If you were to see a 2022 Toyota TRD Camry Next-Gen NASCAR next to your typical road-legal Toyota Camry at car dealers near Santa Ana, you would be in awe of their uncanny similarities. Everyone near Santa Ana auto dealers has been waiting in eager anticipation to see the reveal, and the day has finally arrived. The 2022 TRD Camry Next-Gen car for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series is here at last!
From the previous year up to now, the car dealers near Santa Ana tell us that NASCAR had lined up a new ruleset, which has lead to the TRD Camry rocking some major exterior, aero, and suspension changes, but has kept a lot of what is inside the hood. Besides the fact that this is a move toward better progress and safety, it also helps to lower the cost of entry for other teams in the future.
From the outside, the 2022 TRD Camry Next-Gen car at the car dealers near Santa Ana has the looks and many customers have the opinion that it resembles a lot like a road-going Camry than it ever did before. As a matter of fact, when it is parked next to its distant street-legal sibling, it is astonishing how much they look alike. Although the headlights are decals, and you don’t have to look for very long to realize that it is a tube-frame beast with a wider and lower shape.
Based on Toyota’s official press release on their Next-Gen car, “Toyota, TRD, and Calty Design have worked together to ensure as many body styling characteristics as possible are incorporated into the Toyota TRD Camry Next Gen so it resembles its production counterpart as closely as possible.”
NASCAR Next-Gen Race Car Amendments
Plus, there has been another significant Next-Gen update that has made it resemble the street-legal version – and that is the introduction of forged, 18-inch BBS mesh wheels. This center-lock (also referred to as single-lug) wheels are a radical change from what fans are used to with the big sidewalled 15-inch wheels of the past. Gone are the days when we watched pit crews hurrying themselves to buzz five lug nuts off in a rapid manner as well. Nowadays, NASCAR is a bit more like F-1 with just one lug, which will greatly reduce the precious seconds drivers have at pitstops.
Some other major changes are located under its lightweight composite body. Next-Gen cars will showcase a rear transaxle rather than the conventional transmission and rear differential. Also, they come equipped with independent rear suspension, a fully-sealed underbody with a rear diffuser to improve aero, and a redesigned chassis that allows for easier front and rear bumper replacement. The engine’s intake will be more towards the grille area, and cooling will be boosted by hood vents.
A 5-speed sequentially-shifted transmission will succeed the conventional, “legacy” H-pattern shifter, which will pass on between 550 and 670 horsepower to the rear tires, depending on the track and surface. This is all being done in the hopes of improving road course performance. Over the last few years, NASCAR has added a few road course configurations to its timetable, which is always a nice thing to see. Ovals action is fine, but altering it up with various sequences of corners is always massively entertaining.
Although we now know what Toyota’s Camry TRD racer will look like inside and out, many are left with a lot of unanswered questions. First of all, let’s take a look at the specs. The 5.7-liter naturally aspirated V-8 remains, and Toyota will run it in one of two states of tune depending on the track. The lower tune produces 550 horsepower, but the wick can go up to 670 horsepower for certain tracks.
There was some discussion about NASCAR introducing some form of an electric boost to its gas-burning powertrains as the sport tries to become more eco-conscious, but TRD technical director Andy Graves said we won’t witness those changes until at least 2023. That said, Graves also noted that the new, seventh-gen racer is basically “future-proofed,” and the packaging of the new car would let Toyota easily adapt a hybrid system to the big V-8.
Toyota’s Relationship With NASCAR
Toyota has continually only manufactured for NASCAR to show off three nameplates across NASCAR’s three national series. These are the TRD Camry in the NCS, the Supra in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS), and the Tundra in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS). Ever since Camrys joined the NCS and NXS in 2007, they have earned 155 NCS wins and three NCS championships, and least we forget about the 171 NXS wins and two NXS championships. Plus, since the Tundra’s entry into the NCWTS in 2004, Toyota has received 204 victories and eight Truck Series championships.
“For Toyota and TRD, we’re committed to the principle of continuous improvement, and we believe that’s reflected in this NextGen TRD Camry,” said David Wilson, president of TRD. “While we know the margins available with this new race car are smaller when it comes to adjustability, we know our race team partners and our team at TRD look forward to the challenge of learning about this car and discovering the performance opportunities that will help put the TRD Camry into victory lane.”
Toyota And TRD Enter The Next-Gen
For the first time, NASCAR is bringing in single-source parts suppliers. So, in a nutshell, there will be one company that will assemble the Next-Gen chassis, one will supply specific other parts, another will supply aero components, and so on. This will greatly reduce cost-of-entry to allow more teams to participate and compete.
There have been some rumors swirling around that hybrid technology will one day be introduced to the sport in the future, and the development of the Next-Gen chassis has apparently kept that in mind. However, if you come to NASCAR to hear the loud V8 decibels that exit out of the vehicles’ tailpipes, a hybrid NASCAR race, may not be for you!