With every passing day, we’re learning a bit more about Toyota’s next coupe. It’ll apparently be called the Celica Sport, and I, for one, could not be more excited about the latest developments. Namely, new reports suggest that Toyota will use a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder hybrid motor for its rally-inspired all-wheel-drive coupe, and it may even be mounted in the middle of the car. How sick would that be?
Initially, it seemed like the Celica Sport (I’m not sure why Toyota wouldn’t just call it the Celica) would get the turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder from the GR Yaris and GR Corolla, but Gazoo Racing marketing manager Mikio Hayashi told Autocar that it wouldn’t be able to meet upcoming emissions regulations, so the company has to “consider the possibility of of a 2.0-liter.” I’ll take it. Here’s what else he said:
“We are thinking about various sizes, but we are not at a stage where we can tell you exactly what size it is. Nothing has been decided yet about whether it will be a standard hybrid or plug-in hybrid.”
He told the outlet that the company is continuing development of the motor, and there are “high expectations” for it, but he “cannot point to a timeline.” Encouragingly, he did say engineers are making “steady progress,” and we know Toyota has been testing the new G20E motor in its mid-engined Yaris M prototype since last year. There’s also a possibility the Celica could come with a manual gearbox, according to Australia’s CarExpert. Wouldn’t that just be lovely? Obviously, that’s just speculation right now, but we can keep our fingers crossed.
Clearly, Toyota is serious about this car. Just last month, we told you about how the automaker was seen testing some sort of coupe-bodied 2027 World Rally Championship rally prototype in Portugal. While the Japanese automaker hasn’t confirmed what that car is, it doesn’t take a brain genius to make an educated guess.
Hell yeahica
There’s no real word on what sort of power the new engine could produce, but German outlet Auto Motor und Sport says it’s possible that, with a big turbo, the power unit could push out more than 600 horsepower, as opposed to around 450 horses in standard form. That’ll certainly get ‘er done, I’ll tell you what, and make it one of the most powerful Toyota or Lexus products ever built, surpassing even the V10-powered LFA.
Toyota has allegedly been hard at work on a hybrid powertrain for its GR models in an effort to give the sub-brand a bit of extra juice as more stringent emissions regulations come into play across the globe. Well, across the globe, other than in the United States. The system is based primarily on the new G20E turbocharged inline-four, which features a shorter piston stroke than Toyota’s current engines, according to Autocar. That means it’s both smaller and lighter than what the company currently offers, and it has the effect of the company being able to easily add in hybrid elements without much of a weight penalty compared to existing GR vehicles.
Along with the Celica, the new engine would make its way into the GR Yaris (and possibly GR Corolla). Eventually, it could also power a few or all of Toyota’s “three brothers” sports cars: the Supra, Celica and upcoming MR2. Now, that would be something.
