New GT300 Corolla unveiled

New GT300 class machine Corolla Axio GT unveiled.

apr's new machine for 2009 brought to light at Tokyo Auto Salon

On January 9th, SUPER GT's brand new GT300 class machine for the 2009 season, "COROLLA Axio apr GT," was unveiled at the Tokyo Auto Salon.

The developer of the new machine, apr, has competed in SUPER GT/JGTC with MR-S and MR2 and won driver's title three times in the past. They scored 1 win with MR-S last season. The team with outstanding record chose Corolla Axio as their machine to compete in the '09 season.

At the presentation held at Toyota booth, Team manager/chief engineer Hiroto Kaneso who takes the helm of apr explained the reason for picking a popular road car as their based vehicle. "My team has been using Corolla on the street, and, in spite of having a manual transmission, I often have taken the wheel also. I always thought that the car has everything in a pack: good balance, maneuverability, drivability, etc. From there, I thought 'Would we be able to make a racing car out of it?'"

He described the key points of the development as, "Utilize its characteristics and not to spoil them. Only a few people notice it, but the angle of Axio's windshield is ideal for a racing car. The size of the car also fits right in the numeric that I consider ideal. MR-S isn't bad either, but it's a little bit peaky. Contrastingly, Axio is easy to handle. If we can carry over the easiness to the racing machine, it would lessen the effort (for drivers)." He revealed the unexpectedly high potential of the car.

"To say 'We will win' is nothing special. In addition, we want to share the fun of racing with Toyota fans, Corolla fans, motorsports fans, and many other people." The team manager expressed his determination for the new season and left a strong message as the leader of one of the top player in the racing industry, apr.

Corolla Axio apr GT specification
Based vehicle: Corolla Axio
Car model: NZE141
Dimensions (L x W): 4410mm x 1795mm
Weight: Over 1100kg
Wheelbase: 2600mm
Transmission: HEWLAND 6-speed sequential
Suspension: F/R: Double wishbone
Engine model: 2GR-FSE
Engine type: Water-cooled V6 NA (Longitudinal-mounted)
Displacement: 3500cc
Max power: over 300ps / 6800rpm
Max torque: 39kg-m / 5200rpm
Tire: TBD
Wheel: RAYS F:10.5x18/R:11.0x18

-credit: supergt.net