Relax V8 Supercar fans, this isn’t Toyota’s entry in next year’s championship.
In fact this standard-looking Toyota Camry is in fact a 635kW dragster which was unveiled yesterday at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas.
Drag racers call them ‘sleeper’ cars – vehicles which look incredibly standard but hide enormous performance.
The shell is the 2015 Toyota Camry complete with standard four doors, but underneath is a full tube-frame dragster chassis and custom fabricated interior.
Power comes from a Toyota 5.7-litre V8 engine (code-named 3UR-FE) as fitted to the North American market Tundra ute which runs a TRD supercharger and wet nitrous fuel system.
Driving through DOT 335/30/18 drag racing tyres, Toyota reckons the 635kW Camry should be good for quarter-mile passes in around 9.80 seconds.
“The Camry is the ultimate sleeper – it definitely has the element of surprise and more than enough muscle to drop the hammer on any unsuspecting car that pulls up,” explained Toyota North America’s Motorsports Technical Centre director Chuck Wade whose team completed the vehicle in just 11 weeks.
