Toyota And Yamaha Are Keeping The Old-School V8 Alive — With Hydrogen

It's a big, burly 5.0-liter V8, but not as you know it

Toyota commissioned Yamaha to make some radical tweaks to its long-running 5.0-liter V8. (Image: Yamaha)

While automakers focus on EVs, this is an effort to keep internal combustion alive.

Yamaha has a solid track record when it comes to making some really cool engines, and today’s example is no exception. Keep in mind, the company had a hand in developing the awesome V10 motor in the Lexus LFA. Now, Toyota and Yamaha have teamed up again to create another engine, with a twist. You see, this one doesn’t run on gasoline — it runs on hydrogen.

At its core, you’re still broadly looking at the 5.0-liter V8 that’s made its home in the Lexus RC F, IS 500 F Sport Performance and the LC 500, among other past models. To create a hydrogen-burning engine, Yamaha takes the 2UR-GSE as a base and changes the cylinder heads, injectors, intake manifold and at least a few other, undisclosed changes.

Even with the change in fuel, Yamaha’s tweaks peg performance pretty close to the standard 5.0-liter. The company claims the hydrogen V8 produces 455 horsepower at 6,800 RPM, as well as 395 lb-ft of torque (the conventional engine puts out up to 472 horsepower and 398 lb-ft, depending on which Lexus you’re looking at).

So, why bother changing up a V8 to run on hydrogen? While Toyota is starting to build out an EV lineup starting with the bZ4X, it’s still investing in alternative fuels as a stop-gap, insisting that internal combustion will still be a dominant force for years to come. Per Yamaha Motor President Yoshihiro Hidaka, “Hydrogen engines house the potential to be carbon-neutral while keeping our passion for the internal combustion engine alive at the same time. Teaming up with companies with different corporate cultures and areas of expertise as well as growing the number of partners we have is how we want to lead the way into the future.”

It is worth noting that although this motor does cut carbon emissions, we are still talking about burning hydrogen here. That process creates some amount of nitrogen oxides along with water vapor when H2 mixes with atmospheric (nitrogen-rich) air.

Will hydrogen keep the ‘fun’ elements of the ICE going?

This isn’t the first, or only, effort to use hydrogen in an effort to keep the familiar “engine” alive. From the power delivery, sound and overall feel, Yamaha says their work here will strike the balance between fun and environmental consciousness. Takeshi Yamada from the company’s Automotive Development Section says that, “I started to see that engines using only hydrogen for fuel actually had very fun, easy-to-use performance characteristics.” To that end, there may be certain characteristics an automaker can coax out of a hydrogen engine you can’t get with either an EV or a gasoline motor.

One example Yamada cites: The 8-to-1 header that creates a “harmonic high-frequency exhaust note”. “Everyone who came to test drive the prototype car would start off somewhat skeptical,” he said, “but emerged with a big smile on their face at the end. As I watched this, I started to believe that there is actually enormous potential in the characteristics unique to hydrogen engines instead of simply treating it as a substitute for gasoline.”

While hydrogen-burning cars haven’t made it out into the mainstream just yet, some folks are experiencing another use for the abundant element as an alternative fuel source, like the hydrogen-based Mirai EV: