I guess hybrids aren't so boring after all? Interested to see how this will stack up against the turbo diesel in the Audi's and what fuel savings they can accomplish with their systems.

So far they're testing two variants of the car, one system effectively gives them 4WD (similar to Acura NSX concept). Two electric motors driving the front wheels. The other system makes the car RWD. Both mated to a new V8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bFSh...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHyqTUeE4Us


Good write up on the car:
http://www.racecar-engineering.com/n...brid-revealed/

 

Is the hybrid system used to supplement the output of the motor so that they can make the same HP while using less fuel? With the added weight of two electric motors, plus batteries, plus charging system/electronics, I'd imagine the savings would have to be substantial to overcome the added weight.

 

It's not really "new" racing, but becoming more mainstream now, you will see hybrids start to become popular in this level of sports car racing.

I think the hybrid technology in this Toyota will be just like KERS in F1 pretty much, similar to what Porsche did with their GT3 Hybrid. It stores kinetic energy, push it and get a boost, in this case to the front or rear wheels whichever they decide to use.