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Difference is that Porsche were reasonably competitive last year, and only errors and bad luck in the first half the season kept the #1 Porsche from being a serious contender for the drivers' title. Granted, Audi dominated races at Nurburgring, Mexico, COTA and Fuji to come up short either due to freak problems, pit strategy, or Porsche getting luck with timing of full course yellows.
This year, Toyota are bearing the fruits of them stepping up their budget and commitment that was made in 2015 when it was clear they needed a new car, and fast. The 919 is now almost 4 years old as far as it's tub design, and it's not like the 956/962 or Audi R8 or Pescarolo C60/01 days where a chassis can be competitive for years.
But I have my suspicions that Audi continuing in the WEC was contingent on winning Le Mans last year, or having a shot at the manufacturers' title. If the LM win or the manufacturers' championship happened or looked likely, they might have stayed. But when LM didn't happen and it looked like the manufacturers' championship wasn't going to happen, it made it easy to pull the plug and cut their losses.
IMO, things with the rules package right now at LM and the WEC seem to be getting stale for those in charge of motorsports at Volkswagen Group, especially in terms of ROI on a dollar vs benefits basis.
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