Published On Premiered May 17, 2021
Right from the start, there are a couple of caveats I like to get out of the way when it comes to new patent applications. They don't always represent a final product - sometimes the manufacturer will hold onto an idea. What's more, this particular document does provide crucial statements that may change the final engine's configuration, if this makes it to production in, say, the new Tundra.
On Thursday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an application filed by Toyota in September 2020. In the document, with inventor credit going to Masami Ishikawa, statements like "A vehicular internal combustion engine is equipped with a supercharger" and "V-eight twin-turbo engine" do get the imagination firing, don't they? Our friends over at GR86 forums spotted the application, and surmise this could be the powerplant expected to make its way into the 2022 Toyota Tundra. It could also be a high-output engine for another Toyota (say, 300 Series Land Cruiser?) or Lexus model, like the high-performance "F" series.