You would be forgiven for thinking all the Toyota Prius is good for is pootling a tree hugging family through suburbia or being the chariot of choice for a ride sharing service. Rightly so. It’s inoffensive, efficient, silent and sort of friendly to the environment as it will shut off its internal combustion engine and continue to be driven by its electric motor. Oddly in 2011, Toyota decided that enough was enough, and that the Prius needed an image shift. The best way that they went about it was through competitive motorsports.

So Toyota and APR racing team decided to make an entry to the Asian-based Super GT300 racing series. Now that they were able to make justification for their entry, APR had to work on the Prius in order for it to comply with the regulations. First order of business was chucking the Atkinson cycle hybrid 1.8 litre four-cylinder engine into the bin and replacing it with a 3.4 litre RV8K engine from a LMP1 car. The V8 engine was de-tuned to produce 300hp thanks to regulations. Shoehorning such an engine needed some creative engineering so they decided to take advantage of a loophole and mounted the hulking V8 engine in the middle of the car. How they were able to exploit this loophole was cars that were built before a certain date were allowed to have the engine mounted anywhere. After mounting the engine in the middle, to keep the spirit of the Prius alive, the V8 engine retained the same hybrid system from its road-going sibling, except it had a much bigger lithium-ion battery pack. The result was an extra 150hp in electric power alone.

At first, APR were experiencing reliability issues with the Prius. However soon after the kinks were ironed out, the car proved to be competitive by the sixth race at Fuji. After snatching a pole position during qualifying, the Prius GT was able to land itself a podium finish ending up in second place after the main race. Yes that’s right, a Toyota Prius was able to hang with GT3 racers. Too bad it ended up finishing 10th in its first season, but with reliability issues, the season was understandably about damage limitation.

2013 turned out to be much better for the Prius GT. A new season also brought a new change to the Prius GT. APR changed the hybrid powertrain system from lithium-ion batteries to a super capacitor hybrid system. Although the car was retired for the first and third race, it managed to finish 8th overall in the standings and was able to clinch another podium at Fuji again. Unlike the previous year, they were able to secure a victory. With much thanks to the driver pairing of Morio Nitta and Koki Saga, this car had a knack for being fast at the Fuji circuit because later on in the year, it secured another podium finishing in 2nd place.

2014 turned out to be more of the same for the Prius GT. They suffered three retirements in the first four races due to reliability issues. However, they were still able to conjure up two second place podium finishes at the Suzuka and at Motegi. The Prius GT ended up finishing 8th in the standings again.

2015 brought in some new changes to the car and their fortunes. The switch in tyres was made from Yokohamas to Bridgestones. The driver line-up also underwent a minor alteration. From the Toyota Young Driver Program, Toyota introduced us to Japanese Super Formula driver Yuichi Nakayama. The Prius GT got off to a flying start as it won the first race of the season at Okayama International Circuit. It also seemed as if the reliability setbacks had been resolved as they did not suffer any retirements. With that in mind, APR went on to score two more podiums. The Prius finished in 2nd place at Sugo and it won the final round at Motegi. Overall, the Prius finished 3rd, right behind the GT3 spec Nissan GT-Rs.

With the title slipping away from APR in 2015, it seemed as if that would be the end of the Prius GT. New regulations were to be introduced and the RV8K engine was being phased out as Toyota’s other racers were using new four-cylinders and V6s. However, like a popular soap opera character, the Prius did not actually die and went on to compete for the 2016 season. APR went as far to construct a second chassis for Kota Sosaki and gentleman racer Hiroaki Nagai. The second car used the old lithium-ion battery power setup as opposed to the super capacitor. The Prius GT also received a facelift in line with its updated road-going sibling.

The defiance and progress APR and Toyota have made gave the team a new resurgence as 2016 proved to be the Prius GT’s most successful year. The team got off to a poor start finishing 12th in the opening round, but they managed to claw their way back to the front throughout the year by scoring three podiums. APR took the win at Sugo, and achieved 2nd place podium finishes at Suzuka and Motegi. They topped off the season by finishing in 2nd place, 18 points behind a Toyota GT86.

For 2017 Yuichi Nakayama moved on to pilot the Lexus RCF GT3 so his duties were taken over by Rintaro Kubo. This year was a big turning point for the Prius GT. It can be said that 2017 was the beginning of the decline for APR and the Prius GT. Before the happenings of the 2017 Super GT season, the only time the Prius GT failed to win a single race had been its inaugural season in 2012. The season was one to forget as they suffered two retirements and sub-10th place finishes with the exception of one 3rd place podium finish at Suzuka. Solace can be taken in the fact that its still able to snag a podium finish.

2017 might have been a poor year for APR, but just like the spirit the Prius GT demonstrates though adversity, the car will not go down without a fight. Despite a retirement in the opening round at Okayama, APR went on to claim four podium finishes at Fuji (2nd), Chang International (2nd), Fuji (3rd) and Motegi (2nd). Koki Saga and Kohei Hirate rounded off a good season finishing in 3rd place with 61 points.

2019 would be the final year that the Prius GT would compete in GT300 series. New regulations were introduced and the most important one was the position of the engine. All GT300 competitors had to position the engine in the exact same place as its road-going equivalent. Unfortunately it was time to bid farewell to the mid-engined RV8K Prius GT. The engine was fitted to the front of the car with power still being sent to the rear wheels. Not only was the layout changed, but the RV8K engine had been phased out and in went a new 5.4 litre V8 2UR-GSE that was sourced from the Lexus RCF GT3. The big difference between the two cars is that the Prius GT retained the super capacitor hybrid powertrain.

Sure the Prius GT never went on to win a Super GT championship, but it did succeed in providing an alternative image of what the Toyota Prius can be. It also showed just how brilliant Toyota are at making racing cars, and thank God they took the route of constructing something very unorthodox, charming, and most importantly: talented.