The crazy thing about the all-new Toyota Prius isn’t just that it looks great, but it drives great too. That certainly couldn’t be said of older Prii, which were viciously competent at cutting fuel use but offered a driving experience that was less thrilling than a good nap. But everything looks better in race car form (prove me wrong, kids) and that’s especially true with the Prius 24h Le Mans Centennial GR Edition concept vehicle here to celebrate Japanese excellence at the world’s greatest auto race.
After all, Toyota’s headed back to Le Mans this weekend where it will attempt its sixth consecutive win in the top class—though it hasn’t had much in the way of competition there in the past few years. On the other hand, this year could get a lot more interesting (finally) as some rule changes mean Toyota’s GR10 Hybrid race cars will compete with some extra weight.
Maybe this Prius concept can be its good luck charm. It’s said to pack a full aero package “inspired” by the GR10, a carbon fiber hood, a wide-track suspension and some very choice Le Mans-style racing lights. Toyota says we will also see it on display at the 6 Hours of Fuji endurance race in September (which is finally back after a couple years of COVID-related cancellations.)
No word on whether the Prius 24h Le Mans Centennial GR Edition will see some sort of production version, though I absolutely wish it would, because that would be incredibly badass. Wouldn’t you want to get 56 mpg looking like that?
Now, the other fun thing about this concept is that it’ll be displayed at a special exhibit at the Le Mans Manufacturers’ Village called “Japan. Endless Discovery,” which is a joint effort from Toyota and Mazda—arguably the two most dominant Japanese marques to race at Le Mans (sorry, Nissan.) That exhibit celebrates Toyota’s wins in recent years as well as Mazda’s groundbreaking rotary-powered 787 race car in 1991.
This weekend is the 100th running of the race, so you should definitely try to tune in if you can. It should be a good one.
I don’t understand why they kept the Prius so uninteresting for so long. If it had been more exciting I’m sure the people who did buy them would still have bought them and others who didn’t might have. It just became hideous.
An MX-30 R-EV is the most exciting car that Mazda has to bring to LeMans?!
Well sign me up. Minus the 20K dealer weasel tax.
Those shoes will put a hurting on the MPG, but if they’re sticky and it comes with a battery depleting performance mode I want one!
The new Prius looks great, has better grunt and dynamics, but I can’t fit in one. The slope of the door opening + seating position makes egress difficult for a taller person like myself, as the distance between seat and the top of the door is too small. This diminished distance also affects headroom. If Toyota offered lowered front seat frames as an option, maybe… But I had to tell my mom that the shape of the new Prius would not work for her if she was looking for a new car. Hip replacement means needing a higher hip point for getting in and out, but then there’s no room above to slide in easily.
The new Prius is a car I wanted to love so much, but crashed and burned once I tried to sit in it.
Have you tried to sit in the current Rav4? Same damn problem. I’m short at 5’4″ and I still have to bend my neck while getting in to not hit my head on the A-pillar/roof. Granted it’s a TRD which has different seats than the standard model but what an oversight by Toyota.
I’d love a GR Prius and I hope they make one. They’re working hard to ditch the lame economy car image the Prius has carried for years and this would be a logical next step.
You and me both. A Prius that you can flog at autocross and then drive home at 50+mpg would be glorious.
Right?! I love my Kona N but unless you’re doing 60-70 consistently it’s horrendous on gas. I’d love a performance hybrid for the masses.
I’ve been cross-shopping fun shit like the Kona N against practical shit like the Prius. Why aren’t there more fun hybrids?!
I forgot if it was Jalopnik or TTAC that called the C-Max “the world’s first hybrid hot hatch” but it did seem to be a bit more sprightly than your average hybrid at the time. In hindsight I think we were starved for choice; our C-Max was reasonably quick compared to a Prius but it never felt like a hot hatch.
They really ought to do a GR Prius. It doesn’t seem like something that would be all *that* hard to do. I think Toyota has a real hit on their hands with the Gen 5, and they should lean into it.
I remember Matt of SmokingTire doing a OneTake review years ago of a Lexus CT200h that was modified for handling. The CT200h was functionally the Lexus Prius.
He was skeptical going in, but it ended up being shockingly good. Wasn’t fast, but you could drive it with your foot welded to the floor through the canyons, and was still comfortable for daily duty.
Chop the roof off and this baby would steal the Miata’s zoom zoom.
If it made it to production, the mark up would be insane.
I hope the AWD version of the new Prius Prime is available in a GR variant.
I was disappointed to find out that there is no AWD Prius Prime.
Fuck it, send it around the track and see what kind of lap time it can get and what its fuel economy is while doing that lap.
Only if it has a manual transmission.
It’s a Japanese performance car. They’re not too into automatics for their fun cars.
In before obligatory “grounded to the ground” comment.
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Looks straight out of Initial D. If this is the future of Prius, cover me in patchouli and call me a tree-hugger.
I never expected a Prius to look way better than a Mazda, but here we are.
For some stupid reason, they decided to display a MX-30, which is the awkward, incomprehensible, ugly duckling of the Mazda family. Yes, battery, but the MX-30 doesn’t do EV well.