Toyota has finally caved in and created the turbocharged GR86 fans have been demanding for a decade, but don’t reach for your wallet just yet because there’s no guarantee the model will be offered for sale.
Australia’s CarSales reports that Toyota’s Gazoo Racing motorsport offshoot has developed a small batch of turbocharged GR86 coupes for racing, but what’s interesting is that these cars aren’t powered by a blown version of the Subaru-designed 2.4-liter boxer four. Instead, they’ve been transplanted with the turbocharged three-cylinder G16E-GTS motor used by the GR Yaris and GR Corolla.
Toyota (and Subaru) added 400cc of capacity for the second-generation boxer-engined 86 and BRZs, lifting power from 205 hp (208 PS) to 228 hp (231 PS), plumping torque output from 156 lb-ft (212 Nm) to 184 lb-ft (250 Nm), and cutting the zero to 60 mph (96/km/h) time to less than 6 seconds.
But the GR Corolla’s 1.6-litre triple is rated at 300 hp (304 PS) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm), which would undoubtedly transform the GR86’s straight-line performance and the opportunities to exploit its agile chassis.
Related: 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Pricing Revealed, Ranges From $35,900 To $49,900
Unfortunately the cars are destined for Japans’s Super Taikyu race series, where Toyota says they will give the company an opportunity to test and develop synthetic fuels. The racing version of the turbo powertrain has a shorter stroke, reducing capacity from 1.6 to 1.4 liters, though apparently makes more than the production GR Corolla’s 300 hp.
But when CarSales asked Gazoo Racing’s chief engineer Naoyuki Sakamoto whether we might eventually see a production version, he didn’t rule the possibility out.
“Yes, we are thinking for the future about the possibility of using it, but there are no concrete plans at the moment,” Sakamoto said. “For now, we’re just using it to develop carbon-neutral fuels.”
Would you like to see Toyota’s GR Corolla/86 mashup become a production reality, and would you buy a turbocharged 86 over a GR Corolla and GR Supra?