Tough Toyota: G’s Mark X Concept

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Out of all the cars that Toyota had prepared for us at Fuji Speedway on Friday, this G’s Mark X G Sports Concept had to be my favorite. It’s nothing new–we have seen it before at Tokyo Auto Salon back in January–but admiring its lines under the strong summer sun, I really couldn’t keep my eyes off of it!

The idea of creating a fire-breathing performance sedan out of the new generation GRX133 Mark X seems like such a good idea now that there is nothing on the Toyota lineup to even match what the old Mark II and Chasers of yesteryear used to offer. The G Sports Concept, “G” of course comes from Gazoo Racing, is based on the top of the line 350S version of the Mark X using the same 2GR directly injected 3.5L V6 as found on the Lexus IS and GS. Being a primarily stylistic exercise, the engine has been left as is on this particular car, delivering an adequate 318 HP and smooth torque curve peaking at 280 lb/ft.

But after sampling the Modellista tuned Mark X + M supercharger that Toyota kindly prepared for us (which sells in Japan for just over ¥5,000,000 or $59,000), I discovered first hand how savage the 2GR can feel with a little bit more power. The supercharger kit would be the perfect match for the G’s Mark X giving it 360 horses and an instant throttle response with a towering 367 lb/ftm of torque. See more views of this amazing car at Speedhunters.

-by Dino Dalle Carbonare