Chevy powered Toyota pre-runner set for the Baja 500

[texan_idiot25]

You have to love irony!

TForce Motorsports brought their brand new Tundra D-Cab PreRunner to this evening's Baja Legacy Party at Horsepower Ranch. The sharp looking truck immediately caught my eye and the attention of most of the party's guests.


I spoke with TForce crew member Matt Riggle, who laid out the specs on the truck. It's powered by a stock Chevrolet LS2 V8, positioned aft between the cargo box and rear cabin, behind the b-pillar. The Tundra's LS2 generates approximately 375-hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. Mr. Riggle says the team chose the LS2, "because it's reliable and we can run regular Pemex gas (instead of racing fuel)." The truck also uses King off-road racing shocks and Baja T/A tires from BF Goodrich.


Former Indy car racer and Indy 500 winner Danny Sullivan co-owns TForce Motorsports with Dan Friedkin, a Toyota dealer. The team is not directly sponsored by Toyota, according to Mr. Riggle.


Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Friedkin also drive the team's new 765-hp Toyota Tundra Trophy Trucks that will race in this year's Baja 500 and Baja 1000.
The Tundra PreRunner will support the Tundra Trophy Truck during the race and will be used by the crew to check out the course before the start of the Baja 500.

http://www.pickuptrucks.com/html/sto...-baja-500.html

The famous Baja 500 begins today in Ensenada, CA, and one of the more interesting dirt racers discovered by our friend Mike Levine at Pickuptrucks.com is the Tundra D-Cab PreRunner from TForce Motorsports. It looks good, has ridiculously huge King off-road racing shocks, and it's owned by former Indy 500 champ Danny Sullivan, but that's not what makes this rally racer unique. Power for the PreRunner comes from none other than GM's LS2 small-block. TForce crew member Matt Riggle told Levine that the team chose the 375-hp, 400 lb-ft powerplant because of its reliability, as well as its ability to run on regular Pemex gas that's much cheaper than facing fuel.

For the record, Toyota does not sponsor team TForce or its hopped-up PreRunner, but you can imagine that choosing a GM engine over one by Toyota because of reliability isn't exactly what the folks in Aichi, Japan like hearing.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/30/t...a-in-baja-500/


But regardless of badges and motors, godspeed Chevy-Tundra! Baja 500 is badass no mater what sort of mixed-salad you toss into the race.

[xmodkidd33]

Yes, you have to love it.

[Donziikid]

I like the graphics on the truck and I love the Baja 500.

I wish I could go to one of those some day..

[suicide_star]

doesn't surprise me much considering some of chevy's cars have toyota engines. sweet looking truck though..nice find =)

[texan_idiot25]

Originally Posted by suicide_star

doesn't surprise me much considering some of chevy's cars have toyota engines. sweet looking truck though..nice find =)

GM and Toyota don't share engines beyond the Ecotec powered Vibe/Matrix (GM engine, Toyota platform).

Who wants to truck down to Ensenada next november for the Baja 1000?

[verticalslik]

So what should the new motto be for Chevy used in Toyota? We got "Built Ford tough, with Chevy stuff" now "Toyota, Moving Forward, with a Chevy V8"