Toyota Racing Development TRD - Everything You Need to Know | Up To Speed

(Engine roar) - Gather around, children, for today I am here to tell you the story of an unlikely hero. It is a story that came out of nowhere and surpassed all odds. It is the story of Toyota Racing Development. How did our hero go from an upstart

racing

division to a world leader in motorsports? Here's

everything

you

need

to

know

to get up to

speed

on TRD. - (laughs) Turd. (light music) - Many thanks to our friends at eBay Motors for sponsoring this episode. Guys, I'm constantly looking at cars. It's an obsession that affects every part of my life.

Some might say it fills the void of my father's search. Now I have used all the typical sites. Fake's Book Martet Place, Greg's List, Auto Trainer, but then I thought, I buy

everything

on eBay. Why don't I buy cars there too? It turns out that eBay is also a great place to buy cars! And they have a new app so I can see the cars when I'm on the move. Because I am constantly moving. If you don't

know

how to buy a car online, I understand. But eBay offers you the option of using escrow.com to purchase your new car safely.

It's no longer necessary to meet a guy dressed as a clown at the port at five in the morning to exchange a pillowcase full of watches for a low-mileage '86 Golf. I mean... We've all been there too many times, right? Download the eBay Motors app by clicking the link in the description below. If you end up purchasing a car, you'll receive a $100 gift card. That's enough to buy a shift knob, or a complete oil change, or a steering wheel hub adapter, and I know many of you have a steering wheel on the wall and no way to plug it into any car you own.

Let's change that. I know I'm guilty of it. Download the app, it will let eBay know we are doing a good job and will allow us to make many more videos for you in the future. Chapter one: Tasco Hot Dog. Now, if Toyota Racing Development is Batman, then its Gotham City is 1950s Japan. After World War II, Japan's economy was a disaster and its automotive industry was no exception. Demand for anything other than utility trucks was low, and the few cars that were on the roads had to stay on them, because the average car buyer couldn't afford to replace them.

This led Toyota executives of the time to develop Toyota Technocraft. Technocraft was a bodywork and tuning department with the mission of making existing cars work well. Motorsports weren't even close to anyone's mind at the time. However, one country that was interested in

racing

was Australia. And honestly, can you blame them? It's fucking flat, it's fucking dusty, and it's basically one big off-road track. The biggest event of all was the Round Australia rally, which circled the entire continent. The race was so successful that the Australian government approached the Japanese consulate to request Japanese teams to participate. So Technocraft set out to modify a car for Round Australia, and this is the part of the story where Batman puts on the balaclava for the first time and walks around Gotham City trying to find street thugs for him to beat up.

This is Toyota's start in racing. Technocraft sees an opportunity in a special division for competitors, a sort of Toyota Racing Development, if you will. And, naturally, it was called Toyopet Seibi Co Ltd. But it was better known as Tosco, Toyota Sports Corner. - Welcome back to Toyota Sports Corner, Sports Corner. I'm your host, Pames Jumphrey, and I'm here to bring you all the highlights from the 1957 Mobilgas Round Australia rally. Weighing in at 3,700 pounds and with a whopping 48 horsepower, we have the Tosco-modified Toyopet Crown Deluxe. After 19 grueling days and over 10,000 miles, here it comes, surprisingly, nothing broke.

Now back to James in his home studio, not going crazy and making friends to talk to during this quarantine. - Thank you, Pames. The following year, Japan would follow Australia's example and introduce the Round Japan rally and, in 1960, the Japanese Grand Prix. Rough would dominate them all. Toyota's careers had developed. Chapter Two: Toyota's first supercar, also known as The Dark Knight. By the mid-1960s, the Japanese economy had recovered to the point that a luxury car market was beginning to develop. Toyota was also seeing the financial success of its production cars. 1966 saw the introduction of the Corolla, have you ever heard of it, it was a huge success and continues to be today, but Toyota

need

ed a halo car to start competing with the big boys.

So they turned to Tosco, which was now called Yamaha. (gasps) Oh, surprise! You had no idea the whole time I was talking about Tosco, I was just talking about Yamaha before it was Yamaha! Hmm? Now Yamaha is the Lucius Fox of this story. The gadget guy who gives Batman all the cool stuff about him. In 1963, Yamaha was known primarily for making lightweight motorcycles and some nice reed organs. However, more money is made on luxury cars than on pianos. So Yamaha set out to find a partner to help them develop a sports car. This video is about Toyota Racing Development, so you can guess which Japanese car company they went with: Nissan. - Another twist. - Yes, Nissan. - I'm on the edge of my seat! - The design was originally going to be Nissan's entry into the sports car market, but before signing the deal with Yamaha, Nissan purchased Prince Motor Company, which already had a luxury sports car offering in the Skyline.

So now, Yamaha had an amazing design on its hands, internally codenamed A5-50X, with no one to produce it. So they took it to Toyota. At the time, Toyota was seen as a boring brand. Can you even believe that? These guys made the Supra! But for Toyota, the Yamaha design would be exactly what they needed to make an international splash and cement their reputation. Toyota and Yamaha rushed the prototype to be ready for the 1965 Toyota Auto Show. Honda and Datsun had sports cars in production, and Toyota had its own 44-horsepower Sports 800, but this, the next car, would change. the rules of the game.

It wasn't just a sports car. It was Japan's first supercar. - Oh, that's very nice, that's very nice, that... wow! What's that? Oh my lord! What a beautiful, beautiful car. Oh, and it's the 2000GT. - Toyota took the two-liter straight-six engine from the Toyota Crown and used Yamaha's aluminum craftsmen to design a new double overhead cam head that raised horsepower to 150. It had a five-

speed

manual gearbox , a limited slip differential and independently mounted suspension, a first in Japan. The brilliant, super-low two-seater fastback had incredibly cool pop-up headlights and a lacquered rosewood interior from Yamaha's piano department.

Have you ever seen piano wood? It is wood that looks like glass. The car's debut at the Tokyo Motor Show made a splash, but what really caught the attention of the automotive world was when they put the 2000GT on the track. They entered him into the first Fuji 24 Hour Race and, most famously, the Yatabi High Speed ​​Trials, which... oh, I'm listening right now, we've got a man on the ground, Pames? - That's right James, I'm here in Yatabi in the middle of a real monsoon. The Tosco team has been racing this yellow and green prototype for 72 consecutive hours, and 15,000 kilometers.

A feat of strength for both men and machines, this car is about to break 16 endurance records. And... (splashing) That's it. Can I get an umbrella please? Back to you, James. - Thanks Pames. The car did whatever the 1965 version of breaking the Internet did, and Toyota became that image of Kim Kardashian with champagne on her butt. - Up to speed. - Download the eBay Motors app. Click the link in the description below and if you purchase a car, you will receive a $100 gift card. That's enough to buy a shift knob, a small decorative piece, or a mirror.

Many of your cars need a lot of things that cost less than $100. Go buy it for it. Please. He called me, he called me your car and said, "Hey, can we get one of these?" (laughs) - Up to date! -Japanese cars weren't getting international respect due to a short history and, well, racism. But the 2000GT was making its way around the world. Road and Track magazine compared it to a Porsche 911, and in 1967 it became a Bond car. (brakes squeal) (engine revs) Chapter Three: Pony Race. After success with a supercar, they decided, hey, you know, I think we can all agree that it was pretty fantastic.

Why don't we make more racing cars? So designer Jiro Kawano designed the Toyota 7. The prototype used the straight-six engine from the 2000GT, but they followed it up with a 3.8-liter V8. However, it wasn't enough power to beat the big Chevys of the time, so the next generation used a five-liter V8 and, in 1970, they added a turbo. Making the 7 the first turbocharged racing car. Due to rule changes, the turbo never made it to competition, but still! The first turbo racing car? (growls) Yeah, great! And then came the gas crisis. - For those of you who have been spared the experience until now, we want to share the emotions Americans feel at the gas lines. - Listen guys, I know you're sick of hearing about it, but it's part of history, and we'll cover it whenever it comes up, it's called the gas crisis tour and it touched everything.

We may have some t-shirts coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled, you'll be the first to know. And many manufacturers withdrew from motorsports due to the gas crisis. But Toyota, Toyota reinvested in racing. Seeing it as a way to showcase interesting cars that would appeal to a global audience and change its image as a sleepy brand. An exciting car that appeals to a global audience, you say? It seems to me that we are talking about Scotty Kilmer's favorite car. That's how it is. The Celica was aimed squarely at American pony cars, if you couldn't tell from the grill alone.

They had great success with the Celica 1600GT winning its class at the Nurburgring Six Hour Race, the Spa 24 Hour Race and the 1973 Fuji 1000 Kilometer Race. And finally, ladies and gentlemen, the time has come, We have reached the Toyota Racing Development part of our Toyota Racing Development story. The iconic orange, red and yellow color combination is making its debut. In 1976, after decades of success, Toyopet Seibi Co Ltd moved from Toyota Sports Corner to TRD. - Tur-- - Don't even say it. - Shit. - You're in big trouble, sir! After years of being a joke, Japanese cars were being taken seriously in the US, so to capitalize on this, in 1979, Toyota incorporated TRD USA.

TRD USA, which originally opened as a performance parts importer in California, was completely independent of Toyota Motor Sales USA. As the two entities became involved, TRD shifted its focus to the competition in an attempt to further Americanize the brand, thus releasing thousands upon thousands of unfunny jokes. - Why are you looking at me? I stand by those jokes. - Chapter four: Is that a Supra? Well. It's time to talk about the Supra. Despite the car's stellar reputation now, the Supra spent most of the '80s being mediocre in terms of performance. Thank goodness there was an official parts importer that offered performance upgrades like LSD, adjustable suspension and headlight washers!

Yeah! Cool! And in 1987, Toyota finally got the engine right at the factory with the 7M-GTE. They're kind of, you know, early JWs. The Mark Three superturbo became its own variant, with 230 horsepower and a sick spoiler, combined with almost unlimited tuning capabilities. The supra craze peaked in 1994 with the TRD 3000GT. This was a street legal version of the Supra that competed in the Japanese GT championship. Only 35 were made and I have four of them. The focus in this car would be on improving dynamics, rather than increasing power. TRD redesigned the splitter, defuser and doubled the size of the front intake.

The new wing could be adjusted to six different angles. I also got six great angles. One, two, three, four, five, blue steel, six. But long before all this, in the early '80s, the Supra split from its cool parent, the Celica. The Celica became front-wheel drive, but don't let that fool you! (engine roars) In 1983, TRD teamed up with legend Dan Gurney and All American Racers to enter the Celica in the IMSA GT Championship. In 1986, they developed a Celica GTO, based on the newly introduced Celica turbo all track, which produced 450 horsepower. The Celica GTO won its class at the Road America 500 and won outright at Watkins Glen, becomingthe first Japanese GTO to achieve a victory in IMSA, another first!

Other! As my friend DJ Kelly would say, we are the best! Now, of course, that's what all the rich All American Racers kids were doing, but what were the real, salt-of-the-earth, homely, drifting kids driving in the '80s? The AE86. We did a whole episode on this car. I'll put a link in the description below, check it out after this if you don't have your Toyota repaired. Part of what makes this car so legendary is the weight balance, so performance parts had to be carefully considered before being thrown down the hill in a Hachi-Roku race. Twisting mountain drifts will always be an important part of Toyota racing history. (engine roars) (brakes screech) Chapter Five: Baja Blast.

In the 1990s, there were as many Toyota racing efforts as there were actors who had played Batman. In 1990, TRD designed the 90C-V, which became the flagship car of the Toyota Europe team. It was a carbon fiber racing monocoque with a 3.2-liter turbocharged V8. It was short enough and had a big enough wing that it looked like a Batmobile, which is very fortunate for the Batman metaphor I keep pushing in this episode. - Yeah, it's kind of a lazy joke anyway. Turd. - In North America, the 90s meant that Toyota was not just racing cars. Now they were racing trucks.

TRD was off-road everywhere, including the granddaddy of all off-road racing, the Baja 1000. There's no way to talk about Baja or even racing in the '90s in general without talking about the Ironman Ivan Stewart. This guy is stone cold. a former blacksmith, he won Baja with Precision Preparation Incorporated, or PPI, in 1993, and in 1998, all alone. That's more than 20 hours behind the wheel, on some of the most demanding terrain in the world, alone. He did it in a T100. Now, if you grew up when I did, this is the truck you picture when you think of off-road racing.

Its '98 version had a 4.9-liter V8 that produced 550 horsepower. Also in 1998, while Ironman was winning the Baja single-handedly, TRD was going to work on the MR2, offering a widebody conversion and factory-tuning it again for just 35 customers. These ultra-rare, tricked-out Mr Deuces would be known as the TRD 2000GT, and they were fucking sick! Curb weight was just 2,400 pounds and TRD allowed customers to choose whatever trim specs they wanted, so in some cases it was paired with MR2s making nearly 500 horsepower. Talk about fast oversteer! Would this be the last time TRD would combine crazy horsepower with lightweight bodies? (soft laughter) No, man.

Not even close. Chapter Six: The baby needs formula. Although it bounces much less than off-road, TRD has had years of success in open-wheel racing. In 2003, Team Penske won the Indianapolis 500 with a TRD engine. Shortly after that departure, Toyota became the first and so far only Japanese manufacturer to compete in NASCAR. Camrys, Tundras and now Supras? They have been wreaking havoc on ovals and have been the biggest headache for Chevy. Then in 2016, TRD broke Chevy's 13-season winning streak by winning the Manufacturers' Cup. Although it has been a short story, Toyota has invested heavily in NASCAR, sponsoring events and even starting an academy for young drivers.

This is the same model that football teams use to spot developing talent and sign them early, it's like I always say: let the kids lead. Chapter Seven: So many nonsense to choose from. - I knew you would come! - For some years now, TRD production has specialized in off-road vehicles. The Toyota comes in TRD Sport, TRD Off-Road, and TRD Pro. The TRD Off-Road version starts to really prepare the Tacoma for the trail, with Bilstein shocks, a locking rear differential, crawl control, and a terrain selector. . But if you hate driving on the streets or need to get to work driving across a river, the TRD Pro is your best friend.

It has everything the Off-Road has, plus a quarter-inch skid plate, wider wheels, and a larger sway bar. But what's really cool, and by cool I mean many of you probably think this is lame, is that you can now get TRD badges and fun stuff on almost every Toyota. For the first time, Toyota is launching TRD-badged sedans with the TRD Camry and, for some reason, a TRD Avalon. But in recent years, Toyota has launched, or brought back, I can't figure it out, a different motorsports division. I'm talking about Gazoo Racing. First it was Tosco, then TRD and now Gazoo.

There have been as many names for Toyota Racing as there are Batman movies! - (sighs) It doesn't work. Surrender. - Now Gazoo is not only behind many of Toyota's current motorsport efforts, but it's also the factory badge on the coolest cars they make. Both the Supra and the 86 are GR-branded cars, and while they're tragically not available in the United States, there's even a Yaris GR. (Engine roars) Hot hatch making 257 horsepower from the most powerful production 3-cylinder in a road car. Will the coexistence of TRD and Gazoo confuse consumers and ultimately only serve to dilute both brands?

Maybe! But throughout its history, Toyota Racing has evolved and this heritage means we have access to some great cars. What are we, Bruce Wayne? (laughs) - That's all. That's all. Excuse me, sorry, excuse me, I'm out. (beep) - Buff Horse Sticker Pack. (upbeat music) - You get not three, not four, not six, but five awesome buff horse stickers to let everyone in traffic know that you won't settle for a skinny, weak horse. You only like the beefiest horses out there. We have this one, it's a Donut made with horseshoes. We have this one, it's just a horseshoe, but it's one of my favorites.

We have I love hobby horses. We also have this one that says my other car is an upgraded stallion, so people know that whatever you drive isn't the only upgraded stallion in your fleet. And then we have this one that is not influenced by any kind of Italian car company, so don't sue us. I am very excited about these stickers. I think they turned out really great, they are all very high quality and the only place you can get them is at donutmedia.com. (upbeat music) I love you.