Toyota goofed on the entire automotive world by teasing that it was unveiling a ‘Mid-Engine, Two-Seater Car’ at the Tokyo Auto Salon. Naturally, we all assumed it was an MR2 revival, when in fact it was a done-up Daihatsu kei truck. This royally ticked off a lot of people, but now it seems the automaker is making up for that switcheroo with the promise of more exciting things to come. Toyota’s Gazoo Racing president, Tomoya Takahashi, has confirmed that a new mid-engine sports car will join Toyota’s lineup, and they’re not messing with us this time. That’s huge, right? Well, it’s still a long way off.
Speaking with Automotive News, Takahashi said the proposed mid-engine sports car — which will likely be all-wheel-drive — is currently in the first of four engineering stages it needs to pass through before entering mass production, and that’s a process that usually takes between four and five years to complete. Still, folks, we’re getting a new Mister Two at some point in the late 2020s or early 2030s, and I — for one — couldn’t be more excited. Just to add to the excitement, Takahashi says that Toyota is race-testing the prototype.
“At the highest level, the chairman is determined to continue manufacturing internal combustion engines. And when we had this new 2.0-liter engine, we decided to mount it to a midship car,” Takahashi told Auto News back in November at the Fuji Speedway in Japan.
Of course, the tiny MR2 first went on sale for the 1985 model year and then lasted three sick-ass generations before it was killed off in the U.S. in 2005. Global sales didn’t last much longer, though — making it to 2007. While Toyota has renewed an emphasis on fun-to-drive cars with the help of the GR Corolla, A90 Supra and GR86, it has always had a two-seat, mid-engine hole in its lineup. Toyota also has other enthusiast-minded cars like the Lexus LFA, Toyota GR GT and even the mid-engined GR Yaris M Concept rally car in the pipeline.
A new engine, a new car
A new turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four developed by Toyota is what gave the automaker the leeway to build a car like the forthcoming MR2, since it’s designed to be mounted in the front, middle or rear of a vehicle, and it can be aligned vertically or horizontally, according to Automotive News. That’s a mighty impressive amount of flexibility. It’s expected to make more power than Toyota’s current tubo 2.4-liter inline-four while also delivering better fuel economy than the 2.0-turbo it currently builds. Its compact size certainly won’t hurt things, either, being that it’s 10% smaller in both volume and height than the 2.4-liter engine.
Takahashi told AutoNews that Toyota is developing the engine to meet more stringent emissions regulations across the globe without the addition of electrification, but that doesn’t mean a hybridized version of the motor is completely off the table, saying that it’s “almost mandatory” to be able to combine the motor with hybrid tech if it’s going to be used in a lot of different cars.”
He added that he felt that the turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder motor currently found in the standard GR Yaris and GR Corolla wasn’t going to cut it for the MR2 replacement, so that’s why Toyota decided to go with the new 2.0-liter.
Big things are happening in Toyota land, and I couldn’t be happier. Sure, some modified kei trucks are cool, but this is what we really wanted all along.
