Open Wheel NASCAR Racing 2003 Season
Toyota Race Car
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About Team Toyota
Until 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 |
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