Toyota’s Newest GR Racing Prototype Sure Looks Like the Next-Gen MR2

• Toyota already had an experimental mid-engine Yaris concept racing in Japan, but now it’s back with coupe-style bodywork.
• It’s still only a prototype, but it looks quite a bit like the company’s 2027 WRC effort.
• One of the drivers who will be racing it is Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda.

In the world of Pokemon, every pocket monster has several forms it can evolve through in order to reach its final powerful form. So, you start with something that looks like a spicy salamander and eventually end up with what’s basically a dragon. In Japan’s Super Taikyu series, Toyota appears to be racing something in the middle form of a Yaris evolving into an MR2, as spotted by CarBuzz.

Super Taikyu STO

It’s called the Yaris M concept, and it’s a further developed prototype of the car of the same name that Toyota showed off at last year’s Tokyo Auto Salon. Formerly just a Yaris hatchback shell with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine where the rear seats should be, the new Yaris M features full-on coupe bodywork with massive rear flares.

The silhouette isn’t a complete surprise, as it’s a near match for Toyota’s 2027 WRC concept, which was spotted testing in Portugal this past spring. This Super Taikyu racer looks to be the tarmac version of that prototype.

Super Taikyu STO

The engine isn’t the GR Yaris’ frenetic little three-banger, but a new four-cylinder called the G20. Displacing 2.0 liters, it’s turbocharged up to around 400 to 450 horsepower and has already proved its mettle in endurance racing.

Everyone who owned a second-generation MR2 Turbo has permission to start jumping up and down excitedly because this new car looks like a return of that particular F355-on-a-budget machine. Note also that one of the four drivers who will be campaigning the car in Super Taikyu is none other than Akio Toyota, using his Morizo nom de guerre.

While a potential return of one of Toyota’s 1990s performance heroes is something to get excited about all on its own, the further development of this G20 turbo four is no less intriguing. A reliable powerplant putting out 200 horsepower per liter of displacement could have all kinds of applications, including in the rumored return of the Celica as a replacement for the GR Corolla.

Whatever the case, we likely haven’t seen the final evolution of whatever the Yaris M concept is going to transform into. Buzz off, Pikachu; we choose mid-engine turbo Toyota.

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Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.

Source: www.caranddriver.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.