The TRD Griffon Concept is actually more than a concept, it's a working test mule for Toyota's racing division; TRD.
They reckon that the Griffon Concept is quicker round the Tsukuba Circuit than Ferrari 458, and all without adding any power!
If Toyota are to be believed and we assume they are, they've achieved this impressive feat by shedding weight, improving handling, chassis rigidity, upgrading suspension and brakes and adding down force and overall grip.
Which is the right way to develop a car in my opinion. Sort the chassis first then add the power later. At the front end there are 6 piston Brembo calipers, floating disks, Volk TE37SL rims, sticky Advan rubber and some sexy looking canards keeping things under control.
At the back it's all business too with an intricate dry carbon diffuser and a fully adjustable carbon rear wing, in-fact there's not much on the car that isn't carbon, even the roof has been replaced with a carbon version which has been bonded into place
The great thing about all this is that although the Griffon Concept is too extreme and too expensive to hit the garage forecourts you can be sure that TRD or one of the hundreds of aftermarket tuners will have all these sexy go-faster bits copied and reproduced in a flash, ready for you to bolt straight onto your GT86..
..and that's what I think is so great about this car, it has totally reinvigorated the tuning scene. It would be fair to say that with most modern cars you rarely have to lift the bonnet, except to check the oil level once in a while, if I owned a GT86 the bonnet would be up every weekend and i'd be dying for stuff to tinker with! i'd be scouring the internet for bits to make it lighter, faster, to stop quicker and handle better!
Just like I did many years ago when I was 17 with my Austin Mini
Images courtesy of Speedhunters
