. The Toyota RV8F
and its predecessor, the Toyota RV8E (used in competition in 2000) are the only American-designed and built engines to
win in CART competition during the past 22 years
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 SPECS
Type: Toyota Indy V8, Naturally Aspirated, DOHC, 4
Valves per Cylinder, Fuel Injected
Displacement: 3.50 Liters (213.6 Cubic Inches)
Power: 675+ hp
Maximum RPM: 10,300 rpm (Mandated by IRL Electronic Limiter)
Engine Development and Maintenance: Toyota Racing Development (TRD), U.S.A., Inc.
Engine Block: Aluminum Alloy
Crankshaft: Forged Steel Alloy
Pistons: Forged Aluminum Alloy
Connecting Rods: Forged Steel Alloy
Engine Management System: Denso Fuel and Ignition System
Fuel: Methanol | |