Chief engineer Yasunori Suezawa says the Toyota GR86’s chassis can handle more power – potentially paving way for a turbocharged, GR Yaris-powered variant.
More power could soon find its way under the bonnet of the 2023 Toyota GR86, as the Japanese manufacturer works on prototypes powered by GR Yaris and GR Corolla turbocharged engines.
Chief engineer Yasunori Suezawa confirmed to Drive the new-generation GR86’s chassis can accept more power – and its engine bay fits the GR Yaris’ 1.6-litre turbo three-cylinder engine, which has been used by Toyota to compete in the Super Taikyu racing series in Japan.
According to Suezawa, the transmission would need to be enhanced to deal with more power, but says “in terms of the engine itself, we do have the engine available, it’s just changed from the GR Yaris one, from 1.6- to 1.4-litre.”
“Changing from the 1.6-litre engine to the 1.4-litre, we have the benefit of the weight loss of 30 kilograms,” said Suezawa.
The Super Taikyu Series was the same development bed Toyota used to test the 1.6-litre engine for the GR Yaris and GR Corolla, so there is precedent for the car maker to introduce a production version at some point.
“In terms of mass production, it hasn’t been decided to make it [available], however, we are doing the trial of [the] 1.4-litre turbo,” said Suezawa.
If it were to introduce the three-cylinder engine to the GR86, there is scope for Toyota to offer 224kW (as per the GR Corolla overseas). This would give a significant 50kW boost to the 174kW/250Nm outputs of the new GR86’s 2.4-litre non-turbo four-cylinder engine.
Fans have been calling out for more power in the GR86 ever since the first generation arrived a decade ago, and while the new 2023 GR86 features a larger engine with more power, the prospect of a turbocharged version remains tantalising.
The chassis’ inability to accept a turbocharged engine was a sticking point of the previous-generation model, as its chief engineer Tetsuya Tada – who also led the development of the GR Supra – explained to Drive in 2018.
“I believe that often times I answered that there won’t be a turbo version, and there were some articles in the media that Mr Tada doesn’t like a turbo.
“That’s not really true. I do like turbos, however if we come up with a turbo version of the 86 and boost up the power that would result in the necessity of changing the basic configuration completely, to come up with a car that I would be satisfied with.
“One characteristic of the 86 is that in terms of the front balance it’s slightly front loaded, so it makes the handling more fast and agile. So if we were to come up with a turbo version, we would have to go change the weight balance between the front and the rear.
“That means we have to come up with a completely new platform, so it’s not about just changing or slight modification in the engine parts.”
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