Toyota is seriously advancing the combustion engine in all its forms. The efficiency of the Prius is worthy of a Guinness World Record and the 1.6-liter three-cylinder turbo engine in the GR Corolla is remarkably power-dense. Looking to the future, the automaker is also working on synthetic fuels, and it has expanded its hydrogen development partnership with BMW. Moreover, Toyota will work with Subaru and Mazda on powerful new carbon-neutral engines, and the largest of them sounds perfect for future sports cars. That’s the engine we’re talking about today. Toyota is developing a range of four-cylinder engines that include a naturally aspirated 1.5-liter, a turbocharged 1.5-liter, and a turbocharged 2.0-liter. The 2.0-liter is known to be capable of at least 400 horsepower, but that’s just the start, as reported by Karuma News, one of the attendees at Toyota’s recent event unveiling the engines. The Japanese publication reports that a Toyota engineer had the following to say about this engine in particular:
“Toyota has a globally popular engine called the “2JZ engine.” I would like to aim for an engine that surpasses that.”
What This Could Mean
Straight off the bat, we should point out that this is a translated quote. Was the engineer saying that he wants the new four-pot to exceed the aftermarket performance potential of the famously resilient six-cylinder that most people associate with the A80 Toyota Supra? Perhaps. The G16E-GTS three-cylinder engine in the GR Corolla and GR Yaris has already proven that it can produce 1,000 horsepower, and a 2.0-liter four-banger made to the same exacting standards would surely be even more capable.
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On the other hand, perhaps the engineer was implying that he expects this new engine to be as ubiquitous as the Toyota JZ family, which was fitted in the Lexus IS, Lexus GS, Toyota Crown, Toyota Chaser, and several other vehicles. Either way, Toyota is holding its new family of combustion engines to a high standard, and perhaps the engineer meant both, as the media saw this new engine in a midsize pickup (the HiLux) and a sports sedan (a Lexus IS), two completely different cars.
Other Rumors
Unconfirmed reports from Japan state that there was also a Lexus RC at this event which was said to have had the same engine tuned to 600 horsepower and paired with a six-speed manual transmission. Although this prototype was reportedly created for a motorsports application, one can’t forget that Toyota was pleasantly surprised by the demand it saw for the manual GR Supra, so there is a possibility that an enthusiast-focused sports coupe with this 2.0-liter turbo engine and a stick shift could be in the works. Remember, Toyota said it would build better racecars first, and the lessons learned there would be applied to road cars. This is a sentiment shared by company founder Kiichiro Toyoda, who said that “companies ought to participate in auto races” to demonstrate their superiority in performance and durability.
“The reason is this: there are apsects of making ever-better cars that can only be realized via competing in the extreme environment of racing.”
– Excerpt from
Toyota Gazoo Racing
statement (2021)
It’s also worth noting that Toyota recently announced its 2026 entry in the Australian Supercars championship: a V8-powered Supra, and it’s been testing a racecar based on the GR GT3 concept, also with V8 power. This has been spotted with a Lexus badge, but the latest indications are that it may carry a Toyota badge after all. Whatever the future holds for the Toyota lineup, it will be diverse. Along with all these advances in various forms of combustion, Toyota has been stockpiling solid-state battery patents so that electrification can be as efficient and exciting as possible, and it’s hard to see any flaws in this multi-faceted approach. Let’s just hope some of these rumors can be confirmed soon.
Source:
Lexus Enthusiast
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