Detroit Auto Show: Toyota FT-HS Hybrid Sports Concept

Detroit Auto Show: Toyota FT-HS Hybrid Sports Concept

Toyota will now introduce the Toyota FT-HS Hybrid Sports Concept which is powered by a 400hp hybrid powertrain at next month’s Detroit Auto Show. It’s meant to be a 2+2-style car and large enough for the occasional backseat passenger. "We feel there's a hole in our lineup," says Kevin Hunter, the vice president of Calty Design Research. "Toyota hasn't had a sports car since the Supra was dropped in 1997. We need some emotional punch in our lineup, a halo product."

"We feel there's a hole in our lineup," says Kevin Hunter, the vice president of Calty Design Research. "Toyota hasn't had a sports car since the Supra was dropped in 1997. We need some emotional punch in our lineup, a halo product." Most of the thrust is expected to be delivered from the 3.5L V6 engine much like the Lexus GS 450h which makes around 292hp at 6,500rpm and a 650V electric motor to make the 197hp at peak output. This boost of acceleration will however be only for a few seconds and will be to some extent an equivalent of the nitrous oxide boosters in some sports cars.

The Hybrid Sports Concept has a length of 170.3 inches, 73.2 inches wide, 50.8 inches high and has a wheelbase of 104.3 inches. The car is about the size of a Lexus SC 430 and much like it the front track is narrowly wider at 63 inches while the rear track measures at 61.2 inches. The car is equipped with carbon fiber wheels with 245/35ZR-21 tires in front and 285/30ZR-21 tires in the rear and according to Hunter were very difficult to make.

When it comes to the design the car looks more like from a sci-fi movie with tinny headlights which don’t go with the overly large front. However Toyota describes it as "Vibrant clarity is our new Toyota design language," Hunter tells us. "And the car is packing plenty of J-Factor, which is the local and global acceptance of Japanese design." "We were thinking about the Formula 1 aesthetic," Hunter tells us. "An aesthetic driven by function. The hard edges all over the FT-HS are aerodynamically functional. We also wanted to boil down the shape of the car to its minimum requirements. We wanted it to look lightweight. We call that 'Subtractive Mass.'"

It looks like Toyota is showing a bit of resistance in this segment with the introduction of the HSC, especially after the exit of the Toyota Supra some 10 years ago. From what can be seen from the computer-generated images (yes, those are computer-generated images) it doesn’t look all that promising or even “sports car-like”. The design has a bit too many edges and looks more like an insect with its narrow eyes. What the people think of it will be clear at the NAIAS at Detroit in January.

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