Toyota Wants To Chase FWD 'Ring Record With Modified C-HR

Toyota’s customized C-HR on display at SEMA isn’t all show and no go. In fact, the tuning company behind the ‘world’s fastest CUV’ believes it could set a new front-wheel drive lap record at the Nurburgring.

Built by Dan Gardner Spec and commissioned by Toyota, the bespoke C-HR is powered by a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine delivering a total of 591 hp. Mated to that powerplant is a five-speed manual transmission and around Willow Springs, the car is reportedly quicker than a McLaren 650S Spider, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, and a Nissan GT-R Nismo.

Discussing the crazy project with Autocar, Dan Gardner said he wanted to make a supercar killer with the bespoke C-HR and would love to take it to Germany.

“The car was built for SEMA and Toyota has no plans for it from now on. But it’s the real deal. Personally, it would be a dream to take it to the Nordschleife. I have no doubt it could set the front-wheel-drive record there,” he said.

As it stands, the fastest front-wheel drive car to lap the Nurburgring is the Honda Civic Type R with a blistering 7 minutes and 43.8 second lap, achieved with a 316 hp 2.0-liter VTEC engine.

While the C-HR from SEMA has almost double the power, seamlessly sending that power to the front wheels at a track as treacherous as the Nurburgring wouldn’t be easy.

Nevertheless, we’d love to see Dan Gardner Spec try, especially if it had the backing of Toyota.