The Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89 (commonly known as simply the Minolta) is a blue and white race car produced by Toyota. It appears in Gran Turismo 4, Gran Turismo (PSP), Gran Turismo 5, and Gran Turismo 6.
This car appears to be the #36 driven by Geoff Lees, Masanori Sekiya, and Keiichi Suzuki. The trio would later finish 22nd place in the WEC-Japan round of the 1988 World Sports Car Endurance Championship.
Description
"This car welcomed in a new era in Group C racing, thanks to its twin-turbocharged V8."
The 88CV was Toyota's first attempt at equipping its Group C car with something other than a turbocharged inline-4, an engine it had used until 1988. But as the level of competition became elevated, the inline-4's modest output, fuel economy, and durability called for the company to build something better. And Toyota did, in the form of a new twin-turbocharged 3.2-liter V-8.
This power plant exhibited remarkable flexibility, providing gobs of low-end and mid-range torque. Power was rated at more than 789 HP, and with boost pressure turned up, the engine was able to produce over 986 HP for qualifying runs. Toyota plopped this motor into a new lightweight carbon composite body. Thus, the 88CV was born.
Announced at the end of February, an 88CV prototype began test runs in April 1988. After resolving some handling issues caused by the car's unusually narrow track and short wheelbase, the new car bowed at the 4th round of the All Japan Sports Prototype Car Championship that July. The 88CV briefly took the lead in the final before retiring with mechanical problems.
In the final round of the World Championship WEC in Japan, the 88CV managed to secure 5th place in qualifying against the best competition in the world, but in the end, mechanical problems led to a 22nd place finish. After the season was over, the 88CV underwent extensive design changes and evolved into the 89CV.
Acquisition
GT4
The MINOLTA Toyota 88C-V Race Car can be obtained by winning the El Capitan 200 Miles Endurance race in GT4.
GTPSP
The MINOLTA Toyota 88C-V race car can be bought for 3,000,000 Credits at some Toyota dealerships.
GT5
The 88C-V is a Standard car and can be obtained in one of two ways:
- Winning both races in Like the Wind (Level 21) in A-Spec.
- Finding it in the Used Car Dealership and purchasing it for around 4,120,000 Credits. It is a Level 23 Car.
GT6
The 88C-V can be bought for 1,920,000 credits at the Dealership. It is best performed for the 24 Minutes of Le Mans event,
Trivia
- A "Suntory West Coffee" logo takes the place of the "NCAA" logo that appeared on the 88C-V in real life. (The logo also appears in the racing modifications for the MA70/JZA70 Supra in the PlayStation-era games). For the longest time it was thought this was an uncensored logo for West cigarettes, due to the obscurity of the brand, in addition to a similar color scheme of black and red and a similar typeface. Interestingly, an uncensored logo for West cigarettes does manifest in Gran Turismo 3 in the form of an unfinished 1998 McLaren MP4-13 Formula One car that was driven by Mika Hakkinen, and can only be obtained by modifying your game save.
Notes
Gallery
Videos
9-0 Gran Turismo PSP Laguna Seca Time Trial Replay MINOLTA Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89