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Last year, TRD and Toyota engines won 43 NASCAR national events (10 Sprint Cup, 20 Nationwide and 13 Craftsman Truck series) and two NASCAR regional championships with Bill McAnally Racing (one Camping World West Touring Series title and one NASCAR Whelen All-American Late Model Series title). In addition, the TRD-prepared Lexus engine powered Chip Ganassi Racing to the 2008 Grand-Am Daytona Prototype team and driver’s championships, as well as a third consecutive victory in the prestigious Rolex 24 at Daytona. Toyota closed out the short-track season with a victory in the famed Turkey Night Grand Prix USAC Midget Series event and powered USAC drivers to championships in Silver Crown and Western Midget Series championships. Additionally, Toyota established a marketing relationship with NHRA Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon.

So how do you accomplish more….with less?

“Today’s economic problems just amplify efficiencies,” says David Currier, TRD vice-president, engine engineering. “The key is to be as cost effective as possible and get the most out of our current resources as we possibly can. We’ve obviously always tried to do that, but today, it’s even more important.”

One area where TRD has been able to achieve gains in its resources has been its central-based NASCAR engine program. Having one primary development program benefits all of its NASCAR teams, rather than multiple individual programs, which results in more teams have access to technology for fewer dollars.

“We believe we’re able to maximize our resources by doing a central engine program,” says Currier. “It allows the additional knowledge we gain in development to be shared evenly throughout all of the Toyota teams instead of funding individual teams to do development which aids only those particular teams. It also allows us to get the utmost out of the capital equipment we’ve added as we’ve grown through the years.”

Currier explains how the TRD process works.

“First, we prepare and develop our engines for Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) and Red Bull Racing Team, and then some of the information we gain through our research and development can be used commonly. Joe Gibbs Racing has access to the work we’re doing or the parts we’re developing, so they can either run it like MWR and Red Bull Racing, or they can customize and adapt it for their particular needs, or for whatever they think they feel they might be able to do a little better.”

In addition to combining resources into a central engine program, TRD also uses modern technology to cut not only its own costs, but those of its teams through use of the transient dynamometer.

A transient dynamometer works by creating a load that accurately reflects the real world in terms of the mass a motor has to accelerate rather than a fixed weight that might be found on chassis inertial dynos. Basically, the transient load is set to mimic exactly what an engine would see if it was on the actual race track.
A transient dynamometer measures directly from the engine to the dynamometer and not through any transmission, final drives or tires and eliminates the variables that can contaminate chassis dyno results.

“The basic premise is that the transient dynamometer can do all the loads on the engine just like the car would on the race track,” says Currier. “It can dissipate energy like you need to, as if you’re moving the car through the air, or it can add energy as if you’re going downhill. So for example, if Denny Hamlin is driving it, we’ll put in the data we accumulated from Denny’s car at a race track. It will simulate his throttle blips (quick on/off throttle) and exactly how he does everything so we can simulate and replicate what has happened at the race track.”

The end result is not only a more accurate read on engine performance, but a savings in time and money for both TRD and its teams.

“The transient dyno was not inexpensive when we initially purchased it, but it’s a lot cheaper and less risky than going to the race track,” relays Currier. “If you went back 10 years ago, a lot of the durability testing or critical engine testing was done at the race track. We had to rent the track, hire safety crews, etc., for what we now can accomplish in the lab and replicate almost exactly. The biggest difference now is that we no longer have a risk to the driver and it doesn’t matter what the weather conditions are like. It’s easier to plan and calculate costs and there are no rain delays or wash-outs. In the end, it becomes a lot cheaper and lot more controlled.”

“You also eliminate travel and shipping costs not only for our TRD engineers and technicians, but also for the teams. By cutting back some of our on-track testing, you’re also eliminating wear and tear on the team’s equipment. It results in fewer tire and fuel bills and also eliminates testing crashes that can destroy equipment.”

Those cost savings aren’t limited to just Toyota’s NASCAR program, but also to the Lexus Grand-Am program, and to a more minor degree in the Toyota USAC programs.

“Our biggest goals are simply to do more with less in this economic climate, while still trying to develop engines that are reliable enough and performance-wise strong enough to win championships,” remarked Currier. “We want to just keep improving every year as we did this past year. We’d like to win another Grand-Am championship - and would really love to win a fourth straight Rolex 24, as well as go out and keep winning more USAC Sprint, Silver Crown and Midget series races.”