That High

You knew it was too good to be true, or at least too interesting. There won't be a high-powered, race-derived Toyota Prius for sale soon. However, Toyota may be testing the market for such a thing.

Gazoo Racing is a division of Toyota that builds actual racecars and sports cars sold under the Toyota name. GR engineers are behind everything from one-off prototype race cars for endurance races to the GR86 coupe (starting at $28,400).

Gazoo is also behind a fair amount of online frolic. The GR team likes to plant easter eggs for future high-powered products in regular Toyota ads and bury teasers in odd places on the company's website.

Just before Memorial Day, it set the automotive press buzzing with an unexplained photo on a page about the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans race. It appeared to tease a high-performance Prius, of all things.

The photo had the proper proportions, showing just the lower air damn of a car hidden under a mostly closed garage door.

A GR Prius would have seemed absurd just a year ago. But the all-new 2023 Prius is unlike hybrids before it. It's shapely, offers almost 200 horsepower in its least powerful edition, and even has a grippy set of tires. A race-bred version of previous Prius models was unthinkable. A sporty take on this one is, well, thinkable.

But it is not to be.

Today, GR revealed details of the car. Called the Prius 24h Le Mans Centennial GR Edition Concept, it's not destined for sale.

It's a 2023 Prius with "exclusive wheels and aerodynamic performance parts inspired by" the GR team's current Le Mans racer, the GR010 Hybrid.

Modifications include side skirts, canards, a large rear wing, and a rear diffuser. It uses a "wide-track suspension, 235/50R 18-inch tires, and exclusive aerodynamic wheels." The hood is lightweight carbon fiber. And quad multi-headlamps improve visibility.

GR said nothing about plans to produce the car for sale, though it does have a license plate frame. The cost of a carbon-fiber hood is the biggest clue — we can't see anyone spending that kind of money on a Prius, even if it would be a hilariously capable stoplight racer.

The move, of course, could be a test to see if a few hints of a high-powered Prius generated the kind of interest that got you reading stories from automotive websites. We wouldn't rule out a GR Prius eventually.

But this one genuinely seems to be just a concept.

See how the latest models measure up based on expert ratings from our Kelley Blue Book editors. See all Best Hybrid Rankings.

2023 Toyota Prius

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