We took a close look of the Tamaraw Racing Concept at Round 2 of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippine Cup with Luis Gono, Vice-President of Autoplus Sports and Andy Ty, Assistant Vice-President, Marketing Services Department, Toyota Motor Philippines to find out more this workhorse turned racing beast.

Andy said that the goal with the Tamaraw Racing Concept, was to find out ultimately what the Tamaraw powertrain and platform is capable of. It’s about turning everything to 11 first, before dialing things down to make it into a feasible racing platform, perhaps to replace or compliment the one-make Vios race car.

It’s a sentiment shared by Luis who said that that the Tamaraw itself has shown flexibility not just as a circuit racing car, but even as a drag racer or drift car.

Starting work just last March, Luis shared the progress of the Tamaraw Racing Concept which will be further modified, tweaked, and tuned. Progress will be shared at the next Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippine Cup in August, he said.

For example, there’s the aFe Power Momentum Cold Air Intake which alone should increase the airflow increase by 60 percent resulting in an 8 horsepower and 50 Nm of gain. From there, they added a larger intercooler (sourced from a GR Yaris), an HKS exhaust, and an ECU remap. All told, it means that the Tamaraw Racing Concept now develops 460 Nm at the wheels.

The added power also necessitated some suspension changes. Ingeniously, Luis found out that the Tein springs and shocks from the Innova fit perfectly, at least at the front. At the back, since the Tamaraw rides on leaf springs, some modifications were necessary. They also removed two leaf springs to improve the handling.

Finally, they’re also starting to put the Tamaraw on a diet. Apart from stripping out the interior and excess material and trim from the bed, they also added a carbon fiber hood.

Gono shares that currently, the Tamaraw Racing Concept is about two seconds faster on a dragstrip compared to the stock Tamaraw. However, he’s quick to concede that around the Clark International Speedway, it still needs some work. It’s still ways off the Vios Cup Race in terms of race pace, and the inherent front-heavy nature of the work truck means it can get tricky under braking.

Work, he says, is underway to fit it with a roll cage (to which Toyota Racing Development Thailand is helping them with), wider and stickier tires, and of course, things like a Limited Slip Differential.

Andy confirmed that further progress on the Tamaraw Racing Concept will be shared in the coming months, with the next major announcement coming at the final leg of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippine Cup come August.